Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Is Sale to Blame?

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Updated on August 8, 2015 12:10PM 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. 10-16

AMERICAN LEAGUE

START

Rank

Pitcher

Opp

Comments

Chris Sale

LAA, CHC

Are some of these struggles on him? Yes, but 26% K & 5% BB rates suggest fears are overblown; .457 BABIP a likely culprit

Carlos Carrasco

NYY, at MIN

I'm asking to get burned here, aren't I? Back-to-back CGs and a 2.57 ERA in his L5 even w/a 4 IP/6 ER dud included

Johnny Cueto

DET, LAA

David Price

NYY

Corey Kluber

at MIN

The volatility of the CLE pitchers has been remarkably frustrating, yet the talent is so much that it's hard to ever get too worried

at SF

at TEX

at BOS

at TOR

I gave everyone a TOR penalty of a few ranks; Gray is coming off of his third CG in six starts, but that TOR offense…

Cole Hamels

at MIN

Jose Quintana

CHC

Has allowed more than 3 ER just once in his last 13 starts (4 ER v. KC): 2.78 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 21% K, 4% BB; 4.67 ERA in nine starts before that

Scott Kazmir

at SF

START

Rank	Pitcher	Opp	Comments
1	Chris Sale	LAA, CHC	Are some of these struggles on him? Yes, but 26% K & 5% BB rates suggest fears are overblown; .457 BABIP a likely culprit
2	Carlos Carrasco	NYY, at MIN	I'm asking to get burned here, aren't I? Back-to-back CGs and a 2.57 ERA in his L5 even w/a 4 IP/6 ER dud included
3	Johnny Cueto	DET, LAA
4	David Price	NYY
5	Corey Kluber	at MIN	The volatility of the CLE pitchers has been remarkably frustrating, yet the talent is so much that it's hard to ever get too worried
6	Dallas Keuchel	at SF
7	Chris Archer	at TEX
8	Felix Hernandez	at BOS
9	Sonny Gray	at TOR	I gave everyone a TOR penalty of a few ranks; Gray is coming off of his third CG in six starts, but that TOR offense…
10	Cole Hamels	at MIN
11	Jose Quintana	CHC	Has allowed more than 3 ER just once in his last 13 starts (4 ER v. KC): 2.78 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 21% K, 4% BB; 4.67 ERA in nine starts before that
12	Scott Kazmir	at SF
13	Danny Salazar	NYY	Four straight quality starts, his longest streak of the season: 1.53 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, 26% K, 7% BB in 35.3 IP
14	Jake Odorizzi	ATL
15	Garrett Richards	at KC
16	Nate Karns	at TEX
17	Erasmo Ramirez	ATL, at TEX	When a 5 ER outing isn't so bad: Ramirez allowed 5 ER in the first inn. then held CWS to 1 H and 1 BB in the next five inn.
18	Hector Santiago	at CWS, at KC
19	Jeff Samardzija	CHC	A 9 ER shellacking just as we started to gain confidence, I just don't get it with him this year
20	Masahiro Tanaka	at TOR	Rec'd a bigger penalty than Gray because his Achilles Heel is TOR's strength: HRs; Tanaka has four multi-HR starts and a 1.5 HR/9
21	Hisashi Iwakuma	BAL
22	Taijuan Walker	BAL	More than survived Coors w/a 7.3 IP/3 ER showing incl. 5 Ks
23	Andrew Heaney	at CWS
24	Eduardo Rodriguez	at MIA	Has a 2.84 ERA in three starts since that 1.7 IP/7 ER nightmare at LAA; run includes starts v. DET and at NYY
25	Nathan Eovaldi	at CLE
26	Chris Tillman	OAK	Now has a 1.09 ERA and 0.85 WHIP in his last six starts totaling 41.3 IP
27	Matt Shoemaker	at KC
28	Justin Verlander	at HOU
29	Kyle Gibson	TEX, CLE	Unfortunately his start got switched from CLE to at TOR… ouch, 4.7 IP/8 ER
30	Marco Estrada	NYY
31	Collin McHugh	DET	On a bit of a run right now w/a 3.19 ERA in his last 59.3 IP, though the 1.30 WHIP isn't great
32	Anibal Sanchez	at KC
33	Ervin Santana	CLE	Results have vastly surpassed the skills to date, I think the latter will catch up, but it's tenuous right now
34	Yovani Gallardo	at MIN, TB
35	R.A. Dickey	OAK	Now has a 2.59 ERA over his last 87 IP dating back to June 1st. He had a 5.77 ERA through May (64 IP in 10 starts)
36	Edinson Volquez	DET
37	Chris Bassitt	at BAL
38	Kevin Gausman	at SEA	He's been more good than bad, but the bad has included 7 ER and 6 ER starts
39	Ubaldo Jimenez	OAK
40	Mike Montgomery	at BOS	Has rebounded from that tough start at DET w/3 ER in 12.7 IP w/11 Ks
41	Luis Severino	at CLE, at TOR	Loved the Severino debut, but this the TOR penalty at play
42	Trevor Bauer	at MIN
43	Wei-Yin Chen	at SEA
44	Mark Buehrle	OAK
45	Mike Fiers	DET
46	Wade Miley	SEA	Can be very good, but almost always cancels it out; in his last 16: 1.82 ERA in 11 of them; 10.43 ERA in six of them
47	Martin Perez	TB
48	Henry Owens	SEA	Looked pretty sharp his debut; the 5 IP/3 ER wasn't eye-popping, but solid stuff w/5 Ks and just 1 BB
49	Danny Duffy	LAA
50	Miguel Gonzalez	at SEA, OAK
51	Colby Lewis	TB	Another guy who's really bad when he's off: 9 ER at CLE, 15 ER in 6 starts, 10 ER v. LAA, 9 ER in four starts, 7 ER v. HOU

