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          Fantasy baseball pitcher rankings, lineup advice for Saturday's MLB games

          Eddie Rosario of the Atlanta Braves. Kevin D. Liles/Atlanta Braves/Getty Images
          • ESPN Fantasy
          Aug 26, 2023, 03:30 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 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 use the information contained within, check out our handy primer here.

          Note: This file will be updated with any overnight pitching changes or weather-related postponements, along with the addition of the latest MLB game odds as of the indicated time of publication.

          What you need to know for Saturday's MLB games

          By Mike Sheets

          • We saw the very best of the 20-year-old Eury Perez (38%) in his last start against the Los Angeles Dodgers, when he twirled six shutout frames while striking out 10 and allowing only two baserunners. Perez has struggled with consistency at times, but he possesses ace-level stuff that has helped him quickly acclimate to the big leagues -- 2.91 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 11.0 K/9 through 14 starts. The young righty makes for a terrific streamer this weekend against an underwhelming Washington Nationals lineup.

          • Hyun Jin Ryu (18%) has looked good since returning from Tommy John surgery, delivering a 1.89 ERA and 1.05 WHIP across four starts. While his velocity is down a tick this season, he has never relied on it to get hitters out, instead using his strong control and secondary offerings to keep batters off-balance. Against a Cleveland Guardians offense that has the worst wRC+ (76) against lefties in the American League this year, Ryu should continue his success.

          • Despite getting roughed up in his last start, Chase Silseth (10%) has been awfully good since stepping into the Angels' rotation. The right-hander sports a 3.08 ERA over his past five outings with 35 Ks in 26⅓ innings, including two double-digit K performances. On Saturday, Silseth has streaming appeal against a New York Mets lineup that has been slightly below average versus southpaws this season (97 wRC+).

          • While the Atlanta Braves' lineup has been the best in baseball this season, Eddie Rosario (17%) is a largely underappreciated part of the offense. Based on his recent performance, however, he deserves to be on more fantasy rosters. In addition to batting .290/.330/.520 since the All-Star break, he's slashing .436/.476/.846 over his past 11 games with four homers and 15 RBIs. In fact, Rosario has been a top-five fantasy outfielder over the past two weeks, according to the ESPN Player Rater. Fire up him against the San Francisco Giants.

          • Right-hander Zach Davies, who is returning to Arizona's rotation after missing time with a back injury, is one of the hurlers we want to stream hitters against on Saturday. Before landing on the IL, he had been pounded for a 9.46 ERA over his previous seven starts, surrendering six or more runs in four of those outings. With the Cincinnati Reds in town, TJ Friedl (23%) and Will Benson (3%), both of whom have the platoon edge against Davies, are great streaming targets. Right-handed batters Matt McLain (48%), Christian Encarnacion-Strand (10%), and Noelvi Marte (4%) are in the mix, too.

          Starting pitcher rankings for Saturday

          Bullpen usage for Saturday

          By Todd Zola

          • Ryan Pressly entered last night's bottom of the ninth inning in Comerica Park with a 2.77 ERA, but left with a 3.38 mark after yielding four runs to the Detroit Tigers including a three-run walkoff homer to rookie Parker Meadows. The Houston Astros closer is now 28-for-33 in save opportunities. He threw 25 pitches in the loss, so it may be at least a day before he's able to seek retribution. Bryan Abreu also appeared last night, but he needed just a dozen pitches to complete his inning, so Abreu could be tabbed for a save today if the situation arises.

          • Despite giving up a home run to Ian Happ to break the shutout, David Bednar collected his 28th save in the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 win over the Chicago Cubs. Bednar was appearing for the second consecutive day, with his 21 pitches coming on top of eight on Thursday. Bednar has yet to work on three straight days this season, though league-wide, this occurrence has increased in August. However, it's usually done by teams competing for a playoff berth and the Pirates are no longer in contention. While it's not a certainty Bednar is unavailable today, the safe play is reserving him. Colin Holderman is well-rested and has 21 holds along with a pair of saves, so he's the likeliest Pirates reliever to step in as closer today.

          • For the second time this week, an AL East closer left a game early. Felix Bautista was one pitch away from his 34th save, but he had to exit with arm discomfort after delivering a 102-mph heater. The Baltimore Orioles closer is being evaluated, this is almost assuredly out of commission for the rest of the weekend. Yennier Cano is the logical option to inherit ninth inning duties.

          • Working with two days of rest, Emmanuel Clase delivered his 34th save in the Cleveland Guardians 5-2 road defeat of the Toronto Blue Jays. Clase tossed 15 pitches, but that's not enough to keep him on the shelf today if needed.

          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.

          Worst over-50% rostered hitters for Saturday

          The BAT X's Best Stacks for Saturday

          Prop of the Day

          Eduardo Rodriguez 17.5 pitching outs (-170/+140)

          PREDICTION

          THE BAT sees Rodriguez putting up 16.7 Pitching Outs for this matchup on average, while projecting him to exceed his player prop total 44.5% of the time. THE BAT believes there is positive value on the UNDER with an expected value of $33.15.

          FACTORS THAT FAVOR THE OVER

          - It is likely that we will see a Huge Pitchers Umpire (Mike Estabrook) calling pitches in today's game.
          - Comerica Park has the 2nd-deepest CF fences in the league.

          FACTORS THAT FAVOR THE UNDER

          - The Houston Astros projected batting order profiles as the third-best of all teams on the slate today in terms of overall batting ability.
          - The Houston Astros have been the fifth-unluckiest offense in Major League Baseball this year, according to THE BAT X, and are likely to perform better in the future
          - The BAT X ranks Comerica Park as the fourth-best field in baseball for walks.
          - The wind projects to be blowing out to RF at 11-mph in this game, the strongest of the day for batters.