Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Is the Worst Yet to Come?

Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Is the Worst Yet to Come?

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Updated on June 19, 2023 2:15AM EST

MLB, along with some reporters, broadcasters and Bryan Cranston are all taking victory laps. The problem is they're premature. Sure, games are shorter without disrupting too much on the field, though Alek Manoah and maybe Sandy Alcantara may beg to differ.

The caveat is we've yet to see what happens when the temperature and innings both rise. Will the pitch clock affect the quality of pitching? Will more injuries occur?

Who knows, but my more than ample gut says yes, in a resounding manner. I suspect ERA will continue to climb.

As for this week, the focus will be on Emmet Sheehan. His upcoming schedule isn't ideal, but he's in a great spot, with only Michael Grove in his way.

The weekend series between the Cubs and Cardinals will be contested in London Stadium. In 2019, the Red Sox and Yankees competed in the first London Series, with the Yankees sweeping by scores of 17-13 and 12-8, strongly suggesting the venue is very hitter friendly. The Sunday night update will reflect the estimated park effect.

Especially with some sketchy weather for the rest of the week, these are subject to change. Please refer to the Probable Pitchers grid for scheduling question. As usual, hit me up with rankings concerns below.

UPDATED: Monday June 19, 2:15 AM ET

Week of June 19 - 25

Mixed

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comments	MIX12	MIX15
1	Gerrit Cole	NYY	SEA, TEX	Strikeouts down, and benefiting from 81.4% LOB, but still solid
2

MLB, along with some reporters, broadcasters and Bryan Cranston are all taking victory laps. The problem is they're premature. Sure, games are shorter without disrupting too much on the field, though Alek Manoah and maybe Sandy Alcantara may beg to differ.

The caveat is we've yet to see what happens when the temperature and innings both rise. Will the pitch clock affect the quality of pitching? Will more injuries occur?

Who knows, but my more than ample gut says yes, in a resounding manner. I suspect ERA will continue to climb.

As for this week, the focus will be on Emmet Sheehan. His upcoming schedule isn't ideal, but he's in a great spot, with only Michael Grove in his way.

The weekend series between the Cubs and Cardinals will be contested in London Stadium. In 2019, the Red Sox and Yankees competed in the first London Series, with the Yankees sweeping by scores of 17-13 and 12-8, strongly suggesting the venue is very hitter friendly. The Sunday night update will reflect the estimated park effect.

Especially with some sketchy weather for the rest of the week, these are subject to change. Please refer to the Probable Pitchers grid for scheduling question. As usual, hit me up with rankings concerns below.

UPDATED: Monday June 19, 2:15 AM ET

Week of June 19 - 25

Mixed

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comments	MIX12	MIX15
1	Gerrit Cole	NYY	SEA, TEX	Strikeouts down, and benefiting from 81.4% LOB, but still solid
2	Tyler Glasnow	TB	BAL, KC	Walks up, but should get better
3	Spencer Strider	ATL	@PHI, @CIN	6 HR alllowed over last 15 IP
4	James Paxton	BOS	@MIN, @CWS
5	Jose Berrios	TOR	@MIA, OAK	Pedestrian K-rate only concern
6	Shane McClanahan	TB	KC
7	Corbin Burnes	MIL	ARI, @CLE	Bar is high when 3.44 ERA is disappointing
8	Pablo Lopez	MIN	BOS, @DET	Back on track
9	Merrill Kelly	ARI	@MIL, @SF
10	Zach Eflin	TB	KC
11	Zac Gallen	ARI	@MIL
12	Zack Wheeler	PHI	NYM
13	Bailey Ober	MIN	BOS, @DET
14	Kevin Gausman	TOR	@MIA
15	Framber Valdez	HOU	NYM
16	Michael Wacha	SD	@SF, WAS	23.3% K-rate thrid best of career
17	Jon Gray	TEX	@NYY
18	Luis Castillo	SEA	@NYY
19	Michael Lorenzen	DET	KC, MIN
20	Shohei Ohtani	LAA	LAD
21	Chris Bassitt	TOR	OAK
22	Cristian Javier	HOU	NYM
23	Blake Snell	SD	@SF
24	Garrett Whitlock	BOS	@MIN
25	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	@CWS
26	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	@LAA
27	Joe Ryan	MIN	BOS
28	Andrew Abbott	CIN	COL	12 K to 9 BB in 17.2 IP -- danger lies ahead
29	Mitch Keller	PIT	@MIA	Good spot to emerge from rut
30	Tyler Wells	BAL	@TB	Graduatred from streamer to every week status
31	Joe Musgrove	SD	WAS	Really? Against Detroit? After I pimped you in my Rival.com lineup?
32	Jesus Luzardo	MIA	PIT
33	Marcus Stroman	CHC	@PIT	3.63 xFIP says regression coming
34	Logan Webb	SF	ARI
35	Aaron Civale	CLE	OAK, MIL
36	Yu Darvish	SD	@SF
37	Domingo German	NYY	SEA
38	Shane Bieber	CLE	MIL
39	Yonny Chirinos	TB	KC	Playing the role of Ryan Yarbrough, circa 2018-2020	17%
40	George Kirby	SEA	@NYY, @BAL
41	Max Scherzer	NYM	@HOU, @PHI
42	Eury Perez	MIA	TOR, PIT	Pitching like he doesn't want to go back to riding buses
43	Hunter Brown	HOU	NYM, @LAD
44	Bobby Miller	LAD	HOU
45	Ranger Suarez	PHI	ATL, NYM	Back on track, .90 ERA with 1.05 WHIP over last 20 IP, with 18 K
46	Aaron Nola	PHI	ATL
47	Andrew Heaney	TEX	@CWS, @NYY
48	Kyle Gibson	BAL	SEA
49	Tony Gonsolin	LAD	HOU
50	Brayan Bello	BOS	@CWS
51	Dylan Cease	CWS	TEX
52	Justin Verlander	NYM	@HOU
53	Charlie Morton	ATL	@CIN
54	Emmet Sheehan	LAD	HOU	Similar profile as Bryce Miller, should succeed in a like manner	0%	0%
55	Anthony DeSclafani	SF	SD, ARI
56	Reese Olson	DET	KC, MIN		49%
57	Freddy Peralta	MIL	@CLE
58	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	TOR	Speculating, but maybe hurt by the pitch clock?
59	Kyle Bradish	BAL	@TB
60	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	@PIT		26%
61	Matthew Boyd	DET	KC		13%
62	Kutter Crawford	BOS	@MIN, @CWS		42%
63	Johan Oviedo	PIT	CHC, @MIA
64	Tanner Bibee	CLE	MIL
65	Sonny Gray	MIN	BOS
66	Yusei Kikuchi	TOR	@MIA, OAK
67	MacKenzie Gore	WAS	STL, @SD
68	Lucas Giolito	CWS	BOS
69	Seth Lugo	SD	@SF, WAS		25%
70	Brady Singer	KC	@DET	Showing signs of returning to form, no excuse in this matchup
71	Braxton Garrett	MIA	PIT
72	Dane Dunning	TEX	@NYY
73	Jordan Montgomery	STL	@WAS
74	JP Sears	OAK	@CLE
75	Mix 12 Reliever
76	Jordan Lyles	KC	@DET, @TB		0%	0%
77	Logan Gilbert	SEA	@BAL
78	AJ Smith-Shawver	ATL	@PHI
79	Logan Allen	CLE	OAK
80	Michael Kopech	CWS	TEX
81	Wade Miley	MIL	@CLE		8%	26%
82	Jack Flaherty	STL	@WAS, CHC	Second game is in London
83	Bryce Miller	SEA	@BAL
84	Zack Greinke	KC	@TB		9%
85	Mix 15 Reliever
86	Randy Vasquez	NYY	SEA		0%	0%
87	Alex Wood	SF	SD		12%
88	Hunter Greene	CIN	ATL
89	Bryce Elder	ATL	@PHI
90	Hunter Gaddis	CLE	OAK		1%	2%
91	Dean Kremer	BAL	SEA		23%
92	Sean Manaea	SF	SD		7%
93	Taijuan Walker	PHI	ATL
94	Joey Wentz	DET	MIN		0%	0%
95	Louie Varland	MIN	@DET
96	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	NYM		0%	0%
97	Luis Severino	NYY	TEX
98	Kyle Freeland	COL	@CIN		12%	47%
99	Martin Perez	TEX	@CWS
100	Taj Bradley	TB	BAL
101	Miles Mikolas	STL	@WAS
102	Cole Irvin	BAL	SEA		1%	17%
103	Corey Kluber	BOS	@MIN		2%	4%
104	Reid Detmers	LAA	LAD
105	Rich Hill	PIT	CHC		10%
106	Kodai Senga	NYM	@PHI
107	Drew Smyly	CHC	@PIT
108	Ben Lively	CIN	COL		44%
109	Josiah Gray	WAS	STL, @SD
110	Noah Davis	COL	@CIN		0%	0%
111	Patrick Sandoval	LAA	@COL
112	Bryan Woo	SEA	@NYY
113	Luis Ortiz	PIT	@MIA		9%
114	Hogan Harris	OAK	@TOR		0%	4%
115	Justin Steele	CHC	@STL	Working in the London Series
116	Jared Shuster	ATL	@CIN
117	Osvaldo Bido	PIT	CHC, @MIA		0%	0%
118	Colin Rea	MIL	ARI		4%
119	Lance Lynn	CWS	BOS
120	Daniel Lynch	KC	@DET, @TB		4%
121	Brandon Williamson	CIN	COL, ATL		4%	17%
122	Griffin Canning	LAA	@COL
123	Tyler Anderson	LAA	@COL		20%
124	Ryne Nelson	ARI	@MIL, @SF		3%
125	Clarke Schmidt	NYY	TEX
126	Tommy Henry	ARI	@WAS		20%
127	Trevor Williams	WAS	STL		0%	17%
128	Connor Seabold	COL	LAA		0%	0%
129	Jakob Junis	SF	SD, ARI		0%	0%
130	Michael Grove	LAD	@LAA		7%
131	Austin Gomber	COL	@CIN, LAA		0%	0%
132	Paul Blackburn	OAK	@CLE		1%	19%
133	J.P. France	HOU	@LAD
134	Jesse Scholtens	CWS	TEX, BOS		0%	0%
135	Jake Irvin	WAS	ARI		0%	2%
136	Zach Davies	ARI	@SF		3%	19%
137	Luis Medina	OAK	@CLE, @TOR		0%	4%
138	Chase Anderson	COL	LAA		1%	9%
139	Julio Teheran	MIL	ARI		28%
140	Jonathan Heasley	KC	@TB		0%	0%
141	Jameson Taillon	CHC	@STL	Working in the London Series
142	Tylor Megill	NYM	@HOU		29%	42%
143	Patrick Corbin	WAS	@SD		2%	6%
144	Bryan Hoeing	MIA	TOR, PIT		0%	0%
145	Carlos Carrasco	NYM	@PHI		22%
146	Adam Wainwright	STL	CHC	Working in the London Series	9%	32%
147	James Kaprielian	OAK	@TOR		0%	4%
148	Luke Weaver	CIN	ATL		0%	49%
149	Ronel Blanco	HOU	@LAD		0%	28%

American League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Gerrit Cole	NYY	SEA, TEX	Strikeouts down, and benefiting from 81.4% LOB, but still solid
2	Tyler Glasnow	TB	BAL, KC	Walks up, but should get better
3	James Paxton	BOS	@MIN, @CWS
4	Jose Berrios	TOR	@MIA, OAK	Pedestrian K-rate only concern
5	Shane McClanahan	TB	KC
6	Pablo Lopez	MIN	BOS, @DET	Back on track
7	Zach Eflin	TB	KC
8	Bailey Ober	MIN	BOS, @DET
9	Kevin Gausman	TOR	@MIA
10	Framber Valdez	HOU	NYM
11	Jon Gray	TEX	@NYY
12	Luis Castillo	SEA	@NYY
13	Michael Lorenzen	DET	KC, MIN
14	Shohei Ohtani	LAA	LAD
15	Chris Bassitt	TOR	OAK
16	Cristian Javier	HOU	NYM
17	Garrett Whitlock	BOS	@MIN
18	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	@CWS
19	Joe Ryan	MIN	BOS
20	Tyler Wells	BAL	@TB	Graduatred from streamer to every week status
21	Aaron Civale	CLE	OAK, MIL
22	Domingo German	NYY	SEA
23	Shane Bieber	CLE	MIL
24	Yonny Chirinos	TB	KC	Playing the role of Ryan Yarbrough, circa 2018-2020
25	George Kirby	SEA	@NYY, @BAL
26	Hunter Brown	HOU	NYM, @LAD
27	Andrew Heaney	TEX	@CWS, @NYY
28	Kyle Gibson	BAL	SEA
29	Brayan Bello	BOS	@CWS
30	Dylan Cease	CWS	TEX
31	Reese Olson	DET	KC, MIN
32	Kyle Bradish	BAL	@TB
33	Matthew Boyd	DET	KC
34	Kutter Crawford	BOS	@MIN, @CWS
35	Tanner Bibee	CLE	MIL
36	Sonny Gray	MIN	BOS
37	Yusei Kikuchi	TOR	@MIA, OAK
38	Lucas Giolito	CWS	BOS
39	Brady Singer	KC	@DET	Showing signs of returning to form, no excuse in this matchup
40	Dane Dunning	TEX	@NYY
41	JP Sears	OAK	@CLE
42	Jordan Lyles	KC	@DET, @TB
43	Logan Gilbert	SEA	@BAL
44	Logan Allen	CLE	OAK
45	Michael Kopech	CWS	TEX
46	Bryce Miller	SEA	@BAL
47	Zack Greinke	KC	@TB
48	Randy Vasquez	NYY	SEA
49	Hunter Gaddis	CLE	OAK
50	Dean Kremer	BAL	SEA
51	Joey Wentz	DET	MIN
52	Louie Varland	MIN	@DET
53	Luis Severino	NYY	TEX
54	Martin Perez	TEX	@CWS
55	Taj Bradley	TB	BAL
56	AL Reliever
57	Cole Irvin	BAL	SEA
58	Corey Kluber	BOS	@MIN
59	Reid Detmers	LAA	LAD
60	Patrick Sandoval	LAA	@COL
61	Bryan Woo	SEA	@NYY
62	Hogan Harris	OAK	@TOR
63	Lance Lynn	CWS	BOS
64	Daniel Lynch	KC	@DET, @TB
65	Griffin Canning	LAA	@COL
66	Tyler Anderson	LAA	@COL
67	Clarke Schmidt	NYY	TEX
68	Paul Blackburn	OAK	@CLE
69	J.P. France	HOU	@LAD
70	Jesse Scholtens	CWS	TEX, BOS
71	Luis Medina	OAK	@CLE, @TOR
72	Jonathan Heasley	KC	@TB
73	James Kaprielian	OAK	@TOR
74	Ronel Blanco	HOU	@LAD

National League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Spencer Strider	ATL	@PHI, @CIN	6 HR alllowed over last 15 IP
2	Corbin Burnes	MIL	ARI, @CLE	Bar is high when 3.44 ERA is disappointing
3	Merrill Kelly	ARI	@MIL, @SF
4	Zac Gallen	ARI	@MIL
5	Zack Wheeler	PHI	NYM
6	Michael Wacha	SD	@SF, WAS	23.3% K-rate thrid best of career
7	Blake Snell	SD	@SF
8	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	@LAA
9	Andrew Abbott	CIN	COL	12 K to 9 BB in 17.2 IP -- danger lies ahead
10	Mitch Keller	PIT	@MIA	Good spot to emerge from rut
11	Joe Musgrove	SD	WAS	Really? Against Detroit? After I pimped you in my Rival.com lineup?
12	Jesus Luzardo	MIA	PIT
13	Marcus Stroman	CHC	@PIT	3.63 xFIP says regression coming
14	Logan Webb	SF	ARI
15	Yu Darvish	SD	@SF
16	Max Scherzer	NYM	@HOU, @PHI
17	Eury Perez	MIA	TOR, PIT	Pitching like he doesn't want to go back to riding buses
18	Bobby Miller	LAD	HOU
19	Ranger Suarez	PHI	ATL, NYM	Back on track, .90 ERA with 1.05 WHIP over last 20 IP, with 18 K
20	Aaron Nola	PHI	ATL
21	Tony Gonsolin	LAD	HOU
22	Justin Verlander	NYM	@HOU
23	Charlie Morton	ATL	@CIN
24	Emmet Sheehan	LAD	HOU	Similar profile as Bryce Miller, should succeed in a like manner
25	Anthony DeSclafani	SF	SD, ARI
26	Freddy Peralta	MIL	@CLE
27	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	TOR	Speculating, but maybe hurt by the pitch clock?
28	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	@PIT
29	Johan Oviedo	PIT	CHC, @MIA
30	MacKenzie Gore	WAS	STL, @SD
31	Seth Lugo	SD	@SF, WAS
32	Braxton Garrett	MIA	PIT
33	Jordan Montgomery	STL	@WAS
34	AJ Smith-Shawver	ATL	@PHI
35	Wade Miley	MIL	@CLE
36	Jack Flaherty	STL	@WAS, CHC	Second game is in London
37	Alex Wood	SF	SD
38	Hunter Greene	CIN	ATL
39	Bryce Elder	ATL	@PHI
40	Sean Manaea	SF	SD
41	Taijuan Walker	PHI	ATL
42	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	NYM
43	Kyle Freeland	COL	@CIN
44	NL Reliever
45	Miles Mikolas	STL	@WAS
46	Rich Hill	PIT	CHC
47	Kodai Senga	NYM	@PHI
48	Drew Smyly	CHC	@PIT
49	Ben Lively	CIN	COL
50	Josiah Gray	WAS	STL, @SD
51	Noah Davis	COL	@CIN
52	Luis Ortiz	PIT	@MIA
53	Justin Steele	CHC	@STL	Working in the London Series
54	Jared Shuster	ATL	@CIN
55	Osvaldo Bido	PIT	CHC, @MIA
56	Colin Rea	MIL	ARI
57	Brandon Williamson	CIN	COL, ATL
58	Ryne Nelson	ARI	@MIL, @SF
59	Tommy Henry	ARI	@WAS
60	Trevor Williams	WAS	STL
61	Connor Seabold	COL	LAA
62	Jakob Junis	SF	SD, ARI
63	Michael Grove	LAD	@LAA
64	Austin Gomber	COL	@CIN, LAA
65	Jake Irvin	WAS	ARI
66	Zach Davies	ARI	@SF
67	Chase Anderson	COL	LAA
68	Julio Teheran	MIL	ARI
69	Jameson Taillon	CHC	@STL	Working in the London Series
70	Tylor Megill	NYM	@HOU
71	Patrick Corbin	WAS	@SD
72	Bryan Hoeing	MIA	TOR, PIT
73	Carlos Carrasco	NYM	@PHI
74	Adam Wainwright	STL	CHC	Working in the London Series
75	Luke Weaver	CIN	ATL

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Todd Zola

@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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