Week 21 brings us nine teams with at least seven games on the schedule thanks to the Yankees and Orioles doubleheader on Monday. Meanwhile, only two teams play five games. With so many games on the schedule, we have some interesting pickups and lineup decisions. Do you have shares of any teams atop the offensive rankings? Let’s go team by team and maximize our lineup’s potential with my weekly hitting planner looking at total games, match-ups, and venues to take advantage of.

For more help getting ready for Week 17 check out Eric Cross’ Waiver Wire Adds, Nathan Dokken’s Starting Pitcher Rankings, and Paul Mammino’s Two-Start Pitchers.

AL Hitting Planner

AL East

Team Off. Rnk Games Home Away VS RHP VS LHP BAL 22 7 0 4(NYY) 3(BOS) 4 3 BOS 14 6 3(BAL) 3(CLE) 5 1 NYY 1 8 4(BAL) 4(CLE) 0 7 1 TB 12 6 3(DET) 3(SD) 2 4 TOR 7 6 3(TEX) 3(SEA) 0 2 4

The Orioles hit the road for all seven games this week including a doubleheader Monday in New York. The Red Sox pitching staff has struggled as a whole of late with a 5.38 ERA since July 1. Add to that the fact that Baltimore will miss Chris Sale’s turn in the rotation and David Price is on the IL. There’s certainly opportunity for some Orioles bats to take advantage. Jonathan Villar has hit .417 over the last two weeks with three home runs and four steals. Renato Nunez has cooled off in that stretch hitting .184. Baltimore will face three left-handed starters and Hanser Alberto has led off against lefties hitting .401 on the year against them.

The Red Sox host the Orioles for three games after visiting the Indians for three games. The Orioles have had one of the worst pitching staffs all season, including a 5.83 ERA since July 1. The same can’t be said for Cleveland, who will send Shane Bieber and Mike Clevinger to the mound against the Red Sox. Andrew Benintendi has hit .379 over the last two weeks with four home runs after not hitting for much power for most of the season. The average comes with a .514 BABIP, 32% strikeout rate, and 1.7% walk rate, which tells me this is more of just a hot streak than an adjustment for Benintendi. Michael Chavis has hit .277 against right-handed pitching this season and .233 against left-handed pitching. Chavis has hit .286 over the last two weeks and the Red Sox face five of six right-handed starters.

Only one team plays eight games on the week and that’s the New York Yankees. The Yankees host Baltimore for four games followed by a visit by the Indians and find themselves atop the hitting planner rankings once again. Bottom line, get Yankees bats in your lineup. While Cleveland has had one of the better pitching staffs as a whole this season, the Yankees will miss Shane Bieber’s turn in the rotation.

Seven of the Yankees’ eight games should come against right-handed starters, good news for someone like Didi Gregorius, who has hit .292 against right-handed pitchers and .204 against lefties. Gio Urshela benefits from the righty heavy schedule as well. Mike Tauchman should be added everywhere with a .375 average, five home runs, and three steals over the last two weeks. Injuries and hot bats should keep both Urshela and Tauchman in the lineup all week. Play them.

The Tampa Bay Rays get a visit from the Padres and Tigers for three games each. The Tigers’ 6.03 ERA since July 1 ranks as the second-worst in that span, and the Rays avoid Detroit ace, Matthew Boyd. With four left-handed pitchers on the slate for the Rays, Travis d’Arnaud should be a play at the catcher position while Jesus Aguilar could be considered in deeper leagues or used in daily. Aguilar has hit .375 with a home run since joining the Rays.

Toronto has been a blast to watch with all the kids playing. This is what baseball should be and it’s a shame we’ve had to wait so long into the season. This week, we benefit from good matchups for the Blue Jays and should be playing the youngsters in our lineups. Both Seattle and Texas rank in the bottom eight in team ERA since July 1. Bo Bichette has hit .408 in the last two weeks and has crushed the ball in his first taste of the majors. There are only a handful of shortstops I’m playing over Bichette this week.

