Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Strasburg on a Roll

Todd Zola's weekly pitcher rankings highlight Washington's Stephen Strasburg, who quietly is having an All-Star campaign.

Updated on June 2, 2019 11:26PM EST

Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Strasburg on a Roll

By:

Todd Zola

Updated on June 2, 2019 11:26PM EST

Weekly Pitcher Rankings

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The first full week of June brings one of the quirkier schedules as there are only four games on Monday's docket, and that includes a makeup from an early season rain out. This avails only 32 two-start pitchers, with a scant few lower-end candidates to fortify your rotation. As such, this could be a week to use a middle reliever like Ryan Pressly as opposed to a lesser starter with just one game.

For the week June 3-9.

UPDATED: Sunday June 2 11:30 PM ET

MLB

Rank	PITCHER	TM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Stephen Strasburg	WAS	vs. CWS, at SD	Quietly having an All-Star campaign
2	Noah Syndergaard	NYM	vs. SF, vs. COL	In a rut but at home against bottom two offenses away vs. RHP
3	Blake Snell	TB	at DET, at BOS
4	Aaron Nola	PHI	at SD, vs. CIN	Walks still high but looking much better
5	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	vs. COL, vs. STL	Whiffs up lately
6	Luis Castillo	CIN	at STL, at PHI	Struggling lately, getting benefit of the doubt
7	Madison Bumgarner	SF	at NYM, vs. LAD	Estimators suggest 4.01 ERA a little bloated
8	Walker Buehler	LAD	at ARI, at SF
9	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	at TOR, at CLE
10	Max Fried	ATL	at PIT, at MIA	Welcome to the circle of trust
11	Chris Sale	BOS	at KC
12	Justin Verlander	HOU	at SEA
13	Jacob deGrom	NYM	vs. COL
14	Max Scherzer	WAS	at SD

For the week June 3-9.

