11:27 AM ET

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 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 for how to best utilize the information contained within, check out our handy primer here.

Note: This file has been updated with overnight pitching changes and weather-related game postponements, along with the addition of the latest MLB game odds as of the indicated time of publication.

What you need to know for Sunday's MLB Games

By Todd Zola

Fantasy Baseball Essentials

• Closer Chart: Latest bullpen intel
• MLB Depth Charts for every team
• Player news wire with fantasy spin

Starting pitcher rankings for Sunday

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.

FPTS	Pitcher	T	Opp	Rst%	ML	O/U	W%	IP	ER	K
16.7	Spencer Strider	R	@NYM	99.8%	-178	7.5	61%	5.9	1.5	7.7
11.6	Chris Bassitt	R	SEA	81.5%	-205	9.5	56%	5.9	2.5	5.6
11.2	Nick Lodolo	L	@OAK	85.8%	-155	8	57%	5.9	2.7	6.4
10.8	Tylor Megill	R	ATL	15.5%	150	7.5	39%	5.4	2.2	5.4
10.6	Sonny Gray	R	KC	88.8%	-220	7.5	60%	5.2	2.2	5.5
10.6	Nestor Cortes	L	@TEX	97.2%	-125	8	62%	5.4	2.5	5.6
10.5	Drew Rasmussen	R	@CWS	91.6%	-205	9	59%	4.9	1.8	4.6
10.5	Justin Steele	L	@MIA	85.9%	-170	8	58%	5.3	2.0	5.2
9.6	Jose Urquidy	R	PHI	17.0%	-145	8.5	52%	5.3	2.4	5.1
8.5	Johan Oviedo	R	@WSH	50.7%	-145	8	58%	5.2	2.5	4.6
8.2	Jose Suarez	L	@MIL	0.7%	110	9	50%	5.1	2.6	5.0
8.1	Mike Clevinger	R	TB	10.6%	170	9	41%	5.2	2.5	4.5
8.0	Josiah Gray	R	PIT	11.5%	122	8	42%	5.4	3.1	5.4
8.0	Noah Syndergaard	R	STL	17.5%	-145	10	54%	5.1	2.5	4.2
7.5	Colin Rea	R	LAA	1.5%	-130	9	50%	4.8	2.5	4.7
7.5	Bailey Falter	L	@HOU	2.7%	122	8.5	48%	4.8	2.4	4.3
7.3	Ken Waldichuk	L	CIN	1.2%	130	8	43%	5.4	2.9	4.6
7.3	Kyle Bradish	R	@DET	6.0%	-160	8.5	52%	4.8	2.6	4.7
7.2	Logan Allen	L	@BOS	16.9%	105	9	52%	5.1	3.0	5.1
7.0	Bryan Hoeing	R	CHC	0.2%	143	8	42%	4.2	1.9	4.0
6.9	Spencer Turnbull	R	BAL	1.4%	135	8.5	48%	4.9	2.6	4.2
6.8	Marco Gonzales	L	@TOR	8.4%	170	9.5	44%	5.5	3.1	4.1
6.8	Brady Singer	R	@MIN	63.5%	180	7.5	40%	5.2	3.2	5.1
6.5	Jake Woodford	R	@LAD	1.0%	122	10	46%	4.9	2.6	4.0
6.0	Chris Sale	L	CLE	65.3%	-125	9	48%	4.6	2.9	4.8
5.5	Martin Perez	L	NYY	37.1%	105	8	38%	5.3	3.4	4.5
3.8	Ryne Nelson	R	@COL	3.2%	-130	12.5	52%	5.2	4.2	4.5
2.1	Yu Darvish	R	SF	98.0%	-145	20.5	54%	4.7	5.4	7.2
1.5	Austin Gomber	L	ARI	0.8%	110	12.5	48%	4.6	4.3	4.1
-0.4	Alex Cobb	R	@SD	52.2%	122	20.5	46%	4.2	5.2	6.0

Bullpen usage watch for Sunday

By Todd Zola

Relief Pitcher Usage Chart

This chart lists the pitchers rostered in at least 50% of ESPN leagues who have been most heavily used recently, signaling they might be unavailable today. Rst% is the player's ESPN roster percentage; the listed date is the pitcher's pitch count from the previous day; P3 is the pitcher's total pitch count from the previous three days; Rest is the pitcher's days of rest; Strk is the number of consecutive days the pitcher has worked.

Pitcher	Team	Rst%	4/29	P3	Strk
Emmanuel Clase	CLE	97.9%	7	20	2
Kenley Jansen	BOS	87.6%	29	29	1
Felix Bautista	BAL	92.2%	10	41	1
Jordan Romano	TOR	93.7%	14	28	2
Devin Williams	MIL	95.2%	4	17	2
David Bednar	PIT	87.3%	13	22	1

Best Sub-50% Rostered Hitters for Sunday

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.

Worst Over-50% Rostered Hitters for Sunday

Editor's Picks

THE BAT X's Best Stacks for Today

Prop of the Day

Drew Rasmussen, Rays, pitching outs at 17.5 (-150/+105)

PROJECTION

THE BAT sees Rasmussen putting up 16.2 Pitching Outs for this matchup on average, while projecting him to exceed his player prop total 40.9% of the time. THE BAT believes there is positive value on the UNDER with an expected value of $21.25.

Note: Expected Value is a measure of how good a bet is, factoring the probability that it will win versus the odds the book is providing. If you were to wager $1.00 100 times on a bet with an Expected Value of $25, you would win some and you would lose some, but in the end you would expect to come away with $25 in profit on your $100 investment.

FACTORS THAT FAVOR THE OVER

FACTORS THAT FAVOR THE UNDER

Fantasy baseball pitcher rankings lineup advice mlb espn daily notes sunday april 30 2023

2023-05-01 00:30:35