Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Scherzer Over Kershaw?

Todd Zola ranks this week's starting pitchers, as the league might be on the verge of a changing at the guard at the top of the heap with Max Scherzer.

Updated on April 28, 2018 1:55PM EST

Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Scherzer Over Kershaw?

By:

Todd Zola

Updated on April 28, 2018 1:55PM EST

Weekly Pitcher Rankings

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Aces dominate the rankings, with a possible changing on the guard up top. In part due to several makeup games on this week's schedule, there's a good inventory of two-start options aided by matchups.

For the week, April 30 - May 6.

UPDATED: Sunday, April 29, 11:00 PM ET

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RANK	PITCHER	TEAM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Chris Sale	BOS	vs. KC, at TEX	Sale's innings continue to be somewhat tempered
2	Justin Verlander	HOU	vs. NYY, at ARI
3	Trevor Bauer	CLE	vs. TEX, at NYY	Averaging over 7 IP spanning last four outings
4	Charlie Morton	HOU	vs. NYY, at ARI	Expect big rebound from only poor start of the season
5	Corey Kluber	CLE	vs. TEX
6	Jose Berrios	MIN	at CWS	Good opponent for a bounce back effort
7	Jordan Montgomery	NYY	at HOU, vs. CLE	Protected by great bullpen
8	Eduardo Rodriguez	BOS	vs. KC, at TEX	Knee looks healthy, tossed at least 6 innings last three starts
9	Chris Archer	TB	at DET, vs. TOR	Skills down but facing lesser offenses
10	Aaron Sanchez	TOR	at MIN, at TB	Still shaking the rust off
11	Gerrit Cole	HOU	at ARI	Strong candidate for April Pitcher of the Month
12	Andrew Triggs	OAK	at SEA, vs. BAL	Good venues, pitching well
13	Sean Manaea	OAK	at SEA
14	James Paxton	SEA	vs. OAK
15	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	vs. TOR	Last last start withback spams, monitor status
16	Cole Hamels	TEX	at CLE, vs. BOS	Strikeouts

Aces dominate the rankings, with a possible changing on the guard up top. In part due to several makeup games on this week's schedule, there's a good inventory of two-start options aided by matchups.

For the week, April 30 - May 6.

