Week 7 Hitting Planner

The Fantasy Baseball Hitting Planner is the essential guide to setting your lineup for the upcoming week. Every Saturday, we provide you with favorable and unfavorable matchups, along with news and notes on lineups. The Pitching Planner, complete with upcoming two-start pitchers, will be posted on Sunday.

Don't forget to check out our Weekly Planner page, under the stats tab on your league pages. It has the weekly matchups for each team broken down by day, the number of games ahead for each team and finally, the hitting and pitching stats for each team (broken down by home and away).

Weather planner: Taking into account all games with at least a 50 percent chance of precipitation according to Weather.com, the following games are in danger of being rained out: Washington at N.Y Mets (70 percent chance) on Monday.

Interleague schedules ahead

This coming weekend, May 16-18, marks the first games of interleague play this season.

AL teams traveling to play in NL parks will be without designated hitters. These players will have to find at-bats at other positions:, Chicago White Sox (Jim Thome), Cleveland (Travis Hafner), Detroit (Gary Sheffield), Kansas City (Billy Butler), Minnesota (Jason Kubel), Oakland (Frank Thomas), Tampa Bay (Jonny Gomes) and Toronto (Matt Stairs).

NL teams traveling to play in AL parks will get to add a designated hitter to their lineups, which means the following teams could give extra at-bats to these players: Houston (Darin Erstad), L.A. Dodgers (Andre Ethier), Milwaukee (Gabe Kapler), N.Y. Mets (Angel Pagan), San Diego (Scott Hairston) and Washington (Elijah Dukes).

The Pirates travel to Chicago to play the Cubs Friday, so neither will have a designated hitter obviously.

This week's news and notes for each team:

Arizona Diamondbacks: Chris Snyder has raised his batting average 99 points by hitting safely in 11 of his past 12 starts. He has 15 hits in his past 38 at-bats, with four doubles, a triple and two homers ... Only the Cubs (5.66) have scored more runs per game this season than the D-Backs (5.61). But Arizona is the most improved offense in the league so far, with a 1.22 RPG difference from last season ... Orlando Hudson (hamstring) could be ready to play this weekend, so check his status Monday morning ... Conor Jackson (head) was back in the lineup Friday after colliding on the basepaths Wednesday.

Atlanta Braves: Gregor Blanco and Matt Diaz are in a straight platoon now in left field -- making both of them NL-only limited Fantasy players ... Only Joe Mauer (15) has more base hits than Brian McCann (14) over the past two weeks ... Chipper Jones was held without a hit Friday for just the fourth time in 32 games this season.

Baltimore Orioles: Aubrey Huff has been a forgotten Fantasy player since he left St. Pete a couple seasons ago. But he's not deficient in any one category, and he has now hit safely in 18 of his past 20 games ... Nick Markakis has reached base safely in 33 of the past 35 games.

Boston Red Sox: The Boston Globe notes that Julio Lugo was suffering from headaches and a slight concussion after a collision Friday night at Minnesota. Prospect Jed Lowrie should be the benefactor of extra at-bats. In limited time at third base, Lowrie has a .263 batting average in 38 at-bats, with six RBI.

Chicago Cubs: Whatever happened to the trade that didn't happen between Baltimore and the Cubs? The Cubs were through to be sending a package of players that included Ronny Cedeno, Sean Gallagher and Donald Veal for 2B Brian Roberts to help them in the leadoff spot. While the Cubs aren't getting much from their leadoff position right now (ranking last in the majors in batting (.195) and on-base percentage (.261)), adding Roberts might not have made as much of a difference as you'd think. Here are the current numbers of the players that were reportedly involved in the trade that didn't happen:

• Brian Roberts, 2B, BAL: .252 BA, .337 OBP, 5 for his past 32 (.156)
• Ronny Cedeno, SS, CHC: .346 BA, .429 OBP, 18 RBI
• Sean Gallagher, SP, CHC: 2-2, 3.10 ERA, .196 BAA when he was at Triple-A
• Donald Veal, SP, CHC: 2-1, 2.67 ERA at Double-A Tennessee

Chicago White Sox: With no DH coming in three games at San Francisco, Paul Konerko could lose some at-bats to Jim Thome, who can play first base. Thome's bat isn't valuable enough to cost Konerko that many at-bats though.

Cincinnati Reds: 2B Brandon Phillips (calf) would have missed Friday's game against the Mets had it not been rained out, but he played on Saturday. But he also looked like he hurt his hamstring while legging out a double. Check his status ... OF Jay Bruce is batting .323 with five homers and 24 RBI in 34 games at Triple-A Louisville. The Reds are expected to trade free agent-to-be Ken Griffey Jr. once he reaches 600 homers (at 597 now), so Bruce should be up sooner than later. He's already owned 92 percent of CBSSports.com leagues ... Jeff Keppinger leads the NL in batting average with runners in scoring position (.444) through Friday.

Cleveland Indians: The Indians host Toronto Monday to end their series, before Oakland comes to town. Then they'll travel across the state to take batting practice at Great American Ball Park for three games. Three games against the A's pitching staff (best in the majors with a 3.16 ERA) are offset by three games in Cincinnati, where 20 homers have been hit this season (tied for sixth in the majors).

