Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Bieber Jumps to the Top

Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Bieber Jumps to the Top

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Updated on August 18, 2019 10:59PM EST

Compared to what the schedule has afforded us lately, this isn't a bad week for double dippers. There's a nice group at the top with more than the usual in the middle, some likely available for pickup in 12-team mixed leagues.

With Chris Sale headed to see Dr. Andrews plus Max Scherzer and Gerrit Cole no longer scheduled for a pair, Shane Bieber leapfrogs the trio to the top spot in the week's final rankings.

By means of reminder, please direct all questions about the schedule to the Projected Starters grid. As always, I'll handle all ranking question in the comments below.

Also, keep in mind there are preliminary rankings. The final version will be posted Sunday night after teams firm up their plans.

For the week Aug. 19-25.

UPDATED: Sunday, August 18 11:00 PM ET

MLB

Rank	PITCHER	TM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Shane Bieber	CLE	at NYM, vs. KC	Could be a Top-20 SP in 2020
2	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	vs. TOR, vs. NYY	Rewarding those taking the chance
3	Trevor Bauer	CIN	vs. SD, at PIT	Good pair to rebound from last outing
4	Stephen Strasburg	WAS	at PIT, at CHC
5	Justin Verlander	HOU	vs. DET
6	Gerrit Cole	HOU	vs. DET
7	Wade Miley	HOU	vs. DET, vs. LAA	Great pair at home
8	Cole Hamels	CHC	vs. SF, vs. WAS	Should rebound from last time out
9	Domingo German	NYY	at OAK, at LAD	16 wins obviously lucky but K% and BB%

Compared to what the schedule has afforded us lately, this isn't a bad week for double dippers. There's a nice group at the top with more than the usual in the middle, some likely available for pickup in 12-team mixed leagues.

With Chris Sale headed to see Dr. Andrews plus Max Scherzer and Gerrit Cole no longer scheduled for a pair, Shane Bieber leapfrogs the trio to the top spot in the week's final rankings.

By means of reminder, please direct all questions about the schedule to the Projected Starters grid. As always, I'll handle all ranking question in the comments below.

Also, keep in mind there are preliminary rankings. The final version will be posted Sunday night after teams firm up their plans.

For the week Aug. 19-25.

UPDATED: Sunday, August 18 11:00 PM ET

MLB

Rank	PITCHER	TM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Shane Bieber	CLE	at NYM, vs. KC	Could be a Top-20 SP in 2020
2	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	vs. TOR, vs. NYY	Rewarding those taking the chance
3	Trevor Bauer	CIN	vs. SD, at PIT	Good pair to rebound from last outing
4	Stephen Strasburg	WAS	at PIT, at CHC
5	Justin Verlander	HOU	vs. DET
6	Gerrit Cole	HOU	vs. DET
7	Wade Miley	HOU	vs. DET, vs. LAA	Great pair at home
8	Cole Hamels	CHC	vs. SF, vs. WAS	Should rebound from last time out
9	Domingo German	NYY	at OAK, at LAD	16 wins obviously lucky but K% and BB% very good -- HRs the issue
10	Max Scherzer	WAS	at PIT	Crossing fingers this is the week
11	Kyle Gibson	MIN	vs. CWS, vs. DET	Still carrying higher than perceived K%
12	Dallas Keuchel	ATL	vs. MIA, at NYM	Homers big issue
13	Walker Buehler	LAD	vs. TOR
14	Jacob deGrom	NYM	vs. ATL
15	Brendan McKay	TB	vs. SEA, at BAL	Displaying surprising dominance
16	Charlie Morton	TB	vs. SEA	Could be pitching as well as ever
17	Zack Greinke	HOU	vs. LAA
18	Steven Matz	NYM	vs. CLE, vs. ATL	Pair in one of the best parks for pitching in the game
19	Jose Berrios	MIN	vs. DET
20	Mike Soroka	ATL	vs. MIA
21	Noah Syndergaard	NYM	vs. CLE
22	Jack Flaherty	STL	vs. COL	3 straight 7 IP 0 ER outing with 26 K and just 4 BB in that span
23	Lance Lynn	TEX	at CWS
24	Mike Clevinger	CLE	vs. KC
25	Corey Kluber	CLE	vs. KC	On track to return over the weekend
26	Hyun-Jin Ryu	LAD	vs. NYY
27	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	vs. SF
28	German Marquez	COL	at STL	Excellent WHIP, good Ks but little lower than expected, ERA estimators say he's been unlucky
29	Zack Wheeler	NYM	vs. ATL
30	Mike Minor	TEX	vs. LAA	Quelling fears of a second half swoon
31	Luis Castillo	CIN	vs. SD
32	Patrick Corbin	WAS	at PIT
33	David Price	BOS	at SD
34	Yu Darvish	CHC	vs. SF	Control remains impeccable
35	Julio Teheran	ATL	vs. MIA
36	Andrew Heaney	LAA	at TEX, at HOU
37	Madison Bumgarner	SF	at OAK
38	Jake Odorizzi	MIN	vs. CWS
39	Aaron Sanchez	HOU	vs. DET, vs. LAA
40	John Means	BAL	vs. KC, vs. TB	Maybe hitting wall, but opponents worth the risk
41	Marcus Stroman	NYM	vs. CLE
42	Sonny Gray	CIN	vs. SD
43	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	at BAL
44	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	at OAK
45	Chris Archer	PIT	vs. WAS, vs. CIN	Here we go again, the good Archer is back to tease us
46	Chris Paddack	SD	vs. BOS
47	Jason Vargas	PHI	at MIA
48	Jose Quintana	CHC	vs. WAS	Quietly crushing it lately, 1.89 ERA, .79 WHIP with 26 K and just 1 BB in 19 IP in August
49	Zach Davies	MIL	at STL, vs. ARI
50	Eduardo Rodriguez	BOS	at SD
51	Max Fried	ATL	at NYM
52	Miles Mikolas	STL	vs. COL
53	Michael Pineda	MIN	vs. CWS
54	Mike Montgomery	KC	at BAL
55	Kenta Maeda	LAD	vs. TOR
56	Mike Fiers	OAK	vs. NYY
57	James Paxton	NYY	at LAD
58	Gio Gonzalez	MIL	at STL
59	Joey Lucchesi	SD	vs. BOS
60	Brett Anderson	OAK	vs. SF
61	Chris Bassitt	OAK	vs. SF
62	Jalen Beeks	TB	vs. SEA, at BAL	Likely to be primary pitcher - matchups worth using
63	Marco Gonzales	SEA	at TB, vs. TOR	Regression caught up, but matchups aren't daunting
64	Kolby Allard	TEX	vs. LAA, at CWS	Early whiffs a little higher than minor league numbers portend
65	Vince Velasquez	PHI	at MIA
66	Zach Eflin	PHI	at MIA
67	Lucas Giolito	CWS	at MIN	Back in the groove, 57 K last 36.2 IP
68	Brad Keller	KC	at BAL
69	Spencer Turnbull	DET	at HOU, at MIN	Tough opponents in their yard, otherwise would be ranked higher
70	CC Sabathia	NYY	at LAD
71	Ivan Nova	CWS	at MIN, vs. TEX	.49 ERA, .70 WHIP last 5 GS spanning 37 IP, but only 17 K so tread carefully
72	Caleb Smith	MIA	at ATL
73	Trevor Williams	PIT	vs. WAS, vs. CIN	Big second half swoon
74	Jordan Yamamoto	MIA	vs. PHI
75	Mike Foltynewicz	ATL	at NYM
76	Joe Musgrove	PIT	vs. WAS
77	Matt Strahm	SD	at CIN
78	Aaron Nola	PHI	at BOS
79	Martin Perez	MIN	vs. DET
80	Joe Palumbo	TEX	at CWS, vs. LAA
81	Justus Sheffield	SEA	vs. TOR
82	Anthony DeSclafani	CIN	at PIT
83	Asher Wojciechowski	BAL	vs. TB
84	Jon Lester	CHC	vs. WAS
85	Jeff Samardzija	SF	at CHC
86	Alex Wood	CIN	at PIT
87	Chase Anderson	MIL	vs. ARI
88	Rick Porcello	BOS	vs. PHI	Better last time, let's see it again
89	Dillon Peters	LAA	at TEX, at HOU	Showing signs he can be an asset, but this is a tough two-step
90	Tanner Roark	OAK	vs. NYY
91	Dylan Bundy	BAL	vs. KC, vs. TB
92	Reynaldo Lopez	CWS	at MIN, vs. TEX
93	Dakota Hudson	STL	vs. MIL, vs. COL
94	Joe Ross	WAS	at PIT, at CHC
95	J.A. Happ	NYY	at OAK
96	Jon Gray	COL	at ARI
97	Matthew Boyd	DET	at MIN
98	Aaron Civale	CLE	at NYM
99	Cal Quantrill	SD	at CIN
100	Adam Plutko	CLE	at NYM
101	Merrill Kelly	ARI	at MIL
102	Trevor Richards	TB	at BAL
103	Thomas Pannone	TOR	at SEA
104	Adam Wainwright	STL	vs. MIL
105	Nathan Eovaldi	BOS	at SD
106	Dylan Cease	CWS	vs. TEX
107	Michael Wacha	STL	vs. MIL, vs. COL
108	Brock Stewart	TOR	at SEA
109	Eric Lauer	SD	at CIN
110	Jordan Lyles	MIL	vs. ARI
111	Dinelson Lamet	SD	vs. BOS
112	Sean Reid-Foley	TOR	at LAD, at SEA
113	Tommy Milone	SEA	at TB
114	Griffin Canning	LAA	at HOU
115	Adrian Houser	MIL	at STL
116	Felix Hernandez	SEA	vs. TOR
117	Zac Gallen	ARI	vs. COL, at MIL
118	Mitch Keller	PIT	vs. CIN
119	Tony Gonsolin	LAD	vs. NYY
120	Anibal Sanchez	WAS	at CHC
121	Brian Johnson	BOS	vs. PHI
122	Logan Webb	SF	at OAK
123	Jakob Junis	KC	at CLE
124	Kyle Freeland	COL	at ARI, at STL
125	Wade LeBlanc	SEA	at TB
126	Brock Burke	TEX	vs. LAA
127	Peter Lambert	COL	at STL
128	Alex Young	ARI	vs. COL
129	Dereck Rodriguez	SF	at CHC
130	Elieser Hernandez	MIA	at ATL, vs. PHI
131	Steven Brault	PIT	vs. WAS
132	Trent Thornton	TOR	at LAD
133	Aaron Brooks	BAL	vs. KC
134	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	at ATL
135	Jaime Barria	LAA	at TEX
136	Jorge Lopez	KC	at BAL, at CLE
137	Ariel Jurado	TEX	at CWS
138	Drew Smyly	PHI	at BOS
139	Hector Noesi	MIA	vs. PHI
140	Mike Leake	ARI	vs. COL
141	Jacob Waguespack	TOR	at LAD
142	Edwin Jackson	DET	at HOU, at MIN
143	Chi Chi Gonzalez	COL	at ARI, at STL
144	Taylor Clarke	ARI	at MIL
145	Gabriel Ynoa	BAL	vs. TB
146	Daniel Norris	DET	at HOU
147	Homer Bailey	OAK	vs. NYY
148	Jordan Zimmermann	DET	at HOU
149	Patrick Sandoval	LAA	at TEX
150	Ross Detwiler	CWS	vs. TEX
151	Glenn Sparkman	KC	at CLE
152	Tyler Beede	SF	at CHC

