Fantasy baseball lineup advice and betting tips for Sunday

Todd ZolaMay 24, 2025, 04:30 PM ET
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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.

Jump to: Pitching notes | Hitting notes | Betting tips
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STARTING PITCHERS FOR SUNDAY

Pitchers are ranked in order of their Forecaster/Daily Notes projected fantasy points (FPTS), using ESPN's standard scoring system (2 points per win, minus-2 per loss, 3 per inning, 1 per K, minus-1 apiece per hit or walk allowed, minus-2 per earned run allowed).

T: The pitcher's handedness. OPP: Opposing team. RST%: The pitcher's roster percentage in ESPN leagues. ML: ESPN BET Money Line. O/U: ESPN BET Over/Under for runs scored. For the projected stat line, W% is the team's win probability using ESPN projections, IP is innings pitched, ER is earned runs allowed and K is strikeouts.

If a team is planning on using an "opener" to start their game, but will rely on a "bulk pitcher" to follow him on the mound after 1-2 innings, the bulk pitcher is listed and indicated with an asterisk.

FPTS	Pitcher	T	Opp	Rst%	W%	IP	ER	K
15.6	Tarik Skubal	L	CLE	99.9%	69%	6.2	1.9	6.4
13.6	Luis Castillo	R	@HOU	94.4%	59%	6.1	2.1	6.2
13.2	Kodai Senga	R	LAD	89.1%	61%	5.8	1.9	6.3
12.3	Jesus Luzardo	L	@ATH	92.4%	61%	5.8	2.5	6.5
10.8	Sonny Gray	R	ARI	93.7%	56%	5.6	2.4	5.6
10.0	Chris Bassitt	R	@TB	70.9%	54%	5.9	2.8	5.5
10.0	Dylan Cease	R	@ATL	95.7%	46%	5.6	2.8	6.3
9.8	Spencer Schwellenbach	R	SD	90.6%	54%	5.9	3.0	5.2
9.5	Kris Bubic	L	@MIN	91.1%	44%	5.5	2.5	5.5
9.4	Bailey Ober	R	KC	81.5%	56%	5.3	2.6	5.3
9.2	Logan Henderson	R	@PIT	33.5%	59%	4.8	2.3	5.3
8.9	Landon Knack	R	@NYM	0.9%	39%	4.7	1.9	4.8
8.6	Ryan Pepiot	R	TOR	21.1%	46%	5.2	2.4	4.4
8.5	Brandon Pfaadt	R	@STL	78.7%	44%	5.5	2.8	5.0
8.3	Davis Martin	R	TEX	1.9%	46%	5.4	2.6	4.7
8.2	Colton Gordon	L	SEA	0.3%	41%	5.1	2.6	5.2
8.2	Robbie Ray	L	@WSH	82.0%	63%	5.2	2.7	5.1
8.2	Patrick Corbin	L	@CWS	4.2%	54%	5.5	2.9	4.9
7.8	Nick Lodolo	L	CHC	52.9%	51%	5.2	3.0	5.5
7.7	Ben Brown	R	@CIN	9.4%	49%	4.8	2.8	5.9
7.4	Gunnar Hoglund	R	PHI	3.5%	39%	5.4	2.9	4.7
7.0	Dean Kremer	R	@BOS	2.0%	53%	5.4	3.3	5.1
6.3	Edward Cabrera	R	@LAA	1.3%	58%	4.7	2.9	4.9
5.9	Logan Allen	L	@DET	3.1%	31%	5.0	2.9	4.5
5.7	Bailey Falter	L	MIL	4.2%	41%	4.7	2.5	3.6
5.6	Michael Soroka	R	SF	1.6%	37%	4.9	3.1	4.5
5.2	Kyle Hendricks	R	MIA	1.0%	42%	5.2	3.3	3.9
4.3	Walker Buehler	R	BAL	31.7%	47%	4.7	3.4	4.5
2.1	Will Warren	R	@COL	19.4%	64%	4.7	5.1	5.9
-6.8	Antonio Senzatela	R	NYY	0.1%	36%	4.6	7.2	3.8

Pitchers to stream on Sunday

Milwaukee Brewers RHP Logan Henderson stepped up at a time when the club needed him with the rookie helping fortify an injury-riddled rotation. Henderson won his first three starts and is in a great spot to make it four with a road date against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He fanned an impressive 23 batters while walking only four in his inaugural 16 major league innings. Meanwhile, the Pirates are averaging the second fewest runs per game in MLB.
Tampa Bay Rays RHP Ryan Pepiot has registered six quality starts in 10 outings, including four of seven at home. Next up is the Toronto Blue Jays, who carry baseball's seventh lowest wOBA facing righties in George Steinbrenner Field.
Fantasy managers needing to make up ground on the last day of the scoring period should consider Chicago Cubs RHP Ben Brown for his strikeout upside against a Cincinnati Reds lineup with a lot of swing and miss tendencies. Streaming in the Great American Ballpark isn't ideal, so this is a matter of weighing risk versus reward.

Pitchers to avoid on Sunday

Reds LHP Nick Lodolo is rostered in just over half of ESPN leagues but faces a Cubs team that fans at a clip well below league average. The risk here outweighs the reward, so it's prudent to avoid Lodolo facing the highest scoring lineup in the league.

Hitters to stream on Sunday

The Los Angeles Angels are averaging the second-most runs per game in May. They're in a great spot to build on that with a home date facing Miami Marlins RHP Edward Cabrera and a subpar bullpen. Cabrera's pitch inefficiency has resulted in just one outing lasting more than five innings, which was his first start of the season. The Marlins bullpen sports the seventh highest ERA in the league. Taylor Ward, Logan O'Hoppe, Zach Neto and Jorge Soler are best suited to take advantage of the matchups.
Cleveland Guardians LHP Logan Allen is exhibiting reverse splits so far this season, but for his career he's generous to right-handed batters. On Sunday, he faces a Detroit Tigers lineup adept at playing platoon matchups. Gleyber Torres, Javier Baez and Matt Vierling all line up for a productive afternoon in Comerica Field.

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.