Start/Sit Matchups - Starting Pitchers (8/20 - 8/26)

by Uncle Leo 8/21/18 4:04 AM Follow Uncle

Welcome back, RotoBallers, hopefully all your teams are right in the thick of things as we prepare for the fantasy baseball home stretch! As always, we're here to try and help with your daily/weekly lineups. I'm filling in for the regular @Roto_Dubs this week, as he has "real life" stuff to attend to. For those who aren't familiar, this is our fifth year now writing this weekly column, helping fantasy baseball managers pick the best pitchers weekly.

Below are the projected starting pitching matchups for Week 21 (8/20 through 8/26) as they currently stand, and our recommendations on whether to start or sit each pitcher. We'll be updating these throughout the week as rotations are inevitably tweaked. If you've got any questions about which pitchers can capitalize on a juicy matchup and which ones might be worth putting on the pine against a fierce offense, this is the weekly piece for you.

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. It's late enough in the season where we need to dig a little deeper -- those looking to make up ground in the standings may need to take some more risks to try and make up ground on their opponents. Those leading the pack need to make sure they don't roll out too many duds, so benching to right dud can be a ratio saver. And as we approach September, more pitchers will be emerging on the waiver wire, so stay stuned! Now let's get those optimal lineups set for the upcoming week!

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SP Matchups & Start/Sit Recommendations

This weekly piece considers 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.

