Starting Pitcher Chart – May 11th, 2026

- Daily SP Chart archive
- 2-Start podcast episode
- SP Rankings (updated Monday April 27th!)
Welcome to the Daily SP Chart, click here if you’re new to get an idea of what I’m doing with these rankings.
The chart includes their performance for 2026, their opponent’s wOBA versus the pitcher’s handedness, my general start/sit recommendation for 10-team, 12-team, and 15-team (or more) leagues – essentially a shallow, medium, deep league setup – and then a note about some, most, or all depending on the day. 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 for standard 5×5 roto leagues, and your league situation will carry more weight whether you are protecting ratios or chasing counting numbers. I usually won’t have much to write about aces who are locked into our rotations. If you want to discuss someone further, please feel free to leave a comment. I usually do a few sweeps of the comments before game time in case there are time-sensitive questions.
Eovaldi’s season is a great example of why we can’t aggressively react to every single outing, particularly from well-established arms. He opened with 11 ER in just 8.7 IP but then 2 ER in his next 13 IP (so now a 5.40 ERA in 4 starts). Then a 3rd Dud of the year, this time 6 ER v. ATH saddles him w/a 5.79 ERA thru 6 and wellll, you start thinkin “he is 36 with a lengthy injury history and he’s lined up for NYY 2x in a row so maaaybe he needs to be cu–” NO! Dude has a 3.40 ERA/1.11 WHIP in 736 IP since 2021, he gets more than 6 starts before any reaction. I was only getting some start/sit stuff on Eovaldi, but you know he was getting cut in some 10s and 12s where he had no business hitting the wire off what we’d seen.
His 16% K-BB was fine and his 14% SwStr said the 22% K should rise. His velocity was even up a half tick, which isn’t significant enough to drive improvement, but assuages health fears from the oft-injured vet. There was just nothing in his profile that said this was anything more than a few bad starts. Fast forward 15 IP of 1-run ball later during which he fanned 15, walked 1, and allowed just a single homer in those two NYY starts and he’s down to a far more palatable 4.15 ERA/1.18 WHIP combo. Just because we’ve flipped the calendar to May doesn’t mean numbers won’t still move severely off 2-3 starts. Stay diggin’ in those gamelogs to get a true feel of a pitcher’s season and as always, use the skills profile to make hold/cut assessments, not just their surface ERA.
The rest of the board:
- Rasmussen’s up 5 pitches/start v. last year and while that’s not a ton, it’s enough him to log at least 5 IP in 6 of 7 starts with the one he missed just being a rough outing.
- Weathers is outrunning a 1.4 HR9 that would normally give me a lot of pause, but he’s looking like a lefty version of Joe Ryan where his skills profile can sustain the elevated HRs. He’s an easy all-formats rotation lock right now and we’ll adjust if the HRs do start to pose a problem.
- Soroka rebounded with a 6.3 IP/1 ER gem v. PIT though that was the lone run in a 1-0 game so he ate the L but it was nice to see him back on track after the 8 ER Dud at MIL.
- Cantillo/Lambert are interesting-but-dangerous arms as both are running 12% BB rates that will breed volatility, but I’d still take either of them in a 12 over Sasaki despite his far better matchup.
- McDonald gets one of the worst 2-start setups you can concoct with a trip to ATH looming on the weekend after this LAD start.
| Rk | PITCHER | Tm | Opp | 10 | 12 | 15+ | IP | ERA | WHIP | K-BB | opp wOBA RK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drew Rasmussen | TBR | at TOR | x | x | x | 36.2 | 2.95 | 0.93 | 21% | 18 |
| 2 | Kevin Gausman | TOR | v. TBR | x | x | x | 46.2 | 3.09 | 0.99 | 18% | 13 |
| 3 | Ryan Weathers | NYY | at BAL | x | x | x | 38.2 | 3.03 | 1.19 | 22% | 14 |
| 4 | Nathan Eovaldi | TEX | v. ARI | x | x | x | 47.2 | 4.15 | 1.17 | 19% | 27 |
| 5 | George Kirby | SEA | at HOU | x | x | x | 52 | 2.94 | 1.10 | 13% | 3 |
| 6 | Michael Soroka | ARI | at TEX | x | x | x | 37 | 4.14 | 1.43 | 19% | 11 |
| 7 | Joey Cantillo | CLE | v. LAA | x | x | 39.1 | 3.43 | 1.37 | 11% | 11 | |
| 8 | Peter Lambert | HOU | v. SEA | x | x | 22.1 | 2.42 | 1.16 | 13% | 9 | |
| 9 | Roki Sasaki | LAD | v. SFG | x | 28.2 | 5.97 | 1.67 | 8% | 30 | ||
| 10 | Trevor McDonald | SFG | at LAD | 7 | 1.29 | 0.29 | 33% | 1 | |||
| 11 | Brandon Young | BAL | v. NYY | 20.2 | 4.35 | 1.45 | 6% | 4 | |||
| 12 | Alek Manoah | LAA | at CLE | 1 | 33% | 25 |
Intro
The chart includes their performance for 2026, their opponent’s wOBA versus the pitcher’s handedness, my general start/sit recommendation for 10-team, 12-team, and 15-team (or more) leagues – essentially a shallow, medium, deep league setup – and then a note about some, most, or all depending on the day. 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 for standard 5×5 roto leagues, and your league situation will carry more weight whether you are protecting ratios or chasing counting numbers. I usually won’t have much to write about aces who are locked into our rotations. If you want to discuss someone further, please feel free to leave a comment. I usually do a few sweeps of the comments before game time in case there are time-sensitive questions.
No wind or rain concerns anywhere today