Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Striding to the Top

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Updated on April 23, 2023 11:37PM EST

Lather, rinse, repeat. The available pool of two-start pitchers, especially in 15-team mixed, is razor thin. There are a couple of possibilities in 12-team mixed.

For those new, or needing a refresh, here is how to use the RELIEVER rows and ROSTERSHIP columns to best utilize these rankings. The bolded reliever represents a very good, non-closing reliever. The idea being it's better to start a reliever of this ilk instead of the starting pitchers ranked lower. Of course, everything is contextual and depends on team needs (not to mention format), but within the scope of these rankings, it's a good indicator of how each arm will affect your standings with their performance for the coming week.

MIX12 and MIX15 are the current rostership levels in the NFBC Rotowire Online Championship and Main Event, respectively. They may not match your league, but they ballpark who may be available. Of course, it's always worth the effort to check your league's available player list.

Anyone available in at least half of the leagues is identified. A blank means they are rostered in over half the leagues, but again, always check.

Pitchers with a rostership below 50 percent and above the Mix 12 or Mix 15 reliever are FAAB targets. More often than not, most of them only have one start, but if they're better than who you have on reserve, they merit a pickup, if only to dump next week.

I'm happy to clarify in the comments, as well as addressing specific rankings

Lather, rinse, repeat. The available pool of two-start pitchers, especially in 15-team mixed, is razor thin. There are a couple of possibilities in 12-team mixed.

Anyone available in at least half of the leagues is identified. A blank means they are rostered in over half the leagues, but again, always check.

I'm happy to clarify in the comments, as well as addressing specific rankings questions. If you have a question about the schedule, please direct it to Probable Pitchers.

