Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Chief Starter

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Updated on September 10, 2016 11:20AM 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. 12-18

AMERICAN LEAGUE

START

RANK	PITCHER	OPPONENT	COMMENT
1	Carlos Carrasco	at CWS, DET	Snapped a streak of six starts w/at least 8 Ks, but I'm still loving a 2-step down the stretch
2	Danny Duffy	OAK, CWS	His fourth straight 8+ H start, but still looked solid against the Twins (6 IP/2 ER/10 K/0 BB
3	Justin Verlander	at CLE
4	Chris Sale	at KC
5	Corey Kluber	DET	Has logged 7+ Ks in 10 of his last 11 starts, good for 84 Ks in 76.7 IP
6	Cole Hamels	OAK
7	Jose Quintana	CLE, at KC
8	David Price	BAL, NYY
9	Yu Darvish	OAK	Has 10 BB in last 3 starts after 4 in previous 6 starts
10	Masahiro Tanaka	at BOS	BOS always tough, though Tanaka has allowed just 3 ER in 12.7 IP against them this year
11	Chris Archer	at BAL
12	Drew Pomeranz	BAL, NYY	Challenging slate, but love the 2.76 ERA and 44 Ks in 42.3 IP since 8/1
13	Michael Fulmer	MIN
14	Marcus Stroman	TB	Was downright bad through June (5.33 ERA), but has a 3.52 ERA in 76.7 IP since
15	Aaron Sanchez	at LAA
16

For the week Sept. 12-18

AMERICAN LEAGUE

START

RANK	PITCHER	OPPONENT	COMMENT
1	Carlos Carrasco	at CWS, DET	Snapped a streak of six starts w/at least 8 Ks, but I'm still loving a 2-step down the stretch
2	Danny Duffy	OAK, CWS	His fourth straight 8+ H start, but still looked solid against the Twins (6 IP/2 ER/10 K/0 BB
3	Justin Verlander	at CLE
4	Chris Sale	at KC
5	Corey Kluber	DET	Has logged 7+ Ks in 10 of his last 11 starts, good for 84 Ks in 76.7 IP
6	Cole Hamels	OAK
7	Jose Quintana	CLE, at KC
8	David Price	BAL, NYY
9	Yu Darvish	OAK	Has 10 BB in last 3 starts after 4 in previous 6 starts
10	Masahiro Tanaka	at BOS	BOS always tough, though Tanaka has allowed just 3 ER in 12.7 IP against them this year
11	Chris Archer	at BAL
12	Drew Pomeranz	BAL, NYY	Challenging slate, but love the 2.76 ERA and 44 Ks in 42.3 IP since 8/1
13	Michael Fulmer	MIN
14	Marcus Stroman	TB	Was downright bad through June (5.33 ERA), but has a 3.52 ERA in 76.7 IP since
15	Aaron Sanchez	at LAA
16	J.A. Happ	at LAA
17	Rick Porcello	BAL
18	Ervin Santana	at DET, at NYM	Now has 40 Ks in 38 IP over his last six starts (3.32 ERA, 1.21 WHIP)
19	Matt Boyd	MIN, at CLE	Getting ahead and then inducing chases during surge since 7/9 recall: 2.56 ERA, 52 Ks, and 3.3 K:BB