AL Central

Team Off. Rnk Games Home Away VS RHP VS LHP CWS 25 7 3(HOU) 4(LAA) 2 5 CLE 20 7 3(BOS) 4(NYY) 4 3 DET 16 6 3(SEA) 3(TB) 2 4 KC 30 5 2(STL) 3(NYM) 0 5 0 MIN 21 6 0 2(MIL) 4(TEX) 5 1

The White Sox have the unfortunate task of facing the Houston Astros upgraded rotation this week as they start off with Zack Greinke, Gerrit Cole, and Wade Miley. Chicago follows that up with a four-game series in Anaheim to face the Angels. Five of the seven games should come against left-handed starters, great news for Jose Abreu owners. Abreu has hit .341 against left-handed pitching this season. Leury Garcia benefits as well with a .324 average against lefties. Unfortunately, this last week hasn’t worked out well for Eloy Jimenez, which makes me wonder if his elbow is still bothering him. I don’t want to drop him in 12-team leagues just yet, but he’s making it hard to justify at this point. I’m adding someone like Mike Tauchman if he’s available and starting him over Jimenez this week.

Cleveland hosts the Red Sox for three games before going to New York to face the Yankees for four. Yasiel Puig has hit .286 over the last two weeks with two steals and benefits from three lefties on the schedule. Puig has hit .279 against left-handed pitching opposed to .248 against right-handed pitchers. The other Cleveland acquisition, Franmil Reyes, has had a bad start to his tenure with the team hitting .074. Reyes has been among the league leaders in hard hit rate and exit velocity all season, so I expect things to turn around sooner than later.

The Tigers get the Mariners at home for three games to start the week. Seattle has the eighth-worst ERA in the majors since July 1 at 5.24. Detroit has a lefty-heavy schedule with four lefties on the slate. Niko Goodrum is playable in 12-team leagues and deeper with a .378 average against left-handed pitchers this season.

Kansas City falls to the bottom of the hitting planner offensive rankings with only five games on the schedule. Four of those games will against starters Jack Flaherty, Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, and Zach Wheeler. This isn’t the week you want to have any Royals in your lineups.

The Twins spend the week on the road as they visit the Brewers for two and the Rangers for four. Nelson Cruz was placed on the IL with an injured wrist. I guess hitting that many home runs in such a small span takes it’s toll. After Cruz’s seven, Max Kepler leads the team with five home runs over the last two weeks. Kepler has quietly provided excellent value this season hitting .264 with 31 home runs. Miguel Sano has hit .302 with three home runs and should benefit from hitting in hitter-friendly environments in Milwaukee and Texas.

AL West

Team Off. Rnk Games Home Away VS RHP VS LHP HOU 5 7 0 3(CWS) 4(OAK) 5 2 LAA 6 7 3(PIT) 4(CWS) 0 7 0 OAK 29 6 4(HOU) 2(SF) 5 1 SEA 10 6 0 3(DET) 3(TOR) 4 2 TEX 9 7 4(MIN) 3(TOR) 4 3

Houston gets seven games on the schedule as they go to Chicago and Oakland. The offense is one you want shares of as it is, the volume of seven games is always a nice bonus for a week. Yordan Alvarez is as hot as anyone in the league right now hitting .455 with three home runs over the last two weeks.

The Los Angeles Angels have a full seven games at home against the Pirates and White Sox. The Pirates have completely fallen apart, and that includes the pitching staff that has allowed a 5.36 ERA since July 1. All seven games should come against right-handed starters. Matt Thais has been in a platoon, playing against righties and hitting .281 with four home runs over the last two weeks. Thais could be considered for deeper leagues this week.

I thought Kansas City had it bad this week. Oakland is right up there with Madison Bumgarner, Aaron Sanchez (new Astros version), Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke, and Gerrit Cole on the schedule. I’m not thrilled to play any Athletics in my lineups this week.

Seattle gets six games this week as they visit Detroit and Toronto for three games each. There isn’t much going on with this offense. If anything, this is great for Detroit and Toronto’s pitching staffs. It’s nice to see Kyle Seager hitting .333 with three home runs over the last two weeks. Omar Narvaez has hit .300 in that span and has been one of the best values at the catcher position all season.

