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Week 18 Start/Sit: MLB Starting Pitcher (SP) Matchups

What’s up RotoBallers. Below are all of the projected starting pitching matchups for Week 18, including our recommendation on whether to start or sit them for your fantasy baseball teams. Next to each matchup below, we also have a link to our Premium Starting Pitcher Daily Matchups, Streamers & DFS Tool. For those who aren't aware, our in-house tool analyzes SP matchups based on a variety of stats/metrics, and recommends whether start, sit, or stream any pitcher for seasonal and DFS leagues. It's pretty cool.

For every week of the fantasy baseball season, we look to analyze all of the projected starting pitcher matchups and put together our optimal lineups. This week there are a ton of great two-start pitchers including Lester, Liriano, Scherzer, Felix, Kluber, Arrieta, Richards, Tanaka, Archer and Miller. As always, there are also viable starting pitcher sleepers and streamers to consider off the waiver wire (Corbin, Jungmann, Wisler, Shoemaker, Leake, Ray, Severino), depending on your league size and format including AL-Only and NL-Only leagues.

Here at RotoBaller, we believe that it’s key to analyze every SP matchup, each and every week, to help determine which SPs to start/sit and to hopefully find some hidden gems to bolster your teams. This weekly piece considers all of the pitching performances thus far this season, the pitcher’s opponents, their career stats against the opponent, some ballpark factors and historical splits. With all of this information, we then provide our start/sit recommendations for each starting pitcher matchup for the approaching week of fantasy baseball.

SP Matchups & Start/Sit Recommendations

Editor’s Note: RotoBaller’s fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups list is updated every single day. Our awesome writers bring you analysis on hot or emerging starting pitchers, and also all other fantasy positions. You can also download our waiver wire iPhone app for free, and easily stay updated.

Note that MLB teams usually shuffle their rotations at the beginning of the week, so I’ll try my best to update the matchups throughout the day:

 

