Weekly Pitcher Rankings: King of the Hill

As always, remember that rotations are subject to change so if you see something that's incorrect, assume that it was a change that has occurred since this article was posted. Feel free to bring it up in the comments, and I'll let you know where the new arm slots.

NOTE: A few rotations are still unsettled so I made my best guess. Stay tuned as opponents won't change, but rather names might change with our short week.

For the week July 19-21

NATIONAL LEAGUE

START

1. Adam Wainwright - SD
2. Matt Harvey - PHI
3. Clayton Kershaw - at WAS (a healthy WAS lineup is a good bit tougher than SD or PHI hence this slotting, but he's just as ace-level as Waino and Harvey)
4. Stephen Strasburg - LAD
5. Mat Latos - PIT (ASB came at the perfect time as his two July starts weren't so good)
6. Gio Gonzalez - LAD
7. Cliff Lee - at NYM (push to .500 likely keeps him in PHI, at least through July 31)
8. Jordan Zimmermann - LAD (he's right there with the Waino-Harvey-Kersh trio in 4x4 leagues that don't use Ks)
9. Cole Hamels - at NYM
10. Mike Leake - PIT (has NL's best WHIP and second-best ERA since May 15)
11. A.J. Burnett - at CIN
12. Francisco Liriano - at CIN (how much more does he need to do before you believe?)
13. Madison Bumgarner - ARI
14. Homer Bailey - PIT
15. Mike Minor - at CWS (the Sox don't hit, but U.S. Cellular exposes his biggest flaw: home runs)
16. Zack Greinke - at WAS
17. Lance Lynn - SD (had lull in June last year before finishing strong; ASB hits at a great time for him, too)
18. Matt Cain - ARI
19. Jeremy Hefner - PHI (only Jeff Locke has bested his 2.14 ERA in the NL since May 24)
20. Zack Wheeler - PHI (back-to-back starts showed what the fuss was about just as folks jumped off the bandwagon)
21. Kyle Lohse - MIA
22. Jeff Locke - at CIN (skills still say ERA is a underserved by more than 1.50 runs)
23. Ricky Nolasco - at WAS
24. Jacob Turner - at MIL (don't forget, he was a huge prospect with DET)
25. Paul Maholm - at CWS
26. Nathan Eovaldi - at MIL (five straight quality starts to open his season)
27. Tim Hudson - at CWS
28. Jeff Samardzija - at COL (had a funk like Lynn last year before rebounding, but falls far this week because of venue and matchup)
29. Kyle Kendrick - at NYM
30. Yovani Gallardo - MIA (every time you start trusting him, he pulls the rug out)
31. Randall Delgado - at SF
32. Jorge De La Rosa - CHC
33. Wade Miley - at SF

CAUTION

34. Tyler Chatwood - CHC (does his best work on the road)
35. Eric Stults - at STL (does his best work at home)
36. Henderson Alvarez - at MIL
37. Wily Peralta - MIA
38. Ian Kennedy - at SF
39. Edwin Jackson - at COL
40. Carlos Villanueva - at COL
41. Jhoulys Chacin - CHC
42. Jason Marquis - at STL
43. Edinson Volquez - at STL
44. Jake Westbrook - SD
45. Chad Gaudin - ARI

