Sleeper hitters for Week 23 (Aug. 24-30)
A couple of IL stints have undermined Zack Gelof's breakout season, but he hasn't been fazed, for the most part, hitting three home runs in his first six games back from his latest stint earlier this month. A road trip has slowed him down more recently, but the Athletics are headed back home in Week 23, where Gelof is batting .311 with a .945 OPS. They also happen to have the third-best hitter schedule.
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Trent Grisham's actual stats have lagged behind his expected ones all season, but he's finally begun to close the gap, batting .350 (14 for 40) with five homers in his past 10 games. He's been great at home all year, batting .277 with a .934 OPS, and that's where the Yankees play all seven of their games this week while boasting the fifth-best hitter schedule.
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What makes the Yankees' schedule this week so favorable for hitters? Well, some of the pitchers on it include Ethan Pecko, Hayden Wesneski, Patrick Sandoval and whatever the Red Sox dig up for their doubleheader Saturday. Recent call-up George Lombard is off to a strong start, showing premium on-base skills with a touch of power and speed.
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Nolan Arenado was originally on this list for Week 22 as well but ended up being removed because of an intercostal injury. He's avoided the IL, though, collecting multiple hits in his return to the lineup Wednesday, and has 11 homers with a .904 OPS in his past 36 games. The Diamondbacks would probably have the sixth-best hitter schedule for this week, if I were to rank that far, with their four-game series against the Giants being particularly inviting.
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Speaking of the Giants, their young slugger Bryce Eldridge continues to make high-quality contact and has begun to see some results again with three homers in his past eight games. Hopefully, that's a good omen entering a week in which they have the fourth-best hitter schedule, with their four-game slate against the Diamondbacks being especially favorable.
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Strikeouts and ground balls have held Henry Bolte back as a rookie, but he's enjoying his finest month by far, batting .329 (24 for 73) with three homers and two steals in August. Like most Athletics hitters, he fares much better at home, batting .313 with an .801 OPS there, and that's where they're scheduled to play all six of their games this week.
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Likewise, Lawrence Butler has a batting average 50 points higher and an OPS 240 points higher at home than on the road, but lately, it hasn't mattered where he's playing. He's batting .291 (23 for 79) with six homers and three steals in his past 22 games. In addition to all the home games, the Athletics have the third-best hitter schedule this week.
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Abimelec Ortiz currently hasn't done much with his righty-heavy slate in Week 22, but fortunately, he has another in Week 23 with only one lefty on the schedule. The platoon concern is the biggest one for a rookie who has already shown he can throttle the ball, and I expect him to get back to throttling it with this week's No. 1 hitter slate.
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After some fits and starts, Christian Encarnacion-Strand is back to playing virtually every day for the Orioles and is producing enough to take advantage of the second-best hitter schedule. Having four lefties on it doesn't hurt, seeing as he's batting .313 with a 1.108 OPS against lefties.
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Coby Mayo should likewise benefit from all the lefties on the schedule this week, given that he's batting .293 with a 1.080 OPS against them, with 13 of his 17 home runs. The one hesitation is that he and Encarnacion-Strand tend to cannibalize each other's at-bats, and the recent return of Samuel Basallo from the IL has complicated that picture further by taking some DH at-bats away. Presumably, though, Basallo will spend most of his time at catcher this week.
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