Weekly Pitcher Rankings: No Sign of Slowing for Cole

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Updated on July 28, 2018 1:48PM EST

This is a unique week. There's a goodly number of two-start options with the oddity there aren't many aces, but there aren't many bottom dwellers either. When deciding on your active roster for the week, keep in mind the rankings favor strikeouts over ratios, so if you're in a tight ERA or WHIP rate, you may want to be more judicious with your selections.

For the week, July 30 - Aug. 5

UPDATED: Sunday July 29, 11:25 PM ET

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RANK	PITCHER	TEAM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Gerrit Cole	HOU	at SEA, at LAD	Showing no signs of slowing down, 35 K in 23 July innings
2	Justin Verlander	HOU	at LAD
3	Chris Sale	BOS	vs. NYY	Fastest to 200K in the AL, broke his own record
4	Corey Kluber	CLE	vs. LAA
5	Jose Berrios	MIN	vs. KC
6	Blake Snell	TB	vs. CWS	Walks high lately, hopefully nothing to worry about
7	James Paxton	SEA	vs. HOU, vs. TOR	Downgraded a tad via injury risk
8	Danny Duffy	KC	at CWS, at MIN	Dusted off curveball, getting solid results
9	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	vs. BAL, at BOS	Keeping the ball in the yard lately
10	Trevor Bauer	CLE	at MIN
11	Charlie Morton	HOU	at SEA
12	David Price	BOS	vs. PHI, vs. NYY	Can Price get over his Yankee yips?
13	Marco Gonzales	SEA	vs. TOR	0
14	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	at MIN
15	Sonny Gray	NYY	vs. BAL	Pitching well lately, good chance to keep

For the week, July 30 - Aug. 5

UPDATED: Sunday July 29, 11:25 PM ET

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RANK	PITCHER	TEAM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Gerrit Cole	HOU	at SEA, at LAD	Showing no signs of slowing down, 35 K in 23 July innings
2	Justin Verlander	HOU	at LAD
3	Chris Sale	BOS	vs. NYY	Fastest to 200K in the AL, broke his own record
4	Corey Kluber	CLE	vs. LAA
5	Jose Berrios	MIN	vs. KC
6	Blake Snell	TB	vs. CWS	Walks high lately, hopefully nothing to worry about
7	James Paxton	SEA	vs. HOU, vs. TOR	Downgraded a tad via injury risk
8	Danny Duffy	KC	at CWS, at MIN	Dusted off curveball, getting solid results
9	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	vs. BAL, at BOS	Keeping the ball in the yard lately
10	Trevor Bauer	CLE	at MIN
11	Charlie Morton	HOU	at SEA
