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The List 9/4: Ranking Every SP ROS Based On Expected Schedules – Week 23

9/4 - Top 100 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Rankings for 2023

Welcome to The List, where I rank the Top 100 SP for Fantasy Baseball every Monday of the year.

Want an earlier update to The List? Join me on Mondays at 2:00 pm ET as I live-stream its creation each week!

Have questions? My “office hours” are on Playback.tv 10:00 am – 12:00 pm ET Monday – Friday + the aforementioned stream of The List.

It’s that time of the year where we shift from the traditional Top 100 ranking of The List to a stupid long article outlining every single expected Starting Pitcher start and ranking them all together in one smattering that kinda makes sense and should help your team.

Yeah, it’s a lot to take in, but it’s what I think is the most helpful way of talking about the final four weeks of the season and it’s what you see before you.

First thing’s first, I want to thank Dave Swan for creating the offensive hitter tiers below and creating the individual team tables. I then went in, added notes to each team, then created a table of nearly 160 pitchers and ranked them + added highlights to great and terrible schedules at the very bottom.

These schedules are going to change. Seriously, even the daily streaming pitchers article I write often changes and that’s published just hours before game time. Use this article as a guide to understand the flow of rotations and move the respective pitchers around as needed when changes happen.

For each edition of The List, I have a set of rules to outline my thought process and how to best use these rankings. Please take note:

  1. This is 5×5, 12-teamer, H2H format focused. It generally is the same as roto as well, but make sure you adjust accordingly.
  2. Again, these tables are going to change. I’m trying to give a general idea of it, but injured pitchers returning, rainouts, bumped starters, callups, etc. mean the orders are all messed up. It happens, nothing I can do about it.
  3. The notes outline oh-so-much to help your team. Please read the notes if you can instead of just scrolling to the bottom.

Pretty straightforward stuff. Let’s take a look at how I’m loosely ranking these matchups for the next month (which, also, will change. These are humans, after all):

Nick’s Loose Offense Rankings (Updated 9/4)

 

Now let’s jump to the expected schedules for each team starting September 5th. Please note:

(OFF) means the team was off the day before
(DH) means that those games are part of a doubleheader

 

Arizona Diamondbacks

 

Brandon Pfaadt – He’s considerable through it all, though if he looks rough against the Rockies, the Cubs may need to take a backseat.

Zach Davies – His changeup is everything and while we saw some prime Davies, I question if the reward is worth the risk here, even with some good matchups.

Slade Cecconi – Absolutely not. This may be Ryne Nelson ultimately, who I’d avoid as well. Took much risk there.

Zac Gallen – Aces gonna ace.

Merrill Kelly – You’re not dropping him.

Team Notes: This seems somewhat stable, save for Cecconi likely getting ousted by Ryne Nelson.

 

Atlanta

 

Michael Soroka – If it is Soroka and he holds it, I’m very much down to chase this. Think a Toby with a great Win chance each time and can go six frames steadily.

Spencer Strider – Aces gonna ace.

Max Fried – Aces gonna ace.

Bryce Elder – Consider him for all but the Philly matchups as a solid Toby.

Charlie Morton – I guess we’re going for all of it at this point.

Team Notes: There is a doubleheader against the Phillies on 9/11 that likely has Darius Vines stepping in. I’d avoid Vines there, though it may mess up some of the ordering. In addition, we could see some Jared Shuster, Allan Winans, Kyle Wright, or AJ Smith-ShawverI’d ignore Shuster, but if the other three (or Vines, as well) get a solid matchup, I’m game. I’m curious what we’ll get of Wright.

 

Baltimore Orioles

 

Dean Kremer – Start him for everything but Houston.

Kyle Gibson – He’s a Cherry BombGood luck.

Cole Irvin – I think he’ll get replaced by John Means when he’s ready to return, but he may be there for those we need to stream a decent Win chance for at least one more start.

Kyle Bradish – He’s been too dang good to bench + he avoids Houston.

Grayson Rodriguez – Ditto for GrayRod. All clear.

Team Notes – With the potential of John Means joining against the Rays, I imagine the Orioles will stick to a six-man rotation. Means tossed 86 pitches in his last rehab outing and makes for a compelling stream against the Rays, even if he’s a little down in velocity and going mostly fastball/change in rehab (that could change once he returns). It’s a clear bench against the Astros, though, making it mostly a pick up for one game against the Nationals (ignoring the unknown toss up against the Rays). Up to you.

