Starting Pitcher Chart – September 11th, 2026
- Daily SP Chart archive
- 2-Start podcast episode
- SP Rankings (last update: 7/24)
Welcome to the Daily SP Chart, click here if you’re new to get an idea of what I’m doing with these rankings.
I’ll drop some comments later this morning after Justin and I record the 2-start episode. I’m going to start using the W more in the board which is just a pure Win chase. This is for those who don’t care about their ratios and can chase Wins over anything else.
—
| Rk | PITCHER | Team | Opponent | T | 10 | 12 | 15+ | IP | ERA | WHIP | K% | K-BB | OPP K% | opp wOBA RK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blake Snell | LAD | at MIA | L | x | x | x | 32 | 1.97 | 1.09 | 33% | 22% | 23% | 22 |
| 2 | Chris Sale | ATL | v. PHI | L | x | x | x | 150 | 2.10 | 1.01 | 31% | 26% | 22% | 11 |
| 3 | Drew Rasmussen | TBR | v. HOU | R | x | x | x | 153.1 | 2.88 | 0.91 | 26% | 22% | 22% | 15 |
| 4 | Parker Messick | CLE | at MIN | L | x | x | x | 167 | 2.53 | 1.04 | 26% | 19% | 22% | 18 |
| 5 | Cade Cavalli | WSN | v. LAA | R | x | x | x | 158.2 | 3.12 | 1.18 | 28% | 21% | 25% | 29 |
| 6 | Nolan McLean | NYM | at NYY | R | x | x | x | 161.2 | 3.06 | 1.14 | 27% | 17% | 25% | 20 |
| 7 | Sonny Gray | BOS | v. KCR | R | x | x | x | 150.2 | 2.69 | 1.16 | 22% | 16% | 20% | 13 |
| 8 | Taj Bradley | MIN | v. CLE | R | x | x | x | 159.1 | 3.95 | 1.26 | 27% | 17% | 21% | 26 |
| 9 | Framber Valdez | DET | v. COL | L | x | x | x | 157.2 | 4.17 | 1.36 | 17% | 9% | 25% | 19 |
| 10 | Shota Imanaga | CHC | v. PIT | L | x | x | x | 156.1 | 3.91 | 1.12 | 24% | 18% | 26% | 24 |
| 11 | Robbie Ray | SDP | at SFG | L | x | x | x | 151.1 | 3.39 | 1.34 | 20% | 8% | 24% | 28 |
| 12 | Carlos Rodón | NYY | v. NYM | L | x | x | x | 64 | 3.09 | 1.17 | 26% | 13% | 23% | 20 |
| 13 | Aaron Nola | PHI | at ATL | R | x | x | 155 | 4.76 | 1.37 | 24% | 17% | 22% | 10 | |
| 14 | George Kirby | SEA | at ATH | R | x | x | 159.1 | 4.18 | 1.34 | 20% | 14% | 22% | 12 | |
| 15 | Dustin May | MIL | v. CIN | R | W | x | 132.1 | 4.69 | 1.32 | 23% | 15% | 25% | 28 | |
| 16 | Seth Lugo | KCR | at BOS | R | x | 159 | 5.04 | 1.44 | 17% | 10% | 22% | 17 | ||
| 17 | Andrew Abbott | CIN | at MIL | L | x | 152.1 | 4.43 | 1.42 | 18% | 8% | 21% | 14 | ||
| 18 | Max Scherzer | TOR | v. BAL | R | x | 62.2 | 6.03 | 1.36 | 18% | 8% | 24% | 19 | ||
| 19 | Anthony Molina | SFG | v. SDP | R | x | 19.1 | 2.79 | 0.88 | 20% | 16% | 22% | 21 | ||
| 26 | Chris Bassitt | BAL | at TOR | R | x | 85.1 | 4.96 | 1.58 | 16% | 7% | 19% | 23 | ||
| 20 | Anthony Kay | CHW | at STL | L | 141 | 4.47 | 1.36 | 18% | 10% | 19% | 12 | |||
| 21 | Kumar Rocker | TEX | at ARI | R | 134.2 | 4.61 | 1.44 | 21% | 12% | 20% | 30 | |||
| 22 | Matthew Liberatore | STL | v. CHW | L | 139 | 5.57 | 1.47 | 24% | 16% | 25% | 8 | |||
| 23 | Jeffrey Springs | ATH | v. SEA | L | 130 | 6.02 | 1.45 | 18% | 9% | 25% | 30 | |||
| 24 | Ryan Gusto | MIA | v. LAD | R | 72.1 | 4.23 | 1.41 | 19% | 12% | 21% | 1 | |||
| 25 | Merrill Kelly 켈리 | ARI | v. TEX | R | 147.2 | 5.06 | 1.47 | 15% | 5% | 22% | 25 | |||
| 27 | Yusei Kikuchi | LAA | at WSN | L | 49 | 4.96 | 1.47 | 23% | 14% | 24% | 2 | |||
