Weekly Hitter Rankings: Curtain Call

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 of Sept 26-Oct 2

NOTE: Home/road splits are now pulled purely from 2016 team performances, with 2015 numbers completed phased out. 2016 park factors are also now included, replacing 2013 park factors in the rolling three-year average.

7 GAMES

1. Chicago Cubs (32.938)

at PIT (4) – Kuhl (R), Vogelsong (R), Taillon (R), Nova (R)
at CIN (3) – Finnegan (L), Adleman (R), Stephenson (R)

Fittingly, the league-leading Cubs also lead the final week's rankings.

2. Toronto (32.790)

vs. NYY (1) – Severino (R)
vs. BAL (3) – Gausman (R), Jimenez (R), Tillman (R)
at BOS (3) – Porcello (R), E. Rodriguez (L), Price (L)

How's that for scheduling drama? The Blue Jays in Fenway on the final day of the season with a possible playoff spot on the line, facing the pitcher who helped them to the division crown last year.

3. Tampa Bay (31.502)

at CHW (4) – Shields (R), Sale (L), M. Gonzalez (R), Quintana (L)
at TEX (3) – Darvish (R), C. Lewis (R), M. Perez (L)

4. NY Yankees (31.483)

at TOR (1) – Happ (L)
vs. BOS (3) – Price (L), Buchholz (R), Pomeranz (L)
vs. BAL (3) – Gallardo (R), Miley (L), Bundy (R)

5. Seattle (30.712)

at HOU (3) – McHugh (R), Fiers (R), Fister (R)
vs. OAK (4) – Graveman (R), R. Alcantara (R), Cotton (R), Detwiler (L)

6. Washington (30.199)

vs. ARI (4) – A. Bradley (R), Godley (R), S. Miller (R), Ray (L)
vs. MIA (3) – Chen (L), Fernandez (R), Koehler (R)

7. St. Louis (30.130)

vs. CIN (4) – Adleman (R), Stephenson (R), DeSclafani (R), Straily (R)
vs. PIT (3) – Glasnow (R), Kuhl (R), Vogelsong (R)

The Cards face nothing but righties to close out the season, giving Brandon Moss one last chance to snap out of his slump in a big way.

8. Detroit (30.045)

vs. CLE (4) – Kluber (R), Clevinger (R), Bauer (R), Cody Anderson (R)
at ATL (3) – Blair (R), Teheran (R), Foltynewicz (R) NO DH

The Tigers get nothing but right-handers too and also lose the DH for the season's last series, which makes a couple of their hitters (Ian Kinsler, for instance) a little less appealing than the overall team ranking would indicate.

9. Arizona (29.444)

at WAS (4) – Roark (R), Scherzer (R), G. Gonzalez (L), J. Ross (R)
vs. SD (3) – E. Jackson (R), Cosart (R), Richard (L)

10. Cleveland (29.178)

at DET (4) – Farmer (R), Verlander (R), M. Fulmer (R), D. Norris (L)
at KC (3) – Ventura (R), Volquez (R), Kennedy (R)

Here's a riddle for you: If a farmer farms, what do verlanders and fulmers do? Answer: Get people out.

11. Oakland (28.882)

at LAA (3) – J. Weaver (R), Nolasco (R), Meyer (R)
at SEA (4) – Miranda (L), T. Walker (R), Iwakuma (R), F. Hernandez (R)

12. Cincinnati (28.797)

at STL (4) – J. Garcia (L), Wainwright (R), Leake (R), Reyes (R)
vs. CHC (3) – Lester (L), Hendricks (R), Lackey (R)

13. Pittsburgh (28.795)

vs. CHC (4) – Hendricks (R), Lackey (R), Arrieta (R), Montgomery (L)
at STL (3) – C. Martinez (R), J. Garcia (L), Wainwright (R)