UPDATED: Sunday June 2 11:30 PM ET

MLB

Rank	PITCHER	TM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Stephen Strasburg	WAS	vs. CWS, at SD	Quietly having an All-Star campaign
2	Noah Syndergaard	NYM	vs. SF, vs. COL	In a rut but at home against bottom two offenses away vs. RHP
3	Blake Snell	TB	at DET, at BOS
4	Aaron Nola	PHI	at SD, vs. CIN	Walks still high but looking much better
5	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	vs. COL, vs. STL	Whiffs up lately
6	Luis Castillo	CIN	at STL, at PHI	Struggling lately, getting benefit of the doubt
7	Madison Bumgarner	SF	at NYM, vs. LAD	Estimators suggest 4.01 ERA a little bloated
8	Walker Buehler	LAD	at ARI, at SF
9	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	at TOR, at CLE
10	Max Fried	ATL	at PIT, at MIA	Welcome to the circle of trust
11	Chris Sale	BOS	at KC
12	Justin Verlander	HOU	at SEA
13	Jacob deGrom	NYM	vs. COL
14	Max Scherzer	WAS	at SD
15	Gerrit Cole	HOU	vs. BAL
16	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	at SF
17	Zack Greinke	ARI	at TOR
18	Frankie Montas	OAK	at LAA, at TEX
19	Patrick Corbin	WAS	at SD
20	Eduardo Rodriguez	BOS	at KC, vs. TB	Getting a little extra rest, last pitched May 26
21	Zack Wheeler	NYM	vs. SF
22	Shane Bieber	CLE	vs. MIN, vs. NYY	Fewer homers away from elite, facing pair of slugging lineups
23	Jon Lester	CHC	vs. LAA, vs. STL	As expected, regression bringing ERA up and whiffs down
24	Mike Soroka	ATL	at MIA
25	Hyun-Jin Ryu	LAD	at ARI	Putting up digits a young Clayton Kershaw would envy
26	Robbie Ray	ARI	vs. LAD, at TOR	Strikeouts driving ranking
27	James Paxton	NYY	at TOR
28	Charlie Morton	TB	at DET
29	Rich Hill	LAD	at SF
30	Andrew Heaney	LAA	vs. SEA
31	Chase Anderson	MIL	vs. MIA, vs. PIT
32	Chris Paddack	SD	vs. PHI
33	Corbin Martin	HOU	at SEA, vs. BAL	Could be pitching to stay in the bigs
34	Griffin Canning	LAA	vs. OAK, vs. SEA
35	David Price	BOS	vs. TB
36	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	vs. MIA
37	Brad Peacock	HOU	at SEA
38	Zach Eflin	PHI	vs. CIN
39	Pablo Lopez	MIA	at MIL, vs. ATL
40	Miles Mikolas	STL	vs. CIN	Over early season struggles
41	Julio Teheran	ATL	at MIA
42	Matt Strahm	SD	vs. WAS	Conversion back to starter going swimmingly
43	Joey Lucchesi	SD	vs. PHI
44	Jose Berrios	MIN	at CLE
45	Cole Hamels	CHC	vs. STL
46	Matthew Boyd	DET	vs. MIN	Great test for the likely All-Star
47	Trevor Richards	MIA	vs. ATL	Emerging from mid-May malaise
48	Jake Odorizzi	MIN	at DET	Twins managing third time through exposure very well
49	Trevor Bauer	CLE	vs. MIN	Last start encouraging, but still tinkering too much
50	Mike Minor	TEX	vs. BAL	Consider selling high before temperatures rise in Arlington
51	Nick Pivetta	PHI	vs. CIN
52	Lucas Giolito	CWS	at KC
53	Domingo German	NYY	at CLE
54	Joe Musgrove	PIT	vs. ATL
55	Caleb Smith	MIA	at MIL
56	Steven Matz	NYM	vs. COL
57	Freddy Peralta	MIL	vs. PIT
58	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	vs. MIN	Something's not right, this is a big start against division leader
59	J.A. Happ	NYY	at TOR
60	Wade Miley	HOU	at SEA, vs. BAL
61	Zach Davies	MIL	vs. PIT	Lady Luck is helping, but 10 of 11 starts with two or fewer runs
