Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Top Pitchers This Week

Pitching has proven key so far this month as a result of low run totals.

Updated on August 17, 2026 1:35AM EST

Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Top Pitchers This Week

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Updated on August 17, 2026 1:35AM EST

Weekly Pitcher Rankings

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Here are the monthly runs per game from 2021-2025:

Month	Runs per Game
March/April	4.34
May	4.39
June	4.52
July	4.53
August	4.53
September/October	4.43

Scoring typically starts slow, then picks up as the mercury rises in May. It levels off for most of the summer before dipping in September.

Here are this season's numbers:

Month	Runs per Game
March/April	4.51
May	4.3
June	4.67
July	4.5
August	4.29

There's still half a month, but we're trending towards the lowest scoring month of the year. I thought banning the shift was supposed to aid offense (he says tongue-in-cheek). Be it wacky weather, or shenanigans with the baseball, playing it safe with pitching during August has backfired.

UPDATED: Monday August 17, 1:35 a.m. ET

Week of August 17-23

Mixed League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comments
1	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	MIA, STL	Back on track after a hiccup or two
2	Tarik Skubal	LAD	PIT
3	Chase Burns	CIN	STL
4	Chris Sale	ATL	@MIN
5	Cam Schlittler	NYY	TOR
6	Jacob Misiorowski	MIL	ATL
7	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD	PIT
8	Drew Rasmussen	TB	TOR	Season-long numbers not a matter of luck - skills support everything
9	Paul Skenes	PIT	DET	That's not a belly. This is a belly (points to himself).
10	Nolan McLean	NYM	SD, @CWS
11	Michael Wacha	KC	ATH, DET
12	Jesus Luzardo	PHI	STL
13	Zack Wheeler	PHI	MIA
14	Parker Messick	CLE	SF	A higher K%

Here are the monthly runs per game from 2021-2025:

Month	Runs per Game
March/April	4.34
May	4.39
June	4.52
July	4.53
August	4.53
September/October	4.43

Scoring typically starts slow, then picks up as the mercury rises in May. It levels off for most of the summer before dipping in September.

Here are this season's numbers:

Month	Runs per Game
March/April	4.51
May	4.3
June	4.67
July	4.5
August	4.29

There's still half a month, but we're trending towards the lowest scoring month of the year. I thought banning the shift was supposed to aid offense (he says tongue-in-cheek). Be it wacky weather, or shenanigans with the baseball, playing it safe with pitching during August has backfired.