Last updated: Tuesday, August 21 at 7:20 am ET

PROBABLE PITCHERS - MONDAY (8/20/18)
GAME	START/SIT	VISITING STARTER	START/SIT	HOME STARTER
ATL@PIT	SIT	Bryse Wilson SP \| ATL	SIT	Chris Archer SP \| PIT
BAL@TOR	SIT	Andrew Cashner SP \| BAL	SIT	Marco Estrada SP \| TOR
CHW@MIN	START	Lucas Giolito SP \| CHW	SIT	Stephen Gonsalves SP \| MIN
CIN@MIL	SIT	Homer Bailey SP \| CIN	SIT	Chase Anderson SP \| MIL
CLE@BOS	START	Corey Kluber SP \| CLE	START	Rick Porcello SP \| BOS
HOU@SEA	START	Gerrit Cole SP \| HOU	SIT	Felix Hernandez SP \| SEA
KC@TB	SIT	Jorge Lopez RP \| KC	SIT	Hunter Wood RP \| TB
SF@NYM	START	Derek Holland SP \| SF	START	Zack Wheeler SP \| NYM
STL@LAD	SIT	Austin Gomber SP \| STL	START	Alex Wood SP \| LAD
TEX@OAK	SIT	Bartolo Colon SP \| TEX	START	Mike Fiers SP \| OAK
PROBABLE PITCHERS - TUESDAY (8/21/18)
GAME	START/SIT	VISITING STARTER	START/SIT	HOME STARTER
ATL@PIT	START	Kevin Gausman SP \| ATL	START	Ivan Nova SP \| PIT
BAL@TOR	START	Dylan Bundy SP \| BAL	SIT	Sam Gaviglio SP \| TOR
CHC@DET	START	Kyle Hendricks SP \| CHC	SIT	Jordan Zimmermann SP \| DET
CIN@MIL	SIT	Sal Romano SP \| CIN	SIT	Junior Guerra SP \| MIL
CLE@BOS	SIT	Shane Bieber SP \| CLE	START	Nathan Eovaldi SP \| BOS
HOU@SEA	TBD	TBD	START	Mike Leake SP \| SEA
KC@TB	SIT	Glenn Sparkman RP \| KC	START	Blake Snell SP \| TB
LAA@ARI	SIT	Felix Pena RP \| LAA	START	Patrick Corbin SP \| ARI
MIN@CHW	START	Jose Berrios SP \| MIN	START	Michael Kopech SP \| CHW
NYY@MIA	START	Masahiro Tanaka SP \| NYY	SIT	Pablo Lopez P \| MIA
PHI@WAS	START	Vince Velasquez SP \| PHI	START	Tanner Roark SP \| WAS
SD@COL	SIT	Robbie Erlin SP \| SD	SIT	Tyler Anderson SP \| COL
SF@NYM	SIT	Chris Stratton SP \| SF	SIT	Steven Matz SP \| NYM
STL@LAD	SIT	Daniel Poncedeleon SP \| STL	START	Hyun-Jin Ryu SP \| LAD
TEX@OAK	SIT	Ariel Jurado SP \| TEX	START	Brett Anderson SP \| OAK
PROBABLE PITCHERS - WEDNESDAY (8/22/18)
GAME	START/SIT	VISITING STARTER	START/SIT	HOME STARTER
ATL@PIT	START	Julio Teheran SP \| ATL	START	Trevor Williams SP \| PIT
BAL@TOR	SIT	David Hess P \| BAL	SIT	Thomas Pannone P \| TOR
CHC@DET	START	Jon Lester SP \| CHC	SIT	Francisco Liriano RP \| DET
CIN@MIL	SIT	Robert Stephenson RP \| CIN	SIT	Freddy Peralta SP \| MIL
CLE@BOS	START	Carlos Carrasco SP \| CLE	SIT	Brian Johnson SP \| BOS
HOU@SEA	START	Charlie Morton SP \| HOU	SIT	Marco Gonzales SP \| SEA
KC@TB	START	Jake Junis SP \| KC	TBD	TBD
LAA@ARI	SIT	Odrisamer Despaigne RP \| LAA	START	Clay Buchholz SP \| ARI
MIN@CHW	START	Kyle Gibson SP \| MIN	START	Carlos Rodon SP \| CHW
NYY@MIA	START	Lance Lynn SP \| NYY	SIT	Trevor Richards SP \| MIA
PHI@WAS	START	Zach Eflin SP \| PHI	START	Stephen Strasburg SP \| WAS
SD@COL	SIT	Jacob Nix SP \| SD	START	Jon Gray SP \| COL
SF@NYM	SIT	Casey Kelly RP \| SF	START	Noah Syndergaard SP \| NYM
STL@LAD	START	Jack Flaherty SP \| STL	START	Walker Buehler RP \| LAD
TEX@OAK	START	Mike Minor RP \| TEX	START	Edwin Jackson SP \| OAK
PROBABLE PITCHERS - THURSDAY (8/23/18)
GAME	START/SIT	VISITING STARTER	START/SIT	HOME STARTER
ATL@MIA	START	Sean Newcomb SP \| ATL	SIT	Dan Straily SP \| MIA
CHW@DET	START	James Shields SP \| CHW	START	Matthew Boyd SP \| DET
CIN@CHC	START	Anthony DeSclafani SP \| CIN	START	Cole Hamels SP \| CHC
CLE@BOS	SIT	Adam Plutko SP \| CLE	START	David Price SP \| BOS
KC@TB	SIT	Danny Duffy SP \| KC	START	Tyler Glasnow SP \| TB
