Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Max Delivery

Todd Zola ranks the week's starting pitcher as Washington's Max Scherzer could have a big week with matchups against a couple of whiff-prone teams.

Updated on April 15, 2017 1:13AM EST

By:

Todd Zola

Updated on April 15, 2017 1:13AM EST

Weekly Pitcher Rankings

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Welcome to Week 3 of the regular season. Please feel free to hit me up in the comments with a specific question not answered via the weekly rankings.

REVISION

If you're returning to this week's rankings, you no doubt see a reshuffling. Based on some constructive comments, I reviewed the method and found a means to improve how it handles ratios.

Instead of comparing against a baseline and multiplying by innings, I now calculate how each pitcher affects a league-average pitching staff, based on end-of-season ratios. Of course, each league has a different average staff, but the ranks won't change dramatically, if at all, using different average ratios. For the record, I used a staff tossing 1,400 innings, with a 3.80 ERA and 1.25 WHIP.

There will be some that still disagree with these rankings. However, they address a couple of the oddities to the original set. I'm happy to discuss the new rankings in the comments below.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RANK	PITCHER	TEAM	OPPONENT	COMMENT
1	Yu Darvish	TEX	at OAK, vs. KC	Off to good start, but needs to reduce walks
2	Danny Salazar	CLE	at MIN, at CWS	Strikeouts galore, but walks a plenty as well
3	Andrew Triggs	OAK	vs. TEX, vs. SEA	Not missing bats but benefits from a pair at home
4	Michael Fulmer	DET	at TB, at MIN	Picking up where he left off
5	Joe Musgrove	HOU	vs. LAA, at TB	Struggling with mechanics
6	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	at CWS	7 IP last

Welcome to Week 3 of the regular season. Please feel free to hit me up in the comments with a specific question not answered via the weekly rankings.

REVISION

If you're returning to this week's rankings, you no doubt see a reshuffling. Based on some constructive comments, I reviewed the method and found a means to improve how it handles ratios.