20	Hisashi Iwakuma	at LAA
21	Kevin Gausman	TB	He has a 2.89 ERA and 10.1 K/9 over his last 11 starts spanning 65.3 IP
22	Ian Kennedy	CWS
23	James Paxton	HOU
24	Chris Tillman	TB
25	Carlos Rodon	CLE	Toting a sparkling 1.91 ERA and 1.03 WHIP since 8/1; another strong finish from the young lefty
26	Yordano Ventura	OAK
27	Felix Hernandez	HOU
28	Sean Manaea	at KC
29	Danny Salazar	at CWS	Forearm tightness after a poor outing could be the end of his '16
30	Jake Odorizzi	at TOR, at BAL	Willing to give him some leeway for 7 ER v. BAL, but he gets TOR and BAL this week; be careful
31	Marco Estrada	at LAA
32	Mike Fiers	at SEA	3 or fewer ER in seven of his last nine and the two outliers were a passable 4 ER
33	Michael Pineda	LAD
34	Blake Snell	at BAL
35	Kendall Graveman	at TEX
36	Trevor Bauer	at CWS, DET
37	Jordan Zimmermann	MIN
38	Drew Smyly	at TOR
39	Jharel Cotton	at KC	Only notched 3 Ks in 6.3 IP debut, but 12% SwStr and 10.0 MiLB record portends well
40	CC Sabathia	LAD, at BOS	It's risky for sure, but I can see throwing this dart in desperate situations
41	Eduardo Rodriguez	NYY	One bad IP v. KC is the only real blemish on his 2.73 ERA since the break
42	Derek Holland	at HOU
43	A.J. Griffin	at HOU
44	Colby Lewis	OAK
45	Joe Musgrove	TEX	It's been a bit uneven, but he's certainly looked sharp during the highs
46	Alex Cobb	at TOR
47	Doug Fister	TEX, at SEA
48	Anibal Sanchez	MIN, at CLE
49	Daniel Mengden	at KC
50	Luis Cessa	at BOS
51	Ricky Nolasco	SEA, TOR	Could be an interesting dart throw after back-to-back gems and an 11% SwStr rate since 8/10
52	Collin McHugh	at SEA
53	Dylan Bundy	at BOS	Has allowed 5 ER in three of his last six starts
54	Taijuan Walker	at LAA	LAA just pummeled him on 9/3 (0.7 IP/5 ER) and dealt him a 4 IP/6 ER dud on 8/6, too
55	Martin Perez	at HOU
56	Francisco Liriano	TB, at LAA
57	Kyle Gibson	at DET, at NYM
58	Jose Berrios	at NYM
59	Bryan Mitchell	LAD, at BOS
60	R.A. Dickey	TB
61	Edinson Volquez	OAK
62	Jason Vargas	OAK, CWS
63	Matt Andriese	at BAL
64	Michael Clevinger	at CWS
65	Ross Detwiler	at KC, at TEX
66	Tyler Skaggs	SEA
67	Hector Santiago	at DET
68	Miguel Gonzalez	CLE, at KC
69	David Paulino	TEX
70	Alex Meyer	SEA, TOR
71	Raul Alcantara	at TEX
72	James Shields	CLE
73	Clay Buchholz	NYY
73	Yovani Gallardo	at BOS
74	Ubaldo Jimenez	TB
75	Andrew Albers	at DET
76	Wade Miley	at BOS, TB
77	Jered Weaver	TOR
78	Ariel Miranda	at LAA, HOU
79	Daniel Wright	TOR

