Sit/Start Week 3: Reviewing All Starting Pitcher Matchups From 4/18-4/24

Welcome back to Sit/Start, where we review all expected starting pitcher matchups for the week ahead. I will be carrying over the ranking system from last year. There are three labels: Start, Maybe, and Sit.

Starts are surefire starts for those particular pitchers. This does not mean that they are incapable of having a bad outing, but I consider them more likely than not to have a good outing if they are designated as a Start. However, the degree of confidence I have in a pitcher to have a strong outing is judged by their number in the tier. For example, I am much more confident that a Start-10 will have a good outing than a Start-7, even though I expect both to perform well. The same goes for the other tiers. Maybes are starts that are a bit riskier, but depending on your league size or roster requirements, they may need to be used. A Start-10 is a pitcher who I believe will almost definitely have a strong outing: for example a healthy Jacob deGrom at the Pittsburgh Pirates. A Sit-1 is a pitcher who under no circumstances you should consider starting.

I felt like I went a little harder on pitchers for this week’s rankings. It is make or break time as we are entering the third week of the season. Pitchers need to start moving things in the right direction or proving that they have the stuff to sustain success.

For some housekeeping, I will try my best to update these at least once after they go live, but there are a ton of schedule and rotation shufflings. I apologize ahead of time if something is not current in the table below.

Without further ado, let’s see how your rotation is shaping up for this week. Feel free to question my rankings in the comments, and let’s discuss!

Monday – 4/18
Date	Game	Away Pitcher	Sit / Start	Home Pitcher	Sit / Start
4/18	MIN at BOS	D. Bundy	Sit-2	R. Hill	Sit-2
4/18	CHW at CLE	D. Keuchel	Sit-3	S. Bieber	Start-7
4/18	ARI at WSN	M. Bumgarner	Sit-3	J. Gray	Sit-3
4/18	SFG at NYM	A. Cobb	Start-7	T. Megill	Start-7
4/18	PIT at MIL	Z. Thompson	Sit-2	E. Lauer	Sit-3
4/18	TBR at CHC	S. McClanahan	Start-7	K. Hendricks	Sit-3
4/18	LAA at HOU	M. Lorenzen	Sit-2	L. Garcia	Maybe-5
4/18	PHI at COL	A. Nola	Maybe-6	C. Kuhl	Sit-1
4/18	CIN at SDP	N. Lodolo	Sit-2	S. Manaea	Start-7
4/18	BAL at OAK	S. Watkins	Sit-3	F. Montas	Start-7
4/18	ATL at LAD	H. Ynoa	Sit-1	C. Kershaw	Start-8

Tuesday – 4/19
Date	Game	Away Pitcher	Sit / Start	Home Pitcher	Sit / Start
4/19	CHW at CLE	J. Lambert	Sit-1	T. McKenzie	Maybe-4
4/19	NYY at DET	G. Cole	Start-8	E. Rodríguez	Maybe-4
4/19	STL at MIA	A. Wainwright	Start-8	J. Luzardo	Start-7
4/19	ARI at WSN	M. Kelly	Maybe-6	J. Adon	Sit-2
4/19	TOR at BOS	Y. Kikuchi	Sit-1	N. Eovaldi	Sit-3
4/19	SFG at NYM	L. Webb	Start-7	M. Scherzer	Start-8
4/19	PIT at MIL	J. Brubaker	Sit-2	C. Burnes	Start-10
4/19	TBR at CHC	J. Fleming	Sit-2	J. Steele	Maybe-4
4/19	MIN at KCR	C. Archer	Sit-3	D. Lynch	Sit-1
4/19	LAA at HOU	P. Sandoval	Maybe-5	F. Valdez	Maybe-6
4/19	PHI at COL	K. Gibson	Maybe-4	K. Freeland	Sit-1
4/19	CIN at SDP	R. Sanmartin	Sit-1	J. Musgrove	Start-9
4/19	BAL at OAK	A. Wells	Sit-2	C. Irvin	Maybe-5
4/19	TEX at SEA	J. Gray	Sit-3	R. Ray	Start-8
4/19	ATL at LAD	M. Fried	Maybe-5	W. Buehler	Start-7

