Starting Pitcher Chart – September 1st, 2025
The chart includes their performance for 2025, their opponent’s wOBA rank versus the pitcher’s handedness from this year so far, 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 a much 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.
Board tonight, comments in the AM!
- Jeez, what a tough board to open the week! Greene – our top SP – gets the AL East-leading Blue Jays. Gray and Cease get feisty offenses in ATH and BAL
- Nelson is quietly having a fantastic season and has the best matchup of the Top 5
- Mis went 5 IP last time out, notching 10 Ks… could do it again or go 3 IP but he’s tough to sit anywhere
- Bello’s 5 ER in 5.7 IP at SDP is his only sub-6 IP outing over the L6: 2.12 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 13% K-BB in 38.7 IP
- Strider dropped a solid 7 IP/1 ER gem after 3 straight duds, but still only had 3 Ks… kinda similar to Mis where you’re starting him damn near everywhere despite the remarkably volatile performance
- Dropped an “x” off Castillo and Kikuchi as I’m open to skipping either in shallower formats… trips to TBR & HOU are scary
- Bradish was amazing in his return to the mound, but that doesn’t mean he’s an automatic must-start after 6 good IP
- We have to distance ourselves from the name value of Ober/Manaea relative to their brutal performances
- Added a 2nd “x” to Morales, but didn’t shift the board; I would consider Morales behind Messick now
- Baz terrifies me at home and I took off the 1 “x” he had as I just don’t see the upside of running him anywhere
| RK | PITCHER | GAME | 10 | 12 | 15+ | IP | ERA | WHIP | K-BB | 2025 wOBA RK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hunter Greene | CIN v TOR | x | x | x | 77 | 2.81 | 0.97 | 26% | 5th |
| 2 | Sonny Gray | STL v ATH | x | x | x | 152 | 4.19 | 1.18 | 22% | 8th |
| 3 | Ryne Nelson | ARI v TEX | x | x | x | 125 | 3.53 | 1.06 | 15% | 24th |
| 4 | Dylan Cease | SDP v BAL | x | x | x | 142 | 4.82 | 1.33 | 20% | 15th |
| 5 | Jacob Misiorowski | MIL v PHI | x | x | x | 43 | 4.33 | 1.10 | 25% | 6th |
| 6 | Brayan Bello | BOS v CLE | x | x | x | 141 | 2.99 | 1.21 | 10% | 29th |
| 7 | Spencer Strider | ATL at CHC | x | x | x | 96 | 4.95 | 1.38 | 16% | 7th |
| 8 | Luis Castillo | SEA at TBR | x | x | 151 | 3.75 | 1.28 | 14% | 11th | |
| 9 | Yusei Kikuchi | LAA at HOU | x | x | 154 | 3.68 | 1.43 | 14% | 5th | |
| 10 | Colin Rea | CHC v ATL | W | x | x | 132 | 4.23 | 1.32 | 10% | 16th |
| 11 | Kyle Bradish | BAL at SDP | x | x | 6 | 3.00 | 0.67 | 48% | 18th | |
| 12 | Parker Messick | CLE at BOS | x | x | 13 | 0.66 | 0.88 | 22% | 6th | |
| 13 | Bailey Ober | MIN v CHW | x | x | 119 | 5.14 | 1.34 | 14% | 30th | |
| 14 | Sean Manaea | NYM at DET | x | x | 41 | 5.01 | 1.14 | 25% | 2nd | |
| 15 | Chris Bassitt | TOR at CIN | x | x | 150 | 4.14 | 1.33 | 16% | 14th | |
| 16 | Charlie Morton | DET v NYM | x | 128 | 5.25 | 1.48 | 14% | 2nd | ||
| 17 | Luis Morales | ATH at STL | x | x | 22 | 1.19 | 0.97 | 14% | 25th | |
| 18 | Shane Baz | TBR v SEA | 144 | 5.19 | 1.35 | 16% | 12th | |||
| 19 | Taijuan Walker | PHI at MIL | 101 | 3.63 | 1.33 | 9% | 10th | |||
| 20 | Chase Dollander | COL v SFG | 88 | 6.55 | 1.60 | 8% | 19th | |||
| 21 | Patrick Corbin | TEX at ARI | 131 | 4.33 | 1.36 | 12% | 11th | |||
| 22 | Andrew Alvarez | WSN v MIA | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | 26th | |||
| 23 | Bryse Wilson | CHW at MIN | 45 | 6.95 | 1.90 | 4% | 21st | |||
| 24 | Adam Mazur | MIA at WSN | 9 | 5.59 | 1.45 | 4% | 20th | |||
| 25 | Luis Garcia | HOU v LAA | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | #N/A | 26th | |||
| 26 | Kai-Wei Teng | SFG at COL | 13 | 8.78 | 1.73 | 5% | 27th |
Recommendations for Roto 5×5 Leagues |
KEY
x: Standard Recommendation |
W: Chasing the Win