Starting Pitcher Chart – July 23rd, 2025
by Paul Sporer
July 23, 2025
Daily SP Chart archive
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.
Check out my new SP rankings here!
Let me know if you have questions about anyone either in the comments here or on the rankings page.
Starter Notes July 23, 2025
| RK | PITCHER | GAME | 10 | 12 | 15+ | IP | ERA | WHIP | K-BB | 2025 wOBA RK | NOTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spencer Strider | ATL v SFG | x | x | x | 67 | 3.59 | 1.15 | 20% | 22nd | An inning shy of 7 straight QS and looks like the ace we’ve come to expect: 2.56 ERA/1.09 WHIP/25% K-BB in 42.7 IP |
| 2 | Max Fried | NYY at TOR | x | x | x | 122 | 2.43 | 1.01 | 18% | 8th | |
| 3 | Nick Lodolo | CIN at WSN | x | x | x | 113 | 3.33 | 1.08 | 17% | 14th | |
| 4 | Tyler Glasnow | LAD v MIN | x | x | x | 29 | 3.10 | 1.14 | 16% | 21st | 85+ pitches in both starts since returning… he’s fully in set it and forget status when healthy |
| 5 | Sean Manaea | NYM v LAA | x | x | x | 7 | 2.45 | 1.09 | 35% | 21st | Still getting stretched out so there is 4-IP risk here… I’ll take the Ks and likely good ratios even in a shortened outing unless I have a tight start limit |
| 6 | Dylan Cease | SDP at MIA | x | x | x | 108 | 4.64 | 1.30 | 22% | 15th | MIA surging and I’m definitely giving them more respect these days, I just don’t really consider sitting Cease… if I drafted him, I’m in for the full ride unless I see a real skills drop |
| 7 | Michael Soroka | WSN v CIN | x | x | x | 72 | 5.10 | 1.15 | 18% | 12th | One of my 2H faves, he has just 1 bad start in his L8 and it was just a complete unraveling in the 5th (5 straight base runners & the pen kept the fire going) which inflates the ERA, but strong WHIP & skills: 4.60 ERA/1.09 WHIP/20% K-BB in 41.3 IP |
| 8 | Jesús Luzardo | PHI v BOS | x | x | x | 109 | 4.29 | 1.43 | 19% | 3rd | Left-handed Cease, I’m just committed to started someone with these skills especially as his struggles haven’t been something we can stream against and I just don’t want the 10-K gem on my bench |
| 9 | Lucas Giolito | BOS at PHI | x | x | x | 77 | 3.59 | 1.24 | 15% | 13th | Calmed down after a rough 1st in Wrigley (3 R), allowing just 1 R w/5 Ks & 0 BB in his final 4.3 IP; schedule stays hot but he’s back in must-start status (1.43 ERA/0.93 WHIP/18% K-BB in L7) |
| 10 | Luis Castillo | SEA v MIL | x | x | x | 115 | 3.21 | 1.21 | 13% | 20th | Back in a groove w/6+ IP in 3 of his L4 and 6+ Ks in 3 of ’em as well (not the same 3 as the 6+ IP); back into must-start status for most formats |
| 11 | Quinn Priester | MIL at SEA | x | x | x | 94 | 3.33 | 1.20 | 12% | 7th | The 11-K gem v. COL earned some attention, but his 10-K dismantling of LAD last time out has put him on the map; mentioned my interest June 10th, since then: 2.54 ERA/1.05 WHIP/24% K-BB in 39 IP |
| 12 | Brandon Walter | HOU at ARI | x | x | 46 | 3.66 | 0.96 | 24% | 9th | Catching ARI in a downswing (4.6 July R/G; 5.2 thru-June)… of course I say that 3 days after they rocked Sonny Gray; I really like Walter, but he’s been a bit too HR-prone to dive headfirst into this start | |
| 13 | Seth Lugo | KCR at CHC | x | x | 107 | 2.94 | 1.09 | 15% | 3rd | Lugo’s actually done his best work v. better tms: 2.57 ERA/0.99 WHIP/17% K-BB v. >.500 tms | 3.57/1.26/10% v. sub-.500 tms | |
