Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Two-Star Ace or Kershaw?

Written by

Updated on September 19, 2015 3:06PM EST

As always, remember that rotations are subject to change, so if you see something that looks incorrect, assume that it was a change that occurred since this was written and feel free to politely bring it up in the comments, I'll let you know where the new arm slots.

For the week Sept. 21-27

AMERICAN LEAGUE

START

RANK	PITCHER	OPP	COMMENTS
1	David Price	NYY, TB	Keuchel and Gray have opened the AL Cy door and now Price has to be the frontrunner
2	Chris Sale	at DET
3	Chris Archer	at BOS, at TOR	TOR just doesn't scare Archer like they do everyone else: 2.51 ERA, 1.01 WHIP in 82.3 IP (1.66 in 43.3 at TOR)
4	Dallas Keuchel	LAA, TEX	What a terrible time for a dud, both for the Astros and fantasy teams w/Keuchel; he'll rebound
5	Danny Salazar	at MIN, at KC
6	Felix Hernandez	at LAA	A lot more Felixesque since that nightmare at BOS: 3.16 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, and 33 Ks in 37 IP
7	Justin Verlander	MIN	Nearly half of his 2H ER (12 of 26) were allowed in 2 of 12 starts: 2.79 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 23% K, and 5% BB in 84 IP
8	Cole Hamels	at HOU
9	Sonny Gray	SF
10	Corey Kluber	at MIN	Had an abbreviated return after 18 days off, should be ready for a regular workload next time out
11	Lance McCullers	LAA
12	Johnny Cueto	SEA
13	Garrett Richards	SEA	He probably gets some

START

RANK	PITCHER	OPP	COMMENTS
1	David Price	NYY, TB	Keuchel and Gray have opened the AL Cy door and now Price has to be the frontrunner
2	Chris Sale	at DET
3	Chris Archer	at BOS, at TOR	TOR just doesn't scare Archer like they do everyone else: 2.51 ERA, 1.01 WHIP in 82.3 IP (1.66 in 43.3 at TOR)
4	Dallas Keuchel	LAA, TEX	What a terrible time for a dud, both for the Astros and fantasy teams w/Keuchel; he'll rebound
5	Danny Salazar	at MIN, at KC
6	Felix Hernandez	at LAA	A lot more Felixesque since that nightmare at BOS: 3.16 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, and 33 Ks in 37 IP
7	Justin Verlander	MIN	Nearly half of his 2H ER (12 of 26) were allowed in 2 of 12 starts: 2.79 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 23% K, and 5% BB in 84 IP
8	Cole Hamels	at HOU
9	Sonny Gray	SF
10	Corey Kluber	at MIN	Had an abbreviated return after 18 days off, should be ready for a regular workload next time out
11	Lance McCullers	LAA
12	Johnny Cueto	SEA
13	Garrett Richards	SEA	He probably gets some leniency on this season bc of the injury, but this is pretty standard regression from last yr's big season
14	Collin McHugh	TEX
15	Hisashi Iwakuma	at KC, at LAA	The no-hitter is the standout, but his whole 2H has been solid: 3.42 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 23% K, and 5% BB in 79 IP
16	Derek Holland	at HOU
17	Masahiro Tanaka	at TOR	Four key arms heading to TOR late in the season: Archer, Odorizzi, Tanaka, and Severino
18	Jake Odorizzi	at TOR	He's been great and awful in 2 starts at TOR: 8 IP/1 ER, 4.3 IP/6 ER; feeling lucky?
19	Carlos Carrasco	at KC
20	Marcus Stroman	NYY	Looks solid through two starts, definitely good enough to start
21	Michael Pineda	CWS
22	Jose Quintana	at DET	On track for a third straight season of 200 IP w/a mid-3.00s ERA; needs a W to finally get off that career-high of 9
23	Eduardo Rodriguez	TB, BAL
24	Ervin Santana	CLE, at DET	Have you noticed Santana's surge: 1.55 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and 32 Ks in 29 IP
25	Luis Severino	at TOR, CWS	Bounced back nicely from that dud v. TOR w/a 5.7 IP/1 ER effort at TB w/7 Ks
26	Mike Fiers	LAA
27	Scott Kazmir	TEX
28	Carlos Rodon	at NYY	Did you notice his 6 straight QS yielding a 1.76 ERA w/41 Ks in 41 IP?
29	Taijuan Walker	at LAA
30	Yordano Ventura	SEA
31	Erasmo Ramirez	at BOS	It's tough sending anyone into BOS these days, but I think you have to start all three of these guys
32	Drew Smyly	at BOS	The Ks have been strong since his return from the DL: 41 in 37.7 IP
33	Kevin Gausman	at BOS
34	Kyle Gibson	at DET
35	Andrew Heaney	at HOU	He's rebounded w/shutout efforts both times he's been smashed
36	Yovani Gallardo	at OAK
37	Colby Lewis	at OAK	He owns OAK this year (4 ER in 27 IP w/0 HR allowed)
38	Marco Estrada	NYY	Lucky to have allowed just a 4.09 ERA in four starts v. NYY w/6 HRs allowed in 22 IP
39	R.A. Dickey	TB
40	Rick Porcello	TB	Allowed 7 ER in his first four starts back from the DL until TOR got him for 5
41	Kris Medlen	CLE
42	Matt Shoemaker	SEA	Returning to the rotation on the heels of two 7+ IP gems during which he allowed just 1 ER
43	Martin Perez	at OAK, at HOU
44	Edinson Volquez	CLE
45	Cody Anderson	at MIN
46	Hector Santiago	at HOU
47	James Paxton	at KC
48	Tyler Duffey	at DET	TOR obliterated him for 6 ER in 2 IP during his MLB debut, but since then he has a 2.45 ERA and 36 Ks in 36.3 IP
49	Rich Hill	BAL	We're still going off of one start until we see what he does in TOR this Sunday

