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.
Giants' Lee needs shoulder surgery; season over
Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee will undergo season-ending surgery on his left shoulder, the team announced Friday.
Gun Song wins with ease in Black-Eyed Susan
Gun Song, ridden by John Velazquez, scored a 3 1/4-length win in the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico on Friday.
Sources: Ex-Angel Fletcher used Mizuhara bookie
David Fletcher, a former Los Angeles Angels infielder currently with the Braves' Triple-A affiliate, and his friend, who also played in the minor leagues, bet with the bookie who took wagers from Shohei Ohtani's ex-interpreter, according to sources.
FSU asks NCAA to reduce, rescind NIL penalties
Florida State has asked the NCAA to reduce and rescind penalties imposed on its football program for NIL-related recruiting violations.
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
Skenes Strikes Out First Seven Cubs, 11 Overall
ST. LOUIS -- — Lars Nootbaar and Masyn Winn hit two-run homers, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat Boston 10-6 on Friday night to drop the Red Sox below .500 for the first time since the season’s opening week.
Nolan Arenado had three hits that included an RBI single in the eighth after entering in a 3-for-27 slide.
“I think today we were just locked in on just competing and we were in it,” Arenado said.
Nolan Gorman and Alec Burleson also went deep for the Cardinals, who matched season highs for runs, hits (14) and homers. St. Louis has had at least 10 hits in five of its last six games.
“A lot of good at-bats tonight from everybody, you know, and stringing them together as well,” Burleson said. “Just, you know, singled them to death when we needed to and then, you know, had a couple of long balls mixed in there too. So, a lot of fun to watch when we’re clicking.”
Winn’s two-run homer off Cam Booser was the first home run of Winn’s big league career.
“He came up to me right before that at bat, he said I’m going to be taking some big swings,” Nootbaar said. “And I was like, do it, dude, why not?”
Boston has lost three straight and 10 of 14, falling to 22-23. The Red Sox had not been under .500 since a 1-2 start.
Kyle Gibson (3-2) allowed five runs, eight hits and three walks in six-plus innings as the Cardinals won for the fourth time in five games.
Brayan Bello (4-2) gave up a season-high five runs in a season-low 4 2/3 innings. Pitching on his 25th birthday, he tied a career-worst by allowing three homers.
“It was a bad outing,” Bello said through an interpreter. “The team did everything possible to score some runs, to get me some run support, but I wasn’t able to make the adjustment tonight.”
Nootbaar put the Cardinals ahead when he drove a changeup 430 feet over the center-field wall for his third home run in 10 days.
“Hitting’s contagious and you have handful of guys that have some knocks and all of a sudden you feel a little bit better about yourself and have more confidence,” Nootbaar said.
David Hamilton’s two-run triple tied the score in the second. Tyler O’Neill scored on the hit and received a standing ovation in his return to St. Louis, his team from 2018-23.
Gorman homered in the second and Rafael Devers tied the score 3-3 with a 443-foot drive in the third — he is 9 for 20 against Gibson with three extra-base hits.
“We were what, 3 for 12 with runners in scoring position?” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “But the at-bats are getting better, which is, you know, a positive.”
Burleson homered leading off the fourth and Paul Goldschmidt hit an RBI single for a 5-3 lead in the fifth.
“Today was fun, man,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “Up and down the lineup, not a whole lot of breathing room. Extra-base hits, homers, some key hits when they were needed from just about everybody. So, offense looked really really good today.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: RHP Garrett Whitlock (left oblique strain) experienced soreness in his right elbow following a rehab start and has been shut down. Whitlock, who threw 4 2/3 scoreless innings at Triple-A Worcester on Wednesday, returned to Boston and will undergo imaging tests over the weekend.
Cardinals: C Willson Contreras (left forearm fracture) had his cast removed and still hopes to return around the All-Star break. … RHP Giovanny Gallegos (right shoulder impingement) threw a bullpen session.
UP NEXT
The Cardinals will start RHP Miles Mikolas (3-5, 6.19 ERA) against RHP Kutter Crawford (2-2, 2.24 ERA) and the Red Sox on Saturday night. Mikolas allowed just one run in six innings in his lone career start last year against Boston. Crawford gave up four runs in four innings in his only career start against St. Louis in 2022.
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