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
Reliever depth chart | Start a new league
Pitchers to stream on Saturday
Brady Singer's walk rate is pacing towards a career-high while his strikeout rate is down. He's keeping the ball in the yard, despite morphing into a fly-ball pitcher in the Great American Ballpark. Truth be told, putting the Cincinnati Reds righty under the microscope for his final start heading into the break isn't necessary. The only thing pertinent is a home date with the Colorado Rockies and the lineup with the highest road strikeout rate when facing right-handers, fueling the second-lowest road wOBA.
Jacob Lopez heads into the break in a rut, but he has a chance to get out of it with a home start against the Toronto Blue Jays. It won't be easy, as the Blue Jays sport the second-lowest strikeout rate in the league with a lefty on the hill, but their offense overall is below average. To his credit, the Athletics southpaw has punched out 47 over his last 35 frames.
Emmet Sheehan is earmarked for bulk pitcher duties, with Shohei Ohtani starting the NL West tilt between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. Sheehan gets to come in and face the lower portion of the Giants lineup and he doesn't need to compile five innings to qualify for the win. Over his two appearances so far, Sheehan has tossed nine innings with 10 punchouts and just one walk.
Hitters to stream on Saturday
Avoiding base stealers facing the Kansas City Royals has been a common theme over the first half. The club has surrendered the fewest pilfers while catching the highest percentage of runners. However, there is one Royals pitcher to target. Michael Lorenzen has been on the hill for six of the 20 steals allowed by Kansas City. If Brandon Nimmo or Tyrone Taylor are in the New York Mets lineup, don't be scared off by the concern about opportunities to steal.
Hitters to avoid on Saturday
In an odd twist, the team to avoid for stolen bases this weekend is the Royals. The Mets are the second-best team at defending the run game. Be wary of Maikel Garcia, even though he's second on the Royals with 18 swipes.
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.