Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Cease Tops a Busy Week

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Updated on September 19, 2022 12:46AM EST

How good is Jacob deGrom? There are a whopping 41 two-start pitchers this week, and deGrom will check in at No. 4 despite making just one start, albeit one that comes at Oakland.

We're at the point of the season where innings restrictions may be imposed, not to mention sudden shutdowns, especially for young arms or injured guys on non-playoff teams.

As always, the schedule is pulled from the Probable Pitchers page, so please direct any rotation questions to our crack staff still focusing on baseball. I'm happy to address a specific rankings question in the comments. For example, a question last week helped my unearth a mistake in the rankings.

UPDATED: Monday September 10 12:40 AM ET

Week of September 19 - 25

Mixed

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comments
1	Dylan Cease	CWS	CLE, DET	So many puns, so little space
2	Corbin Burnes	MIL	NYM, @CIN
3	Max Scherzer	NYM	@MIL, @OAK	Should go 5 IP in each, but maybe not much more
4	Jacob deGrom	NYM	@OAK
5	Shane McClanahan	TB	HOU, TOR
6	Luis Castillo	SEA	@OAK, @KC
7	Kyle Wright	ATL	WAS, @PHI
8	Charlie Morton	ATL	WAS, @PHI
9	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	WAS
10	Nestor Cortes	NYY	PIT, BOS
11	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	ARI, STL
12	Spencer Strider	ATL	@PHI

How good is Jacob deGrom? There are a whopping 41 two-start pitchers this week, and deGrom will check in at No. 4 despite making just one start, albeit one that comes at Oakland.

We're at the point of the season where innings restrictions may be imposed, not to mention sudden shutdowns, especially for young arms or injured guys on non-playoff teams.