There will be some that still disagree with these rankings. However, they address a couple of the oddities to the original set. I'm happy to discuss the new rankings in the comments below.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RANK	PITCHER	TEAM	OPPONENT	COMMENT
1	Yu Darvish	TEX	at OAK, vs. KC	Off to good start, but needs to reduce walks
2	Danny Salazar	CLE	at MIN, at CWS	Strikeouts galore, but walks a plenty as well
3	Andrew Triggs	OAK	vs. TEX, vs. SEA	Not missing bats but benefits from a pair at home
4	Michael Fulmer	DET	at TB, at MIN	Picking up where he left off
5	Joe Musgrove	HOU	vs. LAA, at TB	Struggling with mechanics
6	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	at CWS	7 IP last time, kid gloves are off
7	Marcus Stroman	TOR	vs. BOS, at LAA	No apparent WBC hangover
8	Corey Kluber	CLE	at MIN	ERA inflated from early homer woes
9	Josh Tomlin	CLE	at MIN, at CWS	Really slow start, sometimes happens when you pitch to contact
10	Chris Archer	TB	vs. DET	Already more wins than he had last April
11	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	vs. CWS	Sluggish start, not yet commanding zone
12	Cole Hamels	TEX	vs. KC	Outpitching peripherals so far
13	Steven Wright	BOS	vs. TB, at BAL	Apparently, spin rate was too high last time
14	Justin Verlander	DET	at MIN	Making it look easy
15	Jordan Montgomery	NYY	vs. CWS, at PIT	Decent matchups, be happy with five and fly
16	Matt Andriese	TB	vs. DET, vs. HOU	Pair of dangerous lineups, at least both are in The Trop
17	Chris Sale	BOS	at TOR
18	Mike Fiers	HOU	vs. LAA, at TB	Plagued by early season gopheritis
19	Kevin Gausman	BAL	at CIN
20	Felix Hernandez	SEA	vs. MIA	No longer dominant but knows how to pitch
21	Jason Hammel	KC	vs. SF, at TEX	Uncharacteristically wild so far
22	Lance McCullers	HOU	vs. LAA	Just. Stay. Healthy.
23	Dallas Keuchel	HOU	vs. LAA
24	Luis Severino	NYY	vs. CWS	Benefited from low strike zone last time but took full advantage
25	Danny Duffy	KC	at TEX	Nice to see a 7-inning outing last time
26	Jharel Cotton	OAK	vs. SEA
27	Eduardo Rodriguez	BOS	at TOR, at BAL	Showing signs, but still needs consistency
28	Marco Estrada	TOR	at LAA
29	James Paxton	SEA	at OAK	Just. Stay. Healthy.
30	Jose Quintana	CWS	vs. CLE
31	Yovani Gallardo	SEA	vs. MIA, at OAK
32	Erasmo Ramirez	TB	vs. DET
33	Sean Manaea	OAK	vs. SEA
34	Rick Porcello	BOS	at TOR	Looked uncomfortable last time, shaken by not getting early calls
35	Drew Pomeranz	BOS	at BAL
36	Ariel Miranda	SEA	vs. MIA, at OAK	Great matchups
37	Ricky Nolasco	LAA	at HOU, vs. TOR
38	J.A. Happ	TOR	at LAA
39	Aaron Sanchez	TOR	vs. BOS
40	Jesse Chavez	LAA	at HOU, vs. TOR
41	Blake Snell	TB	at BOS, vs. HOU	Stuff filthy, but BB/9 higher than K/9 is an issue
42	Michael Pineda	NYY	at PIT
43	A.J. Griffin	TEX	at OAK, vs. KC
44	Phil Hughes	MIN	vs. CLE, vs. DET
45	Jordan Zimmermann	DET	at TB
46	Hisashi Iwakuma	SEA	at OAK
47	Ubaldo Jimenez	BAL	at CIN, vs. BOS
48	Jesse Hahn	OAK	vs. TEX, vs. SEA	Pair at home provides nice safety net
49	Kendall Graveman	OAK	vs. TEX
50	Tyler Skaggs	LAA	vs. TOR
51	Derek Holland	CWS	at NYY, vs. CLE
52	Kyle Gibson	MIN	vs. CLE, vs. DET
53	Adalberto Mejia	MIN	vs. CLE
54	Francisco Liriano	TOR	vs. BOS
55	Ian Kennedy	KC	at TEX
56	Daniel Norris	DET	at TB
57	Trevor Bauer	CLE	at MIN
58	Ervin Santana	MIN	vs. CLE
59	Matt Shoemaker	LAA	at HOU
60	Dylan Bundy	BAL	vs. BOS
61	Martin Perez	TEX	at OAK
62	Alex Cobb	TB	vs. HOU
63	Charlie Morton	HOU	at TB
64	Matt Boyd	DET	at MIN
65	Hector Santiago	MIN	vs. DET
66	Dylan Covey	CWS	at NYY
67	Wade Miley	BAL	at CIN
68	Alec Asher	BAL	vs. BOS
69	CC Sabathia	NYY	at PIT
70	James Shields	CWS	vs. CLE	1.69 ERA is the same as his 1.69 HR/9. One is lucky.
71	Miguel Gonzalez	CWS	at NYY
72	Nathan Karns	KC	at TEX
73	Jason Vargas	KC	vs. SF	Need more than two solid starts to erase years of meh
74	Andrew Cashner	TEX	vs. KC
75	JC Ramirez	LAA	at HOU	Just a placeholder for Garrett Richards

