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Fantasy baseball starts/sits advice for all starting pitcher matchups for May 20 - May 26 (2024). Set optimal lineups with Nick's start/sit recommendations.
The 2024 MLB season is over a quarter of the way done as warmer weather gets more consistent for our matchups. Welcome to our starting pitcher starts/sits for fantasy baseball Week 9 - Monday, May 20 through Sunday, May 26. Do you know how to handle your roster decisions for the week?
For 12 years running, we have been writing this Starting Pitcher Starts and Sits series every week right here at RotoBaller. I'm Nick Mariano, and I'll be your captain for this journey through the 2024 season. There's tons of firepower and TLC that goes into providing this piece each week. We get tons of great feedback on it every year.
If you're new here, read below to get caught up on what this all is and how to best use it. Good luck with your fantasy baseball starting pitcher lineup decisions!
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Start/Sit Data Overview
Ahead of each week of the fantasy baseball season, we publish the table below. We have the probable starters for every game of the week and a grade for them on a 0-100 scale. The intent is to give you advice and to inspire some confidence (or lack thereof) in your decisions to start or sit certain pitchers.
Please note that beyond the usual "Start" and "Sit" labels, there is a third category called "context-dependent." This is because different leagues call for different actions and those in start-sit purgatory may be worth the gamble to some. Also, we put the arms best projected to start or get bulk innings, but some situations are fluid and we update ASAP to reflect accurate information, especially at the outset of the season.
The "starts" category includes pitchers you'd likely start in every league. The "sits" are pitchers that you likely sit in every league. The "context-dependent" means we're on the fence and it's up to you to decide based on your league settings. How deep your league is, which roto/points categories, and so on. Let's get to it! Here are your starts and sits for what we're calling Week 9 of the fantasy season, which covers May 20 through May 26.
Week 9 Start/Sit Recommendations (May 20-26)
Updated start/sit recommendations for this week's MLB games. This chart is updated daily as probable starters are constantly changing with game postponements, injuries, and other events. If you can't see the chart below, click here to see the starts/sits on a separate page:
Week 9 Start/Sit Recommendations (May 20-26)
| Date | Game | Team | Pitcher | Grade | Start/Sit | 2 Starts |
| 5/20 | SD@ATL | SD | Dylan Cease | 65 | START | Y |
| 5/20 | SD@ATL | ATL | Reynaldo Lopez | 65 | START | Y |
| 5/20 | SD@ATL | SD | Randy Vasquez | 30 | SIT | N |
| 5/20 | SD@ATL | ATL | Chris Sale | 70 | START | Y |
| 5/20 | CHW@TOR | CHW | Erick Fedde | 65 | START | Y |
| 5/20 | CHW@TOR | TOR | Jose Berrios | 70 | START | Y |
| 5/20 | NYM@CLE | NYM | Tylor Megill | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/20 | NYM@CLE | CLE | Ben Lively | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/20 | MIL@MIA | MIL | Joe Ross | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/20 | MIL@MIA | MIA | Ryan Weathers | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/20 | MIN@WAS | MIN | Pablo Lopez | 80 | START | Y |
| 5/20 | MIN@WAS | WAS | Mitchell Parker | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/20 | BOS@TB | BOS | Tanner Houck | 65 | START | Y |
| 5/20 | BOS@TB | TB | Taj Bradley | 65 | START | Y |
| 5/20 | SEA@NYY | SEA | Logan Gilbert | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/20 | SEA@NYY | NYY | Marcus Stroman | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/20 | DET@KC | DET | Reese Olson | 65 | START | Y |
| 5/20 | DET@KC | KC | Michael Wacha | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/20 | BAL@STL | BAL | Dean Kremer | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/20 | BAL@STL | STL | Sonny Gray | 75 | START | Y |
