Daily MLB lineups for Wednesday
— -- Lineups are an important part of the daily fantasy baseball research process. Whether you're playing daily fantasy or setting a lineup in a season-long league with daily changes, you'll want to make sure your preferred players are starting and in favorable spots in the order.
With that in mind, ESPN will provide daily lineups for every MLB team, along with some expert advice on how the day's lineups and matchups should be approached by fantasy players.
Please note that projected lin eups are used until confirmed lineups are announced. Confirmed lineups are paired with the source we used to populate the batting order, which is linked in each team's lineup module. Updates (including scratches) will be reflected as they become available.
Note: Projected lineups are a best guess. Consider platoon matchups, injuries, news and other factors. All times listed are ET.
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Houston Astros at Texas Rangers, 8:05 p.m.
Evan Gattis has two home runs off of Cole Hamels in 13 career plate appearances. Keep in mind, though, that Gattis hasn't been hitting well since coming off the disabled list and starting the season late: He is 3-16 with six strikeouts in 2016.
Jose Altuve (9-24, 4 HR, 3 3B) and George Springer (8-24, 3 HR, 1 2B) have been the hottest Astros hitters over the past seven days, and that bodes well for the team with them batting first and second against Houston.
Texas continues to be patient with Ian Desmond, who is back in the starting lineup tonight. The infielder-turned-outfielder had two hits on Tuesday to raise his batting average to .140.
Minnesota Twins at Milwaukee Brewers, 8:10 p.m.
Scooter Gennett is out of the Brewers' lineup against Twins lefty Tommy Milone. Jonathan Villar, who has tripled and doubled off Milone in six previous plate appearances, takes Gennett's No. 2 spot in the order.
The suddenly surging Twins are winners of four of their past five, and improvement on offense is a big reason why. Eduardo Nunez (9-20, 3B, 2 2B), Trevor Plouffe (9-20, HR, 3 2B), Oswaldo Arcia (7-21, HR) and Byung Ho Park (7-22, 3 HR, 2 2B) have all been swinging hot bats this past week.
Plouffe and Park are both out of the lineup for the Twins in this one, however.
Pittsburgh Pirates at San Diego Padres, 10:10 p.m.
Jemile Weeks was recalled from Triple-A El Paso and will start at second base for San Diego, batting eighth. The 29-year-old has played in only 45 big league games over the past three seasons.
Melvin Upton Jr. remains in the cleanup spot for the Padres and is one of the team's hottest hitters entering Wednesday. Over the past six games, he has homered, tripled, doubled twice, walked three times and stolen three bases.
John Jaso takes a seat with the Padres throwing left-hander Drew Pomeranz, and Jordy Mercer moves up to bat leadoff for the first time all season. Mercer hadn't batted higher than seventh in the order in 2016 prior to Wednesday.
Arizona Diamondbacks at San Francisco Giants, 10:15 p.m.
Hunter Pence is out of the lineup for the Giants. Pence has only four hits in 24 at-bats against Zack Greinke, so the decision to sit him comes at a good time. Gregor Blanco takes Pence's place in the outfield and bats seventh.
In 47 plate appearances against Giants ace Madison Bumgarner, Arizona's Paul Goldschmidt has two home runs, four doubles, a .313 batting average and .426 wOBA. Don't fade the Diamondbacks first baseman out of fear of Bumgarner tonight.
Left-handed-hitting third baseman Jake Lamb has the night off against Bumgarner. Chris Drury starts at third base and bats second.
Colorado Rockies at Cincinnati Reds, 12:35 p.m.
Dustin Garneau will start at catcher for Colorado and bat eighth in the early start at Cincinnati, marking the only change in the Rockies' lineup from the one used Tuesday in a 4-3 loss.
Zack Cozart will sit this afternoon for the Reds, with Ivan De Jesus filling in at shortstop and batting eighth. Center fielder Billy Hamilton will jump up to the leadoff spot in the order.
With right-hander Chad Bettis on the mound, Cincinnati will bat left fielder Adam Duvall sixth and catcher Tucker Barnhart seventh. Devin Mesoraco gets a breather.
Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals, 1:45 p.m.
Once the forecasted rain gets started Wednesday, it may be several hours before it stops. If the Cubs and Cardinals don't get this one in quickly, it could easily end up being a complete washout. However, the tarp was taken off the field, so it appears they will attempt to squeeze this one in.
Jorge Soler will get Wednesday off for the Cubs. Tommy La Stella will be at third base, batting sixth behind left fielder Kris Bryant. Javier Baez will be at shortstop, batting eighth instead of Addison Russell.
St. Louis will go with Stephen Piscotty in right field and the No. 2 spot in the order, with Jeremy Hazelbaker sitting. Ruben Tejada got back in the St. Louis lineup Tuesday after starting the year on the disabled list. He'll be worked back in slowly, so he sits this afternoon. Aledmys Diaz is at shortstop, batting eighth.
Los Angeles Angels at Chicago White Sox, 2:10 p.m.
