Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Flourishing Freshmen

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Updated on September 7, 2020 12:23AM EST

Despite the abbreviated season, or maybe because of it, teams aren't hesitant to promote their young arms and thrust them into battle. Several have two starts to build on their rookie-of-the year resume, including Triston McKenzie, Ian Anderson, Cristian Javier, Sixto Sanchez and Kolby Allard.

In general, it's a mediocre week for two-start options, even though seven doubleheaders augment the schedule.

As is always the case, teams clarify their plans over the weekend. As such, an update will be posted Sunday night.

For the week of Sept. 7-13

UPDATED: Monday 12:20 AM ET

MLB

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP
1	Max Scherzer	WAS	TB, ATL	Not the same Mad Max, but .365 BABIP and 3.26 xFIP say he's been unlucky too
2	Zac Gallen	ARI	@SF, SEA	Too bad no one in the industry was on Gallen this season…
3	Lance Lynn	TEX	LAA, OAK	Good pair to rebound from recent rough stretch
4	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	STL, @MIL
5	Gerrit Cole	NYY	BAL
6	Zack Wheeler	PHI	@NYM, @MIA	Quietly having an outstanding season
7	Mike Clevinger	SD	COL, SF
8	Hyun-Jin Ryu	TOR	NYY, NYM	After early hiccups, back to 2019 form
9	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	@ARI
10	Charlie Morton	TB	@WAS, BOS
11	Lucas Giolito	CWS	DET
12	Yu Darvish	CHC	CIN
13	Aaron Nola	PHI	@MIA
14	Zack Greinke	HOU	OAK
15	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	KC	Walks high but rounding into form
16

In general, it's a mediocre week for two-start options, even though seven doubleheaders augment the schedule.

As is always the case, teams clarify their plans over the weekend. As such, an update will be posted Sunday night.

