Fantasy Baseball Guide for Saturday: Kikuchi among the top streamers

Check out our fantasy baseball starting pitcher rankings and hitter upgrades and downgrades daily to make smart fantasy baseball lineup decisions and get MLB betting tips. MLB game odds are provided by ESPN BET. and the fantasy picks are based on ESPN 10-team, standard scoring leagues.

Note: This file has been updated with any overnight pitching changes or weather-related game postponements, as well as the latest MLB game odds as of the indicated publish time.

Kikuchi is happy about the move to Houston

There are a number of Saturday starters who are on the roster in less than 50% of ESPN leagues, but none are better than Yusei Kikuchi. While the left-hander may not be considered a fantasy ace, he does possess several ace-like qualities. He excels at missing bats, as evidenced by his 27% strikeout rate, which is fourth-best in the American League. His control is strong, with a 6.6% walk rate ranking him 17th in the AL.

Additionally, Kikuchi ranks sixth in the AL with a Stuff+ rating of 110, a metric that measures a pitch's characteristics such as release point, speed, movement and spin rate and assigns it an overall score. Three of his pitches have an above-average rating with this tool.

Sure, Kikuchi's 4.39 ERA may be a little higher than you'd like, but his 3.65 FIP and 3.39 xFIP suggest he's been better than that number suggests. Since being traded to the Houston Astros at the deadline, he's posted a 2.89 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP in his five starts. And now that he's got one of baseball's best offenses behind him, he's in a better position to get wins.

In short, Kikuchi needs to get on the roster in more leagues. On Saturday, he'll face a strong Kansas City Royals offense that doesn't get many strikeouts, and yes, that doesn't exactly make the matchup ideal – even if the Royals are less effective against lefties. That said, I still rank Kikuchi among the top streamers of the day.

What you may have missed on Friday

By Todd Zola

• Clayton Kershaw completed just one inning last night, as he left the game after allowing a home run to Corbin Carroll of the Arizona Diamondbacks to lead off the second inning. The home run brought Kershaw's tally to three earned runs and three hits allowed in one inning, with one walk and no strikeouts. Kershaw left the game reportedly because of pain in his left toe. The cause and severity of the injury are unclear. The Dodgers won 10-9, using their bullpen in convincing fashion. Michael Kopech, who earned a save on Wednesday and seemed to be emerging as the preferred closer, threw a scoreless sixth inning with a narrow 6-5 lead. The Dodgers extended the lead to 9-5 in the seventh inning and then brought in Daniel Hudson, who was the closer before Kopech seemingly took over the role. Former closer Evan Phillips is nearly unhittable in August, so it's likely he's reclaimed the closer's role. Phillips saved Thursday's game, giving him two for the month, along with four holds and a .79 ERA and .62 WHIP with 20 strikeouts and just one walk in 11 1/3 innings this month. However, Phillips had pitched the previous two days, throwing a total of 31 pitches, so he was unavailable. Anthony Banda began the bottom of the ninth inning with a 10-5 lead, but he gave up four runs, making the game a nail-biter.

• Cleveland Guardians 1B Josh Naylor left Friday night's game after hitting a run-scoring single in the eighth inning. Naylor is reportedly recovering from a bruised ankle, the severity of which is unclear, and is questionable for tonight's interleague home game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

• Tampa Bay Rays 1B Yandy Diaz battled a few injuries in the second half and also missed time due to a personal issue. He had another issue last night, leaving the game against the San Diego Padres in the fourth inning due to patellar tendonitis in his left knee. Diaz hit a single and then ran into a trainer at first base. They left the field together and Jonathan Aranda took Diaz's place. More should be known before today's late afternoon matinee in St. Petersburg.

• The Los Angeles Angels have placed RHP Carson Fulmer on the 15-day IL because of right elbow inflammation. Fulmer was scheduled to start last night. In his place, the Angels promoted LHP Samuel Aldegheri from Double-A Rocket City. Aldegheri allowed five runs in his first career inning, but they were all unearned. He settled in, going five innings with seven runs allowed (two earned). The Angels will get to see another rookie tomorrow: RHP Caden Dana, also joining the club from Double-A Rocket City. Dana is considered a more promising player despite being only 20 years old. Before being called up for his MLB debut, Dana threw 135 2/3 innings with a 2.59 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP. He batted in 147 runs with 39 walks and allowed as few as 10 home runs.

• Milwaukee Brewers rookie officiator Jackson Chourio missed the second game of yesterday's doubleheader against the Cincinnati Reds. In the opener, Chourio injured his ankle while attempting to hit an infield grounder in the fifth inning. He required assistance leaving the field but finished the game. The club does not believe the injury is serious, but Chourio has been ruled out of the second game pending further evaluation. His participation will be assessed on a day-to-day basis.