Shortstop Andrelton Simmons will jump up to No. 2 in the order for Los Angeles, with left fielder Craig Gentry batting ninth this afternoon behind second baseman Johnny Giavotella. Geovany Soto will catch and bat sixth.
After sitting the past three games, Alex Avila will be back behind the plate, hitting eighth behind Jerry Sands, who slots in at first base for the first time this season. Jose Abreu remains in the No. 3 spot in the White Sox order and will serve as the team's DH.
Jimmy Rollins will get the afternoon off for Chicago. Tyler Saladino will be at shortstop, batting second.
Seattle Mariners at Cleveland Indians, 6:10 p.m.
Ketel Marte is not in the Seattle lineup tonight, as Luis Sardinas gets a start at shortstop, his first of the season against a right-handed pitcher.
Lonnie Chisenhall is off the disabled list and moves into right field today for the Indians, batting seventh. Collin Cowgill was sent down to Triple-A to make room on the team's roster.
Rajai Davis will sit out for Cleveland. Tyler Naquin is in center field, batting ninth. Jose Ramirez will be in left field for Marlon Byrd, leading off.
Toronto Blue Jays at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 p.m.
Adam Jones is in the lineup for the Orioles despite leaving Tuesday's game due to a stomach virus. Jones is only 3-25 and has yet to record a walk against Toronto knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.
Matt Wieters has the night off against Dickey, leaving the catching duties to ninth-place hitter Caleb Joseph.
Russell Martin is out of the lineup for the Blue Jays, who go with Josh Thole at catcher. Thole joins Michael Saunders and Ryan Goins as the only left-handed hitters in Toronto's lineup against Orioles righty Ubaldo Jimenez.
Oakland Athletics at New York Yankees, 7:05 p.m.
Note: Brett Gardner has been scratched, which is reflected in the lineup above.
Billy Butler remains out of the lineup for a second straight game for the A's. In fact, Oakland is using the same lineup against Yankees righty Nathan Eovaldi that they had on Tuesday against Michael Pineda.
Brian McCann is the only player on the Yankees who has homered off of Oakland starter Kendall Graveman. But as a team, the Yankees have only stepped to the plate against Graveman 20 times.
Alex Rodriguez slots down to sixth in the order, after going 2-5 with an RBI in Tuesday's game against Oakland lefty Eric Surkamp.
New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 p.m.
Philadelphia's Odubel Herrera moves up to bat leadoff for the first time this season. As a rookie last season, he batted .333 with an .845 OPS in 111 at-bats atop the order.
Cesar Hernandez is back in the lineup for the Phillies, batting second after sitting out on Tuesday, while Maikel Franco returns to the third spot after batting fifth yesterday.
Curtis Granderson is batting only .150 with seven strikeouts in 23 plate appearances against Phillies right-hander Jeremy Hellickson. That being said, the left-handed-hitting outfielder posted an .892 OPS and hammered 24 homers off of righties last season.
Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox, 7:10 p.m.
Hank Conger is behind the dish for the Rays, batting ninth, as Curt Casali is out of the lineup against Red Sox right-hander Rick Porcello.
Brock Holt makes his first start in four games, patrolling left field for the Red Sox.
On a team full of cold bats, Travis Shaw is one of the few exceptions for Boston. He is 7-21 over the last six games with two doubles and a home run.
Los Angeles Dodgers at Atlanta Braves, 7:10 p.m.
Note: Adonis Garcia has been scratched from tonight's lineup due to a left knee contusion.
Adrian Gonzalez and Yasiel Puig are the two Dodgers starters who have homered off of Julio Teheran. The 25-year-old righty has already allowed four home runs in only 17 innings this season.
Enrique Hernandez, a force against left-handed pitching since entering the league, is out of the lineup against the Braves right-hander.
Erick Aybar returns to the second spot in the order in the matchup against Dodgers rookie right-hander Ross Stripling. On Tuesday, Daniel Castro got the nod in the 2-hole against the lefty Alex Wood.
Washington Nationals at Miami Marlins, 7:10 p.m.
Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki has only 12 plate appearances this season, but he gets the start and bats second on Wednesday against Joe Ross. Ichiro takes the place of Marcell Ozuna in Miami's outfield.
Martin Prado is out of the lineup for the Marlins, and Derek Dietrich enters the starting lineup for the first time since April 12. He takes over Prado's spot at the hot corner.
Jayson Werth is the only Nationals player who has hit a home run off of Marlins starter Wei-Yin Chen.
Detroit Tigers at Kansas City Royals, 7:15 p.m.
Justin Upton is the only Tigers player to hit a home run off of Royals starter Ian Kennedy in his career. The outfielder also has three walks in 12 plate appearances against the veteran righty.
With Jordan Zimmermann coming over from the National League, only three Royals starters have faced him: Kendrys Morales (2-3), Eric Hosmer (1-4) and Alex Gordon (0-4).
Nick Castellanos returns to the lineup for Detroit after sitting out on Tuesday, and is 9-20 with a home run and two doubles in his past five games.
