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ESPN.com: 2024 | [Print without images] |
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| Christian Scott of the New York Mets will make his second start since being recalled from Triple-A. |
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.
If Back to the Future's Doc Brown had a favorite baseball player, it would no doubt be New York Mets SP Christian Scott. After spending some time with Triple-A Syracuse, Scott is back in the bigs. The Mets had several off days in late June and early July, so they took advantage by sending Scott to the minors so he could continue to pitch, albeit with limited innings.
Even though he's 25-years-old, the Mets are managing Scott's innings this season. He pitched primarily in relief in college, so the club has been methodically building up his workload, with the intent of taking off the kid gloves for the 2025 season.
Scott spent most of 2024 with Double-A Binghamton where he threw 62 of his 87 2/3 total minor league innings last year. The right-hander opened this season with Triple-A Syracuse, posting a 3.2 ERA and .71 WHIP over his first five starts, fanning 36 with only six walks in those 25 1/3 frames.
Scott was then promoted in early May. He logged five starts, registering a 3.90 ERA and 1.08 WHIP, with a respectable 25 punchouts in 27 2/3 stanzas. Scott was sent down in late May.
Monday will be Scott's second start since being recalled. He struggled a bit in his first, yielding four earned runs in 5 2/3 innings to the Washington Nationals in a road affair. Scott rung up only two hitters while issuing two free passes.
With SP Kodai Senga progressing in his rehab with a late July return date, Scott's rotation spot may be in jeopardy. However, if he pitches well, perhaps the club will opt to deploy a six-man rotation for the final two months. This would benefit both Senga and Scott, and it's not like Jose Quintana, Luis Severino, Sean Manaea and David Peterson are so good they need to be on the hill every fifth day.
On Monday, Scott (6.6% rostered in ESPN leagues) is in a great spot to show he wants to stick in The Show. The Mets conclude a wraparound road set with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The hosts sport the third lowest wOBA and fifth highest strikeout rate with a righty on the hill.
Beware, the Mets-Pirates tilt has an early 12:35 PM ET first pitch. It's the first of seven games on an abbreviated slate.
Betting Tip of the Day: The Arizona Diamondbacks don't strike out much facing left-handed pitching, but Atlanta Braves SP Chris Sale isn't an ordinary southpaw. Sale has at least eight strikeouts in each of his past three outings, and four of his past five. My model calls for 7.8 strikeouts tonight, so I'll take the over on 7.5 (+130).
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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. 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 | Team | Pitcher | T | Opp | Rst% | W% | IP | ER | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
11.0 |  | L | @ARI | 98.4% | 59% | 5.3 | 2.3 | 6.0 | |
10.6 |  | L | COL | 22.5% | 61% | 5.6 | 2.8 | 5.9 | |
10.4 |  | R | @PIT | 6.6% | 51% | 5.6 | 2.4 | 5.4 | |
10.3 |  | R | @DET | 16.2% | 59% | 5.4 | 2.2 | 5.0 | |
9.7 |  | R | NYM | 88.2% | 49% | 5.9 | 2.9 | 5.5 | |
9.4 |  | R | @CWS | 2.7% | 55% | 5.4 | 2.6 | 5.1 | |
9.3 |  | R | ATL | 0.0% | 41% | 5.1 | 2.4 | 5.7 | |
8.4 |  | L | STL | 11.9% | 51% | 5.3 | 2.7 | 5.0 | |
7.6 |  | R | @LAA | 25.3% | 55% | 5.2 | 2.8 | 4.6 | |
7.5 |  | R | CLE | 73.5% | 41% | 5.5 | 3.2 | 5.3 | |
7.4 |  | R | @WSH | 10.0% | 49% | 5.6 | 3.1 | 4.3 | |
6.6 |  | R | @CIN | 1.0% | 39% | 5.1 | 3.0 | 5.1 | |
5.8 |  | R | TEX | 6.4% | 45% | 5.8 | 3.7 | 4.6 | |
5.5 |  | R | MIN | 0.6% | 45% | 5.1 | 3.1 | 4.0 |
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.