Weekly Pitching Guide – June 1 – June 7

  • By Anthony Kates

    Last Updated on May 31, 2026 1:54 am by Anthony Kates | Published: May 31, 2026

    Every Sunday this season, I will share my pitching guide for that week. It will include a table of the projected 2-start starting pitchers and their opponents, with my recommendations on starts and sits, plus my pitching streams for the week.

    WordPress Data Table Plugin

    For my recommended pitching streams, I will only suggest pitchers who are rostered in fewer than 50% of Yahoo leagues. All starts are projected, but are subject to change due to injury, a team deciding to have a bullpen day, expand to a six-man rotation, etc. Stats are through Sunday morning.

    Monday, June 1

    Cade Cavalli – WAS – vs Miami – 33% rostered

    In Cavalli’s first five starts of the season, he made it out of the fifth inning only one time. Over his last seven starts, he has thrown 5-plus innings six times. Over those seven starts, he has tossed 40 innings, struck out 50, walked just nine, allowed only three home runs and 15 earned runs. He has a 3.38 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and a 5.56 K:BB in that time frame, making him the 15th most valuable starter in that time frame. He’s limiting line drives and fly balls, generating plenty of ground balls, has a 35% chase rate and a 12.4% swinging strike rate and has four of his six pitches generating a positive run value.

    In May, the Marlins, when facing a righty on the road, have not been very productive. They have an 85 wRC+, tied with the Blue Jays for fifth lowest; a .657 OPS, the seventh lowest; and a 6.2% walk rate, the fourth lowest. They’ve produced the third lowest line drive rate, the tenth highest ground ball to fly ball ratio, the second lowest hard hit rate and the sixth highest soft hit rate, tied with the Athletics and Guardians. They are tied with the Orioles for the 18th most plate appearances against right handed pitchers on the road in May, yet they have hit just three home runs, tied with the Angels for the least in the league; scored 37 runs, tied with the Nationals for 18th; ground into eight double plays, tied with the Orioles and Astros for fourth most and have been caught stealing seven times (out of 21 attempts).

    Tuesday, June 2

    Dustin May – STL – vs TEX – 14%

    Raise your hand if you knew May had four quality starts in, well, May? He’s made five starts this month, thrown 30.1 innings, struck out 29, walked 10, allowed just two home runs and 13 earned runs. He has a 3.86 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP this month, with some positive BABIP luck but some poor strand rate luck (.247 and 62.1%, respectively). He actually has seven quality starts out of his last nine starts and has only allowed three home runs over those nine starts (and 18 earned runs). Since April 10 (which covers his last nine starts), he’s actually been the 18th most valuable starter in the league. He limits barrels, generates plenty of ground balls and is getting a ton of chase (34.2%).

    Over the past three weeks, the Rangers have generated a 92 wRC+ when facing a right handed pitcher, with a .671 OPS, 21% strikeout rate and an 8.7% walk rate, all middle of the pack numbers. They have the 13th highest line drive rate, but have more ground balls than fly balls and the second highest hard hit rate in the league. They have the fourth most plate appearances against righties over the past three weeks and have hit 18 home runs, the eighth most home runs, tied with the Yankes and Phillies; scored 69 runs, the sixth most; ground into 14 double plays, the second most and tied with the Dodgers; and have a .219 batting average, tied with the Mets for the eighth lowest.

    Wednesday, June 3

    Walbert Urena – LAA – vs COL – 18%

    Urena has quietly put together a very good May. He’s made six starts and tossed 33 innings, striking out 28 batters, walking 15 and has allowed just two home runs and six earned runs. Just over half of all of his batted balls have been ground balls, he’s limited both quality and hard hits, with more chase and swinging strikes than his strikeout rate would have you think. He’s limited batters to just a 72.4% contact rate. He’s absolutely dominated hitters with one of the best changeups in baseball (it’s been the second best, behind only Cristopher Sanchez) and a decent 4-seam fastball.

    The Rockies, as usual, have been one of the worst offenses on the road, particularly when facing a right-handed pitcher over the month of May. They have a 76 wRC+, the fourth lowest in the league, a .622 OPS, also fourth lowest, a 6.8% walk rate, eighth lowest, and the 17th highest strikeout rate, 21.5%. They do have the seventh highest line drive rate, but have also hit more ground balls than fly balls and have the sixth lowest hard hit rate. In May, the Rockies have the 16th most plate appearances facing righties on the road and have hit seven home runs, tied with five other teams for the sixth fewest, scored 35 runs, eighth lowest and tied with the Orioles, and ground into seven double plays, seventh most and tied with four other teams.


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    May 31, 2026, 1:54 am