Mike Sheets
Aug 30, 2024, 06:56 PM
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.
Kikuchi enjoying move to Houston
There are quite a few Saturday starters who are rostered in under 50% of ESPN leagues, but none are better than Yusei Kikuchi. While the left-hander might not profile as a fantasy ace, he does possess multiple ace-like qualities. He excels at missing bats, as evidenced by his 27% strikeout rate, which ranks fourth-best in the American League. His control is strong, with a 6.6% walk rate that places him 17th in the AL.
Additionally, Kikuchi ranks sixth in the AL with a Stuff+ rating of 110. That's a metric which measures the characteristics of a pitch, such as release point, velocity, movement, and spin rate, and assigns it an overall score. Three of his pitches have an above-average grade using this tool.
Sure, Kikuchi's 4.39 ERA may be a little higher than you'd like, but his 3.65 FIP and 3.39 xFIP suggest that he's been better than that number indicates. Since being traded to the Houston Astros at the deadline, he's posted a 2.89 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP over his five starts. Plus, now that he has one of baseball's best offenses behind him, he's in a better position to rack up wins.
In short, Kikuchi needs to be rostered in more leagues. On Saturday, he faces a hot Kansas City Royals' offense that doesn't strike out much and, yes, that makes the matchup less than ideal -- even though the Royals are less effective against lefties. Nonetheless, I'm still riding with Kikuchi as one of the day's top streamers.
Everything else you need to know for Saturday
Tyler Anderson of the Los Angeles Angels sports a solid 3.41 ERA and 1.23 WHIP across 26 starts in 2024, but he's rostered in just 34% of ESPN leagues because he doesn't strike out many hitters. What's interesting, though, is that after producing a 6.2 K/9 rate in the season's first half, Anderson has delivered a solid 9.2 K/9 since the break. It's hard to envision him maintaining that kind of strikeout rate the rest of the way, but he should still generate plenty of "swing and miss" on Saturday against the Seattle Mariners. No team is striking out as much as the M's are right now, thanks to an MLB-worst 28.7 K% in August.
On paper, DJ Herz (4% rostered) of the Washington Nationals certainly looks like an intriguing streaming option. Through 14 starts, he has an impressive 29.1% strikeout rate and he has held opponents to no more than two earned runs in seven consecutive starts, resulting in a 2.62 ERA during that stretch. My hesitancy comes from the fact that he's set to match up with a Chicago Cubs team that's above-average against lefties and has the second-highest wRC+ (123) in August. If Herz struggles with his control -- an issue that sometimes plagues him -- his flyball tendencies could lead to trouble. While I'm okay with Herz as a streamer, there are valid reasons to look elsewhere.
Matthew Boyd (7%) has been a pleasant surprise since joining the Cleveland Guardians' rotation. In his first three starts since returning from Tommy John surgery, the left-hander holds a 2.70 ERA and an 0.90 WHIP. We don't want to put too much stock into such a small sample size and we also want to see his strikeout rate bounce back before fully endorsing him as a trustworthy fantasy option. That said, he's a worthwhile streaming target against a Pittsburgh Pirates lineup that's been below-average in August, with a bloated 26.6% strikeout rate.
With Ryan Feltner taking the mound for the Colorado Rockies on Saturday at Coors Field (where he has posted a 5.96 ERA in 2024), it's time to get those Baltimore Orioles bats in your lineup. Colton Cowser (26%), Ryan O'Hearn (35%), Cedric Mullins (52%), and Jackson Holliday (47%) all carry the platoon edge in this terrific matchup in Colorado.
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.
Luis Garcia Jr. (WSH, 2B -- 48%) vs. Javier Assad
Rhys Hoskins (MIL, 1B -- 27%) at Carson Spiers
Andrew Vaughn (CHW, 1B -- 8%) vs. Jose Quintana
Daulton Varsho (TOR, LF -- 36%) at Zebby Matthews
Worst over-50% rostered hitters for Saturday
J.T. Realmuto (PHI, C -- 82%) vs. Max Fried
Jeremy Pena (HOU, SS -- 54%) vs. Cole Ragans
Paul Goldschmidt (STL, 1B -- 72%) at Luis Gil
Anthony Volpe (NYY, SS -- 72%) vs. Erick Fedde
Bryson Stott (PHI, 2B -- 79%) vs. Fried
Nick Castellanos (PHI, RF -- 73%) vs. Fried
Brent Rooker (OAK, RF -- 84%) at Cody Bradford
Xander Bogaerts (SD, SS -- 78%) at Shane Baz
Jurickson Profar (SD, LF -- 97%) at Baz
