Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Welcome to the AL, Johnny

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Updated on August 1, 2015 9:03PM EST

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

For the week Aug. 3-9

AMERICAN LEAGUE

START

Rank	Pitcher	Opp	Comments
1	Corey Kluber	at LAA, MIN	Every time y'all (and I say y'all because I've never been worried) freak out about a bad start, he drops a gem or three
2	Chris Sale	TB
3	Dallas Keuchel	at OAK	Keuchel, Gray are a little light on Ks compared to most aces, but they make up for it with big innings totals
4	Sonny Gray	HOU	Keuchel's 151 IP are second-most in the AL while Gray sits fifth at 145.7 including 7.3 IP/start over his last 11
5	David Price	at NYY
6	Cole Hamels	at SEA	Gets a relatively familiar foe in his TEX debut (vs. SF on Saturday) before a run of AL opponents
7	Chris Archer	at CWS
8	Felix Hernandez	at COL, TEX	Going to COL sucks, but you're still not sitting Felix
9	Johnny Cueto	at DET	Opens his AL career with at TOR, at DET ... welcome!
10	Masahiro Tanaka	BOS, TOR
11	Lance McCullers Jr.	at TEX, at OAK	Results have been better at home (1.86/3.77 ERA), but skills are actually better on the road (2.94/2.56 FIP)
12	Jose Quintana	TB, at KC

START

Rank	Pitcher	Opp	Comments
1	Corey Kluber	at LAA, MIN	Every time y'all (and I say y'all because I've never been worried) freak out about a bad start, he drops a gem or three
2	Chris Sale	TB
3	Dallas Keuchel	at OAK	Keuchel, Gray are a little light on Ks compared to most aces, but they make up for it with big innings totals
4	Sonny Gray	HOU	Keuchel's 151 IP are second-most in the AL while Gray sits fifth at 145.7 including 7.3 IP/start over his last 11
5	David Price	at NYY
6	Cole Hamels	at SEA	Gets a relatively familiar foe in his TEX debut (vs. SF on Saturday) before a run of AL opponents
7	Chris Archer	at CWS
8	Felix Hernandez	at COL, TEX	Going to COL sucks, but you're still not sitting Felix
9	Johnny Cueto	at DET	Opens his AL career with at TOR, at DET ... welcome!
10	Masahiro Tanaka	BOS, TOR
11	Lance McCullers Jr.	at TEX, at OAK	Results have been better at home (1.86/3.77 ERA), but skills are actually better on the road (2.94/2.56 FIP)
12	Jose Quintana	TB, at KC
13	Carlos Carrasco	at LAA	Has five starts of 5-plus ER, four of which he last fewer than 5 IP; has a 2.71 ERA in 103 IP outside of those five starts
14	Scott Kazmir	at TEX
15	Danny Salazar	at LAA
16	Jeff Samardzija	KC	The Ks we got used to are missing, but at least mostly-good Shark has returned (2.78 ERA, 0.97 WHIP in last 9)
17	Nate Karns	at CWS, NYM
18	Garrett Richards	CLE, BAL	Fanned 7-plus in 14 of his 26 starts last year; has done so just 3x in 19 starts and 0x in his last eight (16% K%)
19	Ervin Santana	at TOR, at CLE
20	Jake Odorizzi	NYM
21	Erasmo Ramirez	at CWS
22	Hector Santiago	CLE	Just 5 IP in each of his last three (5.40 ERA); just a blip or beginning of a fade? He's 18 IP from last year's workload (141 IP)
23	Chris Tillman	at OAK, at LAA
24	Matt Shoemaker	CLE, BAL	So bad thru June that you may not have recognized his 2.01 ERA over his last 31.3 IP with just 2 HRs allowed
25	Justin Verlander	KC, BOS	Three of his last four have been excellent, unfortunately the fourth was a 3.7 IP/7 ER dud vs. BAL
26	Andrew Heaney	BAL	Logjammed rotations always work themselves out and while it sucks that CJ Wilson got hurt, it clears the path for Heaney
27	Eduardo Rodriguez	at NYY
28	Kyle Gibson	at CLE	Has pitched much better than the numbers say in his last two (11 ER in 10.3 IP)
29	Hisashi Iwakuma	TEX
30	Anibal Sanchez	BOS	Need to actually see some HR suppression before moving him back up
31	Marco Estrada	MIN, at NYY
32	Chris Bassitt	BAL, HOU	Looking solid after five turns in the rotation: 3.00 ERA, 1.03 WHIP in 30 IP; Ks are light (16%), but doesn't give free passes (3% BB)
33	Collin McHugh	at OAK
34	Nathan Eovaldi	BOS
35	Taijuan Walker	at COL	It's easy to get drunk on that upside after outings like Friday's 1-hitter with 11 Ks at MIN
36	Edinson Volquez	CWS
37	Trevor Bauer	MIN
38	Wei-Yin Chen	at OAK
39	Yovani Gallardo	HOU
40	R.A. Dickey	MIN, at NYY	Has quietly put together a 2.96 ERA over his last 11 starts
41	Kevin Gausman	at LAA
42	Drew Hutchison	MIN
43	Jesse Chavez	BAL, HOU	Averaging just 5 IP over his last seven with a 5.75 ERA
44	Ubaldo Jimenez	at LAA	Better last time out after back-to-back 7 ER starts, but not exactly awesome vs. weak ATL offense; has 3 BB in three of his last four
45	Mark Buehrle	MIN	ERA reached a season-high 6.75 after his fifth start; has a 2.38 ERA in 106 IP since then, although just 56 Ks robs his value in K/9 leagues
46	Miguel Gonzalez	at OAK
47	Mike Montgomery	TEX

