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          Fantasy Baseball Forecaster: Week 24 rankings, lineup picks

          Jacob deGrom and the Texas Rangers will be all smiles when the pitcher finally makes his return to the MLB mound. AP
          • Tristan H. Cockcroft
          Sep 9, 2024, 05:27 PM ET

          Fantasy baseball's Week 24 is the second half of two-week semifinal playoff matchups in ESPN leagues, and it features 92 total scheduled games, with six teams playing on all seven days (Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians, Miami Marlins, New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays) and two playing only five times.

          There is a rescheduled game on Monday, as the Reds and Atlanta Braves will play a make-up game at 6:40 p.m. ET at Truist Park, which reschedules their July 26 postponement.

          The week comes to a close on Sunday, Sept. 15, which is also Roberto Clemente Day across Major League Baseball. All 30 teams are in action that day, concluding with the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Braves, 7 p.m. ET on "Sunday Night Baseball."

          It's likely that we'll see three prominent pitching names return from the IL during Week 24. The Dodgers have already announced that Yoshinobu Yamamoto -- who has been sidelined since June 15 due to right triceps tendinitis, but threw 31 and 53 pitches across a pair of rehab starts for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Aug. 28 and Sept. 3 -- will rejoin their rotation on Tuesday. The Texas Rangers, meanwhile, are expected to welcome back both Jacob deGrom (who made only six starts for them to begin last season before succumbing to Tommy John surgery) and Max Scherzer (who has made only eight starts for them this season due to back and shoulder injuries) into their rotation, most likely on Friday and Saturday.

          Speaking of the Rangers, we'll have a rematch of the 2023 World Series to begin the week, as they visit the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field for a two-game series on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Rangers are in far different circumstances today than they were a year ago at this time, currently facing a 7½-game deficit in the AL West Division. eight games back of the final wild-card spot.

          Lineup lock times

          Scheduling quirks for Week 24

          Starting pitchers for Week 24

          Hitting charts for Week 24