SIT

Rank	Pitcher	Opp	Comments
52	Jered Weaver	at CWS, at KC
53	Matt Boyd	at KC, at HOU
54	Aaron Brooks	at TOR	Back-to-back excellent starts w/OAK (1.26 ERA, 0.70 WHIP, 23% K, 2% BB), but I'm not ready to start him at TOR
55	Daniel Norris	at KC
56	Drew Hutchison	OAK, NYY	Grab the Pepto if you're actually going to start him twice in a week
57	Kendall Graveman	at TOR, at BAL
58	Yordano Ventura	DET, LAA
59	Roenis Elias	BAL, at BOS
60	Ivan Nova	at TOR	We've seen some nice flashes from Nova in his seven starts, but this would be risky even if he weren't coming off of TJ
61	Phil Hughes	CLE	Entirely too hittable to avoid the implosion every so often; probably a low-4.00s at best w/these skills
62	Jesse Chavez	at BAL
63	CC Sabathia	at CLE
64	Scott Feldman	DET
65	Alfredo Simon	at HOU
66	John Danks	LAA
67	Carlos Rodon	LAA
68	Mike Pelfrey	TEX
69	Steven Wright	at MIA
70	Jeremy Guthrie	LAA
71	Joe Kelly	SEA
72	Cody Anderson	NYY
73	Nick Martinez	at MIN
74	Tommy Milone Replacement	TEX	Milone is on the DL and Tyler Duffey was sent back down; maybe Jose Berrios time?

