Starting Pitcher Chart – April 10th

April 10, 2023

In past seasons I’ve done this Daily SP Chart down the stretch and invariably there are comments asking why I don’t do it all season. I’ve never really had a great answer for that so now I’m doing it!

Once the season gets going, the chart will include their performance over the last five starts (for the first few weeks, it’ll be their 2023 stats), their opponent’s wOBA versus the pitcher’s handedness, my start/sit recommendation for 10-team, 12-team, and 15-team (or more) leagues, and then a note about them. The opponent wOBA will remain blank for a while until we get some data and because there is so much lineup turnover year-to-year, I’m not going to include last year’s mark. I’ll start including wOBA data on April 17th.

These are general recommendations, and your league situation will carry more weight whether you are protecting ratios or chasing counting numbers. This is for standard 5×5 roto leagues. The thresholds for H2H starts are generally lower, especially in points leagues so I thought there would be more value focusing on roto.

Monday, April 10th Starters

PITCHER	TM	OPP	THR	10	12	15+	2022 STATS	NOTE
Framber Valdez	HOU	at PIT	L	x	x	x	2.82 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 15% K-BB	Elite GBer has his SwStr up to a career-high 13% early on
Luis Castillo	SEA	at CHC	R	x	x	x	2.99 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 20% K-BB	Velo down a bit, but hasn’t hurt him at all
Shane Bieber	CLE	NYY	R	x	x	x	2.88 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 21% K-BB	Not an easy matchup, but obviously he’s an auto-start
Dylan Cease	CHW	at MIN	R	x	x	x	2.20 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 20% K-BB	Still has shaky command that will bring volatility, but the upside remains huge
Julio Urías	LAD	at SFG	L	x	x	x	2.16 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 18% K-BB	BABIP is up, but he’s just decided to not walk anyone (literally 0 so far)
Sandy Alcantara	MIA	at PHI	R	x	x	x	2.28 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 18% K-BB	His 15% SwStr says the 13% K rate will jump
Max Scherzer	NYM	SDP	R	x	x	x	2.29 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 26% K-BB	One modest start, one bad one… no real reason to worry right now
Yu Darvish	SDP	at NYM	R	x	x	x	3.10 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 21% K-BB	Had 4 BB in his season open v. ARI last yr, too
Zac Gallen	ARI	MIL	R	x	x	x	2.54 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 20% K-BB	Tough open w/trips to SD and LA, I’m not worried
Kyle Gibson	BAL	OAK	R	x	x	x	5.05 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 13% K-BB	Solid thru 2 with a nice 2-step this week: OAK, at CWS
Andrew Heaney	TEX	KCR	L	x	x	x	3.10 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 29% K-BB	Devastatingly bad first start, but I’ll give him at least one more shot
José Suarez	LAA	WSN	L	x	x	x	3.96 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 15% K-BB	Popular sleeper was clipped for a couple HRs in his debut
Logan Webb	SFG	LAD	R	x	x	x	2.90 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 15% K-BB	First home start is a tough draw but I’m still starting him
Graham Ashcraft	CIN	at ATL	R	x	x	x	4.89 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 9% K-BB	If he generates whiffs consistently, there is big breakout potential
Domingo Germán	NYY	at CLE	R		x	x	3.61 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 13% K-BB	Showed the ups & downs in his debut w/8 Ks & 0 BB, but also 2 HR and just 4.3 IP
Kenta Maeda	MIN	CHW	R		x	x	4.66 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 18% K-BB in 2021	Left his debut w/fatigue, but looked great w/9 Ks and 0 BB
Wade Miley	MIL	at ARI	L		x	x	3.16 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 9% K-BB	Sneaky solid streamer
JP Sears	OAK	at BAL	L		x	x	3.86 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 10% K-BB	Could see some deep league usefulness throughout the season
Matt Strahm	PHI	MIA	L			x	3.83 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 18% K-BB	Building up his stamina, but could lose spot when Ranger Suarez returns
Nick Pivetta	BOS	at TBR	R			x	4.56 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 13% K-BB	It’s hard to feel confident with anyone v. TBR right now
Zack Greinke	KCR	at TEX	R			x	3.68 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 8% K-BB	Can give some ERA value if you can take on the WHIP
Bryce Elder	ATL	CIN	R			x	3.17 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 11% K-BB	Decent 2-step this week v. CIN and at KCR for the IP-eater type
Roansy Contreras	PIT	HOU	R			x	3.79 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 12% K-BB	HOU lineup isn’t terribly deep so you can use him if you’re a Contreras believer
Steven Matz	STL	at COL	L				5.25 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 21% K-BB	There have been some gems in Coors, but I can’t do it
Germán Márquez	COL	STL	R				4.95 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 11% K-BB	Gets trips to SEA and PHI after this start so while not Coors, still not easy
Josh Fleming	TBR	BOS	L				6.43 ERA, 1.89 WHIP, 10% K-BB	Just doesn’t miss bats consistently
Drew Smyly	CHC	SEA	L				3.47 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 15% K-BB	Health and talent risk getting another tough start
Patrick Corbin	WSN	at LAA	L				6.31 ERA, 1.70 WHIP, 11% K-BB	MLB-worst 6.10 ERA since ’21 (min. 300 IP), over a run worse than MadBum’s 4.85

Recommendations for Roto 5×5 Leagues