Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Two Starts for deGrom

Todd Zola ranks the week's starting pitching as the Mets' Jacob deGrom gets two starts but is thankful he doesn't get paid by the win.

Updated on August 11, 2018 12:30PM EST

Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Two Starts for deGrom

By:

Todd Zola

Updated on August 11, 2018 12:30PM EST

Weekly Pitcher Rankings

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What looked to be a quiet week in terms of two-start pitchers gained some oomph with a makeup game and a couple doubleheaders added to the original schedule. The top of the board is dominated by very good hurlers with two starts, pushing the aces with just one outing down a little.

The middle is populated with some arms worth picking up if they're available in shallower mixed leagues as matchups drive elevated rankings.

For the week, Aug. 13-19.

UPDATED: Sunday August 12, 10:15 PM ET

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RANK	PITCHER	TEAM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Justin Verlander	HOU	vs. COL, at OAK	Coming off rare poor outing, and emotional outburst
2	Luis Severino	NYY	vs. NYM, vs. TOR	Homers up, yielding big inning lately
3	Mike Clevinger	CLE	at CIN, vs. BAL	Getting better as the season wears on
4	J.A. Happ	NYY	vs. TB, vs. TOR	First time facing former team
5	Chris Sale	BOS	vs. TB
6	Corey Kluber	CLE	at CIN
7	Gerrit Cole	HOU	vs. COL
8	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	vs. BAL	ERA continues to drop, heading below 4.00
9	Trevor Bauer	CLE	vs. BAL
10	Rick Porcello	BOS	at PHI
11	Sean Manaea	OAK	vs. SEA, vs. HOU	Low whiff potential and good offenses temper rank
12	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	vs. TB
13	Marco Gonzales	SEA	at OAK, vs. LAD	Getting benefit of the doubt despite 6 HR surrendered in last 24.1 IP
14	James Paxton	SEA	at OAK
15	Charlie Morton	HOU	at OAK
16

The middle is populated with some arms worth picking up if they're available in shallower mixed leagues as matchups drive elevated rankings.

For the week, Aug. 13-19.

