RADIO
The summer is wrapping up as we approach the final month, so we're revving up another edition of our starting pitcher starts/sits for fantasy baseball Week 23 -- Monday, August 26 through Sunday, September 1. We need to prepare for expanded rosters coming up with potential workload limits/postseason planning for key arms. Be sure to stay tuned for all start/sit calls and any two-start options to line up.
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. Let's get to it!
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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. September will bring another level to the chaos.
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 23 of the fantasy season, which covers August 26 through September 1.
Week 23 Start/Sit Recommendations (August 26 - September 1)
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 |
| 8/26 | KC@CLE | KC | Cole Ragans | 75 | START | Y |
| 8/26 | KC@CLE | CLE | Logan Allen | 20 | SIT | N |
| 8/26 | KC@CLE | KC | Alec Marsh | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/26 | KC@CLE | CLE | Joey Cantillo | 25 | SIT | N |
| 8/26 | TOR@BOS | TOR | Jose Berrios | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/26 | TOR@BOS | BOS | Brad Keller | 20 | SIT | N |
| 8/26 | TOR@BOS | TOR | Ryan Yarbrough | 25 | SIT | N |
| 8/26 | TOR@BOS | BOS | Nick Pivetta | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/26 | CHC@PIT | CHC | Jameson Taillon | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/26 | CHC@PIT | PIT | Mitch Keller | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/26 | HOU@PHI | HOU | Ronel Blanco | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/26 | HOU@PHI | PHI | Zack Wheeler | 65 | START | Y |
| 8/26 | NYY@WAS | NYY | Nestor Cortes | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/26 | NYY@WAS | WAS | Mitchell Parker | 20 | SIT | Y |
| 8/26 | ATL@MIN | ATL | Max Fried | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/26 | ATL@MIN | MIN | Bailey Ober | 70 | START | Y |
| 8/26 | SD@STL | SD | Randy Vasquez | 30 | SIT | Y |
| 8/26 | SD@STL | STL | Kyle Gibson | 35 | SIT | Y |
| 8/26 | DET@CHW | DET | Ty Madden | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/26 | DET@CHW | CHW | Davis Martin | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/26 | MIA@COL | MIA | Edward Cabrera | 30 | SIT | Y |
| 8/26 | MIA@COL | COL | Ryan Feltner | 30 | SIT | Y |
| 8/26 | TB@SEA | TB | Ryan Pepiot | 65 | START | Y |
| 8/26 | TB@SEA | SEA | Bryce Miller | 85 | START | Y |
| 8/27 | LAA@DET | LAA | Johnny Cueto | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/27 | LAA@DET | DET | Brant Hurter | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/27 | KC@CLE | KC | Michael Lorenzen | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/27 | KC@CLE | CLE | Gavin Williams | 35 | SIT | Y |
| 8/27 | OAK@CIN | OAK | Mitch Spence | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/27 | OAK@CIN | CIN | Jakob Junis | 30 | SIT | Y |
| 8/27 | CHC@PIT | CHC | Justin Steele | 75 | START | N |
| 8/27 | CHC@PIT | PIT | Jared Jones | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/27 | HOU@PHI | HOU | Justin Verlander | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/27 | HOU@PHI | PHI | Aaron Nola | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/27 | NYY@WAS | NYY | Gerrit Cole | 75 | START | N |
| 8/27 | NYY@WAS | WAS | Patrick Corbin | 25 | SIT | N |
| 8/27 | TOR@BOS | TOR | Yariel Rodriguez | 30 | SIT | Y |
| 8/27 | TOR@BOS | BOS | Cooper Criswell | 25 | SIT | Y |
| 8/27 | ATL@MIN | ATL | Spencer Schwellenbach | 65 | START | Y |
| 8/27 | ATL@MIN | MIN | Simeon Woods Richardson | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/27 | SD@STL | SD | Dylan Cease | 70 | START | Y |
| 8/27 | SD@STL | STL | Miles Mikolas | 35 | SIT | Y |
| 8/27 | TEX@CHW | TEX | Andrew Heaney | 65 | START | N |