NATIONAL LEAGUE

START

Rank	Pitcher	Opponent(s)	Comments
1	Max Scherzer	at ATL
2	Jose Fernandez	at ATL	Tremendous rebound after the rough outing at CLE: seven scoreless w/14 Ks v. LAD
3	Madison Bumgarner	SD
4	Clayton Kershaw	at NYY	He had a 60-70 pitch limit in his return and only made it through 3 IP, but I'm obviously getting him right back into lineups
5	Jon Lester	MIL
6	Kyle Hendricks	at STL, MIL
7	Noah Syndergaard	at WAS	Quietly rolling again with a 1.00 ERA in his last 4 starts (6+ Ks in 9 of 10 since the break, too)
8	Anthony DeSclafani	MIL, PIT	Continues to dominate (2.77 ERA) and two starts in a week could be huge; fewer than 5 Ks just once in L9 starts
9	Ivan Nova	at PHI, at CIN	2nd CG in last four and ER totals w/PIT have exceeded 3 once: 3, 1, 4, 1, 1, 2, and 1
10	Tanner Roark	NYM
11	Jake Arrieta	MIL
12	Kenta Maeda	at ARI
13	Johnny Cueto	STL
14	Carlos Martinez	CHC
15	Julio Teheran	MIA	Not only crushing it w/a 1.89 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in his last 3 starts, but also 2 Ws giving him 5 for the season
16	Jerad Eickhoff	PIT
17	Seth Lugo	MIN	Check your wires, he's still out there in plenty of 10- and 12-team mixers
18	Rich Hill	at ARI
19	Steven Matz	at WAS
20	Adam Wainwright	at SF
21	Jameson Taillon	at CIN	Getting skipped his next time out takes a 2-start week away from him, but at least he's still pitching
22	Zack Greinke	LAD	The longball has been a huge issue when it goes sideways incl. season-high 5 in his last start v. LAD
23	John Lackey	MIL
24	Tyler Anderson	at ARI	ERA is over a run higher on the road (4.21 to 3.04), but skills are there: 8.1 K/9, 3.8 K:BB, 1.01 WHIP
25	Matt Moore	STL
26	Robbie Ray	COL, LAD
27	Jeff Samardzija	SD, STL	Continues to find success at Coors (7 IP/2 ER last time out); 2.45 ERA in L6 starts
28	Bartolo Colon	MIN
29	Junior Guerra	at CIN
30	Jon Gray	SD
31	Andrew Cashner	at ATL, at PHI
32	Gio Gonzalez	at ATL	He was rolling before getting clocked for 6 ER by ATL last time out; I'd still use this start, though
33	Dan Straily	MIL, PIT
34	Jeremy Hellickson	PIT, MIA
35	Jason Hammel	at STL	Soooo frustrating
36	Zach Davies	at CHC	He's rebounded nicely since 7 ER at CHC (2.84 ERA in 19 IP) and has 2 gems v. CHC (6.3 IP/1 ER, 6.7 IP/2 ER)
37	Brandon Finnegan	PIT
38	Luke Weaver	at SF
39	Tyler Chatwood	SD
40	Matt Wisler	MIA, WAS	Two brilliant starts since recall w/75 and 67 Game Scores; I'd gamble here
41	Tom Koehler	at PHI
42	Gerrit Cole	at PHI, at CIN	He's been brutal and now a 2-step includes his arch-nemesis: the Reds (5.44 career ERA)
43	Julio Urias	at NYY
44	Robert Gsellman	MIN	Incidentally, he took Jacob deGrom's spot on the spreadsheet I use to write this piece; happy accident as Bob Ross would say
45	Jose De Leon	at NYY, at ARI
46	Wily Peralta	at CIN, at CHC	Not sure I've recommended him once this year, but 3.35 ERA and 1.09 WHIP since injury return has some appeal
47	Mike Leake	CHC, at SF
48	Ryan Vogelsong	at CIN
49	A.J. Cole	NYM
50	Mike Foltynewicz	MIA
51	Ross Stripling	at ARI
52	Jaime Garcia	CHC, at SF	I haven't seen enough to trust him in any mixers and I'd be very careful in NL-onlys
53	Lucas Giolito	NYM, at ATL
54	Drew Hutchison	at PHI	Great matchup, but he wasn't exactly smashing Triple-A so proceed w/caution
55	Steven Brault	at PHI
56	Jimmy Nelson	at CHC
57	Mike Montgomery	at STL
58	Jake Thompson	PIT
59	Alec Asher	PIT, MIA	He assumes Velasquez's spot; soft-tossing control guy
60	Albert Suarez	SD, STL
61	Jarred Cosart	at SF
62	Rafael Montero	at WAS
63	Rubby De La Rosa	COL
64	Shelby Miller	COL, LAD
65	Chase Anderson	at CHC
66	Luis Perdomo	at COL
67	Archie Bradley	LAD
68	Jose Urena	at PHI
69	Robert Stephenson	PIT
70	Adam Morgan	MIA
71	Clayton Richard	at SF
72	Jake Esch	at ATL
73	Chad Bettis	SD
74	Williams Perez	WAS
75	Jeff Hoffman	at ARI
76	Jorge De La Rosa	at ARI
77	Tim Adleman	MIL
78	Edwin Jackson	at COL
79	Matt Garza	at CIN
80	John Gant	WAS
81	Paul Clemens	at SF, at COL