PROBABLE PITCHERS - MONDAY (8/3/15)  
GAME VISITING STARTER START/SIT HOME STARTER START/SIT
ARI@WAS Zack Godley SP | ARI Sit Doug Fister SP | WAS Sit
BAL@OAK Tyler Wilson RP | BAL Sit Jesse Chavez SP | OAK Sit
CHC@PIT Jon Lester SP | CHC Start Francisco Liriano SP | PIT Start
CLE@LAA Corey Kluber SP | CLE Start Garrett Richards SP | LAA Start
HOU@TEX Lance McCullers SP | HOU Sit Colby Lewis SP | TEX Start
MIN@TOR Ervin Santana SP | MIN Sit David Price SP | TOR Start
NYM@MIA Bartolo Colon SP | NYM Start Tom Koehler SP | MIA Start
SD@MIL Tyson Ross SP | SD Start Wily Peralta SP | MIL Sit
SEA@COL Felix Hernandez SP | SEA Start Eddie Butler SP | COL Sit
SF@ATL Matt Cain SP | SF Sit Mike Foltynewicz RP | ATL Sit
TB@CHW Nathan Karns SP | TB Start Jose Quintana SP | CHW Start
PROBABLE PITCHERS - TUESDAY (8/4/15)  
GAME VISITING STARTER START/SIT HOME STARTER START/SIT
ARI@WAS Patrick Corbin SP | ARI Start Max Scherzer SP | WAS Start
BAL@OAK Miguel Gonzalez SP | BAL Sit Chris Bassitt SP | OAK Sit
BOS@NYY Henry Owens SP | BOS Sit Masahiro Tanaka SP | NYY Start
CHC@PIT Jake Arrieta SP | CHC Start J.A. Happ SP | PIT Sit
CLE@LAA Carlos Carrasco RP | CLE Start Matt Shoemaker SP | LAA Start
HOU@TEX Mike Fiers SP | HOU Start Yovani Gallardo SP | TEX Sit
KC@DET Danny Duffy SP | KC Sit Justin Verlander SP | DET Start
LAD@PHI Alex Wood SP | LAD Start Jerome Williams RP | PHI Sit
MIN@TOR Phil Hughes SP | MIN Sit Marco Estrada RP | TOR Start
NYM@MIA Jonathon Niese SP | NYM Start Brad Hand RP | MIA Sit
SD@MIL Andrew Cashner SP | SD Sit Jimmy Nelson SP | MIL Sit
SEA@COL Vidal Nuno SP | SEA Sit Jon Gray RP | COL Sit
SF@ATL Jake Peavy SP | SF Start Shelby Miller SP | ATL Start
STL@CIN John Lackey SP | STL Start Anthony DeSclafani SP | CIN Sit
TB@CHW Chris Archer SP | TB Start Chris Sale SP | CHW Start
PROBABLE PITCHERS - WEDNEDSAY (8/5/15)  
GAME VISITING STARTER START/SIT HOME STARTER START/SIT
ARI@WAS Rubby De La Rosa SP | ARI Start Gio Gonzalez SP | WAS Start
BAL@OAK Wei-Yin Chen SP | BAL Start Kendall Graveman RP | OAK Sit
BOS@NYY Steven Wright RP | BOS Sit Luis Severino SP | NYY Start
CHC@PIT Dan Haren SP | CHC Start Jeff Locke SP | PIT Sit
CLE@LAA Danny Salazar SP | CLE Start Hector Santiago SP | LAA Start
HOU@TEX Scott Kazmir SP | HOU Start Nick Martinez SP | TEX Sit
KC@DET Johnny Cueto SP | KC Start Buck Farmer SP | DET Sit
LAD@PHI Brett Anderson SP | LAD Start Aaron Harang SP | PHI Sit
MIN@TOR Tyler Duffey SP | MIN Sit Drew Hutchison SP | TOR Start
NYM@MIA Matt Harvey SP | NYM Start David Phelps SP | MIA Sit
SD@MIL Ian Kennedy SP | SD Start Taylor Jungmann SP | MIL Start
SEA@COL Taijuan Walker SP | SEA Sit TBD TBD
SF@ATL Madison Bumgarner SP | SF Start Williams Perez SP | ATL Sit
STL@CIN Carlos Martinez RP | STL Start David Holmberg SP | CIN Sit
TB@CHW Erasmo Ramirez SP | TB Start Carlos Rodon SP | CHW Sit
PROBABLE PITCHERS - THURSDAY (8/6/15)  
GAME VISITING STARTER START/SIT HOME STARTER START/SIT
ARI@WAS Jeremy Hellickson SP | ARI Start Joe Ross SP | WAS Start
BOS@NYY Eduardo Rodriguez SP | BOS Start CC Sabathia SP | NYY Sit
HOU@OAK Dallas Keuchel SP | HOU Start Aaron Brooks SP | OAK Sit
KC@DET Yordano Ventura SP | KC Sit Anibal Sanchez SP | DET Start
LAD@PHI Zack Greinke SP | LAD Start David Buchanan SP | PHI Sit
MIA@ATL Jose Urena SP | MIA Sit Matt Wisler SP | ATL Sit
