There are only two weeks left in the 2025 Major League Baseball regular season. The final fortnight represents the fantasy baseball championship round in many leagues. Whether you have a two-week final or are approaching your league semifinal, take a minute to congratulate yourself on getting to this point. It has not been an easy road. Now is the time to focus on the task at hand and take home that championship. The Week 26 Fantasy Baseball Hitting Planner will help you identify favorable offensive matchups for you to take advantage of. There is a lot to get into regarding the upcoming week, so let’s dive in.
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Week 26 Schedule Notes
Week 26 is going to be a busy one around the league. MLB designed the schedule to ensure that all 30 teams would play exactly six games each during the final week. That is not the case for this coming week. There are an even dozen teams that play seven games this week. This provides fantasy baseball managers with plenty of opportunities to rack up the hitting stats. It can also make for some strange bedfellows in the way of roster management. There is not a lot that is off limits at this point in the season. It may feel gross to drop Kyle Tucker for Daylen Lile or Bo Bichette for Oswald Peraza. But those are the kinds of roster moves that fantasy managers reading this column (or maybe even one writing it) are considering making this weekend.
There are a pair of doubleheaders for fantasy managers to keep an eye on in Week 26. Atlanta and Washington face off in a doubleheader on Tuesday, while Cleveland and Minnesota play two on Saturday. Ironically, this is a double-edged sword for fantasy baseball purposes. It makes sense to target hitters on these teams in daily leagues. However, only Cleveland is currently in a position to fight for a playoff berth down the stretch. And their hopes may be dashed by the time Saturday rolls around. It would not surprise me to see many of the prominent hitters on all four teams sit out one of the two games on the days their teams play a doubleheader. That means that even though they are scheduled for seven games, many of their hitters may only play five or six.
Week 26 Starting Pitching Matchup Notes
The Arizona Diamondbacks get the highest rating in my Week 26 Hitting Planner. In fact, this is the highest rating I can recall giving this season. And they don’t even face the Colorado Rockies! Even if the Diamondbacks do not get the best draw this week, it may be the luckiest. They start the week by facing the San Francisco Giants. Arizona avoids both Logan Webb and Robbie Ray while facing Carson Whisenhunt and Carson Seymour. The rookie duo has combined to allow 15 home runs in 54.1 innings. Then, they will host the Philadelphia Phillies over the weekend. The Diamondbacks will avoid Cristopher Sanchez, Ranger Suarez, and Jesus Luzardo. Instead, they get Walker Buehler and Taijuan Walker in addition to Aaron Nola. Arizona only plays six games, but they should score plenty of runs.
The Los Angeles Dodgers also face San Francisco and Philadelphia in Week 26. However, they will face Webb, Ray, and the three Philly southpaws. As a result, their matchup rating is slightly below average this week. They also face five left-handed starting pitchers. This may be a problem for players like Max Muncy and Michael Conforto. Tommy Edman and Miguel Rojas could be in line for more at-bats this week. Minnesota is the only other MLB team currently scheduled to face more left-handed starters than righties this week. Luke Keaschall and Austin Martin should continue to hit towards the top of the lineup. Matt Wallner and Kody Clemens could be among those who see a dip in playing time.
Among the 12 teams with seven games on the slate, the Atlanta Braves have the highest matchup rating in the Week 26 Hitting Planner. That comes in large part because they face Mitchell Parker and Jake Irvin. They also avoid Tarik Skubal and Jack Flaherty when they face the Detroit Tigers. Cincinnati also has favorable matchups for most of the week. The Chicago Cubs get the lowest matchup rating among the dozen teams playing full slates. They will face Paul Skenes and Hunter Greene in addition to underrated pitchers like Mitch Keller and Nick Lodolo. I would not go out of my way to bench any Cubs regulars. But considering the matchups and the fact that Chicago cannot do much to improve its playoff position, it would not shock me if they have a relatively quiet week offensively.
