Welcome back to our Expected SP Schedules series!
Every single Tuesday the Expected SP Schedules article will provide you with what you need to know regarding each starting pitcher’s upcoming matchups over the upcoming weeks. Who has a two-start week? Who is facing a few favorable lineups in a row with the opportunity to get into a real groove? Who can we safely ignore for the foreseeable future due to an upcoming gauntlet? This column will aim to get you the answers you need for those questions, and more.
Before we get into it, remember the 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. Given that the season just got underway, most rotations are currently pretty set, though there is some shuffling that will be done over the next few weeks when several frontline starters return from injury.
And finally, we have 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 April 6, will continue to be updated regularly to reflect the offensive skills that teams are projected to achieve in the coming weeks, based on PitcherList’s internal PLV metrics.
AL East
Orioles’ Expected Starters
Kyle Bradish highlights a two-start week for the Baltimore rotation. Bradish was expected to deliver ace-like results this year for the Orioles after being limited to only nine starts in each of the last two seasons due to injury, but it has not gone as planned so far, with Bradish bringing a 5.49 ERA and 1.63 WHIP into two solid matchups against the Kansas City Royals and Boston Red Sox.
Sonny Gray and Connelly Early were both set to see two-start weeks for Boston, with Early getting the tougher first assignment with a date against the Yankees on Tuesday. The young southpaw will look to build off the momentum gained in his last outing, a strong six innings against Minnesota last week, where he gave up only one run and earned his first win of the season. As for Gray, he had to leave the first start of the week against Detroit early with a hamstring injury and will likely be replaced in the rotation for now with prospect Payton Tolle. Keep an eye on that story as Tolle could become a useful starter in 12-team leagues.
Luis Gil gets a two-start week for the Yankees rotation, but is still too volatile to be trusted, especially in two hitter-friendly parks. The rest of the Yankee rotation can be started with confidence.
Jesse Scholtens is the lone two-start week for Tampa here, and the 32-year-old journeyman could be an interesting streaming play in either home start versus the Cincinnati Reds or Minnesota Twins. Just be aware that he likely won’t go deep enough into either game to secure a quality start.
Dylan Cease, on the heels of six shutout innings against Milwaukee last week, highlights a two-start week for the Toronto staff. Cease will look to continue to keep his 1.74 ERA down against two good matchups. Patrick Corbin, not to be trusted regardless of the matchup, is likely getting his last start this week before young ace-in-the-making Trey Yesavage joins the rotation for the first time in 2026 after beginning the year on the IL with shoulder issues. Yesavage will be an immediate impact starter and doesn’t face too tough a test in his first few weeks back.
Sean Burke gets a two-start week for the White Sox staff, but has not been pitching well enough to deserve a look in either instance. Davis Martin, on the other hand, takes his 2.16 ERA and 1.00 WHIP into a road matchup with the Arizona Diamondbacks this week, followed by a home matchup with the Los Angeles Angels next week. Martin has become stream-worthy and is worth a look in both of those starts, though the road start at Arizona is certainly the tougher test.
Parker Messick took a no-hitter into the ninth inning of his previous start against Baltimore and will look to build on that momentum with decent upcoming home matchups against the Houston Astros this week and the Tampa Bay Rays the following week. Gavin Williams has also been pitching like an ace and looks to take down a pretty cold Toronto Blue Jays club on the road before getting the same home assignment versus the Rays next week.
Jack Flaherty is the lone Detroit starter to see two starts this week, but faces a pair of tough assignments in hitter-friendly parks. Flaherty has also had major command issues of late, making him a questionable start in both instances. Keider Montero has been surprisingly effective while filling in for the injured Justin Verlander and likely sees at least two more starts before giving way to the veteran. Montero is a desperation streamer play in both matchups due to how well he is throwing the ball, but caution is advised based on his checkered resume.
Seth Lugo looks to continue his early-season dominance and takes his 1.48 ERA and 0.99 WHIP into two solid home matchups with Baltimore and the Los Angeles Angels. Cole Ragans, on the other hand, has completely lacked the dominance expected of him and takes his 6.00 ERA and 1.67 WHIP into a decent matchup this week against the Angels before heading to pitcher-friendly Seattle next week.