UPDATED: Sunday, April 29, 11:00 PM ET

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RANK	PITCHER	TEAM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Chris Sale	BOS	vs. KC, at TEX	Sale's innings continue to be somewhat tempered
2	Justin Verlander	HOU	vs. NYY, at ARI
3	Trevor Bauer	CLE	vs. TEX, at NYY	Averaging over 7 IP spanning last four outings
4	Charlie Morton	HOU	vs. NYY, at ARI	Expect big rebound from only poor start of the season
5	Corey Kluber	CLE	vs. TEX
6	Jose Berrios	MIN	at CWS	Good opponent for a bounce back effort
7	Jordan Montgomery	NYY	at HOU, vs. CLE	Protected by great bullpen
8	Eduardo Rodriguez	BOS	vs. KC, at TEX	Knee looks healthy, tossed at least 6 innings last three starts
9	Chris Archer	TB	at DET, vs. TOR	Skills down but facing lesser offenses
10	Aaron Sanchez	TOR	at MIN, at TB	Still shaking the rust off
11	Gerrit Cole	HOU	at ARI	Strong candidate for April Pitcher of the Month
12	Andrew Triggs	OAK	at SEA, vs. BAL	Good venues, pitching well
13	Sean Manaea	OAK	at SEA
14	James Paxton	SEA	vs. OAK
15	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	vs. TOR	Last last start withback spams, monitor status
16	Cole Hamels	TEX	at CLE, vs. BOS	Strikeouts back after disappearing last season
17	Dallas Keuchel	HOU	vs. NYY
18	Lance Lynn	MIN	vs. TOR, at CWS	Gets benefit of doubt, crazy schedule hurts rhythm
19	Shohei Ohtani	LAA	vs. BAL	Tweaked ankle, start pushed up a day
20	Luis Severino	NYY	at HOU
21	J.A. Happ	TOR	at TB
22	Mike Clevinger	CLE	vs. TEX, at NYY
23	Felix Hernandez	SEA	vs. OAK, vs. LAA	Home field advantage, if Hernandez struggles this week, cause for concern
24	Rick Porcello	BOS	at TEX
25	Kyle Gibson	MIN	vs. TOR, at CWS
26	Michael Fulmer	DET	vs. TB
27	Garrett Richards	LAA	at SEA
28	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	at HOU
29	Jake Faria	TB	at DET, vs. TOR	Walks out of control
30	Sonny Gray	NYY	at HOU, vs. CLE	Making Faria's control look like Greg Maddux, still cautiously optimistic of a turnaround
31	Jake Odorizzi	MIN	at CWS
32	David Price	BOS	at TEX
33	Blake Snell	TB	at DET
34	Dylan Bundy	BAL	at LAA	Coming off only poor outing of the season
35	Drew Pomeranz	BOS	vs. KC
36	Marco Estrada	TOR	at MIN, at TB
37	Matt Boyd	DET	vs. TB, at KC	Lesser opponents put Boyd in play in deeper leagues
38	Tyler Skaggs	LAA	at SEA
39	Mike Minor	TEX	vs. BOS
40	Lance McCullers Jr.	HOU	vs. NYY
41	Jakob Junis	KC	at BOS, vs. DET
42	CC Sabathia	NYY	vs. CLE
43	Danny Duffy	KC	at BOS
44	Daniel Mengden	OAK	vs. BAL
45	Erasmo Ramirez	SEA	vs. OAK
46	Yonny Chirinos	TB	vs. TOR
47	Mike Leake	SEA	vs. LAA
48	Andrew Heaney	LAA	vs. BAL
49	Ian Kennedy	KC	vs. DET
50	Marco Gonzales	SEA	vs. LAA
51	Trevor Cahill	OAK	vs. BAL
52	Jason Hammel	KC	at BOS, vs. DET
53	Francisco Liriano	DET	at KC
54	Nick Tropeano	LAA	vs. BAL
55	Alex Cobb	BAL	at LAA, at OAK	13.1/2.8 excellent K/9 and BB/9, unfortunately, those are his ERA and WHIP
56	Kevin Gausman	BAL	at OAK
57	Jaime Barria	LAA	at SEA
58	Josh Tomlin	CLE	at NYY
59	Brett Anderson	OAK	at SEA
60	Jordan Zimmermann	DET	vs. TB, at KC
61	Hector Santiago	CWS	vs. MIN
62	Lucas Giolito	CWS	at STL
63	Reynaldo Lopez	CWS	vs. MIN
64	Marcus Stroman	TOR	at MIN
65	Mike Fiers	DET	at KC
66	Andrew Cashner	BAL	at OAK
67	Martin Perez	TEX	vs. BOS
68	James Shields	CWS	at STL, vs. MIN
69	Jaime Garcia	TOR	at CLE
70	Phil Hughes	MIN	vs. TOR
71	Joe Biagini	TOR	at CLE
72	Eric Skoglund	KC	vs. DET
73	Chris Tillman	BAL	at LAA
74	Carson Fulmer	CWS	vs. MIN
75	Bartolo Colon	TEX	vs. BOS
76	Matt Moore	TEX	at CLE
77	Doug Fister	TEX	at CLE
78	Adam Plutko	CLE	vs. TOR

