Starting Pitcher Chart – April 18th

April 17, 2023

Logan Gilbert has been excellent early on. Photo Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

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.

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.

Game 1 of the PHI/CWS doubleheader wasn’t listed by accident, but Wheeler & Lynn are easy starts for me.

Tuesday, April 18th Starters

PITCHER	TM		OPP	T	10	12	15+	2023 STATS	OPP wOBA L30 days	wOBA RK	NOTE
Spencer Strider	ATL	at	SDP	R	x	x	x	3.38 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 29% K-BB	0.319	17th	If we’re nitpicking, he’s been a bit inefficient early on
Logan Gilbert	SEA		MIL	R	x	x	x	2.70 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 24% K-BB	0.361	3rd	K% up to 30% with a 3-point jump in CSW% (Called Strike + Whiff Rate)
Clayton Kershaw	LAD		NYM	L	x	x	x	3.50 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 18% K-BB	0.345	9th	A solid 6 IP each time out so far
Lucas Giolito	CHW		PHI	R	x	x	x	6.00 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, 18% K-BB	0.344	8th	Looked great last time out and re-instilled confidence for many who were wavering
Marcus Stroman	CHC	at	OAK	R	x	x	x	1.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 17% K-BB	0.302	26th	0 HR allowed is helping cover the BB% jump (11%)
Jordan Montgomery	STL		ARI	L	x	x	x	2.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 16% K-BB	0.315	19th	Continuing his strong run with StL
Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	at	KCR	R	x	x	x	6.32 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 24% K-BB	0.275	29th	Skills are still there, a .444 BABIP is eating him up so far
Sonny Gray	MIN	at	BOS	R	x	x	x	0.53 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 18% K-BB	0.320	16th	Might not love a start in Fenway, but not many rotations will be deep enough to sit him
Nick Lodolo	CIN		TBR	L	x	x	x	2.12 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 15% K-BB	0.376	3rd	Huge BABIP pushing the WHIP up, plenty to like otherwise
Drey Jameson	ARI	at	STL	R	x	x	x	1.46 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 15% K-BB	0.327	12th	In a one-off, I understand a skip, but I took the 2-start plunge in weekly lineup leagues
Taj Bradley	TBR	at	CIN	R	x	x	x	Has 1 MLB start	0.341	9th	Springs injury opens the door for a potentially lengthy stay
Chris Sale	BOS		MIN	L	x	x	x	11.25 ERA, 2.08 WHIP, 19% K-BB	0.299	23rd	3.82 SIERA says not to panic unless you think the 53% LOB and 3.8 HR/9 rates are legit
Alex Wood	SFG	at	MIA	L	x	x	x	1.17 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, 8% K-BB	0.349	7th	I’m a fan despite the fact that their scary defense will breed volatility
Peyton Battenfield	CLE	at	DET	R		x	x	Has 1 MLB start	0.276	28th	I’m intrigued by the 23% SwStr in his debut which is enough to throw him here at DET
Bailey Falter	PHI	at	CHW	L		x	x	4.80 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 13% K-BB	0.370	5th	Maybe in the zone a bit too much (11.4 H/9, 8% SwStr, 15% K)
Blake Snell	SDP		ATL	L		x	x	6.92 ERA, 2.15 WHIP, 9% K-BB	0.395	1st	I’m holding, not necessarily starting
Eduardo Rodriguez	DET		CLE	L		x	x	4.50 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 6% K-BB	0.333	14th	Just an 8% SwStr in 107 IP with the Tigers, needs to go up to have shallow lg confidence
Edward Cabrera	MIA		SFG	R		x	x	4.63 ERA, 1.97 WHIP, -7% K-BB	0.375	2nd	Solid his last time out, but not enough to start him everywhere
Matthew Boyd	DET		CLE	L			x	4.00 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 0% K-BB	0.333	14th	Hasn’t been sharp in 2 GS (7 K, 7 BB), but he’s still a Team Streamer for me
José Urquidy	HOU		TOR	R			x	2.35 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 12% K-BB	0.349	5th	It’s a tough matchup, but I’m still running him out in deeper formats
Chris Bassitt	TOR	at	HOU	R			x	7.63 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, 6% K-BB	0.313	20th	It’s still mostly the debut he’s trying to work off his ledger, don’t love the matchup
José Suarez	LAA	at	NYY	L			x	10.80 ERA, 2.28 WHIP, 11% K-BB	0.271	27th	Popular sleeper has struggled in 2 starts; this is still a tough start despite NYY’s low wOBA vL
Brad Keller	KCR		TEX	R			x	2.12 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 12% K-BB	0.324	13th	His 4.36 SIERA & 10% SwStr say he’s not really any different right now
Hunter Gaddis	CLE	at	DET	R			x	8.53 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 10% K-BB	0.276	28th	Feels like an RP to me long-term, but if there’s any start to use him
Dean Kremer	BAL	at	WSN	R			x	9.49 ERA, 1.78 WHIP, 3% K-BB	0.262	30th	Hasn’t held BB% gains from ’22, but the matchup is right if you’re desperate
Ken Waldichuk	OAK		CHC	L				10.20 ERA, 1.93 WHIP, 6% K-BB	0.331	15th	Better days ahead for the young arm, tough to trust anywhere for now
Clarke Schmidt	NYY		LAA	R				8.44 ERA, 1.97 WHIP, 11% K-BB	0.313	19th	Still see talent in the arm, I still don’t want to take a shot v. the Angels
Tylor Megill	NYM	at	LAD	R				2.25 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 9% K-BB	0.354	4th	A bit over his skis so far & the Dodgers could deliver some regression to the mean
Josiah Gray	WSN		BAL	R				4.32 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 11% K-BB	0.346	6th	The HRs make him scary any time you decide to take the plunge
Colin Rea	MIL	at	SEA	R				1.59 ERA, 0.53 WHIP, 26% K-BB	0.315	18th	I just don’t see any real upside
Vince Velasquez	PIT	at	COL	R				5.40 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 5% K-BB	0.323	15th	No chance in Coors
José Ureña	COL		PIT	R				9.90 ERA, 2.50 WHIP, -2% K-BB	0.323	14th	No chance in Coors

Recommendations for Roto 5×5 Leagues

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hscermember

1 year ago

typo alert on Sonny Gray’s note ; )

Last edited 1 year ago by hscer

dadcoolmember

Reply to hscer

Yeah I busted out laughing while holding a sleeping baby. 😂 great stuff Paul. Thank you.

Paul Sporermember

Reply to dadcool

looooooooooooool whoops!!!