Starting Pitcher Chart – August 18th, 2025

August 18, 2025

The chart includes their performance for 2025, their opponent’s wOBA rank versus the pitcher’s handedness from this year so far, 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 a much 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 valuable focusing on roto.

Starter Notes August 18, 2025

RK	PITCHER	GAME	10	12	15+	IP	ERA	WHIP	K-BB	2025 wOBA RK	NOTE
1	Logan Gilbert	SEA at PHI	x	x	x	89	3.31	0.98	28%	8th	Tough draws for the top of the board today
2	Paul Skenes	PIT v TOR	x	x	x	148	2.13	0.96	22%	3rd	4 ER in 2 of L3 at MIL/at COL and this is another tough matchup, but what are ya gonna do, not play him?
3	Robbie Ray	SFG at SDP	x	x	x	148	2.98	1.14	16%	17th	Never love my guys in Coors, even my aces, but he’s still an autoplay (COL sneaky solid 6th in wOBA L30, too)
4	Freddy Peralta	MIL at CHC	x	x	x	136	2.90	1.12	17%	5th	Only hit 6 IP in 3 of L4 July starts before reeling off 7, 6, and 6 in his 3 Aug. starts so far
5	Eury Pérez	MIA v STL	x	x	x	60	3.58	0.98	17%	23rd	One bad inning spoiled his last start v. CHC, but they’ve been in the tank since sitting 29th vR in L30
6	Trevor Rogers	BAL at BOS	x	x	x	69	1.43	0.81	17%	2nd	And there’s the standard TJ volatility now in B2B starts, complete with command issues and K erraticism; still running him, but another dud might see MIA put the reins on him a bit down the stretch (TOR this wknd, too!)
7	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD at COL	x	x	x	126	2.84	1.09	20%	28th	If I had told you a Rogers 2-step at BOS/HOU would be an autostart back in March, you’d have laughed in my face… and yet here we are! Skills say more of a mid-3.00s guy when the BABIP/HR9 smooth out, but that’s still useful
8	Spencer Strider	ATL v CHW	x	x	x	86	4.69	1.36	17%	30th	Dog days getting him after a year off or just B2B duds v. 2 very good tms (MIL/at NYM)? Still 9 Ks to 3 BB and his velo was actually up matching his 2 highest totals of the yr… can’t see benching him anywhere
9	Kevin Gausman	TOR at PIT	x	x	x	142	3.79	1.05	17%	29th	Rebounded from 5 ER dud v. KCR w/7 IP gems at COL & v. CHC and while I wouldn’t say it’s a bankable split, he has been better on the road & gets 2 roadies this wk (3.48/0.95 road \| 4.09/1.15 home)
10	Michael Wacha	KCR v TEX	x	x	x	137	3.35	1.15	11%	26th	Just a venerable streamer doing his thing w/just 8 ER over his L5 (2.00 ERA/0.78 WHIP)
11	Ranger Suárez	PHI v SEA	x	x	x	112	3.28	1.20	15%	11th	We knew he wasn’t a true talent 2.68 ERA a couple wks ago, so these 2 bad starts (11 ER) don’t change my outlook on him; still see him as a mid-3.00s/low-1.20s WHIP w/above avg W probability in any given start
12	Cade Horton	CHC v MIL		x	x	85	3.07	1.18	12%	11th	His 1.13 ERA is best in MLB since 7/3 (7 GS, 40 IP), but he’s just 40th in K-BB w/HR & H suppression doing most of the work making it tough to unwaveringly buy into him; definitely running the 2-step, but open to skipping just today in 10s
13	Nestor Cortes	SDP v SFG		x	x	17	5.71	1.56	8%	30th	Only 4.7 in ea. of his 2 SDP starts is frustrating given how well he pitched in both; they have the pen to make him a 4+ IP which of course lowers his margin for error; great matchup tough to pass up
14	Gavin Williams	CLE at ARI		x	x	128	3.38	1.31	11%	1st	Juuuuust when things start to really turn around, he gets popped… at least it wasn’t the BB (1 in 3 IP); I’m in for the 2-step, but open to skipping this in daily setups
15	Jack Flaherty	DET v HOU		x	x	124	4.76	1.31	20%	18th	Meltdown 5th inn. spoiled what had been a brilliant start (4 IP/0 ER/1 BB/2 H/5 Ks); still 6th in K% and 15th in K-BB% (min. 120 IP) which rightly keeps him in a lot of lineups
16	Brady Singer	CIN at LAA		x	x	125	4.31	1.31	13%	19th	Kind of a less reliable version of Wacha; Lodolo’s potential return mitigates 2-step this wk
17	Dustin May	BOS v BAL		x	x	113	4.67	1.35	13%	17th	Excellent last time out w/clear pitch mix change (trading sinkers for cutters) showing early results (23% K-BB); not yet trustworthy but startable in a 2-step wk
18	Matthew Liberatore	STL at MIA			x	117	4.08	1.29	12%	27th	Great spot as MIA does their damage vR, but he hasn’t reached 5 IP in any of his L5 so he’s a tough stream… Eury/Pepiot as opposing SPs for his 2-step further undercuts W upside even if he does go 5
19	Jack Leiter	TEX at KCR			x	105	3.94	1.34	9%	25th	He’s walked 2+ in 81% of his starts; only 3 SPs have a higher rate (min. 14 GS) incl. Gavin Williams
20	Chad Patrick	MIL at CHC			x	94	3.52	1.30	16%	5th	Not locked in for the doubleheader, but not a terrible stream if he gets the call w/CHC sitting 29th vR over L30
21	Spencer Arrighetti	HOU at DET				18	6.38	1.47	6%	15th	Only 2 ER in 5 IP last time out, but 5 BB is terrifying and that’s after 11 H in his 1st start off the iL; stash & hold for now
22	Zac Gallen	ARI v CLE				144	5.31	1.35	13%	27th
23	Jameson Taillon	CHC v MIL				95	4.44	1.11	14%	11th
24	Yoendrys Gómez	CHW at ATL				22	5.56	1.54	6%	16th
25	Victor Mederos	LAA v CIN				8	5.63	1.50		14th
26	Kyle Freeland	COL v LAD				116	5.18	1.49	10%	6th

Recommendations for Roto 5×5 Leagues

KEY x: Standard Recommendation | W: Chasing the Win