Latest fantasy baseball forecaster espn 2026 mlb starting pitcher hitter ranks week 5 april 27 3

Tristan H. CockcroftApr 24, 2026, 11:50 AM ET
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After an eventful past seven days for MLB -- a Monday morning game, games in Mexico, etc. -- fantasy baseball's Week 5 returns to more standard-fare scheduling. All 30 teams are scheduled for at least six games and the week kicks off at 6:10 p.m. ET, giving us a maximum amount of time to set our weekly (and daily) lineups.

Jose Soriano of the Los Angeles Angels continues his sizzling start with a Tuesday road assignment against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field. Soriano, the first modern-era pitcher to allow no more than one run across his first six starts of a season. His 0.24 ERA is the lowest through six starts (minimum 30 innings) since earned runs became official in both leagues in 1913.

Lineup lock times

Week 5

Date	Total games	First game time	Day games
Monday, April 27	8	6:10 PM	0
Tuesday, April 28	15	6:10 PM	0
Wednesday, April 29	15	1:10 PM	7
Thursday, April 30	9	12:15 PM	8
Friday, May 1	15	2:20 PM	1
Saturday, May 2	15	1:35 PM	8
Sunday, May 3	15	12:45 PM	14

Scheduling quirks

Week 5: Teams with the most games

Total		Home		vs. LHSP		vs. RHSP
Twins	7	Twins	7	Athletics	4	Pirates	7
Pirates	7	Pirates	7	Giants	4	Cubs	6
Cardinals	7	Athletics	6	7 tied with	3	Twins	6
Blue Jays	7	Padres	6			Phillies	6
26 tied with	6	22 tied with	3			Cardinals	6
						11 tied with	5