UPDATED: Monday September 10 12:40 AM ET

Week of September 19 - 25

Mixed

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comments	MIX12	MIX15
1	Dylan Cease	CWS	CLE, DET	So many puns, so little space
2	Corbin Burnes	MIL	NYM, @CIN
3	Max Scherzer	NYM	@MIL, @OAK	Should go 5 IP in each, but maybe not much more
4	Jacob deGrom	NYM	@OAK
5	Shane McClanahan	TB	HOU, TOR
6	Luis Castillo	SEA	@OAK, @KC
7	Kyle Wright	ATL	WAS, @PHI
8	Charlie Morton	ATL	WAS, @PHI
9	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	WAS
10	Nestor Cortes	NYY	PIT, BOS
11	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	ARI, STL
12	Spencer Strider	ATL	@PHI	34 K with just 4 BB over last 19 IP. That's just stupid.
13	Ross Stripling	TOR	@PHI, @TB	Outpitching Gausman and Berrios
14	Shane Bieber	CLE	@CWS
15	Gerrit Cole	NYY	BOS
16	Edward Cabrera	MIA	CHC, WAS	There is another level with strikeouts
17	Justin Verlander	HOU	@BAL
18	Robbie Ray	SEA	@OAK
19	Sonny Gray	MIN	@CLE, LAA
20	Julio Urias	LAD	ARI
21	Drew Rasmussen	TB	HOU, TOR	Big test to get ready for playoff-like atmosphere
22	Max Fried	ATL	WAS
23	Alek Manoah	TOR	@TB	Injuries to competition has Manoah in the Cy Young discussion
24	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	@CIN
25	Cristian Javier	HOU	@TB
26	Tyler Anderson	LAD	STL, ARI	Doesn't miss bats, but checks every other box
27	Zac Gallen	ARI	@LAD
28	Carlos Rodon	SF	@COL, @ARI
29	Lance Lynn	CWS	CLE
30	Drew Smyly	CHC	@MIA	Pitching wonderfully between injuries
31	Chris Bassitt	NYM	@OAK
32	Triston McKenzie	CLE	@CWS
33	Joe Musgrove	SD	STL
34	Framber Valdez	HOU	@BAL
35	Zack Wheeler	PHI	TOR
36	Luis Garcia	HOU	@TB, @BAL
37	Logan Gilbert	SEA	@LAA, @KC	SEA has the easiest schedule down the stretch
38	Nick Lodolo	CIN	BOS, MIL	31 K with only 1 BB over prior 20.1 IP
39	Jesus Luzardo	MIA	CHC
40	George Kirby	SEA	@OAK
41	Martin Perez	TEX	LAA
42	Brady Singer	KC	SEA
43	Michael Wacha	BOS	@NYY
44	Merrill Kelly	ARI	@LAD, SF	Has earned trust, even vs. LAD
45	Lance McCullers Jr.	HOU	@TB
46	Kevin Gausman	TOR	@PHI
47	Miles Mikolas	STL	@SD
48	Corey Kluber	TB	HOU
49	Shohei Ohtani	LAA	@MIN
50	Aaron Nola	PHI	ATL
51	Cal Quantrill	CLE	MIN, @TEX
52	Adam Wainwright	STL	@SD, @LAD
53	Jordan Montgomery	STL	@LAD
54	Jameson Taillon	NYY	BOS
55	Marcus Stroman	CHC	@PIT
56	Dustin May	LAD	ARI
57	Domingo German	NYY	BOS
58	Jeffrey Springs	TB	TOR
59	Luis Severino	NYY	PIT	Likely innings/pitch restriction
60	Wade Miley	CHC	@MIA, @PIT	Does it get any easier?	1%
61	Cole Irvin	OAK	NYM
62	Joe Ryan	MIN	LAA
63	Ryne Nelson	ARI	SF		11%	49%
64	Jon Gray	TEX	CLE
65	Pablo Lopez	MIA	CHC
66	Johnny Cueto	CWS	DET
67	Yu Darvish	SD	@COL
68	Andrew Heaney	LAD	STL
69	Tyler Wells	BAL	DET, HOU		14%	38%
70	Jose Suarez	LAA	SEA, @MIN
71	Alex Cobb	SF	@ARI
72	Jake Odorizzi	ATL	@PHI
73	Aaron Civale	CLE	@CWS, @TEX		25%	36%
74	JP Sears	OAK	SEA, NYM		34%
75	Bailey Ober	MIN	@KC		12%
76	Trevor Rogers	MIA	WAS
77	Taijuan Walker	NYM	@MIL
78	Eduardo Rodriguez	DET	@CWS
79	Adrian Sampson	CHC	@MIA		3%	49%
80	Jose Quintana	STL	@LAD
81	Hunter Greene	CIN	MIL
82	Mix 12 Reliever
83	Dean Kremer	BAL	HOU
84	Jose Berrios	TOR	@TB
85	Bailey Falter	PHI	ATL		45%
86	Blake Snell	SD	STL
87	Mix 15 Reliever
88	Zack Greinke	KC	MIN, SEA		22%
89	Mike Clevinger	SD	STL, @COL
90	Luis Cessa	CIN	MIL		20%
91	Ranger Suarez	PHI	ATL
92	Roansy Contreras	PIT	@NYY
93	Patrick Sandoval	LAA	@TEX
94	Matt Manning	DET	@BAL
95	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	TOR		0%	13%
96	Jose Urquidy	HOU	@BAL
97	Dylan Bundy	MIN	@KC, LAA		13%
98	Nick Pivetta	BOS	@NYY
99	James Kaprielian	OAK	SEA		13%
100	Josh Lindblom	MIL	NYM, @CIN		0%	0%
101	Cody Morris	CLE	@TEX		17%
102	Brayan Bello	BOS	@CIN, @NYY		47%
103	Lucas Giolito	CWS	CLE
104	Zach Davies	ARI	@LAD, SF		4%	43%
105	Ken Waldichuk	OAK	NYM		14%
106	Adrian Houser	MIL	NYM		18%
107	Josh Winder	MIN	@KC		4%	19%
108	Mike Mayers	LAA	@TEX		0%	11%
109	Carlos Carrasco	NYM	@MIL
110	Adrian Martinez	OAK	SEA		0%	11%
111	Logan Webb	SF	@COL
112	Hayden Wesneski	CHC	@PIT		5%	30%
113	Drey Jameson	ARI	@LAD		0%	0%
114	Kyle Bradish	BAL	HOU		43%
115	Jack Flaherty	STL	@SD
116	Austin Voth	BAL	DET, HOU		17%
117	Mitch White	TOR	@TB		21%
118	Mitch Keller	PIT	CHC
119	Anibal Sanchez	WAS	@MIA		2%	11%
120	Kyle Gibson	PHI	TOR, ATL
121	Michael Grove	LAD	ARI		0%	0%
122	Marco Gonzales	SEA	@KC
123	Michael Lorenzen	LAA	@TEX		16%	23%
124	Reid Detmers	LAA	@MIN
125	Tyler Alexander	DET	@BAL, @CWS		0%	11%
126	Glenn Otto	TEX	CLE		15%
127	Dane Dunning	TEX	LAA		32%
128	Cory Abbott	WAS	@ATL, @MIA		1%	2%
129	Rich Hill	BOS	@NYY		12%
130	Joey Wentz	DET	@BAL		0%	2%
131	Mike Minor	CIN	MIL		6%	43%
132	Jakob Junis	SF	@COL, @ARI		49%
133	Drew Hutchison	DET	@CWS		1%	15%
134	Luis Ortiz	PIT	@NYY, CHC		0%	0%
135	Cole Ragans	TEX	LAA, CLE		0%	9%
136	Kyle Freeland	COL	SF, SD		9%	34%
137	Connor Seabold	BOS	@CIN		0%	0%
138	Chase Anderson	CIN	BOS		1%	2%
139	Erick Fedde	WAS	@MIA		1%	9%
140	Josiah Gray	WAS	@ATL
141	Jason Alexander	MIL	@CIN		0%	4%
142	Chad Kuhl	COL	SF, SD		13%	11%
143	Davis Martin	CWS	DET		0%	0%
144	Madison Bumgarner	ARI	@LAD		48%
145	Javier Assad	CHC	@PIT		8%	49%
146	Jordan Lyles	BAL	DET		9%
147	Jonathan Heasley	KC	MIN		1%	2%
148	Daniel Lynch	KC	MIN		6%
149	Johan Oviedo	PIT	CHC		0%	0%
150	Bryse Wilson	PIT	CHC		1%	6%
151	Kris Bubic	KC	SEA		12%	45%
152	Patrick Corbin	WAS	@ATL		6%
153	German Marquez	COL	SF		44%
154	Sean Manaea	SD	@COL
155	Ryan Feltner	COL	SD		0%	4%
156	Jose Urena	COL	SF		0%	2%
157	Sean Hjelle	SF	@COL		0%	0%

