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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 towards 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 utilize the information contained within, check out our handy primer here.

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.

What you need to know for Thursday's MLB Games

By Mike Sheets

Fantasy Baseball Essentials

• Closer Chart: Latest bullpen intel
• MLB Depth Charts for every team
• Player news wire with fantasy spin

Starting pitcher rankings for Thursday

Pitchers are ranked in order of their Forecaster/Daily Notes projected fantasy points (FPTS), using ESPN's standard scoring system (2 points per win, minus-2 per loss, 3 per inning, 1 per K, minus-1 apiece per hit or walk allowed, minus-2 per earned run allowed).

T: The pitcher's handedness. OPP: Opposing team. RST%: The pitcher's roster percentage in ESPN leagues. ML: Caesars Money Line. O/U: Caesars Over/Under for runs scored. For the projected stat line, W% is the team's win probability using ESPN projections, IP is innings pitched, ER is earned runs allowed and K is strikeouts.

If a team is planning on using an "opener" to start their game, but will rely on a "bulk pitcher" to follow him on the mound after 1-2 innings, the bulk pitcher is listed and indicated with an asterisk.

FPTS	Pitcher	T	Opp	Rst%	W%	IP	ER	K
15.9	Shohei Ohtani	R	OAK	99.8%	70%	5.9	1.7	7.1
14.2	Dylan Cease	R	TB	99.6%	55%	5.9	2.0	7.0
11.8	Logan Webb	R	STL	94.9%	54%	5.8	2.2	5.7
11.8	Julio Urias	L	@PIT	99.2%	58%	5.6	2.2	5.3
11.3	Gerrit Cole	R	@TEX	99.9%	61%	5.8	3.1	7.1
11.1	Shane McClanahan	L	@CWS	99.7%	45%	5.3	2.1	6.1
10.2	Kyle Wright	R	MIA	71.5%	60%	5.6	2.4	5.2
10.1	Kyle Gibson	R	@DET	27.1%	56%	5.8	2.7	5.3
9.8	Tyler Mahle	R	KC	66.3%	58%	5.4	2.6	5.8
9.6	George Kirby	R	@PHI	85.5%	55%	5.1	2.4	5.4
9.5	Seth Lugo	R	@CHC	36.7%	55%	5.7	2.8	5.5
9.2	Joey Lucchesi	L	WSH	6.5%	55%	4.6	1.8	4.5
9.0	Miles Mikolas	R	@SF	23.5%	46%	5.6	2.7	5.0
7.9	Trevor Williams	R	@NYM	1.2%	45%	4.8	2.2	4.0
7.1	JP Sears	L	@LAA	0.8%	30%	5.0	2.7	4.9
7.1	Hayden Wesneski	R	SD	4.1%	45%	4.9	2.6	4.4
7.0	Braxton Garrett	L	@ATL	2.2%	40%	5.0	2.8	4.9
6.9	Matt Strahm	L	SEA	9.7%	45%	3.8	1.8	4.3
6.8	Joey Wentz	L	BAL	0.2%	44%	4.5	2.3	4.1
6.8	Mitch Keller	R	LAD	27.1%	42%	5.1	2.8	4.8
5.8	Zack Greinke	R	@MIN	5.9%	42%	5.2	3.1	4.1
5.6	Andrew Heaney	L	NYY	33.3%	39%	4.8	3.4	5.3

Best Sub-50% Rostered Hitters for Thursday

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 Thursday

Editor's Picks

Fantasy baseball pitcher rankings lineup advice mlb espn daily notes thursday april 27 2023

2023-04-27 04:00:53