Starting Pitcher Chart – August 1st

July 31, 2023

The chart includes their season performance, their opponent’s wOBA versus the pitcher’s handedness over the last 30 days, 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 risky 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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Tuesday, August 1st, Starter Notes

RK	PITCHER	TM		OPP	10	12	15+	IP	ERA	WHIP	K-BB	wOBA RK	NOTE
1	Spencer Strider	ATL		LAA	x	x	x	123	3.73	1.09	33%	13th	Strider v. Shohei (in the box, not on the mound)… can’t wait!
2	Zac Gallen	ARI	at	SFG	x	x	x	136.2	3.36	1.08	21%	29th	Nice schedule reprieve after TBR, at LAA, at TOR, at ATL, STL among his L6 starts
3	Zach Eflin	TBR	at	NYY	x	x	x	116.1	3.64	1.02	22%	22nd	Tougher w/Judge back & Eflin has 2 duds in his L3 but the other is 7 IP/0 ER… he’s not coming out anywhere
4	Freddy Peralta	MIL	at	WSN	x	x	x	109	4.46	1.25	19%	18th	Came back from ATL dud w/an absolute gem v. CIN (6 IP/0 ER/13 Ks)
5	Alex Cobb	SFG		ARI	x	x	x	106	2.97	1.35	16%	15th	Was moved back a day, but here’s what I said yesterday: 2.86 ERA in his L8 w/dodgeable bombs at CIN & at COL
6	Framber Valdez	HOU		CLE	x	x	x	126	3.29	1.14	20%	23rd	1 of 3 guys in today’s slate randomly beat up at OAK recently & then merked v. TEX… solid rebound spot here
7	Pablo López	MIN	at	STL	x	x	x	128.2	4.13	1.14	23%	6th	Like Bello & Valdez, he was randomly cooked at OAK, but responded w/B2B gems v. SEA (3.00 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 15 Ks in 12 IP)
8	Kyle Bradish	BAL	at	TOR	x	x	x	104	3.29	1.14	16%	12th	Little hiccup in the middle innings at PHI but delivered 3 more IP of 1-hit after that (1 ER, too)
9	Justin Steele	CHC		CIN	x	x	x	109.2	2.87	1.12	17%	19th	Don’t love facing Cincy w/anyone these days, though I can’t wait to see him battle this tough lineup as a baseball fan
10	Lance Lynn	LAD		OAK	x	x	x	119.2	6.47	1.46	19%	16th	Will OAK take another victim in what should otherwise be a great opportunity for the SP?
11	Carlos Rodón	NYY		TBR	x	x	x	20.1	5.75	1.38	3%	29th	Still hasn’t reached 6 IP in any of his 4 starts, but allowed just 1 ER last time out
12	Brayan Bello	BOS	at	SEA	x	x	x	96	3.66	1.21	14%	10th	Dud at OAK, baseline QS v. ATL… just like we all expected! He’s definitely back in the lineup if you skipped ATL
13	Sandy Alcantara	MIA		PHI	x	x	x	135.1	4.46	1.24	14%	20th	Better of late: 2.95 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 17% K-BB including a CG under 100 pitches v. TBR (1 ER)
14	Johan Oviedo	PIT		DET	x	x	x	117.1	4.60	1.35	11%	28th	Dominates worse teams (3.05 ERA, 1,14 WHIP, 14% K-BB) so this is an easy stream spot if you like Oviedo at all
15	José Quintana	NYM	at	KCR	x	x	x	11	3.27	1.36	11%	14th	Nice pair of outings so far and a great matchup to stay hot
16	Ranger Suárez	PHI	at	MIA		x	x	79	4.22	1.39	13%	11th	Last outing was his first 0-1 BB gm of the month (12% BB in the other 4)
17	Bryce Miller	SEA		BOS		x	x	75	3.96	1.00	19%	4th	Hasn’t reached 6 IP in any of his L5, only 1 huge dud (4 HR at MIN); tough matchup so this isn’t a must
18	Ben Lively 라이블리	CIN	at	CHC		x	x	67	3.76	1.21	16%	5th	Has a 145 pt. platoon split & CHC’s lefty/switch guys are solid: Tauchman, Happ, Belli, and Candy… might sit but not cut
19	Miles Mikolas	STL		MIN		x	x	127.1	4.38	1.30	11%	2nd	MIN is hot, but I can still find plenty of starts here coming off a semi-extended break after the 1st inning ejection last time
20	Matt Manning	DET	at	PIT			x	41.2	4.32	1.08	10%	26th	Strong WHIP and great matchup so I’m down to stream; the meager K-BB and a 1.5 HR rate do increase the risk
21	Andrew Heaney	TEX		CHW			x	101.1	4.62	1.35	14%	12th	Could feel better about this by first pitch if CHW deals a couple pieces from the lineup!
22	Josiah Gray	WSN		MIL			x	118.1	3.27	1.41	9%	19th	Be careful falling too hard for the 2.36 ERA of his L6… comes w/a 1.47 WHIP and 9% K-BB
23	Gavin Williams	CLE	at	HOU			x	37.2	3.35	1.30	9%	14th	Only reached 5 IP in 1 of his L3 and has 4 BB in 2 of ’em… Altuve & Alvarez are back, too, making this very sittable
24	Hyun Jin Ryu 류현진	TOR		BAL				#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A	13th	Season debut… could see some stretch run value in deeper formats, gotta see 2-3 starts before using him
25	Patrick Sandoval	LAA	at	ATL				98	4.13	1.41	9%	6th	3 straight solid outings despite 9 BB in 17 IP but no chance I’m riding w/him at ATL
26	Zack Greinke	KCR		NYM				101.2	5.49	1.28	12%	8th	I know I’m a broken record on him, but the upside isn’t at all worth the downside
27	Jesse Scholtens	CHW	at	TEX				38	3.32	1.32	7%	7th	Decent ratios but that meager K-BB makes him very difficult to trust, espec. In TEX
28	Ken Waldichuk	OAK	at	LAD				84.2	6.38	1.77	8%	16th	No thanks
29	Peter Lambert	COL		SDP				45.1	4.76	1.41	12%	9th	No thanks
30	Ryan Weathers	SDP	at	COL				44.2	6.25	1.61	6%	7th	No thanks

Recommendations for Roto 5×5 Leagues