Starting Pitcher Chart – August 29th

August 29, 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.

More than half the slate is recommended across the board but there are still some streaming spot. Actually, there are some pretty tough decisions, though your situation may make them easier (if you’re chasing or protecting).

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Starter Notes August 29,2023

RK	PITCHER	GAME	10	12	15+	IP	ERA	WHIP	K-BB	wOBA RK L30/Season	NOTE
1	Clayton Kershaw	LAD v ARI	x	x	x	107.1	2.52	1.02	21%	23rd/21st
2	George Kirby	SEA v OAK	x	x	x	156.1	3.28	1.03	21%	14th/29th
3	Cole Ragans	KCR v PIT	x	x	x	59	3.66	1.27	19%	27th/22nd	Great chance to stay hot and gets a 2-step next wk, really has a chance to be a major reason people win their leagues
4	Justin Steele	CHC v MIL	x	x	x	138	2.80	1.17	18%	6th/19th
5	Corbin Burnes	MIL at CHC	x	x	x	158	3.65	1.08	16%	6th/10th
6	José Berríos	TOR v WSN	x	x	x	152	3.55	1.22	16%	22nd/24th	I hope he puts a nice cap on this splendid comeback season
7	Aaron Civale	TBR at MIA	x	x	x	97.1	2.59	1.10	14%	20th/23rd
8	Seth Lugo	SDP at STL	x	x	x	109.1	3.70	1.23	18%	11th/6th	Your leaguemate w/him might be surging up the standings of late, especially since many likely skipped the 1 dud over his L7 (8 ER v. LAD… 1.95 ERA in the other 6)
9	Pablo López	MIN v CLE	x	x	x	158.2	3.69	1.13	23%	24th/21st
10	Sandy Alcantara	MIA v TBR	x	x	x	171	4.16	1.19	14%	4th/4th	Still sprinkles in the occasional 4 ER outing, but has now put together an 11-start run of 2.99 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 17% K-BB in 75 IP
11	Brayan Bello	BOS v HOU	x	x	x	126.1	3.56	1.28	13%	16th/18th	Couldn’t fully take advantage of a 5-start run that included OAK/KCR/DET (5.93 ERA in 27 IP) but has rebounded w/B2B 1 ER outings on the road
12	Merrill Kelly 켈리	ARI at LAD	x	x	x	136.1	2.97	1.13	18%	13th/3rd	If you’re in a position to be ultra-cautious, you can skip… otherwise, I’m not sure I can sit someone pitching this well
13	Tarik Skubal	DET v NYY	x	x	x	44.1	4.06	1.08	24%	2nd/5th	Grinded out a decent start v. CHC, balancing the 4 ER in 6 IP w/7 Ks and just 1 BB… I’m rolling w/him here
14	Brandon Williamson	CIN at SFG	x	x	x	92.2	4.18	1.25	13%	16th/25th	CIN hasn’t really taken advantage of his 3.13 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 16% K-BB in his L8, going just 3-5 in them (B Will is 3-1)
15	Dean Kremer	BAL v CHW	x	x	x	144	4.31	1.29	14%	26th/30th	He’s in a groove again w/a 3.06 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and 13% K-BB in his L9, plus the matchup is good so he’s streamable everywhere
16	Alex Cobb	SFG v CIN	x	x	x	132.1	3.74	1.38	15%	12th/12th	Easy start at home: 2.25 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 15% K-BB in 60 IP
17	Gavin Williams	CLE at MIN		x	x	64	3.52	1.28	16%	8th/7th	Got merked by LAD which I’m sure some sat, but I was open to starting him… this isn’t an easy bounce back spot and I think it’s OK to be more cautious w/these rookies coming down the stretch
18	Zack Thompson	STL v SDP		x	x	35	3.86	1.46	20%	9th/6th	I’ve got him reserved in my 15-teamer opting to gamble that Silseth is OK to go v. OAK, but he’s been great in 4 extended outings (3 SP, 1 RP): 3.00 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 27% K-BB in 18 IP
19	Michael Lorenzen	PHI v LAA		x	x	131.2	3.69	1.12	12%	29th/11th	Came back to earth after the no-no with a couple duds… should be able to rebound against a floundering Angels club
20	J.P. France	HOU at BOS		x	x	110.1	3.51	1.31	11%	7th/5th	I know it’s a repeat start against a team that just cooked him, but data shows 1st start of a B2B has no indication on the 2nd’s outcome… at BOS on its face is legitimately skippable, just don’t let the 10 ER dud overly influence you
21	Charlie Morton	ATL at COL		x	x	141.2	3.37	1.38	15%	18th/16th	Where are my Win chasers?? Obviously don’t put precarious ratios at risk needlessly, but if you can afford a potential 5 ER gm that can still result in a W, go for it!
22	Andrew Heaney	TEX at NYM		x	x	122.1	4.34	1.36	15%	13th/23rd	You know the deal here… there’s ALWAYS heavy risk, but he’s pretty good for 60% of his starts and that’s very streamable
23	Jhony Brito	NYY at DET			x	67	5.37	1.34	9%	9th/28th	Brito will follow Michael King… kinda wish they’d flip that because then I’d be interested in King for some W potential
24	José Quintana	NYM v TEX			x	41	3.73	1.39	8%	12th/2nd	Sometimes it’s just indisgestion… glad I didn’t play my gut feel at ATL as he was cooked
25	MacKenzie Gore	WSN at TOR				127.1	4.38	1.37	17%	8th/8th
26	Ken Waldichuk	OAK at SEA				110	6.05	1.67	10%	4th/15th
27	Tyler Anderson	LAA at PHI				117.2	5.35	1.53	9%	7th/11th
28	Jesse Scholtens	CHW v BAL				65	4.15	1.32	9%	17th/17th
29	Luis L. Ortiz	PIT at KCR				57	5.37	1.84	3%	5th/26th
30	Peter Lambert	COL v ATL				71.1	4.92	1.33	12%	1st/1st

Recommendations for Roto 5×5 Leagues