Weekly Hitter Rankings: Shiny and Chrome

Prompted by a question I received in the Ask An Expert queue last weekend, we here at RotoWire figured it might be time to have a hitting companion piece to the weekly Pitching Value Meter. 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 (Ryan Raburn, for instance) will be getting more action than usual, can be valuable information, especially in head-to-head formats and leagues with weekly moves instead of daily. The Hitting Value Meter will attempt to summarize all that info in one spot, for your roster juggling convenience.

For the week June 8-14

7 GAMES

1. Colorado (vs. STL 3, at MIA 4) - Only three games in Denver and then four in a tough hitter's park, but the Marlins' starters (David Phelps, Jose Urena, Brad Hand and Dan Haren) aren't exactly elite. Hand is the only lefty on their docket.

2. Atlanta (vs. SD 4, at NYM 3) - The Braves likely face only one lefty this week, though the Padres don't yet have an announced starter for Thursday. They also see some pitchers who are struggling badly at the moment (Ian Kennedy, Jon Niese), pushing them up the rankings.

3. Milwaukee (at PIT 3, vs. WAS 4) - The Nats have two rotation spots in the air with Stephen Strasburg and Doug Fister on the DL, so the Brewers could end up facing raw rookies like A.J. Cole and Joe Ross. Francisco Liriano is the only lefty they'll likely see, but they will have two tough matchups against A.J. Burnett and Max Scherzer.

4. Cincinnati (vs. PHI 3, at CHC 4) - Facing three lefties this week should get bench bats like Kris Negron some work, but when those lefties are named Cole Hamels, Tsuyoshi Wada and Jon Lester, those at-bats may not turn into much production.

5. Miami (at TOR 3, vs. COL 4) - The Marlins also see three lefties, which could mean Jeff Baker sees some extra work at first base, and three road games in Toronto while ducking R.A. Dickey could give them a decent offensive boost.

6. San Diego (at ATL 4, vs. LAD 3) - The Padres get one lefty, but it's Clayton Kershaw, and they also get Shelby Miller and Zack Greinke, so this may not be the week to play around with their lesser lights despite the full schedule.

6 GAMES

7. St. Louis (at COL 3, vs. KC 3) - Playing half your week's games in Coors is always going to push you up in these rankings, even if one of those games is against the red-hot Chad Bettis. The Cards get two unimpressive lefties, Jorge De La Rosa and Jason Vargas.

8. Baltimore (vs. BOS 3, vs. NYY 3) - One of the few teams to enjoy home cooking all week. The O's get three lefties of varying quality (former Baltimore farmhand Eduardo Rodriguez, Wade Miley and CC Sabathia), so this may be a good week to roll the dice on Steve Pearce or Delmon Young.

9. Pittsburgh (vs. MIL 3, vs. PHI 3) - Cole Hamels on Sunday is the only stud (and only lefty) they'll see, and home games against Kyle Lohse, Sean O'Sullivan and a Brewers undecided are pretty juicy. This could be the week your struggling Pirates find their groove.

10. Minnesota (vs. KC 3, at TEX 3) - By the numbers, a game against the bafflingly effective Chris Young isn't a good matchup, but any set against the Royals where you avoid Yordano Ventura is a plus. They also get the back half of the Rangers rotation as the weather warms up in Arlington, though I guess technically Texas doesn't have a front half now. Vargas and Wandy Rodriguez are the Twins' lefty opponents this week.

11. N.Y. Mets (vs. SF 3, vs. ATL 3) - They're home all week and duck Madison Bumgarner, which is nice, but fly into the teeth of the Braves rotation (Shelby Miller, an improving Alex Wood, and young flamethrower Mike Foltynewicz). Wood's the only lefty on their schedule.

12. Toronto (vs. MIA 3, at BOS 3) - The Marlins' rotation is a shambles, so that home set to start the week could produce a lot of thunder from the Jays' sluggers. The series in Boston sees them face some highly volatile opposition in Eduardo Rodriguez, Clay Buchholz and Joe Kelly, though, so anything's possible in those three games. They get two lefties in Rodriguez and Brad Hand.

13. Chicago Cubs (at DET 2, vs. CIN 4) - There's a lot of meat on the bone here for the Cubs. Anibal Sanchez and Shane Greene are reeling, and other than Johnny Cueto the Reds aren't putting up anybody particularly scary (Mike Leake gave up 20 runs in three starts prior to his last outing, and Mike Lorenzen walks more guys than he strikes out). It's also a lefty-free week, so Chris Coghlan could get a lot of run.

14. L.A. Dodgers (vs. ARI 3, at SD 3) - The home set looks sweet, and while Robbie Ray's been decent in his two starts, Rubby De La Rosa and Jeremy Hellickson should give the Dodgers' bats a chance to tee off. Three games in Petco isn't ideal, but they do get the dregs of the Padres' rotation in Odrisamer Despaigne and Ian Kennedy before rounding things out with a tough one against James Shields. Ray's the only lefty starter they'll face.

15. Tampa Bay (vs. LAA 3, vs. CHW 3) - On the one hand, they get to hit against Matt Shoemaker, Jered Weaver and John Danks at home, and Danks just used up his one good start of the year. On the other hand, they also face Garrett Richards, Scrabble Shark and Chris Sale, and Samardzija's already used up his crappy starts for the season, probably.

