Chicago Cubs will meet the Boston Red Sox at Wrigley Field on Friday to kick off baseball’s customary second half. After that, a three-game weekend series involving all 30 teams is planned; these games will wrap out fantasy’s “Week 16” in standard leagues. In a single scoring period, these three days will be added to the seven days of July 7–13.
Due to the short weekend, teams’ fourth and fifth starters after the All-Star break won’t start until the following week. The phrase “fourth or fifth starters” refers to a team’s chosen order rather than the caliber of the scheduled pitchers. The Pittsburgh Pirates are a prime example of rearranging the order to give their young ace, Paul Skenes, more rest. On the first weekend of the second half, Skenes is not expected to pitch.
Only 22 teams have disclosed any intentions, and only 68 starting pitchers’ first assignments were known, according to the report.
Max Fried, who lived at Atlanta’s Truist Park from 2017 to 2024, will start for the New York Yankees if he can crack the starting lineup during the second half’s opening weekend. Fried has made 73 starts and six relief appearances over his career, with a 2.98 ERA.
10 teams—the Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, and Toronto Blue Jays—are scheduled to play on all ten days for fantasy managers in leagues that combine the July 18–20 weekend into a 10-day scoring period that runs from Friday, July 18, through Sunday, July 27. All of those games are played away from home by the Athletics and Padres. The nine games that the Pirates and Texas Rangers have scheduled are all played at home.
Lineup Lock Times
| Date | Total games | First game time | Day games |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday, July 18 | 15 | 2:20 PM | 1 |
| Saturday, July 19 | 15 | 3:07 PM | 3 |
| Sunday, July 20 | 15 | 12:05 PM | 14 |
