Starting Pitcher Chart – April 7th

April 6, 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, 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. At the outset, I will put their 2022 stats along with the note. 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.

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.

Friday, April 7th Starters

PITCHER	TM	OPP	THR	10	12	15+	LAST YR STATS	NOTE
Clayton Kershaw	LAD	at ARI	L	x	x	x	2.28 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 23% K-BB	The ol’ lefty is only likely to get 120-130 IP, but they’ll be excellent
Brandon Woodruff	MIL	STL	R	x	x	x	3.05 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 24% K-BB	1st start of the yr against one of their biggest rivals
Zack Wheeler	PHI	CIN	R	x	x	x	2.82 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 21% K-BB	Looking for a rebound after a poor season opener
Patrick Sandoval	LAA	TOR	L	x	x	x	2.91 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 14% K-BB	If he cuts down the baserunners, there’s a premium season in his arm
Logan Gilbert	SEA	at CLE	R	x	x	x	3.20 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 16% K-BB	Biggest key to development will be developing a true swing-and-miss pitch
Lucas Giolito	CHW	at PIT	R	x	x	x	4.90 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 17% K-BB	Looked sharp in his opener after a really tough 2022
Zach Eflin	TBR	OAK	R	x	x	x	4.04 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 16% K-BB	That sparkling WHIP goes unnoticed with an ERA north of 4.00
Hunter Greene	CIN	at PHI	R	x	x	x	4.44 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 22% K-BB	Can you stomach the volatility? If not, it could be a long season
Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	at CHC	R	x	x	x	3.87 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 18% K-BB	I’ll regularly start him while healthy
Sonny Gray	MIN	HOU	R	x	x	x	3.08 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 17% K-BB	HOU isn’t the scariest matchup w/their current injuries
Edward Cabrera	MIA	at NYM	R	x	x	x	3.01 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 14% K-BB	Kind of a Diet Greene complete w/the extreme volatility
Aaron Civale	CLE	SEA	R	x	x	x	4.92 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 19% K-BB	His solid WHIP is even more hidden w/a near-5.00 ERA
Tylor Megill	NYM	MIA	R	x	x	x	5.13 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 19% K-BB	Essentially auditioning v. Peterson to hold a role as JV works his way back
Alex Cobb	SFG	KCR	R	x	x	x	3.73 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 17% K-BB	Playing WHIP roulette with that hideous defense behind him
Marcus Stroman	CHC	TEX	R	x	x	x	3.50 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 15% K-BB	Huge K effort in opener was great… just one off or sign of things to come?
Chris Bassitt	TOR	at LAA	R	x	x	x	3.42 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 16% K-BB	BRUTAL debut, but can’t just sit every early/mid rounder right after a dud
José Urquidy	HOU	at MIN	R	x	x	x	3.94 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 14% K-BB	Solid bet to stabilize your WHIP and get W opportunities w/HOU
Clarke Schmidt	NYY	at BAL	R	x	x	x	3.12 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 14% K-BB	Eager to see if he can breakout this year
Dean Kremer	BAL	NYY	R		x	x	3.23 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 10% K-BB	Could be a home gem again this yr (2.84 ERA, 1.12 WHIP)
Nick Martinez	SDP	at ATL	R			x	3.47 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 12% K-BB	I’m a fan, just not really in this matchup… holding for better matchups
Jack Flaherty	STL	at MIL	R			x	4.25 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, 7% K-BB	Weird debut with 7 BB and 0 ER… Velo was down big, too. Be careful
Rich Hill	PIT	CHW	L			x	4.27 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 14% K-BB	Always a scary start even when he’s rolling as he pushes into his mid-40s
Ken Waldichuk	OAK	at TBR	L			x	4.93 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 16% K-BB	TB not the spot to get right after getting smoked in his opener
Brad Keller	KCR	at SFG	R			x	5.09 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 7% K-BB	Just can’t miss enough bats to be fantasy viable
Jared Shuster	ATL	SDP	L				DNP in MLB	Rough MLB debut makes him a tough start in another hard matchup
MacKenzie Gore	WSN	at COL	L				4.50 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 11% K-BB	There’s intrigue here, just not in Coors
José Ureña	COL	WAS	R				5.01 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, 5% K-BB	Maybe he can pop off like Freeland did on Thursday? Yeah, no
Madison Bumgarner	ARI	LAD	L				4.88 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 9% K-BB	Yes, I’d rather start the guys in Coors over him… OK, maybe not Ureña

Recommendations for Roto 5×5 Leagues