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Rank	Pitcher	TEAM	Opponent(s)	Comments
1	Max Scherzer	WAS	at ATL, at NYM	Home, away, who cares. Facing two teams that whiff a lot
2	John Lackey	CHC	vs. MIL, at CIN	Just knows how to pitch
3	Jaime Garcia	ATL	vs. SD, at PHI	Only four strikeouts in 11 innings but good matchups
4	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	vs. COL	Revenge game, this time at home
5	Noah Syndergaard	NYM	vs. PHI	20 K, 0 BB in 19 IP, but tore nail last time, check news for updates
6	Madison Bumgarner	SF	at KC	Ignore the record, he's fine
7	Jake Arrieta	CHC	at CIN	Nice to see the strikeouts up
8	Jon Lester	CHC	at CIN	Did you see Joc Pederson in the "three-point stance" lead?
9	Stephen Strasburg	WAS	at ATL	Just. Stay. Healthy.
10	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	vs. MIL	Regression rearing its ugly head
11	Carlos Martinez	STL	at MIL	Fast approaching ace status
12	Lance Lynn	STL	vs. PIT, at MIL	Control typically slow to return after TJS
13	Ivan Nova	PIT	at STL, vs. NYY	Pitching with confidence
14	Jacob deGrom	NYM	vs. WAS	Good to see velocity up from last season
15	Mike Foltynewicz	ATL	vs. WAS, at PHI	Not yet maintaining control gains
16	Rich Hill	LAD	at ARI	Emerged from bullpen sessions blister free…we'll see
17	Zack Greinke	ARI	at SD
18	Jerad Eickhoff	PHI	vs. ATL
19	Mike Leake	STL	vs. PIT, at MIL	Boring, but effective
20	Joe Ross	WAS	at ATL	Making his 2017 debut
21	Jeremy Hellickson	PHI	vs. ATL	Only three punch outs in 10 innings but no homers
22	Hyun-Jin Ryu	LAD	vs. COL
23	Julio Teheran	ATL	vs. WAS	Hey look, he for a win last time
24	Jameson Taillon	PIT	vs. NYY
25	Zack Wheeler	NYM	vs. PHI, vs. WAS	Pitched better than his record
26	Robert Gsellman	NYM	vs. PHI
27	Tanner Roark	WAS	at NYM
28	Matt Harvey	NYM	vs. WAS	Maybe we shoud make it JSH
29	Robbie Ray	ARI	at LAD, vs. LAD	As advertised, lots of whiffs, lots of walks
30	Adam Wainwright	STL	at MIL
31	Zach Eflin	PHI	at NYM, vs. ATL	Replacing Buchholz, not a top prospect but can be back-end starter
32	Gerrit Cole	PIT	at STL
33	Brandon McCarthy	LAD	vs. ARI, at ARI
34	Johnny Cueto	SF	at COL
35	Vince Velasquez	PHI	at NYM
36	Tyler Anderson	COL	at LAD
37	Kenta Maeda	LAD	at ARI
38	Shelby Miller	ARI	at SD, vs. LAD
39	Tom Koehler	MIA	at SEA, at SD
40	Jimmy Nelson	MIL	at CHC, vs. STL	Reminding why we were all so high on him last season
41	Aaron Nola	PHI	at NYM
42	Chase Anderson	MIL	at CHC, vs. STL	Carrying last season's September success over
43	Michael Wacha	STL	vs. PIT	A pleasant surprise, many though future was in the bullpen
44	Zach Davies	MIL	vs. STL
45	Amir Garrett	CIN	vs. BAL, vs. CHC	Rookie looked good, and is home, but facing two top offenses
46	Tyler Glasnow	PIT	vs. NYY
47	Gio Gonzalez	WAS	at NYM
48	Bartolo Colon	ATL	at PHI
49	Dan Straily	MIA	at SD
50	Jered Weaver	SD	at ATL, vs. MIA
51	Jarred Cosart	SD	vs. ARI, vs. MIA
52	Kyle Freeland	COL	at LAD, vs. SF
53	Brett Anderson	CHC	vs. MIL
54	Wei-Yin Chen	MIA	at SEA
55	Patrick Corbin	ARI	at SD
56	Adam Conley	MIA	at SD
57	Brandon Finnegan	CIN	vs. CHC
58	Jeff Samardzija	SF	at COL
59	Chad Kuhl	PIT	at STL
60	Edinson Volquez	MIA	at SEA
61	Taijuan Walker	ARI	vs. LAD
62	Matt Moore	SF	at COL
63	Scott Feldman	CIN	vs. BAL
64	R.A. Dickey	ATL	vs. WAS
65	Clayton Richard	SD	vs. ARI
66	Jhoulys Chacin	SD	vs. ARI
67	Tommy Milone	MIL	at CHC
68	Tyler Chatwood	COL	vs. SF
69	Trevor Cahill	SD	vs. MIA	Much better as a reliever
70	Sal Romano	CIN	vs. CHC
71	Antonio Senzatela	COL	vs. SF	Yeah, he's looked good but… Coors
72	Wily Peralta	MIL	vs. STL	Need to see better control to become a believer
73	Bronson Arroyo	CIN	vs. BAL	Homer prone pitcher versus power laden lineup

