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Week 26 Start/Sit: MLB Starting Pitcher (SP) Matchups

By Keith Allison on Flickr (Original version) UCinternational (Crop) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia CommonsWhat’s up RotoBallers. If you are reading the column, then your teams are most likely still in the championship chase as we head into the final week of the fantasy baseball season. It's been a fun and exciting year of MLB action, and we've had a blast here at RotoBaller providing our fantasy baseball analysis.

Hopefully we've helped you along the way, and you are in a position to bring home those championships. Many RotoBaller writers have been burning off their fingertips all season long, typing and sharing their thoughts, and providing their MLB analysis with the goal of getting to this exact point in the season. We hope you've enjoyed it all, and remember you can always let us know in the comments if you have. It means a lot to writers to get feedback, and know when their work is being appreciated by readers. Most importantly, thank you all for checking in here regularly, reading this column and others, and continuing to create a great "get advice/give advice" environment in RotoBaller's live chat rooms.

With that being said, let's get back to business. Below are all of the starting pitching matchups for Week 26. The final week. The home stretch. Where dreams are made, or shattered. Where we try to bring home the bacon. As always, 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 lot of rock solid two-start pitchers going (Felix Hernandez, Johnny Cueto, Zack Greinke, Tanner Roark, Alex Wood, David Price, Yordano Ventura, Cole Hamels, Madison Bumgarner, Alex Cobb, Adam Wainwright, Michael Pineda, Carlos Carrasco, Jeff Samardzija). In fact, one might call this the week of the tw0-start aces. It should be a fun one. And as always, there are some viable starting pitcher sleepers and streamers to consider off the waiver wire (Derek Holland, Edinson Volquez, Taijuan Walker, Shane Greene, Kevin Gausman, Kyle HendricksJames Paxton, Danny DuffyJose Quintana), 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.

Good luck this week RotoBallers. Let’s win some leagues!

 

SP Matchups & Start/Sit Recommendations

Editor’s Note: For you fantasy football fans, be sure to also check out RotoBaller's 2014 fantasy football waiver wire pickups list and dominate your football leagues. You can also download the waiver wire iPhone app for free, and stay easily updated on the run.

Projected starters and matchups last updated Monday 9/22:

Probable Pitchers - Monday (9/22/14)

Game Visiting Starter Start / Sit Home Starter Start / Sit
ARI@MIN Collmenter, Josh RP | ARI Start Nolasco, Ricky SP | MIN Sit
BAL@NYY Chen, Wei-Yin SP | BAL Start Pineda, Michael SP | NYY Start
CHW@DET Bassitt, Chris SP | CHW Sit Lobstein, Kyle SP | DET Sit
COL@SD Matzek, Tyler SP | COL Start Stults, Eric SP | SD Sit
HOU@TEX Tropeano, Nick SP | HOU Sit Holland, Derek SP | TEX Start
KC@CLE Duffy, Danny SP | KC Start Carrasco, Carlos SP | CLE Start
LAA@OAK Wilson, C.J. SP | LAA Start Samardzija, Jeff SP | OAK Start
PIT@ATL Liriano, Francisco SP | PIT Start Harang, Aaron SP | ATL Start
SEA@TOR Paxton, James SP | SEA Start Happ, J.A. SP | TOR Sit
SF@LAD Peavy, Jake SP | SF Start Haren, Dan SP | LAD Start
STL@CHC Wainwright, Adam SP | STL Start Wood, Travis SP | CHC Sit

Probable Pitchers - Tuesday (9/23/14)

