What’s up RotoBallers. Below are all of the projected starting pitching matchups for Week 18, including our recommendation on whether to start or sit them for your fantasy baseball teams. Next to each matchup below, we also have a link to our Premium Starting Pitcher Daily Matchups, Streamers & DFS Tool. For those who aren't aware, our in-house tool analyzes SP matchups based on a variety of stats/metrics, and recommends whether start, sit, or stream any pitcher for seasonal and DFS leagues. It's pretty cool.
For every week of the fantasy baseball season, we look to analyze all of the projected starting pitcher matchups and put together our optimal lineups. This week there are a ton of great two-start pitchers including Lester, Liriano, Scherzer, Felix, Kluber, Arrieta, Richards, Tanaka, Archer and Miller. As always, there are also viable starting pitcher sleepers and streamers to consider off the waiver wire (Corbin, Jungmann, Wisler, Shoemaker, Leake, Ray, Severino), depending on your league size and format including AL-Only and NL-Only leagues.
Here at RotoBaller, we believe that it’s key to analyze every SP matchup, each and every week, to help determine which SPs to start/sit and to hopefully find some hidden gems to bolster your teams. This weekly piece considers all of the pitching performances thus far this season, the pitcher’s opponents, their career stats against the opponent, some ballpark factors and historical splits. With all of this information, we then provide our start/sit recommendations for each starting pitcher matchup for the approaching week of fantasy baseball.
SP Matchups & Start/Sit Recommendations
Editor’s Note: RotoBaller’s fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups list is updated every single day. Our awesome writers bring you analysis on hot or emerging starting pitchers, and also all other fantasy positions. You can also download our waiver wire iPhone app for free, and easily stay updated.
Note that MLB teams usually shuffle their rotations at the beginning of the week, so I’ll try my best to update the matchups throughout the day:
PROBABLE PITCHERS - MONDAY (8/3/15) | ||||
GAME | VISITING STARTER | START/SIT | HOME STARTER | START/SIT |
ARI@WAS | Zack Godley SP | ARI | Sit | Doug Fister SP | WAS | Sit |
BAL@OAK | Tyler Wilson RP | BAL | Sit | Jesse Chavez SP | OAK | Sit |
CHC@PIT | Jon Lester SP | CHC | Start | Francisco Liriano SP | PIT | Start |
CLE@LAA | Corey Kluber SP | CLE | Start | Garrett Richards SP | LAA | Start |
HOU@TEX | Lance McCullers SP | HOU | Sit | Colby Lewis SP | TEX | Start |
MIN@TOR | Ervin Santana SP | MIN | Sit | David Price SP | TOR | Start |
NYM@MIA | Bartolo Colon SP | NYM | Start | Tom Koehler SP | MIA | Start |
SD@MIL | Tyson Ross SP | SD | Start | Wily Peralta SP | MIL | Sit |
SEA@COL | Felix Hernandez SP | SEA | Start | Eddie Butler SP | COL | Sit |
SF@ATL | Matt Cain SP | SF | Sit | Mike Foltynewicz RP | ATL | Sit |
TB@CHW | Nathan Karns SP | TB | Start | Jose Quintana SP | CHW | Start |
PROBABLE PITCHERS - TUESDAY (8/4/15) | ||||
GAME | VISITING STARTER | START/SIT | HOME STARTER | START/SIT |
ARI@WAS | Patrick Corbin SP | ARI | Start | Max Scherzer SP | WAS | Start |
BAL@OAK | Miguel Gonzalez SP | BAL | Sit | Chris Bassitt SP | OAK | Sit |
