Fantasy baseball lineup advice for Wednesday: Start July with Imai

ESPN FantasyJun 30, 2026, 04:08 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 Wednesday

STARTING PITCHERS FOR WEDNESDAY

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
16.2	Zack Wheeler	R	PIT	98.1%	44%	6.7	6.8	2.3	7.5
15.1	Paul Skenes	R	@PHI	99.9%	39%	6.2	6.5	2.1	7.1
12.1	Tatsuya Imai	R	MIN	24.5%	39%	6.1	8.0	2.6	6.8
11.4	Taj Bradley	R	@HOU	44.2%	31%	6.0	7.4	2.5	5.9
10.8	Troy Melton	R	@NYY	29.8%	29%	5.5	6.3	2.3	5.3
10.6	Will Warren	R	DET	58.0%	35%	5.9	7.6	2.7	6.0
10.3	Freddy Peralta	R	@TOR	84.2%	29%	5.4	6.6	2.3	5.2
9.9	Dean Kremer	R	CWS	2.3%	37%	5.9	7.5	2.9	5.2
9.7	MacKenzie Gore	L	@CLE	61.4%	28%	5.4	7.5	2.6	6.2
9.4	Andrew Abbott	L	@MIL	42.6%	29%	5.6	7.2	2.6	5.2
9.0	Patrick Corbin	L	NYM	1.0%	32%	5.6	7.3	2.6	4.9
8.6	Shane Drohan	L	CIN	3.2%	28%	5.0	6.9	2.5	5.4
8.4	Shohei Ohtani	R	@ATH	99.8%	40%	5.6	7.9	3.6	6.3
8.3	Colin Rea	R	SD	3.5%	26%	5.3	6.7	2.5	4.3
8.2	Michael McGreevy	R	@ATL	20.3%	35%	5.7	7.2	3.0	4.3
8.2	Payton Tolle	L	WSH	44.1%	35%	5.2	6.9	2.9	5.1
7.9	Trevor McDonald	R	@ARI	2.4%	31%	5.3	7.2	2.6	4.4
7.8	Joey Cantillo	L	TEX	23.1%	27%	4.9	7.0	2.6	5.2
7.2	Noah Schultz	L	@BAL	4.1%	14%	4.3	5.6	1.9	4.1
6.9	Shane McClanahan	L	@KC	46.5%	26%	5.2	7.3	3.0	4.7
6.7	Seth Lugo	R	TB	24.4%	29%	5.3	7.2	3.0	4.2
6.6	Walker Buehler	R	@CHC	9.8%	23%	4.8	6.9	2.6	4.1
6.6	Zac Gallen	R	SF	41.5%	25%	5.2	7.3	3.0	4.5
6.4	Reynaldo Lopez	R	STL	4.0%	24%	4.9	7.0	3.0	4.7
5.7	Andrew Alvarez	L	@BOS	1.3%	12%	4.2	5.7	2.4	3.9
3.1	J.T. Ginn	R	LAD	22.8%	22%	5.4	8.7	4.5	4.9
2.9	Max Meyer	R	@COL	85.3%	35%	5.8	9.3	5.7	6.2
0.5	Kyle Freeland	L	MIA	0.7%	27%	5.3	8.6	5.7	4.7

Pitchers to stream on Wednesday

Payton Tolle closed June with a pair of quality starts, limiting the New York Yankees to just one hit over seven scoreless frames last time out. He kicks off July with a home matchup against the Washington Nationals. By the numbers, it's a tough matchup as Tolle will take on the lineup with the top wOBA facing left-handed pitching, but it's fueled by an unsustainable .336 BABIP against southpaws. The more telling numbers are an above-average strikeout rate and below-average walk rate with a lefty on the hill.
Over his last two efforts, Tatsuya Imai has punched out 21 while issuing only one walk in 12 frames. While he's not completely devoid of risk, he's showing the form that made him a hot commodity coming overseas last offseason. Next up is a home date for the Houston Astros against the sneaky Minnesota Twins, whose lineup averages the second most runs per game in the American League and seventh highest in MLB. However, that's driven by an unusually high batting average with runners in scoring position, which is not a reliable stat.
Imai and the Astros will be opposed by Taj Bradley. It's been an uneven first half for the Twins' right-hander, though he's currently on the upswing, yielding only two runs in each of his last two games, spanning 12 total innings. The Astros sport an average lineup, but they'll be without Jeremy Pena, one of their key components (when healthy) over the first half.
Joey Cantillo appeared to be hitting a wall about a month ago, posting a 12.27 ERA and 2.45 WHIP over three straight starts. However, he righted the ship with a 1.42 ERA and 0.79 WHIP over his three most recent outings, highlighted by an impressive 22 punchouts with just three walks spanning 19 innings. The Cleveland Guardians entertain the Texas Rangers in a Wednesday matinee where Cantillo will seek to stay on a roll, facing a below-average offense that is without Wyatt Langford and could be missing Brandon Nimmo.

Hitters to stream on Wednesday

In one of the more bizarre splits of the season, the Boston Red Sox boast the top road wOBA versus left-handers, but at Fenway Park, they're the third least productive home offense facing lefties. There is a lot of noise in lefty splits, so ignore this discrepancy and focus on Red Sox right-handers with southpaw Andrew Alvarez on the hill for the Nationals in the finale of a three-game interleague series. Nate Eaton, Ceddanne Rafaela, Willson Contreras, Romy Gonzalez, and Caleb Durbin should keep the Red Sox on a roll.