Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Running Out of Time

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Updated on September 11, 2023 12:18AM EST

Yes, we're all running out of time this season from a fantasy sense. Unfortunately, time is regrettably getting short for Adam Wainwright's quest for 200 wins. He sits at 198 wins, and also sits near the bottom of the rankings where he's resided most of the season.

It wasn't always that way. There was a time Wainwright was a fantasy monster. Then he fell off a cliff before reviving his career.

By all accounts, Wainwright is an even better pro off the field. His charity efforts are well-known, including some connected to fantasy football.

Wainwright is also a fantasy baseball fan, but I have a bone to pick with him. Several years ago, I was alongside the late Lawr Michaels, representing Mastersball for a FSTA draft. We were about to be interviewed by fledgling media mogul Kay Adams on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports radio. Kay was talking to the producer through her headset when we heard her say, "Who? No way!" Kay turned to us and said, "Sorry guys, we're bumped. Adam Wainwright called to complain about where he was picked." The broadcast was almost over, so they eschewed the defending champs to speak with the Cardinals ace.

While I've jokingly repeated the story over the years, the top of this week's rankings is no laughing matter. There is a plethora of solid two-start hurlers, buoyed by a busy 99-game schedule.

As always, I cull the matchups from the Probable Pitchers page so please send specific rotation questions to those

It wasn't always that way. There was a time Wainwright was a fantasy monster. Then he fell off a cliff before reviving his career.

By all accounts, Wainwright is an even better pro off the field. His charity efforts are well-known, including some connected to fantasy football.

While I've jokingly repeated the story over the years, the top of this week's rankings is no laughing matter. There is a plethora of solid two-start hurlers, buoyed by a busy 99-game schedule.

As always, I cull the matchups from the Probable Pitchers page so please send specific rotation questions to those fine folks. I'm happy to address rankings questions below.

