Starting Pitcher Chart – August 26th, 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.
I know some of you use this for waivers so my apologies for the morning editions that render that usefulness moot. The target is always night before, but sometimes it ends up in the morning.
| RK | PITCHER | GAME | 10 | 12 | 15+ | IP | ERA | WHIP | K-BB | 2025 wOBA RK | NOTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hunter Brown | HOU v COL | x | x | x | 149 | 2.36 | 1.01 | 21% | 27th | Has gone at least 6 IP in 3 of 4 Aug starts |
| 2 | Matthew Boyd | CHC at SFG | x | x | x | 148 | 2.61 | 1.04 | 16% | 30th | |
| 3 | Dylan Cease | SDP at SEA | x | x | x | 137 | 4.71 | 1.32 | 20% | 12th | Cease-Luzardo-Gore are birds of feather almost functioning as a high-medium-low version of their pitcher type where any start has equal chances of 10+ Ks or 5+ ER… |
| 4 | Jesús Luzardo | PHI at NYM | x | x | x | 145 | 4.10 | 1.30 | 20% | 16th | …all 3 have tough matchups, too; Luzardo’s rolling again lately so he’s a cut above Gore |
| 5 | Clayton Kershaw | LAD v CIN | x | x | x | 83 | 3.13 | 1.20 | 9% | 24th | Worth chasing the W at the very least |
| 6 | Hurston Waldrep | ATL at MIA | x | x | x | 24 | 0.73 | 0.77 | 20% | 13th | He’s a rookie so he’ll no doubt have a blip eventually, but I can’t see sitting him anywhere after these first 4 starts |
| 7 | Chris Bassitt | TOR v MIN | W | x | x | 144 | 4.18 | 1.34 | 16% | 19th | Ratios aren’t amazing for shallower leagues, but at least worth chasing the W |
| 8 | Lucas Giolito | BOS at BAL | W | x | x | 111 | 3.72 | 1.27 | 12% | 15th | A liiiittle shaky on the full reco, but I think he’s at least a W-chase in 10s even though BAL’s lineup still has plenty of talent. |
| 9 | Yusei Kikuchi | LAA at TEX | x | x | x | 150 | 3.42 | 1.42 | 14% | 26th | |
| 10 | MacKenzie Gore | WSN at NYY | x | x | 142 | 4.11 | 1.35 | 19% | 1st | Complete dice roll at this point w/equally high upside & low downside, so your situation should be the driver of his usage | |
| 11 | Luis Castillo | SEA v SDP | x | x | 146 | 3.57 | 1.27 | 14% | 18th | SDP’s offense is on the rise after their trade acquisitions and Castillo hasn’t been as bankable this yr | |
| 12 | Shane Baz | TBR at CLE | x | x | 138 | 5.22 | 1.37 | 15% | 28th | Great matchup, but I’m never super confident starting Baz | |
| 13 | Mitch Keller | PIT at STL | x | x | 145 | 4.34 | 1.31 | 12% | 22nd | This was the Keller I was scared about showing up all yr: 9.45 ERA/2.25 WHIP in his L5… matchup is tough to pass up, though | |
| 14 | Martín Pérez | CHW v KCR | x | x | 28 | 2.51 | 1.15 | 12% | 21st | More W upside than normal w/the CHW offense cooking a bit lately | |
| 15 | Luis Gil | NYY v WSN | x | x | 19 | 4.26 | 1.68 | 5% | 20th | We haven’t seen his Ks return, but 5+ IP in each of his L3 gives me some confidence | |
| 16 | Sean Manaea | NYM v PHI | x | 36 | 5.15 | 1.12 | 23% | 9th | His meltdown kinda snuck up on me as he erased all of his July goodness (2.08 ERA) w/a 7.91 in 4 Aug starts; remember, he missed 3+ mos. | ||
| 17 | Michael Lorenzen | KCR at CHW | x | 108 | 4.50 | 1.34 | 13% | 29th | Need to be a bit smarter about starts v. CHW right now as they’re 8th in wOBA vR over the L30, so not just an auto-start against anymore | ||
| 18 | Justin Verlander | SFG v CHC | x | 110 | 4.64 | 1.44 | 13% | 7th | CHC is sputtering of late (28th wOBA in L30), but JV is riskyyyy… 0, 5, 0, 7 ER over his L4 | ||
| 19 | Parker Messick | CLE v TBR | x | 6 | 1.35 | 1.20 | 19% | 25th | |||
| 20 | Sandy Alcantara | MIA v ATL | x | 134 | 6.04 | 1.38 | 10% | 17th | A couple gems in his last 2, but he’s high risk every time out | ||
| 21 | Andre Pallante | STL v PIT | x | 134 | 5.17 | 1.41 | 8% | 30th | A matchup play at best w/limited upside | ||
| 22 | Charlie Morton | DET at ATH | 123 | 5.09 | 1.47 | 13% | 8th | Can’t trust Ground Chuck in that park | |||
| 23 | Bailey Ober | MIN at TOR | 114 | 5.05 | 1.32 | 14% | 5th | This just feels like a bomb | |||
| 24 | Jacob Misiorowski | MIL v ARI | 38 | 4.19 | 1.11 | 22% | 1st | I just can’t see starting him with any confidence right now | |||
| 25 | Brandon Pfaadt | ARI at MIL | 140 | 4.95 | 1.34 | 13% | 11th | ||||
| 26 | Osvaldo Bido | ATH v DET | 65 | 5.37 | 1.58 | 8% | 16th | ||||
| 27 | Nick Martinez | CIN at LAD | 145 | 4.59 | 1.20 | 12% | 3rd | ||||
| 28 | Kyle Bradish | BAL v BOS | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | 9th | Eager for him to return, but no shot I’m starting his debut | |||
| 29 | Patrick Corbin | TEX v LAA | 123 | 4.61 | 1.41 | 11% | 14th | Kind of a bummer to see him unravel lately: 11.48 ERA in Aug w/no more than 4.3 IP any of the 4 starts | |||
| 30 | Tanner Gordon | COL at HOU | 44 | 7.11 | 1.67 | 8% | 23rd |
Recommendations for Roto 5×5 Leagues
KEY x: Standard Recommendation | W: Chasing the Win
Gaaah so terrified to stream Baz but I’m doing it
Want to feel better? Baz has a 3.52 ERA on the road but 7.06 ERA at home this year.
He’s getting killed with the long ball at home.