MLB

RANK	PITCHER	TEAM	OPPONENT	COMMENT
1	Max Scherzer	WAS	at ATL, at NYM	Home, away, who cares. Facing two teams that whiff a lot
2	Yu Darvish	TEX	at OAK, vs. KC	Off to good start, but needs to reduce walks
3	John Lackey	CHC	vs. MIL, at CIN	Just knows how to pitch
4	Danny Salazar	CLE	at MIN, at CWS	Strikeouts galore, but walks a plenty as well
5	Jaime Garcia	ATL	vs. SD, at PHI	Only four strikeouts in 11 innings but good matchups
6	Andrew Triggs	OAK	vs. TEX, vs. SEA	Not missing bats but benefits from a pair at home
7	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	vs. COL	Revenge game, this time at home
8	Michael Fulmer	DET	at TB, at MIN	Picking up where he left off
9	Joe Musgrove	HOU	vs. LAA, at TB	Struggling with mechanics
10	Noah Syndergaard	NYM	vs. PHI	20 K, 0 BB in 19 IP, but tore nail last time, check news for updates
11	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	at CWS	7 IP last time, kid gloves are off
12	Madison Bumgarner	SF	at KC	Ignore the record, he's fine
13	Jake Arrieta	CHC	at CIN	Nice to see the strikeouts up
14	Marcus Stroman	TOR	vs. BOS, at LAA	No apparent WBC hangover
15	Jon Lester	CHC	at CIN	Did you see Joc Pederson in the "three-point stance" lead?
16	Corey Kluber	CLE	at MIN	ERA inflated from early homer woes
17	Josh Tomlin	CLE	at MIN, at CWS	Really slow start, sometimes happens when you pitch to contact
18	Chris Archer	TB	vs. DET	Already more wins than he had last April
19	Stephen Strasburg	WAS	at ATL	Just. Stay. Healthy.
20	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	vs. CWS	Sluggish start, not yet commanding zone
21	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	vs. MIL	Regression rearing its ugly head
22	Carlos Martinez	STL	at MIL	Fast approaching ace status
23	Lance Lynn	STL	vs. PIT, at MIL	Control typically slow to return after TJS
24	Cole Hamels	TEX	vs. KC	Outpitching peripherals so far
25	Steven Wright	BOS	vs. TB, at BAL	Apparently, spin rate was too high last time
26	Ivan Nova	PIT	at STL, vs. NYY	Pitching with confidence
27	Jacob deGrom	NYM	vs. WAS	Good to see velocity up from last season
28	Mike Foltynewicz	ATL	vs. WAS, at PHI	Not yet maintaining control gains
29	Justin Verlander	DET	at MIN	Making it look easy
30	Jordan Montgomery	NYY	vs. CWS, at PIT	Decent matchups, be happy with five and fly
31	Rich Hill	LAD	at ARI	Emerged from bullpen sessions blister free…we'll see
32	Zack Greinke	ARI	at SD
