Starting Pitcher Chart – April 12th

April 11, 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.

Wednesday, April 12th Starters

PITCHER	TM	OPP	THR	10	12	15+	2022 STATS	NOTE
Spencer Strider	ATL	CIN	R	x	x	x	2.67 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 30% K-BB	One of my Must-Watch guys every 5th day…
Clayton Kershaw	LAD	at SFG	L	x	x	x	2.28 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 23% K-BB	…and so is Kersh, good thing they start at different times
Zack Wheeler	PHI	MIA	R	x	x	x	2.82 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 21% K-BB	Slow start but no world where you sit him
Logan Gilbert	SEA	at CHC	R	x	x	x	3.20 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 16% K-BB	Early GB% and K% surges would be great if they stick
Kevin Gausman	TOR	DET	R	x	x	x	3.35 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 24% K-BB	Still toting a sky-high BABIP (.353), but it hasn’t hurt at all w/a 0.00 ERA thru 12 IP
Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	KCR	R	x	x	x	3.87 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 18% K-BB	A few too many hits thru 2 GS, otherwise looks great
Sonny Gray	MIN	CHW	R	x	x	x	3.08 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 17% K-BB	Off to a blistering start incl. 13 Ks v. HOU
Marcus Stroman	CHC	SEA	R	x	x	x	3.50 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 15% K-BB	Trading BBs (6) for Ks (14) through 2 GS (12 IP)?
Chris Sale	BOS	at TBR	L	x	x	x	3.18 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 16% K-BB	Still missing bats & settled down after rough 1st inn. at DET
Lucas Giolito	CHW	at MIN	R	x	x	x	4.90 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 17% K-BB	Velo up, BB% down, I’m not panicked over 1 dud at PIT
Blake Snell	SDP	at NYM	L	x	x	x	3.38 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 22% K-BB	Continues to miss bats at a great clip, but old command issues remain so far
José Urquidy	HOU	at PIT	R	x	x	x	3.94 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 14% K-BB	Missing more bats early on & PIT lineup took a big hit w/Cruz inj.
Hunter Greene	CIN	at ATL	R	x	x	x	4.44 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 22% K-BB	Showing the volatility of 35-40 grade Command
Edward Cabrera	MIA	at PHI	R	x	x	x	3.01 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 14% K-BB	^^^
Drey Jameson	ARI	MIL	R		x	x	2.16 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 9% K-BB	Excited to see what he can do back in the rotation!
Eduardo Rodriguez	DET	at TOR	L		x	x	4.05 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 10% K-BB	Brutal opening trio: at TBR, at HOU, at TOR, but I’m sticking w/him
Griffin Canning	LAA	WSN	R		x	x	DNP in 2022	Had bouts of success in 2019-21; sharp in MiLB debut, too
Tylor Megill	NYM	SDP	R			x	5.13 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 19% K-BB	I’m a fan so I’m gambling here, but I understand sitting it out v. the Dads
Alex Cobb	SFG	LAD	R			x	3.73 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 17% K-BB	No shame skipping LAD starts w/anyone who isn’t an SP1-2-3
MacKenzie Gore	WSN	at LAA	L			x	4.50 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 11% K-BB	If you’re a Gore believer, I can see taking the risk here
Dean Kremer	BAL	OAK	R				3.23 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 10% K-BB	Matchup could be worth the start, but lacks K upside v. anyone
Taj Bradley	TBR	BOS	R				2.57 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 20% K-BB in MiLB	Stud prospect a definite pickup, but likely reserve for the debut
Clarke Schmidt	NYY	at CLE	R				3.12 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 14% K-BB	So far it’s more like Clark Sch… we’ll keep it rated G for now
Jack Flaherty	STL	at COL	R				4.25 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, 7% K-BB	Could be in major trouble in Coors if he doesn’t reign in BB
Brad Keller	KCR	at TEX	R				5.09 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 7% K-BB	GB machine has amped it up to 63%, but too many BB & a scary matchup
Rich Hill	PIT	HOU	L				4.27 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 14% K-BB	Will likely find streaming pockets, but not here
Ken Waldichuk	OAK	at BAL	L				4.93 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 16% K-BB	Not fully quitting him, but need to see a gem before rolling him out anywhere
Janson Junk	MIL	at ARI	R				4.64 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 16% K-BB in MiLB	Filling in for IL’d B.Woodruff
Peyton Battenfield	CLE	NYY	R				3.63 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 8% K-BB in MiLB	Rookie draws a tough MLB debut
José Ureña	COL	STL	R				5.01 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, 5% K-BB	Hard to find starts for him even on the road

Recommendations for Roto 5×5 Leagues