| 8/27 | TEX@CHW | CHW | Garrett Crochet | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/27 | SF@MIL | SF | Logan Webb | 75 | START | Y |
| 8/27 | SF@MIL | MIL | Tobias Myers | 70 | START | Y |
| 8/27 | MIA@COL | MIA | Roddery Munoz | 20 | SIT | N |
| 8/27 | MIA@COL | COL | Cal Quantrill | 25 | SIT | Y |
| 8/27 | NYM@ARI | NYM | Sean Manaea | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/27 | NYM@ARI | ARI | Brandon Pfaadt | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/27 | TB@SEA | TB | Jeffrey Springs | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/27 | TB@SEA | SEA | Logan Gilbert | 90 | START | N |
| 8/27 | BAL@LAD | BAL | Cole Irvin | 20 | SIT | N |
| 8/27 | BAL@LAD | LAD | Jack Flaherty | 65 | START | N |
| 8/28 | CHC@PIT | CHC | Kyle Hendricks | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/28 | CHC@PIT | PIT | Paul Skenes | 70 | START | N |
| 8/28 | KC@CLE | KC | Michael Wacha | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/28 | KC@CLE | CLE | Tanner Bibee | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/28 | HOU@PHI | HOU | Spencer Arrighetti | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/28 | HOU@PHI | PHI | Taijuan Walker | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/28 | TB@SEA | TB | Bullpen Game | 0 | SIT | N |
| 8/28 | TB@SEA | SEA | Luis Castillo | 90 | START | N |
| 8/28 | LAA@DET | LAA | Griffin Canning | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/28 | LAA@DET | DET | Mason Englert | 25 | SIT | N |
| 8/28 | OAK@CIN | OAK | Osvaldo Bido | 70 | START | N |
| 8/28 | OAK@CIN | CIN | Fernando Cruz | 15 | SIT | N |
| 8/28 | NYY@WAS | NYY | Carlos Rodon | 70 | START | N |
| 8/28 | NYY@WAS | WAS | MacKenzie Gore | 20 | SIT | N |
| 8/28 | TOR@BOS | TOR | Chris Bassitt | 35 | SIT | N |
| 8/28 | TOR@BOS | BOS | Brayan Bello | 35 | SIT | N |
| 8/28 | ATL@MIN | ATL | Chris Sale | 75 | START | N |
| 8/28 | ATL@MIN | MIN | David Festa | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/28 | SD@STL | SD | Joe Musgrove | 65 | START | N |
| 8/28 | SD@STL | STL | Andre Pallante | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/28 | TEX@CHW | TEX | Jack Leiter | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/28 | TEX@CHW | CHW | Chris Flexen | 25 | SIT | N |
| 8/28 | SF@MIL | SF | Kyle Harrison | 65 | START | N |
| 8/28 | SF@MIL | MIL | Freddy Peralta | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/28 | MIA@COL | MIA | Max Meyer | 25 | SIT | N |
| 8/28 | MIA@COL | COL | Kyle Freeland | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/28 | NYM@ARI | NYM | Luis Severino | 35 | SIT | N |
| 8/28 | NYM@ARI | ARI | Eduardo Rodriguez | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/28 | BAL@LAD | BAL | Corbin Burnes | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/28 | BAL@LAD | LAD | Walker Buehler | 25 | SIT | N |
| 8/29 | LAA@DET | LAA | Jack Kochanowicz | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/29 | LAA@DET | DET | Keider Montero | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/29 | TEX@CHW | TEX | Nathan Eovaldi | 80 | START | N |
| 8/29 | TEX@CHW | CHW | Nick Nastrini | 20 | SIT | N |
| 8/29 | SF@MIL | SF | Hayden Birdsong | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/29 | SF@MIL | MIL | Aaron Civale | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/29 | SD@STL | SD | Michael King | 70 | START | N |
| 8/29 | SD@STL | STL | Sonny Gray | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/29 | MIA@COL | MIA | Valente Bellozo | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/29 | MIA@COL | COL | Bradley Blalock | 35 | SIT | N |
| 8/29 | NYM@ARI | NYM | David Peterson | 65 | START | N |
| 8/29 | NYM@ARI | ARI | Ryne Nelson | 65 | START | N |
| 8/29 | OAK@CIN | OAK | J.T. Ginn | 35 | SIT | N |
| 8/29 | OAK@CIN | CIN | Julian Aguiar | 35 | SIT | N |