UPDATED: Monday September 11, 12:20 AM ET

Mixed

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comments	MIX12	MIX15
1	Framber Valdez	HOU	OAK, @KC	Do the matchups get any easier?
2	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	MIA, WAS	2.78 ERA and .76 WHIP with 43 K in 35.2 IP since returning
3	Tyler Glasnow	TB	@MIN, @BAL	Rays should put him in bubble wrap until the playoffs
4	Freddy Peralta	MIL	MIA, WAS	Brewers have a Big-3
5	Logan Gilbert	SEA	LAA, LAD
6	Sonny Gray	MIN	TB, @CWS
7	Gerrit Cole	NYY	@PIT
8	Corbin Burnes	MIL	WAS
9	Luis Castillo	SEA	LAA
10	Justin Verlander	HOU	OAK
11	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	@SEA
12	Justin Steele	CHC	@ARI
13	Jesus Luzardo	MIA	@MIL, ATL
14	Zac Gallen	ARI	@NYM
15	Tarik Skubal	DET	@LAA
16	Spencer Strider	ATL	@PHI	2.47 xFIP, but 3.83 has him out of Cy Young discussion for some. Sigh.
17	Kyle Bradish	BAL	TB
18	Seth Lugo	SD	@OAK
19	Chris Bassitt	TOR	TEX, BOS
20	Zack Wheeler	PHI	ATL
21	Joe Ryan	MIN	TB, @CWS	Not going deep, but effective again.
22	Aaron Nola	PHI	@STL	Counting the days until I draft the dip next season
23	Charlie Morton	ATL	@PHI, @MIA	Avoiding Father Time once again
24	Bobby Miller	LAD	@SEA
25	Max Fried	ATL	@PHI
26	Merrill Kelly	ARI	@NYM
27	Jose Quintana	NYM	ARI, CIN
28	Max Scherzer	TEX	@TOR
29	Andrew Abbott	CIN	@DET
30	Kevin Gausman	TOR	TEX
31	Eduardo Rodriguez	DET	CIN
32	Griffin Canning	LAA	DET	0-2 over last 3 GS, but 2.95 ERA and 1.09 WHIP with 19 K in 18.1 IP deserves better
33	Blake Snell	SD	@LAD
34	Kodai Senga	NYM	ARI	27 K over previous 19.2 IP
35	Reese Olson	DET	CIN	Making a case for 2024 rotation	48%
36	Braxton Garrett	MIA	@MIL	Nice breakthrough on a staff with more highly acclaimed arms
37	Gavin Williams	CLE	@SF, TEX	Hitting rookie wall? 5.23 ERA and 1.55 WHIP over last 10.1 IP with 9 K and 7 BB
38	Cristian Javier	HOU	@KC
39	Brandon Williamson	CIN	@DET
40	Bryce Elder	ATL	@MIA
41	Nick Pivetta	BOS	NYY, @TOR
42	Wade Miley	MIL	MIA
43	Zach Eflin	TB	@BAL
44	Mitch Keller	PIT	WAS
45	Pablo Lopez	MIN	@CWS
46	George Kirby	SEA	LAD
47	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	@TOR
48	Jon Gray	TEX	@CLE
49	Mike Clevinger	CWS	KC
50	Kutter Crawford	BOS	NYY, @TOR
51	Bryce Miller	SEA	LAD
52	Reid Detmers	LAA	@SEA
53	Chris Sale	BOS	NYY	Stuff is there, stamina isn't
54	Logan Allen	CLE	@SF
55	Bryan Woo	SEA	LAA
56	Patrick Sandoval	LAA	@SEA
57	Hyun Jin Ryu	TOR	TEX, BOS
58	Brayan Bello	BOS	@TOR
59	Tanner Bibee	CLE	TEX
60	Cole Ragans	KC	HOU	Just keep in mind he's had 2 TJS
61	Dean Kremer	BAL	STL, TB
62	Lance Lynn	LAD	SD, @SEA	On no, he just gave up another homer
63	Dylan Cease	CWS	KC, MIN
64	Eury Perez	MIA	@MIL
65	Cal Quantrill	CLE	@SF		8%	42%
66	Joey Lucchesi	NYM	ARI		1%	4%
67	Chase Silseth	LAA	@SEA		50%
68	Logan Webb	SF	@COL	Safe play is benching for Coors start
69	Hunter Brown	HOU	OAK
70	Aaron Civale	TB	@BAL
71	Kenta Maeda	MIN	@CWS