62	Eric Lauer	SD	vs. PHI, vs. WAS	Top pitch-and-ditch option
63	Jake Arrieta	PHI	at SD
64	Jason Vargas	NYM	vs. SF
65	German Marquez	COL	at CHC
66	Kenta Maeda	LAD	at ARI
67	Sonny Gray	CIN	at PHI
68	Tyler Skaggs	LAA	vs. OAK
69	Jack Flaherty	STL	at CHC
70	Jose Urena	MIA	vs. ATL
71	Michael Pineda	MIN	at DET
72	Wade LeBlanc	SEA	vs. HOU, at LAA	19% HR/FB and .330 BABIP a little unlucky, but there's bad pitching too
73	Jimmy Nelson	MIL	vs. MIA	Slated to make his 2019 debut
74	Jose Quintana	CHC	vs. COL
75	Antonio Senzatela	COL	at NYM
76	Mike Foltynewicz	ATL	at PIT
77	Dylan Bundy	BAL	at TEX, at HOU
78	Anthony DeSclafani	CIN	at STL
79	Rick Porcello	BOS	at KC
80	Marco Gonzales	SEA	at LAA
81	Kevin Gausman	ATL	at PIT
82	Reynaldo Lopez	CWS	at WAS, at KC
83	Kyle Gibson	MIN	at DET
84	Jerad Eickhoff	PHI	at SD
85	Yu Darvish	CHC	vs. COL
86	Trevor Cahill	LAA	at CHC, vs. SEA	Cam Bedrosian to open, but Cahill will pitch a starter's workload
87	Felix Pena	LAA	vs. OAK
88	Chris Archer	PIT	vs. ATL
89	Cal Quantrill	SD	vs. WAS
90	Mike Leake	SEA	vs. HOU
91	Brad Keller	KC	vs. CWS
92	Marcus Stroman	TOR	vs. ARI
93	CC Sabathia	NYY	at CLE
94	Shaun Anderson	SF	at NYM
95	Tyler Mahle	CIN	at STL
96	Jon Gray	COL	at CHC
97	Peter Lambert	COL	at NYM
98	Jordan Lyles	PIT	at MIL
99	Lance Lynn	TEX	vs. OAK
100	Mike Fiers	OAK	at LAA
101	Danny Duffy	KC	vs. BOS
102	Tanner Roark	CIN	at PHI
103	Jeff Samardzija	SF	vs. LAD
104	Merrill Kelly	ARI	at TOR
105	Aaron Sanchez	TOR	vs. ARI
106	Anibal Sanchez	WAS	vs. CWS
107	Martin Perez	MIN	at CLE
108	Daniel Mengden	OAK	at LAA
109	Ryne Stanek	TB	at DET
110	Jakob Junis	KC	vs. BOS
111	Jon Duplantier	ARI	vs. LAD
112	Yusei Kikuchi	SEA	at LAA
113	Genesis Cabrera	STL	vs. CIN
114	Nick Margevicius	SD	vs. WAS
115	Spencer Turnbull	DET	vs. TB
116	Trent Thornton	TOR	vs. NYY
117	Yonny Chirinos	TB	at BOS
118	Steven Brault	PIT	vs. ATL, at MIL
119	John Means	BAL	at TEX
120	Devin Smeltzer	MIN	at CLE
121	Chris Bassitt	OAK	at TEX
122	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	at MIL
123	Zach Plesac	CLE	vs. NYY
124	Ivan Nova	CWS	at KC
125	Daniel Norris	DET	vs. TB
126	Drew Smyly	TEX	vs. BAL, vs. OAK
127	Tommy Milone	SEA	vs. HOU
128	Alex Reyes	STL	at CHC
129	Jefry Rodriguez	CLE	vs. NYY
130	Dakota Hudson	STL	vs. CIN
131	Jeff Hoffman	COL	at CHC, at NYM
132	Glenn Sparkman	KC	vs. BOS, vs. CWS
133	Clayton Richard	TOR	vs. NYY, vs. ARI
134	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	at BOS
135	Adam Wainwright	STL	at CHC
136	Ryan Weber	BOS	vs. TB
137	Erick Fedde	WAS	at SD
138	Ryan Carpenter	DET	vs. TB, vs. MIN
139	Drew Pomeranz	SF	vs. LAD
140	Gregory Soto	DET	vs. MIN
141	Josh A. Smith	BOS	vs. TB
142	Jacob Faria	TB	at BOS
143	Brett Anderson	OAK	at TEX
144	Taylor Clarke	ARI	vs. LAD
145	Nick Kingham	PIT	at MIL
146	Gabriel Ynoa	BAL	at HOU
147	Ariel Jurado	TEX	vs. BAL
148	Paul Blackburn	OAK	at TEX
149	Edwin Jackson	TOR	vs. NYY
150	David Hess	BAL	at HOU
151	Jonathon Niese	SEA	vs. HOU
152	Adrian Sampson	TEX	vs. OAK
153	Tyler Beede	SF	at NYM
154	Dylan Covey	CWS	at WAS
155	Homer Bailey	KC	vs. CWS
156	Andrew Cashner	BAL	at TEX
157	Shelby Miller	TEX	vs. OAK

