Fantasy baseball lineup advice and betting tips for Friday

ESPN Fantasy

Sep 25, 2025, 03:44 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.

Jump to: Pitching notes | Hitting notes | Betting tips
Reliever depth chart

STARTING PITCHERS FOR FRIDAY

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
11.3	Joe Ryan	R	@PHI	93.8%	46%	5.6	2.6	6.2
11.3	George Kirby	R	LAD	82.7%	59%	5.6	2.4	5.5
11.0	Shane Bieber	R	TB	56.0%	52%	5.6	2.4	5.8
10.7	Aaron Nola	R	MIN	66.0%	54%	5.9	3.0	6.1
10.7	Zac Gallen	R	@SD	77.6%	53%	5.7	2.3	5.3
10.2	Noah Cameron	L	@ATH	36.9%	62%	5.7	2.7	5.3
9.9	Yu Darvish	R	ARI	20.0%	47%	5.0	1.9	4.6
9.6	Sandy Alcantara	R	NYM	53.5%	47%	5.8	2.6	5.1
9.2	Trevor Rogers	L	@NYY	71.8%	51%	5.4	2.5	5.4
9.2	Quinn Priester	R	CIN	50.9%	55%	5.5	2.6	5.0
9.2	Will Warren	R	BAL	18.3%	49%	5.2	2.5	5.3
8.5	Adrian Houser	R	@TOR	17.8%	48%	5.6	2.6	4.2
8.2	Colin Rea	R	STL	8.4%	53%	5.4	2.8	4.6
7.9	Brandon Sproat	R	@MIA	8.1%	53%	4.9	2.4	4.6
7.9	Jack Leiter	R	@CLE	17.1%	53%	5.0	2.6	5.0
7.8	Clayton Kershaw	L	@SEA	31.7%	41%	4.7	2.1	4.4
7.8	Slade Cecconi	R	TEX	16.1%	47%	5.2	2.9	4.8
7.7	Mitch Keller	R	@ATL	48.6%	57%	5.5	3.2	4.9
7.4	Trevor McDonald	R	COL	0.3%	61%	5.5	2.9	4.7
7.4	Zack Littell	R	@MIL	26.1%	45%	5.3	3.0	4.5
6.7	Luis Morales	R	KC	16.4%	38%	5.1	2.9	4.6
6.6	Yoendrys Gomez	R	@WSH	1.1%	59%	4.7	2.8	5.1
6.5	Miles Mikolas	R	@CHC	2.7%	47%	5.1	2.9	3.9
6.2	Jason Alexander	R	@LAA	6.4%	49%	4.9	2.9	4.5
6.1	Kyle Harrison	L	DET	1.3%	53%	4.9	3.2	5.0
5.3	Kyle Hendricks	R	HOU	3.3%	51%	5.1	3.2	3.7
4.9	Casey Mize	R	@BOS	46.8%	47%	4.9	3.5	4.5
4.7	Cade Cavalli	R	CWS	3.9%	41%	4.5	2.9	4.3
4.6	Joey Wentz	L	PIT	1.9%	43%	4.5	3.2	5.0
3.7	German Marquez	R	@SF	0.4%	39%	4.8	3.2	3.6

Pitchers to stream on Friday

The Athletics 1B Nick Kurtz has the AL Rookie of the Year award on lock, but Noah Cameron of the Kansas City Royals should get some downballot votes. The lefty is putting the wraps on a solid freshman season. ERA estimators peg his 2.90 ERA to be over a run too low, but they still indicate he's a better-than-league-average pitcher. Cameron's last start is in Sacramento against the Athletics, giving the southpaw strikeout upside, facing the lineup with the eighth-highest strikeout rate in the league.
Clayton Kershaw's final regular season start of his illustrious career is a road date with the Seattle Mariners. Kershaw is slated to work out of the bullpen in the playoffs, so there is no need to limit his pitch count. The Mariners have clinched the AL West, but they still have a shot at the No. 1 AL seed. Even if they play their regulars, the club sports the seventh-highest strikeout rate with a lefty on the hill. The Dodgers have secured a playoff berth, but they haven't quite clinched the NL West yet.
Brandon Sproat offers the highest strikeout upside of all potential streamers when the New York Mets visit the Miami Marlins. The rookie has punched out 15 batters over his first 16 MLB innings and is facing a lineup simply playing out the string. That said, Sproat could be on a short leash as the Mets must treat their remaining contests like a playoff game -- at least until they clinch the NL's last wild-card spot (which, of course, might not happen at all).

Hitters to stream on Friday

Joey Wentz's ERA is 5.46 with a 1.52 WHIP, pitching for three teams this season. The Atlanta Braves' lefty closes out the year with a matchup against the Pittsburgh Pirates, with whom he began the season. Neither club has anything but pride to play for. The Pirates' right-handed contingent is in a good spot to pad their stats in hitter-friendly Truist Park. Jared Triolo, Nick Gonzales, Bryan Reynolds, Tommy Pham and Andrew McCutchen are the chief beneficiaries.

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.