UPDATED: Sunday August 12, 10:15 PM ET

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RANK	PITCHER	TEAM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Justin Verlander	HOU	vs. COL, at OAK	Coming off rare poor outing, and emotional outburst
2	Luis Severino	NYY	vs. NYM, vs. TOR	Homers up, yielding big inning lately
3	Mike Clevinger	CLE	at CIN, vs. BAL	Getting better as the season wears on
4	J.A. Happ	NYY	vs. TB, vs. TOR	First time facing former team
5	Chris Sale	BOS	vs. TB
6	Corey Kluber	CLE	at CIN
7	Gerrit Cole	HOU	vs. COL
8	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	vs. BAL	ERA continues to drop, heading below 4.00
9	Trevor Bauer	CLE	vs. BAL
10	Rick Porcello	BOS	at PHI
11	Sean Manaea	OAK	vs. SEA, vs. HOU	Low whiff potential and good offenses temper rank
12	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	vs. TB
13	Marco Gonzales	SEA	at OAK, vs. LAD	Getting benefit of the doubt despite 6 HR surrendered in last 24.1 IP
14	James Paxton	SEA	at OAK
15	Charlie Morton	HOU	at OAK
16	Blaine Hardy	DET	vs. CWS, at MIN	Worth picking up to face pair of lineups weak vs. LHP
17	Blake Snell	TB	at NYY	Deserves to be in the Cy Young conversation
18	Nathan Eovaldi	BOS	at PHI	Nice when your offense tallies to let you off the hook
19	Reynaldo Lopez	CWS	at DET, vs. KC	Aided by teams playing out the string after dumping
20	Kyle Gibson	MIN	vs. DET
21	Jake Odorizzi	MIN	vs. PIT, vs. DET
22	Mike Minor	TEX	vs. LAA
23	David Price	BOS	vs. TB	Showed he can actually pitch well vs. Yankees
24	Jakob Junis	KC	at CWS
25	Jose Berrios	MIN	vs. PIT
26	Dallas Keuchel	HOU	at OAK
27	CC Sabathia	NYY	vs. TOR
28	Ervin Santana	MIN	vs. DET	Still knocking the rust off
29	Jaime Barria	LAA	at SD, at TEX	Arlington affair is a risk
30	Wade LeBlanc	SEA	vs. LAD
31	Shane Bieber	CLE	at CIN
32	Matthew Boyd	DET	at MIN	2.59 ERA, .99 WHIP last 4 GS with 24 K, 4 BB in 24.1 IP
33	Lance Lynn	NYY	vs. TB
34	Marco Estrada	TOR	at KC
35	Andrew Heaney	LAA	at SD, at TEX	Recent woes dropping ranking, but realize how close 40 and 80 are, the middle ranks are tightly bunched
36	Felix Pena	LAA	at SD
37	Lucas Giolito	CWS	at DET
38	Mike Fiers	OAK	vs. SEA
39	James Shields	CWS	vs. KC
40	Carlos Rodon	CWS	at DET	Outpitching skills last few outings
41	Danny Duffy	KC	vs. TOR
42	Ryan Borucki	TOR	at KC, at NYY
43	Jordan Zimmermann	DET	vs. CWS
44	Artie Lewicki	DET	vs. CWS, at MIN
45	Erasmo Ramirez	SEA	vs. LAD	Essentially replacing King Felix
46	Mike Leake	SEA	at OAK
47	Dylan Covey	CWS	vs. KC
48	Trevor Cahill	OAK	vs. HOU
49	Andrew Cashner	BAL	vs. NYM
50	Marcus Stroman	TOR	at NYY
51	Francisco Liriano	DET	at MIN
52	Brian Johnson	BOS	vs. TB
53	Yonny Chirinos	TB	at NYY
54	Edwin Jackson	OAK	vs. HOU
55	Burch Smith	KC	vs. TOR
56	Adalberto Mejia	MIN	vs. DET
57	Sam Gaviglio	TOR	at KC
58	Dylan Bundy	BAL	at CLE
59	Bartolo Colon	TEX	vs. ARI
60	Heath Fillmyer	KC	vs. TOR, at CWS
61	Brad Keller	KC	vs. TOR, at CWS	Ignore 3.57 ERA, 58 K with 38 BB in 88.1 IP says it won't last
62	Martin Perez	TEX	vs. LAA
63	Nick Tropeano	LAA	at TEX
64	Brett Anderson	OAK	vs. SEA
65	Thomas Pannone	TOR	at NYY
66	Jalen Beeks	TB	at NYY, at BOS
67	Alex Cobb	BAL	at CLE	Pitching better, but still not missing bats
68	David Hess	BAL	vs. NYM
69	Yefry Ramirez	BAL	at CLE
70	Sean Reid-Foley	TOR	at KC	Good matchup, just don't know what to expect in debut
71	Tyler Glasnow	TB	at BOS
72	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	at BOS
73	Drew Hutchison	TEX	vs. LAA
74	Yovani Gallardo	TEX	vs. ARI
75	Ariel Jurado	TEX	vs. LAA
76	Taylor Cole	LAA	at TEX

