Check out our starting pitcher rankings and other lineup selection tools that can 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 Wednesday
Despite winning his past four starts while posting a 1.57 ERA and 0.87 WHIP in 23 innings, Clayton Kershaw remains available in more than half of ESPN leagues. The lefty is in a great spot to make it five in a row with the Los Angeles Dodgers hosting the Chicago White Sox. Kershaw will face the lineup with the fourth-highest strikeout rate against left-handers.
After opening his career with five straight quality starts, Noah Cameron has stumbled in two of his past four outings, including his last effort when he yielded five runs to the Dodgers in just four frames. The rookie southpaw has a good chance to get back on track with the Kansas City Royals visiting the Seattle Mariners. Cameron isn't dominant, posting only 38 strikeouts in 51 1/3 innings, but the Mariners fan a generous 25.4% of the time with a lefty on the hill.
Landen Roupp enjoyed a solid June, except for a poor effort against the Dodgers, but he's not the only pitcher to experience a similar fate. Walks have been an issue for the 26-year-old righty, but he and the San Francisco Giants are catching the Arizona Diamondbacks at a good time, with Corbin Carroll and Gabriel Moreno on the IL along with Josh Naylor being out of the lineup for several games.
Pitchers to avoid on Wednesday
Nick Martinez is rostered in only 24% of ESPN leagues, so he doesn't fit the mold of pitchers recommended to avoid. However, he's coming off the best effort of his career, losing a no-hitter in the ninth inning, leaving the game after throwing eight frames with 12 strikeouts. It may be tempting to pick him up, but not only are the Cincinnati Reds facing a tough matchup with the Boston Red Sox on the road, but Martinez compiled 112 pitches last time out and is working on just four days of rest, so he's likely to be on a lower pitch count.
Today's best matchups for pitchers
Detroit Tigers pitchers vs. Nationals hitters
Offense: B | Park: A | Umpire: N/A | Temperature: D | Wind: C | Away
The average pitcher would post a 3.22 ERA in this matchup.
Tigers pitchers vs. Nationals hitters
Offense: B | Park: A | Umpire: N/A | Temperature: D | Wind: B | Away
The average pitcher would post a 3.23 ERA in this matchup.
Seattle Mariners pitchers vs. Royals hitters
Offense: C | Park: A | Umpire: C | Temperature: C | Wind: C | Home
The average pitcher would post a 3.72 ERA in this matchup.
Today's worst matchups for pitchers
Houston Astros pitchers vs. Rockies hitters
Offense: B | Park: F | Umpire: C | Temperature: D- | Wind: F | Away
The average pitcher would post a 6.05 ERA in this matchup.
Colorado Rockies pitchers vs. Astros hitters
Offense: C | Park: F | Umpire: C | Temperature: D- | Wind: F | Home
The average pitcher would post a 5.99 ERA in this matchup.
Chicago White Sox pitchers vs. Dodgers hitters
Offense: F | Park: F | Umpire: C | Temperature: C+ | Wind: D | Away
The average pitcher would post a 5.97 ERA in this matchup.
Hitters to stream on Wednesday
With Griffin Canning out for the season after rupturing his Achilles, the New York Mets are turning to Blade Tidwell, at least for now. In three outings, Tidwell's ERA is 10.13 with a 2.44 WHIP and he has fanned just seven with eight walks in 10 2/3 innings. Even though the Milwaukee Brewers will experience a big park downgrade with a road game in Citi Field, their batters are in a favorable spot. Sal Frelick, Brice Turang, Rhys Hoskins, Isaac Collins, Caleb Durbin and Joey Ortiz are the chief beneficiaries.
Today's best matchups for hitters
Astros batters vs. Rockies pitchers
SP: B | Bullpen: C | Park: A+ | Umpire: D | Framing: B | Temperature: A | Wind: A | Away
The average hitter would post a .387 wOBA in this matchup.
Rockies RHB vs. Astros pitchers
SP: F | Bullpen: B | Park: A+ | Umpire: D | Framing: B | Temperature: A | Wind: A | Home
The average hitter would post a .371 wOBA in this matchup.
Toronto Blue Jays LHB vs. Yankees pitchers
SP: B | Bullpen: C | Park: C | Umpire: C | Framing: C | Temperature: B | Wind: A | Home
The average hitter would post a .351 wOBA in this matchup.
Today's worst matchups for hitters
Kansas City Royals batters vs. Mariners pitchers
SP: F | Bullpen: F | Park: F | Umpire: C | Framing: B | Temperature: C | Wind: C | Away
The average hitter would post a .272 wOBA in this matchup.
Baltimore Orioles RHB vs. Rangers pitchers
SP: D | Bullpen: B | Park: D | Umpire: C | Framing: F | Temperature: C | Wind: C | Away
The average hitter would post a .281 wOBA in this matchup.
Tigers RHB vs. Nationals pitchers (Game 2)
SP: D | Bullpen: B | Park: F | Framing: A | Temperature: B | Wind: C | Away
The average hitter would post a .294 wOBA in this matchup.
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.
Today's top home run prop bets
Elias Diaz | OVER 0.5 HR (+900)
Projection: 12% chance of this bet hitting, with a $17.60 EV
One reason to bet this: Citizens Bank Park has the least fair ground among all major league parks - generally good for home runs.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. | OVER 0.5 HR (+425)
Projection: 22% chance of this bet hitting, with a $14.71 EV
One reason to bet this: The wind projects to be blowing out to CF at 12.3 mph in this game, the second-strongest of the day for hitters.
Austin Hedges | OVER 0.5 HR (+900)
Projection: 11% chance of this bet hitting, with a $12.30 EV
One reason to bet this: A correlation exists between high heat and more offense (and fewer strikeouts), and this game is predicted to have the third-hottest temperature of all games today at 85 degrees.
Today's top pitcher prop bets
Nathan Eovaldi | OVER 5.5 K (-105)
Projection: 64% chance of this bet hitting, with a $25.28 EV
One reason to bet this: The Globe Life Field roof projects to be closed today, making weather conditions in this game -12 degrees colder than the average outdoor game of all games on the slate today - favorable for pitching.
Hunter Brown | UNDER 6.5 K (+105)
Projection: 58% chance of this bet hitting, with a $18.02 EV
One reason to bet this: Given his reverse platoon split, Brown will not have the upper hand being matched up with six bats in the projected lineup who share his hand today.
Will Warren | UNDER 4.5 K (-110)
Projection: 61% chance of this bet hitting, with a $18.02 EV
One reason to bet this: Warren has experienced some positive variance in regards to his strikeouts this year, compiling an 11.54 K/9 despite my projections estimating his true talent level to be 9.52 - a 2.02 K/9 difference.
Today's Top YRFI/NRFI Bets
Padres @ Phillies | YRFI (-105)
Projection: 54% chance of RUN with a $5.88 EV
Brewers @ Mets | YRFI (-115)
Projection: 55% chance of RUN with a $2.88 EV
Orioles @ Rangers | NRFI (-110)
Projection: 54% chance of NO RUN with a $2.41 EV