72	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	@ARI
73	Hunter Greene	CIN	@NYM
74	Mix 12 Reliever
75	Grayson Rodriguez	BAL	TB
76	Michael King	NYY	@BOS		33%
77	Kyle Wright	ATL	@MIA, @PHI		25%
78	Ranger Suarez	PHI	@STL
79	Taijuan Walker	PHI	ATL, @STL
80	Jose Berrios	TOR	BOS
81	Kyle Harrison	SF	CLE
82	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	ATL
83	Zack Littell	TB	@MIN, @BAL
84	Mix 15 Reliever
85	Yusei Kikuchi	TOR	TEX
86	Tyler Anderson	LAA	DET		7%
87	Jordan Montgomery	TEX	@TOR
88	Alex Faedo	DET	CIN, @LAA		6%	49%
89	Ben Lively	CIN	@DET, @NYM	Marginal arm, but sweet matchups	9%	49%
90	John Means	BAL	STL		0%	0%
91	Tanner Houck	BOS	NYY		27%
92	Johan Oviedo	PIT	NYY
93	Jordan Wicks	CHC	@COL, @ARI
94	Touki Toussaint	CWS	KC, MIN		6%	47%
95	Bailey Falter	PIT	WAS		1%	40%
96	Colin Rea	MIL	MIA		2%	15%
97	Andrew Heaney	TEX	@CLE
98	Clarke Schmidt	NYY	@BOS, @PIT
99	Carlos Rodon	NYY	@BOS, @PIT
100	J.P. France	HOU	@KC
101	NL Reliever
102	AL Reliever
103	Alex Cobb	SF	CLE, @COL
104	Ryan Pepiot	LAD	SD		37%
105	Sean Manaea	SF	CLE		4%	43%
106	Taj Bradley	TB	@MIN
107	Kyle Gibson	BAL	STL
108	Ryne Nelson	ARI	@NYM, CHC		6%	42%
109	Dane Dunning	TEX	@TOR, @CLE
110	Lucas Giolito	CLE	TEX
111	David Peterson	NYM	CIN		7%
112	Edward Cabrera	MIA	@MIL, ATL
113	Michael Lorenzen	PHI	ATL
114	Jordan Lyles	KC	@CWS		0%	4%
115	Jake Irvin	WAS	@MIL		7%
116	Brady Singer	KC	@CWS, HOU
117	Matt Waldron	SD	@OAK		0%	0%
118	Michael Wacha	SD	@LAD
119	Thad Ward	WAS	@PIT		0%	0%
120	Gavin Stone	LAD	SD		7%	11%
121	Miles Mikolas	STL	PHI
122	Brandon Pfaadt	ARI	CHC
123	Dakota Hudson	STL	@BAL, PHI		7%
124	Jack Flaherty	BAL	TB
125	Kenny Rosenberg	LAA	DET		1%	4%
126	Javier Assad	CHC	@COL
127	Jose Butto	NYM	ARI		0%	0%
128	Pedro Avila	SD	@LAD, @OAK		2%	26%
129	Dallas Keuchel	MIN	TB		0%	4%
130	Quinn Priester	PIT	WAS		0%	0%
131	Josiah Gray	WAS	@PIT
132	Joan Adon	WAS	@PIT		0%	11%
133	Peter Lambert	COL	SF		2%	9%
134	Alec Marsh	KC	@CWS		2%	26%
135	Andre Jackson	PIT	WAS, NYY		4%
136	Joey Wentz	DET	@LAA		0%	0%
137	Johnny Cueto	MIA	ATL		3%	38%
138	Tylor Megill	NYM	CIN		17%
139	Jhony Brito	NYY	@BOS		2%	2%
140	Jameson Taillon	CHC	@COL
141	Alex Wood	SF	@COL		11%	45%
142	Luis Ortiz	PIT	NYY		0%	0%
143	Zach Davies	ARI	@NYM, CHC		1%	30%
144	Luis Medina	OAK	SD		4%	26%
145	Zack Greinke	KC	HOU		2%	9%
146	Carson Spiers	CIN	@NYM		0%	0%
147	Kyle Freeland	COL	CHC, SF		6%	23%
148	Zack Thompson	STL	PHI		15%
149	JP Sears	OAK	@HOU
150	Keaton Winn	SF	@COL		1%	2%
151	Jesse Scholtens	CWS	MIN		16%
152	Patrick Corbin	WAS	@PIT, @MIL		2%	28%
153	Chase Anderson	COL	SF		0%	0%
154	Ken Waldichuk	OAK	@HOU, SD		2%	26%
155	Chris Flexen	COL	CHC, SF		0%	4%
156	Drew Rom	STL	@BAL		0%	0%
157	Trevor Williams	WAS	@MIL		0%	11%
158	Jose Urena	CWS	MIN		0%	0%
159	Ty Blach	COL	CHC		0%	0%
160	Paul Blackburn	OAK	@HOU		36%
161	Adam Wainwright	STL	@BAL		5%	0%
162	Kyle Muller	OAK	SD		0%	0%