MLB TOP 100

RANK	PITCHER	OPPONENT	COMMENT
1	Max Scherzer
2	Jose Fernandez		Tremendous rebound after the rough outing at CLE: seven scoreless w/14 Ks v. LAD
3	Carlos Carrasco		Snapped a streak of six starts w/at least 8 Ks, but I'm still loving a 2-step down the stretch
4	Danny Duffy		His fourth straight 8+ H start, but still looked solid against the Twins (6 IP/2 ER/10 K/0 BB
5	Justin Verlander
6	Madison Bumgarner
7	Clayton Kershaw		He had a 60-70 pitch limit in his return and only made it through 3 IP, but I'm obviously getting him right back into lineups
8	Jon Lester
9	Chris Sale
10	Kyle Hendricks
11	Noah Syndergaard		Quietly rolling again with a 1.00 ERA in his last 4 starts (6+ Ks in 9 of 10 since the break, too)
12	Corey Kluber		Has logged 7+ Ks in 10 of his last 11 starts, good for 84 Ks in 76.7 IP
13	Anthony DeSclafani		Continues to dominate (2.77 ERA) and two starts in a week could be huge; fewer than 5 Ks just once in L9 starts
14	Ivan Nova		2nd CG in last four and ER totals w/PIT have exceeded 3 once: 3, 1, 4, 1, 1, 2, and 1
15	Cole Hamels
16	Jose Quintana
17	David Price
18	Tanner Roark
19	Jake Arrieta
20	Kenta Maeda
21	Yu Darvish		Has 10 BB in last 3 starts after 4 in previous 6 starts
22	Masahiro Tanaka		BOS always tough, though Tanaka has allowed just 3 ER in 12.7 IP against them this year
23	Chris Archer
24	Johnny Cueto
25	Carlos Martinez
26	Julio Teheran		Not only crushing it w/a 1.89 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in his last 3 starts, but also 2 Ws giving him 5 for the season
27	Drew Pomeranz		Challenging slate, but love the 2.76 ERA and 44 Ks in 42.3 IP since 8/1
28	Michael Fulmer
29	Marcus Stroman		Was downright bad through June (5.33 ERA), but has a 3.52 ERA in 76.7 IP since
30	Aaron Sanchez
31	J.A. Happ
32	Rick Porcello
33	Ervin Santana		Now has 40 Ks in 38 IP over his last six starts (3.32 ERA, 1.21 WHIP)
34	Jerad Eickhoff
35	Seth Lugo		Check your wires, he's still out there in plenty of 10- and 12-team mixers
36	Rich Hill
37	Steven Matz
38	Matt Boyd		Getting ahead and then inducing chases during surge since 7/9 recall: 2.56 ERA, 52 Ks, and 3.3 K:BB
39	Adam Wainwright
40	Hisashi Iwakuma
41	Kevin Gausman		He has a 2.89 ERA and 10.1 K/9 over his last 11 starts spanning 65.3 IP
42	Jameson Taillon		Getting skipped his next time out takes a 2-start week away from him, but at least he's still pitching
43	Zack Greinke		The longball has been a huge issue when it goes sideways incl. season-high 5 in his last start v. LAD
44	Ian Kennedy
45	John Lackey
46	Tyler Anderson		ERA is over a run higher on the road (4.21 to 3.04), but skills are there: 8.1 K/9, 3.8 K:BB, 1.01 WHIP
47	Matt Moore
48	Robbie Ray
49	Jeff Samardzija		Continues to find success at Coors (7 IP/2 ER last time out); 2.45 ERA in L6 starts
50	Bartolo Colon
51	Junior Guerra
52	Jon Gray
53	James Paxton
54	Chris Tillman
55	Carlos Rodon		Toting a sparkling 1.91 ERA and 1.03 WHIP since 8/1; another strong finish from the young lefty
56	Andrew Cashner
57	Gio Gonzalez		He was rolling before getting clocked for 6 ER by ATL last time out; I'd still use this start, though
58	Dan Straily
59	Jeremy Hellickson
60	Yordano Ventura
61	Felix Hernandez
62	Sean Manaea
63	Jason Hammel		Soooo frustrating
64	Zach Davies		He's rebounded nicely since 7 ER at CHC (2.84 ERA in 19 IP) and has 2 gems v. CHC (6.3 IP/1 ER, 6.7 IP/2 ER)
65	Brandon Finnegan
66	Luke Weaver
67	Tyler Chatwood
68	Matt Wisler		Two brilliant starts since recall w/75 and 67 Game Scores; I'd gamble here
69	Danny Salazar		Forearm tightness after a poor outing could be the end of his '16
70	Jake Odorizzi		Willing to give him some leeway for 7 ER v. BAL, but he gets TOR and BAL this week; be careful
71	Marco Estrada
72	Mike Fiers		3 or fewer ER in seven of his last nine and the two outliers were a passable 4 ER
73	Michael Pineda
74	Blake Snell
75	Kendall Graveman
76	Trevor Bauer
77	Jordan Zimmermann
78	Drew Smyly
79	Tom Koehler
80	Gerrit Cole		He's been brutal and now a 2-step includes his arch-nemesis: the Reds (5.44 career ERA)
81	Julio Urias
82	Robert Gsellman		Incidentally, he took Jacob deGrom's spot on the spreadsheet I use to write this piece; happy accident as Bob Ross would say
83	Jose De Leon
84	Wily Peralta		Not sure I've recommended him once this year, but 3.35 ERA and 1.09 WHIP since injury return has some appeal
85	Mike Leake
85	Jharel Cotton		Only notched 3 Ks in 6.3 IP debut, but 12% SwStr and 10.0 MiLB record portends well
86	CC Sabathia		It's risky for sure, but I can see throwing this dart in desperate situations
87	Eduardo Rodriguez		One bad IP v. KC is the only real blemish on his 2.73 ERA since the break
88	Derek Holland
89	Ryan Vogelsong
90	A.J. Cole
91	A.J. Griffin
92	Colby Lewis
93	Joe Musgrove		It's been a bit uneven, but he's certainly looked sharp during the highs
94	Alex Cobb
96	Doug Fister
97	Anibal Sanchez
98	Mike Foltynewicz
99	Ross Stripling
100	Daniel Mengden