NATIONAL LEAGUE

START

Rank	Pitcher	Opp	Comments
1	Zack Greinke	WAS, CIN	His 6 ER at PHI wouldn't have hurt so badly if we could've gotten his 3-3 w/a HR that day
2	Clayton Kershaw	WAS
3	Max Scherzer	at SF	Has allowed just 11 ER in his last five starts and 5 ER came in one outing
4	Jake Arrieta	at CWS
5	Jacob deGrom	COL	His 6.3 IP/2 ER outing at TB actually raised his ERA from 2.09 to 2.13; has fanned 7+ in each of his last four
6	Gerrit Cole	at STL
7	Matt Harvey	COL	The BBs were a phase: 5, 4, 4 in three straight to open July, just 1 total in his last three starts
8	Noah Syndergaard	COL
9	Madison Bumgarner	HOU, WAS	Still usually goes 6+ IP even on the tough nights which really helps the ERA; those 3 IP/6 ER gms can be killers
10	Jose Fernandez	at STL	A 38-pitch inn. on Friday took some extra gas from the tank and MIA smartly limited him to 5 IP
11	Jon Lester	MIL
12	Francisco Liriano	at STL
13	Lance Lynn	PIT
14	Michael Wacha	PIT
15	Stephen Strasburg	at SF	Fanned 42% of the 38 batters he faced in two rehab stints; Sat. won't really sway the ranking unless it's just awful for some reason
16	Carlos Martinez	PIT, MIA	Back-to-back 5 IP outings a sign of fatigue? Already 30 IP over last year's total and it's almost all been starting
17	Gio Gonzalez	at LAD, at SF
18	Joe Ross	at LAD, at SF	Kudos to WAS for leaving Ross in over Fister; Ross will run up against a limit soon, but enjoy the great work until then
19	John Lackey	MIA
20	James Shields	CIN	His ERA might be a full run low than his current 3.75 if he had his old HR suppression, but the 1.5 HR/9 has killed him
21	Julio Teheran	ARI
22	Shelby Miller	ARI
23	Jordan Zimmermann	at LAD	Has a 3.08 ERA over his last 64.3 IP w/53 Ks and a 7.6 K:BB ratio
24	Mat Latos	CIN
25	Patrick Corbin	at ATL	Last just 54 pitches (1.3 IP) at WAS, allowing 8 base runners and 3 ER; ATL is a nice landing spot for a rebound
26	Chris Heston	HOU
27	Jaime Garcia	MIA
28	Taylor Jungmann	at CHC, PHI	Jungmann, There's No Need to Feel Down
29	Tyson Ross	at COL	The obscene GB rate makes me worry less about him in Coors to the point where I'm comfortable starting him
30	Jimmy Nelson	PHI	PHI has all of sudden gotten hot, but Nelson has a 2.18 ERA in his last 57.7 IP
31	Wily Peralta	PHI
32	Jason Hammel	MIL	Now I'm thinking the hamstring issue might still be in play
33	Aaron Nola	at ARI
34	Alex Wood	CIN	Those mechanics have always scared me and I just have a tough time trusting him long-term
35	Raisel Iglesias	at SD	Has a 3.33 ERA and 26 Ks in his last 24.3 IP
36	Chase Anderson	PHI	Brilliant return from the DL w/7 shutout IP, wonder how much of struggles prior to DL was the injury playing a role
37	Rubby De La Rosa	PHI, at ATL
38	Brett Anderson	WAS, CIN	Has a 2.43 ERA in his last 9 starts with 7 QS and a 1.20 WHIP
39	Robbie Ray	at ATL
40	Kyle Hendricks	at CWS
41	Andrew Cashner	at COL	Has a 51% GB rate in his last seven starts; had just 4 HR-free games in his first 14 starts, has six in his last seven starts
42	Jake Peavy	WAS
43	Matt Cain	WAS
44	Anthony DeSclafani	at LAD	He's had some nice runs - incl. his last 3 w/a 2.25 ERA - but three 6 ER starts mar his season ERA
45	Jon Niese	COL, PIT	His last two months: 2.78 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in 71.3 IP; just 49 Ks, kind of an NL Buehrle
46	Dan Haren	MIL, at CWS
47	Matt Wisler	at TB	He's been pretty up-and-down, but the Rays are an offense to pick on with righties
48	Jeremy Hellickson	PHI	Has come crashing down after a strong run w/10 ER in his last 8 IP and just 5 Ks (had >5 Ks in 6 of 7 starts before that)

SIT

Rank	Pitcher	Opp	Comments
49	Tom Koehler	at STL
50	Bartolo Colon	PIT	Feeling lucky? 2, 7, 1, 6, and 1 ER in his last five starts
51	Jeff Locke	at STL, at NYM
52	Jon Gray	at NYM, SD
53	David Phelps	BOS
54	Mike Foltynewicz	ARI
55	Jorge De La Rosa	at NYM
56	Ian Kennedy	CIN, at COL	Kennedy in Coors? Not a chance.
57	Charlie Morton	at NYM
58	Williams Perez	at TB
59	Adam Morgan	at MIL
60	Aaron Harang	at ARI, at MIL
61	J.A. Happ	at NYM	Now has a 6.80 ERA in his last 47.7 IP; had a 3.31 ERA in his first 65.3 IP
62	David Buchanan	at ARI
63	Odrisamer Despaigne	CIN
64	Ryan Vogelsong	WAS
65	Michael Lorenzen	at SD, at LAD
66	Tyler Cravy	at CHC
67	David Holmberg	at SD, at LAD
68	Matt Garza	at CHC
69	Jose Urena	BOS
70	Chris Rusin	at NYM, SD
71	Yohan Flande	at NYM
72	Brad Hand	at STL
73	Jerome Williams	at MIL
74	Eddie Butler	SD
75	Keyvius Sampson	at LAD