OAK@MIN	START	Trevor Cahill SP \| OAK	SIT	Kohl Stewart SP \| MIN
PHI@WAS	START	Aaron Nola SP \| PHI	START	Max Scherzer SP \| WAS
SD@COL	SIT	Joey Lucchesi SP \| SD	START	Kyle Freeland SP \| COL
SF@NYM	START	Madison Bumgarner SP \| SF	START	Jacob deGrom SP \| NYM
PROBABLE PITCHERS - FRIDAY (8/24/18)
GAME	START/SIT	VISITING STARTER	START/SIT	HOME STARTER
ATL@MIA	START	Mike Foltynewicz SP \| ATL	SIT	Wei-Yin Chen SP \| MIA
BOS@TB	SIT	Hector Velazquez RP \| BOS	TBD	TBD
CHW@DET	SIT	Dylan Covey SP \| CHW	SIT	Ryan Carpenter RP \| DET
CIN@CHC	SIT	Matt Harvey SP \| CIN	SIT	Jose Quintana SP \| CHC
CLE@KC	START	Mike Clevinger SP \| CLE	SIT	Heath Fillmyer SP \| KC
HOU@LAA	START	Dallas Keuchel SP \| HOU	TBD	TBD
NYY@BAL	START	Luis Severino SP \| NYY	START	Alex Cobb SP \| BAL
OAK@MIN	START	Sean Manaea SP \| OAK	SIT	Jake Odorizzi SP \| MIN
PHI@TOR	START	Jake Arrieta SP \| PHI	SIT	Sean Reid-Foley SP \| TOR
PIT@MIL	SIT	Joe Musgrove RP \| PIT	START	Wade Miley SP \| MIL
SD@LAD	SIT	Clayton Richard SP \| SD	START	Rich Hill SP \| LAD
SEA@ARI	SIT	Erasmo Ramirez SP \| SEA	START	Robbie Ray SP \| ARI
STL@COL	START	Miles Mikolas SP \| STL	SIT	Antonio Senzatela SP \| COL
TEX@SF	TBD	TBD	START	Dereck Rodriguez SP \| SF
WAS@NYM	SIT	Tommy Milone SP \| WAS	SIT	Jason Vargas SP \| NYM
PROBABLE PITCHERS - SATURDAY (8/25/18)
GAME	START/SIT	VISITING STARTER	START/SIT	HOME STARTER
ATL@MIA	START	Anibal Sanchez SP \| ATL	SIT	Elieser Hernandez RP \| MIA
BOS@TB	START	Rick Porcello SP \| BOS	TBD	TBD
CHW@DET	SIT	Reynaldo Lopez SP \| CHW	SIT	Jacob Turner RP \| DET
CIN@CHC	SIT	Luis Castillo SP \| CIN	SIT	Tyler Chatwood SP \| CHC
CLE@KC	START	Corey Kluber SP \| CLE	SIT	Jorge Lopez RP \| KC
HOU@LAA	START	Justin Verlander SP \| HOU	SIT	Andrew Heaney SP \| LAA
NYY@BAL	START	CC Sabathia SP \| NYY	TBD	TBD
OAK@MIN	START	Mike Fiers SP \| OAK	SIT	Stephen Gonsalves SP \| MIN
PHI@TOR	START	Nick Pivetta SP \| PHI	SIT	Ryan Borucki RP \| TOR
PIT@MIL	START	Jameson Taillon SP \| PIT	START	Jhoulys Chacin SP \| MIL
SD@LAD	SIT	Brett Kennedy SP \| SD	START	Clayton Kershaw SP \| LAD
SEA@ARI	SIT	Roenis Elias RP \| SEA	START	Zack Godley SP \| ARI
STL@COL	SIT	John Gant RP \| STL	START	German Marquez SP \| COL
TEX@SF	START	Yovani Gallardo SP \| TEX	SIT	Derek Holland SP \| SF
WAS@NYM	SIT	Gio Gonzalez SP \| WAS	START	Zack Wheeler SP \| NYM
PROBABLE PITCHERS - SUNDAY (8/26/18)
GAME	START/SIT	VISITING STARTER	START/SIT	HOME STARTER
ATL@MIA	START	Kevin Gausman SP \| ATL	SIT	Pablo Lopez P \| MIA
BOS@TB	START	Nathan Eovaldi SP \| BOS	START	Blake Snell SP \| TB
CHW@DET	START	Lucas Giolito SP \| CHW	SIT	Jordan Zimmermann SP \| DET
CIN@CHC	SIT	Homer Bailey SP \| CIN	START	Kyle Hendricks SP \| CHC
CLE@KC	START	Shane Bieber SP \| CLE	SIT	Glenn Sparkman RP \| KC
HOU@LAA	START	Gerrit Cole SP \| HOU	START	Jaime Barria SP \| LAA
NYY@BAL	START	Masahiro Tanaka SP \| NYY	SIT	Dylan Bundy SP \| BAL
OAK@MIN	START	Brett Anderson SP \| OAK	START	Jose Berrios SP \| MIN
PHI@TOR	START	Vince Velasquez SP \| PHI	SIT	Marco Estrada SP \| TOR
PIT@MIL	SIT	Chris Archer SP \| PIT	SIT	Chase Anderson SP \| MIL
SD@LAD	TBD	TBD	START	Alex Wood SP \| LAD
SEA@ARI	SIT	Felix Hernandez SP \| SEA	START	Zack Greinke SP \| ARI
STL@COL	SIT	Austin Gomber SP \| STL	SIT	Tyler Anderson SP \| COL
TEX@SF	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
WAS@NYM	SIT	Tanner Roark SP \| WAS	SIT	Steven Matz SP \| NYM