Weekly Pitcher Rankings: On the Lookout

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Updated on July 25, 2022 12:48AM EST

Clearly, these rankings are always subject to change. However, with the Aug. 2 trade deadline a stone's throw away, decisions regarding possible trade candidates are even tougher. Luis Castillo and Frankie Montas are most frequently mentioned, but there are others. Someone like George Kirby could be a centerpiece of a prospect deal netting the Mariners a big fish.

Working with what we have, there are a few pickups ranked above the respective relievers, some slated for two starts. Offense is still not increasing relative to previous seasons, so being more aggressive than normal this time of the season is warranted.

Please keep in mind the schedule is pulled from the site Probable Pitchers page, easily the industry standard. Please direct rotation queries in that direction. As always, I'll address specific rankings concerns below.

UPDATED: July 25, 12:45 AM ET

Week of July 25 - July 31

Mixed

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comments
1	Shane McClanahan	TB	@BAL, CLE	Makes it look so easy
2	Aaron Nola	PHI	ATL, @PIT
3	Max Fried	ATL	@PHI, ARI
4	Carlos Rodon	SF	@ARI, CHC
5	Alek Manoah	TOR	DET
6	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	NYM
7	Corbin Burnes	MIL	MIN
8	Justin Verlander	HOU	SEA
9	Gerrit Cole	NYY	KC
10	Shohei Ohtani	LAA	TEX
11	Dylan Cease	CWS	OAK

UPDATED: July 25, 12:45 AM ET

Week of July 25 - July 31

Mixed

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comments	MIX12	MIX15
1	Shane McClanahan	TB	@BAL, CLE	Makes it look so easy
2	Aaron Nola	PHI	ATL, @PIT
3	Max Fried	ATL	@PHI, ARI
4	Carlos Rodon	SF	@ARI, CHC
5	Alek Manoah	TOR	DET
6	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	NYM
7	Corbin Burnes	MIL	MIN
8	Justin Verlander	HOU	SEA
9	Gerrit Cole	NYY	KC
10	Shohei Ohtani	LAA	TEX
11	Dylan Cease	CWS	OAK
12	Cristian Javier	HOU	@OAK
13	Jordan Montgomery	NYY	@NYM, KC	Exhibit A why IP should replace wins in 5x5 scoring
14	Max Scherzer	NYM	@MIA
15	Zack Wheeler	PHI	@PIT
16	Luis Garcia	HOU	@OAK
17	Shane Bieber	CLE	@TB
18	Jon Gray	TEX	@SEA	1.81 ERA, .95 WHIP with 58 K over last 49.2 IP
19	Joe Musgrove	SD	MIN
20	Luis Castillo	CIN	MIA
21	Martin Perez	TEX	@LAA
22	Chris Bassitt	NYM	@MIA
23	Yu Darvish	SD	@DET
24	Nestor Cortes	NYY	KC
25	Johnny Cueto	CWS	OAK
26	Logan Webb	SF	@ARI
27	Framber Valdez	HOU	SEA
28	Pablo Lopez	MIA	@CIN, NYM
29	Kyle Wright	ATL	ARI
30	Jose Berrios	TOR	STL, DET	2.95 ERA, 1.04 WHIP with 26 K and just 2 BB last 18.1 IP
31	Frankie Montas	OAK	HOU
32	Kevin Gausman	TOR	STL
33	Zac Gallen	ARI	SF
34	Sean Manaea	SD	@DET, MIN
35	Ross Stripling	TOR	DET
36	Triston McKenzie	CLE	@BOS
37	Jameson Taillon	NYY	KC
38	Corey Kluber	TB	@BAL, CLE
39	Jake Odorizzi	HOU	@OAK, SEA
40	Lance Lynn	CWS	OAK	Is Oakland the panacea?
41	Tony Gonsolin	LAD	WAS, @COL
42	Joe Ryan	MIN	@SD
43	Miles Mikolas	STL	@WAS
44	Alex Wood	SF	CHC
45	Andrew Heaney	LAD	WAS
46	Jose Urquidy	HOU	SEA
47	Marcus Stroman	CHC	@SF
48	Mike Clevinger	SD	@DET
49	Sonny Gray	MIN	@SD
50	Merrill Kelly	ARI	SF, @ATL
51	David Peterson	NYM	NYY
52	Zach Plesac	CLE	@BOS, @TB
53	Mitch White	LAD	WAS
54	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	@BOS
55	Taijuan Walker	NYM	NYY
56	George Kirby	SEA	TEX, @HOU	Possible trade chip?
57	Charlie Morton	ATL	@PHI
58	Tyler Wells	BAL	TB
59	Noah Syndergaard	LAA	@KC, TEX
60	Chris Flexen	SEA	TEX, @HOU		43%
61	Nick Pivetta	BOS	CLE, MIL
62	Nathan Eovaldi	BOS	CLE
63	Nick Lodolo	CIN	MIA, BAL
64	Domingo German	NYY	@NYM		3%	4%
65	Jakob Junis	SF	@ARI, CHC	Matchups merit a pickup
66	Alex Cobb	SF	CHC
67	Logan Gilbert	SEA	@HOU
68	Spencer Strider	ATL	@PHI
69	Jeffrey Springs	TB	CLE
70	Tarik Skubal	DET	SD	Back on track after stint with control issues
71	Kutter Crawford	BOS	CLE		24%
72	Drew Rasmussen	TB	@BAL
73	Tyler Mahle	CIN	BAL
74	Blake Snell	SD	MIN
75	Dane Dunning	TEX	@SEA, @LAA		33%	49%
76	Keegan Thompson	CHC	PIT
77	Ranger Suarez	PHI	ATL, @PIT
78	Cole Irvin	OAK	HOU		27%
79	Robbie Ray	SEA	@HOU
80	Adrian Sampson	CHC	PIT, @SF		3%	40%
81	Carlos Carrasco	NYM	@MIA
82	Mix 12 Reliever
83	Hunter Greene	CIN	MIA
84	Eric Lauer	MIL	@BOS
85	Aaron Ashby	MIL	COL, @BOS
86	Justin Steele	CHC	@SF		19%
87	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	@COL
88	Reid Detmers	LAA	TEX
89	Dylan Bundy	MIN	@SD		14%
90	JT Brubaker	PIT	@CHC, PHI		39%
91	Adam Wainwright	STL	@TOR
92	Mix 15 Reliever
93	Brad Keller	KC	LAA		24%
94	Marco Gonzales	SEA	TEX
95	Kyle Gibson	PHI	ATL
96	Drew Smyly	CHC	@SF		2%	9%
97	Patrick Sandoval	LAA	TEX
98	Trevor Rogers	MIA	@CIN, NYM
99	Josh Winckowski	BOS	CLE, MIL		2%	30%
100	Bailey Falter	PHI	@PIT		0%	0%
101	Josiah Gray	WAS	@LAD
102	Devin Smeltzer	MIN	@MIL		10%	49%
103	Jose Quintana	PIT	PHI		22%
104	Zack Greinke	KC	LAA, @NYY		22%
105	Brady Singer	KC	@NYY
106	Glenn Otto	TEX	@SEA, @LAA		8%
107	Yusei Kikuchi	TOR	DET		20%	26%
108	Graham Ashcraft	CIN	MIA		27%	49%
109	Tyler Gilbert	ARI	SF		0%	2%
110	Julio Urias	LAD	@COL
111	Angel Zerpa	KC	LAA, @NYY		0%	0%
112	Mitch Keller	PIT	PHI		24%
113	Cal Quantrill	CLE	@BOS
114	Ethan Small	MIL	MIN		0%	6%
115	Paolo Espino	WAS	@LAD, STL		0%	0%
116	Mike Minor	CIN	BAL		0%	13%
117	Tyler Alexander	DET	@TOR		0%	0%
118	Zach Thompson	PIT	PHI		1%	6%
119	Dean Kremer	BAL	@CIN		41%
120	Ian Anderson	ATL	ARI
121	Chris Archer	MIN	@MIL		4%	36%
122	Braxton Garrett	MIA	@CIN
123	James Kaprielian	OAK	@CWS		3%	47%
124	Paul Blackburn	OAK	@CWS
125	Madison Bumgarner	ARI	@ATL
126	Lucas Giolito	CWS	@COL
127	Brayan Bello	BOS	MIL		6%	38%
128	Andre Pallante	STL	@TOR, @WAS		2%	45%
129	Tyler Anderson	LAD	@COL
130	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	@BAL		0%	2%
131	Chase Silseth	LAA	@KC		0%	2%
132	Kyle Freeland	COL	@MIL, LAD		5%	6%
133	Garrett Hill	DET	SD, @TOR		0%	0%
134	Jordan Lyles	BAL	TB		6%	49%
135	Michael Kopech	CWS	@COL
136	Kyle Bradish	BAL	@CIN		2%	6%
137	Anibal Sanchez	WAS	STL		0%	2%
138	Austin Voth	BAL	TB		1%	0%
139	Spencer Howard	TEX	@LAA		1%
140	Austin Gomber	COL	CWS		2%	4%
141	Jordan Holloway	MIA	@CIN		0%	0%
142	Spenser Watkins	BAL	TB, @CIN		1%	17%
143	Drew Hutchison	DET	SD, @TOR		0%	0%
144	Erick Fedde	WAS	STL		2%	11%
145	Kirk McCarty	CLE	@BOS, @TB		0%	0%
146	Patrick Corbin	WAS	@LAD		10%
147	Kris Bubic	KC	@NYY		0%	0%
148	Jose Suarez	LAA	@KC		1%	4%
149	Bryse Wilson	PIT	@CHC		0%	0%
150	Matthew Liberatore	STL	@WAS		4%	23%
151	German Marquez	COL	CWS		36%
152	Adam Oller	OAK	HOU, @CWS		0%	0%
153	Elvin Rodriguez	DET	@TOR		0%	0%
154	Chad Kuhl	COL	LAD		17%	36%
155	Corbin Martin	ARI	@ATL		0%	0%
156	Antonio Senzatela	COL	LAD		0%	0%
157	Jose Urena	COL	LAD		1%	0%

American League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Shane McClanahan	TB	@BAL, CLE	Makes it look so easy
2	Alek Manoah	TOR	DET
3	Justin Verlander	HOU	SEA
4	Gerrit Cole	NYY	KC
5	Shohei Ohtani	LAA	TEX
6	Dylan Cease	CWS	OAK
7	Cristian Javier	HOU	@OAK
8	Jordan Montgomery	NYY	@NYM, KC	Exhibit A why IP should replace wins in 5x5 scoring
9	Luis Garcia	HOU	@OAK
10	Shane Bieber	CLE	@TB
11	Jon Gray	TEX	@SEA	1.81 ERA, .95 WHIP with 58 K over last 49.2 IP
12	Martin Perez	TEX	@LAA
13	Nestor Cortes	NYY	KC
14	Johnny Cueto	CWS	OAK
15	Framber Valdez	HOU	SEA
16	Jose Berrios	TOR	STL, DET	2.95 ERA, 1.04 WHIP with 26 K and just 2 BB last 18.1 IP
17	Frankie Montas	OAK	HOU
18	Kevin Gausman	TOR	STL
19	Ross Stripling	TOR	DET
20	Triston McKenzie	CLE	@BOS
21	Jameson Taillon	NYY	KC
22	Corey Kluber	TB	@BAL, CLE
23	Jake Odorizzi	HOU	@OAK, SEA
24	Lance Lynn	CWS	OAK	Is Oakland the panacea?
25	Joe Ryan	MIN	@SD
26	Jose Urquidy	HOU	SEA
27	Sonny Gray	MIN	@SD
28	Zach Plesac	CLE	@BOS, @TB
29	George Kirby	SEA	TEX, @HOU	Possible trade chip?
30	Tyler Wells	BAL	TB
31	Noah Syndergaard	LAA	@KC, TEX
32	Chris Flexen	SEA	TEX, @HOU
33	Nick Pivetta	BOS	CLE, MIL
34	Nathan Eovaldi	BOS	CLE
35	Domingo German	NYY	@NYM
36	Logan Gilbert	SEA	@HOU
37	Jeffrey Springs	TB	CLE
38	Tarik Skubal	DET	SD	Back on track after stint with control issues
39	Kutter Crawford	BOS	CLE
40	Drew Rasmussen	TB	@BAL
41	Dane Dunning	TEX	@SEA, @LAA
42	Cole Irvin	OAK	HOU
43	Robbie Ray	SEA	@HOU
44	Reid Detmers	LAA	TEX
45	Dylan Bundy	MIN	@SD
46	Brad Keller	KC	LAA
47	Marco Gonzales	SEA	TEX
48	Patrick Sandoval	LAA	TEX
49	Josh Winckowski	BOS	CLE, MIL
50	Devin Smeltzer	MIN	@MIL
51	Zack Greinke	KC	LAA, @NYY
52	AL Reliever
53	Brady Singer	KC	@NYY
54	Glenn Otto	TEX	@SEA, @LAA
55	Yusei Kikuchi	TOR	DET
56	Angel Zerpa	KC	LAA, @NYY
57	Cal Quantrill	CLE	@BOS
58	Tyler Alexander	DET	@TOR
59	Dean Kremer	BAL	@CIN
60	Chris Archer	MIN	@MIL
61	James Kaprielian	OAK	@CWS
62	Paul Blackburn	OAK	@CWS
63	Lucas Giolito	CWS	@COL
64	Brayan Bello	BOS	MIL
65	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	@BAL
66	Chase Silseth	LAA	@KC
67	Garrett Hill	DET	SD, @TOR
68	Jordan Lyles	BAL	TB
69	Michael Kopech	CWS	@COL
70	Kyle Bradish	BAL	@CIN
71	Austin Voth	BAL	TB
72	Spencer Howard	TEX	@LAA
73	Spenser Watkins	BAL	TB, @CIN
74	Drew Hutchison	DET	SD, @TOR
75	Kirk McCarty	CLE	@BOS, @TB
76	Kris Bubic	KC	@NYY
77	Jose Suarez	LAA	@KC
78	Adam Oller	OAK	HOU, @CWS
79	Elvin Rodriguez	DET	@TOR

