On-Deck

On the Horizon - May 21 - May 27

One of the new features that we'll be bringing you each week will involve each team's upcoming schedule. This can be a major boost for those of you who keep a flex spot on your roster so that you can pick up players and use them as plug and play options. By knowing not only who they'll be facing, but also where they'll be facing them, this should give you some insight as to who the hot pickups for next week might be a few extra days in advance.

On Tuesdays, we'll be publishing our ballpark data from last season and a three year average for each stadium so that you'll be a little more familiar with how each stadium plays and what, exactly, it plays well to (it's a myth that all hitter's parks only play extremely well to power hitters). For now, we'll be using some of the top hitter's and pitcher's parks based on that data to compile which offenses have favorable schedules coming up and which offenses will be playing in parks that are more geared toward pitchers. As the year wears on, each team's opponents will factor more into the equation, based on how they have performed.

Home games are listed in CAPS, while the number in parentheses shows how many games they'll be playing each team.

Favorable

Cincinnati Reds: WASHINGTON (4), PITTSBURGH (3) - They'll get seven at home against middle of the road staffs in power-friendly The Great American Ballpark.

Seattle Mariners: Cleveland (1), Tampa Bay (3), Kansas City (3) - Not only will the M's have the luxury of facing the 21st and 30th ranked pitching staffs in terms of ERA this week, but they'll face four left-handed starters. The M's are batting .287 as a team against lefties so far this season as opposed to .268 against right-handers.

Chicago White Sox: OAKLAND (3), TAMPA BAY (3) - Not only will they play all six games in the friendly confines of U.S. Cellular, but they'll also avoid aces Dan Haren and Scott Kazmir.

Kansas City Royals: CLEVELAND (3), SEATTLE (3) - They'll avoid the two aces they could face (Sabathia & King Felix) while facing two bottom ten staffs in terms of ERA in Kaufmann Stadium, which played as a top five hitter's park last season.

Minnesota Twins: Texas (3), TORONTO (3) - They'll begin the week in a hitter's haven in Texas before returning home to face the pitching starved Jays in the Metrodome, where the Twins averaged half a run more per game last season.

Texas Rangers: MINNESOTA (3), BOSTON (3) - The Rangers posted just over a quarter of a run more per game when playing in Ameriquest last season than they did on the road. Though they'll have to go through Johan Santana and Daisuke Matsuzaka, they should do plenty of damage with the bats this week.

Arizona Diamondbacks: COLORADO (3), HOUSTON (4) - Seven at home in what was the second best hitter's park in all of baseball last season.

Unfavorable

Detroit Tigers: LOS ANGELES ANGELS (3), CLEVELAND (3) - Not only do the Tigers play all six in pitcher-friendly Comerica, but they'll face a virtual murderer's row of pitchers: John Lackey, Bartolo Colon, Ervin Santana, and C.C. Sabathia are all on the docket... not to mention red hot Fausto Carmona!

Chicago Cubs: San Diego (3), Los Angeles (3) - Not only do they have to leave the friendly confines all week, but they have to take a detour to Petco Park, where the deadball era never went away. Toss in Jake Peavy, Chris Young, and Derek Lowe, and runs may be hard to come by for the north siders.

Florida Marlins: PHILADELPHIA (3), NEW YORK METS (3) - Pro Player played as the sixth best pitcher's park in baseball last season, and the Fish will have to deal with Cole Hamels, Freddy Garcia, and John Maine there this week.

Milwaukee Brewers: Los Angeles (3), San Diego (3) - Unless you're headed to Arizona or Colorado, you don't want to be taking a trip out west. The Brew Crew will join the Cubs in having to head to Southern California for their next six, and you should expect their run production to drop a bit this week because of it.

San Diego Padres: CHICAGO CUBS (3), MILWAUKEE (3) - They'll play all six at home, where they're scoring just under a run less per game than they do on the road.

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