 

Boston Red Sox

 

Kutter Crawford – I’m okay moving on from Crawford, but there are worse options out there against the Rays and Yankees in the short term. That White Sox start could be worthwhile as well.

James Paxton – His velocity has been down and I’m scared for what’s ahead for Paxton. He can’t be trusted at the moment with his fastball declining for over a month.

Tanner Houck The slider is good, the rest isn’t. He’s not my favorite one to chase, but you may want to target that White Sox outing.

Chris Sale – Velocity is down but he was able to hit 97 mph by the end of the game for the second straight game. I think we still go for it, maybe hold back for the Rangers.

Brayan Bello – The Jays + Rangers aren’t fun and with Bello going on Monday, he doesn’t have a ton of value across the next three weeks – your playoffs may be over before the Rays start.

Team Notes: This seems like what we’ll get, possibly with a surprise Nick Pivetta appearance if something goes awry.

 

Chicago Cubs

 

Kyle Hendricks – Pretty easy stuff here – start him then drop before Atlanta.

Jordan Wicks – The start in Coors messes things up, but granted a solid outing against the Giants that showcases the same cutter and changeup, you may be able to hold through Colorado.

Javier Assad – Ditto for Assad. The cutter and sinker separation has been great.

Jameson Taillon – You may be able to get some Quality Start value here, but I wonder if he stumbles and gets replaced by Wesneski or Smyly. I wouldn’t hold too tightly and often favor a streamer instead.

Justin Steele – He just dominated and the only question is that Atlanta start. Maybe Atlanta elects to hold off its starts that day…?

Team Notes: Keep an eye on Hayden Wesneski and Drew Smyly as the team theoretically could go six-man when Marcus Stroman returns and Taillon/Wicks/Assad could get replaced as well. Wesneski had exciting velocity in his three frames over the weekend and it may have been a legit shift for the young arm. Avoid Smyly, though.

 

Chicago White Sox

 

Dylan Cease – If you need strikeouts, you don’t have much of a choice. It’s gonna be rough whether you like it or not.

Touki Toussaint – Think Cease but fewer strikeouts and more ratio turbulence. If he goes 40%+ curveballs, there could be some path to stability.

Mike Clevinger – He just got trounced by the Tigers and yet it doesn’t rule him out for a few decent outings ahead. I hate leaning into it, but there are worse dart throws.

Michael Kopech – I really don’t want to start Kopech anywhere regardless of opponent.

Jesse Scholtens – You don’t want to chase this one. He’s a Werewolf at best.

Team Notes: Not a whole lot here to chase and nothing in the green room for us to get excited about.

 

Cincinnati Reds

 

Connor Phillips – Makes his MLB debut Tuesday night and what I saw on Savant was 95 mph four-seamers over the plate with a slider he hopes to get strikes with. If he’s impressive against the Mariners, then maybe he turns into a streamer for the Tigers and we go from there.

Lyon Richardson – I don’t want to start him regardless of the matchups.

Hunter Greene – We don’t have a choice, do we? At least nothing scary is on the horizon.

Andrew Abbott – Obviously.

Brandon Williamson – He’s done enough with his changeup and new velocity on the fastball/cutter to start the rest of the way.

Tejay Antone – He started for two frames on Monday and I wonder if the Reds keep him as a bullpen guy or let him get stretched out in the final games of the year. I sure hope it’s the latter, but he’s not relevant with such a short leash.

Team Notes: The Reds may lean into the six-man rotation to limit the innings of their young arms while giving call-ups a shot + the COVID-IL has really messed stuff up. Get vaccinated, y’all, it’s not going away. I really don’t think Richardson should be starting, but their best option is Ben Livelywho could take Phillips’ spot instead. As for Nick Lodolohis setback likely means he’s done for the year.

 

Cleveland Guardians

 

Tanner Bibee – We can’t quit now, can we.

Gavin Williams – As long as his knee is okay, we’re letting him loose for all of this.

Cal Quantrill – He’s The UnQuantrillfiable and now gets three of the best matchups you could hope for. There’s your Toby pickup for the final month.

Logan Allen – This is simple. Sit Allen for Texas and Baltimore.