Week 26 Ballpark Effects Notes
I would be remiss if I did not mention the Rockies. They do play six games at home after all. Playing in Coors Field will likely favor opposing hitters (specifically, Miami and the Los Angeles Angels) more than it will the Rockies’ hitters. Having said that, it is not as if the pitchers on those two teams are anything special. Caden Dana is the only starter Colorado will face who has struck out more than a batter an inning. And he sports a 6.32 and 6.33 FIP. The Rockies also face Sandy Alcantara and Kyle Hendricks. Both veterans pitch to contact, which could help mask some of Colorado’s swing-and-miss issues. I would not shy away from starting any relevant hitters on Colorado, Los Angeles, or Miami this week.
Week 26 Hitting Planner
| Team | Games | Home | Road | v. LHP | v. RHP | LHB | RHB | Mon | Tues | Wed | Thurs | Fri | Sat | Sun | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARI | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 101 | 105 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 7.5 | 6.5 | 5.5 | 6.75 | |
| ATH | 6 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 104 | 100 | 4.5 | 5 | 5 | 5.5 | 4.5 | 2 | 4.42 | |
| ATL | 7 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 100.6 | 100.6 | 7.5 | 4.5, 7.5 | 5 | 5.5 | 6 | 4.5 | 5.79 | |
| BAL | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 101.3 | 98.6 | 6.5 | 5 | 5.5 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4.71 |
| BOS | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 103 | 104.5 | 5.5 | 5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 4.58 | |
| CHC | 7 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 101.7 | 100.9 | 2 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 5.5 | 4 | 3.86 |
| CHW | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 99 | 98 | 4 | 4 | 5.5 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 4.92 | |
| CIN | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 101.3 | 101.7 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 5.29 |
| CLE | 7 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 101.1 | 101.4 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 2.5 | 4 | 6, 6 | 4.5 | 4.57 | |
| COL | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 112 | 113 | 4.5 | 4 | 5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 6 | 5.08 | |
| DET | 6 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 100 | 100 | 4 | 6 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5 | 5.25 | |
| HOU | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 102 | 99 | 5.5 | 4.5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3.83 | |
| KC | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 100 | 102 | 3 | 6.5 | 5 | 4 | 5.5 | 4 | 4.67 | |
| LAA | 6 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 104 | 105.5 | 3.5 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 7.5 | 5.5 | 5.25 | |
| LAD | 7 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 98 | 103 | 3 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 4.64 |
| MIA | 6 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 105 | 105.5 | 5.5 | 8.5 | 6 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.92 | |
| MIL | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 97.5 | 99 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 3.5 | 6 | 5.5 | 5.00 | |
| MIN | 7 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 102 | 103 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 5 | 5.5, 4 | 4 | 4.57 | |
| NYM | 6 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 98 | 98 | 4 | 3.5 | 6 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 7.5 | 5.33 | |
| NYY | 7 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 102.6 | 100.7 | 6 | 4.5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 4.93 |
| PHI | 6 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 99.5 | 104 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 6 | 5.5 | 4.42 | |
| PIT | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 100 | 98 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 4 | 5.5 | 5 | 5.5 | 5.00 | |
| SD | 6 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 98.5 | 98 | 4 | 5 | 4.5 | 6 | 7 | 6.5 | 5.50 | |
| SEA | 6 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 101 | 100.5 | 4.5 | 5 | 5.5 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 6 | 4.50 | |
| SF | 7 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 99.3 | 103.9 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 6 | 2.5 | 4 | 4 | 3.5 | 4.43 |
| STL | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 99 | 100 | 5.5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 6.5 | 3.5 | 4.58 | |
| TB | 7 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 98 | 107 | 5.5 | 4 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 2.5 | 6 | 4.5 | 4.64 |
| TEX | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 100 | 98.5 | 6 | 5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 7.5 | 4.5 | 5.33 | |
| TOR | 7 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 98.9 | 104.9 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 5 | 4 | 5.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.50 |
| WAS | 7 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 99.7 | 99.7 | 5 | 2.5, 6.5 | 4.5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4.79 |
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