Check out all of our starting pitcher rankings and other lineup selection tools here to help you make smart fantasy baseball lineup decisions. MLB betting tips for each day's slate of games will also be added in the morning. MLB game odds are provided by ESPN BET, and all fantasy advice is geared toward ESPN 10-team leagues with standard scoring.
Note: All information is accurate as of the time of publication. For updates, including what you might have missed from last night, as well as any breaking news that might impact today's MLB slate, be sure to check out the latest fantasy baseball news.
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Pitchers to stream on Thursday
Pickings are slim on Thursday's five-game ledger. The top five pitchers rostered in more than half of ESPN leagues land in the top five spots in the rankings. The best remaining pitcher is AJ Smith-Shawver, but he has a tough away matchup with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Next is Shane Baz for the Tampa Bay Rays' road date with the Houston Astros. May has not been kind to the righty, with Baz posting a 7.82 ERA and 1.86 WHIP in five outings this month. On another day, he probably wouldn't make the streaming cut, but he's coming off his best effort of the month and is the best of the low-rostered quartet. At least the Astros batters sport a below average wOBA facing right-handers.
Emerson Hancock gets a steaming nod, in part, because last time out he posted his fourth quality start in eight efforts. However, the main reason is that the Seattle Mariners are at home against the Washington Nationals, and T-Mobile Park is the most extreme pitching venue in the game. In fact, it benefits pitchers as much as Coors Field favors hitters. Curiously, only one of Hancock's quality starts came in one of his three home appearances. The Nationals offense is below average facing righties and will experience a big park downgrade.
Hitters to stream on Thursday
With J.T. Ginn back on the IL and Osvaldo Bido optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas, the Athletics have turned to Jacob Lopez to start. Lopez began the season in the bullpen, recording a 3.86 ERA and 2.57 WHIP, fueled by issuing seven walks in as many innings. However, Lopez posted seven innings of one-run ball in his last start, fanning eight with just one walk. Even so, the best place to look for batters on a sparse slate is in the Rogers Centre, where the righty-swinging Toronto Blue Jays will enjoy a platoon edge over Lopez. Anthony Santander, Bo Bichette and George Springer are available around a third of ESPN leagues, while Alejandro Kirk and Ernie Clement are more readily available.
Wednesday's postponement in Philadelphia adds a doubleheader to Thursday's docket. This usually yields a great place to look for bats, but all four probable starters are solid pitchers, and the Phillies and Atlanta Braves are each using a lefty and a righty, so there is less of a chance for lower rostered players to play in both ends of the twin bill. Even so, it's worth checking on the availability of the Phillies' Nick Castellanos, Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott, while Michael Harris II could pull double duty for the Braves.
Betting tips
Best/worst pitcher/hitter matchups and betting projections are generated by THE BAT X, a system created by Derek Carty using advanced methods like those used in MLB front offices, accounting for a variety of factors including player talent, ballparks, bullpens, weather, umpires, defense, catcher pitch-framing, and lots more. Betting projections for every player, team, and game can be found at EV Analytics.
Note: Expected Value is a measure of how good a bet is, factoring the probability that it will win versus the odds the book is providing. If you were to wager $1.00 100 times on a bet with an Expected Value of $25, you would win some and you would lose some, but in the end you would expect to come away with $25 in profit on your $100 investment.
Because odds typically do not get set until the previous day's games are completed, betting tips will be added in the morning.