MLB TOP 100

Rank	Pitcher	Opp	Comments
1	Zack Greinke	WAS, CIN	His 6 ER at PHI wouldn't have hurt so badly if we could've gotten his 3-3 w/a HR that day
2	Clayton Kershaw	WAS
3	Max Scherzer	at SF	Has allowed just 11 ER in his last five starts and 5 ER came in one outing
4	Chris Sale	LAA, CHC	Are some of these struggles on him? Yes, but 26% K & 5% BB rates suggest fears are overblown; .457 BABIP a likely culprit
5	Carlos Carrasco	NYY, at MIN	I'm asking to get burned here, aren't I? Back-to-back CGs and a 2.57 ERA in his L5 even w/a 4 IP/6 ER dud included
6	Jake Arrieta	at CWS
7	Jacob deGrom	COL	His 6.3 IP/2 ER outing at TB actually raised his ERA from 2.09 to 2.13; has fanned 7+ in each of his last four
8	Gerrit Cole	at STL
9	Matt Harvey	COL	The BBs were a phase: 5, 4, 4 in three straight to open July, just 1 total in his last three starts
10	Noah Syndergaard	COL
11	Madison Bumgarner	HOU, WAS	Still usually goes 6+ IP even on the tough nights which really helps the ERA; those 3 IP/6 ER gms can be killers
12	Jose Fernandez	at STL	A 38-pitch inn. on Friday took some extra gas from the tank and MIA smartly limited him to 5 IP
13	Johnny Cueto	DET, LAA
14	David Price	NYY
15	Corey Kluber	at MIN	The volatility of the CLE pitchers has been remarkably frustrating, yet the talent is so much that it's hard to ever get too worried
16	Dallas Keuchel	at SF
17	Chris Archer	at TEX
18	Felix Hernandez	at BOS
19	Sonny Gray	at TOR	I gave everyone a TOR penalty of a few ranks; Gray is coming off of his third CG in six starts, but that TOR offense…
20	Cole Hamels	at MIN
21	Jon Lester	MIL
22	Francisco Liriano	at STL
23	Lance Lynn	PIT
24	Michael Wacha	PIT
25	Stephen Strasburg	at SF	Fanned 42% of the 38 batters he faced in two rehab stints; Sat. won't really sway the ranking unless it's just awful for some reason
26	Carlos Martinez	PIT, MIA	Back-to-back 5 IP outings a sign of fatigue? Already 30 IP over last year's total and it's almost all been starting
27	Gio Gonzalez	at LAD, at SF
28	Joe Ross	at LAD, at SF	Kudos to WAS for leaving Ross in over Fister; Ross will run up against a limit soon, but enjoy the great work until then
29	John Lackey	MIA
30	Jose Quintana	CHC	Has allowed more than 3 ER just once in his last 13 starts (4 ER v. KC): 2.78 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 21% K, 4% BB; 4.67 ERA in nine starts before that
31	Scott Kazmir	at SF
32	Danny Salazar	NYY	Four straight quality starts, his longest streak of the season: 1.53 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, 26% K, 7% BB in 35.3 IP
33	Jake Odorizzi	ATL
34	Garrett Richards	at KC
35	James Shields	CIN	His ERA might be a full run low than his current 3.75 if he had his old HR suppression, but the 1.5 HR/9 has killed him
36	Julio Teheran	ARI
37	Shelby Miller	ARI
38	Nate Karns	at TEX
39	Erasmo Ramirez	ATL, at TEX	When a 5 ER outing isn't so bad: Ramirez allowed 5 ER in the first inn. then held CWS to 1 H and 1 BB in the next five inn.
40	Hector Santiago	at CWS, at KC
41	Jordan Zimmermann	at LAD	Has a 3.08 ERA over his last 64.3 IP w/53 Ks and a 7.6 K:BB ratio
42	Mat Latos	CIN
43	Jeff Samardzija	CHC	A 9 ER shellacking just as we started to gain confidence, I just don't get it with him this year
44	Masahiro Tanaka	at TOR	Rec'd a bigger penalty than Gray because his Achilles Heel is TOR's strength: HRs; Tanaka has four multi-HR starts and a 1.5 HR/9
45	Hisashi Iwakuma	BAL
46	Patrick Corbin	at ATL	Last just 54 pitches (1.3 IP) at WAS, allowing 8 base runners and 3 ER; ATL is a nice landing spot for a rebound
47	Chris Heston	HOU
