Weekly Hitter Rankings: Showtime in Chi-town

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 August 15-21

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. Chicago Cubs

vs. MIL (4) – Chase Anderson (R), Garza (R), Nelson (R), Davies (R)
at COL (3) – T. Anderson (L), Chatwood (R), J. De La Rosa (L)

Tuesday's make-up doubleheader plus a trip to Coors put the Cubs firmly on top this week.

2. Washington

at COL (3) – J. De La Rosa (L), Bettis (R), J. Gray (R)
at ATL (4) – Foltynewicz (R), Whalen (R), Teheran (R), Jenkins (R)

3. Cleveland

vs. BOS (1) – Tomlin (R)
vs. CHW (3) – Quintana (L), Ranaudo (R), Rodon (L)
vs. TOR (3) – Liriano (L), Aaron Sanchez (R), Stroman (R)

4. Boston

at CLE (1) – Tomlin (R)
at BAL (2) – Gallardo (R), Tillman (R)
at DET (4) – Boyd (L), M. Fulmer (R), D. Norris (L), Verlander (R)

5. Detroit

vs. KC (3) – Kennedy (R), Duffy (L), Ventura (R)
vs. BOS (4) – S. Wright (R), Porcello (R), Pomeranz (L), E. Rodriguez (L)

6. Seattle

at LAA (4) – Nolasco (R), Chacin (R), Skaggs (L), Shoemaker (R)
vs. MIL (3) – W. Peralta (R), Undecided, Chase Anderson (R)

Junior Guerra (elbow) could come off the DL in time to take the Saturday start, but if he's not ready there are no obvious other candidates.

7. Kansas City

at DET (3) – D. Norris (L), Verlander (R), Anibal Sanchez (R)
vs. MIN (4) – Gibson (R), Duffey (R), Santiago (L), E. Santana (R)

8. Miami

at CIN (4) – Finnegan (L), DeSclafani (R), H. Bailey (R), Straily (R)
at PIT (3) – G. Cole (R), Glasnow (R), Vogelsong (R)

9. Arizona

vs. NYM (3) – Colon (R), Syndergaard (R), Niese (L)
at SD (4) – Clemens (R), Cosart (R), Richard (L), Perdomo (R)

10. San Diego

at TB (3) – Smyly (L), Snell (L), Archer (R) wWITH DH
vs. ARI (4) – A. Bradley (R), Greinke (R), Ray (L), Shipley (R)

11. LA Angels

vs. SEA (4) – F. Hernandez (R), Paxton (L), Miranda (L), Iwakuma (R)
vs. NYY (3) – Tanaka (R), Severino (R), Green (R)

12. Cincinnati

vs. MIA (4) – Fernandez (R), Phelps (R), Cashner (R), Conley (L)
vs. LAD (3) – McCarthy (R), Hill (L), B. Anderson (L)

13. San Francisco

vs. PIT (3) – Vogelsong (R), Taillon (R), Nova (R)
vs. NYM (4) – deGrom (R), Matz (L), Colon (R), Syndergaard (R)

14. NY Mets

at ARI (3) – Ray (L), Shipley (R), Corbin (L)
at SF (4) – Bumgarner (L), Cueto (R), Moore (L), Samardzija (R)

Wilmer Flores could have a big week against all those lefties.

15. Milwaukee

at CHC (4) – Cahill (R), Hammel (R), Lester (L), Arrieta (R)
at SEA (3) – LeBlanc (L), F. Hernandez (R), Paxton (L) WITH DH

6 GAMES

16. Colorado

vs. WAS (3) – Scherzer (R), G. Gonzalez (L), Strasburg (R)
vs. CHC (3) – Hendricks (R), Lackey (R), Hammel (R)

Coors is gonna Coors. The Rockies would be 10th, ahead of the Padres, if the rankings ignored games played.

17. Toronto

at NYY (3) – Green (R), Pineda (R), Sabathia (L)
at CLE (3) – Bauer (R), Tomlin (R), Kluber (R)

18. Houston

vs. STL (2) – J. Garcia (L), C. Martinez (R)
at BAL (4) – Bundy (R), Gausman (R), Miley (L), Gallardo (R)

19. Baltimore

vs. BOS (2) – E. Rodriguez (L), Price (L)
vs. HOU (4) – Musgrove (R), McHugh (R), Fiers (R), Keuchel (L)

20. Minnesota

at ATL (2) – De La Cruz (R), Gant (R) NO DH
at KC (4) – Volquez (R), Minor (L), Kennedy (R), Duffy (L)

Mike Minor isn't yet confirmed for Friday's start but assuming he makes it through his rehab outing Sunday without a setback, he's likely to assume the fifth starter spot for the Royals.

21. NY Yankees

vs. TOR (3) – Dickey (R), Estrada (R), Happ (L)
at LAA (3) – J. Weaver (R), Noalsco (R), Chacin (R)

22. Texas

vs. OAK (3) – Detwiler (L), Triggs (R), Manaea (L)
at TB (3) – Andriese (R), Odorizzi (R), Smyly (L)

I promise you that Ross Detwiler is not this year's Rich Hill.

23. Oakland

at TEX (3) – M. Perez (L), Harrell (R), Darvish (R)
at CHW (3) – Shields (R), Sale (L), Quintana (L)

24. LA Dodgers

at PHI (3) – Velasquez (R), Hellickson (R), Thompson (R)
at CIN (3) – Reed (L), Finnegan (L), DeSclafani (R)

25. Tampa Bay

vs. SD (3) – Perdomo (R), Jackson (R), Friedrich (L)
vs. TEX (3) – Hamels (L), Griffin (R), M. Perez (L)

26. Chicago White Sox

at CLE (3) – Kluber (R), Carrasco (R), Clevinger (R)
vs. OAK (3) – Graveman (R), Neal (R), Detwiler (L)

27. Pittsburgh

at SF (3) – Moore (L), Samardzija (R), M. Cain (R)
vs. MIA (3) – Koehler (R), Fernandez (R), Phelps (R)

28. Philadelphia

vs. LAD (3) – Maeda (R), Kazmir (L), Stripling (R)
vs. STL (3) – Wainwright (R), L. Weaver (R), Leake (R)

29. Atlanta

vs. MIN (2) – E. Santana (R), Berrios (R)
vs. WAS (4) – R. Lopez (R), Roark (R), Scherzer (R), G. Gonzalez (L)

5 GAMES

30. St. Louis

at HOU (2) – Keuchel (L), Fister (R) WITH DH
at PHI (3) – Eickhoff (R), Morgan (L), Velasquez (R)

Once again, one team gets shafted with a short schedule. Use your Cardinals only if you have no other choice.