12	David Price	BOS	vs. PHI, vs. NYY	Can Price get over his Yankee yips?
13	Marco Gonzales	SEA	vs. TOR	0
14	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	at MIN
15	Sonny Gray	NYY	vs. BAL	Pitching well lately, good chance to keep it going if thumb is OK
16	Tyler Skaggs	LAA	at TB, at CLE	Indians crush southpaws
17	Dallas Keuchel	HOU	at SEA
18	Jake Faria	TB	vs. CWS	May get one start before activated, hasn't looked good in rehab
19	Sean Manaea	OAK	vs. TOR	Escaped Coors Field relatively unscathed
20	Ervin Santana	MIN	vs. CLE, vs. KC	5K, 1 BB in 5 IP in long-awaited 2018 debut
21	Aaron Sanchez	TOR	vs. MIA
22	Ryan Borucki	TOR	at SEA	0
23	Mike Minor	TEX	vs. BAL
24	James Shields	CWS	vs. KC, at TB
25	Jakob Junis	KC	at CWS
26	Jake Odorizzi	MIN	vs. KC
27	Matthew Boyd	DET	vs. CIN, at OAK	Skidded into break but emerged with 13 K, 2 BB in 11 IP
28	Marco Estrada	TOR	at OAK, at SEA	Aided by pitching venues but may not matter
29	Luis Severino	NYY	at BOS	7.80 ERA, 1.87 last three outings
30	Shane Bieber	CLE	at MIN, vs. LAA	Good pair to rebound from last start
31	Andrew Heaney	LAA	at TB
32	Frankie Montas	OAK	vs. DET
33	Lance McCullers Jr.	HOU	at LAD	Not getting along with Uncle Charlie lately
34	Yonny Chirinos	TB	vs. CWS
35	Mike Leake	SEA	vs. HOU, vs. TOR
36	Chris Archer	TB	vs. LAA	Will he still be a Ray?
37	Rick Porcello	BOS	vs. NYY
38	Mike Clevinger	CLE	vs. LAA
39	Wade LeBlanc	SEA	vs. HOU
40	Felix Hernandez	SEA	vs. TOR
41	Reynaldo Lopez	CWS	vs. KC
42	Jalen Beeks	TB	vs. LAA
43	Carlos Rodon	CWS	at TB
44	Dylan Covey	CWS	vs. KC
45	Kyle Gibson	MIN	vs. CLE
46	Marcus Stroman	TOR	at OAK
47	Yefry Ramirez	BAL	at NYY, at TEX
48	Trevor Cahill	OAK	vs. TOR
49	Dylan Bundy	BAL	at TEX
50	Bartolo Colon	TEX	at ARI
51	Drew Pomeranz	BOS	vs. PHI
52	Edwin Jackson	OAK	vs. TOR, vs. DET
53	Kevin Gausman	BAL	at TEX
54	Martin Perez	TEX	at ARI, vs. BAL
55	Nathan Eovaldi	BOS	vs. NYY
56	Mike Fiers	DET	vs. CIN
57	Lucas Giolito	CWS	at TB
58	J.A. Happ	NYY	at BOS
59	Nick Tropeano	LAA	at TB
60	Lance Lynn	MIN	vs. CLE
61	Jordan Zimmermann	DET	at OAK
62	John Axford	TOR	at SEA
63	Burch Smith	KC	at MIN
64	Sam Gaviglio	TOR	at OAK, at SEA
65	Alex Cobb	BAL	at NYY
66	Andrew Cashner	BAL	at TEX
67	Yovani Gallardo	TEX	vs. BAL
68	Hunter Wood	TB	vs. LAA
69	Brad Keller	KC	at CWS
70	CC Sabathia	NYY	at BOS
71	Francisco Liriano	DET	at OAK
72	Jaime Barria	LAA	at CLE
73	Felix Pena	LAA	at CLE
74	Ariel Jurado	TEX	vs. BAL
75	Brett Anderson	OAK	vs. DET
76	Heath Fillmyer	KC	at MIN

