Fantasy baseball lineup advice and betting tips for Sunday

ESPN Fantasy

Aug 30, 2025, 03:25 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
13.3	Jesus Luzardo	L	ATL	77.7%	69%	5.8	2.2	6.7
13.0	Tarik Skubal	L	@KC	99.9%	57%	6.0	2.4	6.3
12.4	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	R	ARI	99.3%	65%	5.9	2.2	6.0
12.1	Hunter Brown	R	LAA	99.2%	56%	5.6	2.2	6.3
11.8	Brandon Woodruff	R	@TOR	80.1%	67%	5.5	2.1	5.2
11.7	Jacob deGrom	R	@ATH	97.8%	64%	5.4	2.2	5.7
11.5	Dylan Cease	R	@MIN	89.9%	60%	5.6	2.5	6.6
11.5	Kodai Senga	R	MIA	77.4%	57%	5.5	2.0	5.4
10.6	Joe Ryan	R	SD	97.9%	40%	5.6	2.5	5.8
10.3	Luis Gil	R	@CWS	31.2%	54%	5.4	2.2	5.6
10.1	Sandy Alcantara	R	@NYM	45.6%	43%	5.8	2.3	5.0
9.4	Tanner Bibee	R	SEA	68.0%	53%	5.6	2.9	5.7
9.2	Brady Singer	R	STL	40.9%	50%	5.5	2.8	5.5
9.0	Jose Soriano	R	@HOU	17.3%	44%	5.4	2.4	5.3
8.8	Justin Verlander	R	BAL	8.6%	50%	5.5	2.6	5.0
8.8	Bryce Miller	R	@CLE	50.9%	47%	5.3	2.7	5.0
8.8	Max Scherzer	R	MIL	36.2%	33%	5.2	2.4	4.7
8.6	Brandon Pfaadt	R	@LAD	56.9%	35%	5.5	2.8	5.3
8.4	Martin Perez	L	NYY	3.0%	46%	5.2	2.5	4.8
8.4	Ian Seymour	L	@WSH	1.9%	61%	4.2	1.8	4.2
8.1	Tomoyuki Sugano	R	@SF	11.1%	50%	5.5	2.6	4.0
7.1	Michael Wacha	R	DET	25.7%	43%	5.4	3.1	4.7
6.8	Andre Pallante	R	@CIN	3.4%	50%	5.3	3.0	4.6
6.6	Lucas Giolito	R	PIT	33.8%	56%	5.4	3.5	5.0
6.3	Mitch Keller	R	@BOS	48.7%	44%	5.5	3.6	5.1
6.2	J.T. Ginn	R	TEX	0.8%	36%	4.7	2.7	4.7
5.7	Hurston Waldrep	R	@PHI	55.1%	31%	4.9	2.8	4.7
5.1	Brad Lord	R	TB	1.2%	39%	4.7	3.0	4.4
4.6	Matthew Boyd	L	@COL	85.1%	68%	5.2	4.6	5.2
-6.4	Tanner Gordon	R	CHC	0.3%	32%	4.3	6.9	3.7

Pitchers to stream Sunday

Luis Gil's control has been suspect since debuting in early August, as shown by 17 walks in 24 innings. However, he has limited damage by yielding just one home run this month. The New York Yankees close August with a road date against the Chicago White Sox. Gil faces a lineup with the seventh-lowest walk rate for the past month, so free passes might not be as much of an issue.
After struggling in his first start after the break, Brady Singer has been on a roll, recording a 1.80 ERA and 0.94 WHIP over six starts, with an uncharacteristically high 39 strikeouts in 35 frames. He has a chance to continue padding his punchouts when the Cincinnati Reds host the St. Louis Cardinals. Singer squares off with the lineup sporting the second-highest strikeout total facing righties over the last month.
Those exhibiting patience with Sandy Alcantara have been rewarded with a 3.07 ERA and 1.02 WHIP spanning his last seven starts, with 40 strikeouts over his past 44 innings. Next up is a familiar foe, as the Miami Marlins visit the New York Mets. It's not an ideal matchup with the Mets handling right-handed pitching well lately, but Alcantara has tossed seven innings four times in his previous seven efforts, an underappreciated element of points-league scoring.

Pitcher to avoid Sunday

Hurston Waldrep's 0.90 ERA and 0.93 WHIP over five outings are pristine, but he's yet to face a top-10 offense, facing teams with the 13th, 14th, 28th and 30th highest wOBA versus right-handers. That changes Sunday when the Atlanta Braves wrap up a road set with the Philadelphia Phillies. Waldrep is off to a great start, but he's unproven and likely too risky, especially for those battling for a fantasy playoff berth.

Hitters to stream Sunday

Brad Lord heads into the last day of August with a 5.47 ERA and 1.56 WHIP for the month. It isn't likely to get much better with a road tilt between the Washington Nationals and Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays are in a bit of a rut, but Brandon Lowe, Chandler Simpson and Josh Lowe are all in a favorable spot against the vulnerable right-hander.

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.