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Rank	Pitcher	TEAM	OPP	Comments
1	Max Scherzer	WAS	vs. PIT, vs. PHI	Could be top pitcher off the board if drafting today
2	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	at ARI, at SD	Best 1-4 pitcher in the history of baseball
3	Noah Syndergaard	NYM	vs. ATL, vs. COL	7.1 IP last outing first time working more than 6 IP this season
4	Zack Greinke	ARI	vs. LAD, vs. HOU	Expect homers to regress
5	Jake Arrieta	PHI	at MIA, at WAS	Looking more like 2016 than 2017 version
6	Chase Anderson	MIL	at CIN, vs. PIT	Solid pitcher + great matchups = high ranking
7	Jon Lester	CHC	vs. COL, at STL
8	Carlos Martinez	STL	vs. CWS
9	Stephen Strasburg	WAS	vs. PIT
10	Sean Newcomb	ATL	at NYM, vs. SF	Great matchups, both struggle vs. southpaws
11	Tanner Roark	WAS	vs. PIT, vs. PHI	Low strikeouts enhanced with double-duty
12	Michael Wacha	STL	vs. CWS, vs. CHC
13	Jacob deGrom	NYM	vs. ATL
14	Patrick Corbin	ARI	vs. LAD
15	Aaron Nola	PHI	at MIA
16	Kenta Maeda	LAD	at SD
17	Jeff Samardzija	SF	vs. SD
18	Yu Darvish	CHC	vs. COL
19	Jameson Taillon	PIT	at WAS, at MIL	Catching Nationals at a good time plus Brewers fan a ton
20	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	vs. COL
21	Zack Godley	ARI	vs. LAD
22	Gio Gonzalez	WAS	vs. PHI
23	Johnny Cueto	SF	at ATL	Certainly looks like 2017 was due to injuries
24	Alex Wood	LAD	at ARI
25	Jose Quintana	CHC	at STL
26	Brandon McCarthy	ATL	vs. SF
27	Walker Buehler	LAD	at SD	May be recalled for weekend start
28	Luis Castillo	CIN	vs. MIL	Understandable if you're benching, but strikeout potential high this week
29	Tyler Mahle	CIN	vs. MIA	Strikeouts higher than expected, but so are homers
30	Joey Lucchesi	SD	vs. LAD	Had first rough effort after three strong outings
31	Tyler Anderson	COL	at CHC
32	Jarlin Garcia	MIA	vs. PHI	.121 BABIP, 6.4 K/9, 4.0 BB/9, correction coming
33	Kyle Freeland	COL	at CHC, at NYM	In play with pair on the road, especially since Mets anemic vs. LHP
34	Zach Davies	MIL	vs. PIT
35	Steven Brault	PIT	at MIL
36	Brandon Finnegan	CIN	vs. MIL, vs. MIA
37	Wei-Yin Chen	MIA	at CIN
38	German Marquez	COL	at NYM
39	Julio Teheran	ATL	at NYM
40	Nick Pivetta	PHI	at WAS
41	Chad Kuhl	PIT	at WAS, at MIL
42	Clayton Richard	SD	at SF
43	Mike Foltynewicz	ATL	at NYM
44	Andrew Suarez	SF	vs. SD
45	Ross Stripling	LAD	at ARI	Taking Rich Hill's start
46	Dan Straily	MIA	vs. PHI, at CIN
47	Chad Bettis	COL	at NYM
48	Miles Mikolas	STL	vs. CHC
49	Caleb Smith	MIA	at CIN
50	Tyson Ross	SD	at SF
51	Jeremy Hellickson	WAS	vs. PIT
52	Derek Holland	SF	vs. SD
53	Luke Weaver	STL	vs. CHC
54	Junior Guerra	MIL	vs. PIT
55	Tyler Chatwood	CHC	at STL
56	Chris Stratton	SF	at ATL
57	Ivan Nova	PIT	at WAS
58	Hyun-Jin Ryu	LAD	at ARI
59	Eric Lauer	SD	at SF, vs. LAD
60	Zach Eflin	PHI	at MIA
61	Jose Urena	MIA	vs. PHI
62	Jason Vargas	NYM	vs. ATL
63	Sal Romano	CIN	vs. MIA
64	Steven Matz	NYM	vs. COL
65	Homer Bailey	CIN	vs. MIL
66	Trevor Williams	PIT	at WAS
67	Zack Wheeler	NYM	vs. COL
68	Vince Velasquez	PHI	at WAS
69	Jhoulys Chacin	MIL	at CIN
70	Jon Gray	COL	at CHC
71	Bryan Mitchell	SD	vs. LAD
72	Wade Miley	MIL	at CIN	Brent Suter headed to bullpen
73	Matt Koch	ARI	vs. LAD, vs. HOU
74	Ty Blach	SF	at ATL
75	Braden Shipley	ARI	vs. HOU	Taking Robbie Ray's spot

