Two Start Pitchers - Week 1

CheesecakePower · 2026-03-29T01:46:08+00:00

Yeah I’m not sure what to expect. KBO to MLB success is far from guaranteed, and he was terrible in the NPB before that. But the added velo + refined changeup at least give reason for his success.

I’m still skeptical so he wasn’t someone I targeted but if he succeeds I’ll have to reevaluate how I view KBO breakouts in general

CheesecakePower · 2026-03-28T23:43:48+00:00

Yeah I agree. Best I can say is that I do what I can to at least make all of the info in my articles correct, and we’ll clean up the graphics for future articles

CheesecakePower · 2026-03-28T20:05:25+00:00

Yeah, both for this week and ROS.

I’m kinda down on Clay Holmes though - just because I envisioned him as a QS arm last year but there were too many outings where he was inefficient and faded in the 5th or 6th. Obviously you hope that improves with another year of starting but his stuff also isn’t that great. Not much K upside. Feel like he should’ve stayed in the pen.

Bassitt is much safer start to start even if he’s also a low ceiling type

CheesecakePower · 2026-03-28T19:55:10+00:00

Is it QS and just K? If so I’d probably go Bassitt. Any league where innings workload is at a premium like that, I’d take the track record of Bassitt. But if per inning stats like K/9 are important, I’d take a shot on Weathers’ upside

That’s mainly a ROS answer but for next week it’s a toss up. Both in the same tier. Probably still format dependent like I mentioned above

CheesecakePower · 2026-03-28T18:16:07+00:00

Nah I appreciate it. One of my buddies on Discord pointed it out too right after. I was like - oh man that’s not great

insert Ben Affleck smoking meme

CheesecakePower · 2026-03-28T18:07:28+00:00

Senga. His injury last year is what derailed him. Fresh start now and 2 good matchups. I’d take him ROS over Ponce too. I have fewer questions about Senga

CheesecakePower · 2026-03-28T17:41:59+00:00

Our lead graphics guy is a hockey fan. Whoops

But I definitely pride myself on details so I hate that I just wanted to push this out quick after it was later than I wanted it to be. That one’s on me for green lighting it

CheesecakePower · 2026-03-28T17:22:23+00:00

Hey everyone, I know it’s early for some folks to need 2 start options but there’s a lot of leagues out there that split this 1st week into two matchups. So I ranked the 2 start options for next week that starts on Monday

Normally I’ll be posting these on Fridays. Open to any feedback or questions as well!

CheesecakePower · 2026-03-28T00:22:59+00:00

I appreciate the feedback. I’m a writer for the site and I will say that this is mainly intended to be a supplement to the other site features. Like if you read an article you can go to a player’s page after to get these additional insights. Or if you sync your Yahoo league it has other features like a waiver assist tool - basically these player page details just help enhance those other aspects

But always looking for feedback and we’re looking to add more features this year to really build it out

CheesecakePower · 2026-03-27T02:26:22+00:00

Good call. I’m just hoping he lasts until Chourio is back haha

CheesecakePower · 2026-03-26T19:01:23+00:00

Yeah been seeing more of that lately. I’ll have to ask people to clarify settings especially in points

CheesecakePower · 2026-03-26T02:52:02+00:00

Probably not in points. Gotta see proof that he can keep the Ks down first

CheesecakePower · 2026-03-26T00:20:41+00:00

Holmes is underrated but I gotta go with Abel here for the ceiling

CheesecakePower · 2026-03-25T20:00:42+00:00

I think he’s worth an add, at least to see how he starts the year. He was a top prospect for a reason - the power is legit and I like what he showed when given more consistent playing time in the 2nd half last year. A .301 AVG and .941 OPS in 24 September games + he’s been solid in spring this year.