| 8/29 | ATL@PHI | ATL | Charlie Morton | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/29 | ATL@PHI | PHI | Cristopher Sanchez | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/29 | TOR@BOS | TOR | Bowden Francis | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/29 | TOR@BOS | BOS | Kutter Crawford | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/29 | KC@HOU | KC | Brady Singer | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/29 | KC@HOU | HOU | Hunter Brown | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/29 | BAL@LAD | BAL | Cade Povich | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/29 | BAL@LAD | LAD | Bobby Miller | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/30 | MIL@CIN | MIL | Colin Rea | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/30 | MIL@CIN | CIN | Nick Martinez | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/30 | MIL@CIN | MIL | DL Hall | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/30 | MIL@CIN | CIN | Rhett Lowder | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/30 | BOS@DET | BOS | Tanner Houck | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/30 | BOS@DET | DET | Casey Mize | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/30 | ATL@PHI | ATL | Reynaldo Lopez | 65 | START | N |
| 8/30 | ATL@PHI | PHI | Ranger Suarez | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/30 | CHC@WAS | CHC | Shota Imanaga | 65 | START | N |
| 8/30 | CHC@WAS | WAS | Jake Irvin | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/30 | SD@TB | SD | Martin Perez | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/30 | SD@TB | TB | Taj Bradley | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/30 | STL@NYY | STL | Erick Fedde | 20 | SIT | N |
| 8/30 | STL@NYY | NYY | Marcus Stroman | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/30 | PIT@CLE | PIT | Bailey Falter | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/30 | PIT@CLE | CLE | Ben Lively | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/30 | OAK@TEX | OAK | JP Sears | 70 | START | N |
| 8/30 | OAK@TEX | TEX | Jon Gray | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/30 | KC@HOU | KC | Seth Lugo | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/30 | KC@HOU | HOU | Framber Valdez | 65 | START | N |
| 8/30 | TOR@MIN | TOR | Kevin Gausman | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/30 | TOR@MIN | MIN | Pablo Lopez | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/30 | NYM@CHW | NYM | Tylor Megill | 25 | SIT | N |
| 8/30 | NYM@CHW | CHW | Jonathan Cannon | 25 | SIT | N |
| 8/30 | BAL@COL | BAL | Albert Suarez | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/30 | BAL@COL | COL | Austin Gomber | 20 | SIT | N |
| 8/30 | SEA@LAA | SEA | George Kirby | 80 | START | N |
| 8/30 | SEA@LAA | LAA | Samuel Aldegheri | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/30 | LAD@ARI | LAD | Clayton Kershaw | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/30 | LAD@ARI | ARI | Zac Gallen | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/30 | MIA@SF | MIA | Adam Oller | 15 | SIT | N |
| 8/30 | MIA@SF | SF | Blake Snell | 85 | START | N |
| 8/31 | STL@NYY | STL | Kyle Gibson | 25 | SIT | Y |
| 8/31 | STL@NYY | NYY | Will Warren | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/31 | CHC@WAS | CHC | Javier Assad | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/31 | CHC@WAS | WAS | DJ Herz | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/31 | SD@TB | SD | Randy Vasquez | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/31 | SD@TB | TB | Shane Baz | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/31 | BOS@DET | BOS | Nick Pivetta | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/31 | BOS@DET | DET | Tarik Skubal | 85 | START | N |
