This article is part of our Weekly Pitcher Rankings series.
As always, remember that rotations are subject to change, so if you see something that isn't correct, assume that it was a change that has occurred since this was written and feel free to politely bring it up in the comments, and I'll let you know where the new arm slots.
For the week July 7-13
AMERICAN LEAGUE
For the week July 7-13
AMERICAN LEAGUE
START
| 1. Masahiro Tanaka - at CLE, at BAL Note: What amazes me is how good he is when he clearly doesn't have his best stuff |
| 2. Felix Hernandez - MIN Note: His last nine - 1.30 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, and 77 Ks in last 69 IP |
| 3. Chris Sale - at BOS |
| 4. Yu Darvish - HOU |
| 5. Jon Lester - CWS Note: Since allowing 5 ER at DET - 1.21 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and 3.3 K:BB ratio in 29.7 IP |
| 6. David Price - TOR |
| 7. Anibal Sanchez - at KC |
| 8. Max Scherzer - LAD Note: He has sufficiently rebounded from the 10 ER dud with a 1.71 ERA in his last four incl. 28 Ks in 21 IP |
| 9. Sonny Gray - SF, at SEA Note: Gray and Iwakuma haven't quite been studly enough to leapfrog the aces even with two starts |
| 10. Hisashi Iwakuma - MIN, OAK |
| 11. Corey Kluber - CWS |
| 12. Garrett Richards - at TEX Note: Make no mistake - he's the ace of this team right now |
| 13. Scott Kazmir - at SF |
| 14. Justin Verlander - LAD, at KC Note: Three straight |
As always, remember that rotations are subject to change, so if you see something that isn't correct, assume that it was a change that has occurred since this was written and feel free to politely bring it up in the comments, and I'll let you know where the new arm slots.
For the week July 7-13
AMERICAN LEAGUE
SIT
NATIONAL LEAGUE
SIT
MLB TOP 100
For the week July 7-13
AMERICAN LEAGUE
START
| 1. Masahiro Tanaka - at CLE, at BAL Note: What amazes me is how good he is when he clearly doesn't have his best stuff |
| 2. Felix Hernandez - MIN Note: His last nine - 1.30 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, and 77 Ks in last 69 IP |
| 3. Chris Sale - at BOS |
| 4. Yu Darvish - HOU |
| 5. Jon Lester - CWS Note: Since allowing 5 ER at DET - 1.21 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and 3.3 K:BB ratio in 29.7 IP |
| 6. David Price - TOR |
| 7. Anibal Sanchez - at KC |
| 8. Max Scherzer - LAD Note: He has sufficiently rebounded from the 10 ER dud with a 1.71 ERA in his last four incl. 28 Ks in 21 IP |
| 9. Sonny Gray - SF, at SEA Note: Gray and Iwakuma haven't quite been studly enough to leapfrog the aces even with two starts |
| 10. Hisashi Iwakuma - MIN, OAK |
| 11. Corey Kluber - CWS |
| 12. Garrett Richards - at TEX Note: Make no mistake - he's the ace of this team right now |
| 13. Scott Kazmir - at SF |
| 14. Justin Verlander - LAD, at KC Note: Three straight solid outings with a 3.32 ERA in 19 IP along with a 20/2 K:BB ratio |
| 15. Jesse Chavez - SF, at SEA |
| 16. Jeff Samardzija - at SEA Note: I'm speculating on when the two new A's will debut with their new club, so stay tuned in case it changes |
| 17. Jason Hammel - at SF |
| 18. Jered Weaver - TOR, at TEX Note: Not as worrisome of a slate with TOR happening at home and TEX not nearly as strong as recent years given their injuries |
| 19. Jake Odorizzi - KC, TOR Note: He's turned into a strikeout force, which I did not see coming |
