Latest fantasy baseball forecaster espn 2026 mlb starting pitcher hitter ranks week 8 may18 24

Tristan H. CockcroftMay 15, 2026, 10:10 AM ET
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Get ready for a busy week heading into Memorial Day weekend, as fantasy baseball's Week 8 has 12 of the 30 teams scheduled to play seven games and the remaining 18 each set to play six times. It's also one of those rare weeks where four teams are scheduled to play seven games entirely at home, as the Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins and New York Yankees play hosts all week.

Speaking of those Yankees, their seven home games will be played entirely in-division, against the 2025 AL champion Toronto Blue Jays (four games, Monday-Thursday) and the current AL East leaders, the Tampa Bay Rays (three, Friday-Sunday). The Yankees lost all three games against the Rays in Tampa from April 10 to April 12 earlier this season, and they lost 11 out of 17 games against the Blue Jays (including the postseason) in 2026.

Lineup lock times

Week 8

Date	Total games	First game time	Day games
Monday, May 18	14	6:40 PM	0
Tuesday, May 19	15	4:10 PM	1
Wednesday, May 20	15	1:05 PM	6
Thursday, May 21	7	1:10 PM	3
Friday, May 22	15	2:20 PM	1
Saturday, May 23	15	1:35 PM	10
Sunday, May 24	15	12:15 PM	14

Scheduling quirks

Week 8: Teams with the most games

Total		Home		vs. LHSP		vs. RHSP
12 tied with	7	Diamondbacks	7	Phillies	4	Athletics	6
		Angels	7	Brewers	3	Dodgers	6
		Marlins	7	Mariners	3	Nationals	6
		Yankees	7	Rays	3	16 tied with	5
		4 tied with	6	Rangers	3
				16 tied with	2

