Table Setter: Mike Clevinger's Return Will Be Welcome Sight for Indians

Setting the table for the week ahead in fantasy baseball.

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The SI.com Fantasy Baseball Table Setter gets you ready for the week ahead with a focus on the hitters and pitchers who deserve extra attention in the coming days, and all the schedule details you need to get your lineups set for this week’s games.

Pitchers to Watch

Mike Clevinger, Indians

Clevinger, who has been out since early April with a significant lat injury, will make his return to the mound on Monday against the Rangers. He appeared to be reaching a new level before suffering the injury, tossing 12 shutout innings with 22 strikeouts before leaving his second start of the year because of the injured lat. The Indians have managed to stay afloat despite a raft of injuries and underperforming players, and getting Clevinger back will make a huge difference for them the rest of the summer. In addition to Monday’s start, he’s scheduled for another on Saturday against the Tigers.

Mike Soroka, Braves

Soroka finally hit a speedbump in his stellar season, allowing five runs on 10 hits in five innings to the Pirates in his last start. The ugly outing raised his ERA all the way to…1.92, to go along with a 0.97 WHIP, across 70 1/3 innings. Still, given that it was the first time he has really struggled this year, it’ll be interesting to see how he bounces back against the Mets on Monday. He’s slated for a second start this week in D.C. on Sunday.

Cole Hamels, Cubs

Hamels hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last three starts, a span covering 22 innings against the Cardinals (twice) and Rockies, the latter outing of which was at Coors Field. He has 23 strikeouts against four walks in that time, lowering his ERA to 2.98 from 4.02, and his WHIP to 1.18 from 1.36. The 35-year-old is making a real run at his fifth career All-Star Game, and his second in the last four years. He’s scheduled to take the ball twice this week, facing the White Sox on Tuesday and Mets on Sunday.

Just said it on the @NBCSCubs podcast, but I believe Cole Hamels is making a strong case for the NL All-Star team.

He now leads the Cubs rotation with a 2.98 ERA and he'll go at least 3 weeks without allowing an ER

— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) June 12, 2019

Jordan Yamamoto, Marlins

Yamamoto looked great in his MLB debut last week, twirling seven scoreless innings against the Cardinals, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out five. The 23-year-old skipped the Triple-A level to his way to the majors, making 12 starts this year with Double-A Jacksonville before his promotion. He totaled a 3.58 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 64 strikeouts in 65 1/3 innings at Jacksonville, and should get a long look in Miami’s rotation. Yamamoto will face the Cardinals again on Monday, then take on the Phillies at some point during the weekend series in Philadelphia.

Patrick Corbin, Nationals

On May 25, Corbin tossed a shutout against the Marlins, allowing just four hits and one walk. In three starts since then, he has an 11.37 ERA and 2.29 WHIP over 12 2/3 innings. Signed in the offseason to give the Nationals a big third arm alongside Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg, Corbin has a 4.11 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 94 strikeouts against 29 walks in 85 1/3 innings, failing to live up to the billing to this point of the season. He’s in line for starts in both Washington’s series this week, taking on the Phillies on Monday and Braves on Saturday.

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Hitters to Watch

Mike Trout, OF, Angels

Every so often, we have to check in with Trout in this space. The section is called Hitters to Watch, after all, and who better to watch than the best player on the planet? Trout’s on one of those particularly Troutian runs, going 16-for-54 with six homers, 14 RBI, and 14 walks against 17 strikeouts in his last 71 plate appearances. That comes out to a slash line of .296/.465/.722. Can we please get this guy on a good team for once?

Mike Moustakas, 2B/3B, Brewers

Moustakas has been on fire over the last two weeks, going 20-for-55 with eight homers and 13 RBI in 61 plate appearances. He’s now slashing a robust .280/.345/.592 with 21 homers and 45 RBI, ranking fourth in the majors in dingers. And to think, all he was able to get in this broken free agent market was a one-year deal with a mutual option for next season, and he had to wait until February to get it.

