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

          Jared Jones of the Pittsburgh Pirates leads rookie pitchers in strikeouts. Justin Berl/Getty Images
          • Tristan H. Cockcroft
          May 10, 2024, 02:54 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 has been 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.

          Promising Pirates

          As everyone looks ahead to the much-hyped major league debut of Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Paul Skenes on Saturday, let's remind fantasy managers to not forget the other talented rookie member of their rotation, Jared Jones.

          Now seven starts into his big league career, Jones has been a sensation for the team, posting a 2.63 ERA while leading all rookies in strikeouts (52) and ranking second among said freshman class with 1.3 wins above replacement -- that trails only 30-year-old "rookie" Shota Imanaga's 2.1. Jones has not yet surrendered more than three runs in any start, and he has struck out double-digit batters twice.

          Jones' eighth start comes at home against the Chicago Cubs, working a day ahead of Skenes, which should provide quite a one-two power pitching punch against the Cubs' middling-to-above-average offense. The projections do grade this one of the tougher matchups, however.

          Jones has succeeded against tough matchups already, delivering quality starts against the Baltimore Orioles (April 5) and Philadelphia Phillies (April 11), and it'll probably be advantageous that the Cubs haven't yet faced him. He's well worth keeping in your lineups.

          After all, Jones' command has been better than expected, with a major-league-leading (among qualifiers) 37.0% whiff rate, a fifth-ranked 3.2% walk rate and an 18th-ranked 67.5% first pitch strike rate. Between that and the four-seam fastball and slider Statcast has graded as plus pitches thus far, he's well equipped to keep up his hot start.

          What you may have missed on Thursday

          By Todd Zola

          • Injuries continue to plague the Los Angeles Angels. On Thursday, the club placed INF Brandon Drury on the 10-day IL due to a tight hamstring. The issue has been lingering since mid-April, but after Drury tweaked it on Wednesday, the Angels decided to let it heal. Recently acquired Luis Guillorme lines up for most of the action at second base while Drury is absent. The Angels also put utility IF Luis Rengifo on the 10-day IL while he recovers from an illness. The stint is retroactive to May 6. Kyren Paris was summoned from Double-A Rocket City to fill Rengifo's roster spot.

          • Updating a report from yesterday, St. Louis Cardinals C Willson Contreras is now expected to miss 10 weeks following surgery on his broken left arm. The initial prognosis was 6-to-8 weeks.

          • Jung Hoo Lee missed last night's contest after fouling a ball off his foot on Wednesday. Austin Slater played center field for the San Francisco Giants in their 9-1 road loss to the Colorado Rockies. Lee is questionable tonight when the Giants open a weekend series at home against the Cincinnati Reds.

          • Last night, Milwaukee Brewers 2B Brice Turang recorded his first steal this month, giving him 15 for the season. Ony Reds SS Elly De La Cruz has more, with 23 swipes.

          • Michael Kopech of the Chicago White Sox collected his fourth save of the season last night, sealing last night's rain-delayed 3-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians. It was the second straight game in which Kopech notched a save. Prior to this week, he had last registered a save on April 9. Josh Hader of the Houston Astros also garnered his fourth save last night. The lefty was asked to get four outs, and he delivered in the Astros' 4-3 win over the New York Yankees.

          Everything else you need to know for Friday

          • Friday begins a weekend of starting pitchers returning from injuries, and there isn't a better opportunity, among those widely available, than the Seattle Mariners' Bryan Woo. After missing the season's first six weeks with an elbow injury, he made a trio of scoreless rehabilitation starts for Triple-A Tacoma, during which time he continued to show similar ingredients to those over his final seven starts of 2023 (3.31 ERA, 1.16 WHIP). Woo managed a 38% whiff rate and 50% ground ball rate for Tacoma, compared with 29% and 44% during that seven-start 2023 stretch, and ramped his pitch count to 67 last Saturday, signaling he should be ready for roughly 80 on Friday. Best yet, he has a home matchup against the Oakland Athletics, a plus matchup in terms of both run prevention and strikeouts.

          • Taj Bradley is another Friday returning starter, as he'll rejoin the Tampa Bay Rays' rotation in place of injured Ryan Pepiot. Which version of Bradley will we get, however, the one who struggled mightily between the majors and Triple-A in 2023, or the one who has been excellent at every other minor league stop since he was a 2018 fifth-round draft pick? While a precariously small sample, and not at all equal in terms of competitive level, his 32% whiff and 20% hard-hit rates, per Statcast, in his two rehab starts for Triple-A Durham, offer promise of the latter. Bradley's return start, however, comes against a New York Yankees team that has averaged 6.09 runs with a tied-for-third 19 home runs in the past 12 days (through Wednesday), and he does have a penchant for serving up home runs. Advantage: Yankees.

          • Before you race to stack Texas Rangers hitters for their Friday series opener against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, pump the brakes slightly due to the specifics of the matchup. The Rockies will start Austin Gomber, their most effective starting pitcher (7.7 fantasy points per game and staff-best 1.2 WAR), even if the projections list him as Friday's least appealing fantasy option. Nevertheless, the Rangers are a noticeably more potent offense against right- than left-handed pitchers -- the projections have them the fifth best in terms of run production against the former, 19th against the latter. Coors' high altitude inflates most any hitter's fantasy potential -- do start every Texas hitter you normally would -- but if there's a game in this weekend series in which Rangers hitters might be held in check, it's this one.

          • Betting tip of the day: For all the excitement surrounding the Pirates entering this weekend, it's their offense that has struggled mightily of late, averaging a major league-worst 2.10 runs per game over the last 24 days. The Cubs' late pitching change, going from RHP Jameson Taillon to LHP Javier Assad, improves their matchup and gives it a prospective pitching-duel outlook. The Cubs' money line (+115) grades as one of the day's better ones, but the props that especially stand out are Assad under 1.5 earned runs (+150) and Cubs -0.5 runs, first five innings (+155).

          It's not too late to start a free fantasy baseball league. Leagues drafted this week will start scoring fresh the following Monday. Come and join the fun!

          Starting pitcher rankings for Friday

          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.

          Best sub-50% rostered hitters for Friday

          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 that include player talent, ballparks, bullpens, weather, umpires, defense, catcher pitch-framing and lots more.

          Worst over-50% rostered hitters for Friday

          THE BAT X's Best Stacks for Friday