Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Busy Week of Pitching

Todd Zola ranks the week's starting pitching with Houston's Justin Verlander on top in what should be a busy week of two-start options.

Updated on July 7, 2018 12:22PM EST

Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Busy Week of Pitching

By:

Todd Zola

Updated on July 7, 2018 12:22PM EST

Weekly Pitcher Rankings

An already busy week is even busier with the addition of three double-headers, availing the most two-start options we've seen all season. However, this comes with a huge caveat as the weekend entering the All-Star break is usually filled with last-minute changes as teams take advantage of the mini-vacation to rest some pitchers and be extra cautious with others.

For the week, July 9-15

UPDATED: Sunday July 8, 10:45 PM ET

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RANK	PITCHER	TEAM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Justin Verlander	HOU	vs. OAK, vs. DET	Sunday start means no All-Star game, slight chance Astros adjust schedule
2	Gerrit Cole	HOU	vs. OAK, vs. DET
3	Jose Berrios	MIN	vs. KC, vs. TB	5 HR allowed last two games, but KC and TB bottom five in HR
4	Trevor Bauer	CLE	vs. CIN, vs. NYY	Deserves to be called an ace
5	Sean Manaea	OAK	at HOU, at SF
6	Chris Sale	BOS	vs. TEX
7	Corey Kluber	CLE	vs. NYY
8	Mike Clevinger	CLE	vs. CIN, vs. NYY	#1 guy on half the teams in the league, he's #4 on his team
9	Charlie Morton	HOU	vs. OAK
10	Lance McCullers Jr.	HOU	vs. OAK
11	Garrett Richards	LAA	vs. SEA, at LAD	8 K in 5.1 IP @SEA in return from DL
12	Luis Severino	NYY	at CLE
13	Blake Snell	TB	at MIN
14	Cole Hamels	TEX	at BAL
15	Eduardo Rodriguez	BOS	vs. TEX, vs. TOR	6 IP @NYY and @WAS last two outings a great

For the week, July 9-15

UPDATED: Sunday July 8, 10:45 PM ET

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RANK	PITCHER	TEAM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Justin Verlander	HOU	vs. OAK, vs. DET	Sunday start means no All-Star game, slight chance Astros adjust schedule
2	Gerrit Cole	HOU	vs. OAK, vs. DET
3	Jose Berrios	MIN	vs. KC, vs. TB	5 HR allowed last two games, but KC and TB bottom five in HR
4	Trevor Bauer	CLE	vs. CIN, vs. NYY	Deserves to be called an ace
5	Sean Manaea	OAK	at HOU, at SF
6	Chris Sale	BOS	vs. TEX
7	Corey Kluber	CLE	vs. NYY
8	Mike Clevinger	CLE	vs. CIN, vs. NYY	#1 guy on half the teams in the league, he's #4 on his team
9	Charlie Morton	HOU	vs. OAK
10	Lance McCullers Jr.	HOU	vs. OAK
11	Garrett Richards	LAA	vs. SEA, at LAD	8 K in 5.1 IP @SEA in return from DL
12	Luis Severino	NYY	at CLE
13	Blake Snell	TB	at MIN
14	Cole Hamels	TEX	at BAL
15	Eduardo Rodriguez	BOS	vs. TEX, vs. TOR	6 IP @NYY and @WAS last two outings a great sign
16	Rick Porcello	BOS	vs. TOR
17	Marco Gonzales	SEA	at LAA
18	Reynaldo Lopez	CWS	vs. KC
19	Matthew Boyd	DET	at TB	Good spot to turn things back around
20	Danny Duffy	KC	at MIN, at CWS	In a rut, but matchups fairly soft
21	Lance Lynn	MIN	vs. KC
22	Tyler Skaggs	LAA	vs. SEA	Hoping to return from right adductor strain
23	Chris Archer	TB	vs. DET, at MIN	Likely on a pitch count
24	David Price	BOS	vs. TOR
25	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	at BAL, at CLE	Needs to be sharper, but owed some HR regression
26	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	vs. CIN	Expecting a big post-break performance
27	Carlos Rodon	CWS	vs. STL
28	Kyle Gibson	MIN	vs. TB
29	Mike Minor	TEX	at BOS, at BAL
30	Lucas Giolito	CWS	vs. KC
31	Dallas Keuchel	HOU	vs. DET
32	CC Sabathia	NYY	at BAL, at CLE
33	Jake Odorizzi	MIN	vs. TB
34	Kevin Gausman	BAL	vs. PHI
35	Andrew Heaney	LAA	at LAD
36	Jordan Zimmermann	DET	at TB	Last two starts: 15 IP, 2 ER, 17 K, 0 BB
37	Ian Kennedy	KC	at MIN, at CWS
38	Sonny Gray	NYY	at BAL
39	Dylan Bundy	BAL	vs. NYY
40	Michael Fulmer	DET	at HOU
41	James Shields	CWS	vs. KC
42	Aaron Slegers	MIN	vs. KC, vs. TB
43	Matt Andriese	TB	vs. DET, at MIN
44	Francisco Liriano	DET	at TB, at HOU
45	Luis Cessa	NYY	at BAL
46	Jaime Barria	LAA	vs. SEA
47	Dylan Covey	CWS	vs. STL
48	Shane Bieber	CLE	vs. NYY
49	Martin Perez	TEX	at BAL
50	Hector Velazquez	BOS	vs. TEX
51	Mike Leake	SEA	at LAA, at COL
52	Frankie Montas	OAK	at HOU, at SF
53	Felix Hernandez	SEA	at LAA
54	Andrew Cashner	BAL	vs. NYY, vs. TEX
55	Marcus Stroman	TOR	at ATL, at BOS
56	James Paxton	SEA	at COL
57	Nathan Eovaldi	TB	at MIN
58	Felix Pena	LAA	at LAD
59	Jimmy Yacabonis	BAL	vs. NYY
60	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	vs. DET
61	Alex Cobb	BAL	vs. TEX
62	Brian Johnson	BOS	vs. TOR
63	Domingo German	NYY	at CLE
64	Mike Fiers	DET	at HOU
65	Edwin Jackson	OAK	at SF
66	Brad Keller	KC	at CWS
67	Burch Smith	KC	at MIN
68	J.A. Happ	TOR	at BOS
69	Trevor Cahill	OAK	at HOU
70	Chris Bassitt	OAK	at HOU
71	Yefry Ramirez	BAL	vs. TEX
72	Ryan Borucki	TOR	at BOS
73	Marco Estrada	TOR	at BOS
74	Sam Gaviglio	TOR	at ATL
75	Wade LeBlanc	SEA	at COL
76	Bartolo Colon	TEX	at BOS
77	Yovani Gallardo	TEX	at BOS

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Rank	Pitcher	TEAM	OPP	Comments
1	Aaron Nola	PHI	at MIA, at NYM
2	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	at SD, vs. LAA
3	Max Scherzer	WAS	at NYM
4	Chase Anderson	MIL	at MIA, at PIT	Maintaining elevated vekocity with strikeouts dovetailing
5	Jacob deGrom	NYM	vs. PHI
6	Zach Eflin	PHI	at NYM, at MIA	In my best Micky Dolenz, I'm a believer
7	Noah Syndergaard	NYM	vs. WAS	Could return over the weekend
8	Rich Hill	LAD	at SD, vs. LAA
9	Ross Stripling	LAD	at SD
10	Jhoulys Chacin	MIL	at MIA, at PIT	Soft lineups in great pitching venues
11	Freddy Peralta	MIL	at MIA	14.1% SwStr driving 37.7% K%
12	Madison Bumgarner	SF	vs. OAK
13	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	at SF, at SD	A pitcher's favorite road trip
14	Alex Wood	LAD	vs. LAA
15	Jon Lester	CHC	at SD	Impending regression will likely be delayed until after the break
16	Zack Greinke	ARI	at ATL
17	Kenta Maeda	LAD	at SD
18	Miles Mikolas	STL	at CWS
19	Mike Montgomery	CHC	at SF
20	Luke Weaver	STL	at CWS	Great chance to go into the break on a high note
21	Jake Arrieta	PHI	at BAL
22	Jose Quintana	CHC	at SF
23	Jose Urena	MIA	vs. MIL, vs. PHI	Quietly pitching well, sneaky K potential this week
24	Julio Teheran	ATL	vs. TOR, vs. ARI
25	Joe Musgrove	PIT	vs. WAS, vs. MIL	Expected to return from infected finger
26	Ivan Nova	PIT	vs. WAS, vs. MIL
27	Mike Foltynewicz	ATL	vs. TOR
28	Zack Wheeler	NYM	vs. PHI, vs. WAS	2.73 ERA, .95 WHIP with 27 K in last 4 GS, spanning 26.1 IP
29	Luis Castillo	CIN	at STL
30	Jameson Taillon	PIT	vs. MIL
31	Patrick Corbin	ARI	at COL, at ATL	Risky, but potential punch outs are worth taking the risk in Coors
32	Jack Flaherty	STL	vs. CIN
33	Carlos Martinez	STL	vs. CIN
34	Anthony DeSclafani	CIN	at CLE, at STL
35	Vince Velasquez	PHI	at MIA
36	Tyler Anderson	COL	vs. ARI, vs. SEA
37	Robbie Ray	ARI	at ATL
38	Nick Pivetta	PHI	at NYM
39	Gio Gonzalez	WAS	at PIT
40	Jeremy Hellickson	WAS	at PIT, at NYM
41	Andrew Suarez	SF	vs. CHC, vs. OAK
42	Joey Lucchesi	SD	vs. LAD
43	Wei-Yin Chen	MIA	vs. PHI
44	Tanner Roark	WAS	at NYM
45	Tyson Ross	SD	vs. LAD
46	Jeff Samardzija	SF	vs. OAK
47	Dan Straily	MIA	vs. MIL
48	Jefry Rodriguez	WAS	at PIT, at NYM
49	Corey Oswalt	NYM	vs. WAS, vs. PHI
50	Junior Guerra	MIL	at PIT
51	Sean Newcomb	ATL	vs. ARI
52	Steven Matz	NYM	vs. WAS
53	Trevor Richards	MIA	vs. PHI
54	Anibal Sanchez	ATL	vs. ARI
55	Tyler Chatwood	CHC	at SD
56	Pablo Lopez	MIA	vs. MIL
57	Johnny Cueto	SF	vs. CHC	Settled down after rough start first outing off DL
58	Trevor Williams	PIT	vs. WAS
59	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	at PIT
60	Eric Lauer	SD	vs. LAD, vs. CHC
61	Matt Harvey	CIN	at STL	Velocity up but whiffs still low
62	German Marquez	COL	vs. ARI
63	Luis Perdomo	SD	vs. LAD, vs. CHC	Risky to use in mixed leagues, but worth tracking
64	P.J. Conlon	NYM	vs. PHI
65	Clayton Richard	SD	vs. CHC
66	Jon Gray	COL	vs. SEA
67	Tyler Mahle	CIN	at CLE
68	Nick Kingham	PIT	vs. MIL
69	Enyel De Los Santos	PHI	at NYM
70	John Gant	STL	vs. CIN
71	Wade Miley	MIL	at PIT
72	Zack Godley	ARI	at COL	Tough spot to follow up best effort of the season last time out
73	Antonio Senzatela	COL	vs. SEA
74	Kyle Freeland	COL	vs. ARI
75	Clay Holmes	PIT	vs. MIL
76	Dereck Rodriguez	SF	vs. CHC
77	Shelby Miller	ARI	at COL
78	Sal Romano	CIN	at CLE

