Starting Pitcher Chart – September 9th, 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 morning! I’m also curious if there’s anything those of you still chasing down titles and placements would want to see to make the board more useful in September.
- Tough board today starting with pitchers 2-5 all have medium-to-tough matchups. It doesn’t take me off any of ’em, of course, just know there’s some downside w/a rookie in ATL, anyone v. ARI, Biebs still only making his 6th start in 2 yrs, and Ranger in a heated divisional matchup v. NYM
- Pitchers 6-10 go the other way where it’s less bankable arms, but much stronger matchups:
Is Eury hitting a wall and done being good this year or ready to rebound v. WAS?It’s Mazur today, Eury tom.- Can Houser defeat his old team despite their improved offense? (15th wOBA in L30)
- Will Bradish stay hot w/a great matchup?
- Is Cameron’s tank running empty? 0 K/6 ER, 5 BB/3 ER in his L2 starts
- Does Sheehan go long enough to steal a W in a great spot?
- I can see running any of the 2-x’s in 10-teamers, but I don’t think they are anywhere near must starts… Strider’s been better in his L2 but still just 4 Ks/5 BB so he’s not necessarily back just bc of the 4 ER in 12 IP.
- King’s 1-x is just IL return caution. As I discussed with someone in the comments, if he goes off today then it’s all systems go v. COL
—
| RK | PITCHER | GAME | 10 | 12 | 15+ | IP | ERA | WHIP | K-BB | 2025 wOBA RK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Kirby | SEA v STL | x | x | x | 104 | 4.47 | 1.23 | 18% | 25th |
| 2 | Cade Horton | CHC at ATL | x | x | x | 103 | 2.78 | 1.14 | 13% | 19th |
| 3 | Robbie Ray | SFG v ARI | x | x | x | 168 | 3.31 | 1.18 | 15% | 11th |
| 4 | Shane Bieber | TOR v HOU | x | x | x | 17 | 4.15 | 0.81 | 29% | 21st |
| 5 | Ranger Suárez | PHI v NYM | x | x | x | 137 | 2.89 | 1.18 | 17% | 13th |
| 6 | MIA v WSN | 16 | 5.74 | 1.53 | 9% | 20th | ||||
| 7 | Adrian Houser | TBR at CHW | x | x | x | 101 | 3.01 | 1.29 | 10% | 28th |
| 8 | Kyle Bradish | BAL v PIT | x | x | x | 10 | 3.60 | 1.00 | 34% | 29th |
| 9 | Noah Cameron | KCR at CLE | x | x | x | 113 | 3.03 | 1.13 | 11% | 28th |
| 10 | Emmet Sheehan | LAD v COL | x | x | x | 52 | 3.59 | 1.16 | 19% | 27th |
| 11 | Will Warren | NYY v DET | x | x | 141 | 4.28 | 1.39 | 15% | 18th | |
| 12 | Zac Gallen | ARI at SFG | x | x | 168 | 4.77 | 1.28 | 14% | 13th | |
| 13 | Mike Burrows | PIT at BAL | x | x | 81 | 4.08 | 1.26 | 15% | 17th | |
| 14 | Zebby Matthews | MIN at LAA | x | x | 64 | 4.73 | 1.42 | 20% | 26th | |
| 15 | Spencer Strider | ATL v CHC | x | x | 101 | 4.97 | 1.39 | 15% | 8th | |
| 16 | Joey Cantillo | CLE v KCR | x | x | 72 | 3.73 | 1.40 | 16% | 23rd | |
| 17 | Zack Littell | CIN at SDP | x | x | 165 | 3.81 | 1.14 | 13% | 16th | |
| 18 | Jeffrey Springs | ATH v BOS | x | x | 157 | 4.13 | 1.18 | 12% | 7th | |
| 19 | Chad Patrick | MIL at TEX | W | x | 105 | 3.60 | 1.30 | 16% | 24th | |
| 20 | Michael King | SDP v CIN | x | 57 | 2.81 | 1.09 | 19% | 14th | ||
| 21 | Jack Leiter | TEX v MIL | x | 127 | 3.74 | 1.29 | 12% | 11th | ||
| 22 | Casey Mize | DET at NYY | x | 125 | 3.87 | 1.30 | 15% | 2nd | ||
| 23 | Luis Garcia | HOU at TOR | x | 6 | 4.50 | 0.50 | 29% | 3rd | ||
| 24 | Sean Manaea | NYM at PHI | x | 45 | 5.60 | 1.24 | 25% | 9th | ||
| 25 | Yoendrys Gómez | CHW v TBR | x | 41 | 4.79 | 1.55 | 8% | 10th | ||
| 26 | Matthew Liberatore | STL at SEA | x | 136 | 4.15 | 1.30 | 13% | 12th | ||
| 27 | Dustin May | BOS at ATH | 132 | 4.96 | 1.42 | 11% | 7th | |||
| 28 | Mitchell Parker | WSN at MIA | 145 | 5.87 | 1.48 | 7% | 27th | |||
| 29 | Kyle Hendricks | LAA v MIN | 142 | 4.81 | 1.30 | 8% | 23rd | |||
| 30 | Germán Márquez | COL at LAD | 107 | 6.19 | 1.71 | 7% | 6th |
Recommendations for Roto 5×5 Leagues
KEY
x: Standard Recommendation | W: Chasing the Win
Any match-up related concern with King, or just the baseline risk of starting someone who is just coming off a long IL stint and with no data from the rehab stint to look to? I imagine he could be an x/x/x against COL this weekend if his stuff has some legs tonight?
Yes, just some caution coming off the IL especially late in the season when we’ll have less time to fix a 5-6 ER outing if he’s not at 100% yet. I do agree that if he’s solid here, then yes it’s all systems go v. COL this wknd!