Fantasy baseball managers will need to keep an eye on their two starting pitchers this week, especially in roto leagues. Almost every potential waiver wire pickup listed below has at least one dangerous matchup, and most of these hurlers have produced mixed results thus far. The outlook for one starting pitcher is much better this week, with many pitchers performing well and entering favorable matchups. On the hitting side, Boston is a great place to look for short-term reinforcements.
Two starting pitchers (listed in order of priority)
Garrett Whitlock, 52% (vs. CLE, @PIT)
Whitlock continues to limit his scoring (1.26 ERA), but he has been less dominant in his past two starts (8:6 K:BB ratio). He should be an all-league starter this week against a poor Guardians lineup and a Pirates offense that has had limited success so far.
Seth Lugo, 43% (@CWS, vs. BAL)
Lugo has had a mixed record thus far, with good numbers (1.45 ERA, 1.18 WHIP) but poor K:BB ratio (9:5) across 18.2 innings. His first matchup is so enticing (he’s last on the White Sox in scoring) that he should start in most leagues.
Martin Perez, 33% (@NYM, vs. BOS)
We’ve seen this before from Mr. Perez. Last year, he posted a 2.41 ERA in April and a 5.08 ERA the rest of the season. And the best months of his career in terms of running prevention are April and May. Fantasy managers in 12-team leagues might be willing to take a chance on extending his hot start (1.89 ERA, 1.21 WHIP) by at least another week.
Reese Olson, 15% (vs. TEX, @MIN)
Olson pitched 5.2 shutout innings against the Mets in his debut in 2024, but struggled in the last game against the Pirates. His K:BB ratio is 6:5, which doesn’t give us much confidence, but he will make his first start at a pitcher-friendly home park, and his second game will be against a Twins lineup that ranks 27th in OPS.
Louis Berland, 27% (vs. BAL, @DET)
Better days are likely ahead for Berland, who started two games against teams ranked in the top three in OPS (MIL, LAD) and posted a .385 BABIP. This week’s opposing starting pitchers are Cole Irvin and Casey Mize, giving them some chance of winning.
Joe Ross, 5% (vs. SD, @STL)
After missing the past two seasons, Ross is off to a decent start (1.80 ERA, 1.30 WHIP) and could be a great story this year. He could play in head-to-head leagues with two starts, but is too much of a risk to be in the lottery lineup.
John Gray, 20% (@DET, @ATL)
The good news is that Gray struck out 14 batters in 12.1 innings. But everything else went wrong, as he allowed seven walks and two home runs en route to a 4.38 ERA and 1.78 WHIP. A team in a head-to-head league could start him in hopes of going 12-15, but Loto should be scared of facing the Braves.
Casey Mize, 17% (vs. TEX, @MIN)
After missing most of 2022 and all of 2023, Mize had a mediocre performance this year (4.82 ERA, 1.39 WHIP). He should only be considered in his 15-team format.
one start streamer
Below, we’ve listed the week’s best streamers in order. The start date and his Yahoo registration rate are shown in parentheses.
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Michael Wacha @CWS (Wednesday, 61)
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Jared Jones @NYM (Tuesday, 67)
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Logan Allen vs. OAK (Saturday, 41)
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Ranger Suarez vs. COL (Tuesday, 54)
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Spencer Turnbull vs. CWS (Friday, 52)
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Max Meyer @CHC (Thursday, 50)
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Zach Littell vs. LAA (Wednesday, 42)
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Javier Asad vs. MIA (Saturday, 35)
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Jack Flaherty @MIN (Friday, 47)
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Paul Blackburn vs. STL (Wednesday, 38)
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Steven Matz @OAK (Wednesday, 9)
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Lance Lynn @OAK (Tuesday, 30)
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Dane Dunning @DET (Wednesday, 22)
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Keaton Wynn @MIA (Wednesday, 2)
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Tyler Wells vs. MIN (Wednesday 31st)
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Reynaldo Lopez @HOU (Tuesday, 40)
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Dean Kramer @KC (Friday, 26)
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Lewis Gill vs. TB (Saturday 31st)
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JP Sears vs. STL (Tuesday 6th)
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Clark Schmidt vs. TB (Friday 19th)
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Sean Manaea @ LAD (Friday, 41)
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Jose Quintana vs. PIT (Tuesday 14th)
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Wade Miley vs. SD (Tuesday 6th)
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Kenta Maeda vs. TEX (31st (Thursday))
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Trevor Rogers vs. SF (Wednesday 4th)
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Ryan Weathers vs. SF (Tuesday 2nd)
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Gavin Stone vs. NYM (Friday, 41)
Advantageous Monday-Thursday batting match
Red Sox vs. Guardians: Expect volume in the coming days as all three teams recommended in this section will play four games in the next four days. Boston is my favorite place to be a hitter. This is because the Red Sox have a lot of left-handed hitters, and they will be facing four unremarkable right-handed hitters. Red Sox favorites like Tristan Casas and Masanao Yoshida should be in every lineup, but David Hamilton (1%) and Reese McGuire (8%) make sense coming off the waiver wire.
Giants @ Marlins: The Giants tend to use matchups when setting up their batting lineups, which makes the right-handed hitter an interesting sleeper for the series in Miami against three southpaws. Wilmer Flores (5%) leads the list. And those who normally have high demands on Matt Chapman and Tyro Estrada will want to have them in the active lineup.
Rays vs. Angels: The Rays may have a little problem with Reid Detmers, but other than that, the four-game home game should be smooth sailing. Jose Siri (49%), Jose Caballero (50%) and Harold Ramirez (6%) are Tampa’s top prospects sitting on the waiver wire for the most part.
