RADIO
The fantasy baseball season is nearing its home stretch, so let's bite off another installment of our starting pitcher starts/sits for fantasy baseball Week 21 -- Monday, August 12 through Sunday, August 18. Many of you are approaching your playoff weeks or need to pad those rotisserie stats before September. We've got you covered for two-start options or making those start/sit calls!
For 12 years running, we have been writing this Starting Pitcher Starts and Sits series every week here at RotoBaller. I'm Nick Mariano, your guide through the 2024 season. All sorts of firepower and TLC go into providing this piece each week. We get tons of great feedback on it every year.
If you're new here, read below to catch up on the aim of this piece and how best to use it. Best of 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 or actionable arms who may return from the injured list or be called up, but some situations are fluid, and we update ASAP to reflect accurate information.
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 it is close, and it's up to you to decide based on your league settings or team needs (wins, strikeouts, etc.). How deep your league is, which roto/points categories are scored, and so on. Let's get to it! Here are your starts and sits for what we're calling Week 21 of the fantasy season, which covers August 12 through August 18.
Week 21 Start/Sit Recommendations (August 12 - August 18)
Updated start/sit recommendations for this week's MLB games. This chart is updated daily as probable starters are constantly changing with postponements, injuries, etc. Scroll down further for a color-coded chart. If you can't see the chart below, click here to see the starts/sits on a separate page:
| Date | Game | Team | Pitcher | Grade | Start/Sit | 2 Starts |
| 8/12 | CHC@CLE | CHC | Shota Imanaga | 70 | START | Y |
| 8/12 | CHC@CLE | CLE | Ben Lively | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/12 | STL@CIN | STL | Sonny Gray | 70 | START | Y |
| 8/12 | STL@CIN | CIN | Andrew Abbott | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/12 | HOU@TB | HOU | Framber Valdez | 75 | START | Y |
| 8/12 | HOU@TB | TB | Taj Bradley | 65 | START | Y |
| 8/12 | TEX@BOS | TEX | Tyler Mahle | 35 | SIT | Y |
| 8/12 | TEX@BOS | BOS | Brayan Bello | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/12 | KC@MIN | KC | Brady Singer | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/12 | KC@MIN | MIN | Pablo Lopez | 65 | START | Y |
| 8/12 | NYY@CHW | NYY | Luis Gil | 80 | START | N |
| 8/12 | NYY@CHW | CHW | Ky Bush | 15 | SIT | Y |
| 8/12 | LAD@MIL | LAD | Clayton Kershaw | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/12 | LAD@MIL | MIL | Freddy Peralta | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/12 | TOR@LAA | TOR | Bowden Francis | 30 | SIT | Y |
| 8/12 | TOR@LAA | LAA | Davis Daniel | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/12 | COL@ARI | COL | Bradley Blalock | 30 | SIT | Y |
| 8/12 | COL@ARI | ARI | Brandon Pfaadt | 65 | START | N |
| 8/12 | PIT@SD | PIT | Jake Woodford | 15 | SIT | Y |
| 8/12 | PIT@SD | SD | Joe Musgrove | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/12 | ATL@SF | ATL | Chris Sale | 80 | START | Y |
| 8/12 | ATL@SF | SF | Blake Snell | 80 | START | Y |
| 8/13 | WAS@BAL | WAS | Jake Irvin | 30 | SIT | Y |
| 8/13 | WAS@BAL | BAL | Trevor Rogers | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/13 | CHC@CLE | CHC | Javier Assad | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/13 | CHC@CLE | CLE | Matthew Boyd | 35 | SIT | N |
| 8/13 | SEA@DET | SEA | George Kirby | 80 | START | Y |
| 8/13 | SEA@DET | DET | Tarik Skubal | 85 | START | Y |
| 8/13 | STL@CIN | STL | Erick Fedde | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/13 | STL@CIN | CIN | Hunter Greene | 70 | START | N |
| 8/13 | MIA@PHI | MIA | Valente Bellozo | 30 | SIT | Y |
| 8/13 | MIA@PHI | PHI | Taijuan Walker | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/13 | HOU@TB | HOU | Yusei Kikuchi | 65 | START | N |
| 8/13 | HOU@TB | TB | Shane Baz | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/13 | OAK@NYM | OAK | Joe Boyle | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/13 | OAK@NYM | NYM | Paul Blackburn | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/13 | TEX@BOS | TEX | Jose Urena | 20 | SIT | N |
| 8/13 | TEX@BOS | BOS | Kutter Crawford | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/13 | KC@MIN | KC | Seth Lugo | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/13 | KC@MIN | MIN | Zebby Matthews | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/13 | NYY@CHW | NYY | Nestor Cortes | 65 | START | N |
| 8/13 | NYY@CHW | CHW | Jonathan Cannon | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/13 | LAD@MIL | LAD | Gavin Stone | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/13 | LAD@MIL | MIL | Colin Rea | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/13 | TOR@LAA | TOR | Kevin Gausman | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/13 | TOR@LAA | LAA | Carson Fulmer | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/13 | COL@ARI | COL | Austin Gomber | 25 | SIT | N |
| 8/13 | COL@ARI | ARI | Eduardo Rodriguez | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/13 | PIT@SD | PIT | Luis L. Ortiz | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/13 | PIT@SD | SD | Michael King | 70 | START | N |
| 8/13 | ATL@SF | ATL | Charlie Morton | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/13 | ATL@SF | SF | Kyle Harrison | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/14 | KC@MIN | KC | Cole Ragans | 70 | START | N |
| 8/14 | KC@MIN | MIN | Bailey Ober | 65 | START | N |
| 8/14 | COL@ARI | COL | Tanner Gordon | 20 | SIT | N |
| 8/14 | COL@ARI | ARI | Jordan Montgomery | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/14 | PIT@SD | PIT | Mitch Keller | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/14 | PIT@SD | SD | Martin Perez | 35 | SIT | N |
| 8/14 | TEX@BOS | TEX | Gerson Garabito | 15 | SIT | N |
| 8/14 | TEX@BOS | BOS | Tanner Houck | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/14 | WAS@BAL | WAS | DJ Herz | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/14 | WAS@BAL | BAL | Dean Kremer | 35 | SIT | N |
| 8/14 | CHC@CLE | CHC | Jameson Taillon | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/14 | CHC@CLE | CLE | Alex Cobb | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/14 | SEA@DET | SEA | Bryan Woo | 70 | START | N |
| 8/14 | SEA@DET | DET | Bryan Sammons | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/14 | STL@CIN | STL | Kyle Gibson | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/14 | STL@CIN | CIN | Carson Spiers | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/14 | MIA@PHI | MIA | Xzavion Curry | 20 | SIT | N |
| 8/14 | MIA@PHI | PHI | Tyler Phillips | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/14 | HOU@TB | HOU | Ronel Blanco | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/14 | HOU@TB | TB | Zack Littell | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/14 | OAK@NYM | OAK | Mitch Spence | 25 | SIT | N |
| 8/14 | OAK@NYM | NYM | David Peterson | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/14 | NYY@CHW | NYY | Will Warren | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/14 | NYY@CHW | CHW | Davis Martin | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/14 | LAD@MIL | LAD | Walker Buehler | 35 | SIT | N |
| 8/14 | LAD@MIL | MIL | Frankie Montas | 35 | SIT | N |
| 8/14 | TOR@LAA | TOR | Jose Berrios | 35 | SIT | N |
| 8/14 | TOR@LAA | LAA | Tyler Anderson | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/14 | ATL@SF | ATL | Grant Holmes | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/14 | ATL@SF | SF | Robbie Ray | 65 | START | N |
| 8/15 | OAK@NYM | OAK | Joey Estes | 35 | SIT | N |
| 8/15 | OAK@NYM | NYM | Jose Quintana | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/15 | SEA@DET | SEA | Bryce Miller | 65 | START | N |
| 8/15 | SEA@DET | DET | Kenta Maeda | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/15 | LAD@MIL | LAD | Jack Flaherty | 65 | START | N |
| 8/15 | LAD@MIL | MIL | Tobias Myers | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/15 | ATL@SF | ATL | Max Fried | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/15 | ATL@SF | SF | Logan Webb | 65 | START | N |
| 8/15 | BOS@BAL | BOS | Nick Pivetta | 65 | START | N |
| 8/15 | BOS@BAL | BAL | Zach Eflin | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/15 | WAS@PHI | WAS | Mitchell Parker | 25 | SIT | N |
| 8/15 | WAS@PHI | PHI | Zack Wheeler | 85 | START | N |
| 8/15 | MIN@TEX | MIN | Louie Varland | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/15 | MIN@TEX | TEX | Cody Bradford | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/16 | TOR@CHC | TOR | Yariel Rodriguez | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/16 | TOR@CHC | CHC | Kyle Hendricks | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/16 | KC@CIN | KC | Michael Lorenzen | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/16 | KC@CIN | CIN | Nick Martinez | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/16 | SEA@PIT | SEA | Logan Gilbert | 80 | START | N |
| 8/16 | SEA@PIT | PIT | Paul Skenes | 80 | START | N |
| 8/16 | WAS@PHI | WAS | Patrick Corbin | 35 | SIT | N |
| 8/16 | WAS@PHI | PHI | Aaron Nola | 80 | START | N |
| 8/16 | NYY@DET | NYY | Gerrit Cole | 70 | START | N |
| 8/16 | NYY@DET | DET | Brant Hurter | 25 | SIT | N |
| 8/16 | ARI@TB | ARI | Ryne Nelson | 70 | START | N |
| 8/16 | ARI@TB | TB | Ryan Pepiot | 35 | SIT | N |
| 8/16 | BOS@BAL | BOS | Cooper Criswell | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/16 | BOS@BAL | BAL | Corbin Burnes | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/16 | MIA@NYM | MIA | Roddery Munoz | 25 | SIT | N |
| 8/16 | MIA@NYM | NYM | Sean Manaea | 70 | START | N |
| 8/16 | MIN@TEX | MIN | Simeon Woods Richardson | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/16 | MIN@TEX | TEX | Andrew Heaney | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/16 | CHW@HOU | CHW | Garrett Crochet | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/16 | CHW@HOU | HOU | Spencer Arrighetti | 70 | START | N |
| 8/16 | CLE@MIL | CLE | Gavin Williams | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/16 | CLE@MIL | MIL | Aaron Civale | 35 | SIT | N |
| 8/16 | LAD@STL | LAD | Justin Wrobleski | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/16 | LAD@STL | STL | Miles Mikolas | 25 | SIT | N |
| 8/16 | SD@COL | SD | Matt Waldron | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/16 | SD@COL | COL | Cal Quantrill | 20 | SIT | N |
| 8/16 | ATL@LAA | ATL | Spencer Schwellenbach | 75 | START | N |
| 8/16 | ATL@LAA | LAA | Jose Soriano | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/17 | SEA@PIT | SEA | Luis Castillo | 75 | START | N |
| 8/17 | SEA@PIT | PIT | Bailey Falter | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/17 | NYY@DET | NYY | Carlos Rodon | 75 | START | N |
| 8/17 | NYY@DET | DET | Keider Montero | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/17 | TOR@CHC | TOR | Chris Bassitt | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/17 | TOR@CHC | CHC | Justin Steele | 65 | START | N |
| 8/17 | ARI@TB | ARI | Zac Gallen | 65 | START | N |
| 8/17 | ARI@TB | TB | Jeffrey Springs | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/17 | MIA@NYM | MIA | Max Meyer | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/17 | MIA@NYM | NYM | Luis Severino | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/17 | WAS@PHI | WAS | MacKenzie Gore | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/17 | WAS@PHI | PHI | Cristopher Sanchez | 70 | START | N |
| 8/17 | KC@CIN | KC | Michael Wacha | 35 | SIT | N |
| 8/17 | KC@CIN | CIN | Nick Lodolo | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/17 | BOS@BAL | BOS | Brayan Bello | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/17 | BOS@BAL | BAL | Cade Povich | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/17 | MIN@TEX | MIN | David Festa | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/17 | MIN@TEX | TEX | Nathan Eovaldi | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/17 | SF@OAK | SF | Hayden Birdsong | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/17 | SF@OAK | OAK | Osvaldo Bido | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/17 | CHW@HOU | CHW | Chris Flexen | 25 | SIT | N |
| 8/17 | CHW@HOU | HOU | Hunter Brown | 85 | START | N |
| 8/17 | LAD@STL | LAD | Bobby Miller | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/17 | LAD@STL | STL | Andre Pallante | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/17 | CLE@MIL | CLE | Tanner Bibee | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/17 | CLE@MIL | MIL | Freddy Peralta | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/17 | SD@COL | SD | Dylan Cease | 70 | START | N |
| 8/17 | SD@COL | COL | Kyle Freeland | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/17 | ATL@LAA | ATL | Chris Sale | 85 | START | Y |
| 8/17 | ATL@LAA | LAA | Griffin Canning | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/18 | MIA@NYM | MIA | Valente Bellozo | 30 | SIT | Y |
| 8/18 | MIA@NYM | NYM | Paul Blackburn | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/18 | BOS@BAL | BOS | Kutter Crawford | 35 | SIT | Y |
| 8/18 | BOS@BAL | BAL | Albert Suarez | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/18 | SEA@PIT | SEA | George Kirby | 75 | START | Y |
| 8/18 | SEA@PIT | PIT | Jake Woodford | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/18 | WAS@PHI | WAS | Jake Irvin | 35 | SIT | Y |
| 8/18 | WAS@PHI | PHI | Taijuan Walker | 35 | SIT | Y |
| 8/18 | KC@CIN | KC | Brady Singer | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/18 | KC@CIN | CIN | Andrew Abbott | 30 | SIT | Y |
| 8/18 | ARI@TB | ARI | Merrill Kelly | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/18 | ARI@TB | TB | Taj Bradley | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/18 | CHW@HOU | CHW | Ky Bush | 20 | SIT | Y |
| 8/18 | CHW@HOU | HOU | Framber Valdez | 95 | START | Y |
| 8/18 | CLE@MIL | CLE | Ben Lively | 35 | SIT | Y |
| 8/18 | CLE@MIL | MIL | Colin Rea | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/18 | LAD@STL | LAD | Clayton Kershaw | 65 | START | Y |
| 8/18 | LAD@STL | STL | Sonny Gray | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/18 | TOR@CHC | TOR | Bowden Francis | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/18 | TOR@CHC | CHC | Shota Imanaga | 65 | START | Y |
| 8/18 | MIN@TEX | MIN | Pablo Lopez | 70 | START | Y |
| 8/18 | MIN@TEX | TEX | Tyler Mahle | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/18 | SD@COL | SD | Joe Musgrove | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/18 | SD@COL | COL | Bradley Blalock | 20 | SIT | Y |
| 8/18 | SF@OAK | SF | Blake Snell | 85 | START | Y |
| 8/18 | SF@OAK | OAK | JP Sears | 65 | START | N |
| 8/18 | ATL@LAA | ATL | Charlie Morton | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/18 | ATL@LAA | LAA | Jack Kochanowicz | 25 | SIT | N |
| 8/18 | NYY@DET | NYY | Marcus Stroman | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/18 | NYY@DET | DET | Tarik Skubal | 65 | START | Y |
Start/Sit Color-Coded Matchups Chart (August 12 - August 18)
The below grid shows the same data, but as a color-coded grid:
