Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Lester Gets Two at Home

Todd Zola ranks this week's starting pitchers as the Cubs' Jon Lester gets two starts at friendly Wrigley Field. Is that enough to make him this week's top starter?

Updated on April 8, 2017 3:37PM EST

Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Lester Gets Two at Home

By:

Todd Zola

Updated on April 8, 2017 3:37PM EST

Weekly Pitcher Rankings

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Welcome to Week 2 of the regular season where we already have injury concerns for Rich Hill and Garrett Richards. Several rainouts in Week 1 forced clubs to shuffle their rotations. We'll update the ranks if anything further develops this weekend. Please feel free to hit me up in the comments with a specific question not answered via the weekly rankings.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RANK	PITCHER	TEAM	OPPONENT	COMMENT
1	Chris Sale	BOS	at DET, vs TB	Looked filthy in debut, on road for a pair
2	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	vs CWS, vs DET	Still not completely stretched out but looked sharp
3	James Paxton	SEA	vs HOU, vs TEX	A sleeper no more
4	Cole Hamels	TEX	at LAA, at SEA	On the road but in favorable venues
5	Justin Verlander	DET	vs BOS, at CLE	Faces two of top lineups in the game
6	J.A. Happ	TOR	vs MIL, vs BAL	7 IP with only 1 K in opener, but 65 of 89 pitches were strikes
7	Michael Pineda	NYY	vs TB, vs STL	Typical start, 6 K, 0 BB but 4 ER in 3.2 IP
8	Drew Pomeranz	BOS	vs BAL, vs TB	Red Sox could use a lift with David Price out
9	Corey Kluber	CLE	vs DET
10	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	vs TB	Facing team that lit him up in opener
11	Yu Darvish	TEX	at LAA
12	Jharel Cotton	OAK	at KC, vs HOU	One of best change-ups in the league
13	Michael Fulmer

