Starting Pitcher Chart – April 20th
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.
| PITCHER | TM | OPP | THR | 10 | 12 | 15+ | ERA | WHIP | K-BB | OPP L30 wOBA | wOBA RK | NOTE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nestor Cortes | NYY | LAA | L | x | x | x | 2.60 | 1.04 | 19% | 0.388 | 3rd | Ks down but BB rate is in half, too, so he’s still an easy start | |
| Patrick Sandoval | LAA | at | NYY | L | x | x | x | 1.23 | 1.16 | 6% | 0.282 | 23rd | Ks jumped last start but couldn’t finish 4 IP with 90 pitches in 3 2/3 |
| Kodai Senga | NYM | at | SFG | R | x | x | x | 3.38 | 1.44 | 16% | 0.358 | 2nd | OAK of all tms got to him after 2 gems v. MIA; first big challenge here |
| Matt Strahm | PHI | COL | L | x | x | 2.31 | 1.03 | 21% | 0.309 | 19th | Still in the 60-70 pitch range so it’ll be tough to get 5 IP, but it’s a good matchup | ||
| Sean Manaea | SFG | NYM | L | x | x | 2.89 | 0.96 | 27% | 0.319 | 15th | DET ran up his pitch count for a modest outing, still willing to gamble here | ||
| Tanner Houck | BOS | MIN | R | x | x | 4.50 | 1.36 | 14% | 0.303 | 23rd | Another tough bet for 5 IP but a good matchup for a solid arm | ||
| Kenta Maeda | MIN | at | BOS | R | x | x | 4.09 | 1.00 | 27% | 0.314 | 16th | Could deal w/sporadic IP mgmt all yr but useful while pitching | |
| Roansy Contreras | PIT | CIN | R | x | x | 6.00 | 1.73 | 4% | 0.323 | 15th | 2 gems, 1 dud… the dud v. HOU is carrying a lot of weight on the bottom line | ||
| Ryne Nelson | ARI | SDP | R | x | x | 3.71 | 1.18 | 7% | 0.311 | 18th | Modest 8% SwStr keeps the Ks down, making him more of a streamer than consistent start | ||
| Michael Grove | LAD | at | CHC | R | x | 9.00 | 1.62 | 16% | 0.345 | 5th | Bounced back from 9 ER dud w/a gem, but he’ll be working that start off for a while | ||
| Michael Wacha | SDP | at | ARI | R | 6.06 | 1.47 | 14% | 0.309 | 22nd | Not the easy matchup the wOBA RK implies w/10th ISO & 7th-lowest K% | |||
| Jameson Taillon | CHC | LAD | R | 4.50 | 1.36 | 19% | 0.347 | 4th | Great in LAD last start, not tempting fate w/the 2nd straight against ’em | ||||
| Luke Weaver | CIN | at | PIT | R | – | – | – | 0.330 | 12th | First start off the IL against the spry Pirates | |||
| Ryan Feltner | COL | at | PHI | R | 8.78 | 1.95 | 6% | 0.353 | 3rd | I just don’t see any real upside |