Xzavion Curry It’s tempting to give it a whirl after his last outing, though it’s highly dependent on earning strikes with sliders and curves. The ceiling isn’t too high, though.

Lucas Giolito – I’d let him fly for all but the Rangers.

Team Notes: Apparently Triston McKenzie and Shane Bieber are targeting a September 20th return to the rotation, which would be the Baltimore series. Maybe that works, and we should be monitoring their Triple-A pitch counts to see if that’s a proper Still ILL or if we can let them fly. It’s likely the former, though the final week should open the door for some value if you have an open IL spot.

 

Colorado Rockies

 

Kyle FreelandIt’s just the Arizona start and that’s for deeeeeep leagues.

Chris Flexen – Ditto.

Ty Blach – Hey, that San Francisco series is kinda interesting on both sides. NL-Only leagues should be aware. 12-teamers? Naaaah.

Austin Gomber – The term “Gomber’d” in fantasy land refers to a road Gomber start against the Giants and here we are. It could work, y’all.

Chase Anderson – At least one of these SFG starts will work for the Rockies rotation. Good luck picking who.

Peter Lambert – Suggesting him in Coors against the Giants is a massive stretch.

Team Notes: Please don’t be a position where you have to consider any of these.

 

Detroit Tigers

 

Joey Wentz – If he’s holding onto the spot, I wouldn’t be shocked if he pitches well in any of his final outings. He has these rare moments of bliss, it’s just so hard to determine when, even against weak offenses.

Matt Manning – He’s the new Michael Lorenzen with such an easy schedule. I guess we’re going to Vargas Rule this.

Eduardo Rodriguez – A clear start for everything but the Dodgers

Reese Olson – He’s not a terrible streaming option in all of these except the Dodgers. If he has his changeup earning whiffs and his slider at its peak, he’ll help. He’s volatile, sadly.

Tarik Skubal – Start him…maybe even against the Dodgers.

Team Notes: We could see some Alex Faedo instead of Joey Wentzwho has a bit more believability of success with his excellent slider. He has the Shag Carpetthough.

 

Houston Astros

 

Framber Valdez – I’m sitting against the Rangers then letting him fly. Just get your cutter and curve back to 40% usage combined at least, okay?

Justin Verlander – Just start him.

Hunter Brown – Honestly, just the Oakland and Arizona starts speak to me. If he’s cruising through the next two, then I’d feel better about Baltimore and Seattle. I still may go with him for all four after San Diego, but if he still can’t locate his slider and curve, I’d consider other options.

Cristian Javier – He finally had both his four-seamer and slider working and now gets the Padres. Blegh. It’s no lock he has his best stuff against the Royals, either, and I’d likely move on. There is a chance he holds it through September, though, which makes him opponent agnostic…

J.P. France – He got battered by the Rangers and is an obvious sit against the Padres. Just focus on the two Royals starts.

Team Notes: We could see some José Urquidy or even Ronel Blanco in the mix if things get shaken up, possibly a six-man here and there. Play the matchups if they do.

 

Kansas City Royals

 

Brady Singer – He was skipped due to arm fatigue + paternity leave and his sinker command has been blegh for a few starts. Still, it’s the White Sox and the slider precision is still there. That’s a Cherry Bomb.

Jordan Lyles – He’s only worth a look in AL-Only Quality Start leagues and even then, it’s going to hurt.

Alec Marsh – There is strikeout potential if you’re desperate against some poor teams. I wouldn’t chase it, though.

Zack Greinke – Greinke does what Greinke does.

Cole Ragans – The schedule changed on him, giving him three tough teams in a row. I’m going for it personally, but it’s highly likely he stumbles in at least one. He’s a unicorn though…

Team Notes: The only ones to care about here are Singer and Ragans, even if we get others along the way.

 

Los Angeles Angels

 

Reid Detmers – I’d just avoid him altogether. He hasn’t looked great for a long time now.

Patrick Sandoval – He hasn’t had his changeup and slider both cooking all season.

Jaime Barría – He’s getting a shot and it’s not appealing enough for me in these matchups.

Griffin Canning – I think you can start him the rest of the way, especially if he avoids that Rangers series.

Tyler Anderson – He could be a Tobythough you may want to only target the Detroit and Oakland starts.

Kenny Rosenberg – Is he even going regularly? Do you want him to?