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RANK	PITCHER	TEAM	OPPONENT	COMMENT
1	Chris Sale	BOS	at DET, vs TB	Looked filthy in debut, on road for a pair
2	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	vs CWS, vs DET	Still not completely stretched out but looked sharp
3	James Paxton	SEA	vs HOU, vs TEX	A sleeper no more
4	Cole Hamels	TEX	at LAA, at SEA	On the road but in favorable venues
5	Justin Verlander	DET	vs BOS, at CLE	Faces two of top lineups in the game
6	J.A. Happ	TOR	vs MIL, vs BAL	7 IP with only 1 K in opener, but 65 of 89 pitches were strikes
7	Michael Pineda	NYY	vs TB, vs STL	Typical start, 6 K, 0 BB but 4 ER in 3.2 IP
8	Drew Pomeranz	BOS	vs BAL, vs TB	Red Sox could use a lift with David Price out
9	Corey Kluber	CLE	vs DET
10	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	vs TB	Facing team that lit him up in opener
11	Yu Darvish	TEX	at LAA
12	Jharel Cotton	OAK	at KC, vs HOU	One of best change-ups in the league
13	Michael Fulmer	DET	vs MIN	Picking up where he left off last season
14	Marcus Stroman	TOR	vs MIL
15	Ian Kennedy	KC	vs OAK, vs LAA
16	Felix Hernandez	SEA	vs TEX	Should be recovered from groin issue, velocity up a tick from last season
17	Danny Salazar	CLE	vs CWS
18	Danny Duffy	KC	vs OAK
19	Lance McCullers	HOU	at OAK	Nasty curve doing it's thing
20	Rick Porcello	BOS	vs TB
21	Hisashi Iwakuma	SEA	vs TEX
22	Marco Estrada	TOR	vs BAL
23	Dallas Keuchel	HOU	at OAK
24	Charlie Morton	HOU	at SEA, at OAK	Couple of great parks to show off new found velocity
25	Hector Santiago	MIN	at DET, vs CWS
26	Jesse Chavez	LAA	vs TEX
27	Jordan Zimmermann	DET	vs MIN
28	Joe Musgrove	HOU	at SEA	Rematch with Mariners, needs to improve control
29	Steven Wright	BOS	vs BAL
30	Jose Quintana	CWS	at MIN
31	Dylan Bundy	BAL	at BOS, at TOR	High risk, high reward double dip. Tough parks, tough teams.
32	Ervin Santana	MIN	vs CWS
33	Josh Tomlin	CLE	vs CWS
34	Kevin Gausman	BAL	at TOR
35	Luis Severino	NYY	vs TB
36	Alex Cobb	TB	at NYY, at BOS
37	Matt Boyd	DET	vs MIN, at CLE	Disappointing opener, look for a rebound
38	James Shields	CWS	at CLE, at MIN
39	Tyler Skaggs	LAA	vs TEX	Needs to improve control and keep the ball on the ground
40	Sean Manaea	OAK	vs HOU
41	Adalberto Mejia	MIN	vs CWS
42	Trevor Bauer	CLE	vs DET
43	Chris Archer	TB	at BOS
44	Francisco Liriano	TOR	vs BAL
45	Eduardo Rodriguez	BOS	vs PIT
46	Garrett Richards	LAA	at KC	Tentative, on 10-day DL with biceps irritation
47	Matt Shoemaker	LAA	at KC
48	Chad Green	NYY	vs STL
49	Andrew Triggs	OAK	at KC	Such a different guy in PNC Park
50	Ricky Nolasco	LAA	vs TEX
51	Mike Fiers	HOU	at SEA	Electric stuff but still raw
52	Jason Hammel	KC	vs OAK
53	Blake Snell	TB	at NYY	Couple of great parks to show off new found velocity
54	Anibal Sanchez	DET	vs BAL
55	Kendall Graveman	OAK	vs HOU
56	CC Sabathia	NYY	vs STL
57	Nathan Karns	KC	vs LAA
58	Jake Odorizzi	TB	at BOS
59	Yovani Gallardo	SEA	vs HOU
60	Matt Andriese	TB	at NYY
61	Yusmeiro Petit	LAA	at KC
62	Martin Perez	TEX	at SEA
63	Ariel Miranda	SEA	vs HOU
64	Phil Hughes	MIN	at DET
65	A.J. Griffin	TEX	at LAA
66	Dylan Covey	CWS	at MIN
67	Kyle Gibson	MIN	at DET
68	Jason Vargas	KC	vs LAA
69	Wade Miley	BAL	at TOR
70	Dillon Gee	TEX	at SEA
71	Daniel Norris	DET	at CLE
72	Miguel Gonzalez	CWS	at CLE
73	Raul Alcantara	OAK	at KC
73	Jayson Aquino	BAL	at TOR
74	Ubaldo Jimenez	BAL	at BOS
74	Derek Holland	CWS	at CLE

