Roto Riteup: August 28, 2026
Rumbling, bumbling, stumbling…Zac Veen tumbling
On the Agenda:
- Quick Hits
- Various News and Notes
- Streaming Pitchers
Archive for Starting Pitchers
Roto Riteup: August 27, 2026
Well done, Mr. Schwarber
That’s 40 or more home runs in four of his last five seasons. Schwarber and Aaron Judge are tied with the most homers (227) since 2022.
On the Agenda:
- Quick Hits
- Various News and Notes
- Streaming Pitchers
Outlier Offenses in Mid-Term Windows, The Finale
This is the fourth and final installment of the Outliers series. In mid-April, I introduced the process of reviewing matchups and schedules in three-week windows to identify team offense outliers. The basic premise is that rest-of-season (ROS) analysis has high margins of error and that it is better to compartmentalize fantasy decision-making into shorter timeframes. At that time, the Chicago White Sox and New York Mets were highlighted as positive offensive outliers. Over the next 3.5 weeks, the White Sox scored the fourth-most runs and ranked top three in ISO and wRC+, while the Mets were a huge letdown. In mid-May, the featured offenses, based on matchups, were the Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants. The Rangers’ schedule helped them to score the 12th most runs over those weeks. The Giants, who were the worst offense in the Majors at that time, took advantage of their incredible schedule and turned into the best offense in baseball over the next month: third in runs and first in ISO, SLG, and wRC+. In mid-June, I recommended targeting hitters from the Athletics and Colorado Rockies due to their advantageous “on-paper” schedule. From June 11 through July 5, the Rockies were the most productive offense in baseball, averaging a league-best 6.43 runs per game, with the highest ISO (.233), and the only offense with a .500+ slugging percentage. The Athletics were seventh in total runs (118) at a rate of 5.36 per game, despite being without Brent Rooker.
This final review of a 3.5-week window will take us through Sunday, September 20. Technically, we could extend this through the final week of the season, but it’s better not to, as teams will be shutting down players and playoff teams will be resting some of their players. First, let’s review how pitching staffs have performed over the last six weeks and highlight the potentially fruitful matchups which should lead us to our offensive outliers.
FAAB Frenzy and Waivers Wild: Week 23
Every Monday, this column will break down the most popular waiver wire and free agent acquisitions from the weekend. I dig into the top adds on the ever-popular Fantrax and in the NFBC Online Championship (OC), a national mid-stakes contest with 240 total leagues of 12 and a six-figure grand prize. Reviewing player adds between the two should provide us with a well-rounded perspective and barometer of the fantasy baseball marketplace.
5 Starting Pitchers on New Teams Making Pitch Mix Changes
It’s been around two weeks since the MLB Trade Deadline. That’s a sample of 2-3 starts for these starting pitchers with their new teams. Though we’re dealing with a small sample, it’s enough to look and see if these players could be making pitch mix adjustments with their new teams.
We’ll examine pitch mix changes and whether it’s helpful to their arsenal moving forward. As with anything fantasy baseball-related, we want to rely more heavily on the larger sample than recent changes. However, the pitch mix adjustments with their new teams could be a signal of future changes in their arsenal. Let’s cover five starting pitchers who have been changing their pitch mix with their new teams.
Ottoneu Starting Pitching Planner: August 24–30
by Jake Mailhot
August 21, 2026
Welcome back to the Ottoneu Starting Pitching Planner. Based on the Roster Resource Probables Grid, I’ve organized every starter slated to start next week into four categories: start, maybe, risky, and sit for Ottoneu points leagues. The first and last category are pretty self-explanatory. Starters who fall into the “maybe” category are guys you could start if you need to keep up with the innings pitched pace in points leagues or need to hit your games started cap in head-to-head leagues; they’re good bets to turn in a decent start, but you shouldn’t automatically insert them into your lineup. If you’ve fallen behind on the innings pitched pace or you’re really starving for starts in a head-to-head matchup, you could turn to a “risky” starter or two.
I’ve also calculated a “Matchup Score” for each series using a straight combination of opponent’s home/away wOBA, opponent wOBA over the last 14 days, and the park factor for the ballpark the teams are playing in. It’s indexed so that 100 is average and anything above that is a favorable matchup and anything below is unfavorable. That matchup rating informs some of the sit/start recommendations I’m making, though the quality of the pitcher definitely takes precedence.
Roto Riteup: August 21, 2026
He has arrived!
BREAKING: The Seattle Mariners plan to call up left-hander Kade Anderson, the top pitching prospect in baseball, to start Saturday, sources tell ESPN. Anderson, the third pick in the 2025 draft, has a 1.06 ERA over 93.1 innings with 135 strikeouts, 13 walks and 47 hits allowed.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 20, 2026
On the Agenda:
- Quick Hits
- Various News and Notes
- Streaming Pitchers
Roto Riteup: August 20, 2026
- No words, just vibes:
The new RP1 https://t.co/fS7o0stUzK
— Vlad Sedler (@RotoGut) August 19, 2026
On the Agenda:
- Closer Chaos
- Quick Hits
- Various News and Notes
- Streaming Pitchers
FAAB Frenzy and Waivers Wild: Week 22
Every Monday, this column will break down the most popular waiver wire and free agent acquisitions from the weekend. I dig into the top adds on the ever-popular Fantrax and in the NFBC Online Championship (OC), a national mid-stakes contest with 240 total leagues of 12 and a six-figure grand prize. Reviewing player adds between the two should provide us with a well-rounded perspective and barometer of the fantasy baseball marketplace.
Pitcher Playing Time Changes: August 14, 2026
We’ve reached the home stretch of the season after the trade deadline, and there’ve been plenty of shifts in projected playing time with players switching teams. For today’s roundup, I’ll focus only on starting pitchers, since their changes were much more notable.
