Wow, we blinked and we are almost to June. Warmer weather has offense booming, or maybe that’s just MLB changing the balls again. But, it’s that time of the week when we look at next week’s hitter grades. Each week I rank the top 100 hitters without bias using a variety of data. I take games played, park factors, matchups, and projections to help you find the top hitters for the upcoming week. I have described the process in more detail below as well as have the top-100 projected hitters for the week. Thanks for stopping by and best of luck in your leagues this week.

The Quick Grade Series

Each week, I will provide breakdowns of hitters with a grade range from 40 to 100. Think about a school grade (90-100 being an A, 80-89 equaling a B, and 70-79 = C, and so on). Grades are weighted based on several different factors that I discuss below.

Week eight covers games for the week of Monday, May 30, through Sunday, June 5.

You can find the Week 7 Quick Grades here.

How It Works

We established that each hitter would have a grade based on four categories that would land them a total score between 40 and 100. Each of the four categories will are graded from 10 to 25, which lands us at that total score. Here is what goes into it:

• Games Played – Let’s start simple. The more games played in a week, the more stats a player can accumulate. Maximizing plate appearances for fantasy baseball is huge. If the player you roster has seven games versus a different player having five games, it is a no-brainer. If a team is scheduled to play seven games that week, the team’s hitter will get 25 points. Six games earn a hitter 23 points, and five games drop you down to 20. If a team is set to play more than seven games in a week, that player will get 27 points for games.
• Ballpark Factors – Is a hitter playing four games in Coors? What about three in Oakland? These things matter. We will use the FantasyPros park factors to help us out there. I have created an algorithm that gives each ballpark a score from 10-25. Then factoring in how many games a hitter plays where each week, a score of 10-to-25 is given.
• Matchups – Does a hitter have strong splits against a left or right-handed pitcher? What if they face three lefties this week with a poor split against lefties. We factor that in. What about facing a murderers’ row of pitchers like Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, and Freddy Peralta. All these factors are taken into account.
• Projections – Finally, we will factor in projections. I will update using FantasyPros projections and scale them down to a weekly projection. It is not perfect, but using projections with the other factors can help project how a player might perform.

Week 8 Hitter Grades (5/30-6/5)

Team to Stream

• Atlanta Braves - The Braves have a perfect storm of seven games upcoming next week which should create an opportunity for that offense to get hot. They first play three games in Arizona where they draw very favorable pitching matchups, then four games in Coors should be plenty to get the bats going strong. William Contreras is earning everyday playing time and should be someone rostered everywhere moving forward thanks to his catcher eligibility, but also playing other positions. Any Braves starter should be started this week in fantasy.

Team to Fade

• Chicago White Sox - If you have a tough choice on who to start and a White Sox hitter is in question, it may be a good time to sit them. They are on the road for six games including three tough games in Toronto where they are scheduled to face Kevin Gausman, Hyun-Jin Ryu, and Alek Manoah. Then they travel to Tampa Bay to face Shane McClanahan who has arguably been the best pitcher in baseball, as well as Drew Rasmussen and Ryan Yarbrough. It could be a tough week for White Sox hitters.

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Chris Clegg is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Chris, check out his archive and follow him @RotoClegg.