Expected SP Schedules Weeks 2-3: We Are So Back

Arizona Diamondbacks

 

• Spending a series in Colorado negates some pitchers right out of the gate this week, losing a start from Kelly and Henry, for sure. Gallen is a judgement call. Through two starts his walks are up and strikeouts down. His velocity has been down, too. There’s enough concern to sit him in an unfriendly environment.
• The Diamondbacks short term matchups aren’t very good for fantasy purposes. They may not be trustworthy until the Giants series.

AtlantaBraves

 

• Elephant in the room: Spencer Strider is gone and that really sucks. They say it’s a UCL Sprain, so let’s hope for the best. It appears Dylan Dodd will be taking Strider’s starts for the time being.

 

Baltimore Orioles

 

• Per the hitting tiers from Nick’s streamer article, the Milwaukee and Minnesota matchups might provide some positive results for this rotation. However, going to Fenway to start the week is rough.
• This rotation has started the year really well. The boast the lowest walk rate in the majors in the short sample at 4.3 percent. That matches up with a 25.5 percent strikeout rate.

 

Boston Red Sox

 

• Baltimore’s offense might be a little too much for a struggling Brayan Bello right now. He just hasn’t looked quite right to start the year, particularly his breaking ball. That is a concern for him early on.
• An Ohtani-less Anaheim, however, is interesting.

 

Chicago Cubs

 

• Cubs starters are a top five unit in strikeout percentage to start the season, which is shocking considering the lack of star power. Wicks and Imanga are the only two ranked on The List. With a tough schedule ahead, we’ll see where they stand in a week.

 

Chicago White Sox

 

• Garrett Crochet, am I right? This is exactly what we all expected to happen to start the year, right? Seriously though, good for Crochet. Injuries are a worry with him, but I’m bought in early.
• Waiting in the wings are prospects like Nick Nastrini, Jake Eder, and Jared Shuster, among others. There could be some turnover in the near future.

 

Cincinnati Reds

 

• Note: Great American Ballpark isn’t great for pitchers, so the Reds are one of the couple teams that will be evaluated differently based on home and away. 
• Lots of home games, but that’s the risk you take when rostering a Reds pitcher. It will be a lot of fun watching them travel to Chicago to take on the White Sox offense. Especially because that is projected to be Nick Lodolo’s return to action.

 

Cleveland Guardians

 

• Projected starters at the time of publish show skipping Williams’ spot this next time through before he returns from injury. If there’s going to be a spot starter it’s unclear at this time. Things are a bit shaken up with the loss of Shane Bieber.
• The White Sox are a good matchup early on, the Yankees are scary, then they go to Fenway. It’s an unfortunate stretch of matchups and locations coming for this unit.

 

Colorado Rockies

 

• Note: Coors Field is where balls go to fly a long way. If the Rockies are at home, then their pitchers will bear the brunt of that from a value standpoint.
• Being in Coors Field against Arizona before then facing the Blue Jays and Phillies make any Rockie starter nearly irrelevant for fantasy purposes in the near future. The matchups just simply aren’t there.

 

Detroit Tigers

 

• The shocking Tigers are having a pretty good time to start the year. Kenta Maeda, however, has not gotten that memo. He may turn it around, but the Tigers may not give him much more leash. Who knows. Either way, he’s not someone to be starting at this point.

 

Houston Astros

 

• As a group the Astros starters aren’t really giving eye-popping stats. Outside of the no-no, of course. What they are doing early on is not giving up hard contact, boasting a hard hit percentage of 29.9% at the time of writing this.

Kansas City Royals

 

• (screaming) COLE RAGANS!
• Sorry it’s most likely staff policy to get really excited about Cole Ragans.
• Other than him, it’s play at your own risk with this rotation. They have some tough matchups coming up. It’s worth noting that through their first nine games, Royals starters posted a league leading 1.26 ERA. That clears the next lowest, the Red Sox with 1.72, by a significant amount. They’re tied with Boston for first in fWAR at 1.5, too.

 

Los Angeles Angels

 

• How about the start Detmers has had? He’s been absolutely fantastic. The tough matchups coming against the Rays and Red Sox in Fenway don’t look very promising, however.