MLB

RANK	PITCHER	TEAM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Max Scherzer	WAS	vs. PIT, vs. PHI	Could be top pitcher off the board if drafting today
2	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	at ARI, at SD	Best 1-4 pitcher in the history of baseball
3	Noah Syndergaard	NYM	vs. ATL, vs. COL	7.1 IP last outing first time working more than 6 IP this season
4	Chris Sale	BOS	vs. KC, at TEX	Sale's innings continue to be somewhat tempered
5	Justin Verlander	HOU	vs. NYY, at ARI
6	Zack Greinke	ARI	vs. LAD, vs. HOU	Expect homers to regress
7	Jake Arrieta	PHI	at MIA, at WAS	Looking more like 2016 than 2017 version
8	Trevor Bauer	CLE	vs. TEX, at NYY	Averaging over 7 IP spanning last four outings
9	Charlie Morton	HOU	vs. NYY, at ARI	Expect big rebound from only poor start of the season
10	Corey Kluber	CLE	vs. TEX
11	Chase Anderson	MIL	at CIN, vs. PIT	Solid pitcher + great matchups = high ranking
12	Jose Berrios	MIN	at CWS	Good opponent for a bounce back effort
13	Jordan Montgomery	NYY	at HOU, vs. CLE	Protected by great bullpen
14	Jon Lester	CHC	vs. COL, at STL
15	Carlos Martinez	STL	vs. CWS
16	Eduardo Rodriguez	BOS	vs. KC, at TEX	Knee looks healthy, tossed at least 6 innings last three starts
17	Stephen Strasburg	WAS	vs. PIT
18	Sean Newcomb	ATL	at NYM, vs. SF	Great matchups, both struggle vs. southpaws
19	Chris Archer	TB	at DET, vs. TOR	Skills down but facing lesser offenses
20	Aaron Sanchez	TOR	at MIN, at TB	Still shaking the rust off
21	Tanner Roark	WAS	vs. PIT, vs. PHI	Low strikeouts enhanced with double-duty
22	Gerrit Cole	HOU	at ARI	Strong candidate for April Pitcher of the Month
23	Michael Wacha	STL	vs. CWS, vs. CHC
24	Andrew Triggs	OAK	at SEA, vs. BAL	Good venues, pitching well
25	Jacob deGrom	NYM	vs. ATL
26	Sean Manaea	OAK	at SEA
27	James Paxton	SEA	vs. OAK
28	Patrick Corbin	ARI	vs. LAD
29	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	vs. TOR	Last last start withback spams, monitor status
30	Aaron Nola	PHI	at MIA
31	Cole Hamels	TEX	at CLE, vs. BOS	Strikeouts back after disappearing last season
32	Dallas Keuchel	HOU	vs. NYY
33	Kenta Maeda	LAD	at SD
34	Lance Lynn	MIN	vs. TOR, at CWS	Gets benefit of doubt, crazy schedule hurts rhythm
35	Shohei Ohtani	LAA	vs. BAL	Tweaked ankle, start pushed up a day
36	Jeff Samardzija	SF	vs. SD
37	Yu Darvish	CHC	vs. COL
38	Luis Severino	NYY	at HOU
39	Jameson Taillon	PIT	at WAS, at MIL	Catching Nationals at a good time plus Brewers fan a ton
40	J.A. Happ	TOR	at TB
41	Mike Clevinger	CLE	vs. TEX, at NYY
42	Felix Hernandez	SEA	vs. OAK, vs. LAA	Home field advantage, if Hernandez struggles this week, cause for concern
43	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	vs. COL
44	Zack Godley	ARI	vs. LAD
45	Gio Gonzalez	WAS	vs. PHI
46	Rick Porcello	BOS	at TEX
47	Kyle Gibson	MIN	vs. TOR, at CWS
48	Michael Fulmer	DET	vs. TB
49	Garrett Richards	LAA	at SEA
50	Johnny Cueto	SF	at ATL
51	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	at HOU
52	Alex Wood	LAD	at ARI
53	Jake Faria	TB	at DET, vs. TOR	Walks out of control
54	Sonny Gray	NYY	at HOU, vs. CLE	Making Faria's control look like Greg Maddux, still cautiously optimistic of a turnaround
55	Jose Quintana	CHC	at STL
56	Brandon McCarthy	ATL	vs. SF
57	Walker Buehler	LAD	at SD	May be recalled for weekend start
58	Jake Odorizzi	MIN	at CWS
