Starting Pitcher Chart – May 12th, 2025

Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

Daily SP Chart archive

The chart includes their performance for 2025 (I changed over from 2024 #s on April 15th), their opponent’s wOBA rank versus the pitcher’s handedness from this year so far (this changed as of April 14th), 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 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.

2-start board update coming Monday morning!

Afternoon update: sorry for the extreme delay on the 2-start board. Charlotte is taking prednisone for a little hip/back issue and the side effects are kickin’ her butt a bit, including needing to go out every 60-90 minutes to do her business so I was up most of the night and then crashed for a bit this morning when my gf woke up and could take care of Char.

JUMP TO 2-START CHART

Starter Notes May 12, 2025
RK PITCHER GAME 10 12 15+ IP ERA WHIP K-BB 2025 wOBA RK NOTE
1 Michael King SDP v LAA x x x 44 2.22 0.99 19% 23rd Still prefer Skenes rest of season, but it’s a much better matchup for King
2 Paul Skenes PIT at NYM x x x 48 2.77 0.95 18% 11th You’d like better than his 25% K rate, but he’s still been amazing
3 Tyler Mahle TEX v COL x x x 42 1.48 0.98 10% 28th 2-start this wk w/a start v. HOU on the wknd followed by a trip to CHW next wk
4 Freddy Peralta MIL at CLE x x x 45 2.18 1.04 18% 19th Has allowed >2 ER just 1x (3 at SFG) elevating him to SP15 on the Player Rater
5 Cristopher Sánchez PHI v STL x x x 37 2.89 1.23 19% 9th Unfazed by the minor lg dimensins at TBR w/6 shutout IP of 1-hit ball
6 Michael Wacha KCR at HOU x x x 45 2.98 1.15 11% 24th Dealing since he allowed 4 v. BAL back in early-Apr: 2.52 ERA/1.05 WHIP in 6 starts
7 Merrill Kelly ARI at SFG x x x 44 4.09 1.05 12% 13th That 9 ER in the Bronx will inflate his home/road ERA all yr; just 3 ER in 16.7 road IP across 3 starts since
8 Ryan Gusto HOU v KCR x x x 27 2.93 1.27 18% 25th Rejoining the rotation w/Wesneski’s injury and now lines up for a spicy 2-step
9 Colin Rea CHC v MIA x x x 29 2.43 1.21 15% 22nd Limiting HRs has taken him from his usual #4-5 SP realm to more of a #2-3 and this v. MIA and v. CHW 2-step is worth looking at everywhere… even if the #s regress a bit, W potential is still very high
10 Matthew Liberatore STL at PHI x x x 41 3.07 0.95 20% 10th PHI isn’t easy, but I’m starting him everywhere right now
11 David Peterson NYM v PIT x x x 38 3.52 1.38 14% 28th A pair of errors salvaged his ERA at ARI (4 R/2 ER) as he remains firmly on the tightrope w/this ERA/WHIP combo
12 Grant Holmes ATL v WSN x x 39 4.58 1.25 12% 18th Litmus test 2-step wk for Holmes w/at BOS looming on the wknd; didn’t see a 12% BB coming but w/just 3 in his L2, maybe he’s improving? Schedule stays intense after this wk: SDP, at PHI, ARI
13 Clarke Schmidt NYY at SEA x x 20 4.79 1.40 10% 3rd 1st real gem of the yr last time out v. SDP; devastating 2-step w/4th and 5th ranked tms in wOBA vR
14 Jake Irvin WSN at ATL x 48 3.94 1.15 10% 14th Curvin’ Jake Irvin has a 3.09 ERA/0.97 WHIP over his L5 (32 IP) and that’s inflated by an ugly 3-run 1st inn. at PHI (5 IP/3 ER after that); 10% K-BB & 1.4 HR9 do undercut the viability of the run w/a .196 BABIP doing most of the work
15 Yusei Kikuchi LAA at SDP x 42 3.83 1.46 10% 4th Good in 4 of his L5, but the 5th was 2 IP/4 ER/4 BB/0 K at MIN and now you’re staring down the barrel of an at SDP/at LAD 2-step… goooood luck!
16 Ben Lively CLE v MIL x 41 3.46 1.20 9% 20th Now featuring colored smoke and even more mirrors!
17 Tanner Houck BOS at DET x 41 6.10 1.50 10% 10th Those 11 ER at TBR are obscuring a solid 3.57 ERA over his L4 w/a 1.17 WHIP and 17% K-BB in 22.7 IP; not diving in head-first, but he’s at least back on the table for a 2-step wk (v. ATL this wknd)
18 Justin Verlander SFG v ARI 42 4.50 1.31 11% 2nd It’s really gotta be aces-only v. ARI and it’s not like JV is fully earning the 2.70 ERA over his L4
19 Emerson Hancock SEA v NYY 23 5.70 1.56 10% 4th Pitching pretty well since DET trounced him for 6 ER in just 2/3rds an IP, but w/at SDP looming on the wknd, this is remarkably tough 2-step… be careful
20 Jackson Jobe DET v BOS 27 4.88 1.48 4% 8th Getting cooked in Coors isn’t entirely disqualifying even w/how bad COL’s been, buuuuttt he was walking a tightrope well before this start rending him cuttable in many formats
21 Chase Dollander COL at TEX 28 7.71 1.64 9% 26th Solid matchup and out of Coors, buuuttt I’m just not sure there’s enough upside
22 Cal Quantrill MIA at CHC 31 7.11 1.67 8% 5th Yes, offff course he drops a 5 IP/1 ER/6 K gm on LAD, lol… I love baseball!!
Recommendations for Roto 5×5 Leagues

