Start & Sits - June 18-21
A look ahead for planning your starts & sits
Hunter Marvel’s return!
I’m back in the saddle! As Jon stated on Monday, we are going to dive into each day’s starting pitching slate and see how we think each one stacks up. Starting pitchers are a lot like gas station meals: some are perfectly safe, and some will ruin your entire week. Let’s get into it.
Thursday June 18th
AUTO STARTS
From now on, we are going to call these “Anchor Arms”. You can bank on these guys putting up a solid start and not being all too worried about it.
Bryan Woo vs Baltimore - Roughed up in his last start in Baltimore, giving up six ER in the third inning. Look for Woo to bounce back at home in good ol T-Mobile Park. He’s been awesome at home.
Joe Ryan @ Texas - Texas is a great spot for pitchers; that park is dead last in batting average and wOBA. Bring back the old Arlington Park. Ryan is on an absolute tear in May & June with a 26% K-BB%.
Not Auto But Still Auto
These guys are going to be our “Send It” guys. Might be a little risk but send it.
Sonny Gray vs Toronto - Another guy that has been absolutely electric at home for the last month.
Gage Jump vs LAA - The Angels are striking out at a 30% clip recently against LHP.
Do it but don’t feel comfortable
I think “Danger Zone” is a proper way to explain how these guys make us feel.
Ryan Weathers vs Chicago WS - Either boom or bust with this guy. It hasn’t been great recently either. Chicago has a legit offense, not striking out much against LHP.
Parker Messick @ Milwaukee - Brew Crew is mashing vs LHP right now
Shane Drohan vs Cleveland - Has been decent in his first three MLB starts. The Cleveland offense with no JRAM is no good.
DESPERATION STATION
Sean Manaea @ Philadelphia - He grades out super well, but hasn’t eclipsed 68 pitches all year. Coming off a great 6 IP outing vs Atlanta.
Shane Baz @ Seattle - Hasn’t been sharp over the past month due to command issues. Reverse splits guy with a mostly left-handed SEA lineup could be sneaky good.
Trey Yesavage @ Boston - Walks have become an issue lately, a 0% K-BB% tells the story. Boston doesn’t walk much, so he could make out fine.
Jack Leiter vs Minnesota
Noah Cameron vs St. Louis - Has been stellar recently, but STL mashes LHP. Proceed with caution.
HARD PASS
Jose Soriano @ Athletics - Hot Take Alert!! Call me crazy, but I am benching Jose. Not sure how his leg feels after being hit by a comebacker last time out; even so, he has been awful on the road this past month. The GB% is still nice at 51.3%. Let’s see if he can prove me wrong.
Landon Roupp @ Atlanta - 15.4% BB% in June.
Matthew Liberatore @ Kansas City - Velo way down last start, 14.8% Brl% with a 0.376 xwOBA on the road in the last month.
Martin Perez vs San Francisco - Regression is starting to sneak up on this guy; he’s been great for Atlanta so far. San Fran has an 0.812 OPS in June.
Sean Burke @ NYY - Yankees’ offense is a juggernaut. Another guy with bad road splits.
Friday June 19th
Not a paid sub? Then you’re about to hit the paywall - upgrade now to get the rest of this post!