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 Oakland Athletics. A Sit-1 is a pitcher who, under no circumstances, should you consider starting.
We are still lacking consistency from any starting pitcher in an increased offensive environment. With the weather warming up, this is only going to get more and more unpredictable. Even so, I feel like there are a decent amount of middling streaming options available. I can’t promise that any start won’t end in misery for any pitcher right now, but we just have to do our best.
For some housekeeping, I will try my best to update these at least once after they go live, but there is a ton of schedule and rotation shuffling. I apologize ahead of time if something is not currently 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!
Photo by Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Doug Carlin (@Bdougals on Twitter)