Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Top Pitchers This Week

Written by

Todd Zola

Published on May 17, 2025

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I was a recent guest on HQ Radio. Host extraordinaire Patrick Davitt delved into how I generate RotoWire's weekly pitching and hitting rankings. After I detailed the manner a daily starting pitcher's projection is derived, he asked why I don't post all the projections.

The answer caught him off guard. It's because I've never been asked. There's a practical reason for including them. Those playing in points leagues can transfer the data to a spreadsheet and determine the projected points for their pitchers.

Admittedly, there was a time more comments were provided. Each week, I aim to come up with more pithy remark. But time always runs short, and I need to get the rankings to the editor.

Longtime readers of the rankings know most of the presentation has been workshopped over the years. As such, I'd like to pose this question: Which do you prefer comments (hopefully more of them) or the projection driving the rankings? Please feel free to chime in below.

Speaking of which, while I'm always happy to address rankings questions, queries regarding the rotations are best directed to the Probable Pitchers page.

Please check back late Sunday night for the weekly refresh.

Week of May 19 - 25

Mixed League

RK	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comments
1	Tarik Skubal	DET	@STL, CLE	Only four wins is why roto leagues should switch to IP
2	Dylan Cease	SD	@TOR, @ATL	Walks slowly coming down
3	Framber Valdez	HOU	@TB, SEA	Mr.

Admittedly, there was a time more comments were provided. Each week, I aim to come up with more pithy remark. But time always runs short, and I need to get the rankings to the editor.

Speaking of which, while I'm always happy to address rankings questions, queries regarding the rotations are best directed to the Probable Pitchers page.

Please check back late Sunday night for the weekly refresh.