16. Houston (at CHW 3, vs. SEA 3) - While the hitting environments are nice, the matchups aren't. The White Sox throw Chris Sale, Carlos Rodon and Jose Quintana at them, and the Mariners will turn to Mike Montgomery again, making four lefties in total. The other scheduled Seattle starters are Felix Hernandez and Taijuan Walker, so if you have shares in Preston Tucker, consider parking him on the bench for the whole period, and the same holds true for Jason Castro if you have any kind of alternative. Conversely, this could be a good spot to sneak Hank Conger into your active roster.

17. Boston (at BAL 3, vs. TOR 3) - Chris Tillman and Marco Estrada are the only apparent soft spots in their schedule, and Estrada has that prime "pitching after an effing knuckleballer" spot in the Jays' rotation after R.A. Dickey, so the Red Sox's hitters' timing may be off enough that they can't take advantage of Estrada's homer-prone ways. Wei-Yin Chen's the only lefty they face.

18. Cleveland (vs. SEA 3, at DET 3) - They duck King Felix but get David Price, though in 2015 just about every team would happily make that swap. Price caps a run of three straight lefty opponents in the middle of the week (Roenis Elias and J.A. Happ are the other two), making Ryan Raburn a more attractive option than usual.

19. Oakland (vs. TEX 3, at LAA 3) - Rookie Chi Chi Gonzalez is the only Rangers starter that might be a handful, and even he's more of a weak contact guy than a dominating power pitcher. Hector Santiago and C.J. Wilson on the road are a slightly more daunting proposition, though, as well as being the only lefties the A's face this week.

20. Texas (at OAK 3, vs. MIN 3) - The Twins' rotation past Wednesday remains technically undecided, but the Rangers will probably face Tommy Milone, Mike Pelfrey and Phil Hughes, which looks like good news for their bats. Getting Sonny Gray, Jesse Hahn and Scott Kazmir on the road to start the week, however, is a less enticing prospect.

21. San Francisco (at NYM 3, vs. ARI 3) - Dillon Gee should be a nice respite between Noah Syndergaard and Matt Harvey, but then they unluckily get the only Diamondbacks' starter worth a damn in Chase Anderson to kick off the home series. It's an all-righty period for the Giants, so don't expect to see much Justin Maxwell.

22. Chicago White Sox (vs. HOU 3, at TB 3) - Seeing Lance McCullers and Dallas Keuchel is not a fun way to start the week, and Chris Archer isn't a fun way to end it. Between they do get Roberto Hernandez and Alex Colome, though, so it's not entirely a write-off. Keuchel's the only lefty the White Sox face.

23. L.A. Angels (at TB 3, vs. OAK 3) - No favorable ballparks to hit in this week for the Angels, and not many favorable matchups either, though Erasmo Ramirez could give their hitting numbers a little boost. Sonny Gray and Jake Odorizzi will probably taketh away whatever Ramirez giveth, though. The Angels don't face any lefties this period, but the club lacks designated lefty-killers on the bench, so it isn't likely to affect the lineups much.

24. Washington (at NYY 2, at MIL 4) - Six road games is never a great spot to be in, unless it's a western swing through Colorado and Arizona, but the Nationals don't have it too bad. Masahiro Tanaka is a rough way to start the week, but Nathan Eovaldi doesn't scare anyone, and none of the Brewers' actual projected starters have an ERA less than 4.00 (Mike Fiers' 3.53 FIP is about the only sign of life among the bunch at the moment). Sunday's undecided for Milwaukee isn't likely to be any better, either. The Nats face five righties plus that undecided, so don't bother taking Tyler Moore out of mothballs.

25. Kansas City (at MIN 3, at STL 3) - The Royals see more or less the best of what the Twins have to offer in Phil Hughes, Trevor May and Kyle Gibson, things only get worse against the Cardinals, and all of it's on the road. There will be better spots to use your K.C. hitters. Jaime Garcia's the only lefty on the docket.

26. Arizona (at LAD 3, at SF 3) - There are bad road swings, and then there are bad road swings. The Diamondbacks do avoid Clayton Kershaw and get Carlos Frias instead, which counts for something, but then they face Madison Bumgarner when they get to San Francisco. Yuck. It's a two-lefty week for the D-Backs, with Bumgarner joining Brett Anderson on their schedule.

27. Seattle (at CLE 3, at HOU 3) - Normally, getting out of Safeco for a spell would be good news for any of your Mariners hitters, but when your road schedule includes names like Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer and Lance McCullers, you should probably keep your expectations in check. Brett Oberholtzer's the only lefty they get, so it will be interesting to see how Lloyd McClendon uses new toy Mark Trumbo.

28. Philadelphia (at CIN 3, at PIT 3) - While the week starts out not too badly for the Phillies, as they miss Johnny Cueto in favor of Mike Leake, Anthony DeSclafani and an undecided, the back half is brutal. Jeff Locke may be vulnerable, but getting Gerrit Cole and A.J. Burnett back to back in Pittsburgh is a formula for ohfers and golden sombreros. Locke's likely the only lefty on their docket, so you can just leave Jeff Francoeur right there on your reserve list where he belongs.

5 GAMES

29. NY Yankees (vs. WAS 2, at BAL 3) - Losing one game to the competition isn't too bad, but when you lose two it makes it really tough to catch up in terms of volume stats like runs and RBI, especially when 20 percent of your games are against Max Scherzer. They do get to hit against Bud Norris, though, which helps. Gio Gonzalez is the only lefty the Yankees will see this period.

30. Detroit (vs. CHC 2, vs. CLE 3) - Yeah, the Tigers are at home all week. Big whoop. Here's the gauntlet they have to run: Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, Danny Salazar, Carlos Carrasco and Corey Kluber. Start the studs, because you have to, but give serious thought to benching any other Detroit hitters you have if you've got even semi-decent alternatives available.