Fantasy baseball pitcher rankings lineup advice for Friday s MLB games

Vipers batters survive Thunder scare

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.

Slow-to-sign starters square off in San Francisco

Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell will invariably be linked all season, comprising half of the "Boras Four," winter free agents who had Scott Boras as their agent and all signed well after spring training had begun, either for less money or for fewer seasons than what was initially projected for each.

(Montgomery has reportedly since switched agents.)

Interestingly enough, the two square off at San Francisco's Oracle Park, an extreme pitchers' environment, on Friday. Montgomery's assignment represents his first for the Arizona Diamondbacks, while Snell's is his third for the San Francisco Giants. Montgomery's final minor league tune-up, an April 13 start for Triple-A Reno, was unimpressive (3⅔ innings, seven runs, nine hits including two home runs). Snell's first two starts were similarly lackluster (12.86 ERA, .300 BAA).

But there's more Boras Four fun: A third member, third baseman Matt Chapman, is a fellow Giant and sure to be in the lineup against the lefty. Chapman also hasn't opened any eyes of yet, batting .208/.256/.416 through 19 games, albeit with four home runs.

What gives Montgomery the edge in this matchup, compared to either Snell or Chapman, is that the Giants have been a middling offense thus far, including against left-handed pitchers. A sinker/curveball/changeup reliant pitcher, Montgomery matches up well against this Giants offense that lacks many standouts against that particular pitch repertoire. Wilmer Flores (.937 OPS against sinkers, .735 curves, .770 changeups since the beginning of 2021) and Chapman (.846 against sinkers and .966 changeups, but only .528 against curves) are about their only ones with much success.

Expect around 80-85 pitches from Montgomery, which typically buys him five innings and change against a league-average offense. It might not be enough to meet the "start him" cut in ESPN standard leagues, but in anything larger, he's a go. It's also a start to watch, as any struggles by the left-hander will cast doubt upon him for the foreseeable future (@STL, LAD, @CIN, @BAL project as his next four assignments).

As for Snell, his inconsistent command fuels concerns heading into a matchup with a Diamondbacks offense that has been the majors' second best against left-handers in terms of both team wOBA (.356) and whiff rate (18% of swings).

Ketel Marte remains one of baseball's best hitters against lefties (.320/.382/.559 since the beginning of 2021), but two key nuggets for fantasy managers to tuck away are that Randal Grichuk, available in more than 99% of ESPN leagues, has been even better against them during that time span (.292/.332/.542), while Blaze Alexander, available in more than 97%, has batted .346/.414/.577 against them so far in 2024. The Diamondbacks have faced 10 left-handed starters thus far, and Alexander has started every one of them, while Grichuk has started all six of them since his activation from the injured list on April 5.

Everything else you need to know for Friday Justin Verlander makes his season debut for the Houston Astros, after missing the first three weeks due to a shoulder injury. He struggled even more mightily than Montgomery during his minor league rehabilitation stint, posting a 14.14 ERA in two starts, but a matchup against the rebuilding Washington Nationals can go a long way toward curing what ails a pitcher. Verlander shouldn't have much trouble handling a pitch count in the mid-80s, which is plenty to make him worth slotting immediately back into your lineup. We've got a game at Colorado's Coors Field between the Colorado Rockies and Seattle Mariners, with each team starting a pitch-to-contact type in Dakota Hudson (15.7% career K rate) and Emerson Hancock (14.8%). Expect plenty of offense, not that either team has shown us much of it to date, with the Rockies' average of 4.00 runs per game beneath the league average -- that lowers to 3.54 away from Coors -- and the Mariners fourth worst with their 3.47 runs per game. Coors remains the one venue (among the 30 teams' regular homes) in which fantasy managers should always load up with hitters from either side, and perhaps this weekend's series will be the one that wakes up the silent-to-date bats of J.P. Crawford, Mitch Garver, Jorge Polanco and Julio Rodriguez. Spencer Turnbull's time in the Philadelphia Phillies' rotation is apparently short, with Taijuan Walker only days from activation and the team reportedly set to shift Turnbull into a long relief role as a way to keep his innings in check. If this is truly it for Turnbull in the rotation, however, a home game against a 3-15 Chicago White Sox team that has scored two or fewer runs in 12 of 18 contests represents quite a sendoff. Turnbull remains available in roughly 75% of ESPN leagues. Yariel Rodriguez makes his second big league start, and it's one to watch after his promising April 13 debut against the aforementioned Rockies. After 68 pitches in that one, he might be in the 75 range for start No. 2, but the Forecaster projections grade the opposing San Diego Padres an above-average matchup for a pitcher (they are merely light on strikeout potential). My concern is that, while he has a high-velocity fastball (95.5 mph average) and whiff-generating slider (44% rate), plus toys with his delivery as a way to throw off hitters' timing, I don't see a pitch from him yet that can effectively counter left-handers. There's probably enough here to warrant streaming Rodriguez in larger-than-standard leagues, but this is a "watch list" kind of outing in the ESPN game.

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

Jorge Polanco (SEA, 2B -- 9%) at Dakota Hudson Mitch Haniger (SEA, LF -- 10%) at Hudson Giancarlo Stanton (NYY, RF -- 30%) vs. Tyler Alexander Charlie Blackmon (COL, RF -- 13%) vs. Emerson Hancock Mitch Garver (SEA, C -- 16%) at Hudson Ryan Mountcastle (BAL, 1B -- 29%) at Alec Marsh Ezequiel Tovar (COL, SS -- 21%) vs. Hancock Ryan O'Hearn (BAL, 1B -- 8%) at Marsh Jonathan India (CIN, 2B -- 17%) vs. Tyler Anderson Christian Encarnacion-Strand (CIN, 1B -- 22%) vs. Anderson Worst Over-50% rostered hitters for Friday Evan Carter (TEX, LF -- 84%) at Chris Sale Spencer Torkelson (DET, 1B -- 58%) at Joe Ryan Michael Busch (CHC, 3B -- 55%) vs. Jesus Luzardo Willson Contreras (STL, C -- 69%) vs. Freddy Peralta Gabriel Moreno (ARI, C -- 75%) at Blake Snell Bryson Stott (PHI, 2B -- 72%) vs. Garrett Crochet Paul Goldschmidt (STL, 1B -- 92%) vs. Peralta Francisco Alvarez (NYM, C -- 60%) at Yoshinobu Yamamoto Luis Campusano (SD, C -- 58%) vs. Yariel Rodriguez Kyle Schwarber (PHI, LF -- 96%) vs. Crochet