Fantasy baseball daily notes: Pitcher and hitter rankings for Tuesday
It’s a good day to add an extra start or two to your week’s ledger with several solid candidates. This is also a great time to find batters with many recent callups receiving significant playing time, so we don’t have to keep regurgitating the same names.
Here are Tuesday’s featured pitchers and hitters, with everyone rostered in fewer than half of all ESPN leagues.
David Price (L), rostered in 30% of ESPN leagues, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Pittsburgh Pirates: It’s rare a hurler of Price’s pedigree is available as a streamer, but since the Dodgers slow-played his season, starting him out in the bullpen, Price’s rostership is still well below the 50% cutoff. The veteran southpaw has taken on a more important role down in the second half with the defending champs missing a couple of their top starters. Even though he was removed before finishing five frames last time out, Price is sufficiently started out to qualify for a win, which is certainly in play as the Pirates tote the National League’s lowest wOBA against southpaws into Chavez Ravine.
Tyler Anderson (L), 18%, Seattle Mariners at Texas Rangers: This will be Anderson’s fourth start overall, and third against Texas since being acquired by Seattle at the trade deadline. He threw 5 1/3 innings in each of the first two, scattering six hits in both for a total of four earned runs. A similar effort is a reasonable expectation as the Rangers are averaging just 2.7 runs per game since the break, by far the lowest mark in the league. They’ve also posted the lowest wOBA versus lefties for the season.
Casey Mize (R), 48%, Detroit Tigers vs. Los Angeles Angels: As a means of limiting workload, but not shutting down their young starters, Mize, along with Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning will pitch with extended rest with the objective of seven more starts for each. Mize last worked a week ago on August 10. It was his second straight effort allowing three homers, so hopefully the extra rest does him good. Overall, Mize’s sophomore season has been encouraging, though a dip in strikeouts is a concern. However, the underlying metrics portend to a few more punch outs so he’s been a bit unlucky in that regard.
FREE to play! Pick NFL winners straight up or against the spread and compete to win more than $14,400 in prizes!
Play Now
Tanner Houck (R), 32%, Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees: “The righthanded Chris Sale” is a lofty moniker, but that’s what some are saying. Let’s be real though, when healthy, Sale was one of the best. It’s quite premature to cast that comparison on Houck. That said, he’s almost as tall as Sale, though not nearly as skinny. The main reason for the comp is both feature a sweeping slider from a slingshot delivery. Houck’s slider has generated a good but not great 16.1% swinging strike rate, though it has a high 33.3% called strike rate. Overall, Houck has recorded a 34.9% strikeout rate while walking only 5.6% of the hitter he’s faced. Deploying anyone in Yankee Stadium is a risk, but Houck has displayed the stuff and poise to handle the challenge.
Luis Gil (R), 31%, New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox: Gil only has 11 MLB innings on his ledger, but he’s fanned 14 with only three walks to open his career. Gil has always exhibited the ability to miss bats; control has been the issue. Surprisingly, the Red Sox are one of the least patient offenses in the league, so if Gil can continue to throw strikes, he can keep them in check.
Huascar Ynoa (R), 41%, Atlanta Braves at Miami Marlins: Ynoa is slated to make his long-awaited return after losing a punching match with the bench. Before his temporary lapse in judgement, Ynoa was one of the first half’s best stories, seemingly emerging from nowhere to register a 3.02 ERA over 44 innings, fanning 50 along the way. The Marlins have hit better in the second half, but loanDepot Park is a pitcher’s venue and overall Miami’s offense is below average with an above average strikeout clip.
Bullpen:
Looking for saves during doubleheaders has been a theme all season, but rarely, if ever have the options been as enticing as they are on Tuesday. Aroldis Chapman is still out for the Yankees and with Zack Britton informing Aaron Boone he isn’t pitching well enough to handle the ninth, Jonathan Loaisiga (26% rostership) and Chad Green (19%) are both widely available. Adam Ottavino (19%) already has eight saves for Boston, but he may not be available after leaving Sunday’s game with a sore shoulder. Garrett Whitlock (9.5%) is likely next in line if Matt Barnes works in the opener.
