Starting Pitcher Chart – June 21st
by Paul Sporer
June 21, 2023
Daily SP Chart archive
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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Wednesday, June 21st Starter Notes
| RK | PITCHER | TM | OPP | 10 | 12 | 15+ | IP | ERA | WHIP | K-BB | wOBA RK | NOTE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luis Castillo | SEA | at | NYY | x | x | x | 82.1 | 2.73 | 1.02 | 23% | 26th | The Judge-less Yankees are very exploitable for streamers (not that Castillo is a streamer, just pointing it out here bc Castillo is an auto start) |
| 2 | Zac Gallen | ARI | at | MIL | x | x | x | 91.1 | 2.96 | 1.13 | 22% | 29th | Trips to DET and PIT are his only bumps over his L13 starts (2.34 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 23% K-BB in those 81 IP) |
| 3 | Shohei Ohtani | LAA | LAD | x | x | x | 82 | 3.29 | 1.05 | 21% | 11th | It’s still kind of a bummer that we aren’t in a spot where all of his greatness counts for his fantasy teams | |
| 4 | Cristian Javier | HOU | NYM | x | x | x | 80.2 | 2.90 | 1.04 | 18% | 22nd | Has allowed more than 3 ER just twice this yr and both of those are 4 ER outings | |
| 5 | Sonny Gray | MIN | BOS | x | x | x | 76 | 2.37 | 1.28 | 15% | 13th | Just 1 decision in his L8 starts despite not allowing more than 3 ER in any of the starts | |
| 6 | Kevin Gausman | TOR | at | MIA | x | x | x | 92.2 | 3.01 | 1.13 | 26% | 7th | Look at MIA running hot vR of late… is that just Arraez’s 9 singles a game? Gaus is a lineup lock so amount of MIA run good would get me to sit him |
| 7 | Garrett Whitlock | BOS | at | MIN | x | x | x | 39 | 4.38 | 1.23 | 17% | 23rd | Looking excellent since returning from the IL: 3.13 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 19% K-BB |
| 8 | Sandy Alcantara | MIA | TOR | x | x | x | 88.2 | 4.97 | 1.22 | 12% | 4th | I’ve stayed committed as I don’t believe he’s this bad but as the duds pile up, I understand some sits… still not cutting anywhere | |
| 9 | Aaron Nola | PHI | ATL | x | x | x | 94.2 | 4.66 | 1.10 | 18% | 1st | Yes, he remains an auto start for me even w/the elevated ERA… the WHIP and core skills keep me fully invested | |
| 10 | Gavin Williams | CLE | OAK | x | x | x | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | 28th | Another big time CLE prospect joining the mix… will probably have major bids even if this start doesn’t go well | |
| 11 | Yu Darvish | SDP | at | SFG | x | x | x | 74 | 4.74 | 1.20 | 18% | 6th | Didn’t quite realize Darvish was that close to a 5.00 ERA, though his skills keep him in my lineup even with a tough matchup on deck |
| 12 | Tyler Wells | BAL | at | TBR | x | x | 81.2 | 3.20 | 0.86 | 21% | 15th | Not gonna crush anyone for avoiding TBR, but my confidence in Wells jumped a bit higher after the TOR gem last time out | |
| 13 | Taj Bradley | TBR | BAL | x | x | 43 | 4.19 | 1.30 | 26% | 10th | Don’t get too worried about the 4.55 ERA in 6 starts since returning as his 2.74 FIP and 22% K-BB rate in that time say better days are ahead | ||
| 14 | Paul Blackburn | OAK | at | CLE | x | x | 20.2 | 3.48 | 1.35 | 19% | 20th | One bad inning at MIA is the only major blip since returning and the added Ks (25%) give him a new dimension | |
| 15 | Miles Mikolas | STL | at | WSN | x | x | 86.2 | 4.36 | 1.36 | 12% | 14th | 11 ER in his last 2 after 10 ER in his previous 8 before that… the lack of whiffs catching up to him (6% K in those 2 gms) | |