Colorado Rockies: Omar Quintanilla has settled in to the second base position -- as well as the second spot in the order, with Troy Tulowitzki sidelined for a couple months. O.Q. is batting .346 with four doubles over the past six games.

Detroit Tigers: As good as Placido Polanco has been at the plate over the past couple weeks (.404, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 12 R, 2 SB), his middle infield partner Edgar Renteria has done as bad (.125, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, 1 SB) ... The Tigers have six games this week, but they are all on the road -- at Kansas City (4.24 home ERA, 19th) and at Arizona (3.54 ERA this season, fourth in majors).

Florida Marlins: The Marlins have been surprising both at the plate and on the mound. They have scored 4.71 RPG so far this season, ranking them 11th in the majors. But strangely, they rank 20th in scoring at home (4.33), compared to first overall on the road (5.29).

1. Alfredo Amezaga, CF -- Sharing starts in center with Cody Ross, but both are hitting just .200 combined, with one homer, 11 RBI and 13 runs scored. Would Jim Edmonds take a paycut to start in South Florida?
2. Jeremy Hermida, RF -- After missing time with a knee injury and a slow start at the plate once he was activated, Hermida is getting hot. In eight May games, he's batting .313 -- but he has just one RBI in that span.
3. Hanley Ramirez, SS -- Jimmy Rollins' ankle injury and Jose Reyes' slow start paved the way for Han-Ram to be the top shortstop in Fantasy thus far. He just signed a mega-contract with the Marlins Saturday.
4. Mike Jacobs, 1B -- He's sidelined with a strained quadriceps injury, but he leads the team with 24 RBI. 3B Jorge Cantu is hitting cleanup in his place, with Wes Helms at first base.
5. Dan Uggla, 2B -- He was batting .248 with four homers and 12 RBI in the second spot in the order (26 games). But in eight games out of the two-hole, he's batting .300 (8-for-24), with four homers and eight RBI.
6. Luis E. Gonzalez, RF -- Starting in left field in place of the injured Josh Willingham (back), Gonzo is batting .393 with one homer and five RBI in eight May games. The Hammer took soft toss swings this week, and he should be ready for a rehab assignment this week. "I feel better, but I still have to regain strength," Willingham told The South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "They have talked about it, but they probably would want me to take some swings in a game before I come back."
7. Jorge Cantu, 3B -- Helms is hitting in this spot for now, with Jacobs sidelined, and Cantu has hit safely in eight of his past 11 games.
8. Mike Rabelo, C -- While Rabelo has emerged as the better backstop, Matt Treanor is hitting better recently, so manager Fredi Gonzalez has put him on the lineup card a few more times recently.

Houston Astros: The Big Puma, Lance Berkman, is working on a hitter's Triple Crown this season. He leads the NL with 35 RBI and he is second in the league in home runs and batting average (.380). Over the past week? He's only hitting .750, with eight extra-base hits and nine RBI. He's also only three steals away from his career high (nine).

Kansas City Royals: John Buck has shown that he has power over the past few seasons, unfortunately, it also came along with a batting average near .230. He only has two homers right now, but he is batting .344 (11-for-32) with one homer, six RBI and six runs scored over the past 10 games ... The Royals are home for three against the Tigers before traveling to South Florida to face the Marlins without a designated hitter.

L.A. Angels: Chone Figgins has missed five straight games with a strained right hamstring and manager Mike Scioscia is close to deciding whether or not to put him on the DL. I expect it to happen, since it can be backdated. Brandon Wood is starting at third base in his place, and he's batting .200 with one homer and one RBI.

L.A. Dodgers: With Nomar Garciaparra (calf) possibly coming back this week from the DL, the Dodgers will have to make a decision on who to start at third base. Blake DeWitt is hitting well (.471 with two homers and five RBI in his past six games) and he might have played his way into the job until Andy LaRoche returns from the minors -- which might not be soon.

Milwaukee Brewers: Mike Cameron's back from suspension! Unfortunately, he's batting under .200 so far. Actually, all of the Brewers are struggling at the plate, hitting a combined .210 with four homers and 16 runs scored over the past six games.

Minnesota Twins: Delmon Young is still without a home run -- six weeks into the season. He has just 10 RBI and the Twins rank in the bottom third of the majors in runs scored so far. This lineup has a combined 17 homers -- bad enough to rank them last in the majors behind Kansas City (19) and San Francisco (20).

N.Y. Yankees: Robinson Cano is finally starting to heat up, with three homers, six RBI and five runs scored in his past nine games. Granted, he's only hitting .265 (9-for-34) in that span, but still, it's progress. His season batting average is now up to .182 ... Hideki Matsui's hit streak ended at 17 games on Thursday ... Derek Jeter hit his first home run of the season Saturday -- after 129 at-bats ... Wilson Betemit pulled up lame running into second base with a stand-up double against the Tigers Saturday. He left the game immediately, which could mean extra at-bats for Morgan Ensberg at third base until A-Rod comes back later this week at the Mets.