Notable Playing Time Changes, SP, 7/31 to 8/14
| Name | Team | Old % of Team’s Remaining GS | New % of Team’s Remaining GS | PT Change | Old Remaining GS | New Remaining GS | Change | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson Kent | WSN | 2% | 15% | 13% | 1 | 6 | 5 | Welcome to the bigs! |
| Blade Tidwell | SFG | 2% | 13% | 11% | 1 | 5 | 4 | Filling the post-Ray rotation spot |
| Keider Montero | DET | 6% | 16% | 10% | 2 | 6 | 4 | Hold on rotation spot is ironclad now |
| Andrew Alvarez | WSN | 7% | 17% | 10% | 3 | 7 | 4 | Should hold onto his spot after Foster Griffin trade |
| George Klassen | LAA | 3% | 13% | 10% | 1 | 5 | 4 | Will get a good long look the rest of the year |
| Jackson Jobe | DET | 2% | 12% | 10% | 1 | 5 | 4 | Back from Tommy John and the stuff looks great |
| Cody Bradford | TEX | 3% | 12% | 9% | 1 | 5 | 4 | Back from the IL |
| Adrian Houser | SP | 8% | 17% | 9% | 3 | 7 | 4 | Moved back to rotation post-deadline |
| Rhett Lowder | CIN | 7% | 16% | 9% | 3 | 6 | 3 | Will keep rotation spot with Greene out |
| Hunter Dobbins | STL | 7% | 15% | 8% | 3 | 6 | 3 | Took Dustin May’s rotation spot |
| Ryan Gusto | MIA | 5% | 13% | 8% | 2 | 5 | 3 | Has done enough to stick in rotation |
| Carmen Mlodzinski | PIT | 5% | 12% | 7% | 2 | 5 | 3 | Back in rotation with Keller out |
| Luis Castillo | CHW | 13% | 19% | 6% | 5 | 8 | 3 | From six-man rotation with Seattle to five-man in Chicago |
| Troy Melton | DET | 12% | 17% | 5% | 5 | 7 | 2 | Continues to pitch brilliantly |
| Clay Holmes | CHC | 11% | 16% | 5% | 4 | 6 | 2 | Back from the IL and in a Cubs uniform |
| Jake Irvin | WSN | 13% | 18% | 5% | 5 | 7 | 2 | Back from the IL |
| Emerson Hancock | SEA | 13% | 18% | 5% | 5 | 7 | 2 | Five-man rotation benefits him |
| Reynaldo López | SEA | 15% | 10% | -5% | 6 | 4 | -2 | Knee inflammation |
| Tatsuya Imai | HOU | 14% | 9% | -5% | 6 | 4 | -2 | Moved to bullpen |
| Erick Fedde 페디 | CHW | 12% | 7% | -5% | 5 | 3 | -2 | Moved to bullpen |
| Javier Assad | CHC | 7% | 2% | -5% | 3 | 1 | -2 | Moved to bullpen |
| Jeffrey Springs | ATH | 16% | 9% | -7% | 6 | 4 | -2 | Hip discomfort |
| Ben Brown | CHC | 7% | 1% | -6% | 3 | 0 | -3 | Running out of time to come back as a starter |
| Braxton Garrett | CHC | 7% | 1% | -6% | 3 | 0 | -3 | Will be up-and-down depth arm the rest of the year |
| Max Meyer | MIA | 14% | 7% | -7% | 6 | 3 | -3 | Timetable for return remains uncertain |
| Noah Schultz | CHW | 13% | 6% | -7% | 5 | 2 | -3 | Hold on rotation spot is shakier |
| Griffin Jax | TBR | 14% | 7% | -7% | 6 | 3 | -3 | Posterior elbow inflammation |
| Joe Ryan | MIN | 18% | 10% | -8% | 7 | 4 | -3 | Glute strain |
| Brandon Sproat | MIL | 16% | 7% | -9% | 6 | 3 | -3 | Optioned to minors |
| David Peterson | CHC | 17% | 8% | -9% | 7 | 3 | -4 | Holds rotation spot for now, may not have it when Edward Cabrera returns |
| Kris Bubic | LAD | 9% | 0% | -9% | 4 | 0 | -4 | If he’s back this year, will be as a reliever |
| Griffin Canning | SDP | 12% | 2% | -10% | 5 | 1 | -4 | Moved to bullpen |
| Colin Rea | CHC | 12% | 2% | -10% | 5 | 1 | -4 | Moved to bullpen |
| Nathan Eovaldi | TEX | 18% | 8% | -10% | 7 | 3 | -4 | Elbow inflammation |
| JP Sears | SDP | 13% | 2% | -11% | 5 | 1 | -4 | Optioned to minors |
| Emmet Sheehan | LAD | 14% | 2% | -12% | 6 | 1 | -5 | Optioned to minors |
| Slade Cecconi | CLE | 17% | 5% | -12% | 7 | 2 | -5 | Moved to bullpen, then IL’d with arm fatigue |
| Trey Yesavage | TOR | 17% | 4% | -13% | 7 | 2 | -5 | Meniscus surgery; return this year in doubt |
| Miles Mikolas | WSN | 13% | 0% | -13% | 5 | 0 | -5 | DFA’d |
| Luinder Avila | KCR | 13% | 0% | -13% | 5 | 0 | -5 | Tommy John surgery |
| Zack Littell | ARI | 17% | 3% | -14% | 7 | 1 | -6 | From Nats rotation to Dbacks bullpen |
| Hunter Greene | CIN | 18% | 0% | -18% | 7 | 0 | -7 | Tommy John surgery will keep him out all of 2027, too |
| Mitch Keller | PIT | 19% | 0% | -19% | 8 | 0 | -8 | Season-ending teres major strain |