Welcome back to our Expected SP Schedules series!
Throughout the season, the Expected SP Schedules article will provide insight regarding each starting pitcher’s upcoming matchups. Who has a two-start week? Who is facing a favorable lineup? Who is struggling but might be due for a turnaround? Among other content at Pitcher List, this article is meant to help guide fantasy baseball managers through the handling of their rotations. Today’s title is self explanatory; this may be the only SP Schedules post of 2025 where we get to mention 45-year-old Rich Hill, and I felt it had to be acknowledged.
We’re returning to standard four-week projections now that we’re clear of the All-Star layoff, and all 30 teams were in action Monday, so we have a better idea of how the next few turns of the rotation will look than we did this time last week. With that said, the trade deadline is looming, so you should still take those last two columns with a major grain of salt — shakeups are a-coming!
Remember the handy glossary for this article:
- (OFF) means the team has an off-day before they play that team.
- (DH) indicates a doubleheader that day.
- ??? represents an unclear rotational spot, and the notes will explain the options.
And finally, let’s look at our PLV-based offensive rankings, which incorporate our Process+ metric to project future offensive performance. These rankings, which are in alphabetical order by tier and were last updated on July 14, continue to reflect the offensive skills that teams have showed lately rather than over the course of the entire season. It’s the same list from Friday’s post, so we’ll skip the breakdown and get right into the team-by-team projections.
AL East
- The Orioles have a six-man rotation for the time being, with Brandon Young starting again on Tuesday. How long that lasts remains to be seen, as the O’s are looking more and more like sellers, and Tomoyuki Sugano, Charlie Morton and Zach Eflin could all be viable trade candidates before the deadline. For the time being they get the gift of Rockie Road this weekend, a matchup juicy enough to make any one of these mediocre arms streamable for a day.
- The Red Sox still have a really difficult stretch of games ahead, starting with the Phillies and Dodgers this week. Brayan Bello put up yet another quality start (6.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 4 K, 25% CSW) against the Cubs on Saturday, but I would avoid being tempted by a potential repeat on Sunday outside of deep leagues. Yes, he’s been good, but the upside is still limited.
- Despite missing his homecoming start in Atlanta over the weekend, Max Fried threw a successful bullpen session, and he appears ready to make his second-half debut Wednesday in Toronto. The Yankees will be buyers at the deadline as usual, but pitching help is coming even sooner than that: Luis Gil is lined up to make his third rehab start for Triple-A Scranton on Wednesday, and if all goes well, it could be his last. Marcus Stroman is in the most immediate jeopardy to lose his starting spot when Gil returns to the rotation, though he did a quality start in last turn on Sunday. Stroman should be well-removed from the fantasy radar regardless.
- The Rays get the White Sox at home this week, and anyone who rosters Shane Baz and Rasmussen can rejoice. Baz gets a great two start week as well, with a trip to Cincinnati on deck. And if you’ve held on to Rasmussen through his recent workload limitations, you should be rewarded with an unrestricted jaunt Tuesday night. Which, of course, means he’s going to drop a total dud and drive us all insane. If you’re reading this Wednesday, please tell me I was wrong (seriously, I’m counting on that guy).
- After sweeping the Giants to this weekend, the Blue Jays look to maintain their winning ways in a critical intra-division matchup with the Yankees, who entered the week trailing Toronto by three games. The Jays have the right arms ready for it, with Kevin Gausman, Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt lined up to start things off. Fan intrigue aside, there’s not much to chase here from a fantasy standpoint; the Yankees, Tigers and Orioles all rank among the better offenses in the league, and this staff lacks anything resembling a matchup-proof ace.
AL Central
- The White Sox’ lone All-Star representative, Shane Smith, hit the IL this weekend with a sprained ankle. His replacement is Davis Martin, who returned from the IL this week to start against the Rays. After that series, the whole of the rotation is being unceremoniously sacrificed to the Cubs and Phillies.
- Gavin Williams showcased his potential on Sunday, mowing down a season-high 11 Athletics in seven innings of one-run, four-hit ball (38% CSW). It was a nice boost to end the extended All-Star fantasy matchup period, but I’m hesitant to call it breakout until we see anything resembling consistency from the lanky right-hander. The upcoming schedule for this group is fairly soft, so Williams & co. will have plenty of opportunities to try and establish a rhythm.
- It seems more and more likely that Sandy Alcantara’s days in Miami are numbered, so you can pretty much disregard those last two starts in his row. The rest of this rotation will have to endure a brutal schedule that includes four of their next five series’ against current playoff teams and then a four-game set in Atlanta after that. Eury Pérez and Edward Cabrera are really the only two names to monitor, with the latter’s outlook depending on the matchup; I’m not interested in Cabrera’s start against the Padres today, but he should be a decent streaming option next week in St. Louis.
NL West
