Fantasy Baseball Forecaster for Week 6: May 16-22 (2024)

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• Projected starting pitchers for the next 10 days

• Hitter matchup ratings for the next 10 days

• Week 6 hitting ratings

• Week 6 pitcher rankings

• Fantasy's Week 6 gets off to a later start, as the first two of 12 night games Monday are scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET. For your daily lineup planning, Tuesday has three day games among 17 in total, the earliest being Game 1 of a Chicago White Sox at Kansas City Royals doubleheader, that broadcast on ESPN+ and set to begin at 2:10 p.m. ET. Wednesday has five day games, the first two on tap for 1:10 p.m. ET, and 15 overall. The Thursday action begins at 12:35 p.m. ET, one of four day games and seven overall. Friday has one day game, set to begin at 2:20 p.m. ET, among 15 games total. Saturday has five day games, beginning with the White Sox at the New York Yankees on ESPN+ at 1:05 p.m. ET, among 15 games total. The Sunday action begins at 11:35 a.m. ET, one of 14 day games and 15 overall, concluding with the White Sox at the Yankees on Sunday Night Baseball at 7 p.m. ET.

• Additional ESPN+ games include the Atlanta Braves at the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday at 7:40 p.m. ET, the Seattle Mariners at the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday at 7:07 p.m. ET, the St. Louis Cardinals at the New York Mets on Thursday at 1:10 p.m. ET, the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday at 7:05 p.m. ET, and the Oakland Athletics at the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday at 4:07 p.m. ET

• That White Sox-Royals Tuesday doubleheader, which makes up one of the originally scheduled, opening-week games postponed by the lockout, gives both teams the benefit of an eight-game Week 6. The Royals are the hosts for these teams' five-game, week-opening series, and as they'll play all eight games at home, the other three coming against the Minnesota Twins, they're the ones with the stronger overall matchups. It's the second consecutive week that the Royals have had a fantasy-friendly schedule to some degree, except that this week's is a bit softer on the team's pitching staff, as it doesn't involve a trip to Colorado's Coors Field and it comes against White Sox and Twins teams that rank 24th (3.63) and 22nd (3.75) in runs per game this season. If there was ever a week to stream two-start pitcher Brad Keller (73.4% available in ESPN leagues), this is it, especially as he has a career ERA roughly nine-tenths of a run lower at home (3.43) than on the road (4.34). The rest of the team's rotation is somewhat in flux, due to May 8 and 17 doubleheaders, a current stretch of 19 days without a day off, and the demotion of Kris Bubic to the bullpen, but Zack Greinke (47.1% available) and Daniel Lynch (94.6%) should draw favorable enough assignments to be worth the add-and-start. On offense, a schedule of seven right-handed opposing starters, a stark contrast to last week's lefty-starter-heavy string, suits left-handed Royals hitters. Slumping No. 9 hitter Nicky Lopez (91.9%) might be primed for a breakthrough, and rookie catcher MJ Melendez (96.5%) should sneak in enough starts between catcher or designated hitter (with Salvador Perez handling the other) to warrant No. 2 fantasy catcher status.

• The Arizona Diamondbacks are the third of three teams that benefit from an eight-game week, that created by a Diamondbacks at Los Angeles Dodgers Tuesday doubleheader, again making up for one of those lockout-related postponements and creating the first double-dip at Dodger Stadium since 1999. The Diamondbacks are projected to face anywhere from three to five left-handed starters, which is great news for lefty-crushing Ketel Marte, a .357/.415/.659 hitter against lefties since the beginning of 2021.

• No team has a stronger all-around Week 6 schedule for fantasy than the Houston Astros, who visit the reeling Boston Red Sox for three games, before returning home to face the same-state rival Texas Rangers for four. Rookie Jeremy Pena (44.4% available), the team's usual No. 7 hitter status, is battling some knee soreness but appeared to have a good chance at returning to the lineup on Monday. Barring some turn of events before the weekly lineup lock, he's worth the add-and-start. This might also be the week that Yuli Gurriel (26.3%) picks up his hitting pace. On the pitching side, Jake Odorizzi (89.3%), who was pushed back from the team's May 13-15 series in Washington, will slot back into the rotation Monday and align for a two-start week. He's riding a three-start hot streak that began with a 23-point performance against these Rangers, his scheduled opponent for his second turn (Sunday).

