UPDATED SUNDAY 9/27 MORNING
This will be updated every morning through the end of the season.
Hey y’all! It’s playoff time in fantasy baseball land and instead of a traditional 1-100 SP ranking and analyzing team-by-team schedules the very best thing I can do for everyone is to rank each Starting Pitcher for every day of the week for your fantasy baseball championships and last week of your Roto Season
I’ve been granted the help of Kyle Bland to create Team Offense Rankings via PLV Projections, which are now split up by both park factors and by their L/R splits.
Some of you all may be aware that I’ve had a lot less time this summer than I usually do. I’ve been doing everything I can to carve out the hours to deliver the Roundup and The List earlier and as full as they should be, and I’ll continue to feel guilty on days like these where not only is it not on Monday afternoon, but it is also not 100% filled out with my analysis.
Next week will have the full week’s worth of write-ups written out for you. Today, you have Tuesday and Wednesday taken from my morning streaming article, and the plan is to update this with the morning streaming article so you can constantly refer to it throughout the end of the year.
I’m sure many of you have specific matchup questions, and I’ll be available inside our PL+/Pro community Discord to answer all the questions you have + ask all SP questions you have inside the weekly Reddit post, too.
Thanks to everyone who has supported us this season and good luck down the stretch! Now I’m going to back to ensuring we survive the 2027 lockout.
THESE ROTATIONS WILL CHANGE
I cannot express that enough. Even while I was making them, one starter got moved and it created a ripple effect. That doesn’t make this worthless, though. In most cases, you can carry over the pitcher’s tier ranking to the early/later date, and y’all are smart enough to make those minor adjustments if it doesn’t match here.
Sunday 9/27 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Zack Wheeler vs. TBR – The Phillies haven’t clinched a playoff spot after all, preventing them from saving Wheeler and forcing them to play their ace without saving it for a potential Wild Card series.
Jared Jones @ DET – He’s feeling his slider and the Tigers are not a scary crew.
Logan Gilbert vs. LAA – Aces gonna ace…but how long will they push him? It’s the only reason he’s lower than the other two.
Probably Starts
Michael Soroka @ SDP – Soroka needs to get his reps in + the Padres may be resting for their playoff run + the Sneks are still in this. I dug his command last weekend and it could be there for a big game.
Nick Martinez @ PHI – One more start to cap off an unreal season.
Sean Manaea @ WSH – Will Manaea’s four-seamer be decent enough? It’s incredibly hard to tell.
Peter Lambert @ ATH – The Astros are in a battle with the Rangers for the division and need a studly outing from Lambert to get there.
Jacob Misiorowski vs. STL – We’re only going to see roughly three innings from Misiorowski in this one, and now that Kyle Harrison followed yesterday’s game, it could be DL Hall or someone else stepping in after.
Parker Messick @ KCR – Welp, this game has no value for the Guardians, making this start for Messick up in the air. I’ve moved him to the second tier as I’m guessing the Guardians throw him for a few frames than move to a bullpen game day. Even with their bye in the first round, he’s already had a massive workload this year that will get extended further in October.
Questionable Starts
Yusei Kikuchi @ SEA – It’s a good park, he’ll still need to execute.
MacKenzie Gore @ MIN – He is a HIPSTER who will start this one unless the Rangers lose on Saturday and the Astros Win – Houston holds the tiebreaker and they are currently tied for the division. I imagine Texas would elect to limit Gore and not push his workload even further if they didn’t have to.
Dean Kremer vs. TEX – Kremer came through for trusting managers over the weekend, but the velocity dip has me a little scared.
Andre Pallante @ MIL – As long as he doesn’t have terrible command, his general Koufax love gives him a shot for a Quality Start on a day we rarely see any.
River Ryan vs. PIT – This was an easy play for Keider Montero to swoop in after River’s 3-4 innings, but with Justin Verlander pulling a heroic effort in his final career start, Jack Flaherty didn’t have a chance to step in as a follower. That means he could get the pearl after River instead of Montero, and with the haze, I’ve reverted to ranking River instead. I’d consider starting both Montero and Flaherty here if you’re chasing a Win.
Shota Imanaga @ BOS – The Cubs are heading to the Wild Card Series on Tuesday and I’m still surprised Shota is the listed starter – why not sit him and start him Game 1 instead of Boyd and Gausman Game 1/2?
Do Not Starts
Shane Baz @ NYY – He’s really not looking great right now. I’d shut him down if I were Baltimore.
Anthony Kay vs. COL – It’s Rockie Road and I hope the White Sox are playing for something. If they aren’t, Kay may get a rest for the playoffs…or for next season.
DJ Herz vs. NYM – He wasn’t impressive in his Still ILL and I’d only consider this as a dart throw, hoping he can nail down the four-seamer and changeup BSB command + sliders away to LHB.
JR Ritchie @ MIA – The only good Ritchie outing was his first…which included a HR on his first pitch.
Max Scherzer vs. CIN – Is this the final start of Scherzer’s career? It may mean that he goes ALL OUT MAD MAX. It could also be an absolute disaster. Spencer Miles may be the follower here and it’s possible he steals a dub.
Janson Junk vs. ATL – They’re still going to limit him, aren’t they.
Brandon Williamson @ TOR – I’m expecting the Reds to give him a full workload on Sunday, which is as much as you can hope for on this day.
Daniel Lynch IV vs. CLE – Lynch IV just got stretched out, and the Guardians may have clinched the division the day prior (or lost it?)
Elmer Rodríguez vs. BAL – Elmer is getting the pearl as the Yankees prepare for the playoffs. He’ll have as long of a leash as he earns, but outside of a huge peak of 97 mph velocity for one outing, Elmer hasn’t deserved to go five.
Brady Basso (Opener) vs. HOU – LET HIM LOOSE! He’ll have Seth Johnson opening for him, so it elevates the Win chance.
Carson Seymour vs. LAD – This looks like a bullpen game…but it could also be Anthony Molina making a final appearance as the follower. Don’t rule it out – it was supposed to be Molina in the first place, after all.
Kyle Freeland @ CHW – At least he’s out of Coors.
Randy Vásquez vs. ARI – The Padres are locked for the playoffs and I don’t see why they’d push Vásquez at all here.
Justin Wrobleski @ SFG – I initially had this as Emmet Sheehan, but I’m now guessing he’ll be saved as long relief for the postseason, so why push him here? Who knows if this will be Landon Knack in time, if Wrobo Cop will actually start, etc. Definitely check this an hour before game time.
Patrick Sandoval vs. CHC – This never works.
GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!