UPDATED: Sunday April 23 11:35 PM ET

Week of April 24-30

Mixed

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comments	MIX12	MIX15
1	Spencer Strider	ATL	MIA, @NYM	Averaging 98 pitches (5.5 IP) per start
2	Shohei Ohtani	LAA	OAK	Must be hard to play with super hero cape flapping
3	Nick Lodolo	CIN	TEX, @OAK	HR a small issue, they should correct
4	Gerrit Cole	NYY	@TEX	So consistent he's become underrated, or maybe under appreciated
5	Zac Gallen	ARI	KC
6	Sonny Gray	MIN	NYY, KC
7	Corbin Burnes	MIL	LAA
8	Jacob deGrom	TEX	NYY
9	Charlie Morton	ATL	MIA, @NYM	Off to another slow start, should rebound, but he is 39 YO
10	Kevin Gausman	TOR	SEA
11	Yu Darvish	SD	SF
12	Nestor Cortes	NYY	@MIN, @TEX
13	Justin Steele	CHC	SD, @MIA
14	Brady Singer	KC	@ARI, @MIN	Not giving up
15	Freddy Peralta	MIL	DET
16	Max Fried	ATL	@NYM
17	Dylan Cease	CWS	TB
18	Joe Ryan	MIN	NYY, KC
19	Joe Musgrove	SD	SF
20	Jesus Luzardo	MIA	CHC
21	Pablo Lopez	MIN	KC
22	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	STL
23	Julio Urias	LAD	@PIT
24	Framber Valdez	HOU	PHI
25	Hunter Greene	CIN	@OAK
26	Chris Bassitt	TOR	CWS, SEA	Turning things around
27	Zack Wheeler	PHI	@HOU
28	Jordan Montgomery	STL	@SF, @LAD
29	Drew Rasmussen	TB	HOU, @CWS
30	Cristian Javier	HOU	PHI
31	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	@ATL	Tentative, was scratched from last start with biceps tendinitis
32	Tanner Houck	BOS	@BAL		32%
33	Chris Sale	BOS	@BAL
34	Aaron Nola	PHI	@HOU
35	Luis Garcia	HOU	@TB	Making a case to stay in the rotation
36	Shane McClanahan	TB	@CWS	Walks a bit high
37	Luis Castillo	SEA	@TOR
38	Logan Webb	SF	STL
39	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	@CIN, NYY
40	Patrick Sandoval	LAA	OAK
41	Marcus Stroman	CHC	@MIA
42	Tyler Mahle	MIN	KC
43	Alex Cobb	SF	STL, @SD
44	Shane Bieber	CLE	@BOS
45	Joey Lucchesi	NYM	WAS	Could stick if he stays healthy	0%	0%
46	Eduardo Rodriguez	DET	BAL
47	Kyle Bradish	BAL	BOS, @DET
48	Kodai Senga	NYM	WAS
49	Lance Lynn	CWS	@TOR, TB
50	Lucas Giolito	CWS	TB
51	Garrett Whitlock	BOS	CLE
52	Dustin May	LAD	STL
53	Alek Manoah	TOR	SEA
54	Eric Lauer	MIL	DET
55	Mason Miller	OAK	@LAA		0%	0%
56	Jose Urquidy	HOU	@TB, PHI
57	Domingo German	NYY	@MIN
58	Kenta Maeda	MIN	NYY
59	Tyler Anderson	LAA	@MIL
60	Noah Syndergaard	LAD	@PIT, STL
61	Logan Gilbert	SEA	@PHI, @TOR
62	Jon Gray	TEX	@CIN
63	Blake Snell	SD	@CHC
64	Kyle Wright	ATL	MIA
65	Taijuan Walker	PHI	SEA
66	Anthony DeSclafani	SF	STL
67	Reid Detmers	LAA	@MIL
68	Seth Lugo	SD	@CHC
69	Rich Hill	PIT	@WAS		0%	0%
70	Hunter Brown	HOU	@TB
71	Matt Strahm	PHI	SEA		35%
72	Grayson Rodriguez	BAL	@DET
73	Jose Berrios	TOR	CWS
74	Kyle Gibson	BAL	@DET
75	Matthew Boyd	DET	@MIL, BAL	Keeping the ball in the yard, but needs more strikeouts	47%
76	Bryce Elder	ATL	MIA
77	Corey Kluber	BOS	@BAL		15%
78	Spencer Turnbull	DET	@MIL, BAL		2%
79	Zack Greinke	KC	@MIN		3%	25%
80	Tony Gonsolin	LAD	@PIT
81	Tyler Wells	BAL	BOS		17%
82	Mix 12 Reliever				0%	0%
83	George Kirby	SEA	@PHI
84	Steven Matz	STL	@SF
85	Griffin Canning	LAA	OAK		20%
86	Edward Cabrera	MIA	@ATL, CHC
87	Ross Stripling	SF	@SD		14%	38%
88	Wade Miley	MIL	LAA		16%
89	Mix 15 Reliever				0%	0%
90	Luis Cessa	CIN	@OAK		0%	2%
91	Mike Clevinger	CWS	@TOR, TB
92	Sean Manaea	SF	STL
93	Brad Keller	KC	@ARI, @MIN		43%
94	Zach Eflin	TB	@CWS
95	Dean Kremer	BAL	BOS, @DET		5%
96	Trevor Williams	WAS	@NYM		1%	4%
97	Andrew Heaney	TEX	NYY
98	Graham Ashcraft	CIN	TEX
99	Taj Bradley	TB	HOU, @CWS
100	Bailey Falter	PHI	SEA, @HOU		26%
101	Michael Kopech	CWS	@TOR
102	Vince Velasquez	PIT	@WAS		0%	13%
103	Martin Perez	TEX	@CIN, NYY
104	Jhony Brito	NYY	@MIN, @TEX		29%
105	Josiah Gray	WAS	@NYM, PIT		31%
106	Colin Rea	MIL	DET, LAA		3%	23%
107	Jack Flaherty	STL	@LAD
108	Cal Quantrill	CLE	COL, @BOS		39%
109	Yusei Kikuchi	TOR	CWS		49%
110	Jose Suarez	LAA	OAK, @MIL		16%
111	Ryan Yarbrough	KC	@ARI		0%	0%
112	Austin Gomber	COL	@CLE, ARI		0%	0%
113	Ryne Nelson	ARI	KC		33%
114	Miles Mikolas	STL	@SF
115	Shintaro Fujinami	OAK	CIN		2%	13%
116	Johan Oviedo	PIT	LAD, @WAS
117	Michael Wacha	SD	@CHC
118	David Peterson	NYM	ATL
119	Nick Pivetta	BOS	CLE		12%
120	Joey Wentz	DET	BAL		0%	4%
121	Michael Lorenzen	DET	@MIL		2%	11%
122	Jordan Lyles	KC	@MIN		2%	9%
123	Mitch Keller	PIT	LAD
124	Brayan Bello	BOS	CLE
125	Caleb Kilian	CHC	@MIA		0%	0%
126	Kyle Freeland	COL	ARI		29%
127	Drew Smyly	CHC	SD		2%
128	Adam Wainwright	STL	@LAD		8%	21%
129	Roansy Contreras	PIT	LAD
130	Ryan Feltner	COL	@CLE		0%	0%
131	Luke Weaver	CIN	TEX		0%	0%
132	Tylor Megill	NYM	ATL
133	Hayden Wesneski	CHC	SD
134	Merrill Kelly	ARI	@COL
135	Xzavion Curry	CLE	COL		0%	0%
136	Braxton Garrett	MIA	@ATL		41%
137	Ken Waldichuk	OAK	@LAA, CIN		2%	8%
138	Noah Davis	COL	@CLE		0%	0%
139	Jose Butto	NYM	WAS, ATL		0%	0%
140	MacKenzie Gore	WAS	@NYM
141	Marco Gonzales	SEA	@PHI		2%	23%
142	Peyton Battenfield	CLE	COL		2%	30%
143	Jake Woodford	STL	@SF		1%	9%
144	Kyle Muller	OAK	CIN		9%
145	Patrick Corbin	WAS	PIT		0%	0%
146	Zach Plesac	CLE	@BOS		1%	47%
147	JP Sears	OAK	@LAA		1%	23%
148	Chad Kuhl	WAS	PIT		0%	0%
149	Clarke Schmidt	NYY	@TEX		46%
150	James Kaprielian	OAK	@LAA		0%	2%
151	Chris Flexen	SEA	@TOR		3%	40%
152	Drey Jameson	ARI	@COL
153	Bryan Hoeing	MIA	@ATL, CHC		0%	0%
154	Jose Urena	COL	ARI		0%	0%
155	Calvin Faucher	TB	HOU		0%	0%
156	Tommy Henry	ARI	KC, @COL		0%	0%

American League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Shohei Ohtani	LAA	OAK	Must be hard to play with super hero cape flapping
2	Gerrit Cole	NYY	@TEX	So consistent he's become underrated, or maybe under appreciated
3	Sonny Gray	MIN	NYY, KC
4	Jacob deGrom	TEX	NYY
5	Kevin Gausman	TOR	SEA
6	Nestor Cortes	NYY	@MIN, @TEX
7	Brady Singer	KC	@ARI, @MIN	Not giving up
8	Dylan Cease	CWS	TB
9	Joe Ryan	MIN	NYY, KC
10	Pablo Lopez	MIN	KC
11	Framber Valdez	HOU	PHI
12	Chris Bassitt	TOR	CWS, SEA	Turning things around
13	Drew Rasmussen	TB	HOU, @CWS
14	Cristian Javier	HOU	PHI
15	Tanner Houck	BOS	@BAL
16	Chris Sale	BOS	@BAL
17	Luis Garcia	HOU	@TB	Making a case to stay in the rotation
18	Shane McClanahan	TB	@CWS	Walks a bit high
19	Luis Castillo	SEA	@TOR
20	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	@CIN, NYY
21	Patrick Sandoval	LAA	OAK
22	Tyler Mahle	MIN	KC
23	Shane Bieber	CLE	@BOS
24	Eduardo Rodriguez	DET	BAL
25	Kyle Bradish	BAL	BOS, @DET
26	Lance Lynn	CWS	@TOR, TB
27	Lucas Giolito	CWS	TB
28	Garrett Whitlock	BOS	CLE
29	Alek Manoah	TOR	SEA
30	Mason Miller	OAK	@LAA
31	Jose Urquidy	HOU	@TB, PHI
32	Domingo German	NYY	@MIN
33	Kenta Maeda	MIN	NYY
34	Tyler Anderson	LAA	@MIL
35	Logan Gilbert	SEA	@PHI, @TOR
36	Jon Gray	TEX	@CIN
37	Reid Detmers	LAA	@MIL
38	Hunter Brown	HOU	@TB
39	Grayson Rodriguez	BAL	@DET
40	Jose Berrios	TOR	CWS
41	Kyle Gibson	BAL	@DET
42	Matthew Boyd	DET	@MIL, BAL	Keeping the ball in the yard, but needs more strikeouts
43	Corey Kluber	BOS	@BAL
44	Spencer Turnbull	DET	@MIL, BAL
45	Zack Greinke	KC	@MIN
46	Tyler Wells	BAL	BOS
47	George Kirby	SEA	@PHI
48	Griffin Canning	LAA	OAK
49	Mike Clevinger	CWS	@TOR, TB
50	Brad Keller	KC	@ARI, @MIN
51	Zach Eflin	TB	@CWS
52	Dean Kremer	BAL	BOS, @DET
53	Andrew Heaney	TEX	NYY
54	Taj Bradley	TB	HOU, @CWS
55	Michael Kopech	CWS	@TOR
56	Martin Perez	TEX	@CIN, NYY
57	Jhony Brito	NYY	@MIN, @TEX
58	AL Reliever
59	Cal Quantrill	CLE	COL, @BOS
60	Yusei Kikuchi	TOR	CWS
61	Jose Suarez	LAA	OAK, @MIL
62	Ryan Yarbrough	KC	@ARI
63	Shintaro Fujinami	OAK	CIN
64	Nick Pivetta	BOS	CLE
65	Joey Wentz	DET	BAL
66	Michael Lorenzen	DET	@MIL
67	Jordan Lyles	KC	@MIN
68	Brayan Bello	BOS	CLE
69	Xzavion Curry	CLE	COL
70	Ken Waldichuk	OAK	@LAA, CIN
71	Marco Gonzales	SEA	@PHI
72	Peyton Battenfield	CLE	COL
73	Kyle Muller	OAK	CIN
74	Zach Plesac	CLE	@BOS
75	JP Sears	OAK	@LAA
76	Clarke Schmidt	NYY	@TEX
77	James Kaprielian	OAK	@LAA
78	Chris Flexen	SEA	@TOR
79	Calvin Faucher	TB	HOU