Starting pitcher ranks

Week 8: May 18-24

Rk	Pitcher	Team	1st Start	2nd Start
1	Dylan Cease	TOR	Tue 5/19-@NYY (Fried)	Sun 5/24-PIT (Keller)
2	Michael King	SD	Mon 5/18-LAD (Yamamoto)	Sun 5/24-ATH (Lopez)
3	Bryan Woo	SEA	Mon 5/18-CWS (Schultz)	Sun 5/24-@KC (Lugo)
4	Shota Imanaga	CHC	Mon 5/18-MIL (Misiorowski)	Sun 5/24-HOU (Lambert)
5	Max Fried	NYY	Tue 5/19-TOR (Cease)	Sun 5/24-TB (McClanahan)
6	Nolan McLean	NYM	Tue 5/19-@WSH (Griffin)	Sun 5/24-@MIA (Garrett)
7	Chris Sale	ATL	Wed 5/20-@MIA (Junk)
8	Parker Messick	CLE	Tue 5/19-@DET (Montero)	Sun 5/24-@PHI (Painter)
9	Paul Skenes	PIT	Sat 5/23-@TOR (Corbin)
10	Jacob Misiorowski	MIL	Mon 5/18-@CHC (Imanaga)	Sun 5/24-LAD (Sasaki)
11	Will Warren	NYY	Mon 5/18-TOR (Corbin)	Sat 5/23-TB (Rasmussen)
12	Mitch Keller	PIT	Tue 5/19-@STL (Liberatore)	Sun 5/24-@TOR (Cease)
13	Framber Valdez	DET	Mon 5/18-CLE (Cecconi)	Sat 5/23-@BAL (Young)
14	JR Ritchie	ATL	Tue 5/19-@MIA (Garrett)	Sun 5/24-WSH (Griffin)
15	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	Fri 5/22-CLE (Cantillo)
16	Robbie Ray	SF	Mon 5/18-@ARI (Gallen)	Sun 5/24-CWS (Schultz)
17	Noah Schultz	CWS	Mon 5/18-@SEA (Woo)	Sun 5/24-@SF (Ray)
18	Jacob Lopez	ATH	Tue 5/19-@LAA (Detmers)	Sun 5/24-@SD (King)
19	Shohei Ohtani	LAD	Tue 5/19-@SD (Canning)
20	Ryne Nelson	ARI	Tue 5/19-SF (Roupp)	Sun 5/24-COL (Dollander)
21	Max Meyer	MIA	Mon 5/18-ATL (Perez)	Sat 5/23-NYM (Scott)
22	Foster Griffin	WSH	Tue 5/19-NYM (McLean)	Sun 5/24-@ATL (Ritchie)
23	Trevor Rogers	BAL	Mon 5/18-@TB (McClanahan)	Sun 5/24-DET (Montero)
24	J.T. Ginn	ATH	Mon 5/18-@LAA (Urena)	Sat 5/23-@SD (Buehler)
25	Zack Wheeler	PHI	Sat 5/23-CLE (Cecconi)
26	Emmet Sheehan	LAD	Wed 5/20-@SD (Vasquez)
27	Seth Lugo	KC	Mon 5/18-BOS (Gray)	Sun 5/24-SEA (Woo)
28	Jesus Luzardo	PHI	Tue 5/19-CIN (Burns)
29	Shane McClanahan	TB	Mon 5/18-BAL (Rogers)	Sun 5/24-@NYY (Fried)
30	Nick Lodolo	CIN	Mon 5/18-@PHI (Painter)	Sun 5/24-STL (Liberatore)
31	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD	Mon 5/18-@SD (King)
32	Carlos Rodon	NYY	Thu 5/21-TOR (Miles)
33	Chase Burns	CIN	Tue 5/19-@PHI (Luzardo)
34	Reid Detmers	LAA	Tue 5/19-ATH (Lopez)	Sun 5/24-TEX (Gore)
35	Joe Ryan	MIN	Wed 5/20-HOU (Burrows)
36	Christian Scott	NYM	Mon 5/18-@WSH (Irvin)	Sat 5/23-@MIA (Meyer)
37	Sonny Gray	BOS	Mon 5/18-@KC (Lugo)	Sun 5/24-MIN (Woods Richardson)
38	Freddy Peralta	NYM	Fri 5/22-@MIA (Perez)
39	Braxton Garrett	MIA	Tue 5/19-ATL (Ritchie)	Sun 5/24-NYM (McLean)
40	Ryan Weathers	NYY	Fri 5/22-TB (Martinez)
41	Cam Schlittler	NYY	Wed 5/20-TOR (Yesavage)
42	Kyle Bradish	BAL	Tue 5/19-@TB (Jax)
43	Logan Webb	SF	Fri 5/22-CWS (Martin)
44	Shane Baz	BAL	Wed 5/20-@TB (Scholtens)
45	Drew Rasmussen	TB	Sat 5/23-@NYY (Warren)
46	Patrick Corbin	TOR	Mon 5/18-@NYY (Warren)	Sat 5/23-PIT (Skenes)
47	Zac Gallen	ARI	Mon 5/18-SF (Ray)	Sat 5/23-COL (Quintana)