Mick Abel, the young right-hander acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies this past offseason, was placed on the IL by Minnesota to begin the week. They will likely be shifting the remaining four starters up a spot in the chart to cover this turn in the rotation, given that they have an off day Monday, but then will need to turn to depth to fill the void of Abel’s absence. Fellow top prospect Connor Prielipp was called up to join the big league squad in a corresponding move made when Abel was placed on the IL, but it is undetermined if the rotation spot will be his to lose. Keep an eye on this one.
AL West
Astros’ Expected Starters
Spencer Arrighetti had a spectacular season debut when he threw six innings of one-run ball with ten strikeouts against the Colorado Rockies last week, and will look to get some momentum going with a decent matchup at Cleveland before closing his two-start week with a killer of a matchup against the Yankees. Feel free to give Arrighetti a shot in that first start, but proceed with serious caution in the second.
Angels’ Expected Starters
Reid Detmers has suddenly become a high strikeout arm since being reinserted as a starter this season, and takes his 27.7% strikeout rate into two solid matchups this week with the Toronto Blue Jays at home and then on the road at the Kansas City Royals. José Soriano has been too good to bench against anyone and will look to keep his momentum rolling against that same Toronto lineup this week. Walbert Ureña, with an impressive six innings of two-run ball that included eight strikeouts recently against San Diego, has an opportunity to put his name on the map in the coming weeks with a good matchup at Kansas City and then one against a tough, though increasingly vulnerable, Mets lineup.
The entire rotation for the Athletics is matchup-dependent streamers (at best), and even though this week features a trip to pitcher-friendly Seattle, there are no matchups here really worth recommending. Jeffrey Springs was on a roll, albeit one that looked like it could come crashing down at any start, and it did just that in his previous outing (5.0 IP, 7 ER, 7 K), making him no longer a viable stream either.
Luis Castillo, for so many years a reliable name, is dropping out of streamer territory himself with the way that he is pitching. He takes his 5.40 ERA and 1.80 WHIP into a home matchup with the Athletics that should, on paper, favor the pitcher, but it’s understandable if you feel the need to sit Castillo out for that one before trying him again in favorable matchups against the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals.
Kumar Rocker will look to harness some recent command issues and establish a run of more consistent success when he gets a two-start week for Texas. Rocker gets two decent matchups against middle-of-the-road lineups from the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Athletics. Fellow Vanderbilt alumnus Jack Leiter is also still searching for consistent success early in the year and will want to right the ship against Pittsburgh this week before taking on the Yankees the following week.
The Atlanta rotation has been unanimously good to start the year, and Bryce Elder takes his 0.77 ERA and 1.03 WHIP into their lone two-start week, with a good matchup at the Washington Nationals before a tougher home test against the Philadelphia Phillies. Martín Pérez is still penciled into the rotation but could be replaced in the next week or two by prospect Didier Fuentes, who had his start skipped in the minors this past weekend. That does not guarantee he is being called up, or that he slides right into the rotation upon a call-up, but it’s a story worth watching as Fuentes has displayed electric stuff in the minors. Either way, Pérez won’t be in this rotation much longer with the return of Spencer Strider also on the horizon.
The Miami Marlins were hoping that Max Meyer would finally blossom into a consistent starter in his age-27 season, but his 4.12 ERA and 1.32 WHIP so far in 2026 show signs of the same frustratingly exciting-but-inconsistent arm that Meyer has been thus far in his career. He will look to take advantage of two solid matchups against the St. Louis Cardinals and at the San Francisco Giants in a two-start week.
The New York Mets are a mess right now, heading into a home series with the Minnesota Twins on an eleven-game losing streak. The lone bright spot has been the performance of 24-year-old Nolan McLean, who is blossoming into an ace right before our eyes. McLean takes his 2.28 ERA and minuscule 0.76 WHIP into two great home matchups against the aforementioned Twins and then the Colorado Rockies. Look for him to dominate both of those matchups and continue his ascendancy to acedom.
The Philadelphia Phillies are not playing great baseball themselves, with a five-game losing streak of their own and an MLB-worst -34 run differential coming into this week. Veteran Aaron Nola gets the team’s lone two-start week and has been one of the steadier presences on the club, not allowing more than three runs in any of his four starts. Nola will look to start the team off on a high note in a decent matchup at the Chicago Cubs before taking the ball for the series finale in a tough assignment at Atlanta.