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RANK	PITCHER	TM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Blake Snell	TB	at DET, at BOS
2	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	at TOR, at CLE
3	Chris Sale	BOS	at KC
4	Justin Verlander	HOU	at SEA
5	Gerrit Cole	HOU	vs. BAL
6	Frankie Montas	OAK	at LAA, at TEX
7	Eduardo Rodriguez	BOS	at KC, vs. TB	Getting a little extra rest, last pitched May 26
8	Shane Bieber	CLE	vs. MIN, vs. NYY	Fewer homers away from elite, facing pair of slugging lineups
9	James Paxton	NYY	at TOR
10	Charlie Morton	TB	at DET
11	Andrew Heaney	LAA	vs. SEA
12	Corbin Martin	HOU	at SEA, vs. BAL	Could be pitching to stay in the bigs
13	Griffin Canning	LAA	vs. OAK, vs. SEA
14	David Price	BOS	vs. TB
15	Brad Peacock	HOU	at SEA
16	Jose Berrios	MIN	at CLE
17	Matthew Boyd	DET	vs. MIN	Great test for the likely All-Star
18	Jake Odorizzi	MIN	at DET	Twins managing third time through exposure very well
19	Trevor Bauer	CLE	vs. MIN	Last start encouraging, but still tinkering too much
20	Mike Minor	TEX	vs. BAL	Consider selling high before temperatures rise in Arlington
21	Lucas Giolito	CWS	at KC
22	Domingo German	NYY	at CLE
23	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	vs. MIN	Something's not right, this is a big start against division leader
24	J.A. Happ	NYY	at TOR
25	Wade Miley	HOU	at SEA, vs. BAL
26	Tyler Skaggs	LAA	vs. OAK
27	Michael Pineda	MIN	at DET
28	Wade LeBlanc	SEA	vs. HOU, at LAA	19% HR/FB and .330 BABIP a little unlucky, but there's bad pitching too
29	Dylan Bundy	BAL	at TEX, at HOU
30	Rick Porcello	BOS	at KC
31	Marco Gonzales	SEA	at LAA
32	Reynaldo Lopez	CWS	at WAS, at KC
33	Kyle Gibson	MIN	at DET
34	Trevor Cahill	LAA	at CHC, vs. SEA	Cam Bedrosian to open, but Cahill will pitch a starter's workload
35	Felix Pena	LAA	vs. OAK
36	Mike Leake	SEA	vs. HOU
37	Brad Keller	KC	vs. CWS
38	Marcus Stroman	TOR	vs. ARI
39	CC Sabathia	NYY	at CLE
40	Lance Lynn	TEX	vs. OAK
41	Mike Fiers	OAK	at LAA
42	Danny Duffy	KC	vs. BOS
43	Aaron Sanchez	TOR	vs. ARI
44	Martin Perez	MIN	at CLE
45	Daniel Mengden	OAK	at LAA
46	Ryne Stanek	TB	at DET
47	Jakob Junis	KC	vs. BOS
48	Yusei Kikuchi	SEA	at LAA
49	Spencer Turnbull	DET	vs. TB
50	Trent Thornton	TOR	vs. NYY
51	Yonny Chirinos	TB	at BOS
52	John Means	BAL	at TEX
53	Devin Smeltzer	MIN	at CLE
54	Chris Bassitt	OAK	at TEX
55	Zach Plesac	CLE	vs. NYY
56	Ivan Nova	CWS	at KC
57	Daniel Norris	DET	vs. TB
58	Drew Smyly	TEX	vs. BAL, vs. OAK
59	Tommy Milone	SEA	vs. HOU
60	Jefry Rodriguez	CLE	vs. NYY
61	Glenn Sparkman	KC	vs. BOS, vs. CWS
62	Clayton Richard	TOR	vs. NYY, vs. ARI
63	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	at BOS
64	Ryan Weber	BOS	vs. TB
65	Ryan Carpenter	DET	vs. TB, vs. MIN
66	Gregory Soto	DET	vs. MIN
67	Josh A. Smith	BOS	vs. TB
68	Jacob Faria	TB	at BOS
69	Brett Anderson	OAK	at TEX
70	Gabriel Ynoa	BAL	at HOU
71	Ariel Jurado	TEX	vs. BAL
72	Paul Blackburn	OAK	at TEX
73	Edwin Jackson	TOR	vs. NYY
74	David Hess	BAL	at HOU
75	Jonathon Niese	SEA	vs. HOU
76	Adrian Sampson	TEX	vs. OAK
77	Dylan Covey	CWS	at WAS
78	Homer Bailey	KC	vs. CWS
79	Andrew Cashner	BAL	at TEX
80	Shelby Miller	TEX	vs. OAK