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Rank	Pitcher	TEAM	OPP	Comments
1	Aaron Nola	PHI	at BOS, vs. MIA	Game versus Boston will be a fun one
2	Max Scherzer	WAS	vs. CIN
3	Jon Gray	COL	at STL, at MIL	Driven by huge strikeout potential
4	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	vs. MIL	Rounding into form
5	Zack Greinke	ARI	vs. SF
6	Kenta Maeda	LAD	vs. MIL, vs. HOU	Maintaining big strikeout totals
7	Jacob deGrom	NYM	vs. ATL
8	Robbie Ray	ARI	vs. TEX, vs. SF	Helped by pair at home, Texas without their DH
9	Julio Teheran	ATL	vs. MIA, at NYM	Weak opponents but so inconsistent
10	Patrick Corbin	ARI	vs. SF
11	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	vs. SD
12	Carlos Martinez	STL	vs. COL, at PIT	Low ERA not supported by peripherals
13	Jon Lester	CHC	at PIT, vs. SD	Looked more like old self last time out, but not out of the woods yet
14	Tyler Anderson	COL	at STL, at MIL
15	Rich Hill	LAD	vs. MIL
16	Freddy Peralta	MIL	at LAD, vs. COL	Will be interesting to see if Brewers manage Peralta's innings
17	Noah Syndergaard	NYM	at WAS	Slated to return from hand, foot and mouth disease
18	Jack Flaherty	STL	vs. COL, at PIT	Needs to be more pitch efficient, high K and high BB as of late
19	Madison Bumgarner	SF	at ARI
20	Mike Montgomery	CHC	vs. SD
21	Walker Buehler	LAD	vs. MIL
22	Tanner Roark	WAS	vs. NYM, vs. CIN	Defintion of mediocrity
23	Derek Holland	SF	at SD, at ARI
24	Miles Mikolas	STL	vs. COL	Only 9 HR allowed in 130.1 IP
25	Nick Pivetta	PHI	vs. MIA
26	Zach Eflin	PHI	vs. MIA	In a rut, facing good team to get well
27	Mike Foltynewicz	ATL	at NYM
28	Vince Velasquez	PHI	vs. MIA
29	Ross Stripling	LAD	vs. HOU
30	Sean Newcomb	ATL	at NYM	Getting extra rest after near no-no
31	Cole Hamels	CHC	at PIT	Has chance to benefit from a HUGE park and league switch
32	Kolby Allard	ATL	vs. MIA	Expected to make debut
33	Joe Musgrove	PIT	vs. STL
34	Jose Quintana	CHC	vs. SD
35	Alex Wood	LAD	vs. HOU
36	Clay Buchholz	ARI	vs. SF
37	Zack Godley	ARI	vs. TEX	Finally showing form expected all season
38	Luke Weaver	STL	vs. COL
39	Dereck Rodriguez	SF	at SD
40	Clayton Richard	SD	vs. SF
41	Luis Castillo	CIN	at WAS	Coming off best effort of the season
42	Chase Anderson	MIL	at LAD
43	Antonio Senzatela	COL	at STL
44	Ivan Nova	PIT	vs. STL
45	Jameson Taillon	PIT	vs. CHC
46	German Marquez	COL	at MIL
47	Jeremy Hellickson	WAS	vs. CIN
48	Jhoulys Chacin	MIL	at LAD
49	Steven Matz	NYM	at WAS, vs. ATL
50	Trevor Williams	PIT	vs. STL
51	Sal Romano	CIN	at DET
52	Jose Urena	MIA	at PHI
53	Kyle Freeland	COL	at STL
54	Anthony DeSclafani	CIN	at WAS
55	Eric Lauer	SD	vs. SF, at CHC
56	Junior Guerra	MIL	vs. COL
57	Dan Straily	MIA	at ATL, at PHI
58	Wei-Yin Chen	MIA	at ATL, at PHI
59	Gio Gonzalez	WAS	vs. CIN
60	Trevor Richards	MIA	at PHI
61	Jason Vargas	NYM	vs. ATL
62	Zack Wheeler	NYM	vs. ATL
63	Tommy Milone	WAS	vs. NYM
64	Max Fried	ATL	at NYM
65	Tyler Mahle	CIN	at WAS
66	Joey Lucchesi	SD	at CHC
67	Homer Bailey	CIN	at DET
68	Matt Harvey	CIN	at WAS
69	Andrew Suarez	SF	at ARI
70	Jake Arrieta	PHI	at BOS
71	Wade Miley	MIL	at LAD, vs. COL
72	Jordan Lyles	SD	at CHC
73	Nick Kingham	PIT	vs. CHC
74	John Gant	STL	at PIT
75	Pablo Lopez	MIA	at ATL
76	Ty Blach	SF	at ARI
77	Robbie Erlin	SD	at CHC