For the week of Sept. 7-13

UPDATED: Monday 12:20 AM ET

MLB

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP
1	Max Scherzer	WAS	TB, ATL	Not the same Mad Max, but .365 BABIP and 3.26 xFIP say he's been unlucky too
2	Zac Gallen	ARI	@SF, SEA	Too bad no one in the industry was on Gallen this season…
3	Lance Lynn	TEX	LAA, OAK	Good pair to rebound from recent rough stretch
4	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	STL, @MIL
5	Gerrit Cole	NYY	BAL
6	Zack Wheeler	PHI	@NYM, @MIA	Quietly having an outstanding season
7	Mike Clevinger	SD	COL, SF
8	Hyun-Jin Ryu	TOR	NYY, NYM	After early hiccups, back to 2019 form
9	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	@ARI
10	Charlie Morton	TB	@WAS, BOS
11	Lucas Giolito	CWS	DET
12	Yu Darvish	CHC	CIN
13	Aaron Nola	PHI	@MIA
14	Zack Greinke	HOU	OAK
15	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	KC	Walks high but rounding into form
16	Blake Snell	TB	BOS
17	Zach Eflin	PHI	BOS, @MIA	Tidy 25% K%-BB% hurt by bloated .354 BABIP
18	Jacob deGrom	NYM	@TOR
19	Triston McKenzie	CLE	KC, @MIN	Impressive start to career, 19 K in 16 IP
20	Patrick Corbin	WAS	ATL
21	Shane Bieber	CLE	@MIN
22	Kenta Maeda	MIN	CLE
23	Jose Berrios	MIN	@STL
24	Brad Keller	KC	@CLE, PIT	Good spot to continue breakout season
25	Walker Buehler	LAD	@ARI
26	Luis Castillo	CIN	@STL	2.81 FIP and 2.97 xFIP say better days ahead
27	Ian Anderson	ATL	MIA, @WAS	Nats will be a good test for the rookie
28	Zach Plesac	CLE	KC, @MIN	Continuing to carry high strikeout rate
29	Jesus Luzardo	OAK	HOU
30	Cristian Javier	HOU	@OAK, @LAD
31	Dylan Bundy	LAA	@TEX	Good thing for fantasy teams he wasn't traded
32	Michael Pineda	MIN	DET
33	Jack Flaherty	STL	DET	Still babying innings
34	Trevor Bauer	CIN	@CHC
35	Aaron Civale	CLE	KC
36	Carlos Martinez	STL	CIN, MIN
37	Randy Dobnak	MIN	CLE
38	Dylan Cease	CWS	@PIT, DET
39	Corbin Burnes	MIL	@DET	Pitching well, but a high 12.3% BB% mitigated by lucky .253 BABIP
40	Sonny Gray	CIN	@CHC	Look for a rebound after last week's disaster
41	Chris Paddack	SD	SF
42	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	CHC
43	Sixto Sanchez	MIA	@ATL, PHI	Looks composed for a rookie
44	Dinelson Lamet	SD	COL, SF
45	Rich Hill	MIN	CLE
46	John Means	BAL	@NYM, @NYY
47	Chris Bassitt	OAK	@HOU, @TEX	In a rut, hope for the best vs. Astros
48	Mike Minor	OAK	HOU	Struggles continue
49	Tyler Glasnow	TB	BOS
50	Casey Mize	DET	@CWS
51	Marco Gonzales	SEA	TEX
52	Frankie Montas	OAK	HOU, @TEX
53	German Marquez	COL	LAA
54	Kolby Allard	TEX	@SEA, OAK
55	Andrew Heaney	LAA	@TEX	2-1 with a 2.79 ERA and .98 WHIP over last 3 with 22 K in 19.1 IP
56	Matthew Boyd	DET	MIL
57	Seth Lugo	NYM	@TOR
58	Alec Mills	CHC	CIN, @MIL
59	Kyle Freeland	COL	@SD, LAA
60	Daniel Castano	MIA	PHI
61	Vince Velasquez	PHI	BOS, @MIA
62	Jose Urquidy	HOU	@OAK
63	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	BAL
64	Dane Dunning	CWS	@PIT	Walks a little high, but 18 K in 14 IP makes up for it
65	Spencer Turnbull	DET	MIL, @CWS	Showing signs of improvement but needs to work on 23 BB in 34.2 IP
66	Jose Mujica	COL	@SD
67	Danny Duffy	KC	@CLE
68	Spencer Howard	PHI	@MIA
69	Adrian Houser	MIL	@DET
70	Jakob Junis	KC	@CLE, PIT
71	Jordan Montgomery	NYY	@TOR, BAL
72	JT Brubaker	PIT	CWS
73	Caleb Smith	ARI	SEA
74	Madison Bumgarner	ARI	LAD
75	Josh Fleming	TB	BOS
76	Joe Musgrove	PIT	CWS
77	Sean Manaea	OAK	HOU
78	Framber Valdez	HOU	@LAD
79	Max Fried	ATL	@WAS
80	Ljay Newsome	SEA	@SF
81	Chase Anderson	TOR	NYM
82	Tyler Anderson	SF	SEA
83	James Kaprielian	OAK	@TEX
84	Kyle Cody	TEX	LAA
85	Chris Mazza	BOS	@TB
86	Mike Fiers	OAK	@TEX
87	Nathan Eovaldi	BOS	@TB
88	Tarik Skubal	DET	@STL
89	Yusei Kikuchi	SEA	@ARI
90	Tommy Milone	ATL	MIA
91	Dustin May	LAD	@ARI
92	Robbie Erlin	ATL	MIA, @WAS
93	Devin Smeltzer	MIN	@STL
94	Justin Dunn	SEA	@ARI
95	Kevin Gausman	SF	ARI, @SD
96	Anthony DeSclafani	CIN	@STL
97	Julio Urias	LAD	HOU
98	Jordan Lyles	TEX	OAK
99	Julio Teheran	LAA	@TEX, @COL
100	Taijuan Walker	TOR	NYY
101	Dallas Keuchel	CWS	DET
102	J.A. Happ	NYY	@TOR, BAL
103	Luke Weaver	ARI	LAD
104	Justus Sheffield	SEA	@ARI
105	Adam Wainwright	STL	DET
106	Brady Singer	KC	@CLE
107	Anibal Sanchez	WAS	TB
108	Nick Neidert	MIA	PHI
109	Kyle Gibson	TEX	LAA
110	Tony Gonsolin	LAD	HOU
111	Martin Perez	BOS	@PHI, @TB
112	Pablo Lopez	MIA	@ATL
113	Robbie Ray	TOR	NYM
114	Asher Wojciechowski	BAL	@NYM
115	Alex Young	ARI	SEA
116	Brandon Bailey	HOU	@OAK
117	Johan Oviedo	STL	@CHC, CIN
118	Austin Voth	WAS	ATL
119	Kris Bubic	KC	PIT
120	Luis Garcia	HOU	@OAK
121	Griffin Canning	LAA	@COL
122	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	PHI
123	Tyler Mahle	CIN	@CHC, @STL
124	Zack Godley	BOS	@TB
125	Nick Margevicius	SEA	@SF
126	Josh Lindblom	MIL	CHC
127	Tyler Alexander	DET	@STL
128	Tanner Roark	TOR	NYY
129	Rick Porcello	NYM	BAL
130	Dean Kremer	BAL	@NYY
131	Logan Webb	SF	SEA, @SD
132	David Peterson	NYM	PHI, @TOR
133	Jon Lester	CHC	@MIL
134	Antonio Senzatela	COL	@SD
135	Daniel Norris	DET	@MIN, @CWS
136	Zach Davies	SD	COL
137	Dakota Hudson	STL	CIN
138	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	@WAS
139	Nick Pivetta	BOS	@PHI
140	Garrett Richards	SD	SF
141	Brett Anderson	MIL	CHC
142	Trevor Rogers	MIA	PHI
143	Keegan Akin	BAL	@NYY
144	Trevor Williams	PIT	@KC
145	Jerad Eickhoff	TEX	OAK
146	Deivi Garcia	NYY	@TOR
147	Jake Arrieta	PHI	@MIA
148	Johnny Cueto	SF	@SD
149	Josh Tomlin	ATL	@WAS
150	Chad Kuhl	PIT	@KC
151	Jose Urena	MIA	@ATL, PHI
152	Jorge Lopez	BAL	@NYY
153	Trevor Cahill	SF	@SD
154	Taylor Clarke	ARI	LAD
155	Jake Woodford	STL	MIN
156	Erick Fedde	WAS	ATL
157	Colin Rea	CHC	CIN
158	Michael Wacha	NYM	BAL
159	Steven Brault	PIT	@KC
160	Jaime Barria	LAA	@COL
161	Ryan Castellani	COL	LAA