AMERICAN LEAGUE

START

1. Felix Hernandez - at HOU (ho-hum, just quietly leading the AL in ERA)
2. John Lackey - NYY (he's been excellent this year)
3. David Price - at TOR (1.08 ERA in 25 IP since return, though admittedly against HOU, CWS, HOU)
4. Anibal Sanchez - at KC
5. Justin Verlander - at KC (a lot of panic for a 3.50 ERA; watch a start or two and you'll see the stuff is still sharp)
6. Hisashi Iwakuma - at HOU (great closeout to the first half against a tough team: 7 IP, 3 ER v. LAA)
7. Bartolo Colon - at LAA (how is he not the biggest surprise [pun fully intended] in baseball?)
8. Doug Fister - at KC (despite some ugly starts, he rarely looks like he was destroyed even with 6 ER tagged on him)
9. Jered Weaver - OAK
10. James Shields - DET
11. Ervin Santana - DET (he and Shields are down here because of opponent)
12. Hiroki Kuroda - at BOS
13. Jeremy Hellickson - at TOR (now 5 straight gems: 1.97 ERA and 1.03 WHIP in 32 IP incl. outings v. BOS, DET, TOR)
14. Bud Norris - SEA (tough close to half in STL, but had a 2.90 ERA in 90 IP spanning 14 GS before that)
15. Felix Doubront - NYY
16. Derek Holland - BAL (O's don't smash lefties like they do righties and Holland fared well in BAL on July 8)
17. Corey Kluber - at MIN
18. CC Sabathia - at BOS (too good to ever bench, but not the superstud we'd grown used to; tough matchup, too)
19. Jake Peavy - ATL (how much of his two 6-ER outings before DL stint were under duress? Likely auditioning for trade)
20. John Danks - ATL
21. Justin Masterson - at MIN (first 10: 2.83 ERA; last 10: 4.68 ERA; the difference is OPS v. LHB: 621 to 846)
22. Miguel Gonzalez - at TEX
23. Erik Bedard - SEA
24. A.J. Griffin - at LAA (wasted by CHC, but then eight scoreless v. BOS?)
25. C.J. Wilson - OAK
26. Jon Lester - NYY (he's just not right since May 20 and the fastball, curveball are to blame)
27. Jordan Lyles - SEA
28. Chris Tillman - at TEX (too many HR to feel safe in this venue)
29. Wei-Yin Chen - at TEX (sharp vs. TEX in return from the DL, but now at TEX won't be easy)
30. Dan Straily - at LAA
31. Andy Pettitte - at BOS
32. Martin Perez - BAL (DET corrected that ERA right quick)
33. Joe Saunders - at HOU (not easy to figure him out this year, but should be solid here)

CAUTION

34. Chris Archer - at TOR (1.69 ERA in his last 5 GS, including NYY, DET, HOU, MIN, HOU; DET got him for 3 ER in 5 IP)
35. R.A. Dickey - TB
36. Scott Kazmir - at MIN
37. Esmil Rogers - TB
38. Jerome Williams - OAK
39. Jose Quintana - ATL
40. Mark Buehrle - TB
41. Mike Pelfrey - CLE
42. Kevin Correia - CLE
43. Jeremy Guthrie - DET
44. Scott Diamond - CLE
45. Ross Wolf - BAL

MLB TOP 50

1. Adam Wainwright - SD
2. Matt Harvey - PHI
3. Clayton Kershaw - at WAS
4. Felix Hernandez - at HOU
5. John Lackey - NYY
6. Stephen Strasburg - LAD
7. David Price - at TOR
8. Mat Latos - PIT
9. Anibal Sanchez - at KC
10. Justin Verlander - at KC
11. Gio Gonzalez - LAD
12. Cliff Lee - at NYM
13. Hisashi Iwakuma - at HOU
14. Jordan Zimmermann - LAD
15. Cole Hamels - at NYM
16. Bartolo Colon - at LAA
17. Mike Leake - PIT
18. A.J. Burnett - at CIN
19. Francisco Liriano - at CIN
20. Doug Fister - at KC
21. Jered Weaver - OAK
22. Madison Bumgarner - ARI
23. Homer Bailey - PIT
24. Mike Minor - at CWS
25. James Shields - DET
26. Ervin Santana - DET
27. Justin Masterson - at MIN
28. Hiroki Kuroda - at BOS
29. Jeremy Hellickson - at TOR
30. Bud Norris - SEA
31. Zack Greinke - at WAS
32. Felix Doubront - NYY
33. Derek Holland - BAL
34. Lance Lynn - SD
35. Matt Cain - ARI
36. Jeremy Hefner - PHI
37. Corey Kluber - at MIN
38. CC Sabathia - at BOS
39. Jake Peavy - ATL
40. John Danks - ATL
41. Zack Wheeler - PHI
42. Kyle Lohse - MIA
43. Jeff Locke - at CIN
44. Ricky Nolasco - at WAS
45. Jacob Turner - at MIL
46. Paul Maholm - at CWS
47. Nathan Eovaldi - at MIL
48. Tim Hudson - at CWS
49. Miguel Gonzalez - at TEX
50. Jeff Samardzija - at COL