UPDATED: Monday August 17, 1:35 a.m. ET

Week of August 17-23

Mixed League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comments
1	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	MIA, STL	Back on track after a hiccup or two
2	Tarik Skubal	LAD	PIT
3	Chase Burns	CIN	STL
4	Chris Sale	ATL	@MIN
5	Cam Schlittler	NYY	TOR
6	Jacob Misiorowski	MIL	ATL
7	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD	PIT
8	Drew Rasmussen	TB	TOR	Season-long numbers not a matter of luck - skills support everything
9	Paul Skenes	PIT	DET	That's not a belly. This is a belly (points to himself).
10	Nolan McLean	NYM	SD, @CWS
11	Michael Wacha	KC	ATH, DET
12	Jesus Luzardo	PHI	STL
13	Zack Wheeler	PHI	MIA
14	Parker Messick	CLE	SF	A higher K% from 2027 SP1 consideration
15	Nick Martinez	TB	TOR, @BAL	Surviving with low K%, but a candidate for regression
16	Shota Imanaga	CHC	CWS, @SEA
17	Bryan Woo	SEA	CHC
18	Ian Seymour	TB	TOR	Hopefully you stashed him until he entered the rotation
19	Blake Snell	LAD	@COL, PIT
20	Sonny Gray	BOS	SF
21	Ryan Weathers	NYY	TOR
22	Max Fried	NYY	@BAL
23	Gerrit Cole	NYY	@BAL
24	Eury Perez	MIA	WAS	Not slowing down
25	Dylan Cease	TOR	@NYY
26	Logan Webb	SF	@BOS
27	Hunter Brown	HOU	ATH
28	Framber Valdez	DET	@PIT, @KC	Walks high lately
29	Braxton Ashcraft	PIT	DET
30	Robert Gasser	MIL	SEA
31	Kyle Harrison	MIL	SEA
32	Noah Cameron	KC	DET
33	Payton Tolle	BOS	ARI
34	Kevin Gausman	CHC	CWS
35	Kyle Leahy	STL	@CIN, @PHI
36	Gavin Williams	CLE	SF
37	Logan Henderson	MIL	ATL
38	Jacob deGrom	TEX	WAS	Tentative: experiencing triceps soreness
39	Matthew Boyd	CHC	@SEA
40	MacKenzie Gore	TEX	LAA
41	Logan Gilbert	SEA	@MIL
42	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	@PHI
43	Dustin May	MIL	SEA
44	Luis Castillo	CWS	@CHC, NYM
45	Kyle Bradish	BAL	NYY
46	Shane Baz	BAL	NYY, TB
47	Sean Burke	CWS	NYM
48	Clay Holmes	CHC	CWS
49	Joe Musgrove	SD	MIN
50	Trevor Rogers	BAL	TB
51	Cade Cavalli	WAS	@TEX
52	Cody Bradford	TEX	LAA	Injuries should keep him in the rotation
53	Peter Lambert	HOU	LAA
54	Shane McClanahan	TB	BAL, @BAL
55	Bryce Miller	SEA	@MIL, CHC
56	Michael King	SD	@NYM
57	Jose Soriano	TOR	@TB, @NYY
58	Ranger Suarez	BOS	ARI	Good pair to get out of a bit of a rut
59	Michael Soroka	ARI	CIN
60	Jake Bennett	BOS	SF
61	Tyler Mahle	ATL	@MIN, @MIL	25 K over last 17 2/3 innings
62	Eduardo Rodriguez	ARI	CIN
63	Troy Melton	DET	@KC	Coming off rare misstep
64	Brandon Pfaadt	ARI	@BOS
65	Reid Detmers	LAA	@TEX
66	Shane Drohan	MIL	ATL
67	Andre Pallante	STL	@PHI, @CIN
68	Bailey Ober	MIN	ATL, @SD
69	Brayan Bello	BOS	ARI
70	Hayden Wesneski	HOU	ATH
71	Emerson Hancock	SEA	CHC
72	Cal Quantrill	TEX	WAS, LAA
73	Sean Manaea	NYM	@CWS
74	Mix 12 Reliever
75	Cristian Javier	HOU	LAA, ATH
76	Brady Singer	CIN	STL
77	Seth Lugo	KC	ATH
78	Martin Perez	ATL	@MIN, @MIL
79	Will Warren	NYY	@BAL, TOR
80	Foster Griffin	CLE	SF, @COL
81	Mix 15 Reliever
82	Janson Junk	MIA	@PHI, WAS
83	Christian Scott	NYM	@CWS
84	Dean Kremer	MIN	@SD
85	George Kirby	SEA	@MIL
86	Andrew Painter	PHI	STL
87	Brandon Young	BAL	@TB, TB
88	Grant Holmes	ATL	@CWS
89	Anthony Kay	CWS	ATL
90	Edward Cabrera	CHC	@SEA
91	Daniel Lynch IV	KC	DET
92	Aaron Nola	PHI	MIA
93	Robbie Ray	SD	@NYM
94	Michael McGreevy	STL	@CIN
95	Keider Montero	DET	@PIT
96	Ethan Pecko	HOU	LAA
97	Rhett Lowder	CIN	@ARI, STL
98	Tomoyuki Sugano	COL	LAD, CLE
99	Freddy Peralta	TB	@BAL
100	Andrew Alvarez	WAS	@TEX
101	Tanner Bibee	CLE	@COL
102	Casey Mize	SD	MIN
103	Adrian Houser	SF	@CLE
104	Drew Anderson	DET	@KC
105	Jackson Kent	WAS	@TEX, @MIA
106	Hunter Dobbins	STL	@PHI
107	Ryan Gusto	MIA	WAS
108	Grayson Rodriguez	LAA	@HOU
109	Robert Stock	NYM	SD
110	Chris Bassitt	BAL	NYY
111	Bryce Elder	ATL	@MIL
112	Carmen Mlodzinski	PIT	DET, @LAD
113	Nick Lodolo	CIN	@ARI
114	Andrew Abbott	CIN	STL, @ARI
115	Patrick Sandoval	BOS	SF
116	Landen Roupp	SF	@CLE
117	Yusei Kikuchi	LAA	@TEX
118	Taj Bradley	MIN	ATL
119	Jared Jones	PIT	@LAD
120	Joey Cantillo	CLE	@COL
121	Mitch Bratt	ARI	@BOS, CIN
122	Jose Urquidy	CWS	@CHC
123	Randy Dobnak	KC	ATH
124	J.T. Ginn	ATH	@KC
125	Jacob Lopez	ATH	@HOU
126	Kumar Rocker	TEX	WAS
127	Shane Bieber	TOR	@TB
128	Jack Perkins	ATH	@KC, @HOU
129	Roki Sasaki	LAD	@COL
130	Zebby Matthews	MIN	ATL
131	Max Scherzer	TOR	@TB
132	Will Dion	WAS	@MIA
133	Merrill Kelly	ARI	@BOS
134	Kyle Freeland	COL	LAD
135	Walker Buehler	SD	@NYM, MIN
136	Bubba Chandler	PIT	@LAD
137	Connor Prielipp	MIN	@SD
138	Walbert Urena	LAA	@HOU
139	Erick Fedde	CWS	@CHC, NYM
140	Matthew Liberatore	STL	@CIN
141	George Klassen	LAA	@HOU, @TEX
142	Gage Jump	ATH	@KC
143	Carson Whisenhunt	SF	@CLE, @BOS
144	Jackson Jobe	DET	@PIT
145	Mason Barnett	ATH	@KC, @HOU
146	Eric Lauer	LAD	@COL
147	Tyler Phillips	MIA	@PHI
148	Zac Thornton	NYM	SD
149	Mason Black	KC	ATH
150	Simeon Woods Richardson	TOR	@NYY
151	Jake Irvin	WAS	@MIA
152	Quinn Mathews	STL	@CIN
153	Blade Tidwell	SF	@BOS
154	Ryan Feltner	COL	LAD
155	Michael Lorenzen	COL	CLE
156	Gabriel Hughes	COL	CLE
157	Chase Petty	CIN	STL