| 20. Phil Hughes - at SEA, at COL Note: 35 percent of his ER have come in the last three outings; he's better than this 3.95 ERA |
| 21. James Shields - at TB, DET Note: He's allowed fewer than 4 ER just twice in his last eight yielding a 5.66 ERA |
| 22. Jose Quintana - at BOS Note: On fire of late with a 1.29 ERA and 21 Ks in his last three over 21 IP |
| 23. Rick Porcello - at KC Note: He has the rarely-seen 0 K, 0 BB shutout last time out |
| 24. C.J. Wilson - at TEX |
| 25. Chris Archer - TOR Note: Opened May with 12 ER in three starts; he's allowed 10 ER (16 overall) in his nine starts since then |
| 26. John Lackey - CWS |
| 27. Collin McHugh - BOS Note: The ERA is up a bit lately (4.45 in his last five), but the Ks remain dependable (35 in 28 IP over those last five) |
| 28. Marcus Stroman - at LAA Note: His 3.44 ERA is even a little misleading as it's been at 2.08 in his seven starts |
| 29. Yordano Ventura - at TB Note: Thoroughly pleased with the 2.52 ERA in his last six, but just 21 Ks in 39.3 IP is somewhat concerning |
| 30. Alex Cobb - KC |
| 31. Taijuan Walker - OAK Note: Could be a huge factor in the second half |
| 32. Hiroki Kuroda - at BAL Note: Starting to turn his season around; I could see him chopping another 0.30-0.50 runs off of his ERA |
| 33. Drew Hutchison - at TB |
| 34. Drew Smyly - at KC |
| 35. Danny Duffy - DET Note: Supporting skills are improving with a 2.6 K:BB ratio in his last six (1.9 on the season) |
| 36. R.A. Dickey - at LAA |
| 37. Tyler Skaggs - TOR Note: He's already handled the Jays in TOR earlier this year (8 IP/2 ER) |
| 38. Mark Buehrle - at TB Note: 2.79 ERA in June not well-supported as evidenced by his 4.61 FIP |
| 39. Dallas Keuchel - at TEX Note: He was awful in his return after a skipped start; I wonder if they will DL him |
| 40. Jason Vargas - at TB, DET Note: His 3.81 ERA since May 1st is about what you should expect the rest of the way |
| 41. J.A. Happ - at LAA, at TB |
| 42. John Danks - at BOS, at CLE |
| 43. Kevin Gausman - NYY Note: His first five starts encapsulate the volatility of youth - 5, 1, 1, 0, and 5 ER; the upside is there |
| 44. Matt Shoemaker - TOR |
| 45. Brad Peacock - at TEX |
| 46. Roenis Elias - MIN Note: He's settled into a solid-but-unspectacular asset; definitely has AL-only usage |
| 47. Josh Tomlin - NYY Note: Tomlin and Chen are too homer-happy which keeps them very volatile from start-to-start |
| 48. Wei-Yin Chen - at WAS |
| 49. David Phelps - at CLE |
| 50. Trevor Bauer - NYY, CWS Note: His improvements may have been preemptively overstated |
| 51. Chris Young - MIN, OAK Note: Skills on the rise, but I remain quite skeptical |
SIT
| 52. Jarred Cosart - at TEX, BOS Note: His weak supporting skills leave him susceptible to thrashings like his last time out vs. SEA |
| 53. Clay Buchholz - CWS, at HOU Note: Has been just OK in his two starts since returning |
| 54. Brandon Workman - CWS, at HOU Note: Could be fighting for his rotation spot |
| 55. Nick Tepesch - LAA Note: He's been alright lately, but I still worry in tough matchups |
| 56. Kyle Gibson - at SEA |
| 57. Scott Feldman - BOS |
| 58. Colby Lewis - LAA |
| 59. Ubaldo Jimenez - WAS |
| 60. Jake Peavy - at HOU |
| 61. Hector Santiago - at TEX |
| 62. Chris Tillman - at WAS, NYY Note: Some decent work of late with a 2.14 ERA in his last five, but horrendous component numbers suggesting it's mostly smoke and mirrors |
| 63. Chase Whitley - at CLE |
| 64. Miguel Gonzalez - WAS |
| 65. Justin Masterson - NYY, CWS |
| 66. Nick Martinez - HOU, LAA |
| 67. Vidal Nuno - at CLE, at BAL |
| 68. Jeremy Guthrie - DET |
| 69. Yohan Pino - at SEA |
| 70. Erik Bedard - KC |
| 71. Hector Noesi - at CLE |
| 72. T.J. House - NYY |
| 73. Ricky Nolasco - at COL |
| 74. Miles Mikolas - HOU, LAA |
| 75. Scott Carroll - at BOS, at CLE |
| 76. Kevin Correia - at SEA, at COL |
NATIONAL LEAGUE
START
| 1. Clayton Kershaw - SD Note: He's been unreal lately so yes, he holds the top spot even with one start compared to several studs with two-start weeks |
| 2. Johnny Cueto - CHC, PIT |
| 3. Julio Teheran - at NYM, at CHC Note: He's maintained a K-per-inning rate since April making him an unquestioned ace |
| 4. Adam Wainwright - PIT, at MIL |
| 5. Cole Hamels - at MIL, WAS Note: 7.02 ERA in first three starts, 2.10 ERA in his last 11; he's back |
| 6. Madison Bumgarner - at OAK, ARI |
| 7. Stephen Strasburg - BAL, at PHI Note: Five of his 11 HRs have come in his last four, but 23 Ks and a 4.6 K:BB ratio in the 25 IP suggest that he's fine overall |
| 8. Doug Fister - BAL, at PHI |
| 9. Hyun-Jin Ryu - at DET, SD Note: Overshadowed by his rotation mates, but he's been fantastic this year |
| 10. Zack Greinke - at DET |
| 11. Jake Arrieta - ATL Note: The one Cubs stud that they are likely to keep |
| 12. Gio Gonzalez - at BAL Note: Shaky in his return from the DL, but then 13 scoreless with 12 Ks in his last two |
| 13. Mat Latos - PIT Note: Back-to-back 7 IP/1 ER gems after his 5.7 IP/5 ER disaster vs. TOR |
| 14. Jesse Hahn - at LAD Note: He has 7-plus Ks in each of his last four |
| 15. Jordan Zimmermann - at PHI |
| 16. Lance Lynn - PIT |
| 17. Homer Bailey - CHC Note: Is the shutout a harbinger? Is he finally set to get on a roll?? |
| 18. Gerrit Cole - at STL |
| 19. Tyson Ross - at COL, at LAD Note: Two very tough outings mitigate some of the upside of a 2-start week for Ross and Kennedy |
| 20. Ian Kennedy - at COL, at LAD |
| 21. Nathan Eovaldi - at ARI, at NYM |
| 22. Mike Leake - CHC, PIT Note: Ah, baseball ... Leake had been pitching quite well of late, so of course he gives up 11 hits to SD in Petco |
| 23. Vance Worley -at STL, at CIN Note: He's been great in four starts for PIT; In Ray Searage I Trust |
| 24. Charlie Morton - at STL, at CIN |
| 25. Wily Peralta - PHI, STL |
| 26. Carlos Martinez - PIT, at MIL Note: He's been capped at 5 IP, but his 2.45 ERA and 18 Ks in 18 IP as a starter has impressed |
| 27. A.J. Burnett - WAS Note: Strong in his last five - 2.89 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and 2.8 K:BB ratio and the Ks are on the rise with 18 in his last two |
| 28. Yovani Gallardo - STL |
| 29. Kyle Lohse - PHI |
| 30. Bartolo Colon - ATL |
| 31. Josh Beckett - SD Note: Beckett and Simon are toting relieveresque LOB rates that are very likely to decrease soner than later, but both get great matchups this week |
| 32. Alfredo Simon - CHC |
| 33. Tim Hudson - OAK |
| 34. Jon Niese - ATL |
| 35. Alex Wood - at CHC Note: Strong return to rotation should continue with a third straight favorable matchup |
| 36. Zack Wheeler - MIA Note: Up, down, up, down ... talent is there, consistency is next (hopefully) |
| 37. Tim Lincecum - ARI Note: 2.31 ERA in his last five includes current streak of 17 scoreless and a sharp 1.8 BB/9 in 35 IP |
| 38. Dan Haren - SD |
| 39. Tanner Roark - at BAL |
| 40. Ervin Santana - at NYM |
| 41. Jeff Locke - at CIN Note: The new control-oriented Locke is more believable than last year's version who was living on a wire before a late-season collapse |
| 42. Matt Garza - PHI |
| 43. Henderson Alvarez - at NYM |
| 44. Ryan Vogelsong - at OAK, ARI |
| 45. Mike Minor - at NYM, at CHC Note: His slider against lefties has been a disaster, driving a lot of his poor performance |
| 46. Marco Estrada - PHI, STL |
| 47. Tom Koehler - at ARI, at NYM Note: 4.08 ERA in last six has masked the skills improvements - 37 Ks, 3.4 K:BB ratio in 35 IP |
| 48. Matt Cain - OAK |
| 49. Brandon McCarthy - MIA |
| 50. Wade Miley - at SF Note: Deserves a better fate than his 4.21 ERA over the last eight with 57 Ks and a 4.4 K:BB ratio in 51.3 IP |
| 51. Edinson Volquez - at STL Note: He's allowed 9 ER in his last four, but 8 ER came in one outing vs. CIN; how high is your risk tolerance? |
| 52. Aaron Harang - at NYM Note: He's not the ace we saw in April, but he's not the 5.40 ERA guy from last year, either; expect something in the 3.80-4.20 ERA range the rest of the way |
| 53. Andrew Heaney - at ARI |
| 54. Jacob deGrom - ATL, MIA |
SIT
| 55. Chase Anderson - MIA, at SF Note: Homers are starting to catch up to him |
| 56. Edwin Jackson - at CIN, ATL Note: Should be better ... he really should, but he's just not |
| 57. Kyle Kendrick - at MIL, WAS |
| 58. Travis Wood - at CIN, ATL |
| 59. Franklin Morales - SD |
| 60. Marco Gonzales - at MIL Note: Only two starts, but doesn't quite appear as ready as I originally thought |
| 61. Shelby Miller - PIT |
| 62. Odrisamer Despaigne - at LAD |
| 63. David Buchanan - at MIL |
| 64. Carlos Villanueva - at CIN Note: Villanueva will be taking one of the Samardzija/Hammel spots |
| 65. Dan Straily - at CIN Note: Just guessing that they will call him up, no official announcement yet |
| 66. Josh Collmenter - MIA |
| 67. Jair Jurrjens - SD |
| 68. Roberto Hernandez - at MIL |
| 69. Jorge de la - MIN |
| 70. Yohan Flande - MIN |
| 71. Mike Bolsinger - at SF |
| 72. Eric Stults - at COL |
| 73. Tyler Matzek - SD, MIN |
| 74. Daisuke Matsuzaka - ATL, MIA |
MLB TOP 100
| 1. Clayton Kershaw - SD Note: He's been unreal lately so yes, he holds the top spot even with one start compared to several studs with two-start weeks |
| 2. Masahiro Tanaka - at CLE, at BAL Note: What amazes me is how good he is when he clearly doesn't have his best stuff |
| 3. Felix Hernandez - MIN Note: His last nine - 1.30 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, and 77 Ks in last 69 IP |
| 4. Johnny Cueto - CHC, PIT |
| 5. Julio Teheran - at NYM, at CHC Note: He's maintained a K-per-inning rate since April making him an unquestioned ace |
| 6. Adam Wainwright - PIT, at MIL |
| 7. Cole Hamels - at MIL, WAS Note: 7.02 ERA in first three starts, 2.10 ERA in his last 11; he's back |
| 8. Madison Bumgarner - at OAK, ARI |
| 9. Stephen Strasburg - BAL, at PHI Note: Five of his 11 HRs have come in his last four, but 23 Ks and a 4.6 K:BB ratio in the 25 IP suggest that he's fine overall |
| 10. Chris Sale - at BOS |
| 11. Yu Darvish - HOU |
| 12. Jon Lester - CWS Note: Since allowing 5 ER at DET - 1.21 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and 3.3 K:BB ratio in 29.7 IP |
| 13. David Price - TOR |
| 14. Doug Fister - BAL, at PHI |
| 15. Hyun-Jin Ryu - at DET, SD Note: Overshadowed by his rotation mates, but he's been fantastic this year |
| 16. Anibal Sanchez - at KC |
| 17. Max Scherzer - LAD Note: He has sufficiently rebounded from the 10 ER dud with a 1.71 ERA in his last four incl. 28 Ks in 21 IP |
| 18. Zack Greinke - at DET |
| 19. Jake Arrieta - ATL Note: The one Cubs stud that they are likely to keep |
| 20. Sonny Gray - SF, at SEA Note: Gray and Iwakuma haven't quite been studly enough to leapfrog the aces even with two starts |
| 21. Hisashi Iwakuma - MIN, OAK |
| 22. Corey Kluber - CWS |
| 23. Garrett Richards - at TEX Note: Make no mistake - he's the ace of this team right now |
| 24. Scott Kazmir - at SF |
| 25. Gio Gonzalez - at BAL Note: Shaky in his return from the DL, but then 13 scoreless with 12 Ks in his last two |
| 26. Mat Latos - PIT Note: Back-to-back 7 IP/1 ER gems after his 5.7 IP/5 ER disaster vs. TOR |
| 27. Jesse Hahn - at LAD Note: He has 7-plus Ks in each of his last four |
| 28. Jordan Zimmermann - at PHI |
| 29. Lance Lynn - PIT |
| 30. Homer Bailey - CHC Note: Is the shutout a harbinger? Is he finally set to get on a roll?? |
| 31. Gerrit Cole - at STL |
| 32. Justin Verlander - LAD, at KC Note: Three straight solid outings with a 3.32 ERA in 19 IP along with a 20/2 K:BB ratio |
| 33. Jesse Chavez - SF, at SEA |
| 34. Tyson Ross - at COL, at LAD Note: Two very tough outings mitigate some of the upside of a 2-start week for Ross and Kennedy |
| 35. Ian Kennedy - at COL, at LAD |
| 36. Jeff Samardzija - at SEA Note: I'm speculating on when the two new A's will debut with their new club, so stay tuned in case it changes |
| 37. Jason Hammel - at SF |
| 38. Jered Weaver - TOR, at TEX Note: Not as worrisome of a slate with TOR happening at home and TEX not nearly as strong as recent years given their injuries |
| 39. Jake Odorizzi - KC, TOR Note: He's turned into a strikeout force, which I did not see coming |
| 40. Phil Hughes - at SEA, at COL Note: 35 percent of his ER have come in the last three outings; he's better than this 3.95 ERA |
| 41. Nathan Eovaldi - at ARI, at NYM |
| 42. Mike Leake - CHC, PIT Note: Ah, baseball ... Leake had been pitching quite well of late, so of course he gives up 11 hits to SD in Petco |
| 43. Vance Worley -at STL, at CIN Note: He's been great in four starts for PIT; In Ray Searage I Trust |
| 44. Charlie Morton - at STL, at CIN |
| 45. Wily Peralta - PHI, STL |
| 46. Carlos Martinez - PIT, at MIL Note: He's been capped at 5 IP, but his 2.45 ERA and 18 Ks in 18 IP as a starter has impressed |
| 47. James Shields - at TB, DET Note: He's allowed fewer than 4 ER just twice in his last eight yielding a 5.66 ERA |
| 48. Jose Quintana - at BOS Note: On fire of late with a 1.29 ERA and 21 Ks in his last three over 21 IP |
| 49. Rick Porcello - at KC Note: He has the rarely-seen 0 K, 0 BB shutout last time out |
| 50. C.J. Wilson - at TEX |
| 51. Chris Archer - TOR Note: Opened May with 12 ER in three starts; he's allowed 10 ER (16 overall) in his nine starts since then |
| 52. John Lackey - CWS |
| 53. A.J. Burnett - WAS Note: Strong in his last five - 2.89 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and 2.8 K:BB ratio and the Ks are on the rise with 18 in his last two |
| 54. Yovani Gallardo - STL |
| 55. Kyle Lohse - PHI |
| 56. Bartolo Colon - ATL |
| 57. Josh Beckett - SD Note: Beckett and Simon are toting relieveresque LOB rates that are very likely to decrease soner than later, but both get great matchups this week |
| 58. Alfredo Simon - CHC |
| 59. Tim Hudson - OAK |
| 60. Jon Niese - ATL |
| 61. Alex Wood - at CHC Note: Strong return to rotation should continue with a third straight favorable matchup |
| 62. Collin McHugh - BOS Note: The ERA is up a bit lately (4.45 in his last five), but the Ks remain dependable (35 in 28 IP over those last five) |
| 63. Marcus Stroman - at LAA Note: His 3.44 ERA is even a little misleading as it's been at 2.08 in his seven starts |
| 64. Yordano Ventura - at TB Note: Thoroughly pleased with the 2.52 ERA in his last six, but just 21 Ks in 39.3 IP is somewhat concerning |
| 65. Alex Cobb - KC |
| 66. Taijuan Walker - OAK Note: Could be a huge factor in the second half |
| 67. Zack Wheeler - MIA Note: Up, down, up, down ... talent is there, consistency is next (hopefully) |
| 68. Tim Lincecum - ARI Note: 2.31 ERA in his last five includes current streak of 17 scoreless and a sharp 1.8 BB/9 in 35 IP |
| 69. Dan Haren - SD |
| 70. Tanner Roark - at BAL |
| 71. Ervin Santana - at NYM |
| 72. Jeff Locke - at CIN Note: The new control-oriented Locke is more believable than last year's version who was living on a wire before a late-season collapse |
| 73. Matt Garza - PHI |
| 74. Hiroki Kuroda - at BAL Note: Starting to turn his season around; I could see him chopping another 0.30-0.50 runs off of his ERA |
| 75. Drew Hutchison - at TB |
| 76. Drew Smyly - at KC |
| 77. Danny Duffy - DET Note: Supporting skills are improving with a 2.6 K:BB ratio in his last six (1.9 on the season) |
| 78. R.A. Dickey - at LAA |
| 79. Tyler Skaggs - TOR Note: He's already handled the Jays in TOR earlier this year (8 IP/2 ER) |
| 80. Mark Buehrle - at TB Note: 2.79 ERA in June not well-supported as evidenced by his 4.61 FIP |
| 81. Dallas Keuchel - at TEX Note: He was awful in his return after a skipped start; I wonder if they will DL him |
| 82. Jason Vargas - at TB, DET Note: His 3.81 ERA since May 1st is about what you should expect the rest of the way |
| 83. J.A. Happ - at LAA, at TB |
| 84. John Danks - at BOS, at CLE |
| 85. Henderson Alvarez - at NYM |
| 86. Ryan Vogelsong - at OAK, ARI |
| 87. Mike Minor - at NYM, at CHC Note: His slider against lefties has been a disaster, driving a lot of his poor performance |
| 88. Marco Estrada - PHI, STL |
| 89. Tom Koehler - at ARI, at NYM Note: 4.08 ERA in last six has masked the skills improvements - 37 Ks, 3.4 K:BB ratio in 35 IP |
| 90. Matt Cain - OAK |
| 91. Brandon McCarthy - MIA |
| 92. Wade Miley - at SF Note: Deserves a better fate than his 4.21 ERA over the last eight with 57 Ks and a 4.4 K:BB ratio in 51.3 IP |
| 93. Edinson Volquez - at STL Note: He's allowed 9 ER in his last four, but 8 ER came in one outing vs. CIN; how high is your risk tolerance? |
| 94. Aaron Harang - at NYM Note: He's not the ace we saw in April, but he's not the 5.40 ERA guy from last year, either; expect something in the 3.80-4.20 ERA range the rest of the way |
| 95. Andrew Heaney - at ARI |
| 96. Jacob deGrom - ATL, MIA |
| 97. Kevin Gausman - NYY Note: His first five starts encapsulate the volatility of youth - 5, 1, 1, 0, and 5 ER; the upside is there |
| 98. Matt Shoemaker - TOR |
| 99. Brad Peacock - at TEX |
| 100. Roenis Elias - MIN Note: He's settled into a solid-but-unspectacular asset; definitely has AL-only usage |