MLB

RANK	PITCHER	TEAM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Justin Verlander	HOU	vs. OAK, vs. DET	Sunday start means no All-Star game, slight chance Astros adjust schedule
2	Aaron Nola	PHI	at MIA, at NYM
3	Gerrit Cole	HOU	vs. OAK, vs. DET
4	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	at SD, vs. LAA
5	Jose Berrios	MIN	vs. KC, vs. TB	5 HR allowed last two games, but KC and TB bottom five in HR
6	Trevor Bauer	CLE	vs. CIN, vs. NYY	Deserves to be called an ace
7	Max Scherzer	WAS	at NYM
8	Chase Anderson	MIL	at MIA, at PIT	Maintaining elevated vekocity with strikeouts dovetailing
9	Jacob deGrom	NYM	vs. PHI
10	Sean Manaea	OAK	at HOU, at SF
11	Chris Sale	BOS	vs. TEX
12	Zach Eflin	PHI	at NYM, at MIA	In my best Micky Dolenz, I'm a believer
13	Corey Kluber	CLE	vs. NYY
14	Mike Clevinger	CLE	vs. CIN, vs. NYY	#1 guy on half the teams in the league, he's #4 on his team
15	Noah Syndergaard	NYM	vs. WAS	Could return over the weekend
16	Charlie Morton	HOU	vs. OAK
17	Rich Hill	LAD	at SD, vs. LAA
18	Ross Stripling	LAD	at SD
19	Jhoulys Chacin	MIL	at MIA, at PIT	Soft lineups in great pitching venues
20	Freddy Peralta	MIL	at MIA	14.1% SwStr driving 37.7% K%
21	Madison Bumgarner	SF	vs. OAK
22	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	at SF, at SD	A pitcher's favorite road trip
23	Alex Wood	LAD	vs. LAA
24	Jon Lester	CHC	at SD	Impending regression will likely be delayed until after the break
25	Zack Greinke	ARI	at ATL
26	Lance McCullers Jr.	HOU	vs. OAK
27	Garrett Richards	LAA	vs. SEA, at LAD	8 K in 5.1 IP @SEA in return from DL
28	Luis Severino	NYY	at CLE
29	Kenta Maeda	LAD	at SD
30	Blake Snell	TB	at MIN
31	Miles Mikolas	STL	at CWS
32	Cole Hamels	TEX	at BAL
33	Mike Montgomery	CHC	at SF
34	Eduardo Rodriguez	BOS	vs. TEX, vs. TOR	6 IP @NYY and @WAS last two outings a great sign
35	Rick Porcello	BOS	vs. TOR
36	Luke Weaver	STL	at CWS	Great chance to go into the break on a high note
37	Marco Gonzales	SEA	at LAA
38	Jake Arrieta	PHI	at BAL
39	Jose Quintana	CHC	at SF
40	Jose Urena	MIA	vs. MIL, vs. PHI	Quietly pitching well, sneaky K potential this week
41	Julio Teheran	ATL	vs. TOR, vs. ARI
42	Reynaldo Lopez	CWS	vs. KC
43	Joe Musgrove	PIT	vs. WAS, vs. MIL	Expected to return from infected finger
44	Matthew Boyd	DET	at TB	Good spot to turn things back around
45	Danny Duffy	KC	at MIN, at CWS	In a rut, but matchups fairly soft
46	Lance Lynn	MIN	vs. KC
47	Tyler Skaggs	LAA	vs. SEA	Hoping to return from right adductor strain
48	Ivan Nova	PIT	vs. WAS, vs. MIL
49	Chris Archer	TB	vs. DET, at MIN	Likely on a pitch count
50	Mike Foltynewicz	ATL	vs. TOR
51	Zack Wheeler	NYM	vs. PHI, vs. WAS	2.73 ERA, .95 WHIP with 27 K in last 4 GS, spanning 26.1 IP
52	Luis Castillo	CIN	at STL
53	David Price	BOS	vs. TOR
54	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	at BAL, at CLE	Needs to be sharper, but owed some HR regression
55	Jameson Taillon	PIT	vs. MIL
56	Patrick Corbin	ARI	at COL, at ATL	Risky, but potential punch outs are worth taking the risk in Coors
57	Jack Flaherty	STL	vs. CIN
58	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	vs. CIN	Expecting a big post-break performance
59	Carlos Rodon	CWS	vs. STL
60	Kyle Gibson	MIN	vs. TB
