Last Updated on June 21, 2026 3:40 pm by Anthony Kates | Published: June 21, 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.

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 22

Eric Lauer – LAD – @ MIN – 11%

Lauer has performed fairly decently as a member of the Dodgers, producing two quality starts in four games, with a 14:5 K:BB and five home runs allowed over 22.1 innings pitched. He has had some pretty incredible batted ball and strand rate luck, with a .206 BABIP and 94.1% strand rate. His hard hit rate and average exit velocity have been quite great, at 33.8% and 87 MPH respectively, but a 45.5% fly ball rate has led to an elevated home run rate. Though he has a fantastic chase rate, 36.7%, his strikeout rate has remained low due to an 84.1% contact rate and an 8% swinging strike rate.

Minnesota has struggled over the past month when facing left-handed pitching, posting the second worst wRC+ (78), tied with the Orioles. They have the second lowest OPS, .638, ninth lowest walk rate, 7.3%, and a middling strikeout rate (12.3%, 16th worst). They have the second lowest line drive rate and the eighth highest ground ball rate, though they have hit nearly as many fly balls as ground balls. They have the 13th most plate appearances against left-handed pitchers over the past month but have hit 10 home runs, the eighth most and tied with five other teams; have scored 28 runs, the seventh fewest and tied with the Angels; and have ground into five double plays, ninth most and tied with the Red Sox, Tigers and Rockies.

Tuesday, June 23

None

Wednesday, June 24

Griffin Jax – TBR – vs KCR – 36%

Jax has looked much more comfortable as a starter over his past six starts, throwing 26 innings with a 28:4 K:BB, six home runs allowed, a 3.46 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. His barrel rate is far higher than you would like, though he allowed half of his barrels over his past six games in just one start (5) and has a hard hit rate over 38.5% in just two of those six starts as well. He has allowed more ground balls than fly balls, but has an elevated line drive rate that could punish him more in the future if he cannot reign it in now. He has held hitters to a 68.7% contact rate while generating a 36.7% chase rate and a 15.3% swinging strike rate – all three numbers put him closer to elite than average.

The Royals have been right around league average, performance wise, when facing a right handed pitcher over the past month, posting a 101 wRC+, the 12th lowest in the league, a .736 OPS, 15th lowest, and a .159 ISO, ninth lowest. They have hit far more fly balls than ground balls and have the fourth highest hard hit rate over the past month, though they have only hit 21 home runs, 21st most in the league, over the 19th most plate appearances against right-handers since May 22. They have scored 89 runs, the 14th most and tied with the Blue Jays, and have ground into 11 double plays, 13th most and tied with the Mariners, Reds, Marlins and Mets.

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• About the Author
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Anthony Kates

I’m a husband, father and fantasy sports fanatic. I’ve been playing some fantasy sport or other since the fall of 1996, thanks to one of my childhood best friends, Brent. I enjoy watching all major sports, reading fantasy novels, watching TV shows and movies, playing video games and writing about fantasy baseball. I started at Sports Ethos in 2023, just writing one article a week and cutting my teeth in fantasy sports writing and I am now a co-lead of the Fantasy Baseball department, co-host of the Fantasy MLB Today podcast and the author of two weekly articles, our dynasty baseball rankings and a handful of random articles a year. I support the Houston Astros, Dallas Mavericks, Tennessee Titans and all things Texas Longhorns.

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