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

Everything you need to know to place your MLB bets and set your fantasy baseball lineups for Saturday, June 1.

Sources: Pels deferring Lakers' 1st-rd. pick to '25

The New Orleans Pelicans are planning to defer the Los Angeles Lakers' first-round pick until 2025, clearing the way for the Lakers to select 17th overall in the 2024 NBA draft, sources told ESPN on Friday.

Santiago Espinal hits 2-run homer, Reds hold on to beat Cubs 5-4

— Santiago Espinal hit a two-run homer while pinch hitting in the seventh inning and the Cincinnati Reds held on to beat the sliding Chicago Cubs 5-4 on Friday.

Guardians welcome back Kwan after stint on IL

Steven Kwan, who had been sidelined since May 5 with a strained left hamstring, came off the IL on Friday for the Guardians.

Reports: GM Weaver out amid Pistons shakeup

Troy Weaver is out as general manager of the Pistons, according to reports, after the team posted the league's worst record over the past two seasons.

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.

Slim Pickings

The first thing I do when researching the slate when it's my turn in this space is review the streaming candidates, hopefully finding one to feature in the introductory first few paragraphs. Saturday's ledger seemed odd in that there is an abundance of probable pitchers with a rostership over 50%, which is the cutoff we use to identify options to pick up. Only 13 of Saturday's 30 probable starters have a rostership below 50%. That seems low.

Currently, there are 162 starting pitchers with a rostership level of at least 1%. This makes sense since there are around 150 starting pitchers active in a fantasy week and many fantasy teams stash injured hurlers on the IL. Of the 162, only 62 are rostered in at least half of ESPN leagues, indicating that on average, 62% of that day's probable starters should pass the rostership criteria for pickup. On Saturday, just 43% satisfy the filter.

Breaking it down further, only 16.7% of starters are rostered in 90% of leagues. Just 20.4% are at least 80%.

On the other end, 32.7% of starters are rostered in fewer than 10% of ESPN leagues. Just under half meet the 20% requirement.

It's fair to consider pitchers with the higher rostership levels not surpassing the cutoff to be the better options, but only 13.6% of starters range between 20% and 50% rostership. This leaves 17.9% in the 50%-80% range, where it's worth taking the time to check on the availability of the starter.

These percentages opened my eyes. While I don't stream blindly in ESPN leagues, my decisions are more on a day-to-day basis. Admittedly, in head-to-head leagues, there have been weekends where I rued not being more aggressive earlier in the week. If I was behind, the available options to make up ground were not warm and fuzzy.

Here are my takeaways. On each slate, it's important to note the number and quality of streaming options. There is a fixed number of pitchers available to pick up, and even fewer with a quality matchup. Don't hesitate to use multiple favorable spot starters early in the week, even if it means reserving a closer or setup man.

Later in the week, when you usually stream starters, instead deploy an extra reliever or two. If the supply of early week starters is high, but the quality is poor, that means there will be fewer quality options later in the week. You'll have to look at least a day ahead to acquire the better options before your competition.

Everything else you need to know for Saturday

Don't fret; a few of the 13 possible streamers are worth considering. Action begins a bit later with the first game commencing at 3:07 p.m. ET. Nine more matinees follow in the 4:00 p.m. ET hour, leaving five contests under the lights. The New York Mets host the Arizona Diamondbacks with the day's top-ranked streamer, Sean Manaea (17.8% rostered in ESPN leagues) taking the hill. Manaea posted a 3.27 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in May, ringing up 17 while walking just four in four outings, spanning 22 frames. The visitors pose a challenge with the best road wOBA facing southpaws, but pitcher-friendly Citi Field should mitigate the Diamondbacks success facing left-handers. Milwaukee Brewers rookie Robert Gasser (12.2% rostered) is ranked just below Manaea. Gasser enjoys a home date with the Chicago White Sox. Gasser is coming off the best start of his young career, fanning seven Chicago Cubs with no walks in six scoreless stanzas. In four career starts, Gasser has a pair of six-inning shutout efforts. Calling for a third is optimistic, though the White Sox are last with an average of 2.8 runs per game, which includes being blanked nine times. The Cleveland Guardians have spun their magic again as Ben Lively (12.8% rostered) is quietly sporting a 2.80 ERA and 1.18 WHIP with a respectable 43 strikeouts to 14 walks in 45 stanzas. On Saturday, Lively has a favorable home matchup with the Washington Nationals. The visitors will tote the 10th lowest wOBA facing righties into Progressive Field. There is always risk streaming an opposing pitcher in Fenway Park, but Reese Olson (22.8%) is in a groove, putting the Detroit Tigers starter in play. His success is due to yielding only one homer in 56 frames. For all its offensive exploits, Fenway Park suppresses power. To wit, the Boston Red Sox sport the fifth lowest home run rate for home games with a righty on the hill.

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. 

Keibert Ruiz (WSH, C -- 45%) at Ben Lively Jesse Winker (WSH, DH -- 10%) at Lively Luis Garcia Jr. (WSH, 2B -- 11%) at Lively Jackson Merrill (SD, SS -- 29%) at Alec Marsh Matt Chapman (SF, 3B -- 47%) vs. Cody Poteet Tyler Freeman (CLE, 3B -- 14%) vs. Mitchell Parker Luis Matos (SF, CF -- 19%) vs. Poteet J.D. Martinez (NYM, DH -- 12%) vs. Blake Walston Carlos Correa (MIN, SS -- 47%) at Framber Valdez orge Soler (SF, RF -- 47%) vs. Poteet Worst over-50% rostered hitters for Saturday Brice Turang (MIL, 2B -- 69%) vs. Garrett Crochet Ryan McMahon (COL, 3B -- 63%) at Yoshinobu Yamamoto Brent Rooker (OAK, RF -- 57%) at Chris Sale Oneil Cruz (PIT, SS -- 51%) at Yusei Kikuchi Elly De La Cruz (CIN, SS -- 99%) at Justin Steele Jeremy Pena (HOU, SS -- 72%) vs. Joe Ryan Gleyber Torres (NYY, 2B -- 64%) at Logan Webb Gabriel Moreno (ARI, C -- 55%) at Sean Manaea Cal Raleigh (SEA, C -- 70%) vs. Reid Detmers Christian Yelich (MIL, LF -- 95%) vs. Crochet