48	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	Sat 5/23-@LAA (Urena)
49	Jacob deGrom	TEX	Fri 5/22-@LAA (Rodriguez)
50	Braxton Ashcraft	PIT	Thu 5/21-@STL (May)
51	David Peterson	NYM	Thu 5/21-@WSH (Cavalli)
52	Kevin Gausman	TOR	Fri 5/22-PIT (Chandler)
53	Anthony Kay	CWS	Tue 5/19-@SEA (Miller)
54	Emerson Hancock	SEA	Wed 5/20-CWS (Burke)
55	Eury Perez	MIA	Fri 5/22-NYM (Peralta)
56	Aaron Nola	PHI	Wed 5/20-CIN (Abbott)
57	Spencer Arrighetti	HOU	Fri 5/22-@CHC (Taillon)
58	Blake Snell	LAD	Fri 5/22-@MIL (Henderson)
59	Jameson Taillon	CHC	Fri 5/22-HOU (Arrighetti)
60	Michael McGreevy	STL	Wed 5/20-PIT (Mlodzinski)
61	Landen Roupp	SF	Tue 5/19-@ARI (Nelson)
62	Keider Montero	DET	Tue 5/19-CLE (Messick)	Sun 5/24-@BAL (Rogers)
63	Spencer Strider	ATL	Thu 5/21-@MIA (Alcantara)
64	Bryce Miller	SEA	Tue 5/19-CWS (Kay)
65	Logan Gilbert	SEA	Fri 5/22-@KC (Cameron)
66	Bubba Chandler	PIT	Fri 5/22-@TOR (Gausman)
67	Janson Junk	MIA	Wed 5/20-ATL (Sale)
68	Peter Lambert	HOU	Sun 5/24-@CHC (Imanaga)
69	Andrew Painter	PHI	Mon 5/18-CIN (Lodolo)	Sun 5/24-CLE (Messick)
70	Slade Cecconi	CLE	Mon 5/18-@DET (Valdez)	Sat 5/23-@PHI (Wheeler)
71	Trey Yesavage	TOR	Wed 5/20-@NYY (Schlittler)
72	Clay Holmes	NYM	Wed 5/20-@WSH (Littell)
73	Davis Martin	CWS	Fri 5/22-@SF (Webb)
74	Matthew Liberatore	STL	Tue 5/19-PIT (Keller)	Sun 5/24-@CIN (Lodolo)
75	Tanner Bibee	CLE	Wed 5/20-@DET (Madden)
76	Michael Soroka	ARI	Fri 5/22-COL (Lorenzen)
77	Brandon Young	BAL	Sat 5/23-DET (Valdez)
78	Andrew Abbott	CIN	Wed 5/20-@PHI (Nola)
79	Merrill Kelly	ARI	Wed 5/20-SF (Mahle)
80	Jake Irvin	WSH	Mon 5/18-NYM (Scott)	Sat 5/23-@ATL (Holmes)
81	Gavin Williams	CLE	Thu 5/21-@DET (Mize)
82	Martin Perez	ATL	Mon 5/18-@MIA (Meyer)
83	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	Thu 5/21-ATL (Strider)
84	Colin Rea	CHC	Sat 5/23-HOU (Teng)
85	Luis Severino	ATH	Thu 5/21-@LAA (Soriano)
86	Connelly Early	BOS	Wed 5/20-@KC (Wacha)
87	Jesse Scholtens	TB	Wed 5/20-BAL (Baz)
88	Jack Flaherty	DET	Fri 5/22-@BAL (Bassitt)
89	Mike Burrows	HOU	Wed 5/20-@MIN (Ryan)
90	George Kirby	SEA	Sat 5/23-@KC (Kolek)
91	Kris Bubic	KC	Tue 5/19-BOS (Suarez)
92	Edward Cabrera	CHC	Wed 5/20-MIL (Patrick)
93	Dustin May	STL	Thu 5/21-PIT (Ashcraft)
94	Chris Bassitt	BAL	Fri 5/22-DET (Flaherty)
95	Tatsuya Imai	HOU	Mon 5/18-@MIN (Woods Richardson)
96	Jeffrey Springs	ATH	Fri 5/22-@SD (Giolito)
97	Grayson Rodriguez	LAA	Fri 5/22-TEX (deGrom)
98	Eduardo Rodriguez	ARI	Thu 5/21-COL (Sugano)
99	Lucas Giolito	SD	Fri 5/22-ATH (Springs)
100	Ranger Suarez	BOS	Tue 5/19-@KC (Bubic)
101	Zebby Matthews	MIN	Tue 5/19-HOU (McCullers)
102	Randy Vasquez	SD	Wed 5/20-LAD (Sheehan)
103	Nick Martinez	TB	Fri 5/22-@NYY (Weathers)
104	Kyle Harrison	MIL	Tue 5/19-@CHC (Brown)
105	Adrian Houser	SF	Sat 5/23-CWS (Fedde)
106	Tyler Mahle	SF	Wed 5/20-@ARI (Kelly)
