Weekly Hitter Rankings: Tigers Burning Bright

The Hitter Value Meter is a 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 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 Hitter Value Meter will summarize all that info in one spot, for your roster juggling convenience.

For the week June 22-28

7 GAMES

1. Detroit (at CLE 3, vs. CHW 4) - It was a dogfight for the top spot this week, but the Tigers duck Corey Kluber and Chris Sale, giving them the edge. They do get the other three lefties in the ChiSox rotation, though (Carlos Rodon, Jose Quintana and John Danks), which is probably good news for the recently returned Victor Martinez, as before he hit the DL he was looking a lot more comfortable from the right side of the plate.

2. N.Y. Yankees (vs PHI 3, at HOU 4) - The Yankees likely would have landed atop the list, but the schedule still says they're facing Cole Hamels despite his boo-boo hamstring. He'd join Dallas Keuchel and Brett Oberholtzer in a tough three-lefty week, so the Yankees may want to make hay against the dregs of the Phillies' rotation while they can.

3. Chicago Cubs (vs. LAD 4, at STL 3) - It's an indication of how none of the teams with seven-game slates have particularly great schedules when a team that faces Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke to begin the week still winds up in the No. 3 spot. It's a southpaw-free period for the Cubs, so a player like Chris Coghlan becomes a much more appealing option if he was on the bubble for you.

4. L.A. Dodgers (at CHC 4, at MIA 3) - This is a bit of a default ranking, as the Marlins are one of a few teams whose rotations are a disaster area, and they still haven't confirmed their starters toward the end of next week. The Dodgers get two potentially tough lefties in Tsuyoshi Wada and Jon Lester, though, and a seven-game road trip split between two times zones isn't the most pleasant proposition.

5. Chicago White Sox (at MIN 3, at DET 4) - Long road trips can be dangerous, but nobody in the Twins' rotation is particularly fearsome, and David Price on Saturday is really their only tough matchup on paper. Although Monday's starter for Minnesota hasn't been made official yet it likely will be Tommy Milone, giving the White Sox a three-lefty week (Kyle Ryan being the third.) Let's see how they like a taste of their own medicine. What's that, you say? They're the worst-hitting team in the majors against lefties with a .520 OPS? Well then, I guess they won't like it very much at all.

6. Houston (at LAA 3, vs NYY 4) - I was actually tempted to put the six-game Rockies slate ahead of the Astros here (and my jury-rigged value calculator suggests Colorado might be the better play), but it would be a major leap of faith to give up that precious game in hand. If the 'Stros get shut out by Matt Shoemaker or something weird, you know who to yell at. It's a three-lefty week for Houston, with Hector Santiago and C.J. Wilson at the beginning of the slate joining CC Sabathia at the back end.

6 GAMES

7. Colorado (vs. ARI 3, at SF 3) - The power of Coors Field in these rankings is such that, had their road series been in even a neutral hitter's park, the Rockies likely would have leapfrogged a couple teams who play one more game than them. Alas, they have to travel to San Francisco to end the week, undercutting the value of those home games against the Diamondbacks. Chase Anderson will be making his first trip to Denver this season, so that shiny sub-3.00 ERA of his is probably going to get sullied to start the week, but then the Rox get delivered up to Madison Bumgarner on Sunday. So it goes.

8. Milwaukee (vs. NYM 3, vs. MIN 3) - Yay, six home games in a hitter-friendly park! As an added bonus, the Brewers will skip Matt Harvey (the Mets haven't finalized their rotation after their Monday off day, but Harvey is pitching on the 21st.) The Twins' series looks even more inviting, with Hall of Meh talents like Kyle Gibson on the schedule. The Brewers will probably be seeing two lefties in Jon Niese and Tommy Milone, but neither are locked in.

9. Arizona (at COL 3, at SD 3) - Like their Denver hosts at the beginning of the week, the D-backs' bats get a rude awakening when they come down from the mountains, having to travel to San Diego, so they better rack up all the hits they can in Colorado. Jorge De La Rosa is the only lefty they'll face.

10. Minnesota (vs. CHW 3, at MIL 3) - This is a pretty enticing slate, even if the Twins do have to stand in against Chris Sale going for his eleventy-zillionth double-digit strikeout game in a row. The three Brewers' starters they face are, well, they've seen better days, with Mike Fiers' somewhat deceptive 3.82 FIP being the cream of the crop. Sale and John Danks are the only two lefties they'll get.