Week of May 19 - 25

Mixed League

RK	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comments	MIX12	MIX15
1	Tarik Skubal	DET	@STL, CLE	Only four wins is why roto leagues should switch to IP
2	Dylan Cease	SD	@TOR, @ATL	Walks slowly coming down
3	Framber Valdez	HOU	@TB, SEA	Mr. Steady
4	Robbie Ray	SF	KC, @WAS	Walks quickly coming down
5	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	@COL, @ATH
6	Jesus Luzardo	PHI	@COL, @ATH
7	Zack Wheeler	PHI	@ATH
8	Chris Sale	ATL	@WAS
9	Ben Brown	CHC	@MIA, @CIN	19 K, 2 BB over last 16.1 IP
10	Joe Ryan	MIN	CLE
11	Max Fried	NYY	@COL
12	Jacob deGrom	TEX	@NYY	All that's missing is the old flow
13	Carlos Rodon	NYY	TEX
14	Freddy Peralta	MIL	@PIT
15	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD	ARI
16	Matthew Boyd	CHC	@CIN
17	Ryan Pepiot	TB	HOU, TOR	Appears to have solved early season HR issues
18	Sonny Gray	STL	DET, ARI
19	Kris Bubic	KC	@SF, @MIN
20	Spencer Strider	ATL	@WAS, SD	Velo down in rehab, fingers crossed
21	Paul Skenes	PIT	MIL	Uncharacteristic 11 BB over last 17 IP
22	Ranger Suarez	PHI	@COL
23	Mitch Keller	PIT	CIN, MIL	Might be available in 12 team leagues
24	Bailey Ober	MIN	CLE, KC
25	Michael King	SD	@ATL
26	Bryan Woo	SEA	@HOU
27	Tomoyuki Sugano	BAL	@MIL, @BOS	Will need more strikeouts to maintain current ratios
28	Clarke Schmidt	NYY	TEX
29	Nick Martinez	CIN	@PIT
30	Drew Rasmussen	TB	TOR
31	Pablo Lopez	MIN	KC
32	Zac Gallen	ARI	@STL
33	Colin Rea	CHC	@CIN
34	Tobias Myers	MIL	@PIT	Great pickup even with one start	32%	47%
35	Merrill Kelly	ARI	@STL
36	JP Sears	ATH	LAA
37	Tanner Bibee	CLE	@MIN
38	Dean Kremer	BAL	@MIL, @BOS		4%
39	George Kirby	SEA	@HOU
40	AJ Smith-Shawver	ATL	@WAS
41	Reese Olson	DET	CLE
42	Landen Roupp	SF	@WAS
43	Cade Povich	BAL	@MIL		19%
44	Kodai Senga	NYM	@BOS, LAD
45	Michael Wacha	KC	@MIN
46	Will Warren	NYY	TEX, @COL
47	Colton Gordon	HOU	@TB		0%	0%
48	Hunter Greene	CIN	CHC
49	Zach Eflin	BAL	@BOS
50	Hunter Brown	HOU	@TB
51	Edward Cabrera	MIA	CHC, @LAA	Experiencing fluid buildup near fingernails	19%
52	Brady Singer	CIN	@PIT
53	Jose Soriano	LAA	@ATH, MIA
54	Bailey Falter	PIT	CIN, MIL		0%	9%
55	Jack Flaherty	DET	@STL
56	Landon Knack	LAD	ARI		8%
57	Noah Cameron	KC	@MIN		0%	0%
58	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	@LAA
59	Luis Castillo	SEA	@CWS, @HOU	Held down the fort with Gilbert, Kirby and now Miller out
60	Shane Smith	CWS	SEA
61	Shane Baz	TB	TOR
62	Logan Webb	SF	KC
63	Gavin Williams	CLE	@MIN, @DET
64	Aaron Civale	MIL	@PIT		2%	37%
65	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	@NYY
66	Nick Lodolo	CIN	@PIT, CHC
67	Ryan Yarbrough	NYY	@COL		0%	0%
68	Luis Severino	ATH	LAA
69	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	@NYM		0%	0%
70	Ronel Blanco	HOU	SEA
71	Garrett Crochet	BOS	NYM
72	Taj Bradley	TB	HOU
73	Tyler Mahle	TEX	@CWS
74	Sean Burke	CWS	TEX		5%	33%
75	Nick Pivetta	SD	@ATL
76	Zebby Matthews	MIN	KC		13%
77	Lance McCullers	HOU	SEA		5%
78	Dustin May	LAD	@NYM
79	Walker Buehler	BOS	NYM, BAL
80	Jeffrey Springs	ATH	PHI
81	Spencer Schwellenbach	ATL	SD
82	Chris Bassitt	TOR	SD, @TB
83	Grant Holmes	ATL	SD
84	Tony Gonsolin	LAD	@NYM
85	Mix 12 Reliever
86	Casey Mize	DET	CLE
87	Kevin Gausman	TOR	SD
88	Michael Lorenzen	KC	@SF		17%
89	Jose Berrios	TOR	@TB
90	Tylor Megill	NYM	@BOS
91	Jackson Jobe	DET	CLE
92	Miles Mikolas	STL	ARI		3%	39%
93	Stephen Kolek	SD	@TOR		20%
94	Chris Paddack	MIN	CLE		11%
95	Corbin Burnes	ARI	@LAD
96	Lucas Giolito	BOS	BAL
97	Clay Holmes	NYM	@BOS
98	Mix 15 Reliever
99	Jameson Taillon	CHC	@MIA
100	Jordan Hicks	SF	KC		30%
101	Cade Horton	CHC	@MIA		0%	0%
102	Jake Irvin	WAS	SF		35%
103	Zack Littell	TB	HOU		22%
104	Brandon Pfaadt	ARI	@LAD, @STL
105	MacKenzie Gore	WAS	ATL
106	Andrew Heaney	PIT	CIN
107	Yusei Kikuchi	LAA	MIA
108	Davis Martin	CWS	SEA, TEX		0%	4%
109	Gunnar Hoglund	ATH	LAA, PHI		0%	0%
110	Logan Evans	SEA	@CWS		0%	0%
111	Michael Soroka	WAS	SF		20%
112	Brayan Bello	BOS	BAL
113	Carmen Mlodzinski	PIT	MIL		0%	0%
114	Ryan Gusto	HOU	SEA
115	Quinn Priester	MIL	BAL, @PIT		2%	9%
116	Bowden Francis	TOR	SD
117	Hunter Dobbins	BOS	NYM, BAL		0%	0%
118	Taijuan Walker	PHI	@COL		1%	14%
119	Tyler Anderson	LAA	@ATH
120	Cal Quantrill	MIA	@LAA		0%	0%
121	Jack Leiter	TEX	@CWS
122	Erick Fedde	STL	DET		39%
123	Justin Verlander	SF	@WAS
124	Patrick Corbin	TEX	@NYY, @CWS		7%
125	Logan Henderson	MIL	BAL		18%
126	Jack Kochanowicz	LAA	@ATH		0%	2%
127	Griffin Canning	NYM	LAD
128	Mitchell Parker	WAS	ATL, SF		27%	37%
129	Matthew Liberatore	STL	ARI
130	Luis L. Ortiz	CLE	@DET
131	Jonathan Cannon	CWS	TEX		1%	5%
132	Randy Vasquez	SD	@TOR		2%	19%
133	Matt Sauer	LAD	ARI		0%	0%
134	Logan Allen	CLE	@MIN, @DET		4%	47%
135	Trevor Williams	WAS	ATL		0%	5%
136	David Peterson	NYM	LAD
137	Kyle Hendricks	LAA	@ATH, MIA		0%	4%
138	Bryse Wilson	CWS	SEA		0%	0%
139	Jhonathan Diaz	SEA	@CWS		0%	0%
140	Andre Pallante	STL	DET		2%
141	Luinder Avila	KC	@SF		0%	0%
142	J.T. Ginn	ATH	LAA, PHI		3%	30%
143	Chad Patrick	MIL	BAL		4%	49%
144	Chase Dollander	COL	NYY		16%
145	Kyle Gibson	BAL	@BOS		0%	0%
146	Andrew Abbott	CIN	CHC
147	Ryne Nelson	ARI	@LAD		3%	25%
148	German Marquez	COL	PHI		0%	0%
149	Max Meyer	MIA	CHC
150	Ryan Weathers	MIA	CHC			37%
151	Keider Montero	DET	@STL		0%	19%
152	Jose Urena	TOR	@TB		0%	0%
153	Emerson Hancock	SEA	@HOU		0%
154	Kyle Freeland	COL	PHI, NYY		1%	2%
155	Slade Cecconi	CLE	@DET		0%	0%
156	Carson Palmquist	COL	PHI		0%	0%
157	Antonio Senzatela	COL	PHI, NYY		0%	0%

American League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Tarik Skubal	DET	@STL, CLE	Only four wins is why roto leagues should switch to IP
2	Framber Valdez	HOU	@TB, SEA	Mr. Steady
3	Joe Ryan	MIN	CLE
4	Max Fried	NYY	@COL
5	Jacob deGrom	TEX	@NYY	All that's missing is the old flow
6	Carlos Rodon	NYY	TEX
7	Ryan Pepiot	TB	HOU, TOR	Appears to have solved early season HR issues
8	Kris Bubic	KC	@SF, @MIN
9	Bailey Ober	MIN	CLE, KC
10	Bryan Woo	SEA	@HOU
11	Tomoyuki Sugano	BAL	@MIL, @BOS	Will need more strikeouts to maintain current ratios
12	Clarke Schmidt	NYY	TEX
13	Drew Rasmussen	TB	TOR
14	Pablo Lopez	MIN	KC
15	JP Sears	ATH	LAA
16	Tanner Bibee	CLE	@MIN
17	Dean Kremer	BAL	@MIL, @BOS
18	George Kirby	SEA	@HOU
19	Reese Olson	DET	CLE
20	Cade Povich	BAL	@MIL
21	Michael Wacha	KC	@MIN
22	Will Warren	NYY	TEX, @COL
23	Colton Gordon	HOU	@TB
24	Zach Eflin	BAL	@BOS
25	Hunter Brown	HOU	@TB
26	Jose Soriano	LAA	@ATH, MIA
27	Jack Flaherty	DET	@STL
28	Noah Cameron	KC	@MIN
29	Luis Castillo	SEA	@CWS, @HOU	Held down the fort with Gilbert, Kirby and now Miller out
30	Shane Smith	CWS	SEA
31	Shane Baz	TB	TOR
32	Gavin Williams	CLE	@MIN, @DET
33	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	@NYY
34	Ryan Yarbrough	NYY	@COL
35	Luis Severino	ATH	LAA
36	Ronel Blanco	HOU	SEA
37	Garrett Crochet	BOS	NYM
38	Taj Bradley	TB	HOU
39	Tyler Mahle	TEX	@CWS
40	Sean Burke	CWS	TEX
41	Zebby Matthews	MIN	KC
42	Lance McCullers	HOU	SEA
43	Walker Buehler	BOS	NYM, BAL
44	Jeffrey Springs	ATH	PHI
45	Chris Bassitt	TOR	SD, @TB
46	Casey Mize	DET	CLE
47	Kevin Gausman	TOR	SD
48	Michael Lorenzen	KC	@SF
49	Jose Berrios	TOR	@TB
50	Jackson Jobe	DET	CLE
51	Chris Paddack	MIN	CLE
52	Lucas Giolito	BOS	BAL
53	Zack Littell	TB	HOU
54	Yusei Kikuchi	LAA	MIA
55	Davis Martin	CWS	SEA, TEX
56	Gunnar Hoglund	ATH	LAA, PHI
57	Logan Evans	SEA	@CWS
58	AL Reliever
59	Brayan Bello	BOS	BAL
60	Ryan Gusto	HOU	SEA
61	Bowden Francis	TOR	SD
62	Hunter Dobbins	BOS	NYM, BAL
63	Tyler Anderson	LAA	@ATH
64	Jack Leiter	TEX	@CWS
65	Patrick Corbin	TEX	@NYY, @CWS
66	Jack Kochanowicz	LAA	@ATH
67	Luis L. Ortiz	CLE	@DET
68	Jonathan Cannon	CWS	TEX
69	Logan Allen	CLE	@MIN, @DET
70	Kyle Hendricks	LAA	@ATH, MIA
71	Bryse Wilson	CWS	SEA
72	Jhonathan Diaz	SEA	@CWS
73	Luinder Avila	KC	@SF
74	J.T. Ginn	ATH	LAA, PHI
75	Kyle Gibson	BAL	@BOS
76	Keider Montero	DET	@STL
77	Jose Urena	TOR	@TB
78	Emerson Hancock	SEA	@HOU
79	Slade Cecconi	CLE	@DET

National League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Dylan Cease	SD	@TOR, @ATL	Walks slowly coming down
2	Robbie Ray	SF	KC, @WAS	Walks quickly coming down
3	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	@COL, @ATH
4	Jesus Luzardo	PHI	@COL, @ATH
5	Zack Wheeler	PHI	@ATH
6	Chris Sale	ATL	@WAS
7	Ben Brown	CHC	@MIA, @CIN	19 K, 2 BB over last 16.1 IP
8	Freddy Peralta	MIL	@PIT
9	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD	ARI
10	Matthew Boyd	CHC	@CIN
11	Sonny Gray	STL	DET, ARI
12	Spencer Strider	ATL	@WAS, SD	Velo down in rehab, fingers crossed
13	Paul Skenes	PIT	MIL	Uncharacteristic 11 BB over last 17 IP
14	Ranger Suarez	PHI	@COL
15	Mitch Keller	PIT	CIN, MIL	Might be available in 12 team leagues
16	Michael King	SD	@ATL
17	Nick Martinez	CIN	@PIT
18	Zac Gallen	ARI	@STL
19	Colin Rea	CHC	@CIN
20	Tobias Myers	MIL	@PIT	Great pickup even with one start
21	Merrill Kelly	ARI	@STL
22	AJ Smith-Shawver	ATL	@WAS
23	Landen Roupp	SF	@WAS
24	Kodai Senga	NYM	@BOS, LAD
25	Hunter Greene	CIN	CHC
26	Edward Cabrera	MIA	CHC, @LAA	Experiencing fluid buildup near fingernails
27	Brady Singer	CIN	@PIT
28	Bailey Falter	PIT	CIN, MIL
29	Landon Knack	LAD	ARI
30	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	@LAA
31	Logan Webb	SF	KC
32	Aaron Civale	MIL	@PIT
33	Nick Lodolo	CIN	@PIT, CHC
34	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	@NYM
35	Nick Pivetta	SD	@ATL
36	Dustin May	LAD	@NYM
37	Spencer Schwellenbach	ATL	SD
38	Grant Holmes	ATL	SD
39	Tony Gonsolin	LAD	@NYM
40	Tylor Megill	NYM	@BOS
41	Miles Mikolas	STL	ARI
42	Stephen Kolek	SD	@TOR
43	Corbin Burnes	ARI	@LAD
44	Clay Holmes	NYM	@BOS
45	Jameson Taillon	CHC	@MIA
46	Jordan Hicks	SF	KC
47	Cade Horton	CHC	@MIA
48	Jake Irvin	WAS	SF
49	Brandon Pfaadt	ARI	@LAD, @STL
50	MacKenzie Gore	WAS	ATL
51	Andrew Heaney	PIT	CIN
52	Michael Soroka	WAS	SF
53	NL Reliever
54	Carmen Mlodzinski	PIT	MIL
55	Quinn Priester	MIL	BAL, @PIT
56	Taijuan Walker	PHI	@COL
57	Cal Quantrill	MIA	@LAA
58	Erick Fedde	STL	DET
59	Justin Verlander	SF	@WAS
60	Logan Henderson	MIL	BAL
61	Griffin Canning	NYM	LAD
62	Mitchell Parker	WAS	ATL, SF
63	Matthew Liberatore	STL	ARI
64	Randy Vasquez	SD	@TOR
65	Matt Sauer	LAD	ARI
66	Trevor Williams	WAS	ATL
67	David Peterson	NYM	LAD
68	Andre Pallante	STL	DET
69	Chad Patrick	MIL	BAL
70	Chase Dollander	COL	NYY
71	Andrew Abbott	CIN	CHC
72	Ryne Nelson	ARI	@LAD
73	German Marquez	COL	PHI
74	Max Meyer	MIA	CHC
75	Ryan Weathers	MIA	CHC
76	Kyle Freeland	COL	PHI, NYY
77	Carson Palmquist	COL	PHI
78	Antonio Senzatela	COL	PHI, NYY

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