Fantasy baseball lineup advice for Saturday: Kade Anderson tops streaming candidates

ESPN FantasyAug 28, 2026, 04:52 PM ET
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Check out all of our starting pitcher rankings and other lineup selection tools here to help you make smart fantasy baseball lineup decisions. All fantasy advice is geared toward ESPN 10-team leagues with standard scoring.

Note: All information is accurate as of the time of publication. For updates, as well as any breaking news that might impact today's MLB slate, be sure to check out the latest fantasy baseball buzz.

Other resources: RP depth chart | 2026 Rankings
ESPN's 2026 Player Rater | Betting notes for Saturday

STARTING PITCHERS FOR SATURDAY

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%: The individual starting pitcher's win probability using ESPN projections. IP: Projected innings pitched. H+BB: Projected hits plus walks allowed. ER: Projected earned runs allowed. K: Projected 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	H+BB	ER	K
14.7	Nolan McLean	R	HOU	93.5%	37%	6.0	6.3	1.5	6.0
12.7	Max Fried	L	BOS, Gm. 2	96.5%	36%	5.7	6.6	2.0	5.8
12.5	Kade Anderson	L	@TOR	34.4%	40%	5.6	6.1	2.0	5.3
12.1	Cristopher Sanchez	L	@LAA	99.8%	47%	5.9	7.3	2.6	6.4
11.3	Kevin Gausman	R	CIN	83.5%	34%	5.8	7.1	2.5	5.9
10.6	Sandy Alcantara	R	@WSH	91.3%	46%	6.4	8.0	3.0	5.2
10.5	Foster Griffin	L	KC	81.1%	42%	5.7	7.1	2.8	5.8
10.5	Blake Snell	L	@DET	88.3%	31%	4.8	6.0	1.8	5.4
10.5	Carlos Rodon	L	BOS, Gm. 1	58.1%	26%	4.8	5.6	1.7	5.0
10.4	Nick Martinez	R	SD	68.4%	32%	5.7	6.8	2.2	4.5
9.5	Jake Bennett	L	@NYY, Gm. 1	23.9%	27%	4.9	5.9	1.9	4.5
9.0	Shane Drohan	L	TEX	7.5%	31%	4.8	6.3	2.2	5.1
9.0	Jose Soriano	R	SEA	80.8%	22%	5.5	7.5	2.4	5.2
8.9	Mitch Bratt	L	@SF, Gm. 2	1.1%	26%	4.7	5.7	2.0	4.3
8.9	Merrill Kelly	R	@SF, Gm. 1	19.8%	40%	6.0	8.3	3.0	4.9
8.9	Andrew Abbott	L	@CHC	39.6%	27%	5.4	7.2	2.5	4.9
8.7	Cristian Javier	R	@NYM	2.1%	19%	4.7	6.1	1.8	4.4
8.7	Cade Cavalli	R	MIA	69.0%	25%	5.4	7.2	2.8	5.5
8.6	Martin Perez	L	COL	9.3%	29%	5.1	6.6	2.5	4.7
8.5	Bailey Ober	R	CWS	15.2%	32%	5.5	7.0	2.8	4.7
8.3	Brayan Bello	R	@NYY, Gm. 2	5.1%	26%	5.4	7.2	2.5	4.7
8.3	Walker Buehler	R	@TB	10.1%	26%	5.1	6.9	2.2	4.3
8.2	Kyle Leahy	R	PIT	35.6%	25%	5.0	6.7	2.3	4.6
7.0	Keider Montero	R	LAD	16.2%	22%	5.1	6.6	2.5	3.6
6.6	Cal Quantrill	R	@MIL	17.1%	21%	5.0	7.0	2.8	4.3
6.4	Erick Fedde	R	@MIN	1.1%	24%	5.1	7.2	2.8	4.1
5.8	Ryan Johnson	R	PHI	0.6%	14%	4.8	6.6	2.7	3.9
5.3	Shane Baz	R	@ATH	31.4%	35%	5.4	8.4	4.1	5.5
5.1	Carmen Mlodzinski	R	@STL	2.7%	9%	4.0	5.8	2.1	3.4
4.9	Matt Wilkinson	L	ARI, Gm. 1	0.2%	5%	3.4	4.6	1.6	2.7
4.6	Ryan Feltner	R	@ATL	0.5%	23%	5.0	7.6	3.3	4.1
4.1	Daniel Lynch IV	L	@CLE	0.8%	3%	3.1	4.3	1.7	2.9
3.2	Jack Perkins	R	BAL	1.2%	16%	4.6	7.6	4.1	5.3
	TBD		ARI, Gm. 2	0.0%	0%	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Pitchers to stream on Saturday

Kade Anderson fell one out short of a quality start in his major league debut, allowing three runs over 5 2/3 innings to the potent Chicago Cubs, fanning five with just two walks. The rookie served up two home runs to the club with the best wOBA facing left-handed pitching. Next up is a road date with the Toronto Blue Jays, who sport the second-lowest wOBA in the league with a lefty on the hill.
Shane Drohan is competing with Dustin May and Robert Gasser for the fourth spot in the Milwaukee Brewers' playoff rotation. A slightly above-average walk rate and a high BABIP have generated a high 1.29 WHIP. However, a league-average strikeout rate and yielding only nine homers over 105 1/3 innings have kept his 3.84 ERA in check. On tap is a home affair with the Texas Rangers. It will be a challenge against a Rangers team that has handled left-handed pitching well all season, but they strike out at an above-average pace, and Drohan is battle-tested with recent starts against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves.
Jake Bennett opens an important four-game series in the Bronx with the Boston Red Sox trying to catch the New York Yankees for the top wild-card spot in the American League. The lefty has seven quality starts in 15 appearances, including his last outing. Since Aaron Judge was placed on the IL in late May, the Yankees sport the fourth-lowest wOBA and second-highest strikeout rate versus southpaws.
Kyle Leahy is maintaining last season's improved strikeout rate. In fact, he's getting better as the season approaches the stretch run, punching out 36 in his last 31 frames, fueling a 1.74 ERA and 1.13 WHIP over that span. The St. Louis Cardinals host the Pittsburgh Pirates in an NL Central matchup Saturday. The Pirates have been productive versus right-handers, but they have been better at home; on the road, they lead the league in road strikeout rate against righties.

Hitters to stream on Saturday

A pair of twin bills offer a few options for two-start targets. The Yankees play a pair against the Red Sox in the Bronx. The home team is expected to start a pair of lefties, with Carlos Rodon and Max Fried getting the nod, but complicating matters is the uncertainty of the status of Roman Anthony and Trevor Story, both of whom are on the verge of rejoining the Red Sox. Caleb Durbin and Willson Contreras are both right-handed batters and are almost assured to play in both games.
It's not as cut-and-dried for the Yankees, since they will face lefty Bennett in the opener, then contend with righty Brayan Bello in some capacity. The chances that Trent Grisham, Jose Caballero or George Lombard Jr. appear twice aren't as good, but they're in the mix.
The other doubleheader features the Arizona Diamondbacks visiting the San Francisco Giants. Both teams are likely to start a lefty in one game and a righty in the other, but the quality of the probable starters is not daunting. Jordan Lawlar and Ryan Waldschmidt are the top streaming candidates for the Diamondbacks, with Bryce Eldridge, Drew Gilbert and Jonah Cox in the mix for the Giants.