11. Baltimore (at BOS 3, vs. CLE 3) - The O's get the talented end of the Red Sox rotation in Fenway, but your guess is as good as mine as to which version of Clay Buchholz will show. The Indians' set is similarly hit or miss (see what I did there? 'Cause we're talking about hitters, so they either hit or they miss when they swing. OK, now you're just being mean. A courtesy chuckle would have been fine), with Cody Anderson making his second major-league start between Corey Kluber and the mostly-good Trevor Bauer. Eduardo Rodriguez is the only portsider they'll see.

12. Texas (vs. OAK 3, at TOR 3) - Jesse Chavez, Kendall Graveman and Sonny Gray is a tough way to begin a week, which seems weird to say given how Graveman began the year, but he's been on fire since he was called back up. The road set against the Jays should be marginally better, as Toronto has no idea who their fifth starter will be (Daniel Norris is still having control problems at Triple-A, but if not him then who?), but Mark Buehrle is been on something of a roll, and Drew Hutchison has been like Clay Buchholz North this season alternating awful starts with solid or even excellent ones. If the pattern holds he'll be due for a good one against the Rangers, for what that's worth.

13. Miami (vs. STL 3, vs. LAD 3) - Yay? Six home games in a neutral hitter's park, but with some nasty matchups, make the Marlins a tough team to read this week. They get the young and wild portion of the Cards' rotation, but then the Dodgers send the veteran, eyes-of-a-killer portion of theirs to South Beach, so it could be a long week for Miami. They also get four straight lefties, with Jaime Garcia and Tyler Lyons joining Brett Anderson and Clayton Kershaw, so if you're really desperate Jeff Baker could be worth a look.

14. Washington (vs. ATL 3, at PHI 3) - The Braves send what could be considered their best to start the week, as Alex Wood is getting his act together, Matt Wisler looked good in his debut and Shelby Miller is still performing like he was designed by his namesake. Business picks up in Philly, though, as the Nats get the ugly, non-Hamels portion of the Phillies' rotation. Wood's the only lefty they're set to face.

15. Boston (vs. BAL 3, at TB 3) - This slate is pretty much the definition of mediocre. No aces, no lefties, nobody pitching particularly poorly or well at the moment, nothing much to see here, move along, move along. It might be a good spot in which to use David Ortiz, though, if Big Papi has slipped to your bench due to his struggles.

16. Tampa Bay (vs. TOR 3, vs. BOS 3) - Yay, I guess. Six home games, but in a meh hitter's park. Marco Estrada has looked like a world-beater lately and could continue to do so as long as R.A. Dickey is disrupted opposition swings the day before he pitches, and Drew Hutchison may manage to string together two good starts in a row eventually. The Red Sox set looks better on paper, but Rick Porcello, Wade Miley and Joe Kelly have FIPs that outpace their ERAs, so they could be due for better results. Basically, if you think the Gambler's Fallacy is actually more like the Gambler's Truism, this whole week for the Rays screams stay away, but more rational folks will be able to see some modest upside for Tampa's hitters this period.

17. Philadelphia (at NYY 3, vs. WAS 3) - The Phillies don't have much to brag about this period. They get two struggling lefties in CC Sabathia and Gio Gonzalez, but also have to face Michael Pineda and Max Scherzer, and there aren't any other safe harbors in the schedule. They don't even have any obvious DH candidates on their bench who can take advantage of the short porch in Yankee Stadium. Bah.

18. L.A. Angels (vs. HOU 3, vs. SEA 3) - Six home games in a pitcher-friendly park doesn't even rate a qualified "Yay," but hey, at least the Angels are at home. They duck Dallas Keuchel but have to face Felix Hernandez on Sunday, and get two lefties in Brett Oberholtzer and J.A. Happ. In short, you could do worse, but you could also do a whole lot better.

19. Cleveland (vs DET 3, at BAL 3) - The Indians start the period with the David Price-Kyle Ryan duo of disparately-talented lefties, but after that it's right-handers as far as the eye can see. There are some scary names in that group (Justin Verlander and Kevin Gausman, for instance), but no one who's pitching especially well at the moment.

20. St. Louis (at MIA 3, vs. CHC 3) - The only confirmed starter the Cards are set to face is Jake Arrieta on Friday, with the entire Marlins rotation and the rest of the Cubs' rotation up in the air. Jose Fernandez isn't going to have his timetable moved up, though, so it's not like Miami is going to suddenly pull an ace or two out of their back pocket, and St. Louis will duck Jon Lester, so this won't be the scariest set of opposition pitchers around no matter who they finally name.