Starting pitcher ranks

Week 5: April 27-May 3

Rk	Pitcher	Team	1st Start	2nd Start
1	Jesus Luzardo	PHI	Tue 4/28-SF (Mahle)	Sun 5/3-@MIA (Paddack)
2	Max Fried	NYY	Mon 4/27-@TEX (Leiter)	Sun 5/3-BAL (Baz)
3	Joe Ryan	MIN	Tue 4/28-SEA (Gilbert)	Sun 5/3-TOR (Lauer)
4	Kris Bubic	KC	Tue 4/28-@ATH (Lopez)	Sun 5/3-@SEA (Castillo)
5	Matthew Boyd	CHC	Mon 4/27-@SD (Vasquez)	Sun 5/3-ARI (Kelly)
6	Parker Messick	CLE	Mon 4/27-TB (Matz)	Sun 5/3-@ATH (Lopez)
7	Zack Wheeler	PHI	Fri 5/1-@MIA (Perez)
8	Anthony Kay	CWS	Mon 4/27-LAA (Kochanowicz)	Sun 5/3-@SD (Vasquez)
9	Luis Castillo	SEA	Mon 4/27-@MIN (Prielipp)	Sun 5/3-KC (Bubic)
10	Tyler Glasnow	LAD	Wed 4/29-MIA (Alcantara)
11	Clay Holmes	NYM	Tue 4/28-WSH (Littell)	Sun 5/3-@LAA (Kochanowicz)
12	Bryan Woo	SEA	Fri 5/1-KC (Ragans)
13	Chase Burns	CIN	Tue 4/28-COL (Sugano)	Sun 5/3-@PIT (Chandler)
14	Freddy Peralta	NYM	Thu 4/30-WSH (Mikolas)
15	Paul Skenes	PIT	Wed 4/29-STL (Pallante)
16	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD	Mon 4/27-MIA (Paddack)
17	Ranger Suarez	BOS	Mon 4/27-@TOR (Corbin)	Sun 5/3-HOU (Weiss)
18	Braxton Ashcraft	PIT	Mon 4/27-STL (May)	Sat 5/2-CIN (Lowder)
19	Shane Baz	BAL	Tue 4/28-HOU (Weiss)	Sun 5/3-@NYY (Fried)
20	Jacob Lopez	ATH	Tue 4/28-KC (Bubic)	Sun 5/3-CLE (Messick)
21	Randy Vasquez	SD	Mon 4/27-CHC (Boyd)	Sun 5/3-CWS (Kay)
22	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	Wed 4/29-SF (Webb)
23	Zack Littell	WSH	Tue 4/28-@NYM (Holmes)	Sun 5/3-MIL (Patrick)
24	Merrill Kelly	ARI	Tue 4/28-@MIL (Patrick)	Sun 5/3-@CHC (Boyd)
25	Tarik Skubal	DET	Wed 4/29-@ATL (Holmes)
26	Chad Patrick	MIL	Tue 4/28-ARI (Kelly)	Sun 5/3-@WSH (Littell)
27	Michael King	SD	Sat 5/2-CWS (Burke)
28	Seth Lugo	KC	Sat 5/2-@SEA (Hancock)
29	Nolan McLean	NYM	Sat 5/2-@LAA (Detmers)
30	Bubba Chandler	PIT	Tue 4/28-STL (Leahy)	Sun 5/3-CIN (Burns)
31	Shohei Ohtani	LAD	Tue 4/28-MIA (Junk)
32	Logan Gilbert	SEA	Tue 4/28-@MIN (Ryan)
33	Dylan Cease	TOR	Fri 5/1-@MIN (Woods Richardson)
34	Tyler Mahle	SF	Tue 4/28-@PHI (Luzardo)	Sun 5/3-@TB (Matz)
35	Shota Imanaga	CHC	Sat 5/2-ARI (Nelson)
36	Edward Cabrera	CHC	Tue 4/28-@SD (Buehler)
37	Kevin Gausman	TOR	Thu 4/30-@MIN (Ober)
38	George Kirby	SEA	Wed 4/29-@MIN (Bradley)
39	Robbie Ray	SF	Fri 5/1-@TB (McClanahan)
40	Logan Webb	SF	Wed 4/29-@PHI (Sanchez)
41	Jack Leiter	TEX	Mon 4/27-NYY (Fried)	Sun 5/3-@DET (Mize)
42	Chris Paddack	MIA	Mon 4/27-@LAD (Yamamoto)	Sun 5/3-PHI (Luzardo)
43	Jose Soriano	LAA	Tue 4/28-@CWS (Martin)
44	Cam Schlittler	NYY	Tue 4/28-@TEX (deGrom)
45	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	Thu 4/30-ARI (Soroka)
46	Jameson Taillon	CHC	Wed 4/29-@SD (Waldron)
47	Yusei Kikuchi	LAA	Wed 4/29-@CWS (Fedde)
48	Steven Matz	TB	Mon 4/27-@CLE (Messick)	Sun 5/3-SF (Mahle)