• The Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Guardians draw the short end of the schedule stick, each with only five scheduled games, and the Reds' schedule comes entirely on the road, whereas the Guardians will play all of theirs at home. The Reds really have only three clearly fantasy-relevant regular starters, and two of them are starting pitchers (Luis Castillo and Tyler Mahle) who are both aligned to make starts against the potent-on-paper-yet-struggling Blue Jays. Tyler Stephenson might well be the only Reds player who warrants being locked into your lineups, at least in mixed leagues. As for the Guardians, two games against those Reds and three against the Detroit Tigers, opponents that are a combined 17-47 (.266 winning percentage), represents just about the best five-game schedule a team could draw. Have no fear keeping your Guardians active, but note that they probably won't have a two-start pitcher.

• Some pretty decent starting pitchers are scheduled for starts at Colorado's Coors Field during Week 6, as the San Francisco Giants and Mets make three-game trips there. Fortunately for Carlos Rodon's and Max Scherzer's managers -- those starters rank second and seventh among starters in fantasy points thus far -- each pitcher is scheduled to miss their respective series, but five of the six starters who will align for starts there (Alex Wood, Alex Cobb, Logan Webb, Carlos Carrasco and Taijuan Walker) have each averaged at least nine fantasy points per start, better than the league's average (8.6). The Giants' recent history at Coors is checkered -- some very good, some predictably poor, the latter not uncommon from pitchers at Coors -- and the Mets' group has limited experience there. My instinct in standard mixed leagues is to bench Wood, who is 1-of-9 in quality starts lifetime at Coors, and Walker, who leans a bit too pitch-to-contact, but Rockies hitters are still generally worth your starts because the Mets' Saturday "TBD" tilts the matchups back in their favor. You'll certainly want to load up on Giants and Mets hitters, who enjoy a sizable boost in value, especially Giants right fielder Mike Yastrzemski (48.7% available), whose .480 career wOBA at Coors is the highest of any active player with at least 75 plate appearances, and Mets leadoff hitter Brandon Nimmo (43.4%), who has a .438 career wOBA there.

• Taking account both hitting and pitching matchups, the Tampa Bay Rays have one of the best all-around Week 6 schedules, thanks to a three-game home series against the Tigers and three-game road series against the Baltimore Orioles, teams that rank among the bottom five in runs per game on offense while sporting rotations with beneath-league-average ERAs. The Rays, incidentally, dominated at Camden Yards in 2021, winning all nine games there while outscoring the Orioles, 85-43. Corey Kluber (61.1% available), who had 26, 21 and minus-21 fantasy points in his past three starts, to cast some doubt upon his reliability, is aligned as the team's two-start pitcher and is crafty enough to capitalize upon the matchups. Ji-Man Choi (88.3%), who is hitless in his first three games since returning from an elbow injury, nevertheless typically bats cleanup against right-handers, so a week with 5-of-6 projected righty opponents grants him a good chance at a rebound.

• The Chicago Cubs have an all-around favorable schedule of their own, as one of only three teams to play seven games, all of them at home (also the Orioles and Red Sox), three against the Pittsburgh Pirates and four against the Diamondbacks. COVID-19 issues have depleted the team's pitching depth, and what most bears watching is whether Marcus Stroman and David Robertson, both on that injured list, are able to return in time for Week 6 activation in fantasy leagues. Unfortunately, as of Monday's morning update, there was no clear sign of a return date for either. On offense, Seiya Suzuki's healthy return to the lineup over the May 13-15 weekend was a positive sign, though Rafael Ortega (98.6% available), a .309/.369/.495 hitter against righties since the beginning of 2021, seemed to capitalize on Suzuki's absence by reclaiming the team's leadoff man and right fielder role against right-handers. Ortega is a worthy deeper-league add-and-start thanks to five of the team's games being scheduled against right-handed starters.