21. Oakland (at TEX 3, vs. KC 3) - Is this the start when Chi Chi Gonzalez's magic finally wears off, and that ridiculous 0.90 ERA of his finally balloons? Mind you, you could say much the same thing (without the 0.90 ERA part) about Wandy Rodriguez, so if luck is still on the side of the Rangers' rotation, this could be a tough series for the A's. When the Royals figure out what's going with their rotation, give me a call, but chances are good whoever they trot out will be either Edinson Volquez or a veteran, junkballing righty. Hey, maybe this is where Dillon Gee will finally end up ...

22. Toronto (at TB 3, vs. TEX 3) - The Jays get stuck with the nasty end of the Rays' rotation, as both Chris Archer and Nate Karns (yes, Karns now qualifies as part of the nasty end) wait for them in Tampa. Yovani Gallardo should be the toughest Rangers starter they face, but see above for Chi Chi Gonzalez's ridiculousness, and Nick Martinez has stubbornly refused to regress to the mean too. Road starts in the Rogers Centre have a tendency to be FIP-enforcing though, so anyone invested in those two may want to watch out for falling fantasy value.

23. Atlanta (at WAS 3, at PIT 3) - There's a big dropoff after the Blue Jays in the rankings this week, so while the Braves are technically No. 23, they might as well be No. 33. On the bright side, the Braves duck Max Scherzer and instead get the scuffling Jordan Zimmermann and Doug Fister. The Nats' third starter in the series might be Stephen Strasburg, though from Atlanta's perspective that might be better than getting rookie Joe Ross coming off an 11-K gem. The same pattern applies in the back half of the week, as the Braves avoid both Gerrit Cole and A.J. Burnett, but the rest of the Pirates' rotation is still solid. Francisco Liriano and Jeff Locke give Atlanta a two-lefty week.

24. NY Mets (at MIL 3, vs. CIN 3) - The Brewers set doesn't look tough, because nobody in the Brewers' rotation looks tough, and the Reds' fifth starter is ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, but the Mets are stuck with Johnny Cueto on Sunday. It looks like an all-righty week, though, which is good news for their big left-handed sluggers like Lucas Duda and, umm, Lucas Duda.

25. Pittsburgh (vs. CIN 3, vs. ATL 3) - Six home games in PNC Park is pretty much the opposite of "Yay!", but hey, at least they're at home ... ? Johnny Cueto's the big dog in the yard, but both Mike Leake and Alex Wood have found their grooves, and Williams Perez hasn't been embarrassing himself. If Julio Teheran suddenly clicks too, this could be a bad batch of at-bats for the Bucs.

26. San Francisco (vs. SD 3, vs. COL 3) - See above, only it's AT&T Park which is even more favorable to pitchers. The Padres haven't settled their rotation after their Monday off-day, but James Shields will be one of them, as well as Ian Kennedy finally teasing that he might be returning to form. Chad Bettis kicks off the Rockies' series, and given how well he's held up at altitude who knows what he might do in San Francisco. Chris Rusin figures to be the only lefty the Giants will face.

27. Seattle (vs. KC 3, at LAA 3) - The Royals rotation is a mystery wrapped in an enigma, but behind Edinson Volquez (who the Mariners will duck) it's all interchangeable righties who have trouble breaking 90 mph with their fastballs anyway, so exactly which three crafty veteran junkballers they get almost doesn't matter. The Angels set should be a stiffer test, with Garrett Richards and Hector Santiago both lined up after, umm, crafty veteran junkballing righty Jered Weaver.

28. San Diego (at SF 3, vs. ARI 3) - The Padres have two advantages over the two teams below them in the rankings. One, the Diamondbacks rotation is a mess, so even though they get Arizona's one decent option in Chase Anderson, the other two games will help soften the blow. Two, they have three home games. Otherwise, yuck. Madison Bumgarner's the only lefty they're likely to face.

29. Kansas City (at SEA 3, at OAK 3) - Six road games in pitchers' parks, and a week that leads off with Felix Hernandez, is not exactly a promising slate. The Royals do get three lefties though (Mike Montgomery, Roenis Elias and Scott Kazmir), so it could be a good week to gamble on an Alex Rios resurgence.

30. Cincinnati (at PIT 3, at NYM 3) - Six road games in pitchers' parks, with the added bonus of having to face Gerrit Cole, A.J. Burnett and probably Matt Harvey, make Reds hitters this week's must-avoid group. Jeff Locke's the only lefty they'll get, so there aren't even any sneaky platoon possibilities on their bench. Marlon Byrd maybe should have waited a week before rushing back from the DL.