49	Aaron Nola	PHI	Sat 5/2-@MIA (Meyer)
50	Casey Mize	DET	Tue 4/28-@ATL (Lopez)	Sun 5/3-TEX (Leiter)
51	Luis Gil	NYY	Sat 5/2-BAL (Bradish)
52	Dustin May	STL	Mon 4/27-@PIT (Ashcraft)	Sun 5/3-LAD (Wrobleski)
53	Jacob Misiorowski	MIL	Fri 5/1-@WSH (Irvin)
54	Jacob deGrom	TEX	Tue 4/28-NYY (Schlittler)
55	Framber Valdez	DET	Thu 4/30-@ATL (Elder)
56	Drew Rasmussen	TB	Wed 4/29-@CLE (Williams)
57	Ryan Weathers	NYY	Fri 5/1-BAL (Rogers)
58	Davis Martin	CWS	Tue 4/28-LAA (Soriano)
59	Eury Perez	MIA	Fri 5/1-PHI (Wheeler)
60	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	Wed 4/29-NYY (Warren)
61	Mitch Keller	PIT	Thu 4/30-STL (Dobbins)
62	Kyle Bradish	BAL	Sat 5/2-@NYY (Gil)
63	Jack Flaherty	DET	Fri 5/1-TEX (Gore)
64	Emmet Sheehan	LAD	Fri 5/1-@STL (Liberatore)
65	Christian Scott	NYM	Wed 4/29-WSH (Cavalli)
66	Tanner Bibee	CLE	Tue 4/28-TB (Martinez)
67	Nick Lodolo	CIN	Wed 4/29-COL (Freeland)
68	Garrett Crochet	BOS	Fri 5/1-HOU (Burrows)
69	Patrick Corbin	TOR	Mon 4/27-BOS (Suarez)
70	Erick Fedde	CWS	Wed 4/29-LAA (Kikuchi)
71	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	Wed 4/29-@LAD (Glasnow)
72	Matt Waldron	SD	Wed 4/29-CHC (Taillon)
73	Foster Griffin	WSH	Sat 5/2-MIL (Harrison)
74	Taj Bradley	MIN	Wed 4/29-SEA (Kirby)
75	Andrew Abbott	CIN	Thu 4/30-COL (Feltner)
76	Cole Ragans	KC	Fri 5/1-@SEA (Woo)
77	Bailey Ober	MIN	Thu 4/30-TOR (Gausman)
78	Landen Roupp	SF	Sat 5/2-@TB (Scholtens)
79	Michael Soroka	ARI	Thu 4/30-@MIL (Woodruff)
80	Trevor Rogers	BAL	Fri 5/1-@NYY (Weathers)
81	Brayan Bello	BOS	Wed 4/29-@TOR (Scherzer)
82	Jeffrey Springs	ATH	Fri 5/1-CLE (Cantillo)
83	Chris Bassitt	BAL	Wed 4/29-HOU (Lambert)
84	Gavin Williams	CLE	Wed 4/29-TB (Rasmussen)
85	Noah Cameron	KC	Thu 4/30-@ATH (Severino)
86	Michael Wacha	KC	Wed 4/29-@ATH (Civale)
87	Eric Lauer	TOR	Tue 4/28-BOS (Tolle)	Sun 5/3-@MIN (Ryan)
88	Luis Severino	ATH	Thu 4/30-KC (Cameron)
89	Colin Rea	CHC	Fri 5/1-ARI (Gallen)
90	Roki Sasaki	LAD	Sat 5/2-@STL (McGreevy)
91	Miles Mikolas	WSH	Thu 4/30-@NYM (Peralta)
92	Nick Martinez	TB	Tue 4/28-@CLE (Bibee)
93	Zac Gallen	ARI	Fri 5/1-@CHC (Rea)
94	Brady Singer	CIN	Fri 5/1-@PIT (Mlodzinski)
95	Jack Kochanowicz	LAA	Mon 4/27-@CWS (Kay)	Sun 5/3-NYM (Holmes)
96	Adrian Houser	SF	Thu 4/30-@PHI (Painter)
97	Max Scherzer	TOR	Wed 4/29-BOS (Bello)
98	Max Meyer	MIA	Sat 5/2-PHI (Nola)
99	Noah Schultz	CWS	Fri 5/1-@SD (Marquez)
100	Emerson Hancock	SEA	Sat 5/2-KC (Lugo)
101	Chris Sale	ATL	Fri 5/1-@COL (Lorenzen)
102	Janson Junk	MIA	Tue 4/28-@LAD (Ohtani)
103	MacKenzie Gore	TEX	Fri 5/1-@DET (Flaherty)
104	Michael McGreevy	STL	Sat 5/2-LAD (Sasaki)
105	Rhett Lowder	CIN	Sat 5/2-@PIT (Ashcraft)
106	Kumar Rocker	TEX	Sat 5/2-@DET (Montero)
107	Joey Cantillo	CLE	Fri 5/1-@ATH (Springs)
108	Ryne Nelson	ARI	Sat 5/2-@CHC (Imanaga)
109	Reynaldo Lopez	ATL	Tue 4/28-DET (Mize)	Sun 5/3-@COL (Sugano)
110	Grant Holmes	ATL	Wed 4/29-DET (Skubal)
111	Will Warren	NYY	Wed 4/29-@TEX (Eovaldi)
112	Sean Burke	CWS	Sat 5/2-@SD (King)
113	Walker Buehler	SD	Tue 4/28-CHC (Cabrera)
114	Cade Cavalli	WSH	Wed 4/29-@NYM (Scott)
115	Shane McClanahan	TB	Fri 5/1-SF (Ray)
116	Peter Lambert	HOU	Wed 4/29-@BAL (Bassitt)
117	Keider Montero	DET	Sat 5/2-TEX (Rocker)
118	Spencer Arrighetti	HOU	Sat 5/2-@BOS (Early)
119	Aaron Civale	ATH	Wed 4/29-KC (Wacha)
120	Kodai Senga	NYM	Fri 5/1-@LAA (Urena)
121	Trey Yesavage	TOR	Sat 5/2-@MIN (Prielipp)
122	Simeon Woods Richardson	MIN	Fri 5/1-TOR (Cease)
123	Jake Irvin	WSH	Fri 5/1-MIL (Misiorowski)
124	Justin Wrobleski	LAD	Sun 5/3-@STL (May)
125	Payton Tolle	BOS	Tue 4/28-@TOR (Lauer)
126	Ryan Weiss	HOU	Tue 4/28-@BAL (Baz)	Sun 5/3-@BOS (Suarez)
127	Ryan Feltner	COL	Thu 4/30-@CIN (Abbott)
128	Eduardo Rodriguez	ARI	Wed 4/29-@MIL (Sproat)
129	J.T. Ginn	ATH	Sat 5/2-CLE (Cecconi)
130	Kyle Freeland	COL	Wed 4/29-@CIN (Lodolo)
131	German Marquez	SD	Fri 5/1-CWS (Schultz)
132	Slade Cecconi	CLE	Sat 5/2-@ATH (Ginn)
133	Kyle Harrison	MIL	Sat 5/2-@WSH (Griffin)
134	Andre Pallante	STL	Wed 4/29-@PIT (Skenes)
135	Bryce Elder	ATL	Thu 4/30-DET (Valdez)
136	Connor Prielipp	MIN	Mon 4/27-SEA (Castillo)	Sat 5/2-TOR (Yesavage)
137	Brandon Young	BAL	Thu 4/30-HOU (McCullers)
138	Jesse Scholtens	TB	Sat 5/2-SF (Roupp)
139	Reid Detmers	LAA	Sat 5/2-NYM (McLean)
140	Brandon Sproat	MIL	Wed 4/29-ARI (Rodriguez)
141	Hunter Dobbins	STL	Thu 4/30-@PIT (Keller)
142	Lance McCullers Jr.	HOU	Thu 4/30-@BAL (Young)
143	Matthew Liberatore	STL	Fri 5/1-LAD (Sheehan)
144	Connelly Early	BOS	Sat 5/2-HOU (Arrighetti)
145	Kyle Leahy	STL	Tue 4/28-@PIT (Chandler)
146	Mike Burrows	HOU	Fri 5/1-@BOS (Crochet)
147	Carmen Mlodzinski	PIT	Fri 5/1-CIN (Singer)
148	Andrew Painter	PHI	Thu 4/30-SF (Houser)
149	Walbert Urena	LAA	Fri 5/1-NYM (Senga)
150	Tomoyuki Sugano	COL	Tue 4/28-@CIN (Burns)	Sun 5/3-ATL (Lopez)
151	Spencer Strider	ATL	Sat 5/2-@COL (Quintana)
152	Jose Quintana	COL	Sat 5/2-ATL (Strider)
153	Michael Lorenzen	COL	Fri 5/1-ATL (Sale)

Hitter ratings

Week 5: April 27-May 3

Overall		LHB		RHB		SB
Mets	10.0	Tigers	10.0	Mets	10.0	Red Sox	10.0
Reds	8.9	Cardinals	10.0	Reds	8.8	Guardians	10.0
Tigers	8.7	Blue Jays	8.9	Braves	8.4	Rockies	10.0
Cardinals	8.0	Reds	8.2	Giants	8.2	Tigers	10.0
Blue Jays	7.4	Brewers	8.0	Guardians	7.1	Dodgers	10.0
Brewers	7.0	Yankees	7.5	Tigers	6.8	Twins	10.0
Red Sox	6.9	Rockies	7.4	Rays	6.2	Padres	10.0
Braves	6.8	Red Sox	7.2	Red Sox	6.1	Giants	10.0
Pirates	6.7	Pirates	7.1	Astros	6.1	Blue Jays	10.0
Giants	6.7	Mariners	6.9	Blue Jays	6.0	Phillies	8.9