14. Chicago White Sox (28.737)

vs. TB (4) – Cobb (R), Snell (L), Archer (R), Andriese (R)
vs. MIN (3) – Duffey (R), Santiago (L), Berrios (R)

6 GAMES

15. Texas (29.015)

vs. MIL (3) – Garza (R), Nelson (R), Chase Anderson (R)
vs. TB (3) – Odorizzi (R), Cobb (R), Snell (L)

16. Boston (28.672)

at NYY (3) – Cessa (R), Mitchell (R),Sabathia (L)
vs. TOR (3) – Estrada (R), Happ (L), Aaron Sanchez (R)

17. Colorado (27.956)

at SF (3) – Cueto (R), Moore (L), Samardzija (R)
vs. MIL (3) – Davies (R), Jungmann (R), W. Peralta (R)

18. Minnesota (27.766)

at KC (3) – Kennedy (R), Vargas (L), Duffy (L)
at CHW (3) – Rodon (L), Shields (R), Sale (L)

Four lefties on the horizon is good news for Kennys Vargas, but you should probably avoid using Max Kepler if you can.

19. Milwaukee (27.714)

at TEX (3) – M. Perez (L), Griffin (R), Hamels (L) WITH DH
at COL (3) – Bettis (R), T. Anderson (L), Marquez (R)

It says something about the Brewers' offense on the road this year that given where they'll be playing and who they'll be facing, they don't rank higher than this.

20. Kansas City (26.705)

vs. MIN (3) – Berrios (R), E. Santana (R), Gibson (R)
vs. CLE (3) – Tomlin (R), Kluber (R), Clevinger (R)

Eric Hosmer should like seeing nothing but right-handed starters for the final week. Kendrys Morales? Not so much.

21. San Diego (26.026)

vs. LAD (3) – Maeda (R), B. Anderson (L), Kazmir (L)
at ARI (3) – Shipley (R), Bradley (R), Godley (R)

22. Houston (26.014)

vs. SEA (3) – Iwakuma (R), F. Hernandez (R), Paxton (L)
at LAA (3) – Chacin (R), D. Wright (R), J. Weaver (R)

23. LA Angels (25.824)

vs. OAK (3) – Detwiler (L), Manaea (L), Mengden (R)
vs. HOU (3) – Peacock (R), Musgrove (R), McHugh (R)

24. LA Dodgers (25.674)

at SD (3) – Clemens (R), Perdomo (R), Friedrich (L)
at SF (3) – Bumgarner (L), A. Suarez (R), Cueto (R)

25. Baltimore (25.498)

at TOR (3) – Aaron Sanchez (R), Liriano (L), Stroman (R)
at NYY (3) – Pineda (R), Tanaka (R), Cessa (R)

26. Atlanta (24.731)

vs. PHI (3) – Eickhoff (R), Morgan (L), Hellickson (R)
vs. DET (3) – Boyd (L), Zimmermann (R), Verlander (R)

27. NY Mets (24.075)

at MIA (3) – Koehler (R), Urena (R), Cashner (R)
at PHI (3) – Asher (R), J. Thompson (R), Eickhoff (R)

Lucas Duda gets a nice run of right-handed pitching to try and help him end the year on a high note.

28. San Francisco (23.640)

vs. COL (3) – Marquez (R), Chatwood (R), J. Gray (R)
vs. LAD (3) – Kershaw (L), R. Hill (L), Maeda (R)

29. Miami (23.050)

vs. NYM (3) – Syndergaard (R), Colon (R), Lugo (R)
at WAS (3) – A.J. Cole (R), Roark (R), Scherzer (R)

Justin Bour gets a nice run of right-handed pitching to try and help him end the year on a high note.

30. Philadelphia (22.998)

at ATL (3) – Foltynewicz (R), Collmenter (R), Wisler (R)
vs. NYM (3) – Gsellman (R), Syndergaard (R), Colon (R)

Ryan Howard gets a nice run of right-handed pitching to try and help him end the year, and his Phillies career, on a high note.