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Rank	Pitcher	TEAM	OPP	Comments
1	Jacob deGrom	NYM	at NYY, at PHI	Good thing he's not paid by the win
2	Zack Greinke	ARI	at TEX, at SD
3	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	vs. SF, at SEA
4	Mike Foltynewicz	ATL	vs. COL, vs. MIA
5	Madison Bumgarner	SF	at LAD, at CIN	Walks high but keeping the ball in the yard
6	Max Scherzer	WAS	vs. MIA
7	Anibal Sanchez	ATL	vs. MIA, vs. COL	Pitching well plus facing soft lineups at home
8	Miles Mikolas	STL	vs. WAS, vs. MIL	Continues to get by with pedestrian strikeouts
9	Aaron Nola	PHI	vs. NYM	Nola vs. Thor, appointment viewing
10	Nick Pivetta	PHI	vs. BOS, vs. NYM	Hope for minimal damage vs. Boston
11	Jameson Taillon	PIT	at MIN, vs. CHC	Not flashy, just solid
12	Kevin Gausman	ATL	vs. MIA	You think he's happy to be out of the AL East?
13	Zack Godley	ARI	at SD
14	Gio Gonzalez	WAS	at STL, vs. MIA	Control spotty, but facing lesser lineups
15	Robbie Ray	ARI	at SD	Already looking forward to drafting him as my SP4 next season
16	Noah Syndergaard	NYM	at PHI
17	Alex Wood	LAD	vs. SF
18	Luis Castillo	CIN	vs. SF
19	Jhoulys Chacin	MIL	at CHC, at STL
20	Clayton Richard	SD	vs. LAA, vs. ARI	In a run but Petco park is a nice elixir
21	Zach Eflin	PHI	vs. NYM	Big strikeout potential
22	Jake Arrieta	PHI	vs. NYM
23	Clay Buchholz	ARI	at SD
24	Cole Hamels	CHC	at PIT	Cubs best starting pitcher
25	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	vs. MIL
26	Rich Hill	LAD	at SEA
27	Touki Toussaint	ATL	vs. MIA	Ticketed to make debut in Monday DH
28	Anthony DeSclafani	CIN	vs. SF	Quietly pitching very well lately
29	Jose Quintana	CHC	vs. MIL, at PIT	Scary thing is this feels generous
30	Luke Weaver	STL	vs. MIL
31	Jack Flaherty	STL	vs. WAS
32	Zack Wheeler	NYM	at BAL	4-0 (one fewer win than deGrom has for the season) in last 4 GS, 1.95 ERA with .90 WHIP
33	John Gant	STL	vs. WAS, vs. MIL	Low BABIP masking high walk rate
34	Chase Anderson	MIL	at STL
35	German Marquez	COL	at HOU, at ATL	Driven by strikeouts, ratios in peril
36	Derek Holland	SF	at LAD
37	Hyun-Jin Ryu	LAD	vs. SF
38	Jon Gray	COL	at ATL
39	Jeremy Hellickson	WAS	at STL
40	Julio Teheran	ATL	vs. COL	Frustrating season keeps getting worse
41	Walker Buehler	LAD	at SEA
42	Jon Lester	CHC	at PIT
43	Tanner Roark	WAS	at STL
44	Dereck Rodriguez	SF	at CIN
45	Tyler Anderson	COL	at HOU
46	Sean Newcomb	ATL	vs. COL
47	Joe Musgrove	PIT	vs. CHC
48	Patrick Corbin	ARI	at TEX
49	Joey Lucchesi	SD	vs. ARI
50	Brett Kennedy	SD	vs. LAA, vs. ARI	Helped by home park
51	Chris Archer	PIT	at MIN
52	Mike Montgomery	CHC	at PIT
53	Matt Harvey	CIN	vs. SF
54	Kyle Freeland	COL	at ATL
55	Ivan Nova	PIT	vs. CHC
56	Trevor Williams	PIT	vs. CHC
57	Steven Matz	NYM	at PHI
58	Jason Vargas	NYM	at BAL, at PHI
59	Vince Velasquez	PHI	vs. BOS
60	Jose Urena	MIA	at ATL
61	Tommy Milone	WAS	at STL, vs. MIA
62	Enyel De Los Santos	PHI	vs. NYM
63	Chad Bettis	COL	at ATL
64	Merandy Gonzalez	MIA	at ATL
65	Andrew Suarez	SF	at LAD, at CIN
66	Jacob Nix	SD	vs. LAA	Solid in first start, catching Angels at a good time
67	Austin Gomber	STL	vs. WAS
68	Junior Guerra	MIL	at CHC
69	Corey Oswalt	NYM	at PHI
70	Trevor Richards	MIA	at ATL
71	Wade Miley	MIL	at STL
72	Eric Lauer	SD	vs. ARI
73	Dan Straily	MIA	at WAS
74	Pablo Lopez	MIA	at ATL, at WAS	Pitching better, but two tough draws
75	Wei-Yin Chen	MIA	at WAS
76	Sal Romano	CIN	vs. CLE
77	Robert Stephenson	CIN	vs. CLE
78	Homer Bailey	CIN	vs. CLE

MLB

RANK	PITCHER	TEAM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Justin Verlander	HOU	vs. COL, at OAK	Coming off rare poor outing, and emotional outburst
2	Luis Severino	NYY	vs. NYM, vs. TOR	Homers up, yielding big inning lately
3	Jacob deGrom	NYM	at NYY, at PHI	Good thing he's not paid by the win
4	Zack Greinke	ARI	at TEX, at SD
5	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	vs. SF, at SEA
6	Mike Clevinger	CLE	at CIN, vs. BAL	Getting better as the season wears on
7	Mike Foltynewicz	ATL	vs. COL, vs. MIA
8	Madison Bumgarner	SF	at LAD, at CIN	Walks high but keeping the ball in the yard
9	Max Scherzer	WAS	vs. MIA
10	Anibal Sanchez	ATL	vs. MIA, vs. COL	Pitching well plus facing soft lineups at home
11	J.A. Happ	NYY	vs. TB, vs. TOR	First time facing former team
12	Miles Mikolas	STL	vs. WAS, vs. MIL	Continues to get by with pedestrian strikeouts
13	Chris Sale	BOS	vs. TB
14	Corey Kluber	CLE	at CIN
15	Aaron Nola	PHI	vs. NYM	Nola vs. Thor, appointment viewing
16	Gerrit Cole	HOU	vs. COL
17	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	vs. BAL	ERA continues to drop, heading below 4.00
18	Trevor Bauer	CLE	vs. BAL
19	Nick Pivetta	PHI	vs. BOS, vs. NYM	Hope for minimal damage vs. Boston
20	Jameson Taillon	PIT	at MIN, vs. CHC	Not flashy, just solid
21	Rick Porcello	BOS	at PHI
22	Kevin Gausman	ATL	vs. MIA	You think he's happy to be out of the AL East?
23	Zack Godley	ARI	at SD
24	Gio Gonzalez	WAS	at STL, vs. MIA	Control spotty, but facing lesser lineups
25	Robbie Ray	ARI	at SD	Already looking forward to drafting him as my SP4 next season
26	Noah Syndergaard	NYM	at PHI
27	Alex Wood	LAD	vs. SF
28	Sean Manaea	OAK	vs. SEA, vs. HOU	Low whiff potential and good offenses temper rank
29	Luis Castillo	CIN	vs. SF
30	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	vs. TB
31	Marco Gonzales	SEA	at OAK, vs. LAD	Getting benefit of the doubt despite 6 HR surrendered in last 24.1 IP
32	Jhoulys Chacin	MIL	at CHC, at STL
33	Clayton Richard	SD	vs. LAA, vs. ARI	In a run but Petco park is a nice elixir
34	James Paxton	SEA	at OAK
35	Zach Eflin	PHI	vs. NYM	Big strikeout potential
36	Charlie Morton	HOU	at OAK
37	Jake Arrieta	PHI	vs. NYM
38	Blaine Hardy	DET	vs. CWS, at MIN	Worth picking up to face pair of lineups weak vs. LHP
39	Blake Snell	TB	at NYY	Deserves to be in the Cy Young conversation
40	Nathan Eovaldi	BOS	at PHI	Nice when your offense tallies to let you off the hook
41	Clay Buchholz	ARI	at SD
42	Reynaldo Lopez	CWS	at DET, vs. KC	Aided by teams playing out the string after dumping
43	Kyle Gibson	MIN	vs. DET
44	Cole Hamels	CHC	at PIT	Cubs best starting pitcher
45	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	vs. MIL
46	Jake Odorizzi	MIN	vs. PIT, vs. DET
47	Mike Minor	TEX	vs. LAA
48	Rich Hill	LAD	at SEA
49	David Price	BOS	vs. TB	Showed he can actually pitch well vs. Yankees
50	Touki Toussaint	ATL	vs. MIA
51	Anthony DeSclafani	CIN	vs. SF	Quietly pitching very well lately
52	Jose Quintana	CHC	vs. MIL, at PIT	Scary thing is this feels generous
53	Luke Weaver	STL	vs. MIL
54	Jakob Junis	KC	at CWS
55	Jose Berrios	MIN	vs. PIT
56	Jack Flaherty	STL	vs. WAS
57	Dallas Keuchel	HOU	at OAK
58	CC Sabathia	NYY	vs. TOR
59	Zack Wheeler	NYM	at BAL	4-0 (one fewer win than deGrom has for the season) in last 4 GS, 1.95 ERA with .90 WHIP
60	John Gant	STL	vs. WAS, vs. MIL	Low BABIP masking high walk rate
61	Ervin Santana	MIN	vs. DET	Still knocking the rust off