| 8/31 | PIT@CLE | PIT | Luis L. Ortiz | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/31 | PIT@CLE | CLE | Matthew Boyd | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/31 | OAK@TEX | OAK | Joey Estes | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/31 | OAK@TEX | TEX | Cody Bradford | 65 | START | N |
| 8/31 | KC@HOU | KC | Cole Ragans | 65 | START | Y |
| 8/31 | KC@HOU | HOU | Yusei Kikuchi | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/31 | TOR@MIN | TOR | Jose Berrios | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/31 | TOR@MIN | MIN | Zebby Matthews | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/31 | NYM@CHW | NYM | Jose Quintana | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/31 | NYM@CHW | CHW | Davis Martin | 35 | SIT | Y |
| 8/31 | ATL@PHI | ATL | Max Fried | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/31 | ATL@PHI | PHI | Zack Wheeler | 65 | START | Y |
| 8/31 | MIL@CIN | MIL | Frankie Montas | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/31 | MIL@CIN | CIN | Carson Spiers | 35 | SIT | N |
| 8/31 | BAL@COL | BAL | Dean Kremer | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/31 | BAL@COL | COL | Ryan Feltner | 15 | SIT | Y |
| 8/31 | LAD@ARI | LAD | Gavin Stone | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 8/31 | LAD@ARI | ARI | Merrill Kelly | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/31 | MIA@SF | MIA | Edward Cabrera | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 8/31 | MIA@SF | SF | Mason Black | 30 | SIT | N |
| 8/31 | SEA@LAA | SEA | Bryan Woo | 85 | START | N |
| 8/31 | SEA@LAA | LAA | Tyler Anderson | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 9/1 | MIL@CIN | MIL | Tobias Myers | 65 | START | Y |
| 9/1 | MIL@CIN | CIN | Jakob Junis | 35 | SIT | Y |
| 9/1 | CHC@WAS | CHC | Jordan Wicks | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 9/1 | CHC@WAS | WAS | Mitchell Parker | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 9/1 | STL@NYY | STL | Miles Mikolas | 25 | SIT | Y |
| 9/1 | STL@NYY | NYY | Nestor Cortes | 55 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 9/1 | BOS@DET | BOS | Cooper Criswell | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 9/1 | BOS@DET | DET | Ty Madden | 30 | SIT | Y |
| 9/1 | PIT@CLE | PIT | Mitch Keller | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 9/1 | PIT@CLE | CLE | Alex Cobb | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 9/1 | SD@TB | SD | Dylan Cease | 95 | START | Y |
| 9/1 | SD@TB | TB | Ryan Pepiot | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 9/1 | KC@HOU | KC | Alec Marsh | 30 | SIT | Y |
| 9/1 | KC@HOU | HOU | Ronel Blanco | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 9/1 | TOR@MIN | TOR | Yariel Rodriguez | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 9/1 | TOR@MIN | MIN | Bailey Ober | 70 | START | Y |
| 9/1 | NYM@CHW | NYM | Sean Manaea | 70 | START | Y |
| 9/1 | NYM@CHW | CHW | Garrett Crochet | 50 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 9/1 | OAK@TEX | OAK | Mitch Spence | 35 | SIT | Y |
| 9/1 | OAK@TEX | TEX | Walter Pennington | 25 | SIT | N |
| 9/1 | BAL@COL | BAL | Zach Eflin | 45 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 9/1 | BAL@COL | COL | Ty Blach | 15 | SIT | N |
| 9/1 | MIA@SF | MIA | Xzavion Curry | 30 | SIT | N |
| 9/1 | MIA@SF | SF | Logan Webb | 85 | START | Y |
| 9/1 | SEA@LAA | SEA | Bryce Miller | 80 | START | Y |
| 9/1 | SEA@LAA | LAA | Caden Dana | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | N |
| 9/1 | LAD@ARI | LAD | Justin Wrobleski | 35 | SIT | N |
| 9/1 | LAD@ARI | ARI | Brandon Pfaadt | 40 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
| 9/1 | ATL@PHI | ATL | Spencer Schwellenbach | 70 | START | Y |
| 9/1 | ATL@PHI | PHI | Aaron Nola | 60 | CONTEXT DEPENDENT | Y |
Start/Sit Color-Coded Matchups Chart (August 26 - September 1)
The below grid shows the same data but as a color-coded grid:
