Ottoneu Starting Pitching Planner: July 16–26

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.
Note: In Ottoneu head-to-head leagues, this week’s matchup runs from July 16–26. Keep that in mind when deciding on your starters, since your games started cap doesn’t adjust for the longer schedule.
| Team | Series 2 Matchup | Series 3 Matchup | Start | Maybe | Risky | Sit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARI | ATH (174) | @WSN (47) | Merrill Kelly, Brandon Pfaadt (@STL), Eduardo Rodriguez | Mitch Bratt (x2), Jose Cabrera (x2) | ||
| ATH | @ARI (140) | @MIN (76) | Gage Jump | J.T. Ginn | Jeffrey Springs (x2), Jack Perkins, Jacob Lopez | |
| ATL | SDP (113) | @BAL (85) | Chris Sale | Reynaldo López (x2) | Bryce Elder (x2), Martín Pérez (?), Grant Holmes | |
| BAL | @BOS (118) | ATL (101) | Kyle Bradish | Shane Baz (x2), Brandon Young, Trevor Rogers | Dean Kremer | |
| BOS | BAL (96) | TOR (150) | Payton Tolle (x2), Jake Bennett, Sonny Gray | Patrick Sandoval | Brayan Bello (F) | |
| CHC | DET (132) | @PIT (41) | Colin Rea, Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga | Jameson Taillon (x2), David Peterson | ||
| CHW | @TEX (97) | HOU (74) | Noah Schultz, Davis Martin, Sean Burke | Erick Fedde 페디 (F), Anthony Kay | ||
| CIN | @SEA (170) | @STL (178) | Chase Burns, Hunter Greene | Andrew Abbott (x2) | Rhett Lowder | Brady Singer |
| CLE | MIN (73) | @TBR (87) | Parker Messick (x2), Gavin Williams | Joey Cantillo | Slade Cecconi (x2), Tanner Bibee | |
| COL | WSN (14) | @MIL (67) | Kyle Freeland (x2), Michael Lorenzen, Gabriel Hughes, Tomoyuki Sugano, Ryan Feltner | |||
| DET | @CHC (64) | KCR (121) | Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize, Jack Flaherty (vKCR), Framber Valdez (vKCR) | Flaherty (@CHC), Valdez (@CHC), Troy Melton | ||
| HOU | MIA (42) | @CHW (97) | Hunter Brown | Ronel Blanco (?), Peter Lambert, Spencer Arrighetti | Tatsuya Imai, Cristian Javier | |
| KCR | SFG (69) | @DET (121) | Michael Wacha (x2), Seth Lugo | Luinder Avila (x2), Stephen Kolek, Noah Cameron | ||
| LAA | STL (83) | @SFG (141) | Reid Detmers, José Soriano (@SFG) | Soriano (vSTL), Walbert Ureña | Grayson Rodriguez | Ryan Johnson |
| LAD | @PHI (79) | @NYM (136) | Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto | Justin Wrobleski, Emmet Sheehan | Eric Lauer 라우어, Roki Sasaki | |
| MIA | @HOU (120) | SDP (113) | Sandy Alcantara, Max Meyer, Eury Pérez | Janson Junk (x2), Tyler Phillips | ||
| MIL | NYM (122) | COL (79) | Jacob Misiorowski | Brandon Sproat, Logan Henderson, Shane Drohan, Robert Gasser | Lance McCullers Jr. (?) | |
| MIN | @CLE (146) | ATH (161) | Taj Bradley, Joe Ryan | Bailey Ober | Zebby Matthews (x2) | Mike Paredes (x2) |
| NYM | @MIL (67) | LAD (90) | Nolan McLean | Freddy Peralta (x2), Sean Manaea | Christian Scott | Zach Thornton |
| NYY | PIT (58) | @PHI (79) | Cam Schlittler | Will Warren (x2), Gerrit Cole, Ryan Weathers | Elmer Rodríguez | |
| PHI | LAD (56) | NYY (106) | Cristopher Sánchez (x2), Zack Wheeler, Jesús Luzardo | Alan Rangel | Aaron Nola | |
| PIT | @NYY (99) | CHC (66) | Braxton Ashcraft, Paul Skenes | Bubba Chandler, Jared Jones | Mitch Keller (x2) | |
| SDP | @ATL (99) | @MIA (65) | Michael King | Randy Vásquez (x2), Walker Buehler (x2), Griffin Canning | Germán Márquez | |
| SEA | CIN (145) | @TEX (97) | George Kirby, Emerson Hancock, Luis Castillo, Bryce Miller, Bryan Woo, Logan Gilbert | |||
| SFG | @KCR (81) | LAA (125) | Landen Roupp, Logan Webb, Robbie Ray | Tyler Mahle (x2), Trevor McDonald | ||
| STL | @LAA (142) | CIN (141) | Dustin May (vARI), Andre Pallante | Kyle Leahy (x2), Michael McGreevy | Matthew Liberatore (x2) | |
| TBR | @TOR (138) | CLE (164) | Drew Rasmussen (x2), Shane McClanahan | Nick Martinez (x2), Griffin Jax, Ian Seymour | ||
| TEX | CHW (120) | SEA (142) | Nathan Eovaldi (x2), MacKenzie Gore, Jacob deGrom | Kumar Rocker | Cal Quantrill | |
| TOR | TBR (95) | @BOS (118) | Dylan Cease (x2), Trey Yesavage | Kevin Gausman (x2) | Max Scherzer (?), Shane Bieber | |
| WSN | @COL (16) | ARI (138) | Foster Griffin | Cade Cavalli, Andrew Alvarez (vARI) | Alvarez (@COL), Miles Mikolas, Zack Littell |
Jake Mailhot is a contributor to FanGraphs. A long-suffering Mariners fan, he also writes about them for Lookout Landing. Follow him on BlueSky @jakemailhot.
Cade Cavalli a “Must Start” for a midsummer game at Sacramento? Why?
I think I saw the Athletics .267 wOBA over the last 14 days and jumped the gun on checking where the series was being played.
In a head-to-head league, I’d probably skip that start since this week is longer than normal and you’ll probably have a good choice of starters later on. I might skip it in a points league too, but also, the Athletics have been abysmal recently…
Jake, Thank you for including the weekends! It’s real help!