Starting Pitcher Chart – August 3rd

August 2, 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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Thursday, August 3rd, Starter Notes

RK	PITCHER	TM		OPP	10	12	15+	IP	ERA	WHIP	K-BB	wOBA RK	NOTE
1	Shohei Ohtani	LAA		SEA	x	x	x	120.2	3.43	1.07	22%	12th	Shohei Day!! He is appointment watching for sure
2	Kevin Gausman	TOR		BAL	x	x	x	127.2	3.10	1.13	27%	15th	K surge of late has yielded a 35% rate in his last 35 IP spanning 6 starts
3	Max Scherzer	TEX		CHW	x	x	x	107.2	4.01	1.19	21%	30th	Great landing spot with his new tm: home against a poor offense!
4	Bryan Woo	SEA	at	LAA	x	x	x	49	4.96	1.27	19%	11th	Really excited for this Woo/Shohei matchup
5	Julio Urías	LAD		OAK	x	x	x	81.1	4.98	1.20	17%	19th	It’s not even a consideration to sit him here… now if he flops, we can talk more going forward
6	Cristian Javier	HOU	at	NYY	x	x	x	108	4.33	1.19	15%	28th	Has just a 4.32 ERA in 3 starts since his B2B duds at STL & at TEX, but a 1.11 WHIP and 31% K are encouraging
7	Sonny Gray	MIN	at	STL	x	x	x	117.1	3.22	1.27	14%	8th	Still fine starting Gray but be mindful that this lineup can still hit, the pitching is why they’re bad
8	Clarke Schmidt	NYY		HOU		x	x	104.2	4.39	1.32	16%	16th	HOU w/Altuve & Alvarez back is much better than 16th so I understand a sit here
9	Michael Lorenzen	PHI	at	MIA		x	x	105.2	3.58	1.10	13%	19th	Another newcomer w/a solid landing spot to impress his new club
10	Mitch Keller	PIT	at	MIL		x	x	133.2	3.97	1.21	19%	23rd	Super volatile lately w/these Game Scores in his L5: 63, 39, 74, 19, 31, and 54
11	Johnny Cueto	MIA		PHI			x	16	5.06	0.88	16%	27th	A couple decent 6 IP outings in his L2 puts him on my radar & I can find some streams here
12	Jameson Taillon	CHC		CIN			x	89	5.46	1.37	13%	14th	Only a 10% K-BB in his recent surge, but immaculate results: 1.78 ERA/1.00 WHIP in 25 IP… still a risky stream
13	Brady Singer	KCR		NYM			x	113.2	5.46	1.46	12%	5th	Increased SL & CH usage at the expense of fewer bad fastballs has yielded 19 Ks in his L2 outing
14	Jack Flaherty	BAL	at	TOR			x	109.2	4.43	1.55	11%	13th	Always fine allowing a transition start after a trade like this; W probability goes up, but division is harder
15	Adrian Houser	MIL		PIT			x	67	4.43	1.57	10%	22nd	Schedule reprieve after CHC, CIN, and ATL 2x!
16	Carlos Carrasco	NYM	at	KCR			x	70.1	6.40	1.65	6%	25th	I know KC is rolling w/5 straight Ws, but if you can’t start him here, he shouldn’t be rostered (admittedly only 62% in 15 tmers)
17	Sean Manaea	SFG		ARI				71.1	5.43	1.33	19%	20th	Inconsistent performance, role, and IP count… not worth the hassle
18	JP Sears	OAK	at	LAD				116.2	4.09	1.05	17%	14th	Virtually 0% win probability and still huge blowup potential v. LAD… just not worth the risk v. good tms
19	Luke Weaver	CIN	at	CHC				86	6.80	1.60	10%	1st	No thanks
20	Matthew Liberatore	STL		MIN				32	6.75	1.84	4%	25th	Hudson got the start on Wednesday; still no interest in Libby until we see something
21	Brandon Pfaadt	ARI	at	SFG				37.1	8.20	1.63	11%	26th	Just never know rookies… it’s been a great yr for the group, but Pfaadt is unrosterable in redraft
22	Touki Toussaint	CHW	at	TEX				36	3.50	1.25	4%	7th	No thanks

Recommendations for Roto 5×5 Leagues