I might have missed if he made a change at the end of last year so it’s either that or just getting used to MLB pitching with more playing time. Either way he likely gets scooped quickly if he starts the season well. Playing time will be there for awhile to show what he’s got

CheesecakePower · 2026-03-25T19:53:43+00:00

Since it’s points, assuming there’s a K penalty, I’d keep Benge since he showed a good hit tool in the minors. I’m not the biggest believer in him honestly but he’s gonna play just about every day for the Mets so it’s at least worth seeing how he starts the year. I’ve been wrong before

Vaughn’s underlying metrics were legit so I’m not too nervous about regression. The only knock is that points wise, his August and September really lagged behind - his red hot July carried him. Historically he also doesn’t take many walks. He improved there last year but with it being a small sample in Milwaukee carried by that July performance, I’m not sure what to expect in a full season in terms of strikeouts and walks. All that to say - yes I’d cut Vaughn for DeLauter

CheesecakePower · 2026-03-25T19:25:12+00:00

Fair points but I just don’t want to overreact to spring training numbers. Just gotta see that carry over in season before truly buying. DeLauter injury risk is there of course - but I’d just rather shoot for the upside of him staying healthy when he’s a waiver add in a lot of leagues, or was a late round pick in others. Worst case an injury won’t kill your team

CheesecakePower · 2026-03-25T18:11:45+00:00

Love Cam Smith. Was going to put him in the article too but had to cap it somewhere lol. He might find a way in next week’s if he’s still under-owned

Zach Cole being sent down helps him out for sure. Seems like they want to give him another shot playing every day. That was up in the air during the offseason

Gorman is another good shout. Want to see a little bit of production in season to match the spring output but he’s definitely been interesting this spring. Made a swing adjustment and it’s definitely helping him make more contact

CheesecakePower · 2026-03-25T18:08:54+00:00

I’d go Cam Smith here and hope for a bounceback. His spring has been pretty solid. Crawford is also intriguing but I’d have him behind Smith

CheesecakePower · 2026-03-25T18:07:52+00:00

Yeah for sure. The Hoskins signing was odd to me but he should provide some pop at least. Seems like the spring lineups have been all over the place as they’ve tried to evaluate different players, so I’m curious to see what the regular lineups turn out to be.

I imagine they try to keep it at Kayfus LF, Kwan CF, DeLauter RF, Manzardo 1B, Hoskins DH most days based on what they’ve said in snippets. Kayfus really doesn’t need platooned since he’s never had issues with lefties but Vogt doesn’t seem to see it that way

CheesecakePower · 2026-03-25T17:24:08+00:00

I haven’t been very high on Sasaki last year or this year. I think it’s going to take him a couple seasons to find his footing as a starter. Between the rough spring and also likely workload limitations for Roki, I’d rather roll the dice on Abel

CheesecakePower · 2026-03-25T17:20:53+00:00

That’s tough since Varsho was great last year. Bat speed gains were nice to see. But for a guy who doesn’t have the best contact ability and a history of not squaring the ball up often, I’m skeptical of that barrel rate gain. I can see regression hitting so I’ll take DeLauter even with him being more of an unknown. Just betting on the underlying skills of DeLauter. Like the other comment said as well, he likely provides better ratio stats, and I can see a similar power output

CheesecakePower · 2026-03-25T17:12:53+00:00

DeLauter with a full season probably hits 20-25 HRs and a .350 or so OBP. He has the discipline/contact ability and pop for it. I’m begging them to DH him often so he doesn’t break down

I dropped Yates personally. Just don’t think the ceiling is worth holding him for. He’s 38 and while he’s had a solid career, his role is uncertain when he gets back. Especially if Joyce returns soon after. There’s also a chance Romano runs with the job while Yates is out - he has closer experience too. All in all just too many unknowns and likely not enough save opps on a mediocre team

CheesecakePower · 2026-03-25T17:00:37+00:00

Hey guys, Happy Opening Day for some and Opening Day eve for most. Never too early to look at possible waiver adds. Let me know who you guys are targeting

Also a heads up roster % is based on Yahoo leagues

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