N.Y. Mets: Carlos Delgado batted seventh in Saturday's game against the Reds -- it was the first time he hit that low since Sept. 30, 1995, according the Elias Sports Bureau. He certainly responded well to it, going 2-for-4 and a single shy of hitting for the cycle, with five RBI. Delgado was hitting .216 before the game, and now he's up to .233. He has 23 strikeouts in 120 at-bats.

Oakland Athletics: Frank Thomas has multiple hits in three of the past eight games for the A's this month. But with Oakland traveling to Cleveland for three games and then anti-DH Atlanta, he's a better sit than a start in Fantasy.

Philadelphia Phillies: Eric Bruntlett has played really well for the Phillies in place of Jimmy Rollins (ankle). Bruntlett was hitting well above his head though, with eight RBI in a four-game series at Arizona. Rollins, the reigning NL MVP, came off the DL Friday at San Francisco and hit a two-run homer. He's ready to plug right back into your lineups ... After getting off to a great start this season, Pat Burrell has slowed just a bit, hitting .182 (6-for-32) with one homer and five RBI in his past 10 games.

Pittsburgh Pirates: Entering the season, only Jason Bay and Ryan Doumit really caught Fantasy owners' eyes. Bay was coming off a horrible season and Doumit didn't even have a starting gig -- so even they weren't concrete early rounders. Then Doumit broke out as their starting catcher, Xavier Nady turned into an RBI machine and Nate McLouth started the season with a 19-game hitting streak. It's time to add Jose Bautista to that list of surprise hitters. He has hit safely in eight of his past 10 games with three homers and eight RBI.

San Diego Padres: With the release of CF Jim Edmonds Friday, Padres management is taking steps to try and get the team out of last in scoring. They cut their most expensive mistake so far. Their 2.81 RPG at home is understandable because it's a heavily pitching favored park, but they rank just 27th in the majors on the road, with 3.70 RPG. Jody Gerut was brought up from the minors and he started in center on Friday against the Rockies, but that's a temporary answer (along with Scott Hairston possibly). At first, this looks like it signaled the arrival of slugging prospect Chase Headley, but GM Kevin Towers plans to protect him a little longer. "I don't think it's the proper environment right now," Towers told the San Diego Union-Tribune Friday. "He was touted so highly and (with) fans' expectations, if Chase Headley was to come play left field right now, he'd probably be looked on as our savior. At some point in time he will be here, but we didn't think it was the appropriate time right now to put him in a situation where expectations are pretty high, where he would have to put any added pressure on himself to turn the entire ballclub around. I don't think he can do that single-handedly." Still, Headley is a 24-year-old former third baseman that has raised his batting average up to .292 at Triple-A Portland after a brutal start. They can't protect him for too long without drawing the ire of their fans. San Francisco Giants: The Giants host Houston and the White Sox for seven games this week. While that sounds great for Fantasy owners -- they are averaging just 3.71 RPG at home, which ranks them 28th in the majors in front of Kansas City and San Diego.

Seattle Mariners: The Mariners were forced to look to their rookies recently, turning to OF Wladimir Balentien and Jeff Clement. Balentien has three homers and seven RBI in just 34 at-bats, which certainly bodes well for his Fantasy production later this season. Clement isn't doing much at the plate, but the M's are growing frustrated with Kenji Johjima.

St. Louis Cardinals: Ryan Ludwick is batting .478 this week, in five starts and seven games. With Skip Schumaker, Rick Ankiel and Chris Duncan starting in the outfield, it's going to be difficult to get Ludwick at-bats, but he's starting to prove what he can do. He leads the team with three homers this week also ... The Cardinals outfield situation is packed as it is, then factor in that they didn't even bring up prospect Colby Rasmus yet. It was a smart move, in retrospect, for them to send him down in March. He's batting just .191 with five homers and 14 RBI in 36 games at Triple-A Memphis.

Tampa Bay Rays: Evan Longoria got a breather Thursday before returning to the starting lineup Friday and mashing the go-ahead homer to save James Shields' one-hitter ... Manager Joe Maddon's patience has with Akinori Iwamura at the leadoff spot has finally begun to pay off. He led the team with nine hits this week, and he's batting .321 with five runs scored (including a double, a triple and a homer).

Texas Rangers: Rookie Brandon Boggs has taken hold of the left field position in Texas. He's hitting .385 with two homers and eight RBI in 11 games. He crashed into a wall Friday, and remained down for several minutes, but he was able to stay in the game and finish 3-for-4 with a homer. Consider picking him up in AL-only play.

Toronto Blue Jays: Vernon Wells is now expected to be out for six to eight weeks with a broken left wrist suffered Friday night. The recent additions of Kevin Mench through a trade and Brad Wilkerson off of waivers helps them more now than it did a day ago ... The Blue Jays failed to score more than five runs for the 22nd time in 23 games Friday at Cleveland.

Washington Nationals: Belliard had an infection in his fingernails that cost him a few days, while he was also dealing with a back problem. The Nationals didn't mention the problems to the press because they wanted opposing teams to think manager Manny Acta had Belliard to play as a pinch hitter. He was able to play Thursday ... Elijah Dukes returned from the DL Friday and he'll serve as the Nats' fourth outfielder.

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