NATIONAL LEAGUE

RANK	PITCHER	TM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Stephen Strasburg	WAS	vs. CWS, at SD	Quietly having an All-Star campaign
2	Noah Syndergaard	NYM	vs. SF, vs. COL	In a rut but at home against bottom two offenses away vs. RHP
3	Aaron Nola	PHI	at SD, vs. CIN	Walks still high but looking much better
4	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	vs. COL, vs. STL	Whiffs up lately
5	Luis Castillo	CIN	at STL, at PHI	Struggling lately, getting benefit of the doubt
6	Madison Bumgarner	SF	at NYM, vs. LAD	Estimators suggest 4.01 ERA a little bloated
7	Walker Buehler	LAD	at ARI, at SF
8	Max Fried	ATL	at PIT, at MIA	Welcome to the circle of trust
9	Jacob deGrom	NYM	vs. COL
10	Max Scherzer	WAS	at SD
11	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	at SF
12	Zack Greinke	ARI	at TOR
13	Patrick Corbin	WAS	at SD
14	Zack Wheeler	NYM	vs. SF
15	Jon Lester	CHC	vs. LAA, vs. STL	As expected, regression bringing ERA up and whiffs down
16	Mike Soroka	ATL	at MIA
17	Hyun-Jin Ryu	LAD	at ARI	Putting up digits a young Clayton Kershaw would envy
18	Robbie Ray	ARI	vs. LAD, at TOR	Strikeouts driving ranking
19	Rich Hill	LAD	at SF
20	Chase Anderson	MIL	vs. MIA, vs. PIT
21	Chris Paddack	SD	vs. PHI
22	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	vs. MIA
23	Zach Eflin	PHI	vs. CIN
24	Pablo Lopez	MIA	at MIL, vs. ATL
25	Miles Mikolas	STL	vs. CIN	Over early season struggles
26	Julio Teheran	ATL	at MIA
27	Matt Strahm	SD	vs. WAS	Conversion back to starter going swimmingly
28	Joey Lucchesi	SD	vs. PHI
29	Cole Hamels	CHC	vs. STL
30	Trevor Richards	MIA	vs. ATL	Emerging from mid-May malaise
31	Nick Pivetta	PHI	vs. CIN
32	Joe Musgrove	PIT	vs. ATL
33	Caleb Smith	MIA	at MIL
34	Steven Matz	NYM	vs. COL
35	Freddy Peralta	MIL	vs. PIT
36	Zach Davies	MIL	vs. PIT	Lady Luck is helping, but 10 of 11 starts with two or fewer runs
37	Eric Lauer	SD	vs. PHI, vs. WAS	Top pitch-and-ditch option
38	Jake Arrieta	PHI	at SD
39	Jason Vargas	NYM	vs. SF
40	German Marquez	COL	at CHC
41	Kenta Maeda	LAD	at ARI
42	Sonny Gray	CIN	at PHI
43	Jack Flaherty	STL	at CHC
44	Jose Urena	MIA	vs. ATL
45	Jimmy Nelson	MIL	vs. MIA	Slated to make his 2019 debut
46	Jose Quintana	CHC	vs. COL
47	Antonio Senzatela	COL	at NYM
48	Mike Foltynewicz	ATL	at PIT
49	Anthony DeSclafani	CIN	at STL
50	Kevin Gausman	ATL	at PIT
51	Jerad Eickhoff	PHI	at SD
52	Yu Darvish	CHC	vs. COL
53	Chris Archer	PIT	vs. ATL
54	Cal Quantrill	SD	vs. WAS
55	Shaun Anderson	SF	at NYM
56	Tyler Mahle	CIN	at STL
57	Jon Gray	COL	at CHC
58	Peter Lambert	COL	at NYM
59	Jordan Lyles	PIT	at MIL
60	Tanner Roark	CIN	at PHI
61	Jeff Samardzija	SF	vs. LAD
62	Merrill Kelly	ARI	at TOR
63	Anibal Sanchez	WAS	vs. CWS
64	Jon Duplantier	ARI	vs. LAD
65	Genesis Cabrera	STL	vs. CIN
66	Nick Margevicius	SD	vs. WAS
67	Steven Brault	PIT	vs. ATL, at MIL
68	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	at MIL
69	Alex Reyes	STL	at CHC
70	Dakota Hudson	STL	vs. CIN
71	Jeff Hoffman	COL	at CHC, at NYM
72	Adam Wainwright	STL	at CHC
73	Erick Fedde	WAS	at SD
74	Drew Pomeranz	SF	vs. LAD
75	Taylor Clarke	ARI	vs. LAD
76	Nick Kingham	PIT	at MIL
77	Tyler Beede	SF	at NYM