107	Walbert Urena	LAA	Mon 5/18-ATH (Ginn)	Sat 5/23-TEX (Eovaldi)
108	Carmen Mlodzinski	PIT	Wed 5/20-@STL (McGreevy)
109	Bryce Elder	ATL	Fri 5/22-WSH (Mikolas)
110	Griffin Jax	TB	Tue 5/19-BAL (Bradish)
111	Ben Brown	CHC	Tue 5/19-MIL (Harrison)
112	Walker Buehler	SD	Sat 5/23-ATH (Ginn)
113	Michael Wacha	KC	Wed 5/20-BOS (Early)
114	Simeon Woods Richardson	MIN	Mon 5/18-HOU (Imai)	Sun 5/24-@BOS (Gray)
115	Andre Pallante	STL	Sat 5/23-@CIN (Singer)
116	Brady Singer	CIN	Sat 5/23-STL (Pallante)
117	MacKenzie Gore	TEX	Mon 5/18-@COL (Quintana)	Sun 5/24-@LAA (Detmers)
118	Casey Mize	DET	Thu 5/21-CLE (Williams)
119	Bailey Ober	MIN	Sat 5/23-@BOS (Bello)
120	Cade Cavalli	WSH	Thu 5/21-NYM (Peterson)
121	Jose Soriano	LAA	Thu 5/21-ATH (Severino)
122	Brandon Sproat	MIL	Sat 5/23-LAD (Wrobleski)
123	Sean Burke	CWS	Wed 5/20-@SEA (Hancock)
124	Kyle Leahy	STL	Fri 5/22-@CIN (Paddack)
125	Erick Fedde	CWS	Sat 5/23-@SF (Houser)
126	Grant Holmes	ATL	Sat 5/23-WSH (Irvin)
127	Noah Cameron	KC	Fri 5/22-SEA (Gilbert)
128	Logan Henderson	MIL	Fri 5/22-LAD (Snell)
129	Justin Wrobleski	LAD	Sat 5/23-@MIL (Sproat)
130	Chad Patrick	MIL	Wed 5/20-@CHC (Cabrera)
131	Payton Tolle	BOS	Fri 5/22-MIN (Prielipp)
132	Lance McCullers Jr.	HOU	Tue 5/19-@MIN (Matthews)
133	Joey Cantillo	CLE	Fri 5/22-@PHI (Sanchez)
134	Aaron Civale	ATH	Wed 5/20-@LAA (Kochanowicz)
135	Zack Littell	WSH	Wed 5/20-NYM (Holmes)
136	Chris Paddack	CIN	Fri 5/22-STL (Leahy)
137	Brayan Bello	BOS	Sat 5/23-MIN (Ober)
138	Michael Lorenzen	COL	Fri 5/22-@ARI (Soroka)
139	Tomoyuki Sugano	COL	Thu 5/21-@ARI (Rodriguez)
140	Jack Kochanowicz	LAA	Wed 5/20-ATH (Civale)
141	Ty Madden	DET	Wed 5/20-CLE (Bibee)
142	Stephen Kolek	KC	Sat 5/23-SEA (Kirby)
143	Connor Prielipp	MIN	Fri 5/22-@BOS (Tolle)
144	Griffin Canning	SD	Tue 5/19-LAD (Ohtani)
145	Kai-Wei Teng	HOU	Sat 5/23-@CHC (Rea)
146	Chase Dollander	COL	Tue 5/19-TEX (Rocker)	Sun 5/24-@ARI (Nelson)
147	Jose Quintana	COL	Mon 5/18-TEX (Gore)	Sat 5/23-@ARI (Gallen)
148	Miles Mikolas	WSH	Fri 5/22-@ATL (Elder)
149	Roki Sasaki	LAD	Sun 5/24-@MIL (Misiorowski)
150	Jack Leiter	TEX	Wed 5/20-@COL (Freeland)
151	Spencer Miles	TOR	Thu 5/21-@NYY (Rodon)
152	Kumar Rocker	TEX	Tue 5/19-@COL (Dollander)
153	Kyle Freeland	COL	Wed 5/20-TEX (Leiter)

Hitter ratings

Week 8: May 18-24

Overall		LHB		RHB		SB
Rangers	10.0	Rockies	10.0	Rockies	10.0	Braves	10.0
Rockies	9.7	Diamondbacks	8.8	Rangers	10.0	Yankees	10.0
Diamondbacks	8.6	Cardinals	8.7	Athletics	9.6	White Sox	8.5
Athletics	7.7	Twins	8.3	Reds	9.1	Marlins	8.4
Reds	7.6	Braves	7.5	Diamondbacks	9.0	Mets	8.3
Mets	7.1	Rangers	7.4	Mets	8.0	Athletics	7.9
Angels	6.7	Reds	7.3	Guardians	7.9	Rangers	7.8
Braves	6.5	Mets	7.2	Red Sox	7.4	Twins	7.7
Red Sox	6.2	Angels	7.1	Angels	6.8	Giants	6.9
Nationals	6.1	Astros	6.3	Tigers	6.6	Astros	6.7