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RANK	PITCHER	TM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Shane Bieber	CLE	at NYM, vs. KC	Could be a Top-20 SP in 2020
2	Justin Verlander	HOU	vs. DET
3	Gerrit Cole	HOU	vs. DET
4	Wade Miley	HOU	vs. DET, vs. LAA	Great pair at home
5	Domingo German	NYY	at OAK, at LAD	16 wins obviously lucky but K% and BB% very good -- HRs the issue
6	Kyle Gibson	MIN	vs. CWS, vs. DET	Still carrying higher than perceived K%
7	Brendan McKay	TB	vs. SEA, at BAL	Displaying surprising dominance
8	Charlie Morton	TB	vs. SEA	Could be pitching as well as ever
9	Zack Greinke	HOU	vs. LAA
10	Jose Berrios	MIN	vs. DET
11	Lance Lynn	TEX	at CWS
12	Mike Clevinger	CLE	vs. KC
13	Corey Kluber	CLE	vs. KC	On track to return over the weekend
14	Mike Minor	TEX	vs. LAA	Quelling fears of a second half swoon
15	David Price	BOS	at SD
16	Andrew Heaney	LAA	at TEX, at HOU
17	Jake Odorizzi	MIN	vs. CWS
18	Aaron Sanchez	HOU	vs. DET, vs. LAA
19	John Means	BAL	vs. KC, vs. TB	Maybe hitting wall, but opponents worth the risk
20	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	at BAL
21	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	at OAK
22	Eduardo Rodriguez	BOS	at SD
23	Michael Pineda	MIN	vs. CWS
24	Mike Montgomery	KC	at BAL
25	Mike Fiers	OAK	vs. NYY
26	James Paxton	NYY	at LAD
27	Brett Anderson	OAK	vs. SF
28	Chris Bassitt	OAK	vs. SF
29	Jalen Beeks	TB	vs. SEA, at BAL	Likely to be primary pitcher - matchups worth using
30	Marco Gonzales	SEA	at TB, vs. TOR	Regression caught up, but matchups aren't daunting
31	Kolby Allard	TEX	vs. LAA, at CWS	Early whiffs a little higher than minor league numbers portend
32	Lucas Giolito	CWS	at MIN	Back in the groove, 57 K last 36.2 IP
33	Brad Keller	KC	at BAL
34	Spencer Turnbull	DET	at HOU, at MIN	Tough opponents in their yard, otherwise would be ranked higher
35	CC Sabathia	NYY	at LAD
36	Ivan Nova	CWS	at MIN, vs. TEX	.49 ERA, .70 WHIP last 5 GS spanning 37 IP, but only 17 K so tread carefully
37	Martin Perez	MIN	vs. DET
38	Joe Palumbo	TEX	at CWS, vs. LAA
39	Justus Sheffield	SEA	vs. TOR
40	Asher Wojciechowski	BAL	vs. TB
41	Rick Porcello	BOS	vs. PHI	Better last time, let's see it again
42	Dillon Peters	LAA	at TEX, at HOU	Showing signs he can be an asset, but this is a tough two-step
43	Tanner Roark	OAK	vs. NYY
44	Dylan Bundy	BAL	vs. KC, vs. TB
45	Reynaldo Lopez	CWS	at MIN, vs. TEX
46	J.A. Happ	NYY	at OAK
47	Matthew Boyd	DET	at MIN
48	Aaron Civale	CLE	at NYM
49	Adam Plutko	CLE	at NYM
50	Trevor Richards	TB	at BAL
51	Thomas Pannone	TOR	at SEA
52	Nathan Eovaldi	BOS	at SD
53	Dylan Cease	CWS	vs. TEX
54	Brock Stewart	TOR	at SEA
55	Sean Reid-Foley	TOR	at LAD, at SEA
56	Tommy Milone	SEA	at TB
57	Griffin Canning	LAA	at HOU
58	Felix Hernandez	SEA	vs. TOR
59	Brian Johnson	BOS	vs. PHI
60	Jakob Junis	KC	at CLE
61	Wade LeBlanc	SEA	at TB
62	Brock Burke	TEX	vs. LAA
63	Trent Thornton	TOR	at LAD
64	Aaron Brooks	BAL	vs. KC
65	Jaime Barria	LAA	at TEX
66	Jorge Lopez	KC	at BAL, at CLE
67	Ariel Jurado	TEX	at CWS
68	Jacob Waguespack	TOR	at LAD
69	Edwin Jackson	DET	at HOU, at MIN
70	Gabriel Ynoa	BAL	vs. TB
71	Daniel Norris	DET	at HOU
72	Homer Bailey	OAK	vs. NYY
73	Jordan Zimmermann	DET	at HOU
74	Patrick Sandoval	LAA	at TEX
75	Ross Detwiler	CWS	vs. TEX
76	Glenn Sparkman	KC	at CLE