62	Jaime Barria	LAA	at SD, at TEX	Arlington affair is a risk
63	Chase Anderson	MIL	at STL
64	German Marquez	COL	at HOU, at ATL	Driven by strikeouts, ratios in peril
65	Derek Holland	SF	at LAD
66	Wade LeBlanc	SEA	vs. LAD
67	Shane Bieber	CLE	at CIN
68	Hyun-Jin Ryu	LAD	vs. SF
69	Jon Gray	COL	at ATL
70	Jeremy Hellickson	WAS	at STL
71	Julio Teheran	ATL	vs. COL	Frustrating season keeps getting worse
72	Matthew Boyd	DET	at MIN	2.59 ERA, .99 WHIP last 4 GS with 24 K, 4 BB in 24.1 IP
73	Walker Buehler	LAD	at SEA
74	Jon Lester	CHC	at PIT
75	Tanner Roark	WAS	at STL
76	Lance Lynn	NYY	vs. TB
77	Marco Estrada	TOR	at KC
78	Andrew Heaney	LAA	at SD, at TEX	Recent woes dropping ranking, but realize how close 40 and 80 are, the middle ranks are tightly bunched
79	Felix Pena	LAA	at SD
80	Dereck Rodriguez	SF	at CIN
81	Tyler Anderson	COL	at HOU
82	Sean Newcomb	ATL	vs. COL
83	Lucas Giolito	CWS	at DET
84	Joe Musgrove	PIT	vs. CHC
85	Mike Fiers	OAK	vs. SEA
86	James Shields	CWS	vs. KC
87	Carlos Rodon	CWS	at DET	Outpitching skills last few outings
88	Danny Duffy	KC	vs. TOR
89	Ryan Borucki	TOR	at KC, at NYY
90	Patrick Corbin	ARI	at TEX
91	Jordan Zimmermann	DET	vs. CWS
92	Artie Lewicki	DET	vs. CWS, at MIN
93	Joey Lucchesi	SD	vs. ARI
94	Erasmo Ramirez	SEA	vs. LAD	Essentially replacing King Felix
95	Brett Kennedy	SD	vs. LAA, vs. ARI	Helped by home park
96	Chris Archer	PIT	at MIN
97	Mike Leake	SEA	at OAK
98	Mike Montgomery	CHC	at PIT
99	Dylan Covey	CWS	vs. KC
100	Matt Harvey	CIN	vs. SF
101	Kyle Freeland	COL	at ATL
102	Trevor Cahill	OAK	vs. HOU
103	Ivan Nova	PIT	vs. CHC
104	Trevor Williams	PIT	vs. CHC
105	Andrew Cashner	BAL	vs. NYM
106	Marcus Stroman	TOR	at NYY
107	Steven Matz	NYM	at PHI
108	Francisco Liriano	DET	at MIN
109	Jason Vargas	NYM	at BAL, at PHI
110	Vince Velasquez	PHI	vs. BOS
111	Brian Johnson	BOS	vs. TB
112	Jose Urena	MIA	at ATL
113	Tommy Milone	WAS	at STL, vs. MIA
114	Yonny Chirinos	TB	at NYY
115	Edwin Jackson	OAK	vs. HOU
116	Burch Smith	KC	vs. TOR
117	Enyel De Los Santos	PHI	vs. NYM
118	Chad Bettis	COL	at ATL
119	Adalberto Mejia	MIN	vs. DET
120	Merandy Gonzalez	MIA	at ATL
121	Andrew Suarez	SF	at LAD, at CIN
122	Sam Gaviglio	TOR	at KC
123	Jacob Nix	SD	vs. LAA	Solid in first start, catching Angels at a good time
124	Dylan Bundy	BAL	at CLE
125	Austin Gomber	STL	vs. WAS
126	Junior Guerra	MIL	at CHC
127	Corey Oswalt	NYM	at PHI
128	Trevor Richards	MIA	at ATL
129	Bartolo Colon	TEX	vs. ARI
130	Heath Fillmyer	KC	vs. TOR, at CWS
131	Brad Keller	KC	vs. TOR, at CWS	Ignore 3.57 ERA, 58 K with 38 BB in 88.1 IP says it won't last
132	Wade Miley	MIL	at STL
133	Eric Lauer	SD	vs. ARI
134	Martin Perez	TEX	vs. LAA
135	Dan Straily	MIA	at WAS
136	Nick Tropeano	LAA	at TEX
137	Brett Anderson	OAK	vs. SEA
138	Thomas Pannone	TOR	at NYY
139	Pablo Lopez	MIA	at ATL, at WAS	Pitching better, but two tough draws
140	Wei-Yin Chen	MIA	at WAS
141	Jalen Beeks	TB	at NYY, at BOS
142	Alex Cobb	BAL	at CLE	Pitching better, but still not missing bats
143	Sal Romano	CIN	vs. CLE
144	Robert Stephenson	CIN	vs. CLE
145	David Hess	BAL	vs. NYM
146	Yefry Ramirez	BAL	at CLE
147	Homer Bailey	CIN	vs. CLE
148	Sean Reid-Foley	TOR	at KC	Good matchup, just don't know what to expect in debut
149	Tyler Glasnow	TB	at BOS
150	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	at BOS
151	Drew Hutchison	TEX	vs. LAA
152	Yovani Gallardo	TEX	vs. ARI
153	Ariel Jurado	TEX	vs. LAA
154	Taylor Cole	LAA	at TEX