National League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Spencer Strider	ATL	MIA, @NYM	Averaging 98 pitches (5.5 IP) per start
2	Nick Lodolo	CIN	TEX, @OAK	HR a small issue, they should correct
3	Zac Gallen	ARI	KC
4	Corbin Burnes	MIL	LAA
5	Charlie Morton	ATL	MIA, @NYM	Off to another slow start, should rebound, but he is 39 YO
6	Yu Darvish	SD	SF
7	Justin Steele	CHC	SD, @MIA
8	Freddy Peralta	MIL	DET
9	Max Fried	ATL	@NYM
10	Joe Musgrove	SD	SF
11	Jesus Luzardo	MIA	CHC
12	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	STL
13	Julio Urias	LAD	@PIT
14	Hunter Greene	CIN	@OAK
15	Zack Wheeler	PHI	@HOU
16	Jordan Montgomery	STL	@SF, @LAD
17	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	@ATL	Tentative, was scratched from last start with biceps tendinitis
18	Aaron Nola	PHI	@HOU
19	Logan Webb	SF	STL
20	Marcus Stroman	CHC	@MIA
21	Alex Cobb	SF	STL, @SD
22	Joey Lucchesi	NYM	WAS	Could stick if he stays healthy
23	Kodai Senga	NYM	WAS
24	Dustin May	LAD	STL
25	Eric Lauer	MIL	DET
26	Noah Syndergaard	LAD	@PIT, STL
27	Blake Snell	SD	@CHC
28	Kyle Wright	ATL	MIA
29	Taijuan Walker	PHI	SEA
30	Anthony DeSclafani	SF	STL
31	Seth Lugo	SD	@CHC
32	Rich Hill	PIT	@WAS
33	Matt Strahm	PHI	SEA
34	Bryce Elder	ATL	MIA
35	Tony Gonsolin	LAD	@PIT
36	Steven Matz	STL	@SF
37	Edward Cabrera	MIA	@ATL, CHC
38	Ross Stripling	SF	@SD
39	Wade Miley	MIL	LAA
40	Luis Cessa	CIN	@OAK
41	Sean Manaea	SF	STL
42	Trevor Williams	WAS	@NYM
43	Graham Ashcraft	CIN	TEX
44	Bailey Falter	PHI	SEA, @HOU
45	Vince Velasquez	PIT	@WAS
46	Josiah Gray	WAS	@NYM, PIT
47	NL Reliever
48	Colin Rea	MIL	DET, LAA
49	Jack Flaherty	STL	@LAD
50	Austin Gomber	COL	@CLE, ARI
51	Ryne Nelson	ARI	KC
52	Miles Mikolas	STL	@SF
53	Johan Oviedo	PIT	LAD, @WAS
54	Michael Wacha	SD	@CHC
55	David Peterson	NYM	ATL
56	Mitch Keller	PIT	LAD
57	Caleb Kilian	CHC	@MIA
58	Kyle Freeland	COL	ARI
59	Drew Smyly	CHC	SD
60	Adam Wainwright	STL	@LAD
61	Roansy Contreras	PIT	LAD
62	Ryan Feltner	COL	@CLE
63	Luke Weaver	CIN	TEX
64	Tylor Megill	NYM	ATL
65	Hayden Wesneski	CHC	SD
66	Merrill Kelly	ARI	@COL
67	Braxton Garrett	MIA	@ATL
68	Noah Davis	COL	@CLE
69	Jose Butto	NYM	WAS, ATL
70	MacKenzie Gore	WAS	@NYM
71	Jake Woodford	STL	@SF
72	Patrick Corbin	WAS	PIT
73	Chad Kuhl	WAS	PIT
74	Drey Jameson	ARI	@COL
75	Bryan Hoeing	MIA	@ATL, CHC
76	Jose Urena	COL	ARI
77	Tommy Henry	ARI	KC, @COL