Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Cole Is King

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Updated on May 19, 2018 2:26PM EST

On our Friday podcast, Derek VanRiper termed this week, "A Parade of Ones," referring to our 1-to-5 rating system for two-start pitchers and the dearth of options. It's an odd week without many choices in the middle. There mostly obvious or head-scratchers, with the choice revolving around your team position and needs. As such, keep in mind how these rankings favor more strikeouts and added win potential with two outings as my research has shown that's more important than potential damage to ratios. So, if your team situation calls for being more prudent with ERA and WHIP, adjust the rankings accordingly.

For the week, May 21-27.

UPDATED: Sunday, March 20, 11:00 PM ET

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RANK	PITCHER	TEAM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Gerrit Cole	HOU	vs. SF, at CLE	And it's not even close
2	Chris Sale	BOS	at TB, vs. ATL	36 K last three starts spanning 21 IP
3	Justin Verlander	HOU	vs. SF	Hasn't received run support lately
4	Jose Berrios	MIN	vs. DET, at SEA	Back on track after typical young pitcher hiccup or two
5	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	at TEX, vs. LAA	Homers still high, but low walks minimizing damage
6	Trevor Bauer	CLE	at CHC, vs. HOU	Nice matchups, nice pitching venues
7	Corey Kluber	CLE	vs. HOU	Strikeouts down but Kluber usually rises to occasion versus good teams
8	J.A. Happ	TOR	vs. LAA, at PHI	actual 4.15 ERA high compared to 3.78 FIP and 2.99 xFIP
9	Luis Severino	NYY	vs. LAA

For the week, May 21-27.

UPDATED: Sunday, March 20, 11:00 PM ET

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RANK	PITCHER	TEAM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Gerrit Cole	HOU	vs. SF, at CLE	And it's not even close
2	Chris Sale	BOS	at TB, vs. ATL	36 K last three starts spanning 21 IP
3	Justin Verlander	HOU	vs. SF	Hasn't received run support lately
4	Jose Berrios	MIN	vs. DET, at SEA	Back on track after typical young pitcher hiccup or two
5	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	at TEX, vs. LAA	Homers still high, but low walks minimizing damage
6	Trevor Bauer	CLE	at CHC, vs. HOU	Nice matchups, nice pitching venues
7	Corey Kluber	CLE	vs. HOU	Strikeouts down but Kluber usually rises to occasion versus good teams
8	J.A. Happ	TOR	vs. LAA, at PHI	actual 4.15 ERA high compared to 3.78 FIP and 2.99 xFIP
9	Luis Severino	NYY	vs. LAA	Strength versus strength, Angels don't whiff much
10	James Paxton	SEA	vs. MIN
11	Kevin Gausman	BAL	at CWS, at TB	Hopefully worked on checking runners since last outing
12	Trevor Cahill	OAK	vs. SEA, vs. ARI	Strikeouts should return after fanning only one in 5 IP vs. Red Sox
13	Jake Faria	TB	vs. BOS, vs. BAL	Helped a lot by Tropicana Field
14	Charlie Morton	HOU	at CLE	Indians have been hitting RHP well lately
15	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	vs. HOU
16	Daniel Mengden	OAK	vs. ARI
17	Dylan Bundy	BAL	at CWS	Good team to get well against
18	Domingo German	NYY	at TEX
19	Jakob Junis	KC	at STL	Homers an issue, everything else decent
20	David Price	BOS	at TB	Nice to see complete game
21	Blake Snell	TB	vs. BOS
22	Sean Manaea	OAK	vs. SEA
23	Lance McCullers Jr.	HOU	at CLE
24	Rick Porcello	BOS	vs. ATL	Facing already strong offense with a designated hitter
25	Francisco Liriano	DET	vs. CWS
26	Ian Kennedy	KC	at STL, at TEX	Continues to be among leaders in homers allowed
27	Cole Hamels	TEX	vs. NYY, vs. KC
28	Mike Leake	SEA	at OAK, vs. MIN
29	Chris Archer	TB	vs. BOS
30	Garrett Richards	LAA	at TOR
31	Bartolo Colon	TEX	vs. NYY, vs. KC
32	Shohei Ohtani	LAA	at NYY
33	Jake Odorizzi	MIN	at SEA
34	Michael Fulmer	DET	at MIN
35	Daniel Gossett	OAK	vs. ARI
36	Sonny Gray	NYY	vs. LAA
37	Andrew Cashner	BAL	at CWS, at TB
38	Alex Cobb	BAL	at CWS
39	Aaron Sanchez	TOR	vs. LAA
40	Dallas Keuchel	HOU	at CLE
41	Matthew Boyd	DET	at MIN	Interesting test for Boyd, on the road facing good offense
42	Marco Estrada	TOR	vs. LAA
43	Tyler Skaggs	LAA	at TOR
44	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	vs. BAL
45	Fernando Romero	MIN	at SEA
46	Lucas Giolito	CWS	vs. BAL
47	Wade LeBlanc	SEA	vs. MIN
48	CC Sabathia	NYY	at TEX
49	Felix Hernandez	SEA	at OAK
50	Lance Lynn	MIN	vs. DET
51	Jason Hammel	KC	at STL, at TEX
52	Mike Fiers	DET	vs. CWS
53	Mike Clevinger	CLE	vs. HOU
54	Danny Duffy	KC	at TEX
55	Drew Pomeranz	BOS	at TB	Walks uncharacteristically high
56	Mike Minor	TEX	vs. KC
57	Hector Santiago	CWS	vs. BAL, at DET
58	James Shields	CWS	vs. BAL, at DET
59	Jordan Zimmermann	DET	vs. CWS
60	Reynaldo Lopez	CWS	at DET
61	Andrew Heaney	LAA	at NYY
62	Yohander Mendez	TEX	vs. KC
63	Kyle Gibson	MIN	vs. DET
64	Joe Biagini	TOR	at PHI
65	Anthony Banda	TB	vs. BAL
66	Blaine Hardy	DET	at MIN
67	Eduardo Rodriguez	BOS	vs. ATL
68	Kendall Graveman	OAK	vs. SEA
69	Marco Gonzales	SEA	at OAK
70	Jaime Barria	LAA	at NYY
71	Nick Tropeano	LAA	at TOR
72	Eric Skoglund	KC	at TEX
73	Sam Gaviglio	TOR	at PHI
74	David Hess	BAL	at TB
75	Dylan Covey	CWS	vs. BAL
76	Doug Fister	TEX	vs. NYY
77	Adam Plutko	CLE	at CHC

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Rank	Pitcher	TEAM	OPP	Comments
1	Zack Greinke	ARI	at MIL, at OAK	ERA correction well underway
2	Walker Buehler	LAD	vs. COL, vs. SD	Waek offenses at home, great spot for rookie to shine
3	Max Scherzer	WAS	at MIA	After last week, obligated to say "weather permitting"
4	Luke Weaver	STL	vs. KC, at PIT
5	Jacob deGrom	NYM	vs. MIA	Rebounded from 45-pitch first inning effort with 14 K
6	Jameson Taillon	PIT	at CIN, vs. STL	Two starts help boost low K total
7	Miles Mikolas	STL	vs. KC, at PIT	Pitched into the 7th in six of nine starts, four times finishing it
8	Stephen Strasburg	WAS	at MIA
9	Nick Pivetta	PHI	vs. ATL, vs. TOR	Continues to cement spot as high-K arm though control can be spotty
10	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	vs. SF
11	Chase Anderson	MIL	vs. ARI, vs. NYM	Not pitching well but opponents not hitting well
12	Yu Darvish	CHC	vs. SF
13	Aaron Nola	PHI	vs. TOR
14	Noah Syndergaard	NYM	at MIL
15	Kenta Maeda	LAD	vs. COL
16	Alex Wood	LAD	vs. SD
17	Tanner Roark	WAS	at MIA
18	Jhoulys Chacin	MIL	vs. ARI, vs. NYM	Pitching better after rough start to campaign, facing middling offenses
19	Luiz Gohara	ATL	at PHI
20	German Marquez	COL	at LAD, vs. CIN
21	Brock Stewart	LAD	vs. COL
22	Jeremy Hellickson	WAS	vs. SD
23	Patrick Corbin	ARI	at OAK
24	Ross Stripling	LAD	vs. SD
25	Zack Godley	ARI	at MIL	Disappointing so far, plenty of time to right the ship
26	Gio Gonzalez	WAS	vs. SD
27	Kyle Freeland	COL	at LAD	High strikeouts helps balance potential ratio issues in Coors
28	Mike Foltynewicz	ATL	at PHI, at BOS
29	Michael Wacha	STL	vs. KC
30	Jon Lester	CHC	vs. CLE
31	Freddy Peralta	MIL	vs. NYM
32	Luis Castillo	CIN	vs. PIT	Getting there, just needs to keep the ball in the yard
33	Wei-Yin Chen	MIA	vs. WAS
34	Clayton Richard	SD	at LAD
35	Elieser Hernandez	MIA	at NYM, vs. WAS
36	Jason Vargas	NYM	vs. MIA, at MIL
37	Tyson Ross	SD	at WAS
38	Jeff Samardzija	SF	at HOU
39	Jake Arrieta	PHI	vs. ATL	Not missing bats, could be an issue facing Braves
40	Jerad Eickhoff	PHI	vs. TOR
41	Joe Musgrove	PIT	vs. STL
42	Chad Bettis	COL	at LAD
43	Joey Lucchesi	SD	at LAD
44	Jose Quintana	CHC	vs. SF
45	Brandon McCarthy	ATL	at PHI
46	Tyler Chatwood	CHC	vs. CLE
47	Jack Flaherty	STL	at PIT
48	Trevor Williams	PIT	vs. STL
49	Dan Straily	MIA	at NYM
50	Jose Urena	MIA	vs. WAS
51	Matt Koch	ARI	at MIL, at OAK
52	Chad Kuhl	PIT	at CIN
53	Ivan Nova	PIT	at CIN
54	Zack Wheeler	NYM	vs. MIA, at MIL
55	Brent Suter	MIL	vs. ARI
56	Steven Matz	NYM	at MIL
57	Erick Fedde	WAS	vs. SD
58	Junior Guerra	MIL	vs. NYM
59	Jon Gray	COL	vs. CIN
60	Caleb Smith	MIA	at NYM
61	Tyler Mahle	CIN	at COL
62	Matt Harvey	CIN	vs. PIT, at COL
63	Tyler Anderson	COL	vs. CIN
64	Sean Newcomb	ATL	at BOS
65	Vince Velasquez	PHI	vs. ATL
66	Jordan Lyles	SD	at LAD
67	Julio Teheran	ATL	at BOS
68	Andrew Suarez	SF	at HOU
69	Chris Stratton	SF	at CHC
70	Homer Bailey	CIN	vs. PIT
71	Eric Lauer	SD	at WAS
72	Sal Romano	CIN	at COL
73	Robbie Erlin	SD	at WAS
74	Ty Blach	SF	at CHC
75	Derek Holland	SF	at CHC

MLB

RANK	PITCHER	TEAM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Gerrit Cole	HOU	vs. SF, at CLE	And it's not even close
2	Chris Sale	BOS	at TB, vs. ATL	36 K last three starts spanning 21 IP
3	Zack Greinke	ARI	at MIL, at OAK	ERA correction well underway
4	Walker Buehler	LAD	vs. COL, vs. SD	Waek offenses at home, great spot for rookie to shine
5	Justin Verlander	HOU	vs. SF	Hasn't received run support lately
6	Jose Berrios	MIN	vs. DET, at SEA	Back on track after typical young pitcher hiccup or two
7	Max Scherzer	WAS	at MIA	After last week, obligated to say "weather permitting"
8	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	at TEX, vs. LAA	Homers still high, but low walks minimizing damage
9	Luke Weaver	STL	vs. KC, at PIT
10	Jacob deGrom	NYM	vs. MIA	Rebounded from 45-pitch first inning effort with 14 K
11	Trevor Bauer	CLE	at CHC, vs. HOU	Nice matchups, nice pitching venues
12	Jameson Taillon	PIT	at CIN, vs. STL	Two starts help boost low K total
13	Miles Mikolas	STL	vs. KC, at PIT	Pitched into the 7th in six of nine starts, four times finishing it
14	Corey Kluber	CLE	vs. HOU	Strikeouts down but Kluber usually rises to occasion versus good teams
15	J.A. Happ	TOR	vs. LAA, at PHI	actual 4.15 ERA high compared to 3.78 FIP and 2.99 xFIP
16	Stephen Strasburg	WAS	at MIA
17	Nick Pivetta	PHI	vs. ATL, vs. TOR	Continues to cement spot as high-K arm though control can be spotty
18	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	vs. SF
19	Luis Severino	NYY	vs. LAA	Strength versus strength, Angels don't whiff much
20	Chase Anderson	MIL	vs. ARI, vs. NYM	Not pitching well but opponents not hitting well
21	Yu Darvish	CHC	vs. SF
22	James Paxton	SEA	vs. MIN
23	Kevin Gausman	BAL	at CWS, at TB	Hopefully worked on checking runners since last outing
24	Aaron Nola	PHI	vs. TOR
25	Noah Syndergaard	NYM	at MIL
26	Trevor Cahill	OAK	vs. SEA, vs. ARI	Strikeouts should return after fanning only one in 5 IP vs. Red Sox
27	Jake Faria	TB	vs. BOS, vs. BAL	Helped a lot by Tropicana Field
28	Kenta Maeda	LAD	vs. COL
29	Alex Wood	LAD	vs. SD
30	Tanner Roark	WAS	at MIA
31	Jhoulys Chacin	MIL	vs. ARI, vs. NYM	Pitching better after rough start to campaign, facing middling offenses
32	Luiz Gohara	ATL	at PHI
33	Charlie Morton	HOU	at CLE	Indians have been hitting RHP well lately
34	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	vs. HOU
35	German Marquez	COL	at LAD, vs. CIN
36	Daniel Mengden	OAK	vs. ARI
37	Brock Stewart	LAD	vs. COL
38	Jeremy Hellickson	WAS	vs. SD
39	Patrick Corbin	ARI	at OAK
40	Dylan Bundy	BAL	at CWS	Good team to get well against
41	Ross Stripling	LAD	vs. SD
42	Zack Godley	ARI	at MIL	Disappointing so far, plenty of time to right the ship
43	Domingo German	NYY	at TEX
44	Jakob Junis	KC	at STL	Homers an issue, everything else decent
45	David Price	BOS	at TB	Nice to see complete game
46	Blake Snell	TB	vs. BOS
47	Gio Gonzalez	WAS	vs. SD
48	Sean Manaea	OAK	vs. SEA
49	Lance McCullers Jr.	HOU	at CLE
50	Kyle Freeland	COL	at LAD
51	Rick Porcello	BOS	vs. ATL	Facing already strong offense with a designated hitter
52	Francisco Liriano	DET	vs. CWS
53	Ian Kennedy	KC	at STL, at TEX	Continues to be among leaders in homers allowed
54	Cole Hamels	TEX	vs. NYY, vs. KC
55	Mike Foltynewicz	ATL	at PHI, at BOS
56	Michael Wacha	STL	vs. KC
57	Jon Lester	CHC	vs. CLE
58	Freddy Peralta	MIL	vs. NYM
59	Mike Leake	SEA	at OAK, vs. MIN
60	Luis Castillo	CIN	vs. PIT	Getting there, just needs to keep the ball in the yard
61	Chris Archer	TB	vs. BOS
62	Garrett Richards	LAA	at TOR
63	Wei-Yin Chen	MIA	vs. WAS
64	Clayton Richard	SD	at LAD
65	Bartolo Colon	TEX	vs. NYY, vs. KC
66	Shohei Ohtani	LAA	at NYY
67	Elieser Hernandez	MIA	at NYM, vs. WAS
68	Jason Vargas	NYM	vs. MIA, at MIL
69	Jake Odorizzi	MIN	at SEA
70	Tyson Ross	SD	at WAS
71	Michael Fulmer	DET	at MIN
72	Daniel Gossett	OAK	vs. ARI
73	Sonny Gray	NYY	vs. LAA
74	Andrew Cashner	BAL	at CWS, at TB
75	Alex Cobb	BAL	at CWS
76	Jeff Samardzija	SF	at HOU
77	Jake Arrieta	PHI	vs. ATL	Not missing bats, could be an issue facing Braves
78	Aaron Sanchez	TOR	vs. LAA
79	Dallas Keuchel	HOU	at CLE
80	Matthew Boyd	DET	at MIN	Interesting test for Boyd, on the road facing good offense
81	Jerad Eickhoff	PHI	vs. TOR
82	Marco Estrada	TOR	vs. LAA
83	Tyler Skaggs	LAA	at TOR
84	Joe Musgrove	PIT	vs. STL
85	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	vs. BAL
86	Chad Bettis	COL	at LAD
87	Fernando Romero	MIN	at SEA
88	Joey Lucchesi	SD	at LAD
89	Lucas Giolito	CWS	vs. BAL
90	Jose Quintana	CHC	vs. SF
91	Brandon McCarthy	ATL	at PHI
92	Wade LeBlanc	SEA	vs. MIN
93	CC Sabathia	NYY	at TEX
94	Tyler Chatwood	CHC	vs. CLE
95	Jack Flaherty	STL	at PIT
96	Felix Hernandez	SEA	at OAK
97	Trevor Williams	PIT	vs. STL
98	Lance Lynn	MIN	vs. DET
99	Jason Hammel	KC	at STL, at TEX
100	Mike Fiers	DET	vs. CWS
101	Mike Clevinger	CLE	vs. HOU
102	Danny Duffy	KC	at TEX
103	Dan Straily	MIA	at NYM
104	Jose Urena	MIA	vs. WAS
105	Matt Koch	ARI	at MIL, at OAK
106	Chad Kuhl	PIT	at CIN
107	Ivan Nova	PIT	at CIN
108	Zack Wheeler	NYM	vs. MIA, at MIL
109	Drew Pomeranz	BOS	at TB	Walks uncharacteristically high
110	Brent Suter	MIL	vs. ARI
111	Steven Matz	NYM	at MIL
112	Mike Minor	TEX	vs. KC
113	Hector Santiago	CWS	vs. BAL, at DET
114	James Shields	CWS	vs. BAL, at DET
115	Erick Fedde	WAS	vs. SD
116	Junior Guerra	MIL	vs. NYM
117	Jon Gray	COL	vs. CIN
118	Caleb Smith	MIA	at NYM
119	Tyler Mahle	CIN	at COL
120	Jordan Zimmermann	DET	vs. CWS
121	Reynaldo Lopez	CWS	at DET
122	Andrew Heaney	LAA	at NYY
123	Yohander Mendez	TEX	vs. KC
124	Matt Harvey	CIN	vs. PIT, at COL
125	Kyle Gibson	MIN	vs. DET
126	Tyler Anderson	COL	vs. CIN
127	Sean Newcomb	ATL	at BOS
128	Joe Biagini	TOR	at PHI
129	Anthony Banda	TB	vs. BAL
130	Blaine Hardy	DET	at MIN
131	Eduardo Rodriguez	BOS	vs. ATL
132	Kendall Graveman	OAK	vs. SEA
133	Marco Gonzales	SEA	at OAK
134	Vince Velasquez	PHI	vs. ATL
135	Jordan Lyles	SD	at LAD
136	Julio Teheran	ATL	at BOS
137	Jaime Barria	LAA	at NYY
138	Andrew Suarez	SF	at HOU
139	Chris Stratton	SF	at CHC
140	Nick Tropeano	LAA	at TOR
141	Homer Bailey	CIN	vs. PIT
142	Eric Skoglund	KC	at TEX
143	Sam Gaviglio	TOR	at PHI
144	Eric Lauer	SD	at WAS
145	David Hess	BAL	at TB
146	Sal Romano	CIN	at COL
147	Dylan Covey	CWS	vs. BAL
148	Robbie Erlin	SD	at WAS
149	Ty Blach	SF	at CHC
150	Doug Fister	TEX	vs. NYY
151	Derek Holland	SF	at CHC
152	Adam Plutko	CLE	at CHC