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Rank	Pitcher	TEAM	Opponent(s)	Comments
1	Jon Lester	CHC	vs LAD, vs PIT	Historically, Wrigley favors pitching at home in April
2	Jacob deGrom	NYM	at PHI, at MIA	Off to a great start, just needs to stay healthy
3	Tanner Roark	WAS	vs STL, vs PHI	Epitome of solid
4	Jeff Samardzija	SF	vs ARI, vs COL	Huge home park boost
5	Matt Moore	SF	vs ARI, vs COL	Pitching at AT&T is a wonderful thing
6	Jameson Taillon	PIT	vs CIN, at CHC	Poised to take the next step
7	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	at CHC	No surprise, top ranked one-start arm
8	Madison Bumgarner	SF	vs COL	Being No. 2 to Kershaw nothing to be ashamed about
9	Max Scherzer	WAS	vs STL	No sign of knuckle issue
10	Rich Hill	LAD	vs ARI	Tentantive, on DL with blister
11	Matt Harvey	NYM	at PHI, at MIA	Velocity back but still not of the woods yet
12	Jake Arrieta	CHC	vs PIT	Promising first start, 6 IP, 6 K, 2BB
13	Johnny Cueto	SF	vs COL	So steady, so good
14	Jerad Eickhoff	PHI	vs NYM, at WAS	Better than innings eater but not an ace
15	Noah Syndergaard	NYM	at MIA
16	Stephen Strasburg	WAS	vs PHI
17	Dan Straily	MIA	vs ATL, vs NYM	Good chance to see if Marlins Park helps Straily
18	Julio Teheran	ATL	vs SD	Unfairly punished from last season's low win total
19	Brandon Finnegan	CIN	at PIT, vs MIL	If Finnegan can keep the walks down, look out
20	Tyler Chatwood	COL	vs SD, at SF
21	Kenta Maeda	LAD	vs ARI
22	John Lackey	CHC	vs LAD
23	Taijuan Walker	ARI	at SF, at LAD	Rare case where road starts are better than home starts
24	Gio Gonzalez	WAS	vs STL, vs PHI
25	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	vs PIT
26	Carlos Martinez	STL	at NYY	Good enough to challenge for the NL Cy Young
27	Tyler Glasnow	PIT	vs CIN, at CHC
28	Ivan Nova	PIT	vs CIN	Such a different guy in PNC Park
29	Vince Velasquez	PHI	vs NYM	Electric stuff but still raw
30	Hyun-Jin Ryu	LAD	vs ARI
31	R.A. Dickey	ATL	vs SD
32	Wei-Yin Chen	MIA	vs NYM
33	Mike Foltynewicz	ATL	vs SD	Rough start to season but better days lie ahead
34	Antonio Senzatela	COL	vs SD, at SF	Impressive debut, worth starting even with one on Coors
35	Adam Wainwright	STL	at WAS, at NYY	Not as optimistic as some the old Waino returns
36	Clay Buchholz	PHI	vs NYM
37	Rookie Davis	CIN	at PIT, vs MIL	Allowed two HR to Nava in opener, all it rookie jitters
38	Zack Greinke	ARI	at LAD
39	Gerrit Cole	PIT	at CHC
40	Robert Gsellman	NYM	at MIA
41	Trevor Cahill	SD	at COL, at ATL
42	Wily Peralta	MIL	at TOR, at CIN
43	Jon Gray	COL	at SF
44	Zach Davies	MIL	at CIN
45	Jaime Garcia	ATL	at MIA
46	Michael Wacha	STL	at NYY
47	Tyler Anderson	COL	at SF
48	Edinson Volquez	MIA	vs NYM
49	Bartolo Colon	ATL	at MIA
50	Tom Koehler	MIA	vs ATL
51	Lance Lynn	STL	at WAS
52	Robbie Ray	ARI	at SF
53	Zack Wheeler	NYM	at PHI
54	Tommy Milone	MIL	at CIN
55	Bronson Arroyo	CIN	vs MIL
56	Scott Feldman	CIN	vs MIL
57	Adam Conley	MIA	vs NYM
58	Jimmy Nelson	MIL	at CIN
59	Patrick Corbin	ARI	at LAD
60	Alex Wood	LAD	at CHC
61	Aaron Nola	PHI	at WAS
62	Shelby Miller	ARI	at SF
63	Jeremy Hellickson	PHI	at WAS
64	Clayton Richard	SD	at ATL
65	Matt Cain	SF	vs ARI
66	Brandon McCarthy	LAD	at CHC
67	Kyle Freeland	COL	vs SD
68	Chad Kuhl	PIT	at BOS
69	Luis Perdomo	SD	at COL
70	Jhoulys Chacin	SD	at ATL
71	Amir Garrett	CIN	at PIT
72	Mike Leake	STL	at WAS
73	Brett Anderson	CHC	vs LAD
74	Chase Anderson	MIL	at TOR
75	Jered Weaver	SD	at COL