American League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Dylan Cease	CWS	CLE, DET	So many puns, so little space
2	Shane McClanahan	TB	HOU, TOR
3	Luis Castillo	SEA	@OAK, @KC
4	Nestor Cortes	NYY	PIT, BOS
5	Ross Stripling	TOR	@PHI, @TB	Outpitching Gausman and Berrios
6	Shane Bieber	CLE	@CWS
7	Gerrit Cole	NYY	BOS
8	Justin Verlander	HOU	@BAL
9	Robbie Ray	SEA	@OAK
10	Sonny Gray	MIN	@CLE, LAA
11	Drew Rasmussen	TB	HOU, TOR	Big test to get ready for playoff-like atmosphere
12	Alek Manoah	TOR	@TB	Injuries to competition has Manoah in the Cy Young discussion
13	Cristian Javier	HOU	@TB
14	Lance Lynn	CWS	CLE
15	Triston McKenzie	CLE	@CWS
16	Framber Valdez	HOU	@BAL
17	Luis Garcia	HOU	@TB, @BAL
18	Logan Gilbert	SEA	@LAA, @KC	SEA has the easiest schedule down the stretch
19	George Kirby	SEA	@OAK
20	Martin Perez	TEX	LAA
21	Brady Singer	KC	SEA
22	Michael Wacha	BOS	@NYY
23	Lance McCullers Jr.	HOU	@TB
24	Kevin Gausman	TOR	@PHI
25	Corey Kluber	TB	HOU
26	Shohei Ohtani	LAA	@MIN
27	Cal Quantrill	CLE	MIN, @TEX
28	Jameson Taillon	NYY	BOS
29	Domingo German	NYY	BOS
30	Jeffrey Springs	TB	TOR
31	Luis Severino	NYY	PIT	Likely innings/pitch restriction
32	Cole Irvin	OAK	NYM
33	Joe Ryan	MIN	LAA
34	Jon Gray	TEX	CLE
35	Johnny Cueto	CWS	DET
36	Tyler Wells	BAL	DET, HOU
37	Jose Suarez	LAA	SEA, @MIN
38	Aaron Civale	CLE	@CWS, @TEX
39	JP Sears	OAK	SEA, NYM
40	Bailey Ober	MIN	@KC
41	Eduardo Rodriguez	DET	@CWS
42	Dean Kremer	BAL	HOU
43	Jose Berrios	TOR	@TB
44	Zack Greinke	KC	MIN, SEA
45	Patrick Sandoval	LAA	@TEX
46	Matt Manning	DET	@BAL
47	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	TOR
48	Jose Urquidy	HOU	@BAL
49	Dylan Bundy	MIN	@KC, LAA
50	Nick Pivetta	BOS	@NYY
51	James Kaprielian	OAK	SEA
52	Cody Morris	CLE	@TEX
53	Brayan Bello	BOS	@CIN, @NYY
54	Lucas Giolito	CWS	CLE
55	Ken Waldichuk	OAK	NYM
56	AL Reliever
57	Josh Winder	MIN	@KC
58	Mike Mayers	LAA	@TEX
59	Adrian Martinez	OAK	SEA
60	Kyle Bradish	BAL	HOU
61	Austin Voth	BAL	DET, HOU
62	Mitch White	TOR	@TB
63	Marco Gonzales	SEA	@KC
64	Michael Lorenzen	LAA	@TEX
65	Reid Detmers	LAA	@MIN
66	Tyler Alexander	DET	@BAL, @CWS
67	Glenn Otto	TEX	CLE
68	Dane Dunning	TEX	LAA
69	Rich Hill	BOS	@NYY
70	Joey Wentz	DET	@BAL
71	Drew Hutchison	DET	@CWS
72	Cole Ragans	TEX	LAA, CLE
73	Connor Seabold	BOS	@CIN
74	Davis Martin	CWS	DET
75	Jordan Lyles	BAL	DET
76	Jonathan Heasley	KC	MIN
77	Daniel Lynch	KC	MIN
78	Kris Bubic	KC	SEA