33	Matt Andriese	TB	vs. DET, vs. HOU	Pair of dangerous lineups, at least both are in The Trop
34	Chris Sale	BOS	at TOR
35	Mike Fiers	HOU	vs. LAA, at TB	Plagued by early season gopheritis
36	Jerad Eickhoff	PHI	vs. ATL
37	Kevin Gausman	BAL	at CIN
38	Felix Hernandez	SEA	vs. MIA	No longer dominant but knows how to pitch
39	Jason Hammel	KC	vs. SF, at TEX	Uncharacteristically wild so far
40	Mike Leake	STL	vs. PIT, at MIL	Boring, but effective
41	Lance McCullers	HOU	vs. LAA	Just. Stay. Healthy.
42	Joe Ross	WAS	at ATL	Making his 2017 debut
43	Dallas Keuchel	HOU	vs. LAA
44	Jeremy Hellickson	PHI	vs. ATL	Only three punch outs in 10 innings but no homers
45	Luis Severino	NYY	vs. CWS	Benefited from low strike zone last time but took full advantage
46	Hyun-Jin Ryu	LAD	vs. COL
47	Julio Teheran	ATL	vs. WAS	Hey look, he for a win last time
48	Danny Duffy	KC	at TEX	Nice to see a 7-inning outing last time
49	Jameson Taillon	PIT	vs. NYY
50	Zack Wheeler	NYM	vs. PHI, vs. WAS	Pitched better than his record
51	Jharel Cotton	OAK	vs. SEA
52	Robert Gsellman	NYM	vs. PHI
53	Eduardo Rodriguez	BOS	at TOR, at BAL	Showing signs, but still needs consistency
54	Tanner Roark	WAS	at NYM
55	Marco Estrada	TOR	at LAA
56	James Paxton	SEA	at OAK	Just. Stay. Healthy.
57	Jose Quintana	CWS	vs. CLE
58	Yovani Gallardo	SEA	vs. MIA, at OAK
59	Erasmo Ramirez	TB	vs. DET
60	Matt Harvey	NYM	vs. WAS	Maybe we shoud make it JSH
61	Sean Manaea	OAK	vs. SEA
62	Rick Porcello	BOS	at TOR	Looked uncomfortable last time, shaken by not getting early calls
63	Robbie Ray	ARI	at LAD, vs. LAD	As advertised, lots of whiffs, lots of walks
64	Drew Pomeranz	BOS	at BAL
65	Ariel Miranda	SEA	vs. MIA, at OAK	Great matchups
66	Adam Wainwright	STL	at MIL
67	Ricky Nolasco	LAA	at HOU, vs. TOR
68	Zach Eflin	PHI	at NYM, vs. ATL	Replacing Buchholz, not a top prospect but can be back-end starter
69	Gerrit Cole	PIT	at STL
70	Brandon McCarthy	LAD	vs. ARI, at ARI
71	J.A. Happ	TOR	at LAA
72	Johnny Cueto	SF	at COL
73	Aaron Sanchez	TOR	vs. BOS
74	Jesse Chavez	LAA	at HOU, vs. TOR
75	Blake Snell	TB	at BOS, vs. HOU	Stuff filthy, but BB/9 higher than K/9 is an issue
76	Vince Velasquez	PHI	at NYM
77	Tyler Anderson	COL	at LAD
78	Kenta Maeda	LAD	at ARI
79	Michael Pineda	NYY	at PIT
80	Shelby Miller	ARI	at SD, vs. LAD
81	A.J. Griffin	TEX	at OAK, vs. KC
82	Tom Koehler	MIA	at SEA, at SD
83	Phil Hughes	MIN	vs. CLE, vs. DET
84	Jordan Zimmermann	DET	at TB
85	Jimmy Nelson	MIL	at CHC, vs. STL	Reminding why we were all so high on him last season
