As the season unfolds, I’ve broken down every MLB team’s starting rotation and forecasted them with each team’s upcoming schedule. You may ask, why would you do this? The most straightforward answer is finding the best upcoming matchups for the lesser-known starting pitchers.
This way, we can maximize the end of our rosters and try to squeeze every last ounce of value that might be available on a waiver wire. Or, perhaps, drop a fringe-worthy pitcher early due to horrendous matchups.
Churning your roster at the correct times is critical to in-season management. Think about it this way: do you really need to hold onto that pitcher if you won’t start him in these key weeks?
Indeed, we are ranking these matchups based on the opponent’s offense, and here are my offensive tiers to do so. Also, please don’t get held up on the offensive rankings … if your preference is to stream against STL instead of NYM, or you think CLE should be in the “Fine” tier; go for it!
Dave Swan’s Offensive Tiers
(OFF) means the team has an off-day before they play that team.
(DH) indicates a doubleheader that day.
SPOT STARTER should be obvious but it means this pitcher will only start once.
??? represents a rotational spot that is unclear, and there will be notes explaining options.
Diamondbacks’ Expected Schedule
- Brandon Pfaadt heads back to the minors and we get the return of Zach Davies. It’s quite a shame as many of us invested heavy capital in Pfaadt.
Atlanta Braves
Atlantas’ Expected Schedule
- Is this the week we finally get Mike Soroka? Yes, a resounding yes! He will make the store on Monday (5/29), so hurry out and scoop him up. But be wary of the pitch count for his starts.
Orioles’ Expected Schedule
- Another hot-shot prospect, Grayson Rodriguez, was optioned.
- This leaves the rotation with an opening. There are a few options to consider, especially with all these great matchups. Austin Voth is on the current roster, but looming in the minors is names like DL Hall, Cole Irvin, and Bruce Zimmermann.
Red Sox’s Expected Schedule
- Corey Kluber and Nick Pivetta were moved to the bullpen.
- Garrett Whitlock will rejoin the staff for a start on Friday (vs. TBR).
- They’ll stick with a five-man rotation with a spot starter (like Kluber or Pivetta) for the next two weeks, at least.
Cubs’ Expected Schedule
- As we speculated, Kyle Hendricks did get a start last week. He was pretty meh, but it was one start. However, with matchups against TBR and SDP, just wait and see on him.
White Sox’s Expected Schedule
- Jesse Sholtens did make the start for Clevinger, but I wouldn’t be expected much from him; even against DET.
Reds’ Expected Schedule
- Note: The Reds are taxed one tier anytime they are home. Hence, different shades for games vs. MIL, LAD, and COL.
- A pretty straightforward schedule but only one OFF day. That could indicate shorter appearances for the starters.
Guardians’ Expected Schedule
- Aaron Civale and Triston McKenzie should jump back into the rotation. With only one open spot and quite a few frequent OFF days, someone probably gets bumped out. My lean is Quantrill.
Rockies’ Expected Schedule
- Note: The Rockies are taxed one tier anytime they are home. Hence, different shades for games vs. SFG and SDP.
- Even if the matchups are viable, we don’t stream Rockies pitchers with confidence.
Tigers’ Expected Schedule
- This rotation will be challenging to stream from, instead, maybe stash Tarik Skubal since he’s started his rehab assignment.
Astros’ Expected Schedule
- The easy road for France and Bielak has ended. Might be time to move on.
Royals’ Expected Schedule
- We are going to get a bullpen game on Monday (5/29) with Josh Staumont starting.
- With the two scheduled OFF days, I’d expect a full re-shuffled of the rotation. Don’t project starts too far out.
Angels’ Expected Schedule
- Speaking of re-shuffling rotations. The Angels continue the six-man rotation but with extra OFF days might skip someone, probably Jaime Barría. While the first starts are safe, afterward could vary.
Dodgers’ Expected Schedule
- Stone and Miller joined the rotation, and this should be how things line up for the next few weeks.
Marlins’ Expected Schedule
- Not too bad after the SDP series. Maybe one of these arms is a perfect trade candidate for you.
Brewers’ Expected Schedule
- Very tough matchups for Weeks 9-10. So, try to avoid streaming here.
Twins’ Expected Schedule
- Right? Poor Louie Varland!
- If you’re looking for a stash, Kenta Maeda should be back sometime in June.
Mets’ Expected Schedule
- It’s been a VERY tough go for Tylor Megill. However, a viable Week 10 start lines up @ PIT.
Yankees’ Expected Schedule
- Week 9-10 should be straightforward. However, things could get dicey in Week 11 with extra OFF days.
Athletics’ Expected Schedule
- Considering how little the Athletics win, I wouldn’t stream here.
- Paul Blackburn entered the fray.
Phillies’ Expected Schedule
- OOF! Dylan Covey hasn’t been so harmful. I’d expect a change soon. Maybe Bailey Falter or Michael Plassmeyer will get a call-up soon.
Pirates’ Expected Schedule
- Vince Velasquez back on the IL. That’ll give us a little more time with Ortiz than expected.
Padres’ Expected Schedule
- For the next two weeks, things should remain a five-man. There are plenty of OFF days and healthy staff. However, Adrian Morejon and Seth Lugo are looming for a return. If SDP sticks with a five-man, Weathers would be the first to lose his spot.
Giants’ Expected Schedule
- Is Sean Manaea in the rotation? Is he not? I guess he’ll make that start (vs. PIT) but likely with an opener. It’s just not worth chasing anymore at this point.
Mariners’ Expected Schedule
- The Marco Gonzales ride is over, time to move on. At least he got you through a couple of weeks.
Cardinals’ Expected Schedule
- Sighs! The sporadic usage of SPs in STL is maddening. Additionally, the scheduled two OFF days aren’t remedying the situation. Matz should operate out of the pen and skip his first start, then jump back in @TEX (yikes).
- Anyway, to the best of my ability, this is how things might line up. However, after going back and forth with it many times, they’ll likely make some changes to the rotation very soon.
Rays’ Expected Schedule
- Extra OFF days should keep the rotation intact for a five-man, and have plenty of rest.
- Welcome back, Tyler Glasnow! If you’ve held him since your draft, you’re being rewarded with a decent string of starts here. The biggest question is, will he ever get past 90 pitches?
Rangers’ Expected Schedule
- Everything should be very straightforward for Weeks 9-10. Plenty of OFF days and a healthy staff. Eventually, deGrom will make it back, but he’s still working on ramping back up.
Blue Jays’ Expected Schedule
- Everything should be very straightforward for Weeks 9-10.
Nationals’ Expected Schedule
- There isn’t anything easy until Week 11. Best to keep looking around.
“(OFF) means the team has an off-day before they play that team.”
Which team has the off day–the pitcher’s team or the opponent?
(OFF) means that pitchers’ team has the day off.
So, if Atlanta doesn’t play on Monday and Dylan Dodd starts on Tuesday. He’ll get an (OFF) designation.
Can you please add the date into colored cell for opponent. Would really make this more useable wh looking forward for future streaming. Without dates this makes it really hard to know when they are actually planning to pitch.
The chart starts on Monday and with the notation of OFF days, you should be able to count ahead. Not ideal but adding the date to every single start would clog this thing up terribly.
The backbone of this piece is to spot any SP with favorable matchups, while identifying any fringe SP with poor matchups. Although, I’ll 100% put some thought into how to incorporate something to help ya!