National League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Aaron Nola	PHI	ATL, @PIT
2	Max Fried	ATL	@PHI, ARI
3	Carlos Rodon	SF	@ARI, CHC
4	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	NYM
5	Corbin Burnes	MIL	MIN
6	Max Scherzer	NYM	@MIA
7	Zack Wheeler	PHI	@PIT
8	Joe Musgrove	SD	MIN
9	Luis Castillo	CIN	MIA
10	Chris Bassitt	NYM	@MIA
11	Yu Darvish	SD	@DET
12	Logan Webb	SF	@ARI
13	Pablo Lopez	MIA	@CIN, NYM
14	Kyle Wright	ATL	ARI
15	Zac Gallen	ARI	SF
16	Sean Manaea	SD	@DET, MIN
17	Tony Gonsolin	LAD	WAS, @COL
18	Miles Mikolas	STL	@WAS
19	Alex Wood	SF	CHC
20	Andrew Heaney	LAD	WAS
21	Marcus Stroman	CHC	@SF
22	Mike Clevinger	SD	@DET
23	Merrill Kelly	ARI	SF, @ATL
24	David Peterson	NYM	NYY
25	Mitch White	LAD	WAS
26	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	@BOS
27	Taijuan Walker	NYM	NYY
28	Charlie Morton	ATL	@PHI
29	Nick Lodolo	CIN	MIA, BAL
30	Jakob Junis	SF	@ARI, CHC	Matchups merit a pickup
31	Alex Cobb	SF	CHC
32	Spencer Strider	ATL	@PHI
33	Tyler Mahle	CIN	BAL
34	Blake Snell	SD	MIN
35	Keegan Thompson	CHC	PIT
36	Ranger Suarez	PHI	ATL, @PIT
37	Adrian Sampson	CHC	PIT, @SF
38	Carlos Carrasco	NYM	@MIA
39	Hunter Greene	CIN	MIA
40	Eric Lauer	MIL	@BOS
41	Aaron Ashby	MIL	COL, @BOS
42	Justin Steele	CHC	@SF
43	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	@COL
44	JT Brubaker	PIT	@CHC, PHI
45	Adam Wainwright	STL	@TOR
46	Kyle Gibson	PHI	ATL
47	Drew Smyly	CHC	@SF
48	Trevor Rogers	MIA	@CIN, NYM
49	Bailey Falter	PHI	@PIT
50	Josiah Gray	WAS	@LAD
51	Jose Quintana	PIT	PHI
52	NL Reliever
53	Graham Ashcraft	CIN	MIA
54	Tyler Gilbert	ARI	SF
55	Julio Urias	LAD	@COL
56	Mitch Keller	PIT	PHI
57	Ethan Small	MIL	MIN
58	Paolo Espino	WAS	@LAD, STL
59	Mike Minor	CIN	BAL
60	Zach Thompson	PIT	PHI
61	Ian Anderson	ATL	ARI
62	Braxton Garrett	MIA	@CIN
63	Madison Bumgarner	ARI	@ATL
64	Andre Pallante	STL	@TOR, @WAS
65	Tyler Anderson	LAD	@COL
66	Kyle Freeland	COL	@MIL, LAD
67	Anibal Sanchez	WAS	STL
68	Austin Gomber	COL	CWS
69	Jordan Holloway	MIA	@CIN
70	Erick Fedde	WAS	STL
71	Patrick Corbin	WAS	@LAD
72	Bryse Wilson	PIT	@CHC
73	Matthew Liberatore	STL	@WAS
74	German Marquez	COL	CWS
75	Chad Kuhl	COL	LAD
76	Corbin Martin	ARI	@ATL
77	Antonio Senzatela	COL	LAD
78	Jose Urena	COL	LAD