 

2-START CHART

2-Start Chart for the Week of May 12th
RANK PITCHER TYPE MATCHUPS IP ERA WHIP K-BB Pitch+
1 Michael King 1 LAA/SEA 44.2 2.22 0.99 19% 104
2 Paul Skenes 1 at NYM/at PHI 48.2 2.77 0.95 18% 105
3 Max Fried 1 at SEA/NYM 51.2 1.05 0.91 17% 102
4 Cristopher Sánchez 1 STL/PIT 37.1 2.89 1.23 19% 98
5 Spencer Schwellenbach 2 WAS/at BOS 47.1 3.61 1.12 18% 108
6 Tyler Mahle 2 COL/HOU 42.2 1.48 0.98 10% 113
7 Matthew Liberatore 2 at PHI/at KCR 41 3.07 0.95 20% 108
8 Ryan Gusto 3 KCR/at TEX 27.2 2.93 1.27 18% 97
9 Shane Baz 3 at TOR/at MIA 38.1 4.93 1.33 16% 100
10 Colin Rea 3 MIA/CWS 29.2 2.43 1.21 15% 100
11 Michael Wacha 3 at HOU/STL 45.1 2.98 1.15 11% 101
12 Merrill Kelly 켈리 3 at SFG/COL 44 4.09 1.05 12% 107
13 Clarke Schmidt 3 at SEA/NYM 20.2 4.79 1.40 10% 100
14 David Peterson 3 PIT/at NYY 38.1 3.52 1.38 14% 103
15 José Berríos 3 TBR/DET 46.2 3.86 1.41 12% 95
16 Andrew Abbott 4 CHW/CLE 24 2.25 1.17 19% 93
17 Grant Holmes 4 WAS/at BOS 39.1 4.58 1.25 12% 100
18 Michael Soroka 4 at ATL/at BAL 10 7.20 1.30 19% 103
19 Justin Verlander 4 ARI/ATH 42 4.50 1.31 11% 96
20 Tanner Houck 4 at DET/ATL 41.1 6.10 1.50 10% 105
21 Jake Irvin 4 at ATL/at BAL 48 3.94 1.15 10% 105
22 Emerson Hancock 4 NYY/at SDP 23.2 5.70 1.56 10% 102
23 Yusei Kikuchi 4 at SDP/at LAD 42.1 3.83 1.46 10% 107
24 Jackson Jobe 4 BOS/at TOR 27.2 4.88 1.48 4% 96
25 Ben Lively 라이블리 5 MIL/at CIN 41.2 3.46 1.20 9% 105
26 Cade Povich 5 MIN/WAS 35.2 5.55 1.54 11% 105
27 Simeon Woods Richardson 5 at BAL/at MIL 33.2 4.01 1.43 13% 99
28 Jack Leiter 5 COL/HOU 23 5.09 1.30 7% 89
29 Jeffrey Springs 5 at LAD/at SFG 39.1 4.81 1.42 7% 96
30 Chase Dollander 6 at TEX/at ARI 28 7.71 1.64 9% 90
31 Jonathan Cannon 6 at CIN/at CHC 44 4.09 1.45 8% 102
32 Cal Quantrill 6 at CHC/TBR 31.2 7.11 1.67 8% 100

Recommendations for Roto 5×5 Leagues

TYPE Key:
1 – Auto-Start | 2 – All Formats | 3 – Most Formats |
4 – Some Formats | 5 – YOLO | 6 – Hard Pass





Paul is the Editor of Rotographs and Content Director for OOTP Perfect Team. Follow Paul on Twitter @sporer and on Twitch at sporer.

6 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
carterMember since 2020
23 days ago

Have a Oc that is sitting at 2 overall with complete lack of closers (Munoz). I now have 4 speculative guys, Bednar, Martin, Romano, Tinoco. If I had to start 2 of the last 4, how would you rank them?