Fantasy baseball pitcher rankings, lineup advice for Sunday’s MLB games

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. Game odds are provided by Caesars Sportsbook, and fantasy advice is geared toward ESPN 10-team leagues with standard scoring.

For an in-depth look at what to expect in this daily article and how to best use the information, check out our handy primer here.

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.

By Todd Zola

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Sunday’s action begins with an early 12:05 p.m. ET contest in the nation’s capital between the Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals. However, it ends a few hours sooner than usual since there isn’t the normal ESPN Sunday night affair as teams are heading into the All-Star break. The final set of games commences in the early 4:00 p.m. ET hour. In addition, the slate is short one game with the Los Angeles Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers heading into the break a day early.

Normally, Sunday is the time to pull out all the stops for those behind in their head-to-head matchups. However, with the three-day week coming out of the break, those games are rolled into the past week, rendering Matchup 14 a 10-day scoring week, so there is still time to catch up. To that end, please keep in mind the maximum number of starts for this scoring period is extended to 17 in standard ESPN leagues.

It’s a good thing Sunday isn’t the last day of the fantasy period since the streaming inventory is light. To wit, Ben Lively (2.2% rostered) is the highest ranked probable starter with under 50% rostership, and he’s returning from a visit to the 15-day IL without a rehab outing. Lively’s high ranking is driven by a matchup with the disappointing Milwaukee Brewers offense, as they sit 25th in wOBA facing righties while fanning 25% of the time.

The next two are paired off with Kyle Hendricks (12.6%) taking the hill for the Chicago Cubs in the Bronx with Domingo German (21.1%) toeing the rubber for the New York Yankees. Hendricks has recorded five quality starts in eight outings, including his last three efforts. However, he’s only fanned 27 in 47 2/3 innings and as disappointing as the Yankees offense has been, there’s still potentially dangerous when they’re allowed to put the ball in play at home. German is one start removed from his perfect game. In the follow-up, German fanned five with no walks in 4 1/3 innings, but the Baltimore Orioles totaled nine hits, good for three runs (two earned). The Cubs offense is middle-of-the-pack, but before German’s 27-batter gem, he 15 runs over 5 1/3 combined innings in his prior pair of starts.

If these are the mostly highly rated streaming candidates, imagine the risk in the lower portion of the schedule. This signals a focus on hitters to close out the week, especially since many regulars will begin their midseason hiatus a bit sooner than others.

The South Side of Chicago is a great place to look for offense on Sunday with the White Sox hosting southpaw Steven Matz and the St. Louis Cardinals. The Chicago White Sox right-handed brethren are in a great spot, led by Tim Anderson (37.7%), Jake Burger (5.3%) and Zach Remillard (1%).

You’ll have to act early since it’s the first game on the docket, but the righty contingent for the Rangers line up for a productive afternoon facing Patrick Corbin. Josh Jung (64.7%), Ezequiel Duran (30.4%) and Mitch Garver (0.7%) are the chief beneficiaries.

Looking to start a free fantasy baseball league? Come and join the fun of ESPN’s brand new standard scoring format.

Pitchers are ranked in order of their Forecaster/Daily Notes projected fantasy points (FPTS), using ESPN’s standard scoring system (2 points per win, minus-2 per loss, 3 per inning, 1 per K, minus-1 apiece per hit or walk allowed, minus-2 per earned run allowed).

T: The pitcher’s handedness. OPP: Opposing team. RST%: The pitcher’s roster percentage in ESPN leagues. ML: Caesars Money Line. O/U: Caesars Over/Under for runs scored. For the projected stat line, W% is the team’s win probability using ESPN projections, IP is innings pitched, ER is earned runs allowed and K is strikeouts.

If a team is planning on using an “opener” to start their game, but will rely on a “bulk pitcher” to follow him on the mound after 1-2 innings, the bulk pitcher is listed and indicated with an asterisk.

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.

Giancarlo Stanton (NYY, RF — 50%) vs. Kyle Hendricks

Adam Duvall (BOS, CF — 26%) vs. JP Sears

Wilmer Flores (SF, 2B — 11%) vs. Kyle Freeland

Jack Suwinski (PIT, LF — 12%) at Zach Davies

Rob Refsnyder (BOS, RF — 0%) vs. Sears

Anthony Volpe (NYY, SS — 40%) vs. Hendricks

Amed Rosario (CLE, SS — 46%) vs. Ryan Yarbrough

Enrique Hernandez (BOS, CF — 7%) vs. Sears

Harrison Bader (NYY, CF — 17%) vs. Hendricks

Austin Slater (SF, CF — 0%) vs. Kyle Freeland

C.J. Cron (COL, 1B — 54%) at Logan Webb

Kyle Schwarber (PHI, LF — 94%) at Jesus Luzardo