MLB

RANK	PITCHER	TEAM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Gerrit Cole	HOU	at SEA, at LAD	Showing no signs of slowing down, 35 K in 23 July innings
2	Aaron Nola	PHI	at BOS, vs. MIA	Game versus Boston will be a fun one
3	Max Scherzer	WAS	vs. CIN
4	Jon Gray	COL	at STL, at MIL	Driven by huge strikeout potential
5	Justin Verlander	HOU	at LAD
6	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	vs. MIL	Rounding into form
7	Zack Greinke	ARI	vs. SF
8	Chris Sale	BOS	vs. NYY	Fastest to 200K in the AL, broke his own record
9	Corey Kluber	CLE	vs. LAA
10	Jose Berrios	MIN	vs. KC
11	Blake Snell	TB	vs. CWS	Walks high lately, hopefully nothing to worry about
12	Kenta Maeda	LAD	vs. MIL, vs. HOU	Maintaining big strikeout totals
13	Jacob deGrom	NYM	vs. ATL
14	Robbie Ray	ARI	vs. TEX, vs. SF	Helped by pair at home, Texas without their DH
15	James Paxton	SEA	vs. HOU, vs. TOR	Downgraded a tad via injury risk
16	Danny Duffy	KC	at CWS, at MIN	Dusted off curveball, getting solid results
17	Julio Teheran	ATL	vs. MIA, at NYM	Weak opponents but so inconsistent
18	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	vs. BAL, at BOS	Keeping the ball in the yard lately
19	Trevor Bauer	CLE	at MIN
20	Patrick Corbin	ARI	vs. SF
21	Charlie Morton	HOU	at SEA
22	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	vs. SD
23	Carlos Martinez	STL	vs. COL, at PIT	Low ERA not supported by peripherals
24	Jon Lester	CHC	at PIT, vs. SD	Looked more like old self last time out, but not out of the woods yet
25	Tyler Anderson	COL	at STL, at MIL
26	David Price	BOS	vs. PHI, vs. NYY	Can Price get over his Yankee yips?
27	Rich Hill	LAD	vs. MIL
28	Freddy Peralta	MIL	at LAD, vs. COL	Will be interesting to see if Brewers manage Peralta's innings
29	Noah Syndergaard	NYM	at WAS	Slated to return from hand, foot and mouth disease
30	Jack Flaherty	STL	vs. COL, at PIT	Needs to be more pitch efficient, high K and high BB as of late
31	Marco Gonzales	SEA	vs. TOR	0
32	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	at MIN
33	Madison Bumgarner	SF	at ARI
34	Mike Montgomery	CHC	vs. SD
35	Sonny Gray	NYY	vs. BAL	Pitching well lately, good chance to keep it going if thumb is OK
36	Tyler Skaggs	LAA	at TB, at CLE	Indians crush southpaws
37	Dallas Keuchel	HOU	at SEA
38	Walker Buehler	LAD	vs. MIL
39	Tanner Roark	WAS	vs. NYM, vs. CIN	Defintion of mediocrity
40	Derek Holland	SF	at SD, at ARI
41	Miles Mikolas	STL	vs. COL	Only 9 HR allowed in 130.1 IP
42	Nick Pivetta	PHI	vs. MIA
43	Jake Faria	TB	vs. CWS	May get one start before activated, hasn't looked good in rehab
44	Zach Eflin	PHI	vs. MIA	In a rut, facing good team to get well
45	Sean Manaea	OAK	vs. TOR	Escaped Coors Field relatively unscathed
46	Ervin Santana	MIN	vs. CLE, vs. KC	5K, 1 BB in 5 IP in long-awaited 2018 debut
47	Aaron Sanchez	TOR	vs. MIA
48	Ryan Borucki	TOR	at SEA	0
49	Mike Minor	TEX	vs. BAL
50	Mike Foltynewicz	ATL	at NYM
51	Vince Velasquez	PHI	vs. MIA
52	Ross Stripling	LAD	vs. HOU
53	Sean Newcomb	ATL	at NYM	Getting extra rest after near no-no
54	Cole Hamels	CHC	at PIT	Has chance to benefit from a HUGE park and league switch
55	Kolby Allard	ATL	vs. MIA	Expected to make debut
56	James Shields	CWS	vs. KC, at TB