SIT

RANK	PITCHER	OPP	COMMENTS
50	Wei-Yin Chen	at BOS	Tough to send a HR-prone Chen into Fenway
51	Chris Tillman	at WAS	Sustained success seems to elude him: 2.97 ERA in Jun-Jul, 7.52 ERA in Aug-Sep
52	Josh Tomlin	at KC
53	Jeff Samardzija	at DET, at NYY	Poop
54	Erik Johnson	at DET, at NYY	It's a tiny sample, but w/4 HRs allowed in his two MLB starts, I'm afraid of both of these matchups
55	Adam Warren	at TOR, CWS
56	CC Sabathia	CWS
57	Tommy Milone	CLE
58	Roenis Elias	at KC
59	John Danks	at NYY
60	Daniel Norris	CWS
61	Aaron Brooks	SF
62	Sean Nolin	TEX
63	Matt Moore	at BOS, at TOR
64	Alfredo Simon	MIN
65	Mark Buehrle	TB
66	Wade Miley	TB
67	Henry Owens	TB, BAL
68	Cody Martin	TEX, SF
69	Mike Wright	at WAS, at BOS
70	Ubaldo Jimenez	at WAS
71	Jeremy Guthrie	SEA, CLE
72	Jered Weaver	at HOU, SEA	Rumors suggest Kyle Seager had to be alerted of the HBP from Weaver as he didn't feel the 42 MPH fastball from the right-hander
73	Felix Doubront	TEX
74	Mike Pelfrey	CLE
75	Randy Wolf	CWS
76	Kyle Lobstein	CWS