61	Carlos Martinez	STL	vs. CIN
62	Mike Minor	TEX	at BOS, at BAL
63	Lucas Giolito	CWS	vs. KC
64	Dallas Keuchel	HOU	vs. DET
65	CC Sabathia	NYY	at BAL, at CLE
66	Jake Odorizzi	MIN	vs. TB
67	Anthony DeSclafani	CIN	at CLE, at STL
68	Kevin Gausman	BAL	vs. PHI
69	Andrew Heaney	LAA	at LAD
70	Vince Velasquez	PHI	at MIA
71	Jordan Zimmermann	DET	at TB	Last two starts: 15 IP, 2 ER, 17 K, 0 BB
72	Tyler Anderson	COL	vs. ARI, vs. SEA
73	Robbie Ray	ARI	at ATL
74	Ian Kennedy	KC	at MIN, at CWS
75	Sonny Gray	NYY	at BAL
76	Dylan Bundy	BAL	vs. NYY
77	Nick Pivetta	PHI	at NYM
78	Gio Gonzalez	WAS	at PIT
79	Michael Fulmer	DET	at HOU
80	James Shields	CWS	vs. KC
81	Jeremy Hellickson	WAS	at PIT, at NYM
82	Andrew Suarez	SF	vs. CHC, vs. OAK
83	Joey Lucchesi	SD	vs. LAD
84	Wei-Yin Chen	MIA	vs. PHI
85	Tanner Roark	WAS	at NYM
86	Tyson Ross	SD	vs. LAD
87	Jeff Samardzija	SF	vs. OAK
88	Aaron Slegers	MIN	vs. KC, vs. TB
89	Dan Straily	MIA	vs. MIL
90	Matt Andriese	TB	vs. DET, at MIN
91	Jefry Rodriguez	WAS	at PIT, at NYM
92	Corey Oswalt	NYM	vs. WAS, vs. PHI
93	Junior Guerra	MIL	at PIT
94	Sean Newcomb	ATL	vs. ARI
95	Steven Matz	NYM	vs. WAS
96	Francisco Liriano	DET	at TB, at HOU
97	Luis Cessa	NYY	at BAL
98	Trevor Richards	MIA	vs. PHI
99	Jaime Barria	LAA	vs. SEA
100	Anibal Sanchez	ATL	vs. ARI
101	Tyler Chatwood	CHC	at SD
102	Pablo Lopez	MIA	vs. MIL
103	Johnny Cueto	SF	vs. CHC	Settled down after rough start first outing off DL
104	Dylan Covey	CWS	vs. STL
105	Shane Bieber	CLE	vs. NYY
106	Trevor Williams	PIT	vs. WAS
107	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	at PIT
108	Martin Perez	TEX	at BAL
109	Hector Velazquez	BOS	vs. TEX
110	Mike Leake	SEA	at LAA, at COL
111	Frankie Montas	OAK	at HOU, at SF
112	Felix Hernandez	SEA	at LAA
113	Andrew Cashner	BAL	vs. NYY, vs. TEX
114	Marcus Stroman	TOR	at ATL, at BOS
115	James Paxton	SEA	at COL
116	Eric Lauer	SD	vs. LAD, vs. CHC
117	Matt Harvey	CIN	at STL	Velocity up but whiffs still low
118	Nathan Eovaldi	TB	at MIN
119	German Marquez	COL	vs. ARI
120	Luis Perdomo	SD	vs. LAD, vs. CHC	Risky to use in mixed leagues, but worth tracking
121	Felix Pena	LAA	at LAD
122	Jimmy Yacabonis	BAL	vs. NYY
123	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	vs. DET
124	Alex Cobb	BAL	vs. TEX
125	Brian Johnson	BOS	vs. TOR
126	Domingo German	NYY	at CLE
127	Mike Fiers	DET	at HOU
128	P.J. Conlon	NYM	vs. PHI
129	Edwin Jackson	OAK	at SF
130	Clayton Richard	SD	vs. CHC
131	Brad Keller	KC	at CWS
132	Jon Gray	COL	vs. SEA
133	Burch Smith	KC	at MIN
134	Tyler Mahle	CIN	at CLE
135	J.A. Happ	TOR	at BOS
136	Nick Kingham	PIT	vs. MIL
137	Enyel De Los Santos	PHI	at NYM
138	John Gant	STL	vs. CIN
139	Trevor Cahill	OAK	at HOU
140	Wade Miley	MIL	at PIT
141	Zack Godley	ARI	at COL	Tough spot to follow up best effort of the season last time out
142	Chris Bassitt	OAK	at HOU
143	Antonio Senzatela	COL	vs. SEA
144	Yefry Ramirez	BAL	vs. TEX
145	Kyle Freeland	COL	vs. ARI
146	Ryan Borucki	TOR	at BOS
147	Clay Holmes	PIT	vs. MIL
148	Marco Estrada	TOR	at BOS
149	Sam Gaviglio	TOR	at ATL
150	Wade LeBlanc	SEA	at COL
151	Dereck Rodriguez	SF	vs. CHC
152	Shelby Miller	ARI	at COL
153	Bartolo Colon	TEX	at BOS
154	Sal Romano	CIN	at CLE
155	Yovani Gallardo	TEX	at BOS