Fantasy baseball pitcher rankings, lineup advice for Saturday's MLB games
Everything you need to know to place your MLB bets and set fantasy baseball lineups for Saturday, May 18.
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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 any overnight pitching changes or weather-related game postponements, along with the addition of the latest MLB game odds as of the indicated time of publication.
Eye of the Tiger
Expectations for Jack Flaherty were mixed heading into the fantasy draft season. He was coming off a season where he started with the St. Louis Cardinals, then was dealt to the Baltimore Orioles at the trade deadline. For the year, Flaherty recorded a subpar 4.99 ERA and 1.58 WHIP, though a .356 BABIP bloated both of those ratios.
The Detroit Tigers weren't deterred by Flaherty's 2023 performance, signing him to a one-year, $14 million deal with incentives for 26, 28 and 30 starts. This felt like the perfect match as the Tigers needed a veteran presence for their young staff and club on the rise. Meanwhile, Flaherty landed in a great place to rejuvenate his career, pitching in the perceived weaker AL Central Division.
So far, both the Tigers and Flaherty have made a smart decision, though the club was hoping to be a few games above .500 and closer to the top of their division. Flaherty's record is oddly 0-3, but he's posted a 3.88 ERA and 1.05 WHIP, with a remarkable 32.5% strikeout rate and frugal 3.1% walk rate. His 29.4% K-BB% is tops among qualified pitchers.
Flaherty (41% rostered in ESPN leagues) will seek his first win on Saturday when he takes the hill in Chase Field against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The right-hander has a tough draw with Zac Gallen getting the nod for the home team in what portends to be a low-scoring affair. The Diamondbacks offense has struggled facing righties, checking in with the sixth lowest wOBA in that scenario. Flaherty may not be favored to finally record his first win this season, but he's in the mix as a spot starter.
Everything else you need to know for Saturday
• Saturday's slate is the standard 15 games, commencing at 1:05 PM ET with the Chicago White Sox visiting the Bronx to face the New York Yankees. Luis Gil (43.1% rostered) will start for the home team. The right-hander is coming off three straight quality starts where he's allowed just one earned run over 18 1/3 innings. Gil only fanned 13 with seven walks in that span, but with a weak White Sox lineup on tap, the likely ERA correction should survive this outing.
• The ledger's top-ranked streamer is Cristopher Sanchez (11.5% rostered). He'll toe the Citizens Bank Park rubber for the Philadelphia Phillies as they take on the Washington Nationals. Sanchez is sporting a low 3.43 ERA, but a high 1.50 WHIP indicates the lefty is outpitching his peripherals, though a high .344 BABIP is contributing to the elevated WHIP. Even almost a third of the way into the season, splits facing left-handers are sketchy, but the Nationals .273 wOBA facing southpaws is sufficiently low to give Sanchez the nod as a spot starter.
• Luis Severino (24% rostered) has recorded a slow 3.00 ERA, albeit with a relatively high 1.20 WHIP. Control has been Severino's chief issue as he's sporting a high 10.5% walk rate, which is countering the potential good fortune of a .250 BABIP. Severino has also benefited from a low 8.3% home run per fly ball mark. On Saturday, Severino and the Mets have a road date with the Miami Marlins. On paper, this benefits Severino since the Marlins are the least patient team in MLB.
It's not 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.
Hunter Renfroe (KC, RF -- 3%) vs. Ross Stripling
Carlos Correa (MIN, SS -- 46%) at Logan Allen
Joc Pederson (ARI, LF -- 5%) vs. Jack Flaherty
Alex Verdugo (NYY, RF -- 43%) vs. Brad Keller
Michael Massey (KC, 2B -- 2%) vs. Stripling
Matt Chapman (SF, 3B -- 32%) vs. Ty Blach
Abraham Toro (OAK, 3B -- 29%) at Seth Lugo
Nolan Schanuel (LAA, 1B -- 2%) at Jose Urena
LaMonte Wade Jr. (SF, 1B -- 8%) vs. Blach
Willie Calhoun (LAA, RF -- 0%) at Urena
Worst over-50% rostered hitters for Saturday
Jordan Westburg (BAL, 2B -- 83%) vs. Luis Castillo
Oneil Cruz (PIT, SS -- 57%) at Shota Imanaga
Gabriel Moreno (ARI, C -- 59%) vs. Jack Flaherty
Ryan McMahon (COL, 3B -- 50%) at Jordan Hicks
Brice Turang (MIL, 2B -- 72%) at Justin Verlander
CJ Abrams (WSH, SS -- 92%) at Cristopher Sanchez
Jeff McNeil (NYM, 2B -- 57%) at Braxton Garrett
Evan Carter (TEX, LF -- 68%) vs. Patrick Sandoval
Cal Raleigh (SEA, C -- 71%) at Dean Kremer
Kyle Schwarber (PHI, LF -- 96%) vs. MacKenzie Gore
Paul Skenes Strikes Out 11 In 6 No-hit Innings, Gets 1st Win As The Pirates Beat The Cubs 9-3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- — Cole Ragans allowed two hits in seven scoreless innings, Michael Massey and Maikel Garcia homered and the Kansas City Royals beat Oakland 6-2 on Friday night to extend the Athletics losing streak to a season-high six.
Ragans (3-3) walked two and struck out seven, rebounding from a 9-3 loss at the Los Angeles Angels when he allowed seven runs and eight hits. He has three scoreless starts of at least six innings this season.
Chris Stratton and Matt Sauers finished the four-hitter, the ninth time Oakland has been held to four hits or fewer.
Oakland has been outscored 36-6 during its losing streak, which dropped the A's to 19-28.
“We just need to continue to grind at-bats out and find some offense,” Oakland manager Mark Kotsay said.
Kansas City went ahead in the first when Salvador Perez hit a two-out, run-scoring infield single. Perez was called out by first base umpire Ryan Additon, but a video review ruled Perez beat the throw from third baseman Brett Harris.
Massey hit a two-run homer off Austin Adams and Maikel Garcia a three-run drive against Brandon Bielak in a five-run sixth.
“We were only up 1-0 going into that inning so that was huge,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “Massey gets the homer and things went from there, it was a huge spot in the game.”
Mitch Spence (3-2) gave up one run and five hits in 4 2/3 innings.
“I thought he did a nice job tonight,” Kotsay said. “To only give up one run over 4 2/3 innings and throw 75 pitches, that's a great outing and what was expected. I thought he'd be able to do that.”
Shea Langeliers hit a two-run homer off Sauers in the ninth, his 10th this season.
ROSTER MOVES
Oakland activated Bielak, a day after he was acquired from Houston for cash. LHP Hogan Harris was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas.
UP NEXT
RHP Ross Stripling (1-7, 4.98 ERA) takes the mound for Oakland on Saturday while Kansas City starts RHP Seth Lugo (6-1, 1.66),
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