NATIONAL LEAGUE

START

RANK	PITCHER	OPP	COMMENTS
1	Clayton Kershaw	ARI	I think we're back to "no one above Kershaw" status, even a two-start ace (although none exist this week w/deGrom getting skipped)
2	Jake Arrieta	MIL	His 8-game win streak was snapped despite an 8 IP/1 ER gem at PIT (ended w/no-decision)
3	Zack Greinke	ARI
4	Stephen Strasburg	PHI	He has three 12+ K outings this year, all since the start of Aug: 2.38 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, 37% K, and 3% BB in 45.3 IP
5	Madison Bumgarner	at SD	He has four 12+ K outings this year, three since the start of Aug: 1.73 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 31% K, and 4% BB in 67.7 IP (w/2 SHO)
6	Jacob deGrom	at CIN
7	Jose Fernandez	ATL	The beauty of Fern is he only needs 5-6 IP to beast out: 1.66 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 31 Ks in 21.7 IP over his L4 starts
8	Max Scherzer	BAL
9	Gerrit Cole	at CHC	He's allowed just 5 ER v. CHC in 18.3 IP this year w/20 Ks
10	Michael Wacha	MIL	Weirdly hasn't faced this division foe at all this year
11	Jon Lester	PIT
12	Noah Syndergaard	at CIN	Hasn't thrown fewer than 94 pitches in an outing since the start of July
13	Steven Matz	ATL	There probably isn't a better matchup in the final weeks than facing the Braves
14	Jordan Zimmermann	PHI
15	Julio Teheran	at MIA	NYY smashing him is the only blemish his L9 starts: 3.54 ERA, 1.18 WHIP in 56 IP incl. 4 QS on the road
16	John Lackey	CIN, MIL
17	Jaime Garcia	CIN, MIL	Allowed 17 ER in his first 13 starts; has allowed 14 in his last four; value him around the low-to-mid 3.00s for these few starts
18	Tyson Ross	SF
19	Patrick Corbin	at LAD
20	Gio Gonzalez	BAL, PHI	He's been markedly better at home (3.04 to 4.61 ERA) and both matchups are prime
21	Shelby Miller	at NYM, at MIA	The first 8 of his 14 straight Ls were really unfortunate: 3.03 ERA in 92 IP, but the last 6 are on him, too: 5.56 ERA in 34 IP
22	Carlos Martinez	MIL	It seems whenver I start worrying about Martinez, he drops 8 strong innings; still think they could manipulate his IP count for Oct.
23	Lance Lynn	CIN
24	Francisco Liriano	at CHC	Very pedestrian 2H for Liriano: 4.47 ERA, 1.64 WHIP in 52.3 IP over 10 starts; I could see sitting him in tight ERA/WHIP races
25	Mike Leake	at OAK
26	Taylor Jungmann	at STL
27	Anthony DeSclafani	NYM	Having a great 2H that would look even better w/out two 6 ER duds which account for 43% of his ER over the 68 IP
28	Bartolo Colon	ATL, at CIN
29	James Shields	ARI
30	Matt Harvey	at CIN	I just don't know if this is going to be a regular start or a tandem start where he goes 3-4 IP and then turn it over to Niese or something
31	Ian Kennedy	SF
32	Logan Verrett	ATL
33	Aaron Nola	at WAS	Looks like he'll avoid a shutdown, but two 6 ER gms in his last three have ballooned his ERA
34	Andrew Cashner	SF	One of my biggest disappointments for 2015
35	Mike Bolsinger	ARI, at COL
36	A.J. Burnett	at COL, at CHC	This is a pretty fierce pair of matchups as the Cubs can go off on anyone
37	John Lamb	at STL, NYM
38	Chris Heston	at SD, at OAK
39	Jason Hammel	MIL, PIT	Tale of two halves: 2.86/5.43 ERA, 0.95/1.55 WHIP, but 9.1/9.2 K9 so he's still missing bats; still wonder how much the hamstring plays in
40	Robbie Ray	at LAD, at SD
41	Rubby De La Rosa	at LAD	The problem w/guys like this late is that their downside is massive (5+ ER)
42	Kyle Hendricks	MIL
43	Jake Peavy	at SD
44	Jerad Eickhoff	at WAS	Only one bad outing among his 5 and it was at BOS which is pretty excusable
45	Jhoulys Chacin	at LAD, at SD
46	Jorge De La Rosa	PIT
47	Tom Koehler	PHI	Still riding that 2.97 ERA at home for Koehler
48	Brett Anderson	at COL	Anderson has been solid all year and Happ has dominated w/PIT, but I have a hard time taking either into COL
49	J.A. Happ	at COL

SIT

RANK	PITCHER	OPP	COMMENTS
50	Justin Nicolino	ATL	Looking for an off-the-radar spot start? This could be your guy, espec. if you don't need Ks (8% K rate)
51	Alex Wood	ARI, at COL	One excellent outing isn't enough to send him into Coors this late into the season
52	Jon Gray	PIT, LAD
53	Tanner Roark	BAL
54	Wily Peralta	at CHC, at STL
55	Brandon Finnegan	at STL
56	Zach Davies	at CHC
57	Adam Conley	PHI
58	Ariel Pena	at STL
59	Alec Asher	at MIA
60	Jeremy Hellickson	at SD
61	Jarred Cosart	PHI
62	Charlie Morton	at COL
63	Jeff Locke	at COL
64	Dan Haren	PIT
65	Chad Bettis	PIT
66	Robbie Erlin	ARI
67	Casey Kelly	ARI
68	Adam Morgan	at WAS
69	Chris Rusin	PIT
70	Tim Hudson	at OAK
71	Michael Lorenzen	at STL, NYM
72	Aaron Harang	at MIA
73	Yohan Flande	LAD
74	Brad Hand	ATL
75	Ryan Weber	at MIA
76	David Buchanan	at MIA
77	Kyle Kendrick	LAD
78	Williams Perez	at NYM
79	Matt Wisler	at NYM
80	Josh Smith	NYM
81	Jimmy Nelson Replacement	at CHC, at STL	Nelson was hit by a line drive, I'd be surprised if he pitched again this year