American League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Lance Lynn	TEX	LAA, OAK	Good pair to rebound from recent rough stretch
2	Gerrit Cole	NYY	BAL
3	Hyun-Jin Ryu	TOR	NYY, NYM	After early hiccups, back to 2019 form
4	Charlie Morton	TB	@WAS, BOS
5	Lucas Giolito	CWS	DET
6	Zack Greinke	HOU	OAK
7	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	KC	Walks high but rounding into form
8	Blake Snell	TB	BOS
9	Triston McKenzie	CLE	KC, @MIN	Impressive start to career, 19 K in 16 IP
10	Shane Bieber	CLE	@MIN
11	Kenta Maeda	MIN	CLE
12	Jose Berrios	MIN	@STL
13	Brad Keller	KC	@CLE, PIT	Good spot to continue breakout season
14	Zach Plesac	CLE	KC, @MIN	Continuing to carry high strikeout rate
15	Jesus Luzardo	OAK	HOU
16	Cristian Javier	HOU	@OAK, @LAD
17	Dylan Bundy	LAA	@TEX	Good thing for fantasy teams he wasn't traded
18	Michael Pineda	MIN	DET
19	Aaron Civale	CLE	KC
20	Randy Dobnak	MIN	CLE
21	Dylan Cease	CWS	@PIT, DET
22	Rich Hill	MIN	CLE
23	John Means	BAL	@NYM, @NYY
24	Chris Bassitt	OAK	@HOU, @TEX	In a rut, hope for the best vs. Astros
25	Mike Minor	OAK	HOU	Struggles continue
26	Tyler Glasnow	TB	BOS
27	Casey Mize	DET	@CWS
28	Marco Gonzales	SEA	TEX
29	Frankie Montas	OAK	HOU, @TEX
30	Kolby Allard	TEX	@SEA, OAK
31	Andrew Heaney	LAA	@TEX	2-1 with a 2.79 ERA and .98 WHIP over last 3 with 22 K in 19.1 IP
32	Matthew Boyd	DET	MIL
33	Jose Urquidy	HOU	@OAK
34	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	BAL
35	Dane Dunning	CWS	@PIT	Walks a little high, but 18 K in 14 IP makes up for it
36	Spencer Turnbull	DET	MIL, @CWS	Showing signs of improvement but needs to work on 23 BB in 34.2 IP
37	Danny Duffy	KC	@CLE
38	Jakob Junis	KC	@CLE, PIT
39	Jordan Montgomery	NYY	@TOR, BAL
40	Josh Fleming	TB	BOS
41	Sean Manaea	OAK	HOU
42	Framber Valdez	HOU	@LAD
43	Ljay Newsome	SEA	@SF
44	Chase Anderson	TOR	NYM
45	James Kaprielian	OAK	@TEX
46	Kyle Cody	TEX	LAA
47	Chris Mazza	BOS	@TB
48	Mike Fiers	OAK	@TEX
49	Nathan Eovaldi	BOS	@TB
50	Tarik Skubal	DET	@STL
51	Yusei Kikuchi	SEA	@ARI
52	Devin Smeltzer	MIN	@STL
53	Justin Dunn	SEA	@ARI
54	Jordan Lyles	TEX	OAK
55	Julio Teheran	LAA	@TEX, @COL
56	Taijuan Walker	TOR	NYY
57	Dallas Keuchel	CWS	DET
58	J.A. Happ	NYY	@TOR, BAL
59	Justus Sheffield	SEA	@ARI
60	Brady Singer	KC	@CLE
61	Kyle Gibson	TEX	LAA
62	Martin Perez	BOS	@PHI, @TB
63	Robbie Ray	TOR	NYM
64	Asher Wojciechowski	BAL	@NYM
65	Brandon Bailey	HOU	@OAK
66	Kris Bubic	KC	PIT
67	Luis Garcia	HOU	@OAK
68	Griffin Canning	LAA	@COL
69	Zack Godley	BOS	@TB
70	Nick Margevicius	SEA	@SF
71	Tyler Alexander	DET	@STL
72	Tanner Roark	TOR	NYY
73	Dean Kremer	BAL	@NYY
74	Daniel Norris	DET	@MIN, @CWS
75	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	@WAS
76	Nick Pivetta	BOS	@PHI
77	Keegan Akin	BAL	@NYY
78	Jerad Eickhoff	TEX	OAK
79	Deivi Garcia	NYY	@TOR
80	Jorge Lopez	BAL	@NYY
81	Jaime Barria	LAA	@COL

