Starting Pitcher Chart – April 9th, 2025
by Paul Sporer
April 8, 2025
Daily SP Chart archive
Welcome back to the Daily SP Chart! I figure the first weekend was pretty straightforward which is why I didn’t fire it up on Thursday. Now that we’re in the swing of things, it’s time to get it going again.
The chart includes their performance for 2024 until we get some actual data for this year (I changed over in late-April last year), their opponent’s wOBA versus the pitcher’s handedness from last year (not a perfect solution as teams change in the offseason, but better than using just a few days of data from this year), my general start/sit recommendation for 10-team, 12-team, and 15-team (or more) leagues, and then a note about them. Obviously, there are league sizes beyond those three so it’s essentially a shallow, medium, deep. If a pitcher only has an “x” in 15-team, it doesn’t mean there’s no potential use in 10s and 12s, but it’s basically a riskier stream for those spots.
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.
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Starter Notes April 9, 2025
| RK | PITCHER | GAME | 10 | 12 | 15+ | IP | ERA | WHIP | K-BB | 2024 wOBA RK | NOTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe Ryan | MIN v KCR | x | x | x | 135 | 3.60 | 0.99 | 23% | 13th | I’ll write more about the studs as we get going into the season, but they’re just blind auto starts for the first month-plus so I like to spend more time on the mid- and low-tier arms |
| 2 | Hunter Brown | HOU at SEA | x | x | x | 170 | 3.49 | 1.27 | 17% | 18th | |
| 3 | Shota Imanaga | CHC v TEX | x | x | x | 173 | 2.91 | 1.02 | 21% | 18th | |
| 4 | Max Fried | NYY at DET | x | x | x | 174 | 3.25 | 1.16 | 15% | 27th | |
| 5 | Ryan Pepiot | TBR v LAA | x | x | x | 130 | 3.60 | 1.15 | 17% | 27th | |
| 6 | Jack Flaherty | DET v NYY | x | x | x | 162 | 3.17 | 1.07 | 24% | 1st | |
| 7 | Seth Lugo | KCR v MIN | x | x | x | 206 | 3.00 | 1.09 | 16% | 10th | |
| 8 | Tylor Megill | NYM v MIA | x | x | x | 78 | 4.04 | 1.31 | 18% | 21st | Can easily envision a 10-tm rotation where he doesn’t always fit so it’s more of a “can start” w/guys like this in shallow formats as opposed to “must start” |
| 9 | Max Meyer | MIA at NYM | x | x | x | 57 | 5.68 | 1.42 | 11% | 11th | I’m escalating my trust w/him a bit quicker than others in his draft range (290s) bc it’s more about health than skill; when healthy & pitching I’m starting him in most spots and we’ll reassess after a decent sample (8-10 GS); he’s a team streamer in shallower lgs & I’m not cutting after the first dud |
| 10 | Grant Holmes | ATL v PHI | x | x | x | 68 | 3.56 | 1.19 | 20% | 9th | Offff course his MIA start got rained out so we had to eat the at LAD dud w/no treat on the other side, but I’m a Holmes believer so I’m giving this 7-8 starts (that # probably shrinks as lgs get shallower bc you can & should move quicker w/a richer WW, even if sometimes you cut someone too soon) |
| 11 | Nick Martinez | CIN at SFG | x | x | 142 | 3.10 | 1.03 | 17% | 25th | I have a hard time starting him at home so if I’m rostering him, I can’t pass up a road start | |
| 12 | Yusei Kikuchi | LAA at TBR | x | x | 175 | 4.05 | 1.20 | 22% | 15th | A HR machine in a minor lg park is legitimately scary so he’s not a must start anywhere | |
| 13 | Kevin Gausman | TOR at BOS | x | x | 181 | 3.83 | 1.22 | 14% | 6th | Shiny ratios (3.97 ERA/0.71 WHIP) aren’t enough to distract from a 2% K-BB! The .094 will move up and if that 10% K doesn’t soar with it, trouble is comin’! | |