With opening day starter Cade Cavalli looking less and less like a viable back-end fantasy rotation option, the Washington starters are not currently offering up much in the way of fantasy production. Foster Griffin’s 3.05 ERA might make him stream-worthy in his second start this week at the Chicago White Sox, but he should be avoided in his first start of the week against Atlanta. The rest of the staff should be avoided
altogether.
Shota Imanaga receiving two starts this week is the highlight here for Chicago, with the second start a must-watch showdown at the Los Angeles Dodgers. Imanaga, with his 0.77 WHIP, has been fantastic to begin the year, and it will be a fascinating week for him to see how he attacks the star-studded Phillies and Dodgers lineups.
It’s a big week for those rostering Rhett Lowder, as he gets his first two-start week of the early season and takes a 1.13 WHIP into pitcher-friendly Tropicana Field before heading back home for a tough matchup with the Detroit Tigers. Lowder is 2-1 on the year and has pitched through the sixth inning in two of his last four starts, indicating that the 24-year-old might be on the cusp of becoming a reliable win and quality start arm with solid ratios. He doesn’t deliver explosive strikeout numbers, but does just about everything else really well. Also, watch here for the return of Nick Lodolo, still rehabbing from a recurrent blister issue. He is expected back next week in a home matchup versus Colorado, which would likely bump Brandon Williamson from the rotation.
The Milwaukee staff is finding its footing still in the early season, with Brandon Woodruff and Jacob Misiorowski mostly pitching like aces, and the rest of the staff looking to gain some consistency in the upcoming weeks. Brandon Sproat is the most intriguing name out of those ‘others’, and he put together a good start in his last outing. He now heads to Detroit for an interesting test against the Tigers — if he looks good there, start him with confidence in his next two outings.
The Pirates’ rotation has been steady overall, with Carmen Mlodzinski being one of the early-season surprises. He takes his 1.77 ERA into a solid matchup at the Texas Rangers before a test at the tough, though banged-up, Milwaukee Brewers lineup. Mlodzinski has started some games and come in behind an opener in others, so keep an eye on the plan for each of his start days to see if he can be used in your lineup without taking up an actual start. His chances of vulturing a win increase pretty heavily if coming in behind an opener, especially in the game at Texas, where the Pirates are likely to be favored.
The entire St. Louis rotation consists of matchup-dependent streaming options, with the two-start week falling to the youngest of the bunch this week, 25-year-old Michael McGreevy. McGreevy has underwhelming underlying numbers and a bunch of peripherals that indicate his success is short-lived, but he’s currently rolling with a 2.49 ERA and 0.83 WHIP.
There are no two-start weeks here for the Arizona rotation, but there are several starters looking to bounce back after relatively rough outings. Eduardo Rodriguez finally faltered and gave up four ER (six hits, four walks) against the Baltimore Orioles last week, and will try to right the ship in a relatively light home matchup against the Chicago White Sox. Ryne Nelson was only able to record one out in his last start, giving up eight earned runs in the process, and will need a good start in a tough home matchup against the San Diego Padres to restore some confidence.
As is typically the case with Rockies’ pitching, this staff can (mostly) be ignored for fantasy purposes for the time being, regardless of the matchups. The one exception this time around may be Chase Dollander, who is pitching very well to begin the year. The 24-year-old flamethrower has been moved in and out of the bullpen in an effort to reestablish his arsenal, and he appears ready to take a spot back in the rotation. It’s still a gamble trusting any arm consistently inside Coors Field, but keep an eye on Dollander as a potential stream.
Justin Wrobleski will look to build on his ridiculous eight-inning scoreless masterpiece last week against the New York Mets with two starts this week, one at the dreaded Coors Field and the other at home against a decent Chicago Cubs lineup. The jury is still out on how close the ‘real’ Wrobleski is to the guy who carved up the Mets, and while it will be hard to extrapolate any data from a Coors start, the Cubs start will be an interesting test.
No two-start weeks here for San Diego, but Randy Vásquez will look to get right after a rough four-inning outing last week (4 ER) with a test at Coors Field to begin the week. Walker Buehler pitched well in his last outing, but he will need to show many more of those before he can be trusted for consistent results. The same goes for Germán Márquez.
It’s unfortunate that Landen Roupp and the San Francisco Giants are welcoming the Dodgers to town to begin the week, as Roupp is looking to be settling into a real nice groove after his six innings of one-hit ball against the Cincinnati Reds last time out. He’s a risky play against the Dodgers before three tasty matchups for which he should definitely be held on to.