57	Joe Musgrove	PIT	vs. STL
58	Jose Quintana	CHC	vs. SD
59	Jakob Junis	KC	at CWS
60	Alex Wood	LAD	vs. HOU
61	Jake Odorizzi	MIN	vs. KC
62	Clay Buchholz	ARI	vs. SF
63	Zack Godley	ARI	vs. TEX	Finally showing form expected all season
64	Matthew Boyd	DET	vs. CIN, at OAK	Skidded into break but emerged with 13 K, 2 BB in 11 IP
65	Luke Weaver	STL	vs. COL
66	Marco Estrada	TOR	at OAK, at SEA	Aided by pitching venues but may not matter
67	Luis Severino	NYY	at BOS	7.80 ERA, 1.87 last three outings
68	Dereck Rodriguez	SF	at SD
69	Shane Bieber	CLE	at MIN, vs. LAA	Good pair to rebound from last start
70	Andrew Heaney	LAA	at TB
71	Frankie Montas	OAK	vs. DET
72	Lance McCullers Jr.	HOU	at LAD	Not getting along with Uncle Charlie lately
73	Yonny Chirinos	TB	vs. CWS
74	Mike Leake	SEA	vs. HOU, vs. TOR
75	Chris Archer	TB	vs. LAA	Will he still be a Ray?
76	Rick Porcello	BOS	vs. NYY
77	Clayton Richard	SD	vs. SF
78	Luis Castillo	CIN	at WAS	Coming off best effort of the season
79	Chase Anderson	MIL	at LAD
80	Antonio Senzatela	COL	at STL
81	Ivan Nova	PIT	vs. STL
82	Mike Clevinger	CLE	vs. LAA
83	Wade LeBlanc	SEA	vs. HOU
84	Jameson Taillon	PIT	vs. CHC
85	Felix Hernandez	SEA	vs. TOR
86	Reynaldo Lopez	CWS	vs. KC
87	German Marquez	COL	at MIL
88	Jeremy Hellickson	WAS	vs. CIN
89	Jalen Beeks	TB	vs. LAA
90	Jhoulys Chacin	MIL	at LAD
91	Steven Matz	NYM	at WAS, vs. ATL
92	Carlos Rodon	CWS	at TB
93	Dylan Covey	CWS	vs. KC
94	Kyle Gibson	MIN	vs. CLE
95	Marcus Stroman	TOR	at OAK
96	Yefry Ramirez	BAL	at NYY, at TEX
97	Trevor Cahill	OAK	vs. TOR
98	Trevor Williams	PIT	vs. STL
99	Sal Romano	CIN	at DET
100	Jose Urena	MIA	at PHI
101	Kyle Freeland	COL	at STL
102	Dylan Bundy	BAL	at TEX
103	Bartolo Colon	TEX	at ARI
104	Anthony DeSclafani	CIN	at WAS
105	Eric Lauer	SD	vs. SF, at CHC
106	Junior Guerra	MIL	vs. COL
107	Dan Straily	MIA	at ATL, at PHI
108	Wei-Yin Chen	MIA	at ATL, at PHI
109	Drew Pomeranz	BOS	vs. PHI
110	Gio Gonzalez	WAS	vs. CIN
111	Trevor Richards	MIA	at PHI
112	Edwin Jackson	OAK	vs. TOR, vs. DET
113	Jason Vargas	NYM	vs. ATL
114	Kevin Gausman	BAL	at TEX
115	Martin Perez	TEX	at ARI, vs. BAL
116	Nathan Eovaldi	BOS	vs. NYY
117	Mike Fiers	DET	vs. CIN
118	Lucas Giolito	CWS	at TB
119	Zack Wheeler	NYM	vs. ATL
120	Tommy Milone	WAS	vs. NYM
121	Max Fried	ATL	at NYM
122	J.A. Happ	NYY	at BOS
123	Nick Tropeano	LAA	at TB
124	Tyler Mahle	CIN	at WAS
125	Lance Lynn	MIN	vs. CLE
126	Joey Lucchesi	SD	at CHC
127	Jordan Zimmermann	DET	at OAK
128	Homer Bailey	CIN	at DET
129	John Axford	TOR	at SEA
130	Matt Harvey	CIN	at WAS
131	Andrew Suarez	SF	at ARI
132	Jake Arrieta	PHI	at BOS
133	Burch Smith	KC	at MIN
134	Sam Gaviglio	TOR	at OAK, at SEA
135	Alex Cobb	BAL	at NYY
136	Andrew Cashner	BAL	at TEX
137	Yovani Gallardo	TEX	vs. BAL
138	Wade Miley	MIL	at LAD, vs. COL
139	Hunter Wood	TB	vs. LAA
140	Brad Keller	KC	at CWS
141	Jordan Lyles	SD	at CHC
142	Nick Kingham	PIT	vs. CHC
143	CC Sabathia	NYY	at BOS
144	John Gant	STL	at PIT
145	Francisco Liriano	DET	at OAK
146	Jaime Barria	LAA	at CLE
147	Felix Pena	LAA	at CLE
148	Ariel Jurado	TEX	vs. BAL
149	Pablo Lopez	MIA	at ATL
150	Brett Anderson	OAK	vs. DET
151	Ty Blach	SF	at ARI
152	Heath Fillmyer	KC	at MIN
153	Robbie Erlin	SD	at CHC