| 28 | Carmen Mlodzinski | PIT | at CHC | R | 113 | 3.90 | 1.38 | 18% | 11% | 21% | 4 | |||
| 29 | Mason Adams | COL | at DET | R | 13.2 | 3.95 | 1.61 | 29% | 19% | 23% | 16 | |||
| 30 | Ethan Pecko | HOU | at TBR | R | 17.1 | 5.19 | 1.50 | 14% | 1% | 19% | 6 |
Intro
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.
Color Coding:
- Green – Good Matchup (lower OPS output by SP opponent) – 21st to 30th
- Yellow – OK – 11th to 20th
- Red – Bad – 1st to 10th
Wind:
Wrigley – in from R at 6
NYY – out to R at 8, below the usual 10 threshold but makes that right field porch even shorter
MIN – across from R to L at a strong 18
Sacramento – the usual out to L at 8
SFG – out to L at 10 in a park designed to minimize wind effects
Rain:
ATL – 45-55% all day
MIN – 5-10% during the game but 18% just after
Kikuchi not a start? He’s been dealing last 2
Yes, LAA SPs have been dialed in. Gonna add some x’s for him!
2nd week of HxH playoffs and my pitching is off to a monster start so have some room for a stream. Streamed in Ray because the Giants’ 3 actual hitters are all LH and the rest of that lineup is fake names and not real baseball players.
After that, debating between Kikuchi (looked good last couple starts) and Liberatore (better venue at home). Other than that, they’re so much the same pitcher – plenty of Ks, K-BB% is decent, a few too many HR and a high BABIP. Even their ROS projections are pretty similar. Even the weather for each is pretty identical – tiny bit of wind in from R, temps around 80*. Hmmmm. . . .
(Was going to post that the Giants’ lineup is a witness protection program but that would mean they are important players playing under assumed names. Like maybe Ohtani isn’t injured but is really just getting some work in as “Turner Hill”.)
I am more in on Kikuchi than his 0-x ranking in the initial board suggests. As Uncle Stevie in the comments mentioned (and you did, too), he’s been up lately and in fact, the WHOLE Angels staff has been so I think he was catching the residual Mike Maddux heat. I’ve adjusted the others, but hadn’t adjusted him yet. He’s always someone I’m nervous with, but I don’t mind streaming him this wknd, even v. WAS
You had a note about updated SP rankings coming in Sep but I don’t see that note anymore. Do you still plan for new ranks?
I put this on Wednesday’s board, but I should probably post it on the next few. I should’ve done a mid-August one. It’s just too late to have any real value for y’all, especially for the time it takes. That said, I will be working on an early 2027 board for October. Here’s that note from Wednesday:
Makes sense and I agree.
I’m a 20 team dynasty points league. What do we do about George Kirby?! I’m not dropping him but I’m also not starting him, and my league doesn’t allow for much of that… I started Merrill Kelly over him yesterday and was rewarded…
I agree with holding, of course, despite the lack of confidence in starting him particularly on the road. Can you sit next week at LAA and then run him at home v. HOU in the final week? I really wonder how much that shit defense of theirs is hurting him, though, it’s really on the road so that breaks down that idea a bit.