Fantasy Baseball Forecaster Week 16: July 7-13

The traditional first half of the baseball season comes to a conclusion with fantasy baseball's Week 16. Following the 15-game slate on Sunday, July 13, baseball heads into its four-day All-Star break, which features its annual Midsummer Classic festivities, this year held at Atlanta's Truist Park.

In ESPN fantasy baseball leagues, this and the following week (extending from Monday, July 7 through Sunday, July 20) are considered one scoring period. That covers both the length of the next head-to-head scoring period, as well as the span of time for which you'll be setting lineups in leagues with weekly transactions.

With that in mind, all 30 teams are scheduled to play exactly three games apiece during the July 18-20 weekend, so there isn't a hidden volume advantage in weekly leagues with those extra days. That said, the Minnesota Twins do garner the benefit of a trip to Colorado's Coors Field, while the Milwaukee Brewers have the misfortune of playing three road games against the majors' winningest team, the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Brewers, by the way, begin fantasy's Week 16 by hosting the Dodgers for three games.

While the baseball world regards the All-Star break as its seasonal "halftime," it's not mathematically so, as noted in this space a couple of weeks ago. For pacing and planning your seasonal races, should there be no postponements between now and July 13, a little more than 40% (39.5%, to be exact) of the season will remain on the schedule.