Starting Pitcher Chart – August 21st
Daily SP Chart archive
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.
Thresholds open up a bit on Mondays, particularly in weekly lineup leagues where you have to commit for the 2-step on the weekend, but even in daily lineup leagues because you have the rest of the week to catch up if a gamble falls through… well, within reason… probably won’t be able to outrun a 10-run bomb or anything, but those are really rare anyway.
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| RK | PITCHER | TM | OPP | 10 | 12 | 15+ | IP | ERA | WHIP | K-BB | wOBA RK-L30 | wOBA RK-Season | NOTE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luis Castillo | SEA | at | CHW | x | x | x | 150.1 | 3.23 | 1.05 | 21% | 28th | 30th | OK, it’s time to kick it into another gear down the stretch here and make me look good for the AL Cy pick |
| 2 | Jordan Montgomery | TEX | at | ARI | x | x | x | 139 | 3.30 | 1.24 | 16% | 16th | 19th | Might be a light-K outing as he already doesn’t K a ton and ARI rarely Ks vL |
| 3 | Aaron Nola | PHI | SFG | x | x | x | 153.1 | 4.58 | 1.15 | 19% | 30th | 20th | It’s been an uneven season, but there’s just no world where he comes out of my lineup | |
| 4 | Blake Snell | SDP | MIA | x | x | x | 136 | 2.65 | 1.26 | 17% | 21st | 8th | MLB-best 1.29 ERA since May 25th, far and away the MLB-best (Civale 2.37); he’s also 9-2 in that time | |
| 5 | Graham Ashcraft | CIN | at | LAA | x | x | x | 127 | 4.89 | 1.40 | 8% | 27th | 9th | Would love for more consistent Ks, but showing he can succeed without em at times |
| 6 | Javier Assad | CHC | at | DET | x | x | x | 66.2 | 3.11 | 1.25 | 8% | 14th | 28th | Didn’t think I’d be recommending a Cubs swingman for Wins chasers and yet here we are (at PIT on the wknd) |
| 7 | Lucas Giolito | LAA | CIN | x | x | x | 142 | 4.44 | 1.27 | 16% | 15th | 11th | CIN can get anyone on a given night, but they’ve cooled and K quite a bit so I’m rolling w/Gio | |
| 8 | James Paxton | BOS | at | HOU | x | x | 86.1 | 3.34 | 1.14 | 20% | 2nd | 4th | Surviving a skills dip of late w/a 2.96 ERA in L5 despite 4.47 FIP and 16% K-BB; I’m OK to skip w/LAD on the wknd, too | |
| 9 | Allan Winans | ATL | NYM | x | x | 11.1 | 1.59 | 1.06 | 24% | 13th | 14th | Sneaky stream here for Wins chasers (NYM, at SFG)… it’s right there in his name! 16% K-BB in AAA; 24% in 11 MLB IP, too | ||
| 10 | Paul Blackburn | OAK | KCR | x | x | 72.2 | 4.09 | 1.50 | 15% | 3rd | 25th | I’ve got some love for the whole 2-step (CHW this wknd) and I’m OK rolling v. KCR even though they’re blazing hot of late | ||
| 11 | Cristian Javier | HOU | BOS | x | 122.1 | 4.49 | 1.23 | 14% | 9th | 6th | Can’t say I expected to be recommending Faedo & Marsh on par w/Javier at any point and I’m only using Javier to get the 2-step (at DET this wknd) | |||
| 12 | Alex Faedo | DET | CHC | x | 45.1 | 5.16 | 0.99 | 17% | 2nd | 7th | A really tough 2-step w/CHC & HOU… at least both are at home, but I’m prob only rolling in a chase situation | |||
| 13 | Alec Marsh | KCR | at | OAK | x | 38 | 5.68 | 1.68 | 10% | 21st | 29th | Only 1 ER v. SEA, but 5 BB (and 14% BB for the yr); it’s a good matchup and he faces SEA again on the wknd… VERY high risk | ||
| 14 | Johnny Cueto | MIA | at | SDP | 32.1 | 5.57 | 1.11 | 13% | 20th | 19th | OK maybe there’s not as much juice here as I thought/hoped… just too many HRs lately (7 in L4), might revisit for at WSN if this goes well | |||
| 15 | Drew Rom | STL | at | PIT | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | 25th | 21st | MLB debut for the Jack Flaherty return after 2 sharp starts since the trade, but he did have a 5.34 ERA/1.70 WHIP w/BAL | |||
| 16 | Slade Cecconi | ARI | TEX | 10.1 | 3.48 | 1.26 | 7% | 8th | 2nd | Schedule is very unkind coming up: TEX, at LAD, BAL for his next 3 | ||||
| 17 | Sean Manaea | SFG | at | PHI | 81 | 4.89 | 1.26 | 20% | 9th | 15th | Just not sure the upside is worth taking on the risk | |||
| 18 | David Peterson | NYM | at | ATL | 72.2 | 5.45 | 1.65 | 13% | 3rd | 1st | No thanks | |||
| 19 | Bailey Falter | PIT | STL | 53.2 | 4.86 | 1.49 | 11% | 11th | 12th | No thanks | ||||
| 20 | Touki Toussaint | CHW | SEA | 50.1 | 4.47 | 1.45 | 6% | 4th | 16th | No thanks |