American League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Cam Schlittler	NYY	TOR
2	Drew Rasmussen	TB	TOR	Season-long numbers not a matter of luck - skills support everything
3	Michael Wacha	KC	ATH, DET
4	Parker Messick	CLE	SF	A higher K% from 2027 SP1 consideration
5	Nick Martinez	TB	TOR, @BAL	Surviving with low K%, but a candidate for regression
6	Bryan Woo	SEA	CHC
7	Ian Seymour	TB	TOR	Hopefully you stashed him until he entered the rotation
8	Sonny Gray	BOS	SF
9	Ryan Weathers	NYY	TOR
10	Max Fried	NYY	@BAL
11	Gerrit Cole	NYY	@BAL
12	Dylan Cease	TOR	@NYY
13	Hunter Brown	HOU	ATH
14	Framber Valdez	DET	@PIT, @KC	Walks high lately
15	Noah Cameron	KC	DET
16	Payton Tolle	BOS	ARI
17	Gavin Williams	CLE	SF
18	Jacob deGrom	TEX	WAS	Tentative: experiencing triceps soreness
19	MacKenzie Gore	TEX	LAA
20	Logan Gilbert	SEA	@MIL
21	Luis Castillo	CWS	@CHC, NYM
22	Kyle Bradish	BAL	NYY
23	Shane Baz	BAL	NYY, TB
24	Sean Burke	CWS	NYM
25	Trevor Rogers	BAL	TB
26	Cody Bradford	TEX	LAA	Injuries should keep him in the rotation
27	Peter Lambert	HOU	LAA
28	Shane McClanahan	TB	BAL, @BAL
29	Bryce Miller	SEA	@MIL, CHC
30	Jose Soriano	TOR	@TB, @NYY
31	Ranger Suarez	BOS	ARI	Good pair to get out of a bit of a rut
32	Jake Bennett	BOS	SF
33	Troy Melton	DET	@KC	Coming off rare misstep
34	Reid Detmers	LAA	@TEX
35	Bailey Ober	MIN	ATL, @SD
36	Brayan Bello	BOS	ARI
37	Hayden Wesneski	HOU	ATH
38	Emerson Hancock	SEA	CHC
39	Cal Quantrill	TEX	WAS, LAA
40	Cristian Javier	HOU	LAA, ATH
41	Seth Lugo	KC	ATH
42	Will Warren	NYY	@BAL, TOR
43	Foster Griffin	CLE	SF, @COL
44	Dean Kremer	MIN	@SD
45	George Kirby	SEA	@MIL
46	Brandon Young	BAL	@TB, TB
47	Anthony Kay	CWS	ATL
48	Daniel Lynch IV	KC	DET
49	Keider Montero	DET	@PIT
50	Ethan Pecko	HOU	LAA
51	AL Reliever
52	Freddy Peralta	TB	@BAL
53	Tanner Bibee	CLE	@COL
54	Drew Anderson	DET	@KC
55	Grayson Rodriguez	LAA	@HOU
56	Chris Bassitt	BAL	NYY
57	Patrick Sandoval	BOS	SF
58	Yusei Kikuchi	LAA	@TEX
59	Taj Bradley	MIN	ATL
60	Joey Cantillo	CLE	@COL
61	Jose Urquidy	CWS	@CHC
62	Randy Dobnak	KC	ATH
63	J.T. Ginn	ATH	@KC
64	Jacob Lopez	ATH	@HOU
65	Kumar Rocker	TEX	WAS
66	Shane Bieber	TOR	@TB
67	Jack Perkins	ATH	@KC, @HOU
68	Zebby Matthews	MIN	ATL
69	Max Scherzer	TOR	@TB
70	Connor Prielipp	MIN	@SD
71	Walbert Urena	LAA	@HOU
72	Erick Fedde	CWS	@CHC, NYM
73	George Klassen	LAA	@HOU, @TEX
74	Gage Jump	ATH	@KC
75	Jackson Jobe	DET	@PIT
76	Mason Barnett	ATH	@KC, @HOU
77	Mason Black	KC	ATH
78	Simeon Woods Richardson	TOR	@NYY