SIT

Rank	Pitcher	Opp	Comments
48	Yordano Ventura	at DET	I'll be interested to see how he holds up in TOR on Saturday
49	Colby Lewis	HOU, at SEA	On a great four-game run: 2.89 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, but his track record says he's league average at best
50	Phil Hughes	at TOR, at CLE	Don't get fooled by the 3.24 ERA over his last 10 as he's allowed 72 H and 13 HR in 66.7 IP
51	Danny Duffy	at DET, CWS
52	Luis Severino	TOR	Impressive prospect getting a shot, but even if he has a big debut I'm sitting out vs. TOR
53	Scott Feldman	at TEX
54	Wade Miley	at DET	Seems to punctuate every decent run with a massacre (six starts of 5-plus ER)
55	Daniel Norris	BOS
56	Kendall Graveman	BAL
57	Alfredo Simon	KC
58	Buck Farmer	KC
59	Rick Porcello	at NYY, at DET
60	John Danks	KC
61	Chris Young	CWS
62	Tommy Milone	at TOR
63	Carlos Rodon	TB	Has allowed 51% of his ER in three starts, but that kind of volatility makes him tough to trust vs. anyone
64	Brian Johnson	at DET
65	Cody Anderson	MIN
66	Ivan Nova	TOR
67	Nick Martinez	HOU
68	CC Sabathia	BOS	Solid K/BB numbers can only take you so far
69	Mike Pelfrey	at CLE
70	Aaron Brooks	HOU
71	Steven Wright	at NYY
72	Matt Moore	NYM
73	Martin Perez	at SEA
74	Edgar Olmos	at COL