MLB TOP 100

RANK	PITCHER	OPP	COMMENTS
1	Clayton Kershaw	ARI	I think we're back to "no one above Kershaw" status, even a two-start ace
2	David Price	NYY, TB	Keuchel and Gray have opened the AL Cy door and now Price has to be the frontrunner
3	Jake Arrieta	MIL	His 8-game win streak was snapped despite an 8 IP/1 ER gem at PIT (ended w/no-decision)
4	Zack Greinke	ARI
5	Stephen Strasburg	PHI	He has three 12+ K outings this year, all since the start of Aug: 2.38 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, 37% K, and 3% BB in 45.3 IP
6	Madison Bumgarner	at SD	He has four 12+ K outings this year, three since the start of Aug: 1.73 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 31% K, and 4% BB in 67.7 IP (w/2 SHO)
7	Jacob deGrom	at CIN
8	Chris Sale	at DET
9	Chris Archer	at BOS, at TOR	TOR just doesn't scare Archer like they do everyone else: 2.51 ERA, 1.01 WHIP in 82.3 IP (1.66 in 43.3 at TOR)
10	Dallas Keuchel	LAA, TEX	What a terrible time for a dud, both for the Astros and fantasy teams w/Keuchel; he'll rebound
11	Danny Salazar	at MIN, at KC
12	Jose Fernandez	ATL	The beauty of Fern is he only needs 5-6 IP to beast out: 1.66 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 31 Ks in 21.7 IP over his L4 starts
13	Max Scherzer	BAL
14	Gerrit Cole	at CHC	He's allowed just 5 ER v. CHC in 18.3 IP this year w/20 Ks
15	Michael Wacha	MIL	Weirdly hasn't faced this division foe at all this year
16	Felix Hernandez	at LAA	A lot more Felixesque since that nightmare at BOS: 3.16 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, and 33 Ks in 37 IP
17	Justin Verlander	MIN	Nearly half of his 2H ER (12 of 26) were allowed in 2 of 12 starts: 2.79 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 23% K, and 5% BB in 84 IP
18	Cole Hamels	at HOU
19	Sonny Gray	SF
20	Corey Kluber	at MIN	Had an abbreviated return after 18 days off, should be ready for a regular workload next time out
21	Jon Lester	PIT
22	Noah Syndergaard	at CIN	Hasn't thrown fewer than 94 pitches in an outing since the start of July
23	Steven Matz	ATL	There probably isn't a better matchup in the final weeks than facing the Braves
24	Jordan Zimmermann	PHI
25	Julio Teheran	at MIA	NYY smashing him is the only blemish his L9 starts: 3.54 ERA, 1.18 WHIP in 56 IP incl. 4 QS on the road
26	John Lackey	CIN, MIL
27	Jaime Garcia	CIN, MIL	Allowed 17 ER in his first 13 starts; has allowed 14 in his last four; value him around the low-to-mid 3.00s for these few starts
28	Tyson Ross	SF
29	Patrick Corbin	at LAD
30	Gio Gonzalez	BAL, PHI	He's been markedly better at home (3.04 to 4.61 ERA) and both matchups are prime
31	Lance McCullers	LAA
32	Johnny Cueto	SEA
33	Garrett Richards	SEA	He probably gets some leniency on this season bc of the injury, but this is pretty standard regression from last yr's big season
34	Collin McHugh	TEX
35	Hisashi Iwakuma	at KC, at LAA	The no-hitter is the standout, but his whole 2H has been solid: 3.42 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 23% K, and 5% BB in 79 IP
36	Derek Holland	at HOU
37	Masahiro Tanaka	at TOR	Four key arms heading to TOR late in the season: Archer, Odorizzi, Tanaka, and Severino
38	Jake Odorizzi	at TOR	He's been great and awful in 2 starts at TOR: 8 IP/1 ER, 4.3 IP/6 ER; feeling lucky?
39	Carlos Carrasco	at KC
40	Marcus Stroman	NYY	Looks solid through two starts, definitely good enough to start
41	Michael Pineda	CWS
42	Jose Quintana	at DET	On track for a third straight season of 200 IP w/a mid-3.00s ERA; needs a W to finally get off that career-high of 9
43	Eduardo Rodriguez	TB, BAL
44	Shelby Miller	at NYM, at MIA	The first 8 of his 14 straight Ls were really unfortunate: 3.03 ERA in 92 IP, but the last 6 are on him, too: 5.56 ERA in 34 IP
