Weekly Hitter Rankings: Texas Taking Over

The Weekly Hitter Rankings is a companion piece to the Weekly Pitcher Rankings. While in many leagues your offensive roster slots are set 'em and forget 'em, in deeper formats where every at-bat counts, knowing which teams have friendly schedules for hitters, and which platoon bats will be getting more action than usual, can be valuable information, especially in head-to-head formats and leagues where you make moves weekly instead of daily. The Weekly Hitter Rankings will summarize all that info in one spot, for your roster-juggling convenience.

For the period August 8-14

NOTE: I've begun to incorporate 2016 offensive performance into the home/road splits for each team and will gradually increase the weight the more recent numbers carry as the season progresses. 2016 park factors are also now included, replacing 2013 park factors in the rolling three-year average.

7 GAMES

1. Texas

at COL (2) – T. Anderson (L), Chatwood (R) NO DH
vs. COL (2) – J. De La Rosa (L), Bettis (R)
vs. DET (3) – Boyd (L), Anibal Sanchez (R), M. Fulmer (R)

2. Houston

at MIN (4) – Duffey (R), Santiago (L), E. Santana (R), Berrios (R)
at TOR (3) – Liriano (L), Aaron Sanchez (R), Stroman (R)

3. Minnesota

vs. HOU (4) – McHugh (R), Fiers (R), Keuchel (L), Fister (R)
vs. KC (3) – Duffy (L), Ventura (R), Volquez (R)

4. Colorado

vs. TEX (2) – Hamels (L), Griffin (R)
at TEX (2) – M. Perez (L), Harrell (R) WITH DH
at PHI (3) – J. Thompson (R), Eickhoff (R), Eflin )R)

5. St. Louis

vs. CIN (3) – Reed (L), Finnegan (L), DeSclafani (R)
at CHC (4) – Lester (L), Arrieta (R), Hendricks (R), Hammel (R)

6. Milwaukee

vs. ATL (4) – Whalen (R), Jenkins (R), De La Cruz (R), R. Hernandez (R)
vs. CIN (3) – Bailey (R), Straily (R), Reed (L)

Given the quality (or lack thereof) of the pitchers they're facing this week, the Brewers are the place to shop if you're looking for sneaky plays on offense.

7. Oakland

vs. BAL (4) – Gausman (R), Miley (L), Gallardo (R), Tillman (R)
vs. SEA (3) – T. Walker (R), Paxton (L), Iwakuma (R)

8. Baltimore

at OAK (4) – Graveman (R), Undecided, Overton (L), S. Gray (R)
at SF (3) – M. Cain (R), Bumgarner (L), Cueto (R) NO DH

The A's have yet to announce who their fifth starter will be, but deadline acquisition Jharel Cotton is the most interesting possibility.

9. Atlanta

at MIL (4) – Davies (R), Guerra (R), Chase Anderson (R), Garza (R)
at WAS (3) – Strasburg (R), Roark (R), Scherzer (R)

Note that the Braves face no lefties this week, so don't expect to see much of Gordon Beckham.

6 GAMES

10. Boston

vs. NYY (3) – Severino (R), Eovaldi (R), Pineda (R)
vs. ARI (3) – Corbin (L), A. Bradley (R), Greinke (R)

The Red Sox would rank fourth, ahead of the Rockies, if games played weren't a consideration.

11. Toronto

vs. TB (3) – Odorizzi (R), Smyly (L), Snell (L)
vs. HOU (3) – Musgrove (R), McHugh (R), Fiers (R)

12. LA Angels

at CHC (2) – Hammel (R), Lackey (R) NO DH
at CLE (4) – Tomlin (R), Kluber (R), Carrasco (R), Bauer (R)

The Angels also face an all-righty slate and have no DH available in Chicago, which will squeeze Jefry Marte for at-bats.