| 5/20 | LAA@HOU | LAA | Reid Detmers | 35 | SIT | Y |
| 5/20 | LAA@HOU | HOU | Framber Valdez | 75 | START | N |
| 5/20 | ARI@LAD | ARI | Slade Cecconi | 20 | SIT | N |
| 5/20 | ARI@LAD | LAD | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | 75 | START | Y |
| 5/21 | NYM@CLE | NYM | Adrian Houser | 25 | SIT | N |
| 5/21 | NYM@CLE | CLE | Xzavion Curry | 35 | SIT | N |
| 5/21 | SD@CIN | SD | Joe Musgrove | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/21 | SD@CIN | CIN | Andrew Abbott | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/21 | SF@PIT | SF | Logan Webb | 85 | START | Y |
| 5/21 | SF@PIT | PIT | Martin Perez | 35 | SIT | Y |
| 5/21 | TEX@PHI | TEX | Jon Gray | 65 | START | Y |
| 5/21 | TEX@PHI | PHI | Ranger Suarez | 70 | START | Y |
| 5/21 | MIL@MIA | MIL | Robert Gasser | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/21 | MIL@MIA | MIA | Trevor Rogers | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/21 | MIN@WAS | MIN | Joe Ryan | 75 | START | N |
| 5/21 | MIN@WAS | WAS | Patrick Corbin | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/21 | BOS@TB | BOS | Cooper Criswell | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/21 | BOS@TB | TB | Zack Littell | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/21 | SEA@NYY | SEA | Bryan Woo | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/21 | SEA@NYY | NYY | Clarke Schmidt | 75 | START | Y |
| 5/21 | CHW@TOR | CHW | Garrett Crochet | 75 | START | Y |
| 5/21 | CHW@TOR | TOR | Yusei Kikuchi | 75 | START | N |
| 5/21 | DET@KC | DET | Casey Mize | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/21 | DET@KC | KC | Alec Marsh | 65 | START | N |
| 5/21 | ATL@CHC | ATL | Charlie Morton | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/21 | ATL@CHC | CHC | Javier Assad | 70 | START | Y |
| 5/21 | BAL@STL | BAL | Kyle Bradish | 70 | START | Y |
| 5/21 | BAL@STL | STL | Lance Lynn | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/21 | LAA@HOU | LAA | Griffin Canning | 35 | SIT | N |
| 5/21 | LAA@HOU | HOU | Cristian Javier | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/21 | COL@OAK | COL | Cal Quantrill | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/21 | COL@OAK | OAK | Aaron Brooks | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/21 | ARI@LAD | ARI | Brandon Pfaadt | 30 | SIT | N |
| 5/21 | ARI@LAD | LAD | Gavin Stone | 65 | START | N |
| 5/22 | MIN@WAS | MIN | Simeon Woods Richardson |
55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/22 | MIN@WAS | WAS | Jake Irvin | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/22 | NYM@CLE | NYM | Jose Quintana | 35 | SIT | N |
| 5/22 | NYM@CLE | CLE | Triston McKenzie | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/22 | BAL@STL | BAL | John Means | 65 | START | N |
| 5/22 | BAL@STL | STL | Kyle Gibson | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/22 | LAA@HOU | LAA | Tyler Anderson | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/22 | LAA@HOU | HOU | Hunter Brown | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/22 | DET@KC | DET | Tarik Skubal | 85 | START | N |
| 5/22 | DET@KC | KC | Cole Ragans | 85 | START | N |
| 5/22 | SD@CIN | SD | Michael King | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/22 | SD@CIN | CIN | Nick Martinez | 30 | SIT | N |
| 5/22 | SF@PIT | SF | Blake Snell | 65 | START | N |
| 5/22 | SF@PIT | PIT | Jared Jones | 80 | START | N |
| 5/22 | TEX@PHI | TEX | Dane Dunning | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/22 | TEX@PHI | PHI | Taijuan Walker | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/22 | MIL@MIA | MIL | Freddy Peralta | 80 | START | N |
| 5/22 | MIL@MIA | MIA | Jesus Luzardo | 70 | START | N |
| 5/22 | BOS@TB | BOS | Brayan Bello | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/22 | BOS@TB | TB | Ryan Pepiot | 70 | START | N |