NATIONAL LEAGUE

START

Rank	Pitcher	Opp	Comments
1	Max Scherzer	ARI, COL	I'm amazed three teams have gotten to him for 5 ER this year
2	Jake Arrieta	at PIT, SF	Turned it up a notch in July: 1.90 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 27% K rate in 42.7 IP; K'd fewer than 6 once in last 11
3	Clayton Kershaw	at PIT	We're being told the hip isn't a major issue despite two scratches in one week
4	Zack Greinke	at PHI
5	Jacob deGrom	at TB
6	Gerrit Cole	LAD
7	Matt Harvey	at MIA	Even with some brutal TJ-hangover starts, he still has a 2.91 ERA in 133 IP
8	Noah Syndergaard	at TB	About the only thing that might stop him this year is an innings limits from the Mets
9	Madison Bumgarner	at ATL	Sheriff Deputy Bumgarner probably wishes McCann still played for ATL so they could talk about policing the game together this week
10	Jose Fernandez	at ATL	Dodged 4 BB in his last outing and I still worry there will be some TJ-hangover starts coming, but so far he's been great
11	Jon Lester	at PIT, SF
12	Francisco Liriano	CHC, LAD	Avoiding major trouble at MIN despite 10 H in 5.7 IP, they handed him a 2 IP/7 ER nightmare earlier this year
13	Lance Lynn	at MIL
14	Michael Wacha	at CIN	Has allowed just 3 ER in 13 IP over his last two after back-to-back 5 ER starts against the two Chicago teams
15	Carlos Martinez	at CIN
16	Shelby Miller	SF, MIA	Regression has come and he's still solid: 3.41 ERA in his last 11 starts after a 1.48 ERA in his first 10
17	Tyson Ross	at MIL, PHI
18	John Lackey	at CIN, at MIL
19	Patrick Corbin	at WAS, CIN	I think some forget how awesome he was in '13; ARI still being cautious here with an average of 80 pit./gm thru five starts
20	Jason Hammel	SF
21	James Shields	PHI	The 8% BB rate and 1.4 HR/9 are very uncharacteristic of Shields, but don't appear to be leaving
22	Julio Teheran	MIA	Home/road splits this severe seem worthy of attention: 2.37 ERA at home, 7.24 on the road; skills also much better at hom
23	Jordan Zimmermann	COL
24	Gio Gonzalez	ARI
25	Joe Ross	ARI	Should at least get this start, but then could be forced out of the rotation by Strasburg next week
26	Jimmy Nelson	SD, STL
27	Alex Wood	at PHI, at PIT	Has allowed 10 H in three of his last six starts (1.38 WHIP)
28	Matt Cain	at ATL, at CHC
29	Wily Peralta	SD, STL
30	Jake Peavy	at ATL, at CHC	Has a 2.84 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in five starts (31.7 IP) since returning from injury
31	Andrew Cashner	at MIL, PHI	Maybe it's just not happening this year for Cashner; all SD SPs are underperforming, wonder if it's something outside of their control
32	Mat Latos	at PIT
33	Chris Heston	at CHC
34	Mike Leake	at CHC	Has a career 4.31 ERA at home , including a 4.93 this year, but his new home park is much more conducive to his pitching style
35	Jaime Garcia	at MIL
36	Kyle Hendricks	SF
37	Aaron Nola	at SD
38	Dan Haren	at PIT	Marlins Park was serving him quite well this year: 3.24 ERA, 1.07 WHIP in 111 IP
39	Ian Kennedy	at MIL
40	Matt Wisler	MIA	Logged just 2 Ks in his first two starts (4% K%), but has a much more reasonable 19% K rate in his last five
41	Zach Godley	at WAS, CIN	A solid follow-up to that debut is enough to get him into some lineups for a two-start week
42	Tom Koehler	NYM, at ATL	Generally a home-only guy, but his 2.51 ERA in 14.3 IP vs. ATL makes me feel alright about using this road start
43	Jeremy Hellickson	at WAS
44	Brett Anderson	at PHI
45	Taylor Jungmann	SD	The 2.23 ERA and 1.10 WHIP won't last, but he's showing skills that can easily hold a 3.30 or so ERA
46	Robbie Ray	CIN	Still scared of the flyball-hard contact-home run rate setup he has right now as it's ripe for regression, but still plenty of good here
47	Rubby De La Rosa	at WAS
48	Raisel Iglesias	at ARI

SIT

Rank	Pitcher	Opp	Comments
49	Anthony DeSclafani	STL, at ARI	Looks pretty good when he's on, but the lows are really damaging making him tough to start in a two-step vs. quality offenses
50	Jeff Locke	CHC
51	Bartolo Colon	at MIA, at TB	The NL's CC Sabathia where the K/BB deceives us into thinking he's better than he is
52	Doug Fister	ARI, COL	Should probably be ousted from the rotation in favor of Ross, but it's unlikely; definitely shouldn't be in your rotation
53	Mike Foltynewicz	SF, MIA
54	David Phelps	NYM
55	Jon Niese	at MIA
56	Jorge De La Rosa	at WAS
57	Adam Morgan	at SD
58	Charlie Morton	LAD
59	Williams Perez	SF
60	Aaron Harang	LAD
61	J.A. Happ	CHC
62	David Buchanan	LAD
63	Odrisamer Despaigne	at MIL
64	Michael Lorenzen	STL
65	Kyle Lohse	STL
66	David Holmberg	STL
67	Matt Garza	SD
68	Jose Urena	at ATL
69	Chris Rusin	SEA
70	Kyle Kendrick	SEA
71	Yohan Flande	at WAS
72	Justin Nicolino	NYM, at ATL	When a two-start week is actually bad for your fantasy team
73	Jerome Williams	LAD, at SD
74	Eddie Butler	SEA, at WAS

