Week 25 Hitting Planner

The Fantasy Baseball Hitting Planner is the essential guide to setting your lineup for the upcoming week. Every Saturday, we provide you with favorable hitting matchups for teams, as well as which hitters are hot or not. The Pitching Planner, complete with upcoming two-start pitchers, will be posted on Sunday.

Taking BP: Red Sox prospect Jacoby Ellsbury filled in for Coco Crisp (hip) Friday vs. the Yankees and was able to extend his hitting streak to 12 straight since being called up from Triple-A. He's a must-own in keeper leagues, but is playing well enough already to be worth a spot on AL-only rosters. ... The Red Sox are hoping to have slugger Manny Ramirez (back) in the lineup for Monday's series opener at Toronto. He hasn't played since Aug. 28, but is worth a gamble in larger formats as a third outfielder this week. ... With Kevin Youkilis getting hit on the wrist on Saturday afternoon, Eric Hinske could be in line for some regular at-bats in Fantasy Week 25. Consider him in AL-only formats as a result. ... Yankees 1B Jason Giambi appears to be getting into a rhythm at the plate, homering in consecutive series on for the first time all season. ... Royals rookie Alex Gordon was rested on Friday despite being in a hot 10-for-24 stretch because he was 0-for-7 lifetime against lefty C.C. Sabathia. The future Fantasy stud is hitting well enough to be active in any format. ... Orioles OF Corey Patterson (ankle) was able to test the severity of his sprain on Friday and the team expects him to be back in the lineup for Monday's series opener at New York. He's an adequate third outfielder when healthy. ... With Troy Glaus (foot) now out for the season, Russ Adams is in line for some more at-bats and could be useful in larger AL-only formats. He will split time with Hector Luna, who isn't really worth adding in Fantasy play at this time. ... Angels OF Gary Matthews Jr. (ankle) is still working his way back, but the team isn't ready to put a timeframe on his return. Keep him reserved until further notice. ... Braves 3B Chipper Jones (oblique) looked healthy in his return to the lineup Friday night and appears to be healthy enough to activate in all leagues again. ... Mets 1B Carlos Delgado (hip) was able tp take some grounders and play catch Friday, but is still not healthy enough to consider a good start at this stage of the Fantasy season. Keep him reserved. ... Reds INF Joey Votto seems to be a fixture in the starting lineup the rest of the way. He came into the weekend hitting .455 with two homers and eight RBI and has gone from prospect to good start in NL-only leagues.

Projections are for Sept. 17-23 games. All stats are through Friday's games.

This week's matchups
AL early	NL early	AL late	NL late
DET@CLE	NYM@WAS	OAK@CLE	NYM@FLA
BAL@NYY	FLA@ATL	BAL@TEX	MIL@ATL
BOS@TOR	MIL@HOU	TOR@NYY	HOU@STL
CHW@KC	CIN@CHC	KC@DET	CIN@SF
TEX@MIN	PHI@STL	CHW@MIN	PHI@WAS
TB@LAA	SF@ARI	BOS@TB	COL@SD
SEA@OAK	PIT@SD	SEA@LAA	PIT@CHC
	LAD@COL		LAD@ARI
On Tuesday, the Dodgers and Rockies will play a doubleheader in Colorado and the majority of the National League will be playing full seven-game weeks. The only NL teams who don't play seven games are the Diamondbacks and Cubs.
The following teams play seven games this week: Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago (White Sox), Cincinnati, Colorado, Florida, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles (Angels), Milwaukee, New York (Mets), Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Texas, Washington

Taking into account all games with at least a 50 percent chance of precipitation according to the Weather.com, the following might be threatened by poor weather: Baltimore at Texas (60 percent chance), N.Y. Mets at Florida (60 percent) on Saturday; Baltimore at Texas (60 percent) and N.Y. Mets at Florida (60 percent) on Sunday.

B E S T H I T T I N G S C H E D U L E
LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
TB Jackson	TB Hammel	TB Shields	SEA Ramirez	SEA Washburn	SEA Batista	SEA Weaver
TB pitching: 5.63 ERA overall (30th), 6.44 Road ERA (30th), 5.69 Sept. ERA (25th).
SEA pitching: 4.82 ERA overall (24th), 4.96 Road ERA (22nd), 6.44 Sept. ERA (29th).
The Angels draw one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball vs. Tampa Bay and another staff vs. Seattle that has fallen apart in September -- they even miss Felix Hernandez.

Five other favorable hitter schedules

Chicago Cubs -- vs. CIN (3), vs. PIT (3)

Just one of two NL teams with only six games, but they come against two teams with an ERA over 5.00.

Minnesota Twins -- vs. TEX (3), vs. CHW (3)

The Orioles have the second worst team ERA (5.02) in baseball and the Rangers have a 5.58 ERA in the month of September.

New York Mets -- at WAS (3), at FLA (4)

The Mets get four games against a Marlins staff with the second-worst ERA in the NL (4.91) and a 5.99 ERA in September.