Team Notes: I wonder if they’ll truncate down to a five-man rotation with Chase Silseth still on the mend from his concussion and Shohei Ohtani out for the season. It may remove the Detroit series from Canning, and I may avoid him against the Mariners, but he could steal the last game of the year against Oakland.

 

Los Angeles Dodgers

 

Clayton Kershaw – It’s TATIAGAYou start him regardless.

Lance Lynn – I’m game for all but Coors and the Padres.

Ryan Pepiot – There’s some sneaky value here as he’s expected to take Julio Urías‘ spot. I’d consider him for all but the Padres.

Emmet Sheehan – Same as Pepiot.

Bobby Miller – We’re going for it all, even Coors.

Team Notes: The Dodgers will need another arm for the doubleheader against the Rockies and I wouldn’t chase the Ryan Yarbrough/Gavin Stone train in the slightest.

 

Miami Marlins

 

Jesús Luzardo – Jeeeeez, does he have to have such a tough schedule? I think you have to sit for Atlanta and the Dodgers are so tough.

Edward Cabrera – Wait and see for the Brewers start and after. I imagine he’ll still be a Cherry Bomb and I’d prefer to not risk my season on it.

Braxton Garrett – Let him sit on the wire. I don’t like his rhythm at the moment and the ceiling is low.

Eury Pérez – Go go go. He’s too good, I don’t care that he gets the Phils.

Johnny Cueto – Maybe he has that magic against the Brewers and Pirates, but I ain’t chasing it.

Sandy Alcantara – Start for all but Atlanta. They are just too good.

Team Notes: It could be a six-man, it could get weird as the Marlins fight for a playoff spot. Ohhhhh baby.

 

Milwaukee Brewers

 

Brandon Woodruff – Obviously.

Freddy Peralta – Also obviously.

Colin Rea – He just survived against the Phils but I don’t like it. Too risky.

Wade Miley – He’s a Toby with a decent schedule.

Corbin Burnes…triple obviously.

 

Minnesota Twins

 

Sonny Gray – He’s been gifted with a lovely end to the season, hopefully capping a phenomenal season.

Joe Ryan – Yep, we’re doing this, even Coors.

Kenta Maeda – I’m a little more worried here as Maeda hasn’t been in a groove with his splitter & slider for a number of starts. I don’t want @CIN or Coors at all. It’s a tough call, but I guess we hold for the Mets and Rays and hope for the best. Consider other options.

Dallas Keuchel – Absolutely not.

Pablo López – Did you realize PabLó has the fourth most strikeouts in the majors (and just five behind Blake Snell)? Let it ride.

Team Notes: You have to imagine Bailey Ober takes over for Keuchel at some point. There’s also Louie Varland rejoining the club, but in the pen as a possible piggy-back situation for Keuchel, albeit for just a handful of frames.

 

New York Mets

 

José Quintana – He got through his gauntlet and looks like an arm to start the rest of the way.

Carlos Carrasco – Please don’t.

Kodai Senga – He’s arguably an AGA as he nears 180 strikeouts for the year. You start him.

David Peterson – The stuff isn’t good enough.

Tylor Megill – I’m good for all but the Phillies matchup. His slider is getting whiffs and the fastball is hovering 96 mph while flirting with upper-90s.

Team Notes: We may see some Joey Lucchesi or some other young Mets arms and I wouldn’t go after any of them.

 

New York Yankees

 

Gerrit Cole – Aces gonna ace.

Clarke Schmidt – That’s a lovely schedule for a guy you picked up a month ago and haven’t let go. Don’t overextend against the Jays, though.

Carlos Rodón – The stage is set for a dominant September that gets us amped for 2024.

Luis Severino – I’m just not seeing it. Avoid.

Michael King – He got up to about 70 pitches last time and will be around 80 for both the Brewers and Boston starts. That could work and his sinker/slider combo could come through against the Jays. Super interesting right now.

Team Notes: We could see some of Jhonny Brito or Randy Vásquez down the stretch (or maybe another young arm?), though I see it playing out with these five for as long as they can.

 

Oakland Athletics

 

Zach Neal – Oh dear.

JP Sears – Ignore him until the final two games. There’s strikeout upside there to snatch.

Paul Blackburn – The same goes for Paulie Punchouts.