MLB TOP 100

Rank	Pitcher	Opp	Comments
1	Max Scherzer	ARI, COL	I'm amazed three teams have gotten to him for 5 ER this year
2	Jake Arrieta	at PIT, SF	Turned it up a notch in July: 1.90 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 27% K rate in 42.7 IP; K'd fewer than 6 once in last 11
3	Corey Kluber	at LAA, MIN	Every time y'all (and I say y'all because I've never been worried) freak out about a bad start, he drops a gem or three
4	Clayton Kershaw	at PIT	We're being told the hip isn't a major issue despite two scratches in one week
5	Zack Greinke	at PHI
6	Jacob deGrom	at TB
7	Chris Sale	TB
8	Dallas Keuchel	at OAK	Keuchel, Gray are a little light on Ks compared to most aces, but they make up for it with big innings totals
9	Sonny Gray	HOU	Keuchel's 151 IP are second-most in the AL while Gray sits fifth at 145.7 including 7.3 IP/start over his last 11
10	Gerrit Cole	LAD
11	Matt Harvey	at MIA	Even with some brutal TJ-hangover starts, he still has a 2.91 ERA in 133 IP
12	Noah Syndergaard	at TB	About the only thing that might stop him this year is an innings limits from the Mets
13	Madison Bumgarner	at ATL	Sheriff Deputy Bumgarner probably wishes McCann still played for ATL so they could talk about policing the game together this week
14	Jose Fernandez	at ATL	Dodged 4 BB in his last outing and I still worry there will be some TJ-hangover starts coming, but so far he's been great
15	David Price	at NYY
16	Cole Hamels	at SEA	Gets a relatively familiar foe in his TEX debut (vs. SF on Saturday) before a run of AL opponents
17	Chris Archer	at CWS
18	Felix Hernandez	at COL, TEX	Going to COL sucks, but you're still not sitting Felix
19	Johnny Cueto	at DET	Opens his AL career with at TOR, at DET ... welcome!
20	Masahiro Tanaka	BOS, TOR
21	Jon Lester	at PIT, SF
22	Lance McCullers Jr.	at TEX, at OAK	Results have been better at home (1.86/3.77 ERA), but skills are actually better on the road (2.94/2.56 FIP)
23	Jose Quintana	TB, at KC
24	Francisco Liriano	CHC, LAD	Avoiding major trouble at MIN despite 10 H in 5.7 IP, they handed him a 2 IP/7 ER nightmare earlier this year
25	Lance Lynn	at MIL
26	Michael Wacha	at CIN	Has allowed just 3 ER in 13 IP over his last two after back-to-back 5 ER starts against the two Chicago teams
27	Carlos Martinez	at CIN
28	Shelby Miller	SF, MIA	Regression has come and he's still solid: 3.41 ERA in his last 11 starts after a 1.48 ERA in his first 10
29	Carlos Carrasco	at LAA	Has five starts of 5-plus ER, four of which he last fewer than 5 IP; has a 2.71 ERA in 103 IP outside of those five starts
30	Scott Kazmir	at TEX
31	Danny Salazar	at LAA
32	Jeff Samardzija	KC	The Ks we got used to are missing, but at least mostly-good Shark has returned (2.78 ERA, 0.97 WHIP in last 9)
33	Nate Karns	at CWS, NYM
34	Tyson Ross	at MIL, PHI
35	John Lackey	at CIN, at MIL
36	Patrick Corbin	at WAS, CIN	I think some forget how awesome he was in '13; ARI still being cautious here with an average of 80 pit./gm thru five starts
37	Jason Hammel	SF
38	James Shields	PHI	The 8% BB rate and 1.4 HR/9 are very uncharacteristic of Shields, but don't appear to be leaving
39	Julio Teheran	MIA	Home/road splits this severe seem worthy of attention: 2.37 ERA at home, 7.24 on the road; skills also much better at hom
40	Jordan Zimmermann	COL
41	Gio Gonzalez	ARI
42	Joe Ross	ARI	Should at least get this start, but then could be forced out of the rotation by Strasburg next week
43	Jimmy Nelson	SD, STL	Finished a brilliant July: 1.64 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and 23% K in 33 IP
44	Alex Wood	at PHI, at PIT	Has allowed 10 H in three of his last six starts (1.38 WHIP)
45	Garrett Richards	CLE, BAL	Fanned 7-plus in 14 of his 26 starts last year; has done so just 3x in 19 starts and 0x in his last eight (16% K%)
46	Ervin Santana	at TOR, at CLE
47	Jake Odorizzi	NYM
48	Erasmo Ramirez	at CWS
49	Matt Cain	at ATL, at CHC