American League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Framber Valdez	HOU	OAK, @KC	Do the matchups get any easier?
2	Tyler Glasnow	TB	@MIN, @BAL	Rays should put him in bubble wrap until the playoffs
3	Logan Gilbert	SEA	LAA, LAD
4	Sonny Gray	MIN	TB, @CWS
5	Gerrit Cole	NYY	@PIT
6	Luis Castillo	SEA	LAA
7	Justin Verlander	HOU	OAK
8	Tarik Skubal	DET	@LAA
9	Kyle Bradish	BAL	TB
10	Chris Bassitt	TOR	TEX, BOS
11	Joe Ryan	MIN	TB, @CWS	Not going deep, but effective again.
12	Max Scherzer	TEX	@TOR
13	Kevin Gausman	TOR	TEX
14	Eduardo Rodriguez	DET	CIN
15	Griffin Canning	LAA	DET	0-2 over last 3 GS, but 2.95 ERA and 1.09 WHIP with 19 K in 18.1 IP deserves better
16	Reese Olson	DET	CIN	Making a case for 2024 rotation
17	Gavin Williams	CLE	@SF, TEX	Hitting rookie wall? 5.23 ERA and 1.55 WHIP over last 10.1 IP with 9 K and 7 BB
18	Cristian Javier	HOU	@KC
19	Nick Pivetta	BOS	NYY, @TOR
20	Zach Eflin	TB	@BAL
21	Pablo Lopez	MIN	@CWS
22	George Kirby	SEA	LAD
23	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	@TOR
24	Jon Gray	TEX	@CLE
25	Mike Clevinger	CWS	KC
26	Kutter Crawford	BOS	NYY, @TOR
27	Bryce Miller	SEA	LAD
28	Reid Detmers	LAA	@SEA
29	Chris Sale	BOS	NYY	Stuff is there, stamina isn't
30	Logan Allen	CLE	@SF
31	Bryan Woo	SEA	LAA
32	Patrick Sandoval	LAA	@SEA
33	Hyun Jin Ryu	TOR	TEX, BOS
34	Brayan Bello	BOS	@TOR
35	Tanner Bibee	CLE	TEX
36	Cole Ragans	KC	HOU	Just keep in mind he's had 2 TJS
37	Dean Kremer	BAL	STL, TB
38	Dylan Cease	CWS	KC, MIN
39	Cal Quantrill	CLE	@SF
40	Chase Silseth	LAA	@SEA
41	Hunter Brown	HOU	OAK
42	Aaron Civale	TB	@BAL
43	Kenta Maeda	MIN	@CWS
44	Grayson Rodriguez	BAL	TB
45	Michael King	NYY	@BOS
46	Jose Berrios	TOR	BOS
47	Zack Littell	TB	@MIN, @BAL
48	Yusei Kikuchi	TOR	TEX
49	Tyler Anderson	LAA	DET
50	Jordan Montgomery	TEX	@TOR
51	Alex Faedo	DET	CIN, @LAA
52	John Means	BAL	STL
53	Tanner Houck	BOS	NYY
54	Touki Toussaint	CWS	KC, MIN
55	Andrew Heaney	TEX	@CLE
56	Clarke Schmidt	NYY	@BOS, @PIT
57	Carlos Rodon	NYY	@BOS, @PIT
58	J.P. France	HOU	@KC
59	AL Reliever
60	Taj Bradley	TB	@MIN
61	Kyle Gibson	BAL	STL
62	Dane Dunning	TEX	@TOR, @CLE
63	Lucas Giolito	CLE	TEX
64	Jordan Lyles	KC	@CWS
65	Brady Singer	KC	@CWS, HOU
66	Jack Flaherty	BAL	TB
67	Kenny Rosenberg	LAA	DET
68	Dallas Keuchel	MIN	TB
69	Alec Marsh	KC	@CWS
70	Joey Wentz	DET	@LAA
71	Jhony Brito	NYY	@BOS
72	Luis Medina	OAK	SD
73	Zack Greinke	KC	HOU
74	JP Sears	OAK	@HOU
75	Jesse Scholtens	CWS	MIN
76	Ken Waldichuk	OAK	@HOU, SD
77	Jose Urena	CWS	MIN
78	Paul Blackburn	OAK	@HOU
79	Kyle Muller	OAK	SD

