Fantasy Baseball Forecaster Week 5: April 22-28

Fantasy baseball's Week 5 brings us back to Mexico, as the MLB World Tour returns to Mexico City for a pair of games at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú between the Colorado Rockies and Houston Astros. That sets up a heck of a hitting week for the Rockies, who begin the week with a four-game series at Coors Field.

For those who don't recall, the two games played at Mexico City's Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú last April saw the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants total 37 runs, 49 hits and 15 home runs, in large part due to the stadium's high altitude (7,349 feet, or 2,030 feet higher than where Coors Field stands), but also due to its hitting-friendly dimensions (332 feet down the lines, or 15 feet shorter than at Coors). Prepare accordingly, and understand that, because the Rockies are a virtual lock to finish 2024 with the worst team ERA and therefore are staff-wide nonfactors in fantasy, this is a big deal for those evaluating Astros pitchers.

Due to the travel involved, the Astros wind up being baseball's only team scheduled for as few as five games during Week 5, which is a significant disadvantage in a week when 11 other teams are scheduled to play on all seven days. At least those hitting-friendly weekend games help elevate the Astros' matchups value to compensate.

A pair of injured pitchers could rejoin their teams during Week 5: The Philadelphia Phillies' Taijuan Walker made what was likely to be his final minor league rehab start for Triple-A Lehigh Valley on April 21, and he should return to the big-league rotation on either Saturday or Sunday. The Astros, meanwhile, suggested that Framber Valdez could rejoin the rotation during their current road trip, which began on April 19 and extends through the games in Mexico.

• Projected starting pitchers for the next 10 days

• Hitter matchup ratings for the next 10 days

Lineup lock times

Scheduling quirks for Week 5