NATIONAL LEAGUE

RANK	PITCHER	TM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	vs. TOR, vs. NYY	Rewarding those taking the chance
2	Trevor Bauer	CIN	vs. SD, at PIT	Good pair to rebound from last outing
3	Stephen Strasburg	WAS	at PIT, at CHC
4	Cole Hamels	CHC	vs. SF, vs. WAS	Should rebound from last time out
5	Max Scherzer	WAS	at PIT	Crossing fingers this is the week
6	Dallas Keuchel	ATL	vs. MIA, at NYM	Homers big issue
7	Walker Buehler	LAD	vs. TOR
8	Jacob deGrom	NYM	vs. ATL
9	Steven Matz	NYM	vs. CLE, vs. ATL	Pair in one of the best parks for pitching in the game
10	Mike Soroka	ATL	vs. MIA
11	Noah Syndergaard	NYM	vs. CLE
12	Jack Flaherty	STL	vs. COL	3 straight 7 IP 0 ER outing with 26 K and just 4 BB in that span
13	Hyun-Jin Ryu	LAD	vs. NYY
14	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	vs. SF
15	German Marquez	COL	at STL	Excellent WHIP, good Ks but little lower than expected, ERA estimators say he's been unlucky
16	Zack Wheeler	NYM	vs. ATL
17	Luis Castillo	CIN	vs. SD
18	Patrick Corbin	WAS	at PIT
19	Yu Darvish	CHC	vs. SF	Control remains impeccable
20	Julio Teheran	ATL	vs. MIA
21	Madison Bumgarner	SF	at OAK
22	Marcus Stroman	NYM	vs. CLE
23	Sonny Gray	CIN	vs. SD
24	Chris Archer	PIT	vs. WAS, vs. CIN	Here we go again, the good Archer is back to tease us
25	Chris Paddack	SD	vs. BOS
26	Jason Vargas	PHI	at MIA
27	Jose Quintana	CHC	vs. WAS	Quietly crushing it lately, 1.89 ERA, .79 WHIP with 26 K and just 1 BB in 19 IP in August
28	Zach Davies	MIL	at STL, vs. ARI
29	Max Fried	ATL	at NYM
30	Miles Mikolas	STL	vs. COL
31	Kenta Maeda	LAD	vs. TOR
32	Gio Gonzalez	MIL	at STL
33	Joey Lucchesi	SD	vs. BOS
34	Vince Velasquez	PHI	at MIA
35	Zach Eflin	PHI	at MIA
36	Caleb Smith	MIA	at ATL
37	Trevor Williams	PIT	vs. WAS, vs. CIN	Big second half swoon
38	Jordan Yamamoto	MIA	vs. PHI
39	Mike Foltynewicz	ATL	at NYM
40	Joe Musgrove	PIT	vs. WAS
41	Matt Strahm	SD	at CIN
42	Aaron Nola	PHI	at BOS
43	Anthony DeSclafani	CIN	at PIT
44	Jon Lester	CHC	vs. WAS
45	Jeff Samardzija	SF	at CHC
46	Alex Wood	CIN	at PIT
47	Chase Anderson	MIL	vs. ARI
48	Dakota Hudson	STL	vs. MIL, vs. COL
49	Joe Ross	WAS	at PIT, at CHC
50	Jon Gray	COL	at ARI
51	Cal Quantrill	SD	at CIN
52	Merrill Kelly	ARI	at MIL
53	Adam Wainwright	STL	vs. MIL
54	Michael Wacha	STL	vs. MIL, vs. COL
55	Eric Lauer	SD	at CIN
56	Jordan Lyles	MIL	vs. ARI
57	Dinelson Lamet	SD	vs. BOS
58	Adrian Houser	MIL	at STL
59	Zac Gallen	ARI	vs. COL, at MIL
60	Mitch Keller	PIT	vs. CIN
61	Tony Gonsolin	LAD	vs. NYY
62	Anibal Sanchez	WAS	at CHC
63	Logan Webb	SF	at OAK
64	Kyle Freeland	COL	at ARI, at STL
65	Peter Lambert	COL	at STL
66	Alex Young	ARI	vs. COL
67	Dereck Rodriguez	SF	at CHC
68	Elieser Hernandez	MIA	at ATL, vs. PHI
69	Steven Brault	PIT	vs. WAS
70	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	at ATL
71	Drew Smyly	PHI	at BOS
72	Hector Noesi	MIA	vs. PHI
73	Mike Leake	ARI	vs. COL
74	Chi Chi Gonzalez	COL	at ARI, at STL
75	Taylor Clarke	ARI	at MIL
76	Tyler Beede	SF	at CHC

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Todd Zola

@toddzola

Todd has been writing about fantasy baseball since 1997. He won NL Tout Wars and Mixed LABR in 2016 as well as a multi-time league winner in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship. Todd is now setting his sights even higher: The Rotowire Staff League. Lord Zola, as he's known in the industry, won the 2013 FSWA Fantasy Baseball Article of the Year award and was named the 2017 FSWA Fantasy Baseball Writer of the Year. Todd is a five-time FSWA awards finalist.

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