48	Jaime Garcia	MIA
49	Taylor Jungmann	at CHC, PHI	Jungmann, There's No Need to Feel Down
50	Tyson Ross	at COL	The obscene GB rate makes me worry less about him in Coors to the point where I'm comfortable starting him
51	Jimmy Nelson	PHI	PHI has all of sudden gotten hot, but Nelson has a 2.18 ERA in his last 57.7 IP
52	Taijuan Walker	BAL	More than survived Coors w/a 7.3 IP/3 ER showing incl. 5 Ks
53	Andrew Heaney	at CWS
54	Eduardo Rodriguez	at MIA	Has a 2.84 ERA in three starts since that 1.7 IP/7 ER nightmare at LAA; run includes starts v. DET and at NYY
55	Nathan Eovaldi	at CLE
56	Chris Tillman	OAK	Now has a 1.09 ERA and 0.85 WHIP in his last six starts totaling 41.3 IP
57	Matt Shoemaker	at KC
58	Justin Verlander	at HOU
59	Kyle Gibson	TEX, CLE	Unfortunately his start got switched from CLE to at TOR… ouch, 4.7 IP/8 ER
60	Marco Estrada	NYY
61	Wily Peralta	PHI
62	Jason Hammel	MIL	Now I'm thinking the hamstring issue might still be in play
63	Aaron Nola	at ARI
64	Alex Wood	CIN	Those mechanics have always scared me and I just have a tough time trusting him long-term
65	Raisel Iglesias	at SD	Has a 3.33 ERA and 26 Ks in his last 24.3 IP
66	Chase Anderson	PHI	Brilliant return from the DL w/7 shutout IP, wonder how much of struggles prior to DL was the injury playing a role
67	Rubby De La Rosa	PHI, at ATL
68	Brett Anderson	WAS, CIN	Has a 2.43 ERA in his last 9 starts with 7 QS and a 1.20 WHIP
69	Robbie Ray	at ATL
70	Collin McHugh	DET	On a bit of a run right now w/a 3.19 ERA in his last 59.3 IP, though the 1.30 WHIP isn't great
71	Anibal Sanchez	at KC
72	Ervin Santana	CLE	Results have vastly surpassed the skills to date, I think the latter will catch up, but it's tenuous right now
73	Yovani Gallardo	at MIN, TB
74	R.A. Dickey	OAK	Now has a 2.59 ERA over his last 87 IP dating back to June 1st. He had a 5.77 ERA through May (64 IP in 10 starts)
75	Edinson Volquez	DET
76	Chris Bassitt	at BAL
77	Kevin Gausman	at SEA	He's been more good than bad, but the bad has included 7 ER and 6 ER starts
78	Ubaldo Jimenez	OAK
79	Mike Montgomery	at BOS	Has rebounded from that tough start at DET w/3 ER in 12.7 IP w/11 Ks
80	Kyle Hendricks	at CWS
81	Andrew Cashner	at COL	Has a 51% GB rate in his last seven starts; had just 4 HR-free games in his first 14 starts, has six in his last seven starts
82	Luis Severino	at CLE, at TOR	Loved the Severino debut, but this the TOR penalty at play
83	Jake Peavy	WAS
84	Matt Cain	WAS
85	Anthony DeSclafani	at LAD	He's had some nice runs - incl. his last 3 w/a 2.25 ERA - but three 6 ER starts mar his season ERA
86	Jon Niese	COL, PIT	His last two months: 2.78 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in 71.3 IP; just 49 Ks, kind of an NL Buehrle
87	Trevor Bauer	at MIN
88	Wei-Yin Chen	at SEA
89	Mark Buehrle	OAK
90	Dan Haren	MIL, at CWS
91	Matt Wisler	at TB	He's been pretty up-and-down, but the Rays are an offense to pick on with righties
92	Jeremy Hellickson	PHI	Has come crashing down after a strong run w/10 ER in his last 8 IP and just 5 Ks (had >5 Ks in 6 of 7 starts before that)
93	Mike Fiers	DET
94	Wade Miley	SEA	Can be very good, but almost always cancels it out; in his last 16: 1.82 ERA in 11 of them; 10.43 ERA in six of them
95	Martin Perez	TB
96	Henry Owens	SEA	Looked pretty sharp his debut; the 5 IP/3 ER wasn't eye-popping, but solid stuff w/5 Ks and just 1 BB
97	Danny Duffy	LAA
98	Miguel Gonzalez	at SEA, OAK
99	Colby Lewis	TB	Another guy who's really bad when he's off: 9 ER at CLE, 15 ER in 6 starts, 10 ER v. LAA, 9 ER in four starts, 7 ER v. HOU
100	Jered Weaver	at CWS, at KC