Author Archive

Starting Pitcher Chart – September 8th, 2026

Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Welcome to the Daily SP Chart, click here if you’re new to get an idea of what I’m doing with these rankings.

Sorry, we have Yoshi instead of Skubal… I fixed it!

  • I’m not sure Young’s skills match his mid-3.00s ERA, but he’s been consistently solid across 24 starts, having allowed 4 or fewer ER in all of ’em and CLE is always a nice matchup.
  • Painter has been excellent since his recall: 3.14 ERA/0.90 WHIP/16% K-BB with just one bad start (5 ER at MIN) among the seven.
  • Peralta has looked sharp in his last 2 (at DET, v. NYM) but a trip to ATL is a much more robust challenge so let’s be careful and not just blindly run him.
  • Manaea is coming off back-to-back Duds, but those were against TBR and MIL. He’s been much stronger against the weaker teams this year so while MIA is only 1 game under .500, their offense has been bottom-10 vL so I’m willing to give him a shot.
  • I’m a longtime fan of Sandoval but he is just bludgeoning the WHIP with a 1.74 mark. And yet, I still have a 2-x for him against LAA, who sit 26th vL on the year and dead-last over the L30 days.
  • Miller is at home where he flourishes (3.14 ERA/0.88 WHIP) but he hasn’t finished 5 IP in any of L3 and the last two at home haven’t been great. I can see taking the shot here as the TEX offense certainly isn’t scary, but I wasn’t super comfortable going beyond 1-x.

Read the rest of this entry »


Starting Pitcher Chart – September 7th, 2026

Welcome to the Daily SP Chart, click here if you’re new to get an idea of what I’m doing with these rankings.

We’re off for the holiday so no comments today, but figured I would still run a board-only post for y’all! Btw, a few of y’all DM’d me about how Charlotte’s procedure went and it was great. She didn’t end up needing all her teeth out, just 2! And we’ve been through a 2-tooth removal before and everything went very smoothly again.

OK, I lied on no comments, I gotta give a few notes with some quirky things going on today:

  • Burns is expected to be limited, but we don’t know exactly what that looks like (will it be 2-3 IP?). But it’s also a trip to LAD, so I’m not super excited to run. He also gets at MIL this weekend so just a brutal 2-step paired w/the limitations makes him a reasonable sit in a lot of spots, particularly if you’re chasing Ws.
  • Ryan is returning from the IL with Connor Prielipp slated to go behind him. Again, not sure what sort of limit he’ll be on so definitely not a must-start.
  • Pivetta returning from the IL, too, and had 64 pitches in his last rehab outing so he could have enough rope to go 5, but with James Wood back, WSN isn’t the greatest matchup.

Enjoy your Labor Day!

Read the rest of this entry »


The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 1536 – 2-Start Pitchers for Week 25

9/4/26

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!

Follow Our Socials

YOUTUBE

2-START PITCHERS FOR WK24 (Sep 7th)

Read the rest of this entry »

1:11:40

Starting Pitcher Chart – September 4th, 2026

Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Welcome to the Daily SP Chart, click here if you’re new to get an idea of what I’m doing with these rankings.

I have to take Charlotte to the vet for a big dental procedure (my little ol’ lady is going to be fully toothless!) and then record the 2-start pod with Justin this morning. I can drop some notes and answer any comments after that but holy moly this is one of the worst full slates I’ve seen all year! Only 11 full recos and then 6 sketchy recos in the 1-2x range.

DET-CLE does have a doubleheader, but neither of the second starts (Logan Allen로건 for CLE, Andrew Sears for DET in what is likely a bullpen game) merit any attention.

Read the rest of this entry »


The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 1535 – 2027 Meatball Draft Review Pt. 2

9/3/26

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!

Follow Our Socials

YOUTUBE

2027 DRAFT REVIEW PT. 2

Top 40 Fallers

Read the rest of this entry »

1:37:30

Starting Pitcher Chart – September 3rd, 2026

Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

Welcome to the Daily SP Chart, click here if you’re new to get an idea of what I’m doing with these rankings.