MIN@TOR Kyle Gibson SP | MIN Sit Mark Buehrle SP | TOR Sit
SD@MIL Odrisamer Despaigne SP | SD Sit Matt Garza SP | MIL Sit
SF@CHC Chris Heston RP | SF Start Jason Hammel SP | CHC Start
STL@CIN Michael Wacha SP | STL Start Michael Lorenzen SP | CIN Sit
PROBABLE PITCHERS - FRIDAY (8/7/15)  
GAME VISITING STARTER START/SIT HOME STARTER START/SIT
BAL@LAA Kevin Gausman SP | BAL Start Andrew Heaney SP | LAA Start
BOS@DET Joe Kelly SP | BOS Sit Alfredo Simon SP | DET Sit
CHW@KC John Danks SP | CHW Sit Edinson Volquez SP | KC Start
CIN@ARI Raisel Iglesias RP | CIN Sit Robbie Ray SP | ARI Start
COL@WAS Jorge De La Rosa SP | COL Sit Jordan Zimmermann SP | WAS Start
HOU@OAK Collin McHugh SP | HOU Start Sonny Gray SP | OAK Start
LAD@PIT Clayton Kershaw SP | LAD Start Gerrit Cole SP | PIT Start
MIA@ATL Jose Fernandez SP | MIA Start Julio Teheran SP | ATL Start
MIN@CLE Mike Pelfrey SP | MIN Start Cody Anderson SP | CLE Sit
NYM@TB Jacob deGrom SP | NYM Start Jake Odorizzi SP | TB Start
PHI@SD Aaron Nola SP | PHI Start James Shields SP | SD Start
SF@CHC Mike Leake SP | SF Start Kyle Hendricks SP | CHC Start
STL@MIL Lance Lynn SP | STL Start Kyle Lohse SP | MIL Sit
TEX@SEA Cole Hamels SP | TEX Start Mike Montgomery SP | SEA Sit
TOR@NYY R.A. Dickey SP | TOR Sit Bryan Mitchell RP | NYY Sit
PROBABLE PITCHERS - SATURDAY (8/8/15)  
GAME VISITING STARTER START/SIT HOME STARTER START/SIT
BAL@LAA Chris Tillman SP | BAL Sit TBD TBD
BOS@DET Wade Miley SP | BOS Sit Daniel Norris RP | DET Start
CHW@KC Jeff Samardzija SP | CHW Start TBD TBD
CIN@ARI Keyvius Sampson SP | CIN Sit Zack Godley SP | ARI Sit
COL@WAS Yohan Flande SP | COL Sit Doug Fister SP | WAS Sit
HOU@OAK Lance McCullers SP | HOU Start Jesse Chavez SP | OAK Start
LAD@PIT Mat Latos SP | LAD Start Charlie Morton SP | PIT Sit
MIA@ATL Tom Koehler SP | MIA Start Mike Foltynewicz RP | ATL Sit
MIN@CLE Ervin Santana SP | MIN Start Trevor Bauer SP | CLE Start
NYM@TB Noah Syndergaard SP | NYM Start Nathan Karns SP | TB Start
PHI@SD Adam Morgan SP | PHI Sit Tyson Ross SP | SD Start
SF@CHC Matt Cain SP | SF Sit Jon Lester SP | CHC Start
STL@MIL Jaime Garcia SP | STL Start Wily Peralta SP | MIL Sit
TEX@SEA Martin Perez SP | TEX Sit Hisashi Iwakuma SP | SEA Start
TOR@NYY David Price SP | TOR Start Ivan Nova SP | NYY Sit
PROBABLE PITCHERS - SUNDAY (8/9/15)  
GAME VISITING STARTER START/SIT HOME STARTER START/SIT
BAL@LAA Ubaldo Jimenez SP | BAL Sit Garrett Richards SP | LAA Start
BOS@DET TBD TBD Justin Verlander SP | DET Start
CHW@KC Jose Quintana SP | CHW Start Danny Duffy SP | KC Sit
CIN@ARI Anthony DeSclafani SP | CIN Sit Patrick Corbin SP | ARI Start
COL@WAS Eddie Butler SP | COL Sit Max Scherzer SP | WAS Start
HOU@OAK Mike Fiers SP | HOU Start Chris Bassitt SP | OAK Sit
LAD@PIT Alex Wood SP | LAD Start Francisco Liriano SP | PIT Start
MIA@ATL Brad Hand RP | MIA Sit Shelby Miller SP | ATL Start
MIN@CLE Phil Hughes SP | MIN Start Corey Kluber SP | CLE Start
NYM@TB Bartolo Colon SP | NYM Start Chris Archer SP | TB Start
PHI@SD Jerome Williams RP | PHI Sit Andrew Cashner SP | SD Start
SF@CHC Jake Peavy SP | SF Start Jake Arrieta SP | CHC Start
STL@MIL John Lackey SP | STL Start Jimmy Nelson SP | MIL Sit
TEX@SEA Colby Lewis SP | TEX Start Felix Hernandez SP | SEA Start
TOR@NYY Marco Estrada RP | TOR Start Masahiro Tanaka SP | NYY Start

 

 

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