The Rangers are one of eight teams with seven games on the schedule. Three of those games will come against left-handed starters. Nomar Mazara has hit .198 against lefties and has sat against left-handed starters. Meanwhile, Danny Santana has hit .326 against lefties and continues to perform well hitting near the top of the Rangers’ order.

NL Hitting Planner

NL East

Team Off. Rnk Games Home Away VS RHP VS LHP ATL 27 6 3(NYM) 3(LAD) 0 3 3 MIA 28 6 3(LAD) 3(COL) 5 1 NYM 18 6 0 3(ATL) 3(KC) 3 3 PHI 11 6 3(CHC) 3(SD) 0 3 3 WAS 15 6 3(CIN) 3(MIL) 0 4 2

The Braves have been one of the best offenses to have shares of this season. Things get tough for the week as they face the Dodgers and Mets, two of the better pitching staffs in the league. In fact, only the Indians have had a better ERA since July 1 than the Dodgers and Mets. Ozzie Albies has been awesome with a .365 average, three home runs, and three steals over the last two weeks. Look for him to continue being awesome with three lefties on the schedule. Albies has destroyed left-handed pitching with a .394 average on the year and eight home runs.

Miami gets a trip to Coors Field on the schedule with three games against the Rockies. The other three games come at home against the Dodgers, who have had the second-best ERA in the majors over the last month. Isan Diaz is two for nineteen to start his big league career. Brian Anderson on the other hand has hit .321 with seven home runs in the last two weeks and could be interesting in deep leagues at Coors Field.

The Mets are on a roll. While they benefited from a favorable schedule, they get the division-leading Atlanta Braves for three games. Michael Conforto has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball with seven home runs and a .302 average over the last two weeks. With both Robinson Cano and Dominic Smith out, it’s time to add J.D. Davis. Davis has hit .389 with three home runs over the last two weeks. Three lefties are on the schedule to start against the Mets and Davis has hit .309 against left-handed pitching this season.

Anther team with six games on the schedule, the Phillies host the Cubs followed by the Padres for three games each. Playing at home has benefitted the Phillies power numbers this season as they’ve hit 88 home runs at home as opposed to 58 on the road. Half of the Phillies’ games will come against left-handed starters. Rhys Hoskins and Scott Kingery each benefit as they’ve hit .296 and .302 respectively against left-handed pitching.

The Nationals spend the week at home with three games against the Reds and Brewers each. The only starter I’m concerned about holding down the Nationals’ offense is Trevor Bauer. Gerardo Parra has seen time at first base while hitting .296 with two home runs and a steal over the last two weeks. Parra could be a play in deep five outfielder roto leagues.

NL Central

Team Off. Rnk Games Home Away VS RHP VS LHP CHC 8 6 0 3(PHI) 3(PIT) 3 3 CIN 4 7 4(STL) 3(WSH) 7 0 MIL 26 5 2(MIN) 3(WSH) 3 2 PIT 19 6 3(CHC) 3(LAA) 2 4 STL 23 6 0 2(KC) 4(CIN) 5 1

Nicolas Castellanos really needed to get out of Detroit. And boy is he happy he did. Castellanos has hit .424 with three home runs over the last two weeks for the Cubs. Chicago visits the Phillies and Pirates, two of the more homer prone pitching staffs. Ian Happ is back with the club and has started at second base over the last three games, his first starts at second since 2017 for the Cubs. Happ has hit .333 with three home runs over the last two weeks with an encouraging 16.7% walk rate and a 19.4% strikeout rate.

The Reds get seven games on the schedule and all seven games will come against right-handed starters. Reds and right-handers mean you play Jesse Winker where you own him. The Reds face the Nationals and Cardinals this week and avoid Max Scherzer as he recovers from a back injury. Cincinnati also misses Jack Flaherty’s spot in the rotation. Aristides Aquino has a .429 average and three home runs in seven games with the club and is an interesting add for power in leagues deeper than 12 teams for now.

Milwaukee only has five games on the schedule as they host the Twins for two and hit the road for a three-game series against the Nationals. This might be one of the only weeks you see the Brewers near the bottom of the hitting planner offensive rankings, especially with Christian Yelich nursing a back injury. Trent Grisham has played each of the last five games and has a .300 average with a home run.