BOS@NYY | Henry Owens SP | BOS | Sit | Masahiro Tanaka SP | NYY | Start |
CHC@PIT | Jake Arrieta SP | CHC | Start | J.A. Happ SP | PIT | Sit |
CLE@LAA | Carlos Carrasco RP | CLE | Start | Matt Shoemaker SP | LAA | Start |
HOU@TEX | Mike Fiers SP | HOU | Start | Yovani Gallardo SP | TEX | Sit |
KC@DET | Danny Duffy SP | KC | Sit | Justin Verlander SP | DET | Start |
LAD@PHI | Alex Wood SP | LAD | Start | Jerome Williams RP | PHI | Sit |
MIN@TOR | Phil Hughes SP | MIN | Sit | Marco Estrada RP | TOR | Start |
NYM@MIA | Jonathon Niese SP | NYM | Start | Brad Hand RP | MIA | Sit |
SD@MIL | Andrew Cashner SP | SD | Sit | Jimmy Nelson SP | MIL | Sit |
SEA@COL | Vidal Nuno SP | SEA | Sit | Jon Gray RP | COL | Sit |
SF@ATL | Jake Peavy SP | SF | Start | Shelby Miller SP | ATL | Start |
STL@CIN | John Lackey SP | STL | Start | Anthony DeSclafani SP | CIN | Sit |
TB@CHW | Chris Archer SP | TB | Start | Chris Sale SP | CHW | Start |
PROBABLE PITCHERS - WEDNEDSAY (8/5/15) | ||||
GAME | VISITING STARTER | START/SIT | HOME STARTER | START/SIT |
ARI@WAS | Rubby De La Rosa SP | ARI | Start | Gio Gonzalez SP | WAS | Start |
BAL@OAK | Wei-Yin Chen SP | BAL | Start | Kendall Graveman RP | OAK | Sit |
BOS@NYY | Steven Wright RP | BOS | Sit | Luis Severino SP | NYY | Start |
CHC@PIT | Dan Haren SP | CHC | Start | Jeff Locke SP | PIT | Sit |
CLE@LAA | Danny Salazar SP | CLE | Start | Hector Santiago SP | LAA | Start |
HOU@TEX | Scott Kazmir SP | HOU | Start | Nick Martinez SP | TEX | Sit |
KC@DET | Johnny Cueto SP | KC | Start | Buck Farmer SP | DET | Sit |
LAD@PHI | Brett Anderson SP | LAD | Start | Aaron Harang SP | PHI | Sit |
MIN@TOR | Tyler Duffey SP | MIN | Sit | Drew Hutchison SP | TOR | Start |
NYM@MIA | Matt Harvey SP | NYM | Start | David Phelps SP | MIA | Sit |
SD@MIL | Ian Kennedy SP | SD | Start | Taylor Jungmann SP | MIL | Start |
SEA@COL | Taijuan Walker SP | SEA | Sit | TBD | TBD |
SF@ATL | Madison Bumgarner SP | SF | Start | Williams Perez SP | ATL | Sit |
STL@CIN | Carlos Martinez RP | STL | Start | David Holmberg SP | CIN | Sit |
TB@CHW | Erasmo Ramirez SP | TB | Start | Carlos Rodon SP | CHW | Sit |
PROBABLE PITCHERS - THURSDAY (8/6/15) | ||||
GAME | VISITING STARTER | START/SIT | HOME STARTER | START/SIT |
ARI@WAS | Jeremy Hellickson SP | ARI | Start | Joe Ross SP | WAS | Start |
BOS@NYY | Eduardo Rodriguez SP | BOS | Start | CC Sabathia SP | NYY | Sit |
HOU@OAK | Dallas Keuchel SP | HOU | Start | Aaron Brooks SP | OAK | Sit |
KC@DET | Yordano Ventura SP | KC | Sit | Anibal Sanchez SP | DET | Start |
LAD@PHI | Zack Greinke SP | LAD | Start | David Buchanan SP | PHI | Sit |
MIA@ATL | Jose Urena SP | MIA | Sit | Matt Wisler SP | ATL | Sit |
MIN@TOR | Kyle Gibson SP | MIN | Sit | Mark Buehrle SP | TOR | Sit |
SD@MIL | Odrisamer Despaigne SP | SD | Sit | Matt Garza SP | MIL | Sit |
SF@CHC | Chris Heston RP | SF | Start | Jason Hammel SP | CHC | Start |
STL@CIN | Michael Wacha SP | STL | Start | Michael Lorenzen SP | CIN | Sit |
PROBABLE PITCHERS - FRIDAY (8/7/15) | ||||
GAME | VISITING STARTER | START/SIT | HOME STARTER | START/SIT |
BAL@LAA | Kevin Gausman SP | BAL | Start | Andrew Heaney SP | LAA | Start |
BOS@DET | Joe Kelly SP | BOS | Sit | Alfredo Simon SP | DET | Sit |
CHW@KC | John Danks SP | CHW | Sit | Edinson Volquez SP | KC | Start |
CIN@ARI | Raisel Iglesias RP | CIN | Sit | Robbie Ray SP | ARI | Start |
