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.
The Seattle Mariners are one of three teams featuring four pitchers with at least 25 starts. Combined, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Luis Castillo, Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo have started 130 of the club's 140 games (92.9%). The worst ERA among quintet is a still impressive 3.61, courtesy of Kirby. Castillo sports the highest WHIP, albeit a still solid 1.15.
Miller falls exactly in the middle for both ERA and WHIP. However, he's been the luckiest of the five. His 3.72 xFIP is just a tad higher than his actual ERA, fueled by a high 75.4% left on base mark. Miller's .244 BABIP has benefited his 1.00 WHIP. Even so, Miller's skills are commensurate with a second or third starter on a competitive MLB team. In Seattle, he's arguably the fifth starter.
Heading into the season, Miller was a fantasy favorite. After an encouraging freshman year, Miller spent the offseason working on a splitter. The 26-year-old right-hander has used the splitter 16.5% of the time. Its 16.0% swinging strike rate has helped improve Miller's strikeout rate from 22.2% to 24.6%. He's also using more sinkers while reducing the times he throws his four-seamer and sliders. It wouldn't be surprising for Miller's peripherals to improve even more next season as he continues to fine tune his repertoire.
On Friday, Miller (88.8% rostered in ESPN leagues) takes the hill in Busch Stadium for an interleague affair with the St. Louis Cardinals. Miller is available in just one of every 10 ESPN leagues, so this isn't a suggestion to pick him up. It is a vote of confidence to make sure he's active. In two of his past three outings, Miller has failed to throw five innings. Don't play scared. Miller's overall body of work merits a fantasy start.
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.
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 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.
