Weekly Hitter Rankings: Time for Texas

Written by

Updated on July 23, 2016 8:01PM EST

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 July 25-31

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

vs. OAK (3) – Mengden (R), S. Gray (R), Manaea (L)
vs. KC (4) – Ventura (R), Volquez (R), Kennedy (R), Flynn (R)

2. Boston

vs. DET (3) – Verlander (R), Pelfrey (R), M. Fulmer (R)
at LAA (4) – Weaver (R), Lincecum (R), Santiago (L), Skaggs (L)

3. Chicago Cubs

at CHW (2) – M. Gonzalez (R), Shields (R) WITH DH
vs. CHW (2) – Jacob Turner (R), Sale (L)
vs. SEA (3) – Iwakuma (R), Miley (L), F. Hernandez (R)

4. Kansas City

vs. LAA (3) – Santiago (L), Skaggs (L), Shoemaker (R)
at TEX (4) – Hamels (L), Griffin (R), Lohse (R), M.

For the period July 25-31

7 GAMES

1. Texas

vs. OAK (3) – Mengden (R), S. Gray (R), Manaea (L)
vs. KC (4) – Ventura (R), Volquez (R), Kennedy (R), Flynn (R)

2. Boston

vs. DET (3) – Verlander (R), Pelfrey (R), M. Fulmer (R)
at LAA (4) – Weaver (R), Lincecum (R), Santiago (L), Skaggs (L)

3. Chicago Cubs

at CHW (2) – M. Gonzalez (R), Shields (R) WITH DH
vs. CHW (2) – Jacob Turner (R), Sale (L)
vs. SEA (3) – Iwakuma (R), Miley (L), F. Hernandez (R)

4. Kansas City

vs. LAA (3) – Santiago (L), Skaggs (L), Shoemaker (R)
at TEX (4) – Hamels (L), Griffin (R), Lohse (R), M. Perez (L)

5. Baltimore

vs. COL (3) – J. De La Rosa (L), Bettis (R), J. Gray (R)
at MIN (1) – Gibson (R)
at TOR (3) – Dickey (R), Happ (L), Aaron Sanchez (R)

6. Arizona

at MIL (4) – Chase Anderson (R), Garza (R), Nelson (R), Davies (R)
at LAD (3) – Maeda (R), Kazmir (L), Norris (R)

7. St. Louis

at NYM (3) – Syndergaard (R), Colon (R), Verrett (R)
at MIA (4) – J. Fernandez (R), Urena (R), Chen (L), Koehler (R)

8. LA Angels

at KC (3) – Kennedy (R), Flynn (R), Duffy (L)
vs. BOS (4) – Price (L), Porcello (R), Pomeranz (L), S. Wright (R)

9. Milwaukee

vs. ARI (4) – Shipley (R), Corbin (L), A. Bradley (R), Ray (L)
vs. PIT (3) – G. Cole (R), Glasnow (R), Taillon (R)

10. San Francisco

vs. CIN (3) – DeSclafani (R), C. Reed (L), Straily (R)
vs. WAS (4) – Roark (R), Scherzer (R), J. Ross (R), G. Gonzalez (L)

11. Philadelphia

at MIA (3) – Chen (L), Koehler (R), Conley (L)
at ATL (4) – Teheran (R), Wisler (R), Jenkins (R), Harrell (R)

Teheran (lat) may not be able to take his turn here, but the Braves don't have an obvious alternative.

12. Chicago White Sox

vs. CHC (2) – Arrieta (R), Hendricks (R)
at CHC (2) – Hammel (R), Lackey (R) NO DH
at MIN (3) – Nolasco (R), Milone (L), E. Santana (R)

13. NY Mets

vs. STL (3) – C. Martinez (R), J. Garcia (L), Wainwright (R)
vs. COL (4) – T. Anderson (L), Chatwood (R), J. De La Rosa (L), Bettis (R)

14. Miami

vs. PHI (3) – Hellickson (R), Eickhoff (R), Eflin (R)
vs. STL (4) – Wacha (R), Leake (R), C. Martinez (R), J. Garcia (L)

15. Colorado

at BAL (3) – Gallardo (R), Tillman (R), Bundy (R) WITH DH
at NYM (4) – deGrom (R), Matz (L), Syndergaard (R), Colon (R)

6 GAMES

16. Toronto

vs. SD (3) – Rea (R), Cashner (R), Perdomo (R)
vs. BAL (3) – Worley (R), Gallardo (R), Tillman (R)

Purely by the formula I use and ignoring number of games played, the Blue Jays would rank ninth, ahead of the Brewers.

17. Minnesota

vs. ATL (2) – Harrell (R), Foltynewicz (R)
vs. BAL (1) – Gausman (R)
vs. CHW (3) – Quintana (L), M. Gonzalez (R), Shields (R)

18. Oakland

at TEX (3) – Lohse (R), M. Perez (L), Darvish (R)
at CLE (3) – Bauer (R), Tomlin (R), Kluber (R)

19. Detroit

at BOS (3) – Pomeranz (L), S. Wright (R), E. Rodriguez (L)
vs. HOU (3) – McHugh (R), Fiers (R), Keuchel (L)

20. Houston

vs. NYY (3) – Pineda (R), Sabathia (L), Tanaka (R)
at DET (3) – Zimmermann (R), Anibal Sanchez (R), Verlander (R)

21. San Diego

at TOR (3) – Aaron Sanchez (R), Stroman (R), Estrada (R) WITH DH
vs. CIN (3) – Finnegan (L), Bailey (R), DeSclafani (R)

Homer Bailey's return from Tommy John surgery isn't locked in yet, but if he makes it through his rehab start Monday with no issues, the Reds should make it official soon afterwards.

22. Washington

at CLE (2) – Salazar (R), Carrasco (R) WITH DH
at SF (4) – Cueto (R), Samardzija (R), Peavy (R), M. Cain (R)

23. NY Yankees

at HOU (3) – Keuchel (L), Fister (R), McCullers (R)
at TB (3) – Odorizzi (R), Smyly (L), Snell (L)

24. Cincinnati

at SF (3) – Peavy (R), M. Cain (R), Bumgarner (L)
at SD (3) – E. Jackson (R), Friedrich (L), Rea (R)

25. Atlanta

at MIN (2) – E. Santana (R), Duffey (R) WITH DH
vs. PHI (4) – Nola (R), Velasquez (R), Hellickson (R), Eickhoff (R)

5 GAMES

26. Pittsburgh

vs. SEA (2) – F. Hernandez (R), Paxton (L)
at MIL (3) – Guerra (R), Chase Anderson (R), Garza (R)

27. Cleveland

vs. WAS (2) – G. Gonzalez (L), Strasburg (R)
vs. OAK (3) – Hill (L), Graveman (R), Mengden (R)

28. LA Dodgers

vs. TB (2) – Archer (R), Moore (L)
vs. ARI (3) – Godley (R), Shipley (R), Corbin (L)

29. Seattle

at PIT (2) – Locke (L), Liriano (L) NO DH
at CHC (3) – Lester (L), Arrieta (R), Hendricks (R) NO DH

With no DH all week and all those lefties on the schedule, Adam Lind becomes a must-avoid in any format.

30. Tampa Bay

at LAD (2) – Norris (R), McCarthy (R) NO DH
vs. NYY (3) – Nova (R), Eovaldi (R), Pineda (R)