National League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Max Scherzer	WAS	TB, ATL	Not the same Mad Max, but .365 BABIP and 3.26 xFIP say he's been unlucky too
2	Zac Gallen	ARI	@SF, SEA	Too bad no one in the industry was on Gallen this season…
3	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	STL, @MIL
4	Zack Wheeler	PHI	@NYM, @MIA	Quietly having an outstanding season
5	Mike Clevinger	SD	COL, SF
6	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	@ARI
7	Yu Darvish	CHC	CIN
8	Aaron Nola	PHI	@MIA
9	Zach Eflin	PHI	BOS, @MIA	Tidy 25% K%-BB% hurt by bloated .354 BABIP
10	Jacob deGrom	NYM	@TOR
11	Patrick Corbin	WAS	ATL
12	Walker Buehler	LAD	@ARI
13	Luis Castillo	CIN	@STL	2.81 FIP and 2.97 xFIP say better days ahead
14	Ian Anderson	ATL	MIA, @WAS	Nats will be a good test for the rookie
15	Jack Flaherty	STL	DET	Still babying innings
16	Trevor Bauer	CIN	@CHC
17	Carlos Martinez	STL	CIN, MIN
18	Corbin Burnes	MIL	@DET	Pitching well, but a high 12.3% BB% mitigated by lucky .253 BABIP
19	Sonny Gray	CIN	@CHC	Look for a rebound after last week's disaster
20	Chris Paddack	SD	SF
21	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	CHC
22	Sixto Sanchez	MIA	@ATL, PHI	Looks composed for a rookie
23	Dinelson Lamet	SD	COL, SF
24	German Marquez	COL	LAA
25	Seth Lugo	NYM	@TOR
26	Alec Mills	CHC	CIN, @MIL
27	Kyle Freeland	COL	@SD, LAA
28	Daniel Castano	MIA	PHI
29	Vince Velasquez	PHI	BOS, @MIA
30	Jose Mujica	COL	@SD
31	Spencer Howard	PHI	@MIA
32	Adrian Houser	MIL	@DET
33	JT Brubaker	PIT	CWS
34	Caleb Smith	ARI	SEA
35	Madison Bumgarner	ARI	LAD
36	Joe Musgrove	PIT	CWS
37	Max Fried	ATL	@WAS
38	Tyler Anderson	SF	SEA
39	Tommy Milone	ATL	MIA
40	Dustin May	LAD	@ARI
41	Robbie Erlin	ATL	MIA, @WAS
42	Kevin Gausman	SF	ARI, @SD
43	Anthony DeSclafani	CIN	@STL
44	Julio Urias	LAD	HOU
45	Luke Weaver	ARI	LAD
46	Adam Wainwright	STL	DET
47	Anibal Sanchez	WAS	TB
48	Nick Neidert	MIA	PHI
49	Tony Gonsolin	LAD	HOU
50	Pablo Lopez	MIA	@ATL
51	Alex Young	ARI	SEA
52	Johan Oviedo	STL	@CHC, CIN
53	Austin Voth	WAS	ATL
54	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	PHI
55	Tyler Mahle	CIN	@CHC, @STL
56	Josh Lindblom	MIL	CHC
57	Rick Porcello	NYM	BAL
58	Logan Webb	SF	SEA, @SD
59	David Peterson	NYM	PHI, @TOR
60	Jon Lester	CHC	@MIL
61	Antonio Senzatela	COL	@SD
62	Zach Davies	SD	COL
63	Dakota Hudson	STL	CIN
64	Garrett Richards	SD	SF
65	Brett Anderson	MIL	CHC
66	Trevor Rogers	MIA	PHI
67	Trevor Williams	PIT	@KC
68	Jake Arrieta	PHI	@MIA
69	Johnny Cueto	SF	@SD
70	Josh Tomlin	ATL	@WAS
71	