Everything else you need to know about Saturday

• Tyler Anderson of the Los Angeles Angels has a solid 3.41 ERA and 1.23 WHIP through 26 starts in 2024, but he's only on the roster in 34% of ESPN leagues because he doesn't strike out many hitters. What's interesting, though, is that after posting a 6.2 K/9 rate in the first half of the season, Anderson has delivered a solid 9.2 K/9 since the break. It's hard to imagine him maintaining that strikeout rate for the rest of the season, but he should still produce plenty of swing and miss on Saturday against the Seattle Mariners. No team is currently racking up as many strikeouts as the M's, thanks to an MLB-worst 28.7 K/9 rate in August.

• On paper DJ Heart (4% roster) of the Washington Nationals certainly looks like an interesting streaming option. In 14 starts, he has an impressive 29.1% strikeout rate and has limited opponents to no more than two earned runs in seven consecutive starts, resulting in a 2.62 ERA over that span. My concerns stem from the fact that he will be facing a Chicago Cubs team in August that is above average against left-handed pitchers and has the second-highest wRC+ (123). If Herz has issues with his control—an issue that sometimes plagues him—his flyball tendencies could cause problems. While I'm OK with Herz as a streamer, there are valid reasons to look elsewhere.

• Matthew Boyd (7%) has been a pleasant surprise since being inserted into the Cleveland Guardians' rotation. In his first three starts since returning from Tommy John surgery, the left-hander has a 2.70 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP. We don't want to put too much stock in such a small sample size, and we also want to see his strikeout rate rebound before fully recommending him as a trustworthy fantasy option. Still, he's a worthwhile streaming target against a Pittsburgh Pirates lineup that was below average in August with a bloated 26.6% strikeout rate.

• When Ryan Feltner takes the mound for the Colorado Rockies on Saturday at Coors Field (where he posted a 5.96 ERA in 2024), it's time to add the Baltimore Orioles' bats to your lineup. Colton Cowser (26%), Ryan O’Hearn (35%), Cedric Mullins (52%) and Jackson Holiday (47%) are all ahead in this exciting encounter in Colorado.

• Betting tip of the day: Tyler Stephenson was one of the best hitters in baseball, hitting .337/.407/.614 in his last 27 games. On Saturday against Brewers starter Frankie Montas, who has an ERA of 5.44 and a WHIP of 1.49 in his last eight starts, I'll take 1.5 total hits + runs + RBIs (-120) for the Reds catcher. Stephenson has hit the over in eight of his last ten games.

Ranking of starting pitchers for Saturday

Discharge report

For the latest information on each team's bullpen hierarchy, as well as which pitchers may be struggling with mild fatigue and who is most likely to snag a save or make a surprise hold in their place, check out the latest Closer Chart, updated each morning.

Hit report

Plan ahead in fantasy baseball with our Forecaster projections. Each day, we provide an updated 10-day preview for each team, predicting matchup quality for hitters (overall and by hand) and base stealers.

The best batsmen with less than 50% squad for Saturday

The best and worst hitters of the day are generated by THE BAT X, a projection system developed by Derek Carty that uses modern methods used in MLB front offices, taking into account numerous factors including player talent, ballparks, bullpens, weather, umpires, defense, the catcher's pitch-framing strategy and more.

• Ezequiel Tovar (COL, SS – 27%) against Dean Kremer

• Ryan O'Hearn (BAL, 1B – 35%) at Ryan Feltner

• Colton Cowser (BAL, RF – 26%) at Feltner

• Eloy Jimenez (BAL, DH – 21%) at Feltner

• Luis Garcia Jr. (WSH, 2B – 46%) against Javier Assad

• Daulton Varsho (TOR, LF – 36%) at Zebby Matthews

• Andrew Vaughn (CHW, 1B – 8%) vs. Jose Quintana

• Ryan McMahon (COL, 3B – 45%) vs. Kremer

• Charlie Blackmon (COL, RF – 6%) against Kremer

• Mark Vientos (NYM, 3B – 26%) at Davis Martin

The worst over 50% of the listed batsmen for Saturday

• Triston Casas (BOS, 1B – 57%) with Tarik Skubal

• Jeremy Pena (HOU, SS – 53%) vs. Cole Ragan’s

• JT Realmuto (PHI, C – 82%) against Max Fried

• Michael Harris II (ATL, CF – 75%) at Zack Wheeler

• Anthony Volpe (NYY, SS – 72%) vs. Kyle Gibson

• Nick Castellanos (PHI, RF – 73%) against Fried

• Yainer Diaz (HOU, C – 93%) against Ragans

• Marcell Ozuna (ATL, DH – 98%) at Wheeler

• Xander Bogaerts (SD, SS – 77%) with Shane Baz

• Brent Rooker (OAK, RF – 85%) at Cody Bradford

BAT X's best stacks for Saturday