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Fantasy's Week 20 begins at 6:40 p.m. ET, as Monday's eight-game slate takes place entirely at night.
For the remainder of your daily lineup planning, all 15 games on Tuesday begin at night, the first scheduled for 6:10 p.m. ET. Wednesday has three day games, the earliest being Houston Astros at Texas Rangers at 2:05 p.m. ET, among 15 total. Thursday has four day games, the first being Seattle Mariners at Detroit Tigers at 1:10 p.m. ET, among eight total. Friday has 15 night games scheduled, the earliest slated for 6:35 p.m. ET. Saturday has two day games, the earliest being Philadelphia Phillies at San Francisco Giants at 4:05 p.m. ET, among 15 total. Sunday's games begin at 12:05 p.m. ET, one of 14 day games and 15 overall, concluding with San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball at 7 p.m. ET.
Additional ESPN+ games for Week 20 include Padres at Giants on Monday at 9:45 p.m. ET, and Oakland Athletics at Washington Nationals on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. ET.
MLB rosters expand from 26 to 28 players on Thursday of Week 20 with a limit of 14 pitchers (the current limit is 13). It's not the dramatic shift of the 40-man roster expansions from seasons past, but this expansion is nevertheless expected to have a similar impact upon teams' pitching plans, heightening the chances of six-man rotation expansions, spot starters, innings-cap shutdowns and piggyback outings. For example, a pair of teams have already given every indication that they will restore injured pitchers to their rotations on said roster expansion date, as the Tigers are expected to activate Michael Pineda (triceps, 15-day) and the Dodgers will activate Clayton Kershaw (back, 15-day IL) on Thursday. The Dodgers are expected to return to a six-man rotation following Kershaw's return. As such, from this point forward, it's wise for fantasy managers to approach projected two-start pitchers more carefully, as there'll be a greater chance of those pitchers losing their second starts of the week or having them pushed back into the next week.
Here's an oddity: There is not a single rescheduled game, neither for opening-week lockout or weather-related postponements, on the Week 20 schedule. That results in 91 total games on this week's schedule.
Only four teams are scheduled for as many as seven games -- the Arizona Diamondbacks, Boston Red Sox, Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers -- and the Brewers have easily the most favorable overall schedule of the bunch. They also join the Diamondbacks as teams with entirely weatherproof seven-game schedules. This is the first of back-to-back favorable weeks for the Brewers, this comprised of three home games against the Pittsburgh Pirates followed by four at the Diamondbacks, critical ones in which for them to make up ground in the National League wild card race. The Brewers' usual top-five hitters (Christian Yelich, Willy Adames, Rowdy Tellez, Andrew McCutchen and Hunter Renfroe) should all be mainstays in your lineup these next two weeks, but take note that Keston Hiura (98.1% available in ESPN leagues) has snuck in 11 starts in the team's past 20 games, has batted .256/.326/.641 with five home runs in 43 trips to the plate in that time, is a .299/.402/.667 hitter against right-handers for the season and 5-of-7 (and perhaps six) projected Brewers opposing starters are right-handed. On the pitching side, the only individual worth worry is Adrian Houser (95.1%), who despite his being aligned for a two-start week (along with Corbin Burnes), had an ineffective, 81-pitch return to action on Aug. 24.
Conversely, the Astros and Tampa Bay Rays draw the short end of the schedule stick, with five projected games apiece, though the Rays' schedule at least is entirely weatherproof. Neither schedule is an avoid-outright situation, as the Astros entirely road schedule includes two games at the Rangers and three at the Los Angeles Angels, teams that are a combined 29 games under .500, while the Rays begin their week with two games at a 55-72 Miami Marlins team before returning home for three against the New York Yankees. Thankfully for our fantasy planning, the Astros have already announced that Cristian Javier will spend the week in their bullpen due to the pair of off days, so the team will roll with a five-man rotation, while will the Rays demoted Ryan Yarbrough to Triple-A Durham on Aug. 27, giving them a four-man rotation that, for now at least, means a two-start week for Shane McClanahan.
We're still in the meaty part of the St. Louis Cardinals' schedule, with this stretch of fantasy-friendly matchups extending through Week 2. This week's portion includes a three-game set at the Cincinnati Reds followed by three back home against the Chicago Cubs. Lars Nootbaar (74.6% available), the team's leadoff man against righties and No. 9 hitter against lefties who has batted .294/.423/.559 while starting 32 straight games, is a must for all fantasy managers. Note that Jack Flaherty (shoulder, 60-day IL), who originally appeared on track for activation this week, will instead make a final rehabilitation start for Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday, before rejoining the big-league rotation on Sept. 5 (Monday of Week 21).
The Padres have the roughest go of it in terms of matchups, playing the entirety of their six-game Week 20 on the road, with three games apiece at the Giants and Dodgers. The Dodgers, incidentally, have won 6-of-7 against these Padres in their home park this season. The Padres are aligned to face two of the Player Rater's top eight starting pitchers -- No. 8 Carlos Rodon (Monday) and No. 5 Julio Urias (Saturday) -- as well as No. 35 Logan Webb (Tuesday) and Dustin May, who has looked great in his first two starts of 2022. As two of the Padres' six projected opposing starters are left-handed, Jake Cronenworth, a .240/.347/.363 hitter against lefties, is a weaker option in mixed leagues. Meanwhile, Sean Manaea, aligned for a Saturday start at the Dodgers, was shelled in his most recent outing at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 5 (4 IP, 10 H, 8 ER).
Though their teams are thin from top to bottom on fantasy talent, a handful of rebuilding teams' individual players draw Week 20 schedules that warrant attention (and probable pickups): The Tigers' Matt Manning (88.8% available), who has a 2.40 ERA in five starts since returning from a shoulder injury, is aligned for a two-start week of home turns against the Mariners and Kansas City Royals. The Athletics' Shea Langeliers (95.6%), already slugging .529 with two homers in 35 trips to the plate against right-handers who also had .296/.380/.508 rates against righties while with Triple-A Las Vegas, gets nothing but road games against right-handed starters from the weak rotations of the Nationals and Baltimore Orioles. Fellow Athletics teammate Cole Irvin (64.6%) is also aligned for a two-start week facing those two opponents.
The Atlanta Braves could make up some ground in the NL East race with a Week 20 full of home games, three apiece against the Colorado Rockies and Marlins. Most of the Braves' most fantasy-relevant players are already heavily rostered, and their two-start pitcher is ace Max Fried, but a week of nothing but right-handed opposing starting pitching cements Vaughn Grissom's (48.2% available) must-start status, seeing as he is a .340/.377/.520 hitter against righties so far since his call-up.