59	David Price	BOS	at TEX
60	Blake Snell	TB	at DET
61	Dylan Bundy	BAL	at LAA	Coming off only poor outing of the season
62	Luis Castillo	CIN	vs. MIL	Understandable if you're benching, but strikeout potential high this week
63	Drew Pomeranz	BOS	vs. KC
64	Marco Estrada	TOR	at MIN, at TB
65	Matt Boyd	DET	vs. TB, at KC	Lesser opponents put Boyd in play in deeper leagues
66	Tyler Mahle	CIN	vs. MIA	Strikeouts higher than expected, but so are homers
67	Tyler Skaggs	LAA	at SEA
68	Joey Lucchesi	SD	vs. LAD	Had first rough effort after three strong outings
69	Mike Minor	TEX	vs. BOS
70	Tyler Anderson	COL	at CHC
71	Lance McCullers Jr.	HOU	vs. NYY
72	Jarlin Garcia	MIA	vs. PHI	.121 BABIP, 6.4 K/9, 4.0 BB/9, correction coming
73	Jakob Junis	KC	at BOS, vs. DET
74	Kyle Freeland	COL	at CHC, at NYM	In play with pair on the road, especially since Mets anemic vs. LHP
75	Zach Davies	MIL	vs. PIT
76	CC Sabathia	NYY	vs. CLE
77	Steven Brault	PIT	at MIL
78	Brandon Finnegan	CIN	vs. MIL, vs. MIA
79	Wei-Yin Chen	MIA	at CIN
80	German Marquez	COL	at NYM
81	Danny Duffy	KC	at BOS
82	Daniel Mengden	OAK	vs. BAL
83	Julio Teheran	ATL	at NYM
84	Nick Pivetta	PHI	at WAS
85	Chad Kuhl	PIT	at WAS, at MIL
86	Clayton Richard	SD	at SF
87	Mike Foltynewicz	ATL	at NYM
88	Andrew Suarez	SF	ARI	vs. SD
89	Ross Stripling	LAD	at ARI	Taking Rich Hill's start
90	Dan Straily	MIA	vs. PHI, at CIN
91	Erasmo Ramirez	SEA	vs. OAK
92	Yonny Chirinos	TB	vs. TOR
93	Mike Leake	SEA	vs. LAA
94	Chad Bettis	COL	at NYM
95	Miles Mikolas	STL	vs. CHC
96	Caleb Smith	MIA	at CIN
97	Tyson Ross	SD	at SF
98	Jeremy Hellickson	WAS	vs. PIT
99	Andrew Heaney	LAA	vs. BAL
100	Ian Kennedy	KC	vs. DET
101	Derek Holland	SF	vs. SD
102	Marco Gonzales	SEA	vs. LAA
103	Luke Weaver	STL	vs. CHC
104	Junior Guerra	MIL	vs. PIT
105	Trevor Cahill	OAK	vs. BAL
106	Jason Hammel	KC	at BOS, vs. DET
107	Tyler Chatwood	CHC	at STL
108	Chris Stratton	SF	at ATL
109	Francisco Liriano	DET	at KC
110	Ivan Nova	PIT	at WAS
111	Nick Tropeano	LAA	vs. BAL
112	Hyun-Jin Ryu	LAD	at ARI
113	Alex Cobb	BAL	at LAA, at OAK	13.1/2.8 excellent K/9 and BB/9, unfortunately, those are his ERA and WHIP
114	Eric Lauer	SD	at SF, vs. LAD
115	Zach Eflin	PHI	at MIA
116	Kevin Gausman	BAL	at OAK
117	Jose Urena	MIA	vs. PHI
118	Jason Vargas	NYM	vs. ATL
119	Jaime Barria	LAA	at SEA
120	Josh Tomlin	CLE	at NYY
121	Brett Anderson	OAK	at SEA
122	Jordan Zimmermann	DET	vs. TB, at KC
123	Sal Romano	CIN	vs. MIA
124	Steven Matz	NYM	vs. COL
125	Hector Santiago	CWS	vs. MIN
126	Lucas Giolito	CWS	at STL
127	Homer Bailey	CIN	vs. MIL
128	Trevor Williams	PIT	at WAS
129	Reynaldo Lopez	CWS	vs. MIN
130	Zack Wheeler	NYM	vs. COL
131	Vince Velasquez	PHI	at WAS
132	Jhoulys Chacin	MIL	at CIN
133	Marcus Stroman	TOR	at MIN
134	Jon Gray	COL	at CHC
135	Mike Fiers	DET	at KC
136	Bryan Mitchell	SD	vs. LAD
137	Andrew Cashner	BAL	at OAK
138	Martin Perez	TEX	vs. BOS
139	James Shields	CWS	at STL, vs. MIN
140	Jaime Garcia	TOR	at CLE
141	Wade Miley	MIL	at CIN	Brent Suter headed to bullpen
142	Phil Hughes	MIN	vs. TOR
143	Joe Biagini	TOR	at CLE
144	Eric Skoglund	KC	vs. DET
145	Chris Tillman	BAL	at LAA
146	Carson Fulmer	CWS	vs. MIN
147	Matt Koch	ARI	vs. LAD, vs. HOU
148	Ty Blach	SF	at ATL
149	Bartolo Colon	TEX	vs. BOS
150	Matt Moore	TEX	at CLE
151	Braden Shipley	ARI	vs. HOU	Taking Robbie Ray's spot
152	Doug Fister	TEX	at CLE
153	Adam Plutko	CLE	vs. TOR