Outside of Skubal and Sandy, every other 3-x carries some concern:

  • McClanahan gets a TEX team that hits lefties really well and hasn’t reached 6 IP in any of his L6
  • Henderson gets the blazing hot Cubs; Gausman gets the hot-hitting Brewers — I’m sure this’ll be 2-1 now, lol
  • Bennett was uninspiring for 6 straight (5.29 ERA/1.38 WHIP) until his recent gem at NYY
  • Soriano gets a nice matchup, but has just a 1.38 WHIP with TOR
  • Brown was great last time out (6.7 IP/1 ER/10 Ks) but it was only his 2nd start of 0-1 BB all yr (13% BB)

Read the rest of this entry »


Paul Sporer’s Baseball Chat – September 2nd, 2026

Thanks for coming out! If you missed it, please feel free to drop a comment with your question and I’ll get to it when I can. You can also leave questions in my daily SP charts in you have an inquiry on a non-chat day.

1:01

Paul Sporer: Good afternoon, y’all, thanks for coming out!!

1:03

yochuckie: Two possibly three weeks remaining in the fantasy season/playoffs. Does Julio Rodriguez get an opportunity to make up some ground in his supposed second half extravaganza or is he just who he is? A healthy version of LuBob?

1:06

Paul Sporer: Yeah we didn’t get our normal elite JRod in the second half. After a huge May, it looked like maybe he was gonna finally get a monster season top to bottom, but that turned out to be his only good one. A .250 2H BABIP is really holding him back. He’s one of those stars who isn’t meeting expectations but is still too good to take outta the lineup in most situations

1:07

MD: Looks like Fried/Warren piggybacking this week after a short outing last week. Weekly league, you rolling with him next week (NYM), or would you take Bennet (LAA) or even Painter (HOU, @ATL)?

1:07

Paul Sporer: Over your Fried you’re saying?

1:07

Paul Sporer: I’d probably lean Bennett straight up for this week, especially since Fried will likely get the frontend and not be eligible for the W

Read the rest of this entry »


Starting Pitcher Chart – September 2nd, 2026

Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Welcome to the Daily SP Chart, click here if you’re new to get an idea of what I’m doing with these rankings.

I’ll answer questions about guys in the comments, plus I have my chat later this afternoon.

Read the rest of this entry »


Starting Pitcher Chart – September 1st, 2026

Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

Welcome to the Daily SP Chart, click here if you’re new to get an idea of what I’m doing with these rankings.

About Last Night: a few notes about some Monday SPs

  • What the hell was that, Kyle Harrison?! Yeah, CHC is #1 in wOBA vL so there were no guarantees, but I didn’t think he’d hit a full meltdown like that.
  • George Kirby is a home-0nly starter the rest of the way… if that, tbh. We can’t keep banging our heads against the wall with him.
  • A couple of HRs, including a 3-run shot, tanked Jackson Jobe’s outing and now through 5 starts, the 2 Duds have easily outweighed the two good ones and one decent one. This is a perfect microcosm for why I’m so cautious with TJ returners. See another JJ – Jared Jones – for a larger sample of TJ returner inconsistency. I still had Jobe as a 3-x, so I’m not pounding my chest here, more excoriating myself for not following my normal skepticism of this player class.
  • deGrom maintained his 1 up, 1 down pattern, dominating ATH… can he break the streak and hold up v. TBR this weekend?