National League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Corbin Burnes	MIL	NYM, @CIN
2	Max Scherzer	NYM	@MIL, @OAK	Should go 5 IP in each, but maybe not much more
3	Jacob deGrom	NYM	@OAK
4	Kyle Wright	ATL	WAS, @PHI
5	Charlie Morton	ATL	WAS, @PHI
6	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	WAS
7	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	ARI, STL
8	Spencer Strider	ATL	@PHI	34 K with just 4 BB over last 19 IP. That's just stupid.
9	Edward Cabrera	MIA	CHC, WAS	There is another level with strikeouts
10	Julio Urias	LAD	ARI
11	Max Fried	ATL	WAS
12	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	@CIN
13	Tyler Anderson	LAD	STL, ARI	Doesn't miss bats, but checks every other box
14	Zac Gallen	ARI	@LAD
15	Carlos Rodon	SF	@COL, @ARI
16	Drew Smyly	CHC	@MIA	Pitching wonderfully between injuries
17	Chris Bassitt	NYM	@OAK
18	Joe Musgrove	SD	STL
19	Zack Wheeler	PHI	TOR
20	Nick Lodolo	CIN	BOS, MIL	31 K with only 1 BB over prior 20.1 IP
21	Jesus Luzardo	MIA	CHC
22	Merrill Kelly	ARI	@LAD, SF	Has earned trust, even vs. LAD
23	Miles Mikolas	STL	@SD
24	Aaron Nola	PHI	ATL
25	Adam Wainwright	STL	@SD, @LAD
26	Jordan Montgomery	STL	@LAD
27	Marcus Stroman	CHC	@PIT
28	Dustin May	LAD	ARI
29	Wade Miley	CHC	@MIA, @PIT	Does it get any easier?
30	Ryne Nelson	ARI	SF
31	Pablo Lopez	MIA	CHC
32	Yu Darvish	SD	@COL
33	Andrew Heaney	LAD	STL
34	Alex Cobb	SF	@ARI
35	Jake Odorizzi	ATL	@PHI
36	Trevor Rogers	MIA	WAS
37	Taijuan Walker	NYM	@MIL
38	Adrian Sampson	CHC	@MIA
39	Jose Quintana	STL	@LAD
40	Hunter Greene	CIN	MIL
41	Bailey Falter	PHI	ATL
42	Blake Snell	SD	STL
43	Mike Clevinger	SD	STL, @COL
44	Luis Cessa	CIN	MIL
45	Ranger Suarez	PHI	ATL
46	Roansy Contreras	PIT	@NYY
47	Josh Lindblom	MIL	NYM, @CIN
48	Zach Davies	ARI	@LAD, SF
49	Adrian Houser	MIL	NYM
50	NL Reliever
51	Carlos Carrasco	NYM	@MIL
52	Logan Webb	SF	@COL
53	Hayden Wesneski	CHC	@PIT
54	Drey Jameson	ARI	@LAD
55	Jack Flaherty	STL	@SD
56	Mitch Keller	PIT	CHC
57	Anibal Sanchez	WAS	@MIA
58	Kyle Gibson	PHI	TOR, ATL
59	Michael Grove	LAD	ARI
60	Cory Abbott	WAS	@ATL, @MIA
61	Mike Minor	CIN	MIL
62	Jakob Junis	SF	@COL, @ARI
63	Luis Ortiz	PIT	@NYY, CHC
64	Kyle Freeland	COL	SF, SD
65	Chase Anderson	CIN	BOS
66	Erick Fedde	WAS	@MIA
67	Josiah Gray	WAS	@ATL
68	Jason Alexander	MIL	@CIN
69	Chad Kuhl	COL	SF, SD
70	Madison Bumgarner	ARI	@LAD
71	Javier Assad	CHC	@PIT
72	Johan Oviedo	PIT	CHC
73	Bryse Wilson	PIT	CHC
74	Patrick Corbin	WAS	@ATL
75	German Marquez	COL	SF
76	Sean Manaea	SD	@COL
77	Ryan Feltner	COL	SD
78	Jose Urena	COL	SF
79	Sean Hjelle	SF	@COL