Starting Pitcher Chart – May 18th, 2026

by
May 18, 2026
Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

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, and recently added opponent’s K% (also v. SP 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.

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Starting Pitcher Chart May 18th
Rk PITCHER Team Opponent 10 12 15+ IP ERA WHIP K% K-BB OPP K% opp wOBA RK
1 Yoshinobu Yamamoto LAD at SDP x x x 50 3.60 1.00 25% 19% 23% 26
2 Shota Imanaga CHC v. MIL x x x 54.1 2.32 0.90 28% 22% 22% 27
3 Shane McClanahan TBR v. BAL x x x 39.2 2.27 0.98 26% 16% 25% 16
4 Ryan Weathers NYY v. TOR x x x 45 3.00 1.11 30% 23% 18% 21
5 Robbie Ray SFG at ARI x x x 50.1 3.04 1.17 24% 14% 18% 7
6 Bryan Woo SEA v. CHW x x x 53 3.91 1.00 22% 18% 24% 15
7 Framber Valdez DET v. CLE x x x 50 4.32 1.36 19% 11% 19% 9
8 Seth Lugo KCR v. BOS x x x 52.2 3.76 1.42 21% 12% 23% 29
9 Michael King SDP v. LAD x x x 51.1 2.63 1.09 24% 14% 21% 2
10 Sonny Gray BOS at KCR x x x 34 3.18 1.15 15% 9% 22% 14
11 Christian Scott NYM at WSN x x 15.2 3.45 1.40 29% 16% 21% 16
12 Nick Lodolo CIN at PHI x x 9.1 8.68 1.61 19% 9% 23% 19
13 MacKenzie Gore TEX at COL x x 48 4.50 1.25 26% 15% 30% 24
14 Trevor Rogers BAL at TBR x x 34.1 5.77 1.54 19% 11% 18% 22
15 Brandon Sproat MIL at CHC x 36 5.75 1.53 23% 10% 21% 8
16 Max Meyer MIA v. ATL x 47.2 3.21 1.15 27% 18% 21% 1
17 J.T. Ginn ATH at LAA x 43.1 3.12 1.20 19% 10% 26% 23
18 JR Ritchie ATL at MIA x 21.2 3.32 1.43 18% 2% 21% 18
19 Noah Schultz CHW at SEA x 29.1 4.91 1.36 21% 4% 24% 28
20 Patrick Corbin TOR at NYY 34.1 3.93 1.40 15% 8% 24% 4
21 Walbert Urena LAA v. ATH 27.1 3.29 1.43 22% 8% 22% 4
22 Jake Irvin WSN v. NYM 42.2 5.91 1.45 23% 13% 21% 30
23 Tatsuya Imai HOU at MIN 12.2 9.24 2.05 25% 3% 24% 22
24 Andrew Painter PHI v. CIN 37.2 6.21 1.59 20% 13% 23% 20
25 Slade Cecconi CLE at DET 45 5.60 1.58 19% 10% 23% 13
26 Zac Gallen ARI v. SFG 43 5.02 1.51 15% 8% 22% 28
27 Simeon Woods Richardson MIN v. HOU 42 7.71 1.86 10% 22% 7
28 Jose Quintana COL v. TEX 34 3.97 1.41 11% 28% 30
Recommendations for Roto 5×5 Leagues

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.

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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.

Color Coding

  • Blue – Best
  • Green – Good
  • Yellow – OK
  • Red – Bad
  • Black – Worst





 

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

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AnonMember since 2025
20 hours ago

Wind at 10+:

PHI – out to center at 10
DET – in from R at 16
WAS – out to L center at 10
NYY – in from R at 10
Wrigley – out to L at 16, bump to bats
KCR – out to L at 17
Coors – in from center at 11

Rain:

DET – 44% at 1st pitch dropping to 26% by game end
Wrigley – tops out at 20%
KCR – 23-26% during the game
MIN – 60% at 1st pitch increasing to 89% by game end and 97% after the game
Coors – 47-55% all game

4