Adam's Weekly Baseball Forecast: Week of June 20th

Introduction: Welcome back, as I hope you all are doing well! The following is yet another weekly forecast where I give my thoughts and predictions for the week ahead in Major League Baseball. Per usual, my Two-Start pitchers article will be included, as well as hitters and pitchers who have favorable weeks ahead. At the end, my Reliever Report will wrap things up. Most importantly though, I hope you all enjoy reading my article! Let's roll!

Two-Start Pitchers: A "Two-Start" pitcher is simply a starting pitcher who starts twice in a week, as they can be crucial to those who play fantasy baseball and of course for their real-life teams as well!

The following are the majority of Two-Start pitchers for this week. To make things easier to understand, I have included who they will pitch against and the date they are scheduled to toe the rubber.

Must-Starts:

Gerrit Cole: 6/20 @TB, 6/25 vs. HOU

Corbin Burnes: 6/20 vs. STL, 6/25 vs. TOR

Logan Webb: 6/20 @ATL, 6/25 vs. CIN

Tony Gonsolin: 6/21 @CIN, 6/26 @ATL

Max Fried: 6/20 vs. SF, 6/25 vs. LAD

Shane McClanahan: 6/20 vs. NYY, 6/26 vs. PIT

Sean Manaea: 6/20 vs. ARI, 6/25 vs. PHI

Jose Berrios: 6/20 @CHW, 6/26 @MIL

Nestor Cortes: 6/21 @TB, 6/26 vs. HOU

Miles Mikolas: 6/20 @MIL, 6/25 vs. CHC

Dylan Cease: 6/21 vs. TOR, 6/26 @BAL

Solid Starts:

Spencer Strider: 6/21 vs. SF, 6/26 vs. LAD

Lance Lynn: 6/20 vs. TOR, 6/25 vs. BAL

Joe Ryan: 6/21 vs. CLE, 6/26 vs. COL

Questionable Starts:

Tyler Mahle: 6/21 vs. LAD, 6/26 @SF

Kyle Gibson: 6/21 @TEX, 6/26 @SD

Marco Gonzales: 6/21 @OAK, 6/26 @LAA

Jack Flaherty: 6/21 @MIL, 6/26 vs. CHC

Jose Urquidy: 6/21 vs. NYM, 6/26 @NYY

Starting Pitchers: The following starting pitchers have a favorable week ahead or have performed great over the last seven days.

Taijuan Walker: New York Mets: 6/25 @MIA

Walker shut down the Marlins over the weekend, while only giving up one run over 6.2 innings. Five out of his last six outings have been solid, as he gets a chance to face the Marlins yet again in Miami this coming Friday. Entering the start with a sterling 2.88 ERA, Walker is slowly trending up in fantasy baseball land, as I have him in a league myself and have all the confidence in him on Friday.

Merrill Kelly: Arizona Diamondbacks: 6/25 vs. DET

Let me first start out by saying that Kelly is a tough one to trust. After an amazing start to the season, Kelly has hit some rough patches to say the least, as it seems he is putting up below-average ratios about every other start. Although regression was likely coming for him at some point, I feel as if he is worth starting against the Tigers at home on Friday. Coming off an outing against Minnesota while only giving up one run, the Tigers are on tap for him this upcoming weekend, as I expect solid numbers from him.

Hitters: Similar to the pitchers above, the following hitters have either had a great last seven days or have a favorable week ahead.

O'Neil Cruz: Pittsburgh Pirates:

Cruz makes his debut on Monday, as he should be the talk of the town in Pittsburgh. The 6'7 shortstop should provide instant impact for a Pirates team who desperately needs it. Aside from Bryan Reynolds and Ke'Bryan Hayes, Pittsburgh has very limited consistent offensive production. That being said, the highly-touted Cruz should be rostered in the majority of fantasy leagues moving forward, as I expect him to be a vital piece for manager Derek Shelton the rest of the season.

Andrew Vaughn: Chicago White Sox:

Owned in only 68 percent of yahoo fantasy leagues, Vaughn is hitting a solid .315 average with six home runs for good measure. A weekend series against the Orioles caught my eye here for Vaughn, as I tend to love playing guys against Baltimore if I either have room or need to make a decision between two players. Although a series against the Blue Jays kicks off the week, I feel as though the back-end of the week could do some good for him and the rest of the Sox.

Others to Consider:

Luis Gonzalez: San Francisco Giants

A.J. Pollock: Chicago White Sox

Reliever Report:

Tanner Houck: Boston Red Sox

Boston has been inconsistent all year with the closers role, but I think they have found their man in Houck for the time being. Converting his last four save chances should give manager Alex Cora confidence to keep rolling him out in the ninth to save games. A WHIP of 1.22 is not ideal, but if he keeps putting up zeros it would be hard to keep him from the coveted closer's role.

Seranthony Dominguez: Philadelphia Phillies:

Dominguez and Corey Knebel have been the two arms in consideration for saves in Philadelphia, as Dominguez seems to be the better option between them. As a result, I believe Dominguez is going to get more chances to close out games, as Knebel has struggled for the majority of the year. A sterling 1.78 ERA only helps Seranthony's case as well, as he is also averaging more than a strikeout an inning (34 K in 26 IP) which is something I love to see.

Final Thoughts: Although a bit shorter post than usual, I hope you all have enjoyed reading my weekly forecast. As we are almost into July, the All-Star break seems to be right around the corner. This week should provide another exciting week as anything could happen on the field.

See you at the Ballpark!!!

Adam