Sit/Start Week 1: Reviewing All Starting Pitcher Matchups From 4/7-4/10

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 sure-fire 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 over 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.

It’s opening week! It’s finally here! There are, of course, going to be a lot of aces on the schedule on Thursday and Friday for Opening Day — most of whom are going to be sure-fire starts.

It will be interesting to see how things shake out this year for those pitchers who we are excited about and those that we aren’t. After some time, these pieces should increase in confidence.

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!

Thursday – 4/7
Date	Game	Away Pitcher	Sit / Start	Home Pitcher	Sit / Start
4/7	MIL at CHC	C. Burnes	Start-9	K. Hendricks	Sit-3
4/7	NYM at WSN	T. Megill	Sit-2	P. Corbin	Sit-2
4/7	CLE at KCR	S. Bieber	Start-9	Z. Greinke	Maybe-4
4/7	PIT at STL	J. Brubaker	Sit-2	A. Wainwright	Start-8
4/7	CIN at ATL	T. Mahle	Maybe-6	M. Fried	Start-7
4/7	HOU at LAA	F. Valdez	Start-7	S. Ohtani	Start-7
4/7	SDP at ARI	Y. Darvish	Maybe-6	M. Bumgarner	Sit-3

Friday – 4/8
Date	Game	Away Pitcher	Sit / Start	Home Pitcher	Sit / Start
4/8	BOS at NYY	N. Eovaldi	Start-8	G. Cole	Start-8
4/8	CHW at DET	L. Giolito	Start-8	E. Rodríguez	Maybe-6
4/8	MIL at CHC	B. Woodruff	Start-9	J. Steele	Sit-1
4/8	OAK at PHI	F. Montas	Start-7	A. Nola	Start-9
4/8	BAL at TBR	J. Means	Maybe-4	S. McClanahan	Start-7
4/8	LAD at COL	W. Buehler	Start-7	K. Freeland	Sit-1
4/8	SEA at MIN	R. Ray	Start-8	J. Ryan	Maybe-6
4/8	MIA at SFG	S. Alcantara	Start-9	L. Webb	Start-9
4/8	NYM at WSN	M. Scherzer	Start-8	J. Gray	Sit-2
4/8	TEX at TOR	J. Gray	Sit-2	J. Berríos	Start-7
4/8	CIN at ATL	R. Sanmartin	Sit-3	C. Morton	Start-8
4/8	HOU at LAA	J. Odorizzi	Sit-1	P. Sandoval	Maybe-5
4/8	SDP at ARI	S. Manaea	Maybe-6	M. Kelly	Sit-3

Saturday – 4/9
Date	Game	Away Pitcher	Sit / Start	Home Pitcher	Sit / Start
4/9	CHW at DET	D. Cease	Start-7	M. Manning	Sit-1
4/9	BAL at TBR	J. Lyles	Sit-1	D. Rasmussen	Maybe-4
4/9	SEA at MIN	L. Gilbert	Maybe-4	S. Gray	Maybe-4
4/9	PIT at STL	M. Keller	Maybe-4	M. Mikolas	Sit-3
4/9	MIL at CHC	F. Peralta	Start-8	M. Stroman	Maybe-6
4/9	TEX at TOR	D. Dunning	Sit-2	K. Gausman	Start-8
4/9	BOS at NYY	N. Pivetta	Sit-2	L. Severino	Maybe-5
4/9	MIA at SFG	P. López	Start-7	C. Rodón	Start-9
4/9	OAK at PHI	C. Irvin	Sit-2	K. Gibson	Maybe-5
4/9	CLE at KCR	Z. Plesac	Sit-3	B. Keller	Sit-1
4/9	NYM at WSN	C. Bassitt	Maybe-6	A. Sánchez	Sit-1
4/9	CIN at ATL	V. Gutierrez	Sit-1	K. Wright	Sit-1
4/9	SDP at ARI	J. Musgrove	Start-7	Z. Davies	Sit-1
4/9	LAD at COL	C. Kershaw	Start-7	G. Márquez	Sit-2
4/9	HOU at LAA	J. Verlander	Start-7	N. Syndergaard	Maybe-4

Sunday – 4/10
Date	Game	Away Pitcher	Sit / Start	Home Pitcher	Sit / Start
4/10	OAK at PHI	D. Jefferies	Sit-2	Z. Eflin	Maybe-5
4/10	CHW at DET	M. Kopech	Maybe-6	C. Mize	Sit-2
4/10	BAL at TBR	T. Wells	Sit-2	C. Kluber	Maybe-5
4/10	CIN at ATL	H. Greene	Maybe-4	I. Anderson	Maybe-6
4/10	NYM at WSN	C. Carrasco	Maybe-5	E. Fedde	Sit-1
4/10	TEX at TOR	M. Perez	Sit-1	H. Ryu	Maybe-4
4/10	CLE at KCR	C. Quantrill	Maybe-5	K. Bubic	Sit-1
4/10	SEA at MIN	M. Gonzales	Sit-2	B. Ober	Maybe-4
4/10	PIT at STL	B. Wilson	Sit-2	S. Matz	Maybe-5
4/10	MIL at CHC	A. Houser	Sit-3	D. Smyly	Sit-1
4/10	LAD at COL	J. Urías	Start-7	A. Senzatela	Sit-1
4/10	MIA at SFG	T. Rogers	Maybe-6	A. DeSclafani	Maybe-6
4/10	HOU at LAA	J. Urquidy	Maybe-6	J. Suarez	Sit-1
4/10	SDP at ARI	B. Snell	Maybe-5	C. Smith	Sit-1
4/10	BOS at NYY	T. Houck	Maybe-4	J. Montgomery	Maybe-5

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

3 responses to “Sit/Start Week 1: Reviewing All Starting Pitcher Matchups From 4/7-4/10”

David Coffee says:

April 6, 2022 at 4:42 PM

Thanks for your sit/start list. Just wondering, after his last spring training start, why you have House as a -3 sit?

Thanks

- Lucas Zenobi says:
  
  April 6, 2022 at 7:06 PM
  
  He is a pitch-to-contact type of pitcher. Sort of a Kyle Hendricks type. Those pitchers are very high risk/high reward. Their start can be an efficient six innings with weak contact (like his last start), or they can be seven hits in three innings with four earned runs. Basically, the margin for error with those type of pitchers is very small, and I just wouldn’t take the risk if I didn’t have to.
  
  - David Coffee says:
    
    April 6, 2022 at 8:39 PM
    
    Thanks for that explanation. The league I’m in counts innings so I’m looking for some additional starts in week 1. Guessing you think Kluber would be a much better option…

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Sit/Start Week 1: Reviewing All Starting Pitcher Matchups From 4/7-4/10

Lucas Zenobi

3 responses to “Sit/Start Week 1: Reviewing All Starting Pitcher Matchups From 4/7-4/10”

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