Tuesday’s Starters

  • Luzardo had 4 Duds through his first 8 starts but allowed 4 ER in the other 4 starts combined so while frustrating, the poor starts weren’t really actionable and those who just kept him locked in the rotation have been rewarded handsomely: 2.12 ERA/1.02 WHIP/23% K-BB in 119.3 (19 starts) since the last of those Duds.
  • I still think Melton has the stuff to be a legitimate ace as he develops but the Ks were back down again in August after a surge in July, giving him more of a Sandy Alcantara feel right now which is still great but short of a true fantasy ace.
  • Remember when I floated the idea of Gav Williams dropping a 20-K game at LAA last week? That was cute… instead, he had his worst start of the year as he failed to finish 2 innings. (1.3 IP/5 ER)
  • I really thought we’d see the other shoe drop with E-Rod as he had a 2.29 ERA/4.77 SIERA split in the first half and it seemed like the 88% LOB and .247 BABIP were ripe for regression. The regression has in fact come, with a 73% and .306 in the 2H, respectively, but his 0.95 HR9 is all the way down to 0.38 (6th best in 2H) and has masked a lot of the impact of that regression.
  • PIT has slammed righties on the year (2nd in wOBA), but they’re just 28th in the 2H so I’m no longer running from them as much with non-ace righties. That doesn’t matter as much today as we’d be starting Webb even if they were still a top 5 offense against ’em, but just wanted to note that as we move through the final month. That would include guys like Landen Roupp, Blade Tidwell, and Walbert Ureña who draw PIT this week.
  • I won’t blame anyone for skipping Bradish in Coors especially on the heels on a pair of rough outings (at STL, v. NYY). I don’t want to be overly influenced by Monday’s 2-1 game, either. A low scoring game one night doesn’t mean it can’t be 10-9 in the 4th inning the next in that park!
  • I’m nervous to jump in on GrayRod, but he’s been pretty good lately with a 3.07 ERA/1.21 WHIP/17% K-BB in his L6 (32.7 IP). He has a couple meh 4 IP starts in the mix, but the other 4 starts have been really good, including a pair of 7 IP gems. NYY’s modest offense helps, too. Walby cooked ’em on Monday night!
  • It might be too hard to get away from Woo in 15s, but as I mentioned with Kirby, he probably needs to be a home-only starter at this juncture: 2.63 ERA/0.79 WHIP at home | 5.96 ERA/1.38 WHIP on the road.
  • Learned my lesson from Harrison, let’s avoid these Cubs right now.

Read the rest of this entry »


Starting Pitcher Chart – August 31st, 2026

David Banks-Imagn Images

Welcome to the Daily SP Chart, click here if you’re new to get an idea of what I’m doing with these rankings.

  • Tolle has allowed more than 3 ER just once over his L9 outings, posting a beautiful 2.65 ERA/1.04 WHIP/28% K-BB in 51 IP. Today, he gets the 30th ranked offense versus lefties.
  • Any concerns for Harrison after the shellacking at SDP have been tamped down by 2 strong starts since, allowing just 1 ER in 10 IP with 13 Ks. CHC is scary, especially with how dialed in PCA is right now, but Harrison doesn’t leave the rotation for me.
  • A gem last time out from Kirby (7.7 IP/1 ER/9 Ks) inspires some confidence, but man oh man it’s been a grind this year. I mentioned ahead of his last start that SEA’s defense is a big reason behind his struggles and obviously one good start doesn’t fix that. I can’t see benching him despite the bumpy year, though.
  • deGrom’s been on a 1 up/1 down pattern over his last 8 starts but it’s so hard to take those sort of runs seriously. If anything, it just underscores a pitcher’s start-to-start inconsistency and there are no guarantees the pattern will continue meaning we can’t expect a good outing just because the last one was bad. And yet, I still have him at 3-x as he’s facing the battered A’s lineup at home. I might have more caution if it was in Sacramento, but this is the right setup for him to continue to this weird pattern.
  • A 9 ER Dud v. LAA two starts ago has saddled Lambert with a 6.12 ERA over the month but that’s literally his only bad start during the run. In fact, it’s the only start where he’s allowed more than 2 ER in his L10 and he did rebound from the LAA outing with a solid 5.7 IP/2 ER/5 Ks at NYY.
  • I’ve got some nerves about this Nola rebirth as the 2.63 ERA comes with a 1.26 WHIP over his L6 starts but the run also comes with a 29% K rate and of course his residence on a strong PHI team gives him a decent W probability (though he is just 2-2 during this run).
  • COL is just 11th in wOBA at home since the break giving me more confidence to run Bradish in Coors today. I’ll never give managers a hard time for skipping Coors with non-aces especially if you’re protecting ratios against the meltdown start (which Bradish had last time out with 7 ER at STL).
  • Ureña, not Mitch Farris, going for LAA. While NYY got Belly back and Luis Garcia Jr. has been excellent with them, they remain a pretty non-threatening offense without Judge. Ureña’s ERA is due for some regression given how many base runners he allows but even if he’s more high 3.00s than high-2.00s, I’m still comfortable using him v. NYY today. 

Read the rest of this entry »