Mason Miller – Well ain’t this interesting. I’d avoid him for the first two, but do you have a choice? Would stashing him pay off against the Mariners + Twins + Angels? My heart says yes, my brain says He’ll likely be on a short leash and still have some volatility. It’s probably smart to ignore, but I bet you I’m going to have fun watching him.

Ken Waldichuk – If you’re super desperate for the Detroit start, he has legit potential if the BSB is executed. Thing is, he doesn’t do that often.

 

Philadelphia Phillies

 

Michael Lorenzen – After getting the gift of a beautiful schedule in Detroit, it’s coming back to bite him now. Avoid.

Zack Wheeler – He’s taking one for the team and we’re going to face the consequences of it. If you want to sit against Atlanta, I don’t blame you, but can you?

Cristopher Sánchez – He’s looking at Wheeler with puppy eyes, opening the door for a wonderful schedule to seal off a fantastic second half run. Just get that changeup back in order, please.

Aaron Nola – It’s been so tough. With the Phils going to a six-man, it clears up his schedule to be a clear play the rest of the way, but hot dang, this has been a dumb season.

Ranger Suárez – The schedule is great, Suárez’s rhythm is not. It could click by the end, but I wouldn’t bank on it.

Taijuan Walker – He’s not in a good place and it’s an easy avoid with Atlanta on the docket.

Team Notes: This could get messy quickly with the doubleheader + a six-man disappearing if anyone gets hurt. I have my doubts on this holding as much as any team. There isn’t anyone else to consider for fantasy if they need a seventh arm. I miss Andrew Painter

 

Pittsburgh Pirates

 

Andre Jackson – This could work? I’m skeptical of his last two games, but that’s not a bad three-start stretch. There will be at least one stumble, though.

Mitch Keller – He’s too hot to bench.

Bailey Falter – The Pirates have limited him and I wouldn’t circle the Washington start with this much haze for a middling arm.

Johan Oviedo – The man is a Cherry Bomb with two clear avoids on the docket. No thanks.

Luis L. Ortiz – There’s little reason to expect Ortiz to have his best stuff for the one game you’d actually consider him (NYY).

Team Notes: There’s not a whole lot to look forward to here.

 

San Diego Padres

 

Pedro Avila – I’m curious if he shows some skills in his first two starts to make us confident he can take advantage of his schedule down the stretch.

Michael Wacha – His command is legit, though I’m benching against the Dodgers. Do what you want with the Phils.

Blake Snell – I don’t care, start him. This is your test for the Cy Young.

Seth Lugo – Easy. Bench for the Astros, start the rest of the way

Rich Hill – Absolutely not. I’m going to assume Joe Musgrove is stealing this spot instead of Avila’s if he does come back.

Team Notes: I expect Yu Darvish will be out for the remainder of the season and for Musgrove to return after the Dodgers start. I’d let both start in their Still ILL outings as they’ll be facing a weak crew.

 

San Francisco Giants

 

Sean Manaea – I hate how…

Tristan Beck – …the Giants use their starting pitchers.

Kyle Harrison – He’s a Cherry Bomb and I’m not the biggest fan of chasing him. That said, you can’t deny Rockie Roadcan you.

Alex Cobb – You’re safe for Rockie Roadbut I don’t think stashing him for a shrug of a matchup against the Diamondbacks is worth it.

Logan Webb – The dude gets no good fortune. First it’s lack of run support, now it’s a horrible end to the year. Not gonna lie, you may want to move on after Rockie Road.

Team Notes: We’ll see some Alex Wood, Jakob Junisand Friends along the way and I hate it.

 

Seattle Mariners

 

Bryce Miller – Yeeeesh, the end of the year is rough for the Mariners. Hopefully your playoffs are over by then, but hot dang, you may want to consider something else than Miller after the Rays…or even now?

Logan Gilbert – You have to start him for the first two and then good luck.

Luis Castillo – YOU GOT THIS CASTILLO

George Kirby – It’s gonna be nervous as h*ck for those final two starts.

Bryan Woo – After featuring lower velocity on Monday against the Reds, it feels like you’d only consider Woo for a start against Oakland. You may want to drop now.

Team Notes: If something happens here, Luke Weaver is the nest man up and that’s no fun.

 

St. Louis Cardinals

 

Miles Mikolas – Absolutely not, even at the end.

Dakota Hudson – The slider whiffs are gone and that’s such a bad schedule.