45	Carlos Martinez	MIL	It seems whenver I start worrying about Martinez, he drops 8 strong innings; still think they could manipulate his IP count for Oct.
46	Lance Lynn	CIN
47	Francisco Liriano	at CHC	Very pedestrian 2H for Liriano: 4.47 ERA, 1.64 WHIP in 52.3 IP over 10 starts; I could see sitting him in tight ERA/WHIP races
48	Mike Leake	at OAK
49	Taylor Jungmann	at STL
50	Anthony DeSclafani	NYM	Having a great 2H that would look even better w/out two 6 ER duds which account for 43% of his ER over the 68 IP
51	Ervin Santana	CLE, at DET	Have you noticed Santana's surge: 1.55 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and 32 Ks in 29 IP
52	Luis Severino	at TOR, CWS	Bounced back nicely from that dud v. TOR w/a 5.7 IP/1 ER effort at TB w/7 Ks
53	Bartolo Colon	ATL, at CIN
54	James Shields	ARI
55	Matt Harvey	at CIN	I just don't know if this is going to be a regular start or a tandem start where he goes 3-4 IP and then turn it over to Niese or something
56	Mike Fiers	LAA
57	Scott Kazmir	TEX
58	Carlos Rodon	at NYY	Did you notice his 6 straight QS yielding a 1.76 ERA w/41 Ks in 41 IP?
59	Taijuan Walker	at LAA
60	Yordano Ventura	SEA
61	Ian Kennedy	SF
62	Logan Verrett	ATL
63	Aaron Nola	at WAS	Looks like he'll avoid a shutdown, but two 6 ER gms in his last three have ballooned his ERA
64	Erasmo Ramirez	at BOS	It's tough sending anyone into BOS these days, but I think you have to start all three of these guys
65	Drew Smyly	at BOS	The Ks have been strong since his return from the DL: 41 in 37.7 IP
66	Kevin Gausman	at BOS
67	Andrew Cashner	SF	One of my biggest disappointments for 2015
68	Mike Bolsinger	ARI, at COL
69	A.J. Burnett	at COL, at CHC	This is a pretty fierce pair of matchups as the Cubs can go off on anyone
70	John Lamb	at STL, NYM
71	Chris Heston	at SD, at OAK
72	Jason Hammel	MIL, PIT	Tale of two halves: 2.86/5.43 ERA, 0.95/1.55 WHIP, but 9.1/9.2 K9 so he's still missing bats; still wonder how much the hamstring plays in
73	Robbie Ray	at LAD, at SD
74	Kyle Gibson	at DET
75	Andrew Heaney	at HOU	He's rebounded w/shutout efforts both times he's been smashed
76	Yovani Gallardo	at OAK
77	Colby Lewis	at OAK	He owns OAK this year (4 ER in 27 IP w/0 HR allowed)
78	Rubby De La Rosa	at LAD	The problem w/guys like this late is that their downside is massive (5+ ER)
79	Kyle Hendricks	MIL
80	Marco Estrada	NYY	Lucky to have allowed just a 4.09 ERA in four starts v. NYY w/6 HRs allowed in 22 IP
81	R.A. Dickey	TB
82	Rick Porcello	TB	Allowed 7 ER in his first four starts back from the DL until TOR got him for 5
83	Kris Medlen	CLE
84	Matt Shoemaker	SEA	Returning to the rotation on the heels of two 7+ IP gems during which he allowed just 1 ER
85	Martin Perez	at OAK, at HOU
86	Edinson Volquez	CLE
87	Cody Anderson	at MIN
88	Hector Santiago	at HOU
89	James Paxton	at KC
90	Tyler Duffey	at DET	TOR obliterated him for 6 ER in 2 IP during his MLB debut, but since then he has a 2.45 ERA and 36 Ks in 36.3 IP
91	Rich Hill	BAL	We're still going off of one start until we see what he does in TOR this Sunday
92	Jake Peavy	at SD
93	Jerad Eickhoff	at WAS	Only one bad outing among his 5 and it was at BOS which is pretty excusable
94	Jhoulys Chacin	at LAD, at SD
95	Jorge De La Rosa	PIT
96	Tom Koehler	PHI	Still riding that 2.97 ERA at home for Koehler
97	Wei-Yin Chen	at BOS	Tough to send a HR-prone Chen into Fenway
98	Brett Anderson	at COL	Anderson has been solid all year and Happ has dominated w/PIT, but I have a hard time taking either into COL
99	J.A. Happ	at COL
100	Justin Nicolino	ATL	Looking for an off-the-radar spot start? This could be your guy, espec. if you don't need Ks (8% K rate)