Fantasy baseball lineup advice and betting tips for Sunday

ESPN Fantasy

Aug 23, 2025, 04:30 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 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
14.7	Paul Skenes	R	COL	99.9%	70%	6.0	2.0	6.4
13.3	Ranger Suarez	L	WSH	75.7%	70%	5.9	2.3	6.0
13.2	Carlos Rodon	L	BOS	96.5%	60%	5.9	2.2	6.4
13.0	Logan Gilbert	R	ATH	95.8%	57%	5.8	2.2	6.3
12.4	Nick Pivetta	R	LAD	94.8%	58%	5.6	2.0	5.9
11.8	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	R	@SD	99.3%	42%	6.0	2.2	5.8
11.4	Jacob Lopez	L	@SEA	39.6%	43%	5.3	2.0	6.0
11.1	Kevin Gausman	R	@MIA	89.7%	56%	5.8	2.4	5.6
11.1	Brandon Woodruff	R	SF	81.3%	56%	5.4	2.2	5.5
10.6	Taj Bradley	R	@CWS	29.8%	55%	5.6	2.4	5.5
10.2	David Peterson	L	@ATL	54.1%	51%	5.8	2.7	5.8
10.2	Seth Lugo	R	@DET	68.9%	56%	6.0	2.9	5.2
9.6	Eury Perez	R	TOR	36.5%	44%	5.1	2.0	4.8
9.5	Matthew Boyd	L	@LAA	87.6%	64%	5.5	2.7	5.1
9.5	Ryan Pepiot	R	STL	49.8%	58%	5.3	2.4	4.9
9.3	Robbie Ray	L	@MIL	91.7%	44%	5.4	2.6	5.4
9.2	Jack Flaherty	R	KC	73.5%	44%	5.5	2.8	5.8
9.1	Zac Gallen	R	CIN	67.7%	52%	5.6	2.9	5.5
8.9	Merrill Kelly	R	CLE	79.1%	52%	5.7	3.0	5.0
8.7	Dustin May	R	@NYY	16.7%	40%	5.4	2.8	5.6
8.2	Brady Singer	R	@ARI	35.1%	48%	5.5	2.9	5.1
7.9	Trevor Rogers	L	HOU	70.3%	48%	5.4	2.8	4.7
7.7	Yoendrys Gomez	R	MIN	0.7%	45%	5.2	2.9	5.6
7.1	Gavin Williams	R	@TEX	40.4%	48%	5.0	2.8	4.9
7.1	McCade Brown	R	@PIT	0.0%	30%	5.1	2.8	5.2
7.0	Jake Irvin	R	@PHI	9.3%	30%	5.6	3.2	4.6
6.8	Spencer Arrighetti	R	@BAL	5.8%	52%	5.1	3.2	5.4
6.3	Matthew Liberatore	L	@TB	17.9%	42%	4.8	2.6	4.1
4.0	Bryce Elder	R	NYM	1.9%	49%	5.1	3.8	4.5
3.7	Kyle Hendricks	R	CHC	1.5%	36%	4.8	3.4	3.7

Pitchers to stream Sunday

Jacob Lopez is in contention for Pitcher of the Month in August, as he's sporting a 0.70 ERA and 0.74 WHIP with 32 strikeouts in 25⅔ innings. The Athletics' southpaw has a chance to strengthen his case with a road date in Seattle. Not only will the game be in the best pitching venue in the league, but he'll face the lineup with the second-highest strikeout rate with a lefty on the hill.
Gavin Williams has registered quality starts in five of six starts since the break, compiling a 2.00 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in that span, fueled by 37 punchouts in 36 frames. The Cleveland Guardians close out a weekend set in Arlington against a struggling Texas Rangers offense that will be without Evan Carter, Jake Burger (both on the IL) and Marcus Semien, who is slated to be examined after he fouled a ball off his foot Thursday.
Ryan Pepiot is in a rut, though his 4.03 xFIP since the break indicates that he has been better than his actual 5.88 ERA in that span. A high 20.0% HR/FB rate is the culprit, leading to eight homers in his prior 33⅔ stanzas. But the Tampa Bay Rays end the fantasy week with a home date against a St. Louis Cardinals team toting the second-lowest home run rate facing right-handers.

Pitchers to avoid Sunday

Seth Lugo has been an automatic start for much of the past two seasons. He's not dominant, but the veteran limits traffic and usually keeps the ball in the yard. However, he's had an issue with home runs over the second half, surrendering two long balls in six of his past eight efforts. The Kansas City Royals wrap up an AL Central series in Motown against the Detroit Tigers. It's best to avoid Lugo since he's facing the offense with the 10th-highest home run rate against righties over the past month.

Hitters to stream Sunday

A pair of NL East offenses line up for productive games on Sunday. The New York Mets have a road date with Bryce Elder and the Atlanta Braves, benefiting Mark Vientos, Brett Baty and Cedric Mullins. Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs are in Anaheim against Kyle Hendricks and the Los Angeles Angels. Carson Kelly, Ian Happ, Dansby Swanson and Matt Shaw are the primary 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.