Starting Pitcher Chart – July 18th, 2025

July 18, 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.

Here’s a preview of my SP rankings with the Top 75. I’ll have a separate post with the Top 150 sometime Friday.

Top 75 SPs for 2H

	PITCHER	TM	IP	ERA	WHIP	K-BB	PITCH+
1	Tarik Skubal	DET	121	2.23	0.83	30%	121
2	Paul Skenes	PIT	121	2.01	0.93	22%	117
3	Zack Wheeler	PHI	122	2.36	0.86	27%	121
4	Garrett Crochet	BOS	129.1	2.23	1.04	25%	110
5	Hunter Brown	HOU	115	2.43	0.96	23%	107
6	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD	104.1	2.59	1.04	19%	107
7	Jacob deGrom	TEX	112.1	2.32	0.91	21%	121
8	Max Fried	NYY	122	2.43	1.01	18%	114
9	Carlos Rodón	NYY	119.2	3.08	1.00	20%	101
10	Spencer Strider	ATL	61.2	3.94	1.17	20%	92
11	Logan Gilbert	SEA	61	3.39	1.05	29%	111
12	Joe Ryan	MIN	109.1	2.72	0.91	23%	105
13	Bryan Woo	SEA	114.2	2.75	0.93	20%	111
14	George Kirby	SEA	54	4.50	1.15	20%	108
15	Framber Valdez	HOU	121	2.75	1.12	17%	112
16	Logan Webb	SFG	125.2	2.94	1.17	22%	113
17	Robbie Ray	SFG	119	2.65	1.08	18%	93
18	Freddy Peralta	MIL	111.2	2.66	1.06	18%	105
19	Nick Pivetta	SDP	109.1	2.88	1.02	21%	108
20	Cristopher Sánchez	PHI	115	2.50	1.14	19%	114
21	Tyler Glasnow	LAD	23	3.52	1.22	14%	90
22	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	91	1.58	0.85	23%	105
23	MacKenzie Gore	WAS	110.1	3.02	1.20	23%	102
24	Sonny Gray	STL	108	3.50	1.08	23%	101
25	Jacob Misiorowski	MIL	25.2	2.81	0.90	22%	128
26	Dylan Cease	SDP	103.1	4.88	1.33	20%	108
27	Kris Bubic	KCR	108.2	2.48	1.16	18%	102
28	Kodai Senga	NYM	77.2	1.39	1.13	13%	95
29	Shota Imanaga	CHC	68	2.65	0.93	12%	105
30	Ranger Suárez	PHI	83.2	2.15	1.06	17%	106
31	Matthew Boyd	CHC	111.2	2.34	1.03	18%	99
32	Nick Lodolo	CIN	106.2	3.38	1.11	17%	99
33	Ryan Pepiot	TBR	114.1	3.38	1.15	16%	109
34	Seth Lugo	KCR	101	2.67	1.08	14%	91
35	Jesús Luzardo	PHI	104.1	4.14	1.41	19%	108
36	Chase Burns	CIN	16	6.19	1.63	22%	118
37	Merrill Kelly 켈리	ARI	116	3.34	1.05	17%	97
38	Casey Mize	DET	88.2	3.15	1.22	15%	103
39	Jack Flaherty	DET	100.2	4.65	1.24	20%	99
40	Reese Olson	DET	58	2.95	1.24	14%	97
41	Eury Pérez	MIA	34	3.18	0.91	18%	107
42	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	10.1	2.61	0.68	47%	111
43	Drew Rasmussen	TBR	91.1	2.86	1.03	15%	109
44	Trevor Rogers	BAL	35.1	1.53	0.82	16%	96
45	Andrew Abbott	CIN	91.1	2.07	1.08	16%	96
46	Will Warren	NYY	95.1	4.63	1.42	16%	103
47	Noah Cameron	KCR	70	2.31	1.00	13%	100
48	Michael Soroka	WAS	67.1	5.35	1.16	19%	93
49	Luis Castillo	SEA	108.1	3.41	1.24	13%	102
50	Shane Baz	TBR	110	4.17	1.25	15%	108
51	Ryne Nelson	ARI	78.1	3.68	1.07	13%	106
52	Lucas Giolito	BOS	72.1	3.36	1.23	15%	94
53	Yusei Kikuchi	LAA	113	3.11	1.37	14%	103
54	Kevin Gausman	TOR	109.2	4.19	1.16	16%	104
55	Sean Manaea	NYM	3.1	2.70	1.50	47%	124
56	Jacob Lopez	ATH	55.2	4.20	1.33	19%	91
57	Cam Schlittler	NYY	5.1	5.06	1.13	24%	100
58	Grant Holmes	ATL	105	3.77	1.30	16%	94
59	José Berríos	TOR	115.1	3.75	1.24	12%	93
60	Mitch Keller	PIT	119	3.48	1.14	13%	97
61	Matthew Liberatore	STL	100.1	4.13	1.25	14%	98
62	Chris Bassitt	TOR	107	4.12	1.35	16%	99
63	Brandon Walter	HOU	40.2	3.98	1.01	23%	100
64	Zack Littell	TBR	116.1	3.56	1.08	14%	94
65	David Peterson	NYM	109	3.06	1.24	12%	95
66	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	50.2	3.38	1.24	10%	94
67	Edward Cabrera	MIA	82.1	3.61	1.26	16%	107
68	Tanner Bibee	CLE	109	4.29	1.24	14%	100
69	Yu Darvish	SDP	8.1	6.48	1.68	3%	82
70	Clay Holmes	NYM	103.1	3.31	1.26	10%	103
71	Gavin Williams	CLE	97.1	3.70	1.43	9%	94
72	Joe Boyle	TBR	14	1.29	0.71	19%	89
73	Janson Junk	MIA	50.1	2.68	0.99	17%	110
74	Richard Fitts	BOS	33.2	4.28	1.22	13%	104
75	Michael Wacha	KCR	106	3.74	1.27	11%	100

