The final stretch is upon us. We have made it to September. If you are still reading this article at this point of the season, you are serious about winning your league. Thanks for hanging in all season, and thank you to each of you who have stopped by to read Quick Grades each week.

Each week I rank the top 100 hitters without bias using various 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 and 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, 70-79 = C, and so on). Grades are weighted based on several different factors that I discuss below.

Week 21 covers games for the week of Monday, September 5, through Sunday, September 11.

You can find last week’s 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 be graded from 10 to 25, placing us at that total score. Here is what goes into it:

• Games Played – Let’s start simple. The more games played weekly, the more stats a player can accumulate. Maximizing plate appearances for fantasy baseball is huge. It is a no-brainer if the player you roster has seven games versus a different player having five games. 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 weekly, 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 at a specific park 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.
• 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 projections with the other factors can help project how a player might perform.

Week 21 Hitter Grades (9/5-9/11)

Team to Stream: Milwaukee Brewers

Milwaukee hitters could be in for a big week after drawing an eight-game schedule with favorable matchups. The Brew crew first head to Colorado for a three-game set in Coors Field. They then draw a doubleheader at home against the Giants. They close out the weekend with three games at home against the Reds. The only potential tough pitching matchups could be against the Giants, but they are lined up to throw Jakob Junis and Thomas Szapucki. The moral of the story, get those Brewers hitters in your lineup!

Team to Fade: Texas Rangers

It won't be an easy week for Rangers hitters next week. They head to Houston for a three-game set and face off against Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier, and Lance McCullers Jr. They finished the week with three games at home against the Blue Jays. While the matchups are not quite as daunting, they still get Ross Stripling, who has pitched extremely well, Jose Berrios, and Kevin Gausman. It is an easy week to fade Texas 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.