National League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	MIA, WAS	2.78 ERA and .76 WHIP with 43 K in 35.2 IP since returning
2	Freddy Peralta	MIL	MIA, WAS	Brewers have a Big-3
3	Corbin Burnes	MIL	WAS
4	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	@SEA
5	Justin Steele	CHC	@ARI
6	Jesus Luzardo	MIA	@MIL, ATL
7	Zac Gallen	ARI	@NYM
8	Spencer Strider	ATL	@PHI	2.47 xFIP, but 3.83 has him out of Cy Young discussion for some. Sigh.
9	Seth Lugo	SD	@OAK
10	Zack Wheeler	PHI	ATL
11	Aaron Nola	PHI	@STL	Counting the days until I draft the dip next season
12	Charlie Morton	ATL	@PHI, @MIA	Avoiding Father Time once again
13	Bobby Miller	LAD	@SEA
14	Max Fried	ATL	@PHI
15	Merrill Kelly	ARI	@NYM
16	Jose Quintana	NYM	ARI, CIN
17	Andrew Abbott	CIN	@DET
18	Blake Snell	SD	@LAD
19	Kodai Senga	NYM	ARI	27 K over previous 19.2 IP
20	Braxton Garrett	MIA	@MIL	Nice breakthrough on a staff with more highly acclaimed arms
21	Brandon Williamson	CIN	@DET
22	Bryce Elder	ATL	@MIA
23	Wade Miley	MIL	MIA
24	Mitch Keller	PIT	WAS
25	Lance Lynn	LAD	SD, @SEA	On no, he just gave up another homer
26	Eury Perez	MIA	@MIL
27	Joey Lucchesi	NYM	ARI
28	Logan Webb	SF	@COL	Safe play is benching for Coors start
29	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	@ARI
30	Hunter Greene	CIN	@NYM
31	Kyle Wright	ATL	@MIA, @PHI
32	Ranger Suarez	PHI	@STL
33	Taijuan Walker	PHI	ATL, @STL
34	Kyle Harrison	SF	CLE
35	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	ATL
36	Ben Lively	CIN	@DET, @NYM	Marginal arm, but sweet matchups
37	Johan Oviedo	PIT	NYY
38	Jordan Wicks	CHC	@COL, @ARI
39	Bailey Falter	PIT	WAS
40	Colin Rea	MIL	MIA
41	NL Reliever
42	Alex Cobb	SF	CLE, @COL
43	Ryan Pepiot	LAD	SD
44	Sean Manaea	SF	CLE
45	Ryne Nelson	ARI	@NYM, CHC
46	David Peterson	NYM	CIN
47	Edward Cabrera	MIA	@MIL, ATL
48	Michael Lorenzen	PHI	ATL
49	Jake Irvin	WAS	@MIL
50	Matt Waldron	SD	@OAK
51	Michael Wacha	SD	@LAD
52	Thad Ward	WAS	@PIT
53	Gavin Stone	LAD	SD
54	Miles Mikolas	STL	PHI
55	Brandon Pfaadt	ARI	CHC
56	Dakota Hudson	STL	@BAL, PHI
57	Javier Assad	CHC	@COL
58	Jose Butto	NYM	ARI
59	Pedro Avila	SD	@LAD, @OAK
60	Quinn Priester	PIT	WAS
61	Josiah Gray	WAS	@PIT
62	Joan Adon	WAS	@PIT
63	Peter Lambert	COL	SF
64	Andre Jackson	PIT	WAS, NYY
65	Johnny Cueto	MIA	ATL
66	Tylor Megill	NYM	CIN
67	Jameson Taillon	CHC	@COL
68	Alex Wood	SF	@COL
69	Luis Ortiz	PIT	NYY
70	Zach Davies	ARI	@NYM, CHC
71	Carson Spiers	CIN	@NYM
72	Kyle Freeland	COL	CHC, SF
73	Zack Thompson	STL	PHI
74	Keaton Winn	SF	@COL
75	Patrick Corbin	WAS	@PIT, @MIL
76	Chase Anderson	COL	SF
77	Chris Flexen	COL	CHC, SF
78	Drew Rom	STL	@BAL
79	Trevor Williams	WAS	@MIL
80	Ty Blach	COL	CHC
81	Adam Wainwright	STL	@BAL