| 14 | Tyler Mahle | TEX v CHC | x | x | 12 | 4.97 | 1.42 | 11% | 14th | Maybe it was just some season-opening yips (4 BB in 1.7 IP) as dialed in v. TBR | |
| 15 | Justin Verlander | SFG v CIN | x | x | 90 | 5.48 | 1.38 | 12% | 19th | One up, one down so far… giving him a handful of starts in midsize and deep lgs, espec. at home | |
| 16 | Brandon Pfaadt | ARI v BAL | x | 181 | 4.71 | 1.24 | 19% | 5th | Until he shows strides vL, I’m always gonna be worried about lefty-heavy lineups; BAL runs 6 and none of ’em are easy outs | ||
| 17 | Erick Fedde 페디 | STL at PIT | x | 177 | 3.30 | 1.16 | 14% | 28th | If you can’t run him at PIT, he shouldn’t be rostered (and maybe he shouldn’t be, but I’ll give him a little run in 15-teamers before deciding) | ||
| 18 | Tanner Houck | BOS v TOR | x | 178 | 3.12 | 1.14 | 14% | 12th | I’m trying not to overreact, but with the rough 2nd half, ugly ST, and now 2 bad starts… confidence is waning | ||
| 19 | Mitch Keller | PIT v STL | x | 178 | 4.25 | 1.30 | 15% | 15th | Tough roster Keller if you can’t even feel confident at home but STL is raking early on and I just don’t feel compelled to start him | ||
| 20 | Sean Burke | CHW at CLE | x | 19 | 1.42 | 1.00 | 20% | 26th | Even his gem v. LAA only had 3 Ks in 6 IP and MIN flushed the good vibes w/6 ER & 1 K in 4.3 IP; this isn’t a terrible spot, but he’s still a toss-up streamer | ||
| 21 | Osvaldo Bido | ATH v SDP | x | 63 | 3.41 | 1.09 | 14% | 4th | Perhaps drunk off his Coors gm, I’m sliiightly open to this despite opponent & venue; prob best to hold & regroup for at CHW but if you wanna get crazy with it…. | ||
| 22 | Logan Allen로건 | CLE v CHW | x | 28 | 5.46 | 1.50 | 9% | 30th | He’s my AL Matthew Liberatore: youngish lefty prospect I inexplicably want to keep the door open on juuuust in case; just in case what? I. DON’T. KNOOOWW!! | ||
| 23 | Landon Knack | LAD at WSN | x | 69 | 3.65 | 1.10 | 18% | 20th | As I said of Wrobleski yesterday, I’m always down to give a LAD SP a look, even as a stash while see a start or 2 | ||
| 24 | Taijuan Walker | PHI at ATL | 83 | 7.10 | 1.72 | 6% | 17th | Rootin’ hard for Taijuan as a long-time fan: velo was up, 14% SwStr, & just 1 BB in 6 IP, but let’s be careful as ATL is still scary | |||
| 25 | Jake Irvin | WSN v LAD | 187 | 4.41 | 1.20 | 14% | 2nd | Just a brutal schedule so far w/PHI, ARI to start, now LAD, then his reprieve at PIT is short-lived bc the 2nd half of his 2-step is at COL! | |||
| 26 | Randy Vásquez | SDP at ATH | 98 | 4.87 | 1.51 | 8% | 23rd | Don’t fall for this, the 1.69 ERA is propped by a house of cards that includes a .200 BABIP and 0 HRs so far | |||
| 27 | Dean Kremer | BAL at ARI | 129 | 4.10 | 1.24 | 13% | 3rd | I know Cade Povich joined the rotation for Grayson’s injury, but Kremer may be the removal when he returns if things don’t improve quickly (16% K, 11% K-BB) | |||
| 28 | Tyler Alexander | MIL at COL | 107 | 5.10 | 1.24 | 15% | 21st | Crafty lefty always good for a handful of IP, but the downside is sharp and even if we do come around on him, it won’t be in Coors! | |||
| 29 | Antonio Senzatela | COL v MIL | 12 | 6.57 | 1.86 | -2% | 7th | ||||
| 30 | Luis F. Castillo | SEA at HOU | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | 8th |
Recommendations for Roto 5×5 Leagues
Hey Paul your SP lists are the bomb! Question please: Where would you rank Tylor Megill amongst my starters in an ESPN 10-tm H2H points: Gilbert/Imanaga/King/Peralta/Hunter B./Lugo/Senga/Sandy … I also have Strider/Grayson on IL. This league has custom scoring. +5(win/QS) -5(L), -0.5 (ER/BB/HBP), +1 (recorded out). Thanks for the articles!