Starting Pitcher Chart – August 7th

August 7, 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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Monday, August 7th, Starter Notes

RK	PITCHER	TM		OPP	10	12	15+	IP	ERA	WHIP	K-BB	wOBA RK	NOTE
1	Spencer Strider	ATL	at	PIT	x	x	x	129.2	3.61	1.09	32%	29th	Snapped his 4-gm streak of 10+ Ks, but 9 in 6.7 scoreless IP w/his 12th W still works!
2	Gerrit Cole	NYY	at	CHW	x	x	x	143.1	2.64	1.04	21%	25th	Finally got his first W in nearly a month (not that it was his fault: 1.40 ERA, 0.63 WHIP in the interim)
3	Pablo López	MIN	at	DET	x	x	x	134.2	4.01	1.12	23%	23rd	Rolling since his 7 ER dud at OAK: 2.50 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 24% K-BB in 18 IP
4	Logan Webb	SFG	at	LAA	x	x	x	148.2	3.45	1.08	20%	8th	All 5 of his 4+ ER outings have come on the road, but also 3 of his 5 best Game Scores… I can’t sit him
5	Freddy Peralta	MIL		COL	x	x	x	115	4.46	1.25	19%	17th	Dialed back in w/20 Ks in his last 2 starts
6	Brayan Bello	BOS		KCR	x	x	x	102	3.79	1.24	14%	19th	2 BB in each of his L3 after just 2 BB in previous 4; also 8 HR in L5 after just 7 in first 13
7	Dane Dunning	TEX	at	OAK	x	x	x	114.2	3.14	1.14	10%	20th	11 Ks in the revenge game v. the White Sox and if he was ever going to drop B2B 10+ K outings, this is the matchup
8	Eury Pérez	MIA	at	CIN	x	x	x	53.1	2.36	1.09	21%	16th	He’s back!! I’m putting him back in the lineup everywhere even though he could be limited a bit in 1 or both of the starts
9	Dylan Cease	CHW		NYY		x	x	121	4.61	1.40	17%	13th	The massive volatility makes him a scary start down the stretch, but it’s so hard to sit him
10	Seth Lugo	SDP		LAD		x	x	89	3.54	1.19	19%	3rd	Don’t love facing LA, but I’ll do it to get the at ARI on the wknd
11	Patrick Sandoval	LAA		SFG		x	x	103	4.11	1.41	9%	28th	A great matchup if you’re looking to stream, but his control can be exposed by anyone so it’s always risky
12	Cole Ragans	KCR	at	BOS		x	x	35.1	4.33	1.36	12%	14th	14% SwStr in his 2 KC starts, I’m open to gamble on the 2-step this wk anywhere (STL this wknd)
13	Kodai Senga	NYM		CHC		x	x	110.2	3.25	1.29	17%	18th	KC couldn’t take full advantage of 11 H so he survived falling just an out shy of a QS
14	Ranger Suárez	PHI		WSN			x	85.1	4.01	1.43	13%	4th	Has allowed 46 H in his L6 and was lucky to allow just 1 ER at MIA (10 H in 6.3 IP)
15	Tony Gonsolin	LAD	at	SDP			x	87.2	4.11	1.15	10%	1st	6 HR are a big factor in 5.06 ERA over L5, I can find some spots in weekly lgs where I need to hit some magic (COL this wknd)
16	Brandon Williamson	CIN		MIA			x	68.2	4.85	1.34	9%	7th	You’re always holding your breath if you roll w/him… at PIT on the wknd is tempting
17	Gavin Williams	CLE		TOR			x	42.2	3.38	1.34	9%	2nd	Seems to have a 90-95 pitch count and w/4 BB In 3 of his L4, he’s a 4-5 IP guy
18	Hyun Jin Ryu 류현진	TOR	at	CLE			x	5	7.20	2.00	9%	26th	Not too bad in his season debut, but still just a deep lg streamer until we see another couple
19	Joey Wentz	DET		MIN				76.1	6.37	1.60	12%	21st	Has shown flashes and I can see a path to some deep lg interest if he keeps getting an opener
20	Ken Waldichuk	OAK		TEX				88.1	6.52	1.74	8%	12th	13% BB rate make him super risky, nice to see just 2 HR in his last 39 IP (0.5 HR; 2.5 in 50 IP before that)
21	Drew Smyly	CHC		NYM				112.2	4.71	1.35	14%	27th	Has just become a HR machine w/a 2.9 rate in his last 41 IP making him a tough roster right now
22	Peter Lambert	COL	at	MIL				49.2	5.07	1.41	11%	6th	No thanks
23	Trevor Williams	WSN	at	PHI				108.2	4.72	1.49	9%	11th	No thanks
24	Osvaldo Bido	PIT		ATL				33	5.18	1.52	11%	30th	No thanks

Recommendations for Roto 5×5 Leagues

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4 Comments

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JimMember since 2016

2 years ago

Hey, Gomber did it again. Is he only good away from Coors?

Trevor May Care Attitude

Reply to Jim

He has been much better outside Colorado this year, but his splits from 2021 and 2022 show him with a considerably worse ERA on the road.

Paul SporerFanGraphs Staff

In a way, it makes me happy every time he does well! In fact, he has 3 straight QS and he’s 1 run against HOU away from 7 straight. It’s still just a 12% K-BB and I’m still not going to recommend him at LAD this week, but I hope he has another gem!