National League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	MIA, STL	Back on track after a hiccup or two
2	Tarik Skubal	LAD	PIT
3	Chase Burns	CIN	STL
4	Chris Sale	ATL	@MIN
5	Jacob Misiorowski	MIL	ATL
6	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD	PIT
7	Paul Skenes	PIT	DET	That's not a belly. This is a belly (points to himself).
8	Nolan McLean	NYM	SD, @CWS
9	Jesus Luzardo	PHI	STL
10	Zack Wheeler	PHI	MIA
11	Shota Imanaga	CHC	CWS, @SEA
12	Blake Snell	LAD	@COL, PIT
13	Eury Perez	MIA	WAS	Not slowing down
14	Logan Webb	SF	@BOS
15	Braxton Ashcraft	PIT	DET
16	Robert Gasser	MIL	SEA
17	Kyle Harrison	MIL	SEA
18	Kevin Gausman	CHC	CWS
19	Kyle Leahy	STL	@CIN, @PHI
20	Logan Henderson	MIL	ATL
21	Matthew Boyd	CHC	@SEA
22	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	@PHI
23	Dustin May	MIL	SEA
24	Clay Holmes	CHC	CWS
25	Joe Musgrove	SD	MIN
26	Cade Cavalli	WAS	@TEX
27	Michael King	SD	@NYM
28	Michael Soroka	ARI	CIN
29	Tyler Mahle	ATL	@MIN, @MIL	25 K over last 17 2/3 innings
30	Eduardo Rodriguez	ARI	CIN
31	Brandon Pfaadt	ARI	@BOS
32	Shane Drohan	MIL	ATL
33	Andre Pallante	STL	@PHI, @CIN
34	Sean Manaea	NYM	@CWS
35	Brady Singer	CIN	STL
36	Martin Perez	ATL	@MIN, @MIL
37	Janson Junk	MIA	@PHI, WAS
38	Christian Scott	NYM	@CWS
39	Andrew Painter	PHI	STL
40	Grant Holmes	ATL	@CWS
41	Edward Cabrera	CHC	@SEA
42	Aaron Nola	PHI	MIA
43	Robbie Ray	SD	@NYM
44	Michael McGreevy	STL	@CIN
45	NL Reliever
46	Rhett Lowder	CIN	@ARI, STL
47	Tomoyuki Sugano	COL	LAD, CLE
48	Andrew Alvarez	WAS	@TEX
49	Casey Mize	SD	MIN
50	Adrian Houser	SF	@CLE
51	Jackson Kent	WAS	@TEX, @MIA
52	Hunter Dobbins	STL	@PHI
53	Ryan Gusto	MIA	WAS
54	Robert Stock	NYM	SD
55	Bryce Elder	ATL	@MIL
56	Carmen Mlodzinski	PIT	DET, @LAD
57	Nick Lodolo	CIN	@ARI
58	Andrew Abbott	CIN	STL, @ARI
59	Landen Roupp	SF	@CLE
60	Jared Jones	PIT	@LAD
61	Mitch Bratt	ARI	@BOS, CIN
62	Roki Sasaki	LAD	@COL
63	Will Dion	WAS	@MIA
64	Merrill Kelly	ARI	@BOS
65	Kyle Freeland	COL	LAD
66	Walker Buehler	SD	@NYM, MIN
67	Bubba Chandler	PIT	@LAD
68	Matthew Liberatore	STL	@CIN
69	Carson Whisenhunt	SF	@CLE, @BOS
70	Eric Lauer	LAD	@COL
71	Tyler Phillips	MIA	@PHI
72	Zac Thornton	NYM	SD
73	Jake Irvin	WAS	@MIA
74	Quinn Mathews	STL	@CIN
75	Blade Tidwell	SF	@BOS
76	Ryan Feltner	COL	LAD
77	Michael Lorenzen	COL	CLE
78	Gabriel Hughes	COL	CLE
79	Chase Petty	CIN	STL

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Todd Zola

Author @toddzola

Todd has been writing about fantasy baseball since 1997. He won NL Tout Wars and Mixed LABR in 2016 as well as a multi-time league winner in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship. Todd is now setting his sights even higher: The Rotowire Staff League. Lord Zola, as he's known in the industry, won the 2013 FSWA Fantasy Baseball Article of the Year award and was named the 2017 FSWA Fantasy Baseball Writer of the Year. Todd is a five-time FSWA awards finalist.

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