MLB

RANK	PITCHER	TEAM	OPPONENT	COMMENT
1	Jon Lester	CHC	vs LAD, vs PIT	Historically, Wrigley favors pitching at home in April
2	Chris Sale	BOS	at DET, vs TB	Looked filthy in debut, on road for a pair
3	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	vs CWS, vs DET	Still not completely stretched out but looked sharp
4	Jacob deGrom	NYM	at PHI, at MIA	Off to a great start, just needs to stay healthy
5	Tanner Roark	WAS	vs STL, vs PHI	Epitome of solid
6	Jeff Samardzija	SF	vs ARI, vs COL	Huge home park boost
7	James Paxton	SEA	vs HOU, vs TEX	A sleeper no more
8	Cole Hamels	TEX	at LAA, at SEA	On the road but in favorable venues
9	Justin Verlander	DET	vs BOS, at CLE	Faces two of top lineups in the game
10	J.A. Happ	TOR	vs MIL, vs BAL	7 IP with only 1 K in opener, but 65 of 89 pitches were strikes
11	Matt Moore	SF	vs ARI, vs COL	Pitching at AT&T is a wonderful thing
12	Jameson Taillon	PIT	vs CIN, at CHC	Poised to take the next step
13	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	at CHC	No surprise, top ranked one-start arm
14	Madison Bumgarner	SF	vs COL	Being No. 2 to Kershaw nothing to be ashamed about
15	Michael Pineda	NYY	vs TB, vs STL	Typical start, 6 K, 0 BB but 4 ER in 3.2 IP
16	Max Scherzer	WAS	vs STL	No sign of knuckle issue
17	Rich Hill	LAD	vs ARI	Tentantive, on DL with blister
18	Matt Harvey	NYM	at PHI, at MIA	Velocity back but still not of the woods yet
19	Drew Pomeranz	BOS	vs BAL, vs TB	Red Sox could use a lift with David Price out
20	Jake Arrieta	CHC	vs PIT	Promising first start, 6 IP, 6 K, 2BB
21	Johnny Cueto	SF	vs COL	So steady, so good
22	Jerad Eickhoff	PHI	vs NYM, at WAS	Better than innings eater but not an ace
23	Corey Kluber	CLE	vs DET
24	Noah Syndergaard	NYM	at MIA
25	Stephen Strasburg	WAS	vs PHI
26	Dan Straily	MIA	vs ATL, vs NYM	Good chance to see if Marlins Park helps Straily
27	Julio Teheran	ATL	vs SD	Unfairly punished from last season's low win total
28	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	vs TB	Facing team that lit him up in opener
29	Yu Darvish	TEX	at LAA
30	Brandon Finnegan	CIN	at PIT, vs MIL	If Finnegan can keep the walks down, look out
31	Jharel Cotton	OAK	at KC, vs HOU	One of best change-ups in the league
32	Michael Fulmer	DET	vs MIN	Picking up where he left off last season
33	Marcus Stroman	TOR	vs MIL
34	Tyler Chatwood	COL	vs SD, at SF
35	Kenta Maeda	LAD	vs ARI
36	John Lackey	CHC	vs LAD
37	Ian Kennedy	KC	vs OAK, vs LAA
38	Felix Hernandez	SEA	vs TEX	Should be recovered from groin issue, velocity up a tick from last season
39	Taijuan Walker	ARI	at SF, at LAD	Rare case where road starts are better than home starts
40	Danny Salazar	CLE	vs CWS
41	Danny Duffy	KC	vs OAK
42	Gio Gonzalez	WAS	vs STL, vs PHI
43	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	vs PIT
44	Carlos Martinez	STL	at NYY	Good enough to challenge for the NL Cy Young
45	Lance McCullers	HOU	at OAK	Nasty curve doing it's thing
46	Rick Porcello	BOS	vs TB
47	Hisashi Iwakuma	SEA	vs TEX
48	Tyler Glasnow	PIT	vs CIN, at CHC
49	Ivan Nova	PIT	vs CIN	Such a different guy in PNC Park
50	Marco Estrada	TOR	vs BAL
51	Vince Velasquez	PHI	vs NYM	Electric stuff but still raw
52	Dallas Keuchel	HOU	at OAK
53	Charlie Morton	HOU	at SEA, at OAK	Couple of great parks to show off new found velocity