| 16 | Andrew Abbott | CIN | COL | x | x | 17.2 | 0.00 | 1.08 | 4% | 27th | Haven’t seen any of the exquisite swing-and-miss that made him so popular in the minors earlier this yr; very lucky to have that ERA thus far | ||
| 17 | Rich Hill | PIT | CHC | x | x | 77.1 | 4.31 | 1.40 | 13% | 20th | The Minesweeper of SPs in that you know the bombs are out there, but you’re not exactly sure where…. Be careful | ||
| 18 | Michael Kopech | CHW | TEX | x | 78 | 3.92 | 1.27 | 15% | 3rd | Only 1 ER last time out but also 6 BB; he has a 1.77 ERA/0.94 WHIP in his L6 starts making this a tough choice given the difficult matchup | |||
| 19 | AJ Smith-Shawver | ATL | at | PHI | x | 13.1 | 2.03 | 0.98 | 14% | 21st | First big swing-and-miss game (6 Ks, 16% SwStr) unsurprisingly resulted in his first MLB win! | ||
| 20 | Brady Singer | KCR | at | DET | x | 69.2 | 6.33 | 1.61 | 12% | 24th | Still trying to shave down an 8.82 ERA from his first 7 starts so his passable 4.00 mark over his L7 goes a bit unnoticed | ||
| 21 | Matthew Boyd | DET | KCR | x | 64.1 | 5.60 | 1.35 | 14% | 24th | HR rate back up to 1.4 has really cut into his effectiveness and relegated him to just a deep lg streamer | |||
| 22 | Julio Teheran | MIL | ARI | 30.1 | 1.78 | 0.82 | 15% | 5th | If there’s any legitimacy to this control spike (4% BB), he could be an intriguing deep lg streamer, but I want to see more before trusting him | ||||
| 23 | Kyle Hendricks | CHC | at | PIT | 28.1 | 3.18 | 1.06 | 9% | 16th | HR suppression is more a fortunate HR/FB rate (3%) than major skills change… in fact, his 9% K-BB and 7% SwStr are very underwhelming | |||
| 24 | Sean Manaea | SFG | SDP | 49.1 | 5.84 | 1.38 | 19% | 4th | Might find some deep lg viability for him in better matchups as he’s been OK in the follower role (4.32 ERA in his L4 w/19 Ks & 2 BB in 17 IP) | ||||
| 25 | Martín Pérez | TEX | at | CHW | 77.1 | 4.54 | 1.50 | 8% | 17th | I’m not really feeling good about starting him anywhere | |||
| 26 | Michael Grove | LAD | at | LAA | 30 | 8.10 | 1.60 | 15% | 2nd | Quick return from the minors but no shot I’d use him here | |||
| 27 | Jhony Brito | NYY | SEA | 40.1 | 5.58 | 1.49 | 7% | 25th | Returning to the majors after posting a modest 7% K-BB rate in the minors | ||||
| 28 | Trevor Williams | WSN | STL | 70 | 4.50 | 1.41 | 10% | 17th | Juice isn’t really worth the squeeze | ||||
| 29 | Tylor Megill | NYM | at | HOU | 69 | 4.83 | 1.61 | 7% | 18th | Not sure he’s even a start in NL Only at this point | |||
| 30 | Connor Seabold | COL | at | CIN | 56.2 | 5.88 | 1.48 | 9% | 8th | Aces only v. the Rising Reds right now |
Recommendations for Roto 5×5 Leagues
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“It’s still kind of a bummer that we aren’t in a spot where all of his greatness counts for his fantasy teams”
Unless you are in a daily league that allows him to be moved in the lineup from hitter to pitcher.
That still misses his bat on those days when he pitches though… not that I’m really complaining — yes, I actually have him in one such salary dynasty league… and I might not be able to afford keeping him there starting next year even though I’m certainly trying my darnedest to save all the coins to do so (while still fielding a solid, contending team around him), LOL…
There’s a Fantrax setting that allows him to get both hitting and pitching stats on the same day (not enabled by default so commissioner would need to turn it on).