Josh Bell has still yet to hit a home run since participating in the home run derby. Bell did have a multi-hit game Friday, so things could be looking up. Unfortunately, the Pirates get four left-handed starters on the schedule and Bell has hit .239 against lefties this season. Bryan Reynolds has hit .291 against lefties and continues to hit well over the last two weeks with a .370 average and four home runs. Reynolds has been a nice surprise this season and a valuable pickup in across all formats slashing .334/.406/.525 with 11 home runs on the year.

The Cardinals get six games on the road as they visit Kansas City for two and the Reds for four. Marcel Ozuna makes his return as he looks to get back into form. Ozuna has been one of the Cardinals’ better hitters against right-handed pitching with a .269 average and 18 of his 21 home runs. St. Louis gets five of six right-handed starters on the schedule. The only hitter hitting over .250 over the last two weeks for the Cardinals is Kolten Wong with a .353 average.

NL West

Team Off. Rnk Games Home Away VS RHP VS LHP ARI 2 7 4(SF) 3(COL) 5 2 COL 3 6 3(ARI) 3(MIA) 0 5 1 LAD 13 6 0 3(ATL) 3(MIA) 4 2 SD 17 6 3(TB) 3(PHI) 4 2 SF 24 6 2(OAK) 4(MIN) 4 2

The Diamondbacks don’t have it much better this week as they visit Colorado for three games and host the Giants for four. Arizona will avoid Madison Bumgarner when the Giants visit.

Back to Coors Field go the Rockies, and back to the top of the offensive rankings in the hitting planner. Colorado has all six games at home this week. That includes a visit by the Diamondbacks and Marlins. Miami has given up home runs at the sixth-highest rate in the majors since June 1. Raimel Tapia has hit .300 over the last two weeks and gets most of his playing time against right-handed starters. The Rockies are scheduled to face five righties.

The Dodgers host the Marlins for three games to start the week before the Brave come into town for three games. Two of the six games will come against left-handed pitching. Kristopher Negron has started four of the last five games and has hit .391 with two home runs. Will Smith hit third in the Dodger order on Friday and has been excellent since being recalled with a .333 average and three home runs. Smith is undoubtedly a top ten option at catcher with potential to produce top five numbers for the rest of the season.

Fernando Tatis Jr. continues to amaze in his rookie season for the Padres. Over the last two weeks, Tatis has hit .327 with six home runs. He just doesn’t stop. Francisco Mejia has gotten more playing time at catcher while hitting .379 over his last 10 games. Wil Myers has not only claimed his playing time back, but is hitting near the top the order again behind Tatis. Myers has turned things around the last couple weeks with a .304 average to go with a home run and a steal. If Myers was dropped, it might be time to pick him up as we know he has 30/30 potential.

The Giants have come back to Earth after a scorching month of July. It is so weird seeing Stephen Vogt playing left field. Only one player has started every game in the last week for San Francisco as they try to piece together a playoff push. That player is Kevin Pillar hitting .255 with two home runs and two steals. Pillar is relevant for those in roto leagues with his power and speed combination, having hit 13 home runs and stolen 10 bases on the year. The Athletics visit San Francisco for two games before the Giants go on to Minnesota for four games. The Giants get the DH position for those four games where they could get Pablo Sandoval or Donovan Solano’s bat in the lineup. They’ve hit .342 and .344 respectively over the last two weeks with two home runs each. Outside of Pillar, it’s hard to justify owning any bats in this lineup.

Hopefully, you’re finding Jorge’s Hitting Planner useful. For more great analysis check out all of our fantasy baseball content.

Jorge Montanez is a lifelong sports fan but new to the fantasy industry, joining Fantrax HQ as a writer in June of 2019. Jorge co-hosts the Bases Loaded Podcast, a fantasy baseball podcast covering everything fantasy baseball on a weekly basis. He was raised in Stockton, CA but now resides in Los Angeles, where you can find him at a ballpark playing catch with his two sons on the weekends. Follow Jorge @jmontanez90 on Twitter where he’ll be happy to give his take and answer questions on all things fantasy.

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