Game Visiting Starter Start / Sit Home Starter Start / Sit
ARI@MIN Chafin, Andrew SP | ARI Sit Gibson, Kyle SP | MIN Sit
BAL@NYY Jimenez, Ubaldo SP | BAL Sit McCarthy, Brandon SP | NYY Start
CHW@DET Carroll, Scott SP | CHW Sit Price, David SP | DET Start
COL@SD De La Rosa, Jorge SP | COL Sit Erlin, Robbie SP | SD Sit
HOU@TEX Oberholtzer, Brett SP | HOU Sit Martinez, Nick P | TEX Sit
KC@CLE Ventura, Yordano SP | KC Start Salazar, Danny SP | CLE Start
LAA@OAK LeBlanc, Wade RP | LAA Sit Gray, Sonny SP | OAK Start
MIL@CIN Fiers, Mike RP | MIL Start Cueto, Johnny SP | CIN Start
NYM@WAS Colon, Bartolo SP | NYM Sit Roark, Tanner SP | WAS Start
PHI@MIA Hamels, Cole SP | PHI Start Alvarez, Henderson SP | MIA Start
PIT@ATL Cole, Gerrit SP | PIT Start Wood, Alex RP | ATL Start
SEA@TOR Hernandez, Felix SP | SEA Start Dickey, R.A. SP | TOR Sit
SF@LAD Bumgarner, Madison SP | SF Start Greinke, Zack SP | LAD Start
STL@CHC Miller, Shelby SP | STL Start Hendricks, Kyle SP | CHC Start
TB@BOS Cobb, Alex SP | TB Start Buchholz, Clay SP | BOS Sit

Probable Pitchers - Wednesday (9/24/14)

Game Visiting Starter Start / Sit Home Starter Start / Sit
ARI@MIN Nuno, Vidal SP | ARI Sit Hughes, Phil SP | MIN Start
BAL@NYY Norris, Bud SP | BAL Start Greene, Shane SP | NYY Start
CHW@DET Sale, Chris SP | CHW Start Verlander, Justin SP | DET Sit
COL@SD Flande, Yohan SP | COL Sit TBD TBD
HOU@TEX Feldman, Scott SP | HOU Sit Bonilla, Lisalverto RP | TEX Sit
KC@CLE Vargas, Jason SP | KC Sit Bauer, Trevor SP | CLE Sit
LAA@OAK Santiago, Hector SP | LAA Sit Lester, Jon SP | OAK Start
MIL@CIN Lohse, Kyle SP | MIL Start Corcino, Daniel SP | CIN Sit
NYM@WAS Gee, Dillon SP | NYM Start Gonzalez, Gio SP | WAS Start
PHI@MIA Kendrick, Kyle SP | PHI Sit Hand, Brad RP | MIA Sit
PIT@ATL Locke, Jeff SP | PIT Start Teheran, Julio SP | ATL Start
SEA@TOR Walker, Taijuan SP | SEA Start Buehrle, Mark SP | TOR Sit
SF@LAD Hudson, Tim SP | SF Sit Kershaw, Clayton SP | LAD Start
STL@CHC Lackey, John SP | STL Start Arrieta, Jake SP | CHC Start
TB@BOS Odorizzi, Jake SP | TB Start Ranaudo, Anthony SP | BOS Sit

Probable Pitchers - Thursday (9/25/14)

Game Visiting Starter Start / Sit Home Starter Start / Sit
BAL@NYY Gausman, Kevin RP | BAL Start Kuroda, Hiroki SP | NYY Start
KC@CHW Shields, James SP | KC Start Quintana, Jose SP | CHW Start
MIL@CIN Gallardo, Yovani SP | MIL Start Holmberg, David SP | CIN Sit
MIN@DET May, Trevor SP | MIN Sit Scherzer, Max SP | DET Start
NYM@WAS Niese, Jonathon SP | NYM Start Fister, Doug SP | WAS Start
OAK@TEX Hammel, Jason SP | OAK Start Lewis, Colby SP | TEX Sit
PHI@MIA Buchanan, David SP | PHI Sit Koehler, Tom SP | MIA Start
PIT@ATL Volquez, Edinson SP | PIT Start Minor, Mike SP | ATL Sit
SD@SF Cashner, Andrew SP | SD Start Petit, Yusmeiro SP | SF Start
SEA@TOR Young, Chris SP | SEA Sit Redmond, Todd SP | TOR Sit
TB@BOS Hellickson, Jeremy SP | TB Sit Webster, Allen SP | BOS Sit

Probable Pitchers - Friday (9/26/14)