 

Los Angeles Dodgers

 

• Remember that one time when Yoshinobu Yamamoto had an awful debut and we all panicked? His next two starts he’s combined for 10 shutout innings where he’s given up five hits, two walks, and 13 strikeouts. That’s good news.
• Bobby Miller’s last outing was not good. Hopefully just a blip on the radar. He still is trustworthy, especially against Minnesota. If he has a second rough outing, then it might be time to look a little bit deeper.

 

Miami Marlins

 

• This rotation is going to look very interesting soon. There could be some turnover or changing of roles as we anticipate the return of both of Edward Cabrera and Braxton Garrett.
• That being said, losing Eury Pérez is a huge blow.

 

Milwaukee Brewers

 

• The rough matchups coming up are something to take note of. It’s also worth noting that through seven total games thus far, Brewers starters have only thrown 33.2 innings. That’s third to only Minnesota and Atlanta. The starters aren’t throwing poorly, but it’s a trend to potentially monitor.

 

Minnesota Twins

 

• The top of this rotation is really good and is a safe bet against the Tigers offense. Those matchups are sandwiched between the Dodgers and Baltimore. This rotation has an ERA and FIP north of five, the good teams aren’t going to help that any.

New York Mets

 

• The Mets’ slow start is noted, but the surface numbers from the starting pitching hasn’t been terrible. The walk numbers could improve, but overall they aren’t doing horribly. The starters have the third lowest ERA in the early sample of the season at 2.18.
• Luis Severino is showing us how sad his injury history is, too. It’s good to see his stuff was still in tact. Hopefully he can remain healthy and that wasn’t a one start mirage.

 

New York Yankees

 

• Losing Gerrit Cole out of this rotation hurts, but there’s still a lot of talent in this rotation. And with a lineup built to compete there’s not a whole lot to say here this week. Especially with these matchups.

 

Oakland Athletics

 

• The only real note here is that the Athletics are going to be calling Sacramento home for the near future. That is not a big field and the ball is probably going to be flying quite a bit. Proceed with caution on A’s arms next year.

 

Philadelphia Phillies

 

• Wheeler and Nola are automatic starts and Suárez looks like another option this week with his matchup against Pittsburgh. It’s also good luck to have a matchup against the Rockies away from Coors.

 

Pittsburgh Pirates

 

• Keller hasn’t been very good. But Jared Jones announced his presence with authority. That is real, he’s been dominating like that for awhile in the minors. His stuff is good and he uses it well.

 

San Diego Padres

 

• Yu Darvish is still around and for some reason that shocks and impresses me. It doesn’t shock me that he’s still good, though. That is very unsurprising.
• As a unit these starters have posted a 1.1 fWAR to start the year, making them a top-seven unit to start the season.

 

San Francisco Giants

 

• With the fireball stylings of Jordan Hicks and Keaton Winn, along with the strikeout track record of Kyle Harrison and Blake Snell, and of course the sheer existence of Logan Webb, it’s a little shocking to see this be a bottom four group in strikeouts. It’s still very early, but that’s a potential concern.

Seattle Mariners

 

• Seattle’s rotation is so fun. Outside of Emerson Hancock, it’s really hard to take any of these guys out of the rotation, even when the matchups aren’t good.

 

St. Louis Cardinals

 

• This is still one of the most interesting rotation decisions by a team I’ve seen. It’s certainly filled with veterans and we know what we’re going to get from them.

 

Tampa Bay Rays

 

• Some good matchups coming for the Rays. There’s still not a world where Tyler Alexander is an enticing streaming option, despite the matchup. Beyond him, though, there are some good options.

 

Texas Rangers

 

• Start everyone against Oakland!
• Houston is a tough draw after that, especially for the part of the rotation that will be facing them.

 

Toronto Blue Jays

 

• The top of the rotation facing Seattle then the back half getting a draw against Colorado away from the launching pad makes this rotation a very intriguing one for streaming in the near future.

 

Washington Nationals

 

• On the whole, it’s been rough for Washington starters. They’ve allowed a 45/7 percent hard hit rate, which is third highest in the league. They’re getting hit hard and giving up runs. That’s been a real issue so far across the board.