Fantasy baseball pitcher rankings, lineup advice for Saturday's MLB games (2024)

Look for our fantasy baseball starting pitcher rankings, hitter upgrades and downgrades daily to help you make smart fantasy baseball lineup decisions and for MLB betting tips. MLB game odds are provided by ESPN BET, and fantasy advice is geared toward ESPN 10-team leagues with standard scoring.

Note: This file will be updated with overnight pitching changes and weather-related game postponements, along with the addition of the latest MLB game odds as of the indicated time of publication.

Across the Pond

Saturday marks the opener of the 2024 London Series, featuring the NL East rivals Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets. Saturday's contest begins the slate at 1:10 p.m. ET, with the Mets serving as the home team.

Renovations to London Stadium before last season's two-game set between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals rendered the park much less hitter-friendly than it was in 2019 when the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox scored 50 combined runs. The new dimensions have the yard playing somewhere between the Phillies' Citizens Bank Park and Great American Ballpark, the home venue for the Cincinnati Reds.

My colleagues Tristan H. co*ckcroft and Eric Karabell did a great job setting up the series in their always outstanding weekend preview. I'm in lockstep with their recommendation to start Philles SP Ranger Suarez (97.1% rostered in ESPN league) despite the hitter-friendly environment. Last year, Cubs SP Justin Steele tossed six innings of one-run ball, scattering five hits with eight strikeouts and a walk. Suarez is comparable to Steele, while the Mets lineup slated to face Suarez is worse than the Cardinals unit which faced Steele. Suarez was questionable to make the trip, but the swelling on his thumb has subsided after he was hit in the hand by a comebacker in his last start.

The Mets will give the nod to SP Sean Manaea (16.6% rostered). The combination of a potent Phillies offense and an excellent hitting environment leaves Manaea on the fantasy bench. The Phillies and Mets will have the stage to themselves. The rest of the typical 15-game Saturday slate commences with 10 games beginning between 4:05 p.m. ET and 4:15 p.m. ET. The remaining four contests are under the lights.

Everything else you need to know for Saturday

• Tampa Bay Rays SP Taj Bradley (11.4% rostered) is the docket's fourth highest ranked pitcher, and the top option available in more than half of ESPN leagues. However, Bradley has a date with the potent Baltimore Orioles, albeit at home. The Orioles are a prime example of why gauging quality of opponent is a slippery slope. For the season, the club ranks ninth overall in wOBA facing righties. Through May 31, they were 13th, with a league average mark. Suggesting starting Bradley on June 1 was a viable call. In the past week, the Orioles wOBA facing right-handers is a whopping .371, including a game where they lit up Bradley, so recommending him for Saturday is a big risk. Statistically speaking, one week's time is wrought with variance, but the Orioles are clearly a dangerous unit. Head-to-head team managers have the luxury of their team's stead and remaining starts for the week inform their decision. Everyone else should err on the side of caution and bench Bradley. Don't worry, sitting the 23-year-old right-hander will be the exception, not the norm.

• Fortunately, there are a handful of arms worthy of streaming consideration, beginning with St. Louis Cardinals SP Kyle Gibson for his home date with the Colorado Rockies. Gibson isn't dominant with a 20.5% strikeout rate, and his 9.6% walk rate is a bit high. However, he's facing a Rockies lineup with the 10th lowest wOBA and fourth highest strikeout rate on the road versus right-handed pitching.

• Next up is Boston Red Sox SP Brayan Bello (28.5% rostered). Manager Alex Cora is old-school in that instead of being wary of "third time through", Cora historically lets young, promising pitchers learn to pitch deeper into games. He started it with Eduardo Rodriguez a few years ago, with Bello the latest example. At least on paper, Bello should be able to last awhile on Saturday when he squares off with a Chicago White Sox lineup checking in with the league's poorest wOBA against right-handers.

• Last time out, Cincinnati Reds SP Andrew Abbott (19.6% rostered) escaped Coors Field with a quality start. Next up is a home affair with the Chicago Cubs. It won't be easy facing a league-average Cubs lineup, but peaking ahead at Sunday's matchups, Abbott merits consideration for those needing to make up ground in head-to-head formats.

• While it's true that Cleveland Indians SP Ben Lively (19.3% rostered) is out over his skis a bit with a 2.84 ERA, the associated 4.09 xFIP and 4.01 SIERA portend a better than league average hurler, which works with the right matchup. A road date with the Miami Marlins qualifies as favorable. The Marlins don't fan excessively, but they sport the league's lowest wOBA with a righty on the hill.

• Let's wrap things up with San Diego Padres knuckleballer Matt Waldron (16.3% rostered). Waldron will face the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second time this season. The Diamondbacks are one of the few clubs that have been able to solve Waldron's 80-mph spinless floater this season. As we've observed with knuckleballers over the years, success facing them can be fleeting. Since early May when Arizona scored eight runs (seven earned) in three innings against Waldron, he's recorded a 1.84 ERA and 0.92 WHIP in five starts, with 35 punchouts to just six free passes over those 29 1/3 innings.

It's never too late to start a free fantasy baseball league. Leagues drafted this week will start scoring fresh the following Monday. Come and join the fun!

Starting pitcher rankings for Saturday

Reliever report

To get the latest information on each team's bullpen hierarchy, as well as which pitchers might be facing a bit of fatigue and who might be the most likely suspects to vulture a save or pick up a surprise hold in their stead, check out the latest Closer Chart, which will be updated every morning.

Hitting report

Plan ahead in fantasy baseball with help from our Forecaster projections. Each day, we will provide an updated preview of the next 10 days for every team, projecting the matchup quality for hitters (overall and by handedness) as well as for base stealers.

Best sub-50% rostered hitters for Saturday

Best and worst hitters from the day are generated by THE BAT X, a projection 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.

• J.P. Crawford (SEA, SS -- 46%) at Alec Marsh

• Max Kepler (MIN, RF -- 17%) at Carmen Mlodzinski

• Joc Pederson (ARI, LF -- 6%) at Matt Waldron

• Alec Burleson (STL, LF -- 8%) vs. Ryan Feltner

• Danny Jansen (TOR, C -- 12%) at Luis Medina

• Rob Refsnyder (BOS, LF -- 1%) at Nick Nastrini

• Oneil Cruz (PIT, SS -- 49%) vs. Simeon Woods Richardson

• Jackson Merrill (SD, SS -- 26%) vs. Ryne Nelson

• Josh Bell (MIA, 1B -- 30%) vs. Ben Lively

• Andrew McCutchen (PIT, DH -- 3%) vs. Woods Richardson

Worst over-50% rostered hitters for Saturday

• Brent Rooker (OAK, RF -- 53%) vs. Kevin Gausman

• Riley Greene (DET, CF -- 62%) vs. Freddy Peralta

• Gabriel Moreno (ARI, C -- 54%) at Matt Waldron

• Jordan Westburg (BAL, 2B -- 85%) at Taj Bradley

• Randy Arozarena (TB, LF -- 74%) vs. Kyle Bradish

• Luis Rengifo (LAA, 2B -- 71%) vs. Hunter Brown

• Ryan McMahon (COL, 3B -- 60%) at Kyle Gibson

• Luis Robert Jr. (CHW, CF -- 82%) vs. Brayan Bello

• Teoscar Hernandez (LAD, RF -- 89%) at Nestor Cortes

• Anthony Santander (BAL, RF -- 87%) at Bradley

The BAT X's Best Stacks for Saturday

• Cleveland Guardians at Roddery Munoz

• Atlanta Braves at MacKenzie Gore

• Houston Astros at Tyler Anderson