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Uncle Leo's Week 26 (2018) fantasy baseball starting pitcher (SP) matchups - starts, sits, plays and benches. MLB streamers, two-start pitchers and sleepers, based on matchups.
Welcome back, RotoBallers. For those of you still playing - we're here to try and help with your lineup decisions, and of course bring him those championship trophies! 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 26 (9/24 through 9/30) 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. As we near towards the end of the season, and many teams stream heavily, my start recommendations become more aggressive. Ya gotta be in it to win it.
Last updated: Saturday, September 29 at 6:00 pm ET
| PROBABLE PITCHERS - MONDAY (9/24/18) | ||||
| GAME | VISITING STARTER | START/SIT | HOME STARTER | START/SIT |
| BAL@BOS | Dylan Bundy SP | BAL | SIT | Nathan Eovaldi SP | BOS | START |
| CLE@CHW | Corey Kluber SP | CLE | START | Dylan Covey SP | CHW | SIT |
| HOU@TOR | Dallas Keuchel SP | HOU | START | Marco Estrada SP | TOR | SIT |
| LAD@ARI | Clayton Kershaw SP | LAD | START | Robbie Ray SP | ARI | START |
| MIA@WAS | Sandy Alcantara RP | MIA | SIT | Stephen Strasburg SP | WAS | START |
| MIL@STL | Dan Jennings SP | MIL | SIT | Jack Flaherty SP | STL | START |
| NYY@TB | Jonathan Holder SP | NYY | SIT | Diego Castillo RP | TB | SIT |
| OAK@SEA | Daniel Mengden SP | OAK | START | James Paxton SP | SEA | START |
| PHI@COL | Zach Eflin SP | PHI | SIT | Jon Gray SP | COL | START |
| PIT@CHC | Jameson Taillon SP | PIT | START | Cole Hamels SP | CHC | START |
| SD@SF | Bryan Mitchell RP | SD | SIT | Derek Holland SP | SF | START |
| TEX@LAA | Adrian Sampson SP | TEX | SIT | Felix Pena RP | LAA | SIT |
| PROBABLE PITCHERS - TUESDAY (9/25/18) | ||||
| GAME | VISITING STARTER | START/SIT | HOME STARTER | START/SIT |
| ATL@NYM | Touki Toussaint SP | ATL | START | Noah Syndergaard SP | NYM | START |
| BAL@BOS | TBD | TBD | David Price SP | BOS | START |
| CLE@CHW | Trevor Bauer SP | CLE | START | James Shields SP | CHW | SIT |
| DET@MIN | Spencer Turnbull SP | DET | SIT | Gabriel Moya SP | MIN | SIT |
| HOU@TOR | Josh James SP | HOU | START | Sam Gaviglio SP | TOR | SIT |
| KC@CIN | Eric Skoglund SP | KC | SIT | Matt Harvey SP | CIN | SIT |
| LAD@ARI | Walker Buehler RP | LAD | START | Matt Koch RP | ARI | SIT |
| MIA@WAS | Jeff Brigham RP | MIA | SIT | Max Scherzer SP | WAS | START |
| MIL@STL | Gio Gonzalez SP | MIL | START | Austin Gomber SP | STL | START |
| NYY@TB | Luis Severino SP | NYY | START | Jake Faria SP | TB | SIT |
| OAK@SEA | Brett Anderson SP | OAK | SIT | Mike Leake SP | SEA | START |
| PHI@COL | Vince Velasquez SP | PHI | SIT | Chad Bettis SP | COL | SIT |
| PIT@CHC | Chris Archer SP | PIT | START | Mike Montgomery RP | CHC | START |
| SD@SF | Robbie Erlin SP | SD | SIT | Chris Stratton SP | SF | START |
| TEX@LAA | Yovani Gallardo SP | TEX | SIT | Matt Shoemaker SP | LAA | SIT |
| PROBABLE PITCHERS - WEDNESDAY (9/26/18) | ||||
| GAME | VISITING STARTER | START/SIT | HOME STARTER | START/SIT |
| ATL@NYM | Sean Newcomb SP | ATL | START | Jacob deGrom SP | NYM | START |
| BAL@BOS | Ryan Meisinger RP | BAL | SIT | David Price SP | BOS | START |
| BAL@BOS | Jimmy Yacabonis RP | BAL | SIT | Chris Sale SP | BOS | START |
| CLE@CHW | Shane Bieber SP | CLE | START | Jace Fry RP | CHW | SIT |
| DET@MIN | Matthew Boyd SP | DET | START | Jake Odorizzi SP | MIN | START |
| HOU@TOR | Chris Devenski RP | HOU | START | Sean Reid-Foley SP | TOR | SIT |
| KC@CIN | Heath Fillmyer SP | KC | SIT | Cody Reed RP | CIN | START |
| LAD@ARI | Ross Stripling RP | LAD | START | Zack Greinke SP | ARI | START |
| MIA@WAS | Wei-Yin Chen SP | MIA | START | Kyle McGowin SP | WAS | SIT |
| MIL@STL | Jhoulys Chacin SP | MIL | START | John Gant RP | STL | START |
| NYY@TB | Masahiro Tanaka SP | NYY | START | Ryne Stanek RP | TB | SIT |
| OAK@SEA | Edwn Jackson SP | OAK | START | Felix Hernandez SP | SEA | SIT |
| PHI@COL | Nick Pivetta SP | PHI | START | German Marquez SP | COL | START |
| PIT@CHC | Ivan Nova SP | PIT | START | Jose Quintana SP | CHC | START |
| SD@SF | Luis Perdomo SP | SD | SIT | Casey Kelley SP | SF | SIT |
| TEX@LAA | Yohander Mendez RP | TEX | SIT | Andrew Heaney SP | LAA | START |
| PROBABLE PITCHERS - THURSDAY (9/27/18) | ||||
| GAME | VISITING STARTER | START/SIT | HOME STARTER | START/SIT |
| ATL@NYM | Julio Teheran SP | ATL | START | Jason Vargas SP | NYM | START |
| CLE@KC | Josh Tomlin SP | CLE | SIT | Glenn Sparkman RP | KC | SIT |
| DET@MIN | Francisco Liriano RP | DET | START | Gabriel Moya RP | MIN | SIT |
| HOU@BAL | Gerrit Cole SP | HOU | START | David Hess P | BAL | SIT |
| NYY@TB | CC Sabathia SP | NYY | START | Jaime Schultz SP | TB | SIT |
| PHI@COL | Jake Arrieta SP | PHI | START | Antonio Senzatela SP | COL | SIT |
| PIT@CHC | Trevor Williams SP | PIT | START | Jon Lester SP | CHC | START |
| TEX@SEA | Ariel Jurado SP | TEX | SIT | Marco Gonzales SP | SEA | START |
| PROBABLE PITCHERS - FRIDAY (9/28/18) | ||||
| GAME | VISITING STARTER | START/SIT | HOME STARTER | START/SIT |
| ARI@SD | Patrick Corbin SP | ARI | START | Eric Lauer SP | SD | START |
| ATL@PHI | Mike Foltynewicz SP | ATL | START | Jerad Eickhoff SP | PHI | SIT |
| CHW@MIN | Reynaldo Lopez SP | CHW | START | Jose Berrios SP | MIN | START |
| CHW@MIN | Lucas Giolito SP | CHW | START | Chase De Jong SP | MIN | SIT |
| CLE@KC | Mike Clevinger SP | CLE | START | Ian Kennedy SP | KC | START |
| DET@MIL | Jordan Zimmermann SP | DET | SIT | Zach Davies SP | MIL | START |
| HOU@BAL | Gerrit Cole SP | HOU | START | David Hess SP | BAL | SIT |
| LAD@SF | Hyun-Jin Ryu SP | LAD | START | Madison Bumgarner SP | SF | START |
| MIA@NYM | Jose Urena SP | MIA | START | Corey Oswalt P | NYM | SIT |
| NYY@BOS | J.A. Happ SP | NYY | START | Brian Johnson SP | BOS | SIT |
| OAK@LAA | Mike Fiers SP | OAK | START | Jaime Barria SP | LAA | SIT |
| PIT@CIN | Nick Kingham SP | PIT | START | Anthony DeSclafani SP | CIN | START |
| STL@CHC | Adam Wainwright SP | STL | START | Kyle Hendricks SP | CHC | START |
| TEX@SEA | Martin Perez SP | TEX | SIT | Wade LeBlanc RP | SEA | START |
| TOR@TB | Thomas Pannone P | TOR | START | Tyler Glasnow SP | TB | START |
| WAS@COL | Joe Ross SP | WAS | SIT | Kyle Freeland SP | COL | START |
| PROBABLE PITCHERS - SATURDAY (9/29/18) | ||||
| GAME | VISITING STARTER | START/SIT | HOME STARTER | START/SIT |
| ARI@SD | Zack Godley SP | ARI | START | Jacob Nix SP | SD | SIT |
| ATL@PHI | Anibal Sanchez SP | ATL | START | Aaron Nola SP | PHI | START |
| CHW@MIN | Carlos Rodon SP | CHW | START | Kyle Gibson SP | MIN | START |
| CLE@KC | Corey Kluber SP | CLE | START | Jake Junis SP | KC | SIT |
| DET@MIL | Daniel Norris SP | DET | SIT | Wade Miley SP | MIL | START |
| HOU@BAL | Justin Verlander SP | HOU | START | Dylan Bundy SP | BAL | SIT |
| HOU@BAL | Dallas Keuchel SP | HOU | START | Yefry Ramirez SP | BAL | SIT |
| LAD@SF | Clayton Kershaw SP | LAD | START | Dereck Rodriguez SP | SF | START |
| MIA@NYM | Trevor Richards SP | MIA | SIT | Steven Matz SP | NYM | START |
| NYY@BOS | Domingo German SP | NYY | SIT | Nathan Eovaldi SP | BOS | START |
| OAK@LAA | Liam Hendriks SP | OAK | SIT | Tyler Skaggs SP | LAA | SIT |
| PIT@CIN | Jameson Taillon SP | PIT | START | Michael Lorenzen SP | CIN | SIT |
| STL@CHC | Miles Mikolas SP | STL | START | Cole Hamels SP | CHC | START |
| TEX@SEA | Adrian Sampson RP | TEX | SIT | James Paxton SP | SEA | START |
| TOR@TB | Ryan Borucki RP | TOR | START | Blake Snell SP | TB | START |
| WAS@COL | Stephen Strasburg SP | WAS | START | Jon Gray SP | COL | START |
| PROBABLE PITCHERS - SUNDAY (9/30/18) | ||||
| GAME | VISITING STARTER | START/SIT | HOME STARTER | START/SIT |
| ARI@SD | Robbie Ray SP | ARI | START | Joey Lucchesi RP | SD | START |
| ATL@PHI | Kevin Gausman SP | ATL | START | Roger Suarez SP | PHI | SIT |
| CHW@MIN | Dylan Covey SP | CHW | SIT | Zack Littell SP | MIN | SIT |
| CLE@KC | Carlos Carrasco SP | CLE | START | Eric Skoglund SP | KC | SIT |
| DET@MIL | Spencer Turnbull SP | DET | SIT | TBD | TBD |
| HOU@BAL | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| LAD@SF | Walker Buehler SP | LAD | START | Andrew Suarez SP | SF | START |
| MIA@NYM | Sandy Alcantara RP | MIA | START | Noah Syndergaard SP | NYM | START |
| NYY@BOS | TBD | TBD | Rick Porcello SP | BOS | START |
| OAK@LAA | TBD | TBD | Matt Shoemaker RP | LAA | SIT |
| PIT@CIN | TBD | TBD | Sal Romano RP | CIN | SIT |
| STL@CHC | Jack Flaherty SP | STL | START | Mike Montgomery RP | CHC | START |
| TEX@SEA | Yovani Gallardo SP | TEX | SIT | Roenis Elias SP | SEA | START |
| TOR@TB | Marco Estrada SP | TOR | SIT | TBD | TBD |
| WAS@COL | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
