Fantasy baseball daily notes: Pitcher and hitter rankings for Saturday

Saturday brings us plenty of aces, with Max Scherzer, Gerrit Cole, Aaron Nola, Corey Kluber and Trevor Bauer all taking the mound. In the next tier, we have Jameson Taillon, Luis Castillo, Charlie Morton, Zack Greinke, Masahiro Tanaka and Miles Mikolas all toeing the rubber. Unfortunately, all of those big names leave us a little thin on the streaming side of things, which forces us to get creative.

Here's a look at the day's top streaming options, focusing on players rostered in less than 50 percent of ESPN.com leagues.

Pitching

Pitchers to stream

Derek Holland (L), rostered in 8 percent of ESPN leagues, San Francisco Giants at Pittsburgh Pirates: Holland has some things to iron out, namely that he's allowing too much hard contact (47.1 percent) and is handing out too many free passes (4.9 BB/9). What's intriguing here, though, is Holland's 11.1 K/9 rate, which is driven by a career-best 11.4 percent swinging-strike rate. While that high whiff rate won't hold up all season, let's not forget that Holland struck out nearly a batter per inning in 2018 (8.9 K/9) and had a 2.83 ERA in 12 second-half starts. If he brings the walks back down to his career rate (3.2 BB/9), the veteran southpaw should stay fantasy viable in favorable matchups. He gets one of those favorable matchups on Saturday as he squares off against a Pirates team that ranks dead last in baseball with a 49 wRC+ against lefties and a 30.2 percent strikeout rate.

Julio Teheran (R), 46 percent, Atlanta Braves at Cleveland Indians: The Indians could get Francisco Lindor back as early as this weekend, which would certainly provide a huge boost, but this is still a lineup that ranks last in the American League with a 60 wRC+ against right-handed pitching with a 25.9 percent whiff rate. That's the primary reason to like Teheran, who's sporting a 25 percent strikeout rate through four starts. Against a more dangerous offense, we'd have concern over Teheran's high walk rate (4.3 BB/9) and the amount of hard contact he's allowing (44.1 percent). Against the Indians, though, the Atlanta righty makes for a perfectly fine streaming option.

Mike Fiers (R), 9 percent, Oakland Athletics vs. Toronto Blue Jays: It's hard to endorse Fiers after he allowed six earned runs in back-to-back starts, but the matchup is right and, well, the pickings are slim. The Blue Jays sport a well-below-average 82 wRC+ along with a bloated 28.8 strikeout rate against righties. While Fiers has struggled his past two times out in tough pitching environments (at Texas, at Houston), he's back at the pitcher-friendly Oakland Coliseum on Saturday. Plus, he tossed six shutout frames against the Red Sox and Angels in his two previous outings, so it's not like the results have been all bad this season. Saturday presents a nice bounce-back spot for the Oakland righty.

Eric Lauer (L), 9 percent, San Diego Padres vs. Cincinnati Reds: Once again, Lauer's inclusion here doesn't mean a full endorsement. The left-hander has registered only one quality start in four tries this season, and he's allowing lots of loud contact. Then again, he does get to square off against a Reds squad that ranks 25th in baseball with a .277 wOBA and a 25.4 percent strikeout rate. And the Reds lineup suffers a huge park downgrade going from Great American Ballpark to Petco Park.

Pitcher to avoid

Rick Porcello (R), 66 percent, Boston Red Sox at Tampa Bay Rays: It's just hard to buy in on Porcello right now. After all, he has an 11.12 ERA and 12 walks in 11⅓ innings in three starts. In 2018, he didn't walk his 12th batter until his 11th start. The veteran right-hander will get things ironed out, but I'm not risking it against a Rays team that sports a 126 wRC+ against righties, the second-best mark in baseball.

Bullpen

We spend lots of time analyzing all of the uncertain bullpen situations across the league, yet there are still established closers widely available. Alex Colome owns a 2.25 ERA and a 0.63 WHIP and has four saves across eight appearances, yet he's rostered in just 41.8 percent of ESPN.com leagues. As a comparison, David Robertson, currently sidelined with a shoulder injury, is rostered in 67.8 percent of leagues despite zero saves and a 5.40 ERA. In short, Colome deserves to be rostered in more leagues. He has a decent shot to pick up a save against Detroit on Saturday.

Projected game scores