Fantasy baseball's Week 13 features one of the highlight games of the year -- a Thursday matchup between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants at historic Rickwood Field, the oldest ballpark in the U.S. The game, a tribute to the Negro Leagues and its history at the venue, will serve as the series opener for the Cardinals and Giants, one day after the Juneteenth holiday. The two teams will then have Friday off to travel north to St. Louis' Busch Stadium to play the remainder of their three-game series.
Although the final, specific outfield dimensions for Rickwood Field following recent renovations to prepare for MLB play have not yet been announced, all indications are that the venue will adhere to near-league average specifications, albeit with slightly shorter measurements to left- and left-center than right- and right-center fields. For your planning purposes, the Forecaster has projected Rickwood Field as a neutral venue for run scoring, but 2% more favorable than average for right-handed power. This is accounted for in this week's projections, and it will be updated if the final measurements become known before the week begins.
Among the week's other highlights:
The Philadelphia Phillies host the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citizens Bank Field over the weekend, in what will be a rematch of the 2023 NLCS. The teams are in very different positions this year than last, when they both qualified as wild cards, separated by eight wins during the regular season. The Phillies enter play on June 14 with 13 more wins than the Diamondbacks.
The Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees, franchises that met in the 1957, 1958, 1996 and 1999 World Series, are among the better bets to reach the Fall Classic once again this year. They play a three-game weekend series at Yankee Stadium.
Speaking of those Yankees, their ace, Gerrit Cole, will make his 2024 debut during fantasy's Week 13. He made a successful, final June 14 rehab start for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and will rejoin the big-league rotation on Wednesday against the Baltimore Orioles.
For planning purposes, be aware that the Los Angeles Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers are both off on Sunday in Week 13, an unusual day for either team not to play. It's the third consecutive season in which the two teams play a two-game series against one another followed by a Sunday off day. This scheduling quirk leaves the Angels as the only MLB team with only five games in this upcoming scoring period.