{"id":560865,"date":"2026-04-02T21:07:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T21:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/560865\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T21:07:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T21:07:08","slug":"fantasy-baseball-lineup-advice-for-friday-stream-joe-boyle-avoid-aaron-nola","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/560865\/","title":{"rendered":"Fantasy baseball lineup advice for Friday: Stream Joe Boyle, avoid Aaron Nola"},"content":{"rendered":"

Check out all of our starting pitcher rankings and other lineup selection tools here to help you make smart fantasy baseball<\/a> lineup decisions. All fantasy advice is geared toward ESPN 10-team leagues with standard scoring<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Other resources: RP depth chart<\/a> | Start new league<\/a>
ESPN’s 2026 Draft Guide<\/a> | Betting notes for Friday<\/p>\n

Pitchers to stream on Friday<\/p>\n

For a couple of years, fantasy managers have been yearning for the Tampa Bay Rays<\/a> to give Joe Boyle<\/a> an extended look in the rotation. With Ryan Pepiot<\/a> unfortunately opening the season on the IL, Boyle is getting that chance. He recorded a quality start in his 2026 debut, yielding just two runs in six innings to the St. Louis Cardinals<\/a> while fanning four, and Friday has a road date with the Minnesota Twins<\/a>. It’s still early, but it’s apparent that the Twins will have trouble scoring runs this season.<\/p>\n

Early in his career, Mitch Keller<\/a> was on a top-of-the-rotation track. But for the last three seasons, he has settled in as league-average pitcher. As such, he’s most useful for favorable matchups, mostly at home and\/or against lesser offenses. The Baltimore Orioles<\/a> visit the Steel City this weekend. By season’s end, they’ll likely be an above-average offense, but they’re starting slow and are without key cogs Jordan Westburg<\/a> and Jackson Holliday<\/a>. Rain is in Friday night’s forecast in Pittsburgh, so have a Plan B ready, but after throwing six scoreless frames in his opener, Keller is in a good spot for another quality effort.<\/p>\n

Houston Astros<\/a> starter Cristian Javier<\/a>‘s first start did not go well, as he yielded six runs to the Los Angeles Angels<\/a> in only 4 1\/3 innings. He aims to rebound in another AL West affair, this time in Sacramento against the Athletics<\/a>. Sutter Health Park is a hitting venue, but the temperatures are more reasonable in early April, and the Athletics are off to a horrific start, striking out at a higher rate and walking at a lower rate than every other MLB team.<\/p>\n

Chad Patrick<\/a> lasted only 4 1\/3 innings in his first start, though he surrendered just one earned run while fanning four. Last season, the Milwaukee Brewers<\/a> didn’t take the reins off Patrick until mid-May, but there is no reason to do so again this season. He should be able to toss at least five frames against the Kansas City Royals<\/a>. We won’t know how the renovated Kauffman Stadium will play for a while, but if Patrick can succeed at home in American Family Field, he shouldn’t be deterred for this interleague road affair.<\/p>\n

Pitchers to avoid on Friday<\/p>\n

This is low-hanging fruit, but it serves as the yearly reminder that Coors Field remains undefeated, inflating runs by at least 40% every season. To put that in perspective, the venue turns a 3.50 ERA into 4.90. Even when the Colorado Rockies<\/a> lineup is struggling, streaming against them while they’re at home is risky. To be honest, streaming Aaron Nola<\/a> against anyone is dangerous until he re-establishes his prior form, but he should be avoided on Friday when the Philadelphia Phillies<\/a> open a weekend set against the Rockies.<\/p>\n

Hitters to stream on Friday<\/p>\n

The Phillies scored a season-high six runs on Wednesday. They’ll likely surpass that at least once over the weekend, with a good chance of doing so Friday night against Michael Lorenzen<\/a>. Even without the platoon advantage, Alec Bohm<\/a> and Adolis Garcia<\/a> are in a great spot for a productive game.<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> have gotten off to a slow start at the plate, in part due to facing a solid Cleveland Guardians<\/a> pitching staff in their second series. They’re primed for a rebound against Miles Mikolas<\/a> and the Washington Nationals<\/a> on the road. Most of the Dodgers’ hitters are likely rostered, though Max Muncy<\/a> is available in 78% of ESPN leagues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Check out all of our starting pitcher rankings and other lineup selection tools here to help you make…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":560866,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":["post-560865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=560865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/560866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=560865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=560865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=560865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}