Starting Pitcher Chart – May 7th, 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.

• Lugo bounced back from his 7 ER nightmare v. LAA. Duds are just part of his game. He had 5 in his big 2024 season and his 14 since 2024 are tied for 4th-most.
• I’m not sitting King or anything, but I want to point out that STL has been sneaky strong. They’re sitting 9th vR on the season and up at 3rd in the last 2 weeks. It gives me pause on someone like Walker Buehler over the weekend and could slow me down some Griffin Canning, though I’ve always had a soft spot for him.
• I think Painter’s better than his .370 BABIP, especially with a flyball lean; ATH is tough enough to still play it safe in the shallowest formats, but he’s viable across the board.
• Where are the Kellerheads from the chat? Your boy better not let me down here! After inconsistent control in his first four starts (0, 4, 1, 4 BB), he has dialed in with just 3 in his last three starts combined (19 IP). Often a Keller skeptic, I’m down to run the hot hand here as his 2.84 ERA/0.84 WHIP over the L3 comes with a 19% K-BB and 114 LOC+. He wins with command and control which does lead to more volatility with the ball in play more often and ARI is up to 12th vR over the last 2 weeks, though Skenes and Co. shut them out tonight (I’m typing this with just 1 out in the 9th… will I jinx the Pirates?).
• Griffin Jax is opening and he’s still unlikely to deliver a fantasy-relevant inning total, but they are stretching him out with a season-high 45 pitches last time out. I don’t know if this caps around 3+ innings, but if they can get him consistently in the 3-5 range, maybe he can move into the follower role. Scholtens, meanwhile, isn’t a bad Win chase, having won 3 of his last 4. All of the wins were follows, though he did go 5.7 IP in the start so it wasn’t volume that kept him from winning that one.
• Some of the 1-x’s have fringe 12-start viability but I’m not eager to use them there.
• Whenever we start trusting Irvin, he drops 4 BB on our heads… but that’s why he’s a #4. That’s just a trait of #4s and why they live in the streaming world. MIN is 7th in K% vR so maybe we spike one of his biggies (games of 7 and 9 Ks this yr).
• I’m keeping tabs on Scott, but let’s be careful about running him in Coors. COL has found their groove at home, though perhaps the snowyyy weather this week will slow them down.
• Povich and Liberatore are fringe streamers for sure. Povich gets a sputtering MIA offense in their HR-suppressing park (88 HR factor is 6th lowest) while Liberatore gets a slightly better offense in a park that suppresses everything but homers (97 overall factor is 25th, but 108 HR is 9th highest).
• Even with as bad as PHI has been, Ginn is scary to stream here. Is the upside even worth the severe downside? PHI might not get all the way back into a Top 10 offseason this year but Ginn has a career 349-pt. platoon split and their 3 above avg. hitters are all lefties (Schwarber, Harper, and Marsh).
• Just not enough swing and miss in Lowder’s game to have any real confidence with him, particularly if the wind is blowing out at Wrigley.
• Gallen has very similar metrics to Lowder with just a 7% K-BB and 8% SwStr. If not for a 5% HR/FB, he’d likely be toting an ERA north of 5.00 right now.
• Cecconi has always been a HR machine but it’s even worse this year at 2.0 (career 1.7) and at that rate, there’s nothing he can do to make himself a worthy stream.

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.