Starting Pitcher Chart – August 19th, 2025

August 19, 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 19, 2025

RK	PITCHER	GAME	10	12	15+	IP	ERA	WHIP	K-BB	2025 wOBA RK	NOTE
1	Tarik Skubal	DET v HOU	x	x	x	152	2.42	0.87	29%	4th	We were deprived the Skubal-Skenes matchup a while back and this is a great consolation matchup!
2	Hunter Brown	HOU at DET	x	x	x	143	2.45	1.00	22%	15th	I really hope we get a huge duel w/both of ’em going 7+
3	Carlos Rodón	NYY at TBR	x	x	x	146	3.25	1.06	18%	25th
4	Cristopher Sánchez	PHI v SEA	x	x	x	150	2.45	1.09	20%	12th
5	Nick Pivetta	SDP v SFG	x	x	x	141	2.87	0.95	19%	22nd
6	Hunter Greene	CIN at LAA	x	x	x	65	2.47	0.93	25%	19th	Didn’t miss a beat upon return w/6 scoreless, 6 Ks, and 0 BB in 85 pitches
7	Joe Ryan	MIN v ATH	x	x	x	139	2.72	0.92	23%	7th
8	Brandon Woodruff	MIL at CHC	x	x	x	39	2.06	0.74	28%	5th	Only 4 IP last time out and MIL could be motivated to keep his IP in check where they can (they were up 6-0 in this case); that said, I’m not sitting him unless we get word of IP mgmt. ahead of time
9	Matthew Boyd	CHC v MIL	x	x	x	142	2.46	1.02	17%	8th
10	Edward Cabrera	MIA v STL	x	x	x	113	3.34	1.16	17%	23rd	Interesting start here, coming off his first dud since 4/28; did still nab 6 Ks and reach 95 pitches despite the 5 ER (94+ pitches in ea. of L4)
11	Jacob Lopez	ATH at MIN	x	x	x	84	3.30	1.19	20%	17th	Did you realize he’s the 4th SP on the Player Rater over the L30? The key is the 24 IP scoreless streak he’s still in the midst of heading into this start
12	Merrill Kelly 켈리	TEX at KCR	x	x	x	144	3.36	1.09	16%	25th	KCR sneaky deece the L30, sitting 3rd in wOBA, but that’s not enough to scare me off this start… maybe just consider it if you thought they were a weak team to pick on for DFS
13	Max Scherzer	TOR at PIT	x	x	x	54	3.83	1.07	19%	29th	Let’s ride this wave as long as we can, I love that he’s dealing of late (2.42 ERA in L4)
14	David Peterson	NYM at WSN	x	x	x	136	3.30	1.28	12%	21st	This season has lived on the tightrope all yr so I’m never surprised when he gets bombed out and yet I gotta run him back out there for this matchup in most spots; his extreme GB lean helps him succeed w/lesser skills
15	Seth Lugo	KCR v TEX			x	131	3.77	1.24	12%	26th	Good stream spot from a matchup perspective, but he’s coming off 2 straight duds and 3 straight under 5 IP; additionally, he has 2+ BB in 5 straight incl. 4 BB 3x! Be careful.
16	Shane Smith	CHW at ATL			x	101	4.01	1.28	12%	16th	Back up to 5 IP in his L2 incl. 92 pitches last time out, but W probability remains very low
17	Eduardo Rodriguez	ARI v CLE			x	110	5.40	1.64	13%	26th	L9 encapsulate his volatility: 5 starts 0-2 ER; 3 starts 5+ ER (incl. an 8-ball); your standings & risk tolerance should determine your interest here
18	Michael McGreevy	STL at MIA			x	51	4.41	1.22	10%	12th	1 ER away from 3 straight QS, but seeing the rookie reach 6 IP consistently (L3 and 4 of 5) is encouraging
19	Tomoyuki Sugano	BAL at BOS			x	126	4.13	1.28	9%	2nd	Haven’t written ol’ Cygano up in a while – 3.27 ERA/1.21 WHIP in L6 w/that signature 9% K-BB; he’s been their W merchant w/10, but I’m still always nervous w/him
20	Tanner Bibee	CLE at ARI			W	136	4.54	1.29	14%	1st	Sure, he could be good, but he’s more likely to give a 5 IP/4 ER; he has 5 of his L6 so as a Ws dart, I don’t mind throwing him
21	Emmet Sheehan	LAD at COL			W	35	3.86	1.23	16%	28th	It’s not that he can’t drop a gem, but rather that I’m going chasing the W and anything better is icing on the cake
22	Shane Baz	TBR v NYY				135	4.93	1.33	16%	4th	2 BB in ea. of his L7 along w/a 1.2 HR9 has led to a 6.55 ERA/1.56 WHIP despite a solid 17% K-BB… I just can’t trust him in anything but the cushiest spots
23	Mitch Keller	PIT v TOR				141	4.13	1.27	12%	3rd	I made the adjustment on Keller when he was rolling for a while, but he’s turned sour again like he seemingly always does – 7.70 ERA/1.98 WHIP/7% K-BB in L5 undercutting a lot of the good work from his F20
24	Walker Buehler	BOS v BAL				106	5.43	1.55	6%	17th	Don’t be drawn in by the decent 3.69 ERA over his L7 as a 1.49 WHIP and 1% K-BB make him impossible to trust
25	Jake Irvin	WSN v NYM				140	5.14	1.38	8%	6th
26	Bryce Miller	SEA at PHI				48	5.73	1.54	7%	8th	Can’t dive right back in off the IL, but if he gets back into form there could be some value down the stretch
27	Bryce Elder	ATL v CHW				107	5.89	1.52	10%	30th
28	Kai-Wei Teng	SFG at SDP				10	9.90	1.90		20th
29	Kyle Hendricks	LAA v CIN				120	4.88	1.28	10%	14th
30	Austin Gomber	COL v LAD				54	6.75	1.61	7%	6th

Recommendations for Roto 5×5 Leagues

KEY x: Standard Recommendation | W: Chasing the Win