86	Hisashi Iwakuma	SEA	at OAK
87	Ubaldo Jimenez	BAL	at CIN, vs. BOS
88	Jesse Hahn	OAK	vs. TEX, vs. SEA	Pair at home provides nice safety net
89	Kendall Graveman	OAK	vs. TEX
90	Tyler Skaggs	LAA	vs. TOR
91	Aaron Nola	PHI	at NYM
92	Chase Anderson	MIL	at CHC, vs. STL	Carrying last season's September success over
93	Derek Holland	CWS	at NYY, vs. CLE
94	Michael Wacha	STL	vs. PIT	A pleasant surprise, many though future was in the bullpen
95	Zach Davies	MIL	vs. STL
96	Kyle Gibson	MIN	vs. CLE, vs. DET
97	Amir Garrett	CIN	vs. BAL, vs. CHC	Rookie looked good, and is home, but facing two top offenses
98	Tyler Glasnow	PIT	vs. NYY
99	Adalberto Mejia	MIN	vs. CLE
100	Francisco Liriano	TOR	vs. BOS
101	Ian Kennedy	KC	at TEX
102	Gio Gonzalez	WAS	at NYM
103	Bartolo Colon	ATL	at PHI
104	Dan Straily	MIA	at SD
105	Daniel Norris	DET	at TB
106	Jered Weaver	SD	at ATL, vs. MIA
107	Jarred Cosart	SD	vs. ARI, vs. MIA
108	Kyle Freeland	COL	at LAD, vs. SF
109	Trevor Bauer	CLE	at MIN
110	Ervin Santana	MIN	vs. CLE
111	Matt Shoemaker	LAA	at HOU
112	Brett Anderson	CHC	vs. MIL
113	Dylan Bundy	BAL	vs. BOS
114	Wei-Yin Chen	MIA	at SEA
115	Martin Perez	TEX	at OAK
116	Patrick Corbin	ARI	at SD
117	Adam Conley	MIA	at SD
118	Alex Cobb	TB	vs. HOU
119	Charlie Morton	HOU	at TB
120	Brandon Finnegan	CIN	vs. CHC
121	Jeff Samardzija	SF	at COL
122	Chad Kuhl	PIT	at STL
123	Edinson Volquez	MIA	at SEA
124	Taijuan Walker	ARI	vs. LAD
125	Matt Moore	SF	at COL
126	Scott Feldman	CIN	vs. BAL
127	R.A. Dickey	ATL	vs. WAS
128	Clayton Richard	SD	vs. ARI
129	Jhoulys Chacin	SD	vs. ARI
130	Tommy Milone	MIL	at CHC
131	Matt Boyd	DET	at MIN
132	Hector Santiago	MIN	vs. DET
133	Dylan Covey	CWS	at NYY
134	Wade Miley	BAL	at CIN
135	Alec Asher	BAL	vs. BOS
136	CC Sabathia	NYY	at PIT
137	James Shields	CWS	vs. CLE	1.69 ERA is the same as his 1.69 HR/9. One is lucky.
138	Miguel Gonzalez	CWS	at NYY
139	Nathan Karns	KC	at TEX
140	Tyler Chatwood	COL	vs. SF
141	Jason Vargas	KC	vs. SF	Need more than two solid starts to erase years of meh
142	Andrew Cashner	TEX	vs. KC
143	Trevor Cahill	SD	vs. MIA	Much better as a reliever
144	JC Ramirez	LAA	at HOU	Just a placeholder for Garrett Richards
145	Sal Romano	CIN	vs. CHC
146	Antonio Senzatela	COL	vs. SF	Yeah, he's looked good but… Coors
147	Wily Peralta	MIL	vs. STL	Need to see better control to become a believer
148	Bronson Arroyo	CIN	vs. BAL	Homer prone pitcher versus power laden lineup