Fantasy baseball lineup advice and betting tips for Saturday

ESPN Fantasy

Aug 8, 2025, 05:06 PM ET

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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STARTING PITCHERS FOR SATURDAY

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
13.2	Blake Snell	L	TOR	86.2%	59%	5.5	1.8	6.4
13.0	Michael King	R	BOS	89.6%	62%	5.6	1.9	6.2
13.0	Framber Valdez	L	@NYY	99.0%	54%	6.1	2.3	6.4
11.1	Luis Gil	R	HOU	33.3%	46%	5.4	2.2	6.0
11.0	Jesus Luzardo	L	@TEX	71.2%	49%	5.7	2.7	6.4
10.4	Noah Cameron	L	@MIN	43.8%	59%	5.7	2.5	5.2
10.1	Jacob deGrom	R	PHI	98.0%	51%	5.3	2.6	5.7
9.9	Yusei Kikuchi	L	@DET	70.0%	52%	5.6	2.8	5.9
9.7	Chris Bassitt	R	@LAD	67.4%	41%	5.7	2.7	5.6
9.3	Lucas Giolito	R	@SD	37.2%	38%	5.7	2.6	5.1
8.7	Nick Martinez	R	@PIT	23.9%	66%	5.3	2.6	4.4
8.5	Bailey Ober	R	KC	54.8%	41%	5.3	2.8	5.2
8.0	Joe Boyle	R	@SEA	6.6%	54%	4.6	2.2	5.3
7.9	Colin Rea	R	@STL	9.4%	53%	5.3	2.7	4.4
7.8	Andre Pallante	R	CHC	4.5%	47%	5.4	2.5	4.1
7.8	Charlie Morton	R	LAA	9.0%	48%	5.5	3.0	5.2
7.8	Carson Whisenhunt	L	WSH	1.9%	59%	4.9	2.5	4.8
7.8	Sean Burke	R	CLE	4.8%	56%	5.1	2.6	4.9
7.7	Logan Henderson	R	NYM	24.4%	52%	4.7	2.5	5.0
7.7	Erick Fedde	R	MIA, Gm. 2	5.0%	50%	5.4	3.0	4.9
7.1	Logan Evans	R	TB	1.6%	46%	5.2	2.8	4.5
7.1	Eduardo Rodriguez	L	COL	5.2%	53%	5.4	3.3	5.2
6.9	Frankie Montas	R	@MIL	3.3%	48%	5.2	2.9	4.7
6.2	Ryan Gusto	R	@ATL, Gm. 1	0.9%	58%	4.9	3.1	4.7
5.8	Brad Lord	R	@SF	0.7%	41%	4.2	2.1	3.7
5.7	Sandy Alcantara	R	@ATL, Gm. 2	40.5%	50%	5.4	3.4	4.5
5.6	Joey Cantillo	L	@CWS	2.7%	44%	4.5	2.9	5.4
4.8	Jack Perkins	R	@BAL	1.5%	52%	3.9	2.3	3.7
4.7	Brandon Young	R	ATH	0.3%	48%	4.8	3.3	4.4
4.3	Bradley Blalock	R	@ARI	0.3%	47%	5.1	3.3	3.9
1.7	Hurston Waldrep	R	MIA, Gm. 1	1.0%	42%	3.8	3.0	3.7
	TBD		CIN	0.0%	34%	0.0	0.0	0.0

Pitchers to stream on Saturday

Many expected Noah Cameron to regress after the break, since his 2.31 ERA was not fully supported by his underlying metrics. Sure enough, Cameron's ERA rose to 4.14 over his last three post-break efforts, but one was against the Chicago Cubs and another facing the Toronto Blue Jays, two of the most potent lineups in the league. Even with the tough matchups, Cameron performed at a league average level. The Kansas City Royals rookie has a favorable opponent on Saturday, facing the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. The Twins offense is well below average, with a high strikeout rate facing left-handers.
Four of Charlie Morton's last five outings have been quality starts, including his Detroit Tigers debut against the Philadelphia Phillies in his prior effort. Even so, his walks have been high and is prone to the long ball, so the veteran remains a matchup play. On Saturday, Morton squares off with the Los Angeles Angels, with one of the highest strikeout rates in the league.
After one appearance as a long reliever, Nick Martinez is back in the Cincinnati Reds rotation with Nick Lodolo on the 15-day IL. In three starts after the break, Martinez posted a 3.38 ERA and 1.25 WHIP with 17 punchouts in 16 frames. He then threw 33 pitches in a 2 1/3 innings relief appearance, but he likely remains stretched out for Saturday's favorable matchup with the Pittsburgh Pirates, who are last in the league in runs per game.

Pitchers to avoid on Saturday

Michael King was off to a solid start to the season before being felled by right shoulder thoracic nerve impingement on May 18. After just one rehab appearance, he returns to the majors for a home date with the Boston Red Sox. King tossed 81 pitches in 3 1/3 innings with Triple-A El Paso last Sunday. He fanned five but also yielded six earned runs. Against a lesser opponent, it could be worth the risk, but the Red Sox sport one of the better lineups in the game.

Hitters to stream on Saturday

Despite trading two of their best hitters, the Arizona Diamondbacks remain a productive lineup, in part because they're running more since sending Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez to the Seattle Mariners in separate deals. The club has a home tilt with Bradley Blalock and the Colorado Rockies. Not only is Blalock a vulnerable pitcher but the Rockies are one of the poorer teams at defending the running game. Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Tyler Locklear, Jake McCarthy and Alek Thomas are in play.
With a doubleheader in Truist Park, Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins batters carry extra allure. Michael Harris II, Marcell Ozuna, Jurickson Profar and Eli White have a chance to play two for the Braves. Meanwhile, Agustin Ramirez, Otto Lopez and Jakob Marsee are the main Marlins targets.

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.