Game Visiting Starter Start / Sit Home Starter Start / Sit
ATL@PHI Santana, Ervin SP | ATL Sit Williams, Jerome SP | PHI Sit
BAL@TOR Tillman, Chris SP | BAL Start Stroman, Marcus SP | TOR Start
CHC@MIL Jackson, Edwin SP | CHC Sit Garza, Matt SP | MIL Start
COL@LAD Lyles, Jordan SP | COL Sit Hernandez, Roberto SP | LAD Sit
HOU@NYM Peacock, Brad SP | HOU Start Wheeler, Zack SP | NYM Start
KC@CHW Guthrie, Jeremy SP | KC Sit Noesi, Hector RP | CHW Sit
LAA@SEA Weaver, Jered SP | LAA Start Iwakuma, Hisashi SP | SEA Start
MIA@WAS Cosart, Jarred SP | MIA Start Zimmermann, Jordan SP | WAS Start
MIN@DET Swarzak, Anthony RP | MIN Sit Porcello, Rick SP | DET Start
NYY@BOS Capuano, Chris SP | NYY Sit TBD TBD
OAK@TEX Kazmir, Scott SP | OAK Start Tepesch, Nick SP | TEX Sit
PIT@CIN TBD TBD Leake, Mike SP | CIN Sit
SD@SF Kennedy, Ian SP | SD Start Vogelsong, Ryan SP | SF Sit
STL@ARI Wacha, Michael SP | STL Start Cahill, Trevor SP | ARI Sit
TB@CLE Archer, Chris SP | TB Start House, T.J. SP | CLE Start

Probable Pitchers - Saturday (9/27/14)

Game Visiting Starter Start / Sit Home Starter Start / Sit
ATL@PHI Harang, Aaron SP | ATL Start Burnett, A.J. SP | PHI Sit
BAL@TOR Gonzalez, Miguel SP | BAL Start Happ, J.A. SP | TOR Sit
CHC@MIL Doubront, Felix SP | CHC Sit Peralta, Wily SP | MIL Start
COL@LAD Butler, Eddie SP | COL Sit Wright, Jamey RP | LAD Sit
HOU@NYM TBD TBD TBD TBD
KC@CHW Duffy, Danny SP | KC Start Danks, John SP | CHW Start
LAA@SEA Rasmus, Cory RP | LAA Sit Paxton, James SP | SEA Start
MIA@WAS TBD TBD TBD TBD
MIN@DET Nolasco, Ricky SP | MIN Sit Lobstein, Kyle SP | DET Sit
NYY@BOS Tanaka, Masahiro SP | NYY Start Kelly, Joe RP | BOS Sit
OAK@TEX Samardzija, Jeff SP | OAK Start Holland, Derek SP | TEX Start
PIT@CIN Liriano, Francisco SP | PIT Start Simon, Alfredo RP | CIN Start
SD@SF Stults, Eric SP | SD Sit Peavy, Jake SP | SF Start
STL@ARI Lynn, Lance SP | STL Start Miley, Wade SP | ARI Start
TB@CLE Karns, Nathan SP | TB Sit Kluber, Corey SP | CLE Start

Probable Pitchers - Sunday (9/28/14)

Game Visiting Starter Start / Sit Home Starter Start / Sit
ATL@PHI Wood, Alex RP | ATL Start Hamels, Cole SP | PHI Start
BAL@TOR Chen, Wei-Yin SP | BAL Start Dickey, R.A. SP | TOR Sit
CHC@MIL Turner, Jacob SP | CHC Sit Fiers, Mike RP | MIL Start
COL@LAD Bergman, Christian SP | COL Sit Haren, Dan SP | LAD Start
HOU@NYM McHugh, Collin SP | HOU Start Colon, Bartolo SP | NYM Sit
KC@CHW Ventura, Yordano SP | KC Start Bassitt, Chris SP | CHW Sit
LAA@SEA Wilson, C.J. SP | LAA Start Hernandez, Felix SP | SEA Start
MIA@WAS Alvarez, Henderson SP | MIA Start Roark, Tanner SP | WAS Start
MIN@DET Gibson, Kyle SP | MIN Sit Price, David SP | DET Start
NYY@BOS Pineda, Michael SP | NYY Start Buchholz, Clay SP | BOS Sit
OAK@TEX Gray, Sonny SP | OAK Start Martinez, Nick P | TEX Sit
PIT@CIN Cole, Gerrit SP | PIT Start Cueto, Johnny SP | CIN Start
SD@SF Erlin, Robbie SP | SD Sit Bumgarner, Madison SP | SF Start
STL@ARI Wainwright, Adam SP | STL Start Collmenter, Josh RP | ARI Start
TB@CLE Cobb, Alex SP | TB Start Carrasco, Carlos SP | CLE Start




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