Adam Wainwright – I hope you get your two Wins. That is all.

Drew Rom – I’m not interested.

Zack Thompson Well he’s kinda cool, but I’d avoid until the Brewers. It’s a decent fastball, a solid cutter, and a big hook that could be interesting for 2024, too.

Team Notes: We may see Matthew Liberatore return and snatch Rom’s spot. If he has his velocity up and a legit slider, maybe he gets our love for the Reds start.

 

Tampa Bay Rays

 

Zach Eflin – It’s not the smoothest schedule and we don’t care. Let him fly.

Tyler GlasnowAces gonna ace.

Zack Littell – Nah, the sneaky Win chance isn’t worth this.

Taj Bradley – He’s a Cherry Bomb and I hate this schedule save for the Angels start. He’ll still need to throw strikes on that day to make it worthwhile.

Aaron Civale – Ehhhhh, it’s fine. It’s so iffy.

Team Notes: If the Rays need more help, it’s a bullpen game with Erasmo RamírezNo thanks.

 

Texas Rangers

 

Nathan Eovaldi – I guess he’s returning on Tuesday? I wouldn’t expect this work until the Red Sox start, but if his velocity is at least 95 mph, then I guess I’m in.

Max Scherzer – Aces gonna ace.

Dane Dunning – That’s a tempting pair of Oakland and Angels, but he hasn’t had his premier slider and cutter for a bit.

Jordan Montgomery – That last outing was weird and he should be steady through the end.

Jon Gray – He’s in as good of a place as you could hope for with his heater and slider.

Andrew Heaney – The man is a Cherry Bomb and I’d avoid him completely.

Team Notes: This may not be a six-man in the end, with Dane Dunning getting the axe if it doesn’t pan out against the Athletics. The Rangers are in a tight race and you may see some aggressive starts down the stretch – including Scherzer on the last day of the season.

 

Toronto Blue Jays

 

Chris BassittStart him, yes even against Texas.

Hyun Jin RyuStart him, no not against Texas.

Yusei Kikuchi – Start him, maybe against Texas…?

Kevin GausmanAces gonna ace.

José BerríosStart him, no not against Texas…wait. He doesn’t get Texas. PHEW.

Team Notes: We may see Ricky Tiedemann at some point, who is a flamethrowing left-hander that will make you emit noises. He’ll have a Shag Carpetthough, and there isn’t room at the moment. I’m curious how it plays out.

 

Washington Nationals

 

Patrick Corbin – There is some sneaky value here as he’s shown the ability to execute the BSB and has some decent matchups. Just sayin’.

Joan Adon – I really don’t like his stuff, but maybe one of those green outings work.

MacKenzie Gore – He’s a Cherry Bomb who hasn’t been sweet a whole lot.

Jake Irvin – That’s a horrid schedule and Irivin is too mediocre to consider.

Trevor Williams – Team #NeverTrevor

Josiah Gray – I don’t love his approach and his arsenal needs tinkering.

Team Notes: Will this stick as a six-man? Does it matter?

 

The List Based On ROS Schedules

 

Phew. With all the team schedules outlined above (HUGE thanks to Dave Swan’s help with the tables together! Give him a follow on Twitter), I went forward and made a GIANT table featuring every starter listed above, ranking them in six different tiers to get a sense of who to target and avoid down the stretch.

Before we get to that, I need to address a few things:

  • Due to the annoying nature of predicting schedule vs. things shifting around constantly, I decided to just tier them up and sort by alphabetical order, grouped in Starts Remaining.
    • It’s just too nuanced to rank these properly at this point. What is the value of 4 starts remaining vs. 5? It depends on so much.
    • Seriously, this is near impossible at this point. For daily questions, I’ll have my daily streaming articles.
  • Let me outline the definitions of each tier:
    • Auto: You’re pretty much starting them for each outing they have ahead of them, regardless of the opponent. Maybe one or two considerations, but you’re likely still starting them.
    • Probable: You trust them against weak teams and there may be one or two games that give you some hesitation, or they have a great schedule but their ability is somewhat in question, unlike the fantastic guys in the top tier.
    • Questionable: These are going to be guys with a heavy swing of good and poor matchups, mixed with pitchers whose abilities we inherently question
    • Unlikely: These pitchers have maybe one or two starts we’d consider them for as a stream, but overall are unlikely to go on a solid stretch through September.
    • Do Not Start: It’s certainly possible they pull off a good outing here and there, but you really don’t want to bet on it. Don’t do this.
  • These matchups are likely to change plenty between now and the end of the season and take the time to look into who maybe shift around and who may not (e.g. The Yankees rotation)
  • Again, please don’t hate me, this took forever.
  • I went with a screenshot instead of a table as it’s far easier to create the colored cells for opponents + I think it works better for scrolling. Sorry you can’t Ctrl+F inside it. It’s a concession I think is worth it.