50	Wily Peralta	SD, STL
51	Jake Peavy	at ATL, at CHC	Has a 2.84 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in five starts (31.7 IP) since returning from injury
52	Hector Santiago	CLE	Just 5 IP in each of his last three (5.40 ERA); just a blip or beginning of a fade? He's 18 IP from last year's workload (141 IP)
53	Chris Tillman	at OAK, at LAA
54	Matt Shoemaker	CLE, BAL	So bad thru June that you may not have recognized his 2.01 ERA over his last 31.3 IP with just 2 HRs allowed
55	Justin Verlander	KC, BOS	Three of his last four have been excellent, unfortunately the fourth was a 3.7 IP/7 ER dud vs. BAL
56	Andrew Heaney	BAL	Logjammed rotations always work themselves out and while it sucks that CJ Wilson got hurt, it clears the path for Heaney
57	Eduardo Rodriguez	at NYY
58	Kyle Gibson	at CLE	Has pitched much better than the numbers say in his last two (11 ER in 10.3 IP)
59	Hisashi Iwakuma	TEX
60	Anibal Sanchez	BOS	Need to actually see some HR suppression before moving him back up
61	Andrew Cashner	at MIL, PHI	Maybe it's just not happening this year for Cashner; all SD SPs are underperforming, wonder if it's something outside of their control
62	Mat Latos	at PIT
63	Chris Heston	at CHC
64	Mike Leake	at CHC	Has a career 4.31 ERA at home , including a 4.93 this year, but his new home park is much more conducive to his pitching style
65	Jaime Garcia	at MIL
66	Kyle Hendricks	SF
67	Aaron Nola	at SD
68	Marco Estrada	MIN, at NYY
69	Chris Bassitt	BAL, HOU	Looking solid after five turns in the rotation: 3.00 ERA, 1.03 WHIP in 30 IP; Ks are light (16%), but doesn't give free passes (3% BB)
70	Collin McHugh	at OAK
71	Nathan Eovaldi	BOS
72	Dan Haren	at PIT	Marlins Park was serving him quite well this year: 3.24 ERA, 1.07 WHIP in 111 IP
73	Ian Kennedy	at MIL
74	Matt Wisler	MIA	Logged just 2 Ks in his first two starts (4% K%), but has a much more reasonable 19% K rate in his last five
75	Zach Godley	at WAS, CIN	A solid follow-up to that debut is enough to get him into some lineups for a two-start week
76	Tom Koehler	NYM, at ATL	Generally a home-only guy, but his 2.51 ERA in 14.3 IP vs. ATL makes me feel alright about using this road start
77	Jeremy Hellickson	at WAS
78	Brett Anderson	at PHI
79	Taylor Jungmann	SD	The 2.23 ERA and 1.10 WHIP won't last, but he's showing skills that can easily hold a 3.30 or so ERA
80	Robbie Ray	CIN	Still scared of the flyball-hard contact-home run rate setup he has right now as it's ripe for regression, but still plenty of good here
81	Rubby De La Rosa	at WAS
82	Raisel Iglesias	at ARI
83	Taijuan Walker	at COL	It's easy to get drunk on that upside after outings like Friday's 1-hitter with 11 Ks at MIN
84	Edinson Volquez	CWS
85	Trevor Bauer	MIN
86	Wei-Yin Chen	at OAK
87	Yovani Gallardo	HOU
88	R.A. Dickey	MIN, at NYY	Has quietly put together a 2.96 ERA over his last 11 starts
89	Kevin Gausman	at LAA
90	Drew Hutchison	MIN
91	Jesse Chavez	BAL, HOU	Averaging just 5 IP over his last seven with a 5.75 ERA
92	Ubaldo Jimenez	at LAA	Better last time out after back-to-back 7 ER starts, but not exactly awesome vs. weak ATL offense; has 3 BB in three of his last four
93	Mark Buehrle	MIN	ERA reached a season-high 6.75 after his fifth start; has a 2.38 ERA in 106 IP since then, although just 56 Ks robs his value in K/9 leagues
94	Miguel Gonzalez	at OAK
95	Mike Montgomery	TEX
96	Anthony DeSclafani	STL, at ARI	Looks pretty good when he's on, but the lows are really damaging making him tough to start in a two-step vs. quality offenses
97	Jeff Locke	CHC
98	Yordano Ventura	at DET	I'll be interested to see how he holds up in TOR on Saturday
99	Colby Lewis	HOU, at SEA	On a great four-game run: 2.89 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, but his track record says he's league average at best
100	Bartolo Colon	at MIA, at TB	The NL's CC Sabathia where the K/BB deceives us into thinking he's better than he is