Starting Pitcher Chart – August 24th, 2026

by Paul Sporer

August 24, 2026

Daily SP Chart archive
2-Start podcast episode
SP Rankings (last update: 7/24 | next: September)

Welcome to the Daily SP Chart, click here if you’re new to get an idea of what I’m doing with these rankings.

Messick’s first full season has been fantastic and getting better as it goes on. After a bit of a June Swoon (“swoon” relative to his elite level as 2 gems couldn’t completely counterbalance 3 meh outings, saddling him with a 4.26 ERA), he’s 1 of 5 arms with a sub-2.00 ERA since July 4th, posting a 1.88 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 48 IP. He has a chance for a massive week with a home date against KCR lined up for the weekend.
Cavalli was a chic breakout pick for some this year as he was finally healthy and ready to show off his prospect pedigree off at the big league level after an interesting 10-start run down the stretch in 2025. It was a wobbly start as a meager 1.77 WHIP and 6% K-BB suggested his 4.22 ERA should be even worse after his first five starts. He then closed the month with back-to-back 10-K games which has spurred a fantastic 22-start run during which he’s posted a 3.07 ERA/1.14 WHIP/23% K-BB, only once allowing more than 3 ER (4 ER at ARI on Jun. 7). The run is currently bookended by two double-digit K outings as he’s racked up 10 and 11 Ks during 14 scoreless innings to go with initial pair that launched him in late-April. Add it all up and he’s SP28 on the year now.
Ashcraft, Alcantara, and Gilbert have deceptively tougher matchups as SDP (3rd), BOS (1st), and PHI (6th) are all well ahead of their season ranks in wOBA over the L30 days. It doesn’t rise to the level of sitting them in any leagues but could impact your interest in them for daily fantasy games.
After an excellent debut with CHC, Gausman hasn’t reached 5 IP in either of last two starts but this feels like a get-right spot at ARI as they are generally much better vL, though they have been rising vR of late sitting 14th over the last month.
Klassen sputtered through two outings back in April with 5 BB in both (31% BB) and while the walks haven’t gone away in 3 August starts since returning (12%), the surface results have been incredible in spite of the wobbly control with a 1.59 ERA/1.06 WHIP in 17 IP. It’s still just a 10% K-BB, too, as we haven’t seen the Ks really dial up so just know this is still a scary start anywhere. This isn’t a fence-sit or anything, I’m fully on board running him, but we’re going in eyes wide open that if the BBs are up, he can get smoked.
Longtime readers will remember my yearly Urquidy interest for a good bit there. He was someone Eno put on my radar and I became an instant fan of, enjoying plenty of his 2021-22 seasons while then hoping to recapture the magic around a myriad of injuries since 2023. He’s back on the radar after a brilliant start for the White Sox in Wrigley with 6 scoreless IP and 8 Ks against 0 BB. It’s one start, so let’s keep it in perspective, but it’s a 2-step v. TEX and at MIN on a team where he can earn some Ws with non-elite outings so he was a chase guy in 15s and he’s on the radar for 12s.

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Starting Pitcher Chart August 24th

Rk	PITCHER	Team	Opponent	T	10	12	15+	IP	ERA	WHIP	K%	K-BB	OPP K%	opp wOBA RK
1	Chase Burns	CIN	at SFG	R	x	x	x	136	2.51	1.11	29%	20%	20%	14
2	Drew Rasmussen	TBR	at DET	R	x	x	x	134.1	3.01	0.95	26%	21%	22%	6
3	Parker Messick	CLE	at LAA	L	x	x	x	149	2.54	1.03	26%	19%	25%	20
4	Zack Wheeler	PHI	at SEA	R	x	x	x	120.1	2.92	1.01	30%	23%	23%	9
5	Cade Cavalli	WSN	v. COL	R	x	x	x	142.2	3.22	1.22	27%	20%	22%	26
6	Braxton Ashcraft	PIT	at SDP	R	x	x	x	149.1	3.68	1.08	26%	21%	22%	15
7	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	v. BOS	R	x	x	x	176.2	3.46	1.18	18%	12%	21%	19
8	Logan Gilbert	SEA	v. PHI	R	x	x	x	150.1	3.35	1.01	26%	20%	22%	22
9	Framber Valdez	DET	v. TBR	L	x	x	x	138.2	4.35	1.40	18%	9%	19%	25
10	Robbie Ray	SDP	v. PIT	L	x	x	x	137.2	3.20	1.31	20%	8%	26%	27
11	Ranger Suarez	BOS	at MIA	L	x	x	x	113.1	3.41	1.18	24%	17%	23%	22
12	Kevin Gausman	CHC	at ARI	R	x	x	x	143.1	4.58	1.30	23%	17%	20%	29
13	George Klassen	LAA	v. CLE	R		x	x	21.2	3.74	1.62	21%	3%	21%	24
14	José Urquidy	CHW	v. TEX	R		x	x	16	5.06	1.50	24%	21%	22%	23
15	Merrill Kelly	ARI	v. CHC	R				129	5.37	1.52	15%	5%	22%	5
16	Kumar Rocker	TEX	at CHW	R				121	4.46	1.40	21%	12%	24%	12
17	Zebby Matthews	MIN	at ATH	R				96.2	5.12	1.33	20%	12%	21%	17
18	Carson Whisenhunt	SFG	v. CIN	L				32	7.03	1.84	15%	2%	25%	10
19	Ryan Feltner	COL	at WSN	R				92	5.97	1.53	16%	6%	21%	10
20	Jeffrey Springs	ATH	v. MIN	L				113.2	6.02	1.48	18%	8%	22%	13

Recommendations for Roto 5×5 Leagues

Intro

The chart includes their performance for 2026, their opponent’s wOBA versus the pitcher’s handedness, and recently added opponent’s K% (also v. SP handedness), my general start/sit recommendation for 10-team, 12-team, and 15-team (or more) leagues – essentially a shallow, medium, deep league setup – and then a note about some, most, or all depending on the day. 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 for standard 5×5 roto leagues, and your league situation will carry more weight whether you are protecting ratios or chasing counting numbers. I usually won’t have much to write about aces who are locked into our rotations. If you want to discuss someone further, please feel free to leave a comment. I usually do a few sweeps of the comments before game time in case there are time-sensitive questions.

Color Coding:

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Green – Good Matchup (lower OPS output by SP opponent) – 21st to 30th
Yellow – OK – 11th to 20th
Red – Bad – 1st to 10th