| 5/22 | SEA@NYY | SEA | Bryce Miller | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/22 | SEA@NYY | NYY | Nestor Cortes | 75 | START | N |
| 5/22 | CHW@TOR | CHW | Mike Clevinger | 35 | SIT | N |
| 5/22 | CHW@TOR | TOR | Chris Bassitt | 70 | START | N |
| 5/22 | ATL@CHC | ATL | Max Fried | 65 | START | N |
| 5/22 | ATL@CHC | CHC | Justin Steele | 65 | START | N |
| 5/22 | COL@OAK | COL | Austin Gomber | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/22 | COL@OAK | OAK | Mitch Spence | 25 | SIT | N |
| 5/22 | ARI@LAD | ARI | Brandon Hughes/ Ryne Nelson |
15 | SIT | N |
| 5/22 | ARI@LAD | LAD | Tyler Glasnow | 85 | START | N |
| 5/23 | SF@PIT | SF | Mason Black | 35 | SIT | N |
| 5/23 | SF@PIT | PIT | Paul Skenes | 70 | START | N |
| 5/23 | SEA@NYY | SEA | Luis Castillo | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/23 | SEA@NYY | NYY | Luis Gil | 70 | START | N |
| 5/23 | TEX@PHI | TEX | Andrew Heaney | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/23 | TEX@PHI | PHI | Zack Wheeler | 75 | START | N |
| 5/23 | SD@CIN | SD | Matt Waldron | 35 | SIT | N |
| 5/23 | SD@CIN | CIN | Frankie Montas | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/23 | ATL@CHC | ATL | AJ Smith-Shawver | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/23 | ATL@CHC | CHC | Kyle Hendricks | 35 | SIT | N |
| 5/23 | COL@OAK | COL | Ryan Feltner | 35 | SIT | N |
| 5/23 | COL@OAK | OAK | Joey Estes | 35 | SIT | N |
| 5/23 | TOR@DET | TOR | Kevin Gausman | 75 | START | N |
| 5/23 | TOR@DET | DET | Jack Flaherty | 80 | START | N |
| 5/23 | BAL@CHW | BAL | Grayson Rodriguez | 80 | START | N |
| 5/23 | BAL@CHW | CHW | Nick Nastrini | 25 | SIT | N |
| 5/24 | TOR@DET | TOR | Alek Manoah | 65 | START | N |
| 5/24 | TOR@DET | DET | Kenta Maeda | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/24 | ATL@PIT | ATL | Ray Kerr | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/24 | ATL@PIT | PIT | Bailey Falter | 20 | SIT | N |
| 5/24 | SEA@WAS | SEA | George Kirby | 80 | START | N |
| 5/24 | SEA@WAS | WAS | MacKenzie Gore | 65 | START | N |
| 5/24 | KC@TB | KC | Seth Lugo | 75 | START | N |
| 5/24 | KC@TB | TB | Tyler Alexander | 35 | SIT | N |
| 5/24 | LAD@CIN | LAD | James Paxton | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/24 | LAD@CIN | CIN | Graham Ashcraft | 30 | SIT | N |
| 5/24 | SF@NYM | SF | Kyle Harrison | 70 | START | N |
| 5/24 | SF@NYM | NYM | Christian Scott | 75 | START | N |
| 5/24 | MIL@BOS | MIL | Bryse Wilson | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/24 | MIL@BOS | BOS | Kutter Crawford | 65 | START | N |
| 5/24 | BAL@CHW | BAL | Corbin Burnes | 90 | START | N |
| 5/24 | BAL@CHW | CHW | Chris Flexen | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/24 | TEX@MIN | TEX | Jose Urena | 20 | SIT | N |
| 5/24 | TEX@MIN | MIN | Bailey Ober | 70 | START | N |
| 5/24 | PHI@COL | PHI | Cristopher Sanchez | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/24 | PHI@COL | COL | Ty Blach | 20 | SIT | N |
| 5/24 | CLE@LAA | CLE | Logan Allen | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/24 | CLE@LAA | LAA | Patrick Sandoval | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/24 | HOU@OAK | HOU | Justin Verlander | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/24 | HOU@OAK | OAK | Ross Stripling | 30 | SIT | N |
| 5/24 | MIA@ARI | MIA | Braxton Garrett | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/24 | MIA@ARI | ARI | Zac Gallen | 75 | START | N |
| 5/24 | NYY@SD | NYY | Carlos Rodon | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/24 | NYY@SD | SD | Yu Darvish | 65 | START | N |
| 5/25 | TOR@DET | TOR | Jose Berrios | 75 | START | N |
| 5/25 | TOR@DET | DET | Reese Olson | 65 | START | Y |
| 5/25 | SF@NYM | SF | Jordan Hicks | 65 | START | N |
| 5/25 | SF@NYM | NYM | Luis Severino | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/25 | TEX@MIN | TEX | Michael Lorenzen | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/25 | TEX@MIN | MIN | Chris Paddack | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/25 | BAL@CHW | BAL | TBD (Suarez?) | 0 | SIT | N |