54	Hyun-Jin Ryu	LAD	vs ARI
55	Hector Santiago	MIN	at DET, vs CWS
56	R.A. Dickey	ATL	vs SD
57	Wei-Yin Chen	MIA	vs NYM
58	Mike Foltynewicz	ATL	vs SD	Rough start to season but better days lie ahead
59	Jesse Chavez	LAA	vs TEX
60	Antonio Senzatela	COL	vs SD, at SF	Impressive debut, worth starting even with one on Coors
61	Adam Wainwright	STL	at WAS, at NYY	Not as optimistic as some the old Waino returns
62	Jordan Zimmermann	DET	vs MIN
63	Joe Musgrove	HOU	at SEA	Rematch with Mariners, needs to improve control
64	Steven Wright	BOS	vs BAL
65	Clay Buchholz	PHI	vs NYM
66	Jose Quintana	CWS	at MIN
67	Rookie Davis	CIN	at PIT, vs MIL	Allowed two HR to Nava in opener, all it rookie jitters
68	Dylan Bundy	BAL	at BOS, at TOR	High risk, high reward double dip. Tough parks, tough teams.
69	Ervin Santana	MIN	vs CWS
70	Josh Tomlin	CLE	vs CWS
71	Zack Greinke	ARI	at LAD
72	Kevin Gausman	BAL	at TOR
73	Luis Severino	NYY	vs TB
74	Gerrit Cole	PIT	at CHC
75	Alex Cobb	TB	at NYY, at BOS
76	Matt Boyd	DET	vs MIN, at CLE	Disappointing opener, look for a rebound
77	Robert Gsellman	NYM	at MIA
78	James Shields	CWS	at CLE, at MIN
79	Tyler Skaggs	LAA	vs TEX	Needs to improve control and keep the ball on the ground
80	Sean Manaea	OAK	vs HOU
81	Trevor Cahill	SD	at COL, at ATL
82	Wily Peralta	MIL	at TOR, at CIN
83	Adalberto Mejia	MIN	vs CWS
84	Jon Gray	COL	at SF
85	Trevor Bauer	CLE	vs DET
86	Zach Davies	MIL	at CIN
87	Jaime Garcia	ATL	at MIA
88	Michael Wacha	STL	at NYY
89	Chris Archer	TB	at BOS
90	Francisco Liriano	TOR	vs BAL
91	Eduardo Rodriguez	BOS	vs PIT
92	Garrett Richards	LAA	at KC	Tentative, on 10-day DL with biceps irritation
93	Tyler Anderson	COL	at SF
94	Edinson Volquez	MIA	vs NYM
95	Bartolo Colon	ATL	at MIA
96	Matt Shoemaker	LAA	at KC
97	Chad Green	NYY	vs STL
98	Andrew Triggs	OAK	at KC
99	Ricky Nolasco	LAA	vs TEX
100	Mike Fiers	HOU	at SEA
101	Jason Hammel	KC	vs OAK
102	Blake Snell	TB	at NYY
103	Tom Koehler	MIA	vs ATL
104	Lance Lynn	STL	at WAS
105	Anibal Sanchez	DET	vs BAL
106	Robbie Ray	ARI	at SF
107	Zack Wheeler	NYM	at PHI
108	Tommy Milone	MIL	at CIN
109	Bronson Arroyo	CIN	vs MIL
110	Scott Feldman	CIN	vs MIL
111	Kendall Graveman	OAK	vs HOU
112	Adam Conley	MIA	vs NYM
113	CC Sabathia	NYY	vs STL
114	Jimmy Nelson	MIL	at CIN
115	Patrick Corbin	ARI	at LAD
116	Nathan Karns	KC	vs LAA
117	Jake Odorizzi	TB	at BOS
118	Yovani Gallardo	SEA	vs HOU
119	Matt Andriese	TB	at NYY
120	Alex Wood	LAD	at CHC
121	Yusmeiro Petit	LAA	at KC
122	Aaron Nola	PHI	at WAS
123	Shelby Miller	ARI	at SF
124	Jeremy Hellickson	PHI	at WAS
125	Martin Perez	TEX	at SEA
126	Ariel Miranda	SEA	vs HOU
127	Phil Hughes	MIN	at DET
128	Clayton Richard	SD	at ATL
129	A.J. Griffin	TEX	at LAA
130	Dylan Covey	CWS	at MIN
131	Kyle Gibson	MIN	at DET
132	Matt Cain	SF	vs ARI
133	Brandon McCarthy	LAD	at CHC
134	Jason Vargas	KC	vs LAA
135	Kyle Freeland	COL	vs SD
136	Chad Kuhl	PIT	at BOS
137	Luis Perdomo	SD	at COL
138	Jhoulys Chacin	SD	at ATL
139	Amir Garrett	CIN	at PIT
140	Mike Leake	STL	at WAS
141	Wade Miley	BAL	at TOR
142	Brett Anderson	CHC	vs LAD
143	Dillon Gee	TEX	at SEA
144	Chase Anderson	MIL	at TOR
145	Daniel Norris	DET	at CLE
146	Miguel Gonzalez	CWS	at CLE
147	Raul Alcantara	OAK	at KC
148	Jayson Aquino	BAL	at TOR
149	Ubaldo Jimenez	BAL	at BOS
150	Derek Holland	CWS	at CLE
151	Jered Weaver	SD	at COL