Fantasy baseball daily notes – Pitcher and hitter rankings for Sunday
Good luck securing the win if you play head-to-head, as well as those looking to pad category totals in rotisserie scoring. Here’s are Sunday’s choices to fortify your lineup, with everyone available in more than half of all ESPN leagues.
Yusei Kikuchi (L), rostered in 42% of ESPN leagues, Seattle Mariners vs. Texas Rangers: Kikuchi is approaching the 50% roster threshold to be eligible for this column but to be frank, he should have eclipsed the mark long ago. The lefty has worked at least six frames in seven of nine outings, six being quality starts. Not only is he providing volume, but he’s fanning a batter an inning. Kikuchi should be able to maintain that pace facing a Rangers lineup with 10th-highest strikeout rate against lefthanders.
Josh Fleming (L), 11%, Tampa Bay Rays vs. Philadelphia Phillies: The Rays have a knack for extracting the most of their pitching staff with Fleming the latest example of a relative unknown being utilized in positions where he can best succeed. He’s pitched six frames only twice, but Tampa’s bullpen has helped him to four victories, including his past three decisions. He won’t miss many bats, but he doesn’t hurt himself with walks or homers, so he generally keeps his team in the game.
Kwang Hyun Kim (L), 18%, St. Louis Cardinals at Arizona Diamondbacks: On paper, this is a tough matchup for Kim but the pickings are slim and often splits facing lefthanded pitching are misleading, even two months into the season. Summed together, teams have played approximately 15 games against lefties which isn’t enough to know for sure how well they’ll fare. To that point, Arizona has hit a bit above average versus lefthanders, hence the risk. However, in another admittedly small sample, Kim has yet to surrender a long ball to a lefty swinger and the Diamondbacks do a lot of their damage via the home run.
Cole Irvin (L), 26%, Oakland Athletics vs. Los Angeles Angels: Chasing wins is usually frowned upon in fantasy baseball, but on the last day of the scoring period, it may be necessary to capture the week in head-to-head leagues. Oakland will be heavy favorites and despite a rapidly falling strikeout rate, Irvin can keep an offense missing Mike Trout in check while the Athletics’ bats take aim against the struggling Jose Quintana.
Bullpen: Doubleheaders are always a great place to speculate on a save since teams are reluctant to use their primary closer in both ends. High winds postponed Saturday’s matinee in Cleveland so the Indians and Blue Jays will play a pair on Sunday. Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase could be available in shallow leagues as his roster level is 57%. Both of Toronto’s likeliest ninth-inning guys are readily available with Jordan Romano slightly favored over Rafael Dolis.
For the latest team-by-team closer situations, please consult our Closer Chart.
Calculating Bill James game scores: A pitcher starts with 50 points, gets a point for each out, two points for each innings completed after the fourth inning, and one point for a strikeout. He is docked two points for each hit, four points for each earned run allowed, two points for each unearned run allowed and one point for each walk.Note: In 2019 and 2020, the average game score was 50.
Catcher — Tom Murphy (R), 1%, Seattle Mariners vs. Texas Rangers (LHP Hyeon-Jong Yang): More frequent playing time has agreed with Murphy as he was slashing .385/.467.769 for the week heading into Saturday’s action. More importantly, he has always hit lefties better than righties and will enjoy the platoon bump on Sunday.
First Base — Garrett Cooper (R), 32%, Miami Marlins at Boston Red Sox (LHP Eduardo Rodriguez): After a sluggish April, Cooper has been slugging in May, posting a .324/.385/.535 line through Friday’s games. He’ll have the platoon edge on a lefty who has been in a rut lately as Rodriguez has allowed at least four runs in four of his previous five outings, pitching to a 6.48 ERA over those 25 innings.
Second Base — Ty France (R), 28%, Seattle Mariners vs. Texas Rangers (LHP Hyeon-Jong Yang): France hit safely in his first five games after coming off the IL, going 7 for 18. He’s in a good spot to keep the momentum as he’ll face Yang who has issued 12 walks in 24 2/3 stanzas while also serving up five round trippers.
Third Base — Brandon Drury (R), under 1%, New York Mets vs. Atlanta Braves (LHP Max Fried): There isn’t much at the hot corner in a favorable spot, so let’s dig deep and point out Drury batted third the last time the injury-depleted Mets faced a lefthander. Drury hasn’t been very productive the last couple of seasons but he has been better with the platoon edge.
Shortstop — Elvis Andrus (R), 11%, Oakland Athletics vs. Los Angeles Angels (LHP Jose Quintana): It took an 8-for-15 stretch to do it, but Andrus is finally north of the dubious Mendoza line. More hits could be in store as Quintana has administered 37 knocks in 30 2/3 innings.
Corner Infield — Will Craig (R), under 1%, Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Colorado Rockies (LHP Kyle Freeland): Craig is another deep league special as there isn’t much out there at corner. He’ll benefit from the platoon advantage against Freeland who will make just his second start of the season after being shelved with a left shoulder strain.
Middle Infield — Taylor Walls (S), 7%, Tampa Bay Rays vs. Philadelphia Phillies (RHP Zach Eflin): Walls does not appear overmatched despite still looking for his first career home run and stolen base. He’s fanned just five time while drawing four walks in his initial 22 trips to the dish.
Outfield — Harold Ramirez (R), 2%, Cleveland Indians vs. Toronto Blue Jays (LHP Steven Matz): Deploying a batter in a doubleheader is risky since he could play just one of the two seven-inning affairs. Because he’s one of the few Indians producing lately, Ramirez could play in both contests. Even if only plays one, it will likely be against Matz where Ramirez will gain the platoon edge.
Outfield — Justin Upton (R), 21%, Los Angeles Angels at Oakland Athletics (LHP Cole Irvin): Warning, Upton is fanning at a 39% clip since being moved to leadoff, but he’s also slashing .333/.348/.667. The reward is worth the risk against a soft-tossing lefty.
Outfield — Trevor Larnach (L), 3%, Minnesota Twins vs. Kansas City Royals (RHP Brad Keller): The Twins exhibited patience with Alex Kirilloff when he first came up and it paid off. They are currently doing the same with Larnach and could be on the verge of similar dividends as the rookie has stroked .400/.538/.800 in the prior four games heading into Saturday.
Hitter ratings account for the opposing starting pitcher’s past history (three years’ worth as well as past 21 days) as well as ballpark factors. “LH” and “RH” ratings account only for left- and right-handed batters, respectively. Weighted on-base average (wOBA) is the primary statistic used in the calculation. Ratings range from 1-10, with 10 representing the best possible matchup, statistically speaking, and 1 representing the worst. So, for example, a 10 is a must-start rating, while a 1 should be avoided (if possible); a 1-2 is poor, 3-4 is fair, 5-6 is average, 7-8 is very good and 9-10 is excellent. A “*” means that the pitcher lacks requisite career major league data to produce an accurate hitter rating; these are the author’s ratings.