| 5/25 | BAL@CHW | CHW | Erick Fedde | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/25 | SEA@WAS | SEA | Logan Gilbert | 70 | START | Y |
| 5/25 | SEA@WAS | WAS | Trevor Williams | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/25 | ATL@PIT | ATL | Reynaldo Lopez | 70 | START | Y |
| 5/25 | ATL@PIT | PIT | Mitch Keller | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/25 | HOU@OAK | HOU | Spencer Arrighetti | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/25 | HOU@OAK | OAK | JP Sears | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/25 | KC@TB | KC | Brady Singer | 65 | START | N |
| 5/25 | KC@TB | TB | Aaron Civale | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/25 | MIL@BOS | MIL | Colin Rea | 30 | SIT | N |
| 5/25 | MIL@BOS | BOS | Nick Pivetta | 65 | START | N |
| 5/25 | LAD@CIN | LAD | Walker Buehler | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/25 | LAD@CIN | CIN | Hunter Greene | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/25 | CHC@STL | CHC | Jameson Taillon | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/25 | CHC@STL | STL | Miles Mikolas | 30 | SIT | N |
| 5/25 | PHI@COL | PHI | Aaron Nola | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/25 | PHI@COL | COL | Dakota Hudson | 15 | SIT | N |
| 5/25 | CLE@LAA | CLE | Tanner Bibee | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/25 | CLE@LAA | LAA | Jose Soriano | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/25 | NYY@SD | NYY | Marcus Stroman | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/25 | NYY@SD | SD | Dylan Cease | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/25 | MIA@ARI | MIA | Sixto Sanchez | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/25 | MIA@ARI | ARI | Jordan Montgomery | 65 | START | N |
| 5/26 | TOR@DET | TOR | Yusei Kikuchi | 80 | START | N |
| 5/26 | TOR@DET | DET | Casey Mize | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/26 | SEA@WAS | SEA | Bryan Woo | 70 | START | Y |
| 5/26 | SEA@WAS | WAS | Mitchell Parker | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/26 | ATL@PIT | ATL | Chris Sale | 85 | START | Y |
| 5/26 | ATL@PIT | PIT | Martin Perez | 30 | SIT | Y |
| 5/26 | MIL@BOS | MIL | Robert Gasser | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/26 | MIL@BOS | BOS | Tanner Houck | 65 | START | Y |
| 5/26 | LAD@CIN | LAD | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | 75 | START | Y |
| 5/26 | LAD@CIN | CIN | Brent Suter (Bullpen) | 5 | SIT | N |
| 5/26 | SF@NYM | SF | Logan Webb | 80 | START | Y |
| 5/26 | SF@NYM | NYM | Sean Manaea | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/26 | KC@TB | KC | Michael Wacha | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/26 | KC@TB | TB | Taj Bradley | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/26 | TEX@MIN | TEX | TBD (Eovaldi?) | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 5/26 | TEX@MIN | MIN | Pablo Lopez | 70 | START | Y |
| 5/26 | BAL@CHW | BAL | Kyle Bradish | 80 | START | Y |
| 5/26 | BAL@CHW | CHW | Garrett Crochet | 65 | START | Y |
| 5/26 | PHI@COL | PHI | Ranger Suarez | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/26 | PHI@COL | COL | Cal Quantrill | 30 | SIT | Y |
| 5/26 | CLE@LAA | CLE | Ben Lively | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/26 | CLE@LAA | LAA | Reid Detmers | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/26 | HOU@OAK | HOU | Ronel Blanco | 65 | START | N |
| 5/26 | HOU@OAK | OAK | Aaron Brooks | 35 | SIT | Y |
| 5/26 | MIA@ARI | MIA | Ryan Weathers | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/26 | MIA@ARI | ARI | Blake Walston | 20 | SIT | N |
| 5/26 | NYY@SD | NYY | Clarke Schmidt | 65 | START | Y |
| 5/26 | NYY@SD | SD | Joe Musgrove | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 5/26 | CHC@STL | CHC | Javier Assad | 65 | START | Y |
| 5/26 | CHC@STL | STL | Sonny Gray | 70 | START | Y |
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