COL@WAS | Jorge De La Rosa SP | COL | Sit | Jordan Zimmermann SP | WAS | Start |
HOU@OAK | Collin McHugh SP | HOU | Start | Sonny Gray SP | OAK | Start |
LAD@PIT | Clayton Kershaw SP | LAD | Start | Gerrit Cole SP | PIT | Start |
MIA@ATL | Jose Fernandez SP | MIA | Start | Julio Teheran SP | ATL | Start |
MIN@CLE | Mike Pelfrey SP | MIN | Start | Cody Anderson SP | CLE | Sit |
NYM@TB | Jacob deGrom SP | NYM | Start | Jake Odorizzi SP | TB | Start |
PHI@SD | Aaron Nola SP | PHI | Start | James Shields SP | SD | Start |
SF@CHC | Mike Leake SP | SF | Start | Kyle Hendricks SP | CHC | Start |
STL@MIL | Lance Lynn SP | STL | Start | Kyle Lohse SP | MIL | Sit |
TEX@SEA | Cole Hamels SP | TEX | Start | Mike Montgomery SP | SEA | Sit |
TOR@NYY | R.A. Dickey SP | TOR | Sit | Bryan Mitchell RP | NYY | Sit |
PROBABLE PITCHERS - SATURDAY (8/8/15) | ||||
GAME | VISITING STARTER | START/SIT | HOME STARTER | START/SIT |
BAL@LAA | Chris Tillman SP | BAL | Sit | TBD | TBD |
BOS@DET | Wade Miley SP | BOS | Sit | Daniel Norris RP | DET | Start |
CHW@KC | Jeff Samardzija SP | CHW | Start | TBD | TBD |
CIN@ARI | Keyvius Sampson SP | CIN | Sit | Zack Godley SP | ARI | Sit |
COL@WAS | Yohan Flande SP | COL | Sit | Doug Fister SP | WAS | Sit |
HOU@OAK | Lance McCullers SP | HOU | Start | Jesse Chavez SP | OAK | Start |
LAD@PIT | Mat Latos SP | LAD | Start | Charlie Morton SP | PIT | Sit |
MIA@ATL | Tom Koehler SP | MIA | Start | Mike Foltynewicz RP | ATL | Sit |
MIN@CLE | Ervin Santana SP | MIN | Start | Trevor Bauer SP | CLE | Start |
NYM@TB | Noah Syndergaard SP | NYM | Start | Nathan Karns SP | TB | Start |
PHI@SD | Adam Morgan SP | PHI | Sit | Tyson Ross SP | SD | Start |
SF@CHC | Matt Cain SP | SF | Sit | Jon Lester SP | CHC | Start |
STL@MIL | Jaime Garcia SP | STL | Start | Wily Peralta SP | MIL | Sit |
TEX@SEA | Martin Perez SP | TEX | Sit | Hisashi Iwakuma SP | SEA | Start |
TOR@NYY | David Price SP | TOR | Start | Ivan Nova SP | NYY | Sit |
PROBABLE PITCHERS - SUNDAY (8/9/15) | ||||
GAME | VISITING STARTER | START/SIT | HOME STARTER | START/SIT |
BAL@LAA | Ubaldo Jimenez SP | BAL | Sit | Garrett Richards SP | LAA | Start |
BOS@DET | TBD | TBD | Justin Verlander SP | DET | Start |
CHW@KC | Jose Quintana SP | CHW | Start | Danny Duffy SP | KC | Sit |
CIN@ARI | Anthony DeSclafani SP | CIN | Sit | Patrick Corbin SP | ARI | Start |
COL@WAS | Eddie Butler SP | COL | Sit | Max Scherzer SP | WAS | Start |
HOU@OAK | Mike Fiers SP | HOU | Start | Chris Bassitt SP | OAK | Sit |
LAD@PIT | Alex Wood SP | LAD | Start | Francisco Liriano SP | PIT | Start |
MIA@ATL | Brad Hand RP | MIA | Sit | Shelby Miller SP | ATL | Start |
MIN@CLE | Phil Hughes SP | MIN | Start | Corey Kluber SP | CLE | Start |
NYM@TB | Bartolo Colon SP | NYM | Start | Chris Archer SP | TB | Start |
PHI@SD | Jerome Williams RP | PHI | Sit | Andrew Cashner SP | SD | Start |
SF@CHC | Jake Peavy SP | SF | Start | Jake Arrieta SP | CHC | Start |
STL@MIL | John Lackey SP | STL | Start | Jimmy Nelson SP | MIL | Sit |
TEX@SEA | Colby Lewis SP | TEX | Start | Felix Hernandez SP | SEA | Start |
TOR@NYY | Marco Estrada RP | TOR | Start | Masahiro Tanaka SP | NYY | Start |
MLB & Fantasy Baseball Chat Room
What Do You Think
[iflychat_embed id="c-12" hide_user_list="yes" hide_popup_chat="no" height="400px"]