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 inning completed after the fourth, and one point for each 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 — Yohel Pozo (R), 1%, Texas Rangers vs. Seattle Mariners (LHP Tyler Anderson): Small sample alert: In 66 games (280 plate appearances) at Triple-A Round Rock, Pozo slashed .333/.346/.597 before getting the call last week. A catcher by trade, Pozo has the chance to serve as the Rangers designated hitter for the rest of the season. Continuing to make frequent contact will be key as he fanned just 12% of the time with the Express, though he only drew a walk in 2% of his trips to the dish. Enjoying the platoon edge on a non-dominant southpaw is the perfect chance to see what Pozo can do.
First Base — Bobby Dalbec (R), 11%, Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees (LHP Jordan Montgomery): With a righty on the hill for the Yankees in the second game, Dalbec may only play in one of the seven-inning affairs. Even so, the way the rookie is handling lefties lately, three or four at bats is ample to have a productive game. Dalbec has slashed .474/.545/1.158 over the past week, accentuated with only three strikeouts in those 22 plate appearances.
Second Base — Brendan Rodgers (R), 12%, Colorado Rockies vs. San Diego Padres (Undecided): There is a narrative squireling through the fantasy community, suggesting Colorado isn’t as feared as usual in Coors Field. The data begs to differ as the Rockies open their weeklong homestand with MLB’s second-best home record at 38-21, fueled by the league’s top home wOBA. Rodgers represents one of the few Colorado batters both readily available and a lock to play. Truth be told, any non-rostered Rockies hitter is in play. Spoiler alert: Whoever you pick up for Tuesday will likely be in play on Wednesday with Jake Arrieta set to make his Padres debut.
Third Base — Jeimer Candelario (S), 39%, Detroit Tigers vs. Los Angeles Angels (RHP Dylan Bundy): Candelario may be the most frequently mentioned batter this season. Hopefully, by now you are aware of his steady exploits. He happens to be on a heater, but the main reason for featuring Candelario yet again is to get as much exposure to Bundy as possible. The righty has managed one quality effort in three stats since returning to the rotation, but he failed to get out of the fifth frame in the other two.
Shortstop — Tyler Wade (L), 10%, New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox (RHP Tanner Houck): Wade may draw Nathan Eovaldi instead of Houck, or perhaps both. Regardless, he’ll play at least once with the platoon edge and is a threat to run as the Yankees played aggressively on the basepaths the last time these two clubs met.
Corner Infield — Emmanuel Rivera (R), under 1%, Kansas City Royals vs. Houston Astros (LHP Framber Valdez): Rivera is the beneficiary of the Royals again sending Edward Olivares to the minors as Hunter Dozier moves to the outfield, clearing the hot corner for Rivera. He’s taken advantage with a .316 average over the last week. Emmanuel has yet to connect for an extra base hit, but he did crack 15 homers in just 198 plate appearances for Triple-A Omaha before being summoned.
Middle Infield — Jed Lowrie (S), 39%, Oakland Athletics at Chicago White Sox (RHP Reynaldo Lopez): Lowrie follows the same script as Candelario above. Both have been consistent producers all season and on Tuesday, are conduits to a hittable starter.
Fun. Free. Easy. Create or join a league and play ESPN Fantasy Hockey! Sign up for free!
Outfield — Pavin Smith (L), 24%, Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Philadelphia Phillies (RHP Kyle Gibson): Smith hasn’t left the yard since returning from the IL in early August, but he’s been making solid contact, slashing .293/.293/.341. The last time this type of analysis was used, Smith went on a power binge. In the past week, he’s crushed 12 balls over 95 mph, with seven reaching triple-digits. Let’s hope we’re prescient yet again and he lofts a few more of these batted balls.
Outfield — Jorge Mateo (R), 1%, Baltimore Orioles at Tampa Bay Rays (RHP Drew Rasmussen): Baltimore claimed Mateo off waivers from the Padres and have given him steady playing time. Since joining the Orioles, the 26-year-old outfielder has hit safely in eight of nine games, including the last six heading into Monday night.
Outfield — Brandon Marsh (L), 3%, Los Angeles Angels at Detroit Tigers (RHP Casey Mize): Like several other highly regarded outfield prospects have done this season, Marsh has been slow to get in a groove. With a 467/.467/.533 line over his past four games, perhaps the game is slowing down for the freshman.
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.