The 2024 fantasy baseball season reaches the quarter-pole during Week 20. Assuming no postponements between now and then, three-quarters of the season will be in the books once two games go final on Friday, Aug. 16. As the week dawns, it's a good time to take stock of your team, so you can make moves to address any final roster weaknesses.
That's especially true with the trade deadline in ESPN standard leagues arriving on that same Friday, at noon ET. All trades must be accepted by that time.
The Little League Classic, which will be broadcast on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball, features the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers on Sunday night. The two teams will play on Friday and Saturday, the first two games of their weekend series, before heading to Historic Bowman Field to play the series finale. Historic Bowman Field has leaned pitcher-friendly in its limited history, and the Forecaster projections account for it suppressing run scoring by about 8% relative to a league-average park.
Six teams are scheduled for seven games during Week 20, the Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers. On the opposite side, the Miami Marlins and Oakland Athletics, both of them rebuilders, are scheduled to play only five times.
Fantasy baseball is expected to get one of its biggest stars back in action for the start of the week, as Mookie Betts is scheduled to rejoin the Dodgers, and be slotted in second in their lineup between Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman, just in time for the team's road series against the Brewers. Betts isn't the only Dodgers player projected to return next week, as Walker Buehler should be ready to rejoin their rotation during what will be a 13-day span without a day off.