13. Cleveland

at WAS (2) – Scherzer (R), G. Gonzalez (L) NO DH
vs. LAA (4) – Lincecum (R), Skaggs (L), Shoemaker (R), Weaver (R)

14. Chicago Cubs

vs. LAA (2) – Weaver (R), Nolasco (R)
vs. STL (4) – C. Martinez (R), Wainwright (R), Wacha (R), Leake (R)

The Cubs hold the week's third sked without lefties, which could cost Jorge Soler and Willson Contreras some playing time.

15. Detroit

at SEA (3) – Iwakuma (R), Miranda (L), F. Hernandez (R)
at TEX (3) – Darvish (R), Hamels (L), Griffin (R)

16. Tampa Bay

at TOR (3) – Dickey (R), Estrada (R), Happ (L)
at NYY (3) – Sabathia (L), Tanaka (R), Severino (R)

17. Seattle

vs. DET (3) – M. Fulmer (R), Zimmermann (R), Verlander (R)
at OAK (3) – Manaea (L), Graveman (R), Undecided

Jordan Zimmermann isn't confirmed yet due to his lat strain but seems on track to make this start. The A's have yet to announce who their fifth starter will be, but deadline acquisition Jharel Cotton is the most interesting possibility.

18. Kansas City

vs. CHW (3) – Sale (L), Quintana (L), M. Gonzalez (R)
at MIN (3) – Gibson (R), Duffey (R), Santiago (L)

The Rays, Mariners and Royals are all in a virtual tie, being within 0.05 of each other in my ranking formula.

19. NY Yankees

at BOS (3) – Porcello (R), Pomeranz (L), S. Wright (R)
vs. TB (3) – Archer (R), Andriese (R), Odorizzi (R)

20. San Francisco

at MIA (3) – J. Fernandez (R), Koehler (R), Phelps (R)
vs. BAL (3) – Bundy (R), Gausman (R), Miley (L)

21. Chicago White Sox

at KC (3) – Volquez (R), Kennedy (R), Gee (R)
at MIA (3) – Cashner (R), Conley (L), J. Fernandez (R) NO DH

22. San Diego

at PIT (3) – Locke (L), Vogelsong (R), Taillon (R)
at NYM (3) – Verrett (R), deGrom (R), Matz (L)

23. Pittsburgh

vs. SD (3) – Perdomo (R), E. Jackson (R), Friedrich (L)
at LAD (3) – Stripling (R), Hill (L), McCarthy (R)

24. Miami

vs. SF (3) – Cueto (R), Moore (L), Samardzija (R)
vs. CHW (3) – Rodon (L), Shields (R), Sale (L)

25. Cincinnati

at STL (3) – Wacha (R), Leake (R), Garcia (L)
at MIL (3) – Nelson (R), Davies (R), Guerra (R)

It's apparently the week for virtual ties in my rankings – I had to go to four decimal places to separate the Marlins and Reds.

26. LA Dodgers

vs. PHI (3) – Eflin (R), Velasquez (R), Hellickson (R)
vs. PIT (3) – Nova (R), G. Cole (R), Locke (L)

27. Arizona

at NYM (3) – Matz (L), Colon (R), Syndergaard (R)
at BOS (3) – E. Rodriguez (L), Price (L), Porcello (R) WITH DH

28. NY Mets

vs. ARI (3) – Greinke (R), Ray (L), Shipley (R)
vs. SD (3) – Clemens (R), Cosart (R), Perdomo (R)

It says something about the Mets' offense at home (fourth-worst in the league this year) that even with this slate, they still rank this low.

29. Philadelphia

at LAD (3) – McCarthy (R), Maeda (R), Kazmir (L)
vs. COL (3) – J. Gray (R), T. Anderson (L), Chatwood (R)

5 GAMES

30. Washington

vs. CLE (2) – Bauer (R), Clevinger (R)
vs. ATL (3) – Foltynewicz (R), Whalen (R), Jenkins (R)

Nats hitters are almost must-avoids with the only five-game schedule in the league this week.