Starting Pitcher Chart – April 24th

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.
Trying something new by splitting up the data a bit with the recos & comments in one chart and the recos and stats in another. Let me know if that’s preferable to putting it all in one. I decided this after writing it, but for the future this could give me a bit more space for deeper comments, too. At any rate, I’m open to any feedback even if it’s constructive criticism!
Pardon my Friday miss, btw. I was gone on a quick weekend trip that included some sizable flight delays due to inclement weather and they ate up the one window I had to get the piece down from the road. I started all the guys who dominated and sat all the dudes who got smoked. Source: just trust me, bro!
RK | PITCHER | TM | OPP | THR | 10 | 12 | 15+ | NOTE | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Spencer Strider | ATL | MIA | R | x | x | x | A 13% BB is much more palatable when you have a 41% K rate and .158 AVG against | |
2 | Sonny Gray | MIN | NYY | R | x | x | x | I’d still start him if this was his only start of the wk… instead we get a KCR cherry on the wknd | |
3 | Nathan Eovaldi | TEX | at | CIN | R | x | x | x | ERA will start sinking if these skills hold as the .422 BABIP levels out |
4 | Chris Sale | BOS | at | BAL | L | x | x | x | 1st gem of the yr has raised spirits |
5 | Jordan Montgomery | STL | at | SFG | L | x | x | x | 7 ER v. ARI is now 58% of his season total… duds happen |
6 | Chris Bassitt | TOR | CHW | R | x | x | x | It’s now 3 straight QS, but the 9 ER opener will stink up the bottom line for a bit longer | |
7 | Nick Lodolo | CIN | TEX | L | x | x | x | Showed why it’s “Only studs v. TBR” w/12 H, 8 ER dud… back in the saddle w/a TEX/at OAK 2-step | |
8 | Taj Bradley | TBR | HOU | R | x | x | x | Always nice to get a gem out of the gate after spending big… this is a big test & I’m starting him | |
9 | José Suarez | LAA | OAK | L | x | x | x | My opinion hasn’t changed that much from drafts that I wouldn’t pick him up where available… I tried & came up short in my Main | |
10 | Dean Kremer | BAL | BOS | R | x | x | Velo up nearly 2 mph & SwStr now up to 11%; in on 2-step to get at DET this wknd | ||
11 | Cal Quantrill | CLE | COL | R | x | x | Slated to go after leaving early from batted ball, thankfully 6 IP/0 ER in the bank already | ||
12 | Matthew Boyd | DET | at | MIL | L | x | x | BB are becoming untenable so this at MIL/v. BAL is a big litmus test for me | |
13 | Alex Cobb | SFG | STL | R | x | x | No guarantees that defense tangibly lowers his .407 BABIP unfortunately | ||
14 | Jhony Brito | NYY | at | MIN | R | x | Bounced back solidly from the dud but he’ll be working that off for some time | ||
15 | Lance Lynn | CHW | at | TOR | R | x | I have a general rule about cutting someone you won’t use in a 2-step, but I’m good sitting at TOR/v. TBR here | ||
16 | Colin Rea | MIL | DET | R | x | Hideous 6% SwStr, but he’s been solid & gets a 2-step w/DET so I took the 15-tm shot | |||
17 | Brad Keller | KCR | at | ARI | R | x | I’d tolerate the BB if it brought more Ks and the WHIP will soar as the .245 BABIP rises | ||
18 | Edward Cabrera | MIA | at | ATL | R | That 20% BB rate will come home to roost and obliterate that 4.08 ERA | |||
19 | Tommy Henry | ARI | KCR | L | Making his season debut, but even the good matchup isn’t enough to entice me | ||||
20 | Ken Waldichuk | OAK | at | LAA | L | He’ll have periods of streamer viability… we are not there currently | |||
21 | José Urquidy | HOU | at | TBR | R | Only studs v. TBR… sorry, Jose! | |||
22 | Austin Gomber | COL | at | CLE | L | Don’t get #Gombered |
RK | PITCHER | TM | OPP | THR | 10 | 12 | 15+ | IP | ERA | WHIP | K-BB | OPP L30 wOBA | wOBA RK | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Spencer Strider | ATL | MIA | R | x | x | x | 22 | 2.45 | 1.05 | 28% | 0.302 | 24th | |
2 | Sonny Gray | MIN | NYY | R | x | x | x | 22 | 0.82 | 1.18 | 19% | 0.321 | 15th | |
3 | Nathan Eovaldi | TEX | at | CIN | R | x | x | x | 21.2 | 5.40 | 1.48 | 22% | 0.306 | 23rd |
4 | Chris Sale | BOS | at | BAL | L | x | x | x | 18 | 8.00 | 1.67 | 24% | 0.358 | 6th |
5 | Jordan Montgomery | STL | at | SFG | L | x | x | x | 22.1 | 4.84 | 1.34 | 14% | 0.271 | 27th |
6 | Chris Bassitt | TOR | CHW | R | x | x | x | 21.2 | 5.40 | 1.34 | 9% | 0.313 | 17th | |
7 | Nick Lodolo | CIN | TEX | L | x | x | x | 21.2 | 4.98 | 1.71 | 23% | 0.282 | 25th | |
8 | Taj Bradley | TBR | HOU | R | x | x | x | 10.1 | 2.61 | 0.97 | 38% | 0.312 | 19th | |
9 | José Suarez | LAA | OAK | L | x | x | x | 11.2 | 9.26 | 2.40 | 0% | 0.316 | 15th | |
10 | Dean Kremer | BAL | BOS | R | x | x | 19 | 6.16 | 1.37 | 10% | 0.323 | 14th | ||
11 | Cal Quantrill | CLE | COL | R | x | x | 21.2 | 4.15 | 1.43 | 7% | 0.307 | 20th | ||
12 | Matthew Boyd | DET | at | MIL | L | x | x | 14 | 4.50 | 1.50 | 3% | 0.269 | 29th | |
13 | Alex Cobb | SFG | STL | R | x | x | 19.1 | 2.79 | 1.50 | 22% | 0.325 | 13th | ||
14 | Jhony Brito | NYY | at | MIN | R | x | 15 | 5.40 | 1.40 | 6% | 0.306 | 22nd | ||
15 | Lance Lynn | CHW | at | TOR | R | x | – | 7.59 | 1.83 | 18% | 0.329 | 10th | ||
16 | Colin Rea | MIL | DET | R | x | 10.2 | 4.22 | 0.94 | 12% | 0.272 | 29th | |||
17 | Brad Keller | KCR | at | ARI | R | x | 21 | 3.00 | 1.29 | 6% | 0.317 | 16th | ||
18 | Edward Cabrera | MIA | at | ATL | R | 17.2 | 4.08 | 1.75 | 2% | 0.328 | 11th | |||
19 | Tommy Henry | ARI | KCR | L | #N/A | – | – | – | 0.294 | 22nd | ||||
20 | Ken Waldichuk | OAK | at | LAA | L | 20 | 7.65 | 1.85 | 6% | 0.361 | 5th | |||
21 | José Urquidy | HOU | at | TBR | R | 19.2 | 3.66 | 1.53 | 12% | 0.382 | 1st | |||
22 | Austin Gomber | COL | at | CLE | L | 16.1 | 12.12 | 2.14 | 4% | 0.284 | 24th |
Hi Paul, thanks for doing this column. The new format makes it easier to read on a phone so I appreciate it 👍
Phone folks were my main consideration with the split so very happy to hear that!