| 14 | Chris Bassitt | TOR v NYY | x | x | 113 | 3.89 | 1.36 | 16% | 2nd | Dodged raindrops last time out allowing 0 R despite 10 H! He’ll drop an occasional dud, but also has 10 starts of 5+ IP w/0-1 ER (t-4th highest total; 16 SPs w/at least 10) | |
| 15 | Taj Bradley | TBR v CHW | x | x | 109 | 4.35 | 1.24 | 12% | 30th | If you can’t start him here, he shouldn’t be on your team | |
| 16 | Slade Cecconi | CLE v BAL | x | x | 63 | 3.84 | 1.23 | 15% | 16th | Weird line w/6 ER in 8.3 IP, it was 8 great at 90 pitches and then a meltdown 9th that went: 3B-3B-ꓘ-2B; only 2 Ks and that just seems like it’s going to be an inconsistent part of his game right now | |
| 17 | Colin Rea | CHC v KCR | W | W | x | 97 | 3.80 | 1.28 | 11% | 28th | Pitching well again w/a 1.94 ERA/0.95 WHIP in his L4 after a 7 ER dud, but still just a 9% K-BB and it seems his hot streaks are always going to be interrupted by a mega dud and you’re just hoping it’s in an obvious sit spot against a tough tm |
| 18 | Bailey Falter | PIT v DET | x | 101 | 4.00 | 1.22 | 6% | 4th | Catching DET at a great time – 24th in wOBA vL over the L30 | ||
| 19 | Patrick Corbin | TEX v ATH | x | 99 | 3.91 | 1.29 | 12% | 11th | Sneaky solid season and now w/TEX playing better, a W is realistically in play | ||
| 20 | Zach Eflin | BAL at CLE | x | 62 | 5.95 | 1.44 | 12% | 27th | He’s still streamable and probably even a team streamer in some deeper spots now that he’s healthy | ||
| 21 | JP Sears | ATH at TEX | x | 101 | 5.13 | 1.28 | 13% | 28th | Blew a really great opportunity at CLE last time out w/2 more HRs pushing his HR9 up to 1.9 making him similarly risky here despite the good matchup | ||
| 22 | Sandy Alcantara | MIA v SDP | x | 97 | 7.14 | 1.49 | 8% | 23rd | 110 Pitching+ in L30 is tops among Wednesday’s slate and yet just an 8% K-BB and 6% SwStr in that time; so do his results start to gravitate toward his Pit+ results or are his metrics deceptively high? | ||
| 23 | Chris Paddack | MIN at LAD | 105 | 5.14 | 1.31 | 11% | 4th | ||||
| 24 | Brandon Pfaadt | ARI v HOU | 106 | 4.82 | 1.26 | 15% | 19th | ||||
| 25 | Justin Verlander | SFG at ATL | 79 | 4.99 | 1.51 | 11% | 17th | Y’all know I love JV, but we gotta see something before jumping back in here | |||
| 26 | Jonathan Cannon | CHW at TBR | 84 | 4.18 | 1.38 | 9% | 6th | ||||
| 27 | Andre Pallante | STL at COL | 105 | 4.71 | 1.34 | 7% | 26th | ||||
| 28 | Troy Melton | DET at PIT | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | 29th | MLB debut! | |||
| 29 | Tanner Gordon | COL v STL | 17 | 4.24 | 1.35 | 10% | 10th | ||||
| 30 | Brock Burke | LAA at NYM | 40 | 3.38 | 1.35 | 11% | 17th |
Recommendations for Roto 5×5 Leagues |
KEY
x: Standard Recommendation |
W: Chasing the Win
Hey Paul and others! Do we believe in Zebby? The numbers are kind of all over the place. I’m in a dynasty league and got offered Zebby AND Nootbar for Ian Happ (the offer comes from the first place team and I’m in second, but 2 games behind and 1K pts behind as well). The relative ages makes it seem like I should go after Noot (just 27) and Zebby, given the upside….but I also hate ditching happ (only 30)
It’s a points league and we have a weekly SP cap, so having very good quality SPs is important, imo.