 

Auto-Start Tier

 

 

Probably Tier

 

 

Questionable Tier

 

 

Unlikely Start Tier

 

 

Do Not Start Tier

 

 

Good luck everyone!

Nick Pollack

Founder of Pitcher List. Creator of CSW, The List, and SP Roundup. Worked with MSG, FanGraphs, CBS Sports, and Washington Post. Former college pitcher, travel coach, pitching coach, and Brandeis alum. Wants every pitcher to be dope.

10 responses to “The List 9/4: Ranking Every SP ROS Based On Expected Schedules – Week 23”

  1. Sweet Chin Music says:

    Nick, I appreciate the hard work on this, especially over a holiday weekend. Thanks for continuing to make the best fantasy site out there.

  2. Disap Pointed-Andletdown says:

    What’s with the formatting change? This can’t be up to accessibility standards with images like this. How does someone with an screenreader use the site now? Also it’s way harder to actually find relevant information this way. I like reading about the players in ranking order because it’s simple. This feels like it’s taking the easy way out as a writer, but complicates things in an unnecessary way for the reader. I noticed the SP future schedules utilizes these images too. It’s really unfortunate

    • Nick Pollack says:

      Hey Disap,

      The formatting change with images is to save a ton of time for both Scott Youngson and me. Previously, it would take at least an hour to individually color code each cell for every table made. Now, we can use Google Sheet conditional formatting.

      These articles take a ton of time already and it was a concession we elected to make in order to get these out fast enough for everyone.

      If you’d like the Google Sheet of the article, I’d be happy to share this with PL+ subscribers on our Discord.

  3. Justin says:

    What is the love affair with Giolito?? Do you know him personally? Guy has thrown batting practice for over a month and you still rank him high.

  4. David Frizzell says:

    Nick…While I appreciate all of the good work you do, I’m also disappointed with the format change. By using screenshots you’ve eliminated the ability to integrate with data analysis tools such as Excel. I use Excel extensively and like to have all of my primary Player information in one view, rather than jumping around from screen-to-screen. I’ve looked at this several times today and realize that there is no way for me to add this new data without days of data entry. Even if you provided a one-time copy of the initial tables at least one would then only have to make any appropriate changes going forward. Disappointing but, if it is a huge time-saver for you, then it’s probably a good thing. All the best!

    • Nick Pollack says:

      Hey David,

      Totally get that! The reason for images over tables is that I can use conditional formatting to color code the cells vs. individually clicking on every cell inside our table-maker on WordPress. It saves at least an hour or more.

      I’d be more than happy to share the Google Sheet I use to make these tables with you inside the PL+ Discord. I wouldn’t want to share it on the page as users would simply ignore the article for the sheet, which isn’t what we want to do here.

  5. aarongifs says:

    Thanks Nick. How does it feel like so many pitchers have bad schedules down the stretch? Maybe it is just my pitchers :(

    Most actionable for me was: Pickup Emmett Sheehan if you still can.

  6. Warren Shinnamon says:

    I can’t help but agree. Being able to search for players was incredibly helpful, and the screenshot formatting takes that all away. Still a very helpful resource, but this is undesirable.

    • Nick Pollack says:

      Hey Warren,

      I made sure to add blurbs on every player under their tables in order to allow users to still CTRL-F to find their players.

      I ran out of time this week to add them for the final collection at the bottom, though I believe the team tables and blurbs are more important analysis than the blanket tiers at the bottom, personally.

      The reason for images instead of tables is because it saves hours for me to use images instead re-creating all of the tables by hand inside WordPress. I’d have to color code every cell individually instead of using conditional formatting inside Google Sheet. This article already takes all afternoon on Monday to create and I had to make a concession.

  7. Scott says:

    Montgomery is facing the blue jays

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