Starter Notes July 18, 2025

RK	PITCHER	GAME	10	12	15+	IP	ERA	WHIP	K-BB	2025 wOBA RK	NOTE
1	Max Fried	NYY at ATL	x	x	x	122	2.43	1.01	18%	16th	Big spot for him heading back to his old stomping grounds
2	Spencer Strider	ATL v NYY	x	x	x	61	3.94	1.17	20%	2nd	He’s back in the Top 10 for me: 2.98 ERA/1.10 WHIP/25% K-BB in his L6 looks pretty Striderian after some hiccups in in his first few off the IL
3	Tyler Glasnow	LAD v MIL	x	x	x	23	3.52	1.22	14%	21st	5 excellent IP in his return gets him right back into every lineup
4	Dylan Cease	SDP at WSN	x	x	x	103	4.88	1.33	20%	23rd
5	Jesús Luzardo	PHI v LAA	x	x	x	104	4.14	1.41	19%	23rd	His downside has been truly horrendous, but he’s settled since the 20 ER in 2 starts: 3.46 ERA/1.35 WHIP/20% K-BB in 31.7 IP
6	Nick Lodolo	CIN at NYM	x	x	x	106	3.38	1.11	17%	15th
7	Michael Soroka	WSN v SDP	x	x	x	67	5.35	1.16	19%	24th	Hasn’t gotten into a full groove yet, but keeps showing glimpses and I like him as a 2nd half stud if he can stay healthy
8	Seth Lugo	KCR at MIA	x	x	x	101	2.67	1.08	14%	15th	MIA sneaky strong the L30 sitting 3rd in wOBA, but that just means we raise the floor a little bit on streamers against them until they cool down; Lugo still clears easily
9	Reese Olson	DET at TEX	x	x	x	58	2.95	1.24	14%	25th	Lives in that 4-6 IP range making him more a ratio play with W upside when he gets thru 5
10	Sean Manaea	NYM v CIN		x	x	3	2.70	1.50	47%	19th	Looked great in his season debut despite just 3.3 IP
11	Luis Castillo	SEA v HOU		x	x	108	3.41	1.24	13%	17th	Tough spots for Castillo and Giolito (HOU 6th in wOBA L30) so they aren’t must starts in shallower spots, but both are pitching well of late – LC: 3.60/1.11/16% in his L6 \| LG: 0.71/0.89/19%
12	Lucas Giolito	BOS at CHC		x	x	72	3.36	1.23	15%	4th
13	Brandon Walter	HOU at SEA		x	x	40	3.98	1.01	23%	9th	We gotta be smart with Walter v. HR-heavy teams and SEA has 4th-most vL this year adding some risk, but that 23% K-BB is so alluring
14	Slade Cecconi	CLE v ATH		x	x	55	3.44	1.27	16%	11th	ATH’s R/G drops half a run on the road to 4.0 and Cecconi hasn’t allowed >3 in any of his L7 w/a 16% K-BB
15	JP Sears	ATH at CLE		x	x	97	4.79	1.25	13%	30th	Much more trustworthy on the road w/half as many HRs (6 v. 13 at home) plus this is a great matchup
16	Chris Bassitt	TOR v SFG		x	x	107	4.12	1.35	16%	22nd
17	Colin Rea	CHC v BOS		W	W	92	3.91	1.26	11%	9th	Dud downside always looms, but 3 great Ws (1.98 ERA/0.77 WHIP) since the 7 ER v. SEA make him a worthy Win chase at the very least
18	José Soriano	LAA at PHI			x	113	3.90	1.45	9%	14th	Want a ride on the rollercoaster?? 17-79-70-71-14-76-35-45 Game Scores over his L8; markedly better v. >.500 tms (2.51 ERA in 7 GS)
19	Brandon Pfaadt	ARI v STL			x	99	5.16	1.31	14%	8th	There is real talent here, but the HRs will continue to make him remarkably inconsistent start-to-start
20	Patrick Corbin	TEX v DET				93	4.15	1.32	12%	4th	Undoutbedly his best yr since 2019, though still carries limited fantasy upside
21	Charlie Morton	BAL at TBR				83	5.18	1.52	13%	6th
22	Taj Bradley	TBR v BAL				103	4.60	1.27	11%	16th
23	Chris Paddack	MIN at COL				100	4.95	1.28	11%	28th
24	Jonathan Cannon	CHW at PIT				77	4.44	1.44	9%	29th
25	Bailey Falter	PIT v CHW				97	3.79	1.20	6%	21st
26	Sandy Alcantara	MIA v KCR				91	7.22	1.48	8%	27th	Maybe he can get traded to a team that gets him back on track or maybe it’s just a standard inconsistent TJ return season
27	Justin Verlander	SFG at TOR				76	4.70	1.42	12%	12th
28	Jose Quintana	MIL at LAD				71	3.28	1.36	6%	5th
29	Andre Pallante	STL at ARI				100	4.49	1.30	8%	1st
30	Kyle Freeland	COL v MIN				89	5.44	1.54	11%	13th

Recommendations for Roto 5×5 Leagues |

KEY
x: Standard Recommendation |
W: Chasing the Win