Philadelphia Phillies -- at STL (3), at WAS (4)

They'll continue their run at a wild-card berth with three games at a St. Louis team that has quickly fallen out of the playoff picture thanks to a 5.57 September ERA.

St. Louis Cardinals -- vs. PHI (3), vs. vs. HOU (4)

Clinging on for dear playoff life, the Cards will get to play two teams with a combined September ERA of 5.84.

H O T H I T T E R S
We aren't suggesting you start these players no matter what, but you might consider starting them over struggling stars. The following eight hitters have extremely favorable matchups and/or are in the midst of hot streaks:
Ronny Paulino, C, Pittsburgh: He's hitting over .300 since the All-Star break and has the most hits (17) at the position in the last two weeks.
James Loney, 1B, L.A. Dodgers: He went 9-for-13 with eight RBI vs. San Diego and has five homers to go with 12 RBI in the last week.
Mark Ellis, 2B, Oakland: He's had a career year and is red-hot. He's 20-for-44 with four doubles, a homer and eight RBI in the last two weeks.
Troy Tulowitzki, SS, Colorado: He owns the NL rookie record for homers by a shortstop and has 12 RBI already in the month of September.
B.J. Upton, 2B/3B/DH/OF, Tampa Bay: Only A-Rod has scored more Fantasy points in the last month among players eligible at third base.
Matt Holliday, OF, Colorado: OK, we know it's obvious, but five homers in the last week? Come on. He's scorching at the right time.
Nick Swisher, OF/1B, Oakland: He's heating up with three homers in the last four games entering the weekend.
Pat Burrell, LF, Philadelphia: In the last week, he has three RBI and nine homers and he's 8-for-23 (.348) during that span.

W O R S T H I T T I N G S C H E D U L E
COLORADO ROCKIES
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
--	LAD(2) Billingsley/Wells	LAD Penny	LAD Lowe	@SD Peavy	@SD Germano	@SD Maddux
LAD pitching: 4.00 ERA overall (4th), 3.82 Road ERA (4th), 3.62 Sept. ERA (4th).
SD pitching: 3.69 ERA overall (1st), 3.63 Home ERA (3rd), 5.03 Sept. ERA (18th).
Colorado has to face the two best NL pitching staffs in consecutive series and three of those games come on the road at pitcher-friendly Petco Park.

Five other below-average hitter schedules

Arizona Diamondbacks -- vs. SF (3), vs. LAD (3)

Going up against two of the top-5 staffs in the NL doesn't bode well for the D-Back bats. The Dodgers have the third-best September ERA (3.57).

Cincinnati Reds -- vs. CHC (3), at SF (4)

They'll have to deal with the sixth and seventh best pitching staffs in the senior circuit so far this season and the Cubs can smell October.

San Diego Padres -- vs. WAS (4), vs. COL (3)

The lowly Nats actually have a top-10 MLB ERA in the month of September and Colorado's staff pitch well on the road.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays -- at LAA (3), vs. BOS (3)

B.J. Upton and Co. will have to hit against two of the top pitching staffs in the American League. Good luck.

Toronto Blue Jays -- vs. BOS (3), at NYY (3)

The Blue Jays face the team with the best AL ERA vs. Boston and the Yankees have buckled down with a 3.62 September ERA.

C O L D H I T T E R S
We aren't suggesting you sit anyone, but take a look at your roster to see if you have a better alternative. The following eight hitters have poor matchups and/or are in the midst of cold streaks:
Kenji Johjima, C, Seattle: He hasn't hit a home run since Aug. 20 and is hitting just over .250 in the month of September.
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, San Diego: He has just 11 hits in his last 50 at-bats (.220) and was hitless in four straight going into the weekend, going hitless in 17 at-bats.
Brian Roberts, 2B, Baltimore: He has just five hits in his last 43 at-bats (.116) and hasn't hit a home run since Aug. 17.
Derek Jeter, SS, N.Y. Yankees: The Yankee captain had just six hits in his last 40 at-bats (.175) entering the Boston series. If the Sox don't wake him up, nothing will.
Miguel Cabrera, 3B, Florida: He's still far too talented to sit in most leagues, but he has just one home run since Aug. 21 and looks to have checked out early.
Andruw Jones, OF, Atlanta: The slugger continues to struggle at critical times for his Fantasy owners. He has just five hits in the last two weeks.
Hideki Matsui, OF, N.Y. Yankees: Going into the critical series vs. Boston, he has four hits in his last 36 at bats (.111).
Vernon Wells, OF, Toronto: In the last two weeks, he has eight hits in 51 at-bats (.157). Do you sit him? If you have a hot bat on the bench, heck yes.

You can e-mail your Fantasy Baseball questions to DMFantasyBaseball@cbs.com. Be sure to include "Attn: Hitting Planner" in the subject heading. Please include your full name, hometown and state. Be aware, due to the large volume of submissions received, we cannot guarantee personal responses or answers to all questions.