Byron Buxton, OF, Twins

Buxton, too, has been excellent over the last two weeks, going 12-for-38 with four homers and nine RBI across 42 plate appearances. Before his hot run, he was hitting .254/.311/.491. He’ll take a .266/.324/.527 slash line into play on Sunday. Buxton is becoming the five-tool superstar who was promised.

Adalberto Mondesi, 2B/SS, Royals

A clear-eyed projection of what Mondesi could be this season in a best-case scenario called for decent power, a ton of speed, too many strikeouts, and not enough plate discipline. That has essentially played out to its max, and Mondesi has proved that he can be very valuable as this type of player. For our purposes here, let’s focus on the speed part of the equation. Mondesi has eight triples and 26 steals on the year. If he continues on his current pace and plays all of the Royals’ remaining games, he’ll end the season with 19 triples and 62 steals. The last player with a 20-triple, 60-steal season was Ty Cobb in 1912.

David Dahl, OF, Rockies

Dahl has been one of the very best hitters in the majors over the last month, slashing .406/.458/.656 with four homers, eight doubles and 21 RBI in 107 plate appearances since May 22. The 25-year-old is now hitting .338/.389/.548 with seven homers, 19 doubles and 35 RBI on the year, proving what he can do when he stays on the field. The lack of power is a bit concerning, especially in this environment and for a player who plays half his games at Coors Field, but if he remains on this trajectory we’ll be calling 2019 his breakout season.

Pitchers scheduled to make two starts this week (alphabetical order by team)

Zack Greinke, Arizona Diamondbacks
Mike Soroka, Atlanta Braves
Andrew Cashner, Baltimore Orioles
Gabriel Ynoa, Baltimore Orioles
Rick Porcello, Boston Red Sox
Cole Hamels, Chicago Cubs
Luis Castillo, Cincinnati Reds
Anthony DeSclafani, Cincinnati Reds
Mike Clevinger, Cleveland Indians
Zach Plesac, Cleveland Indians
Antonio Senzatela, Colorado Rockies
Wade Miley, Houston Astros
Justin Verlander, Houston Astros
Danny Duffy, Kansas City Royals
Homer Bailey, Kansas City Royals
Felix Peña, Los Angeles Angels
Tyler Skaggs, Los Angeles Angels
Kenta Maeda, Los Angeles Dodgers
Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
Jordan Yamamoto, Miami Marlins
Elieser Hernandez, Miami Marlins
Jhoulys Chacin, Milwaukee Brewers
Brandon Woodruff, Milwaukee Brewers
Jose Berrios, Minnesota Twins
Michael Pineda, Minnesota Twins
Zack Wheeler, New York Mets
Jacob deGrom, New York Mets
Masahiro Tanaka, New York Yankees
J.A. Happ, New York Yankees
Brett Anderson, Oakland A’s
Mike Fiers, Oakland A’s
Jake Arrieta, Philadelphia Phillies
Zach Eflin, Philadelphia Phillies
Joey Lucchesi, San Diego Padres
Gerson Bautista, Seattle Mariners
Yusei Kikuchi, Seattle Mariners
Tyler Beede, San Francisco Giants
Shaun Anderson, San Francisco Giants
Miles Mikolas, St. Louis Cardinals
Jack Flaherty, St. Louis Cardinals
Yonny Chirinos, Tampa Bay Rays
Ryan Yarbrough, Tampa Bay Rays
Lance Lynn, Texas Rangers
Adrian Sampson, Texas Rangers
Edwin Jackson, Toronto Blue Jays
Marcus Stroman, Toronto Blue Jays
Patrick Corbin, Washington Nationals
Erick Fedde, Washington Nationals

Teams playing seven games: Braves, Orioles, Reds, Indians, Astros, Royals, Angels, Dodgers, Marlins, Brewers, Twins, Mets, Yankees, A’s, Phillies, Mariners, Giants, Cardinals, Rays, Rangers, Blue Jays, Nationals
Teams playing six games: Diamondbacks, Red Sox, Cubs, Rockies, Padres
Teams playing five games: White Sox, Tigers, Pirates