Wednesday – 4/20
Date	Game	Away Pitcher	Sit / Start	Home Pitcher	Sit / Start
4/20	PIT at MIL	M. Keller	Sit-3	B. Woodruff	Start-10
4/20	ATL at LAD	C. Morton	Maybe-5	T. Gonsolin	Maybe-5
4/20	PHI at COL	Z. Eflin	Maybe-4	G. Márquez	Maybe-4
4/20	CIN at SDP	V. Gutierrez	Sit-1	M. Gore	Maybe-6
4/20	CHW at CLE	D. Cease	Start-8	Z. Plesac	Sit-3
4/20	NYY at DET	L. Severino	Start-8	M. Pineda	Sit-1
4/20	LAA at HOU	S. Ohtani	Maybe-5	J. Odorizzi	Sit-1
4/20	STL at MIA	J. Hicks	Sit-3	S. Alcantara	Start-8
4/20	ARI at WSN	Z. Davies	Sit-2	E. Fedde	Sit-3
4/20	TOR at BOS	J. Berríos	Maybe-5	N. Pivetta	Sit-1
4/20	SFG at NYM	C. Rodón	Start-9	C. Bassitt	Start-7
4/20	TBR at CHC	D. Rasmussen	Sit-2	M. Stroman	Maybe-4
4/20	MIN at KCR	C. Paddack	Sit-2	Z. Greinke	Maybe-5
4/20	BAL at OAK	J. Lyles	Sit-3	D. Jefferies	Maybe-4
4/20	TEX at SEA	D. Dunning	Sit-2	L. Gilbert	Start-7

Thursday – 4/21
Date	Game	Away Pitcher	Sit / Start	Home Pitcher	Sit / Start
4/21	CHW at CLE	M. Kopech	Maybe-6	C. Quantrill	Sit-3
4/21	NYY at DET	J. Montgomery	Maybe-6	T. Skubal	Maybe-5
4/21	SFG at NYM	A. DeSclafani	Maybe-4	C. Carrasco	Start-7
4/21	TOR at BOS	K. Gausman	Maybe-5	T. Houck	Sit-1
4/21	MIN at KCR	J. Ryan	Maybe-5	B. Keller	Sit-3
4/21	BAL at OAK	T. Wells	Sit-1	P. Blackburn	Maybe-5
4/21	ARI at WSN	Z. Gallen	Sit-2	A. Sánchez	Sit-1
4/21	STL at MIA	M. Mikolas	Maybe-4	P. López	Start-7
4/21	PIT at CHC	B. Wilson	Sit-1	K. Thompson	Sit-3
4/21	TEX at SEA	S. Howard	Sit-1	M. Gonzales	Sit-3

Friday – 4/22
Date	Game	Away Pitcher	Sit / Start	Home Pitcher	Sit / Start
4/22	PIT at CHC	J. Quintana	Sit-3	D. Smyly	Maybe-5
4/22	STL at CIN	S. Matz	Sit-1	H. Greene	Maybe-4
4/22	SFG at WSN	A. Wood	Maybe-6	P. Corbin	Sit-1
4/22	CLE at NYY	A. Civale	Sit-2	J. Taillon	Maybe-4
4/22	MIL at PHI	F. Peralta	Maybe-4	R. Suárez	Maybe-6
4/22	COL at DET	A. Senzatela	Sit-3	M. Manning	Sit-3
4/22	BOS at TBR	M. Wacha	Sit-2	C. Kluber	Maybe-4
4/22	MIA at ATL	T. Rogers	Maybe-4	K. Wright	Maybe-5
4/22	TOR at HOU	H. Ryu	Sit-1	J. Verlander	Start-7
4/22	CHW at MIN	V. Velasquez	Sit-2	S. Gray	Sit-3
4/22	BAL at LAA	B. Zimmermann	Sit-2	R. Detmers	Sit-3
4/22	LAD at SDP	J. Urías	Start-7	N. Martinez	Maybe-4
4/22	NYM at ARI	D. Peterson	Sit-1	H. Castellanos	Sit-1
4/22	TEX at OAK	T. Hearn	Maybe-4	A. Oller	Sit-1
4/22	KCR at SEA	K. Bubic	Sit-1	C. Flexen	Sit-3

Saturday – 4/23
Date	Game	Away Pitcher	Sit / Start	Home Pitcher	Sit / Start
4/23	SFG at WSN	A. Cobb	Start-7	J. Gray	Sit-2
4/23	CLE at NYY	S. Bieber	Start-7	N. Cortes	Maybe-6
4/23	COL at DET	A. Gomber	Maybe-4	T. Alexander	Sit-3
4/23	PIT at CHC	Z. Thompson	Sit-2	K. Hendricks	Maybe-5
4/23	CHW at MIN	D. Keuchel	Sit-2	B. Ober	Sit-2
4/23	MIL at PHI	A. Houser	Maybe-4	Z. Wheeler	Start-7
4/23	TEX at OAK	M. Pérez	Sit-2	F. Montas	Start-7
4/23	TOR at HOU	A. Manoah	Maybe-6	J. Urquidy	Sit-3
4/23	STL at CIN	D. Hudson	Sit-2	T. Mahle	Maybe-6
4/23	BOS at TBR	R. Hill	Sit-1	T. Romero	Sit-1
4/23	MIA at ATL	E. Hernandez	Sit-1	I. Anderson	Maybe-5
4/23	NYM at ARI	T. Megill	Start-8	M. Bumgarner	Sit-1
4/23	LAD at SDP	A. Heaney	Maybe-4	Y. Darvish	Maybe-4
4/23	BAL at LAA	S. Watkins	Sit-1	N. Syndergaard	Maybe-5
4/23	KCR at SEA	C. Hernández	Sit-2	M. Brash	Maybe-5

Sunday – 4/24
Date	Game	Away Pitcher	Sit / Start	Home Pitcher	Sit / Start
4/24	COL at DET	C. Kuhl	Sit-3	E. Rodríguez	Maybe-5
4/24	BOS at TBR	N. Eovaldi	Maybe-4	S. McClanahan	Maybe-6
4/24	MIA at ATL	J. Luzardo	Maybe-6	H. Ynoa	Sit-2
4/24	SFG at WSN	L. Webb	Start-8	J. Adon	Sit-1
4/24	CLE at NYY	T. McKenzie	Maybe-4	G. Cole	Start-7
4/24	STL at CIN	A. Wainwright	Start-7	N. Lodolo	Sit-1
4/24	TOR at HOU	Y. Kikuchi	Sit-1	L. Garcia	Maybe-4
4/24	CHW at MIN	J. Lambert	Sit-1	D. Bundy	Sit-2
4/24	PIT at CHC	J. Brubaker	Sit-2	J. Steele	Maybe-5
4/24	BAL at LAA	A. Wells	Sit-1	J. Suarez	Sit-2
4/24	TEX at OAK	J. Gray	Maybe-5	C. Irvin	Maybe-4
4/24	LAD at SDP	C. Kershaw	Start-8	S. Manaea	Maybe-4
4/24	NYM at ARI	M. Scherzer	Start-9	M. Kelly	Maybe-5
4/24	KCR at SEA	D. Lynch	Sit-1	R. Ray	Start-7
4/24	MIL at PHI	A. Ashby	Sit-3	A. Nola	Start-7

Photo by Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Doug Carlin (@Bdougals on Twitter)

5 responses to “Sit/Start Week 3: Reviewing All Starting Pitcher Matchups From 4/18-4/24”

Ryan says:

April 17, 2022 at 2:40 PM

Love the articles. Great read as always. Curious why you have Wood as a 5 against Washington? Anything you see that says hold back?

- Lucas Zenobi says:
  
  April 17, 2022 at 3:08 PM
  
  I updated it to a 6 because I am encouraged by Wood, but I do question how deep they’ll let him go even if he is pitching well. Because of that, he needs to throw really well to make it worth starting him because he probably will only go 5 innings. Everybody else isn’t going deep either right now, so that makes it a little more justifiable. Hence the bump up to a 6.
  
Uncle Charlie says:

April 17, 2022 at 10:05 PM

If you can’t start Josiah Gray against Arizona then when can you?

- Lucas Zenobi says:
  
  April 17, 2022 at 10:35 PM
  
  Exactly.
  
paul says:

April 18, 2022 at 2:19 PM

any thoughts on lodolo??

AL East

AL Central

AL West

NL East

NL Central

NL West

Sit/Start Week 3: Reviewing All Starting Pitcher Matchups From 4/18-4/24

Lucas Zenobi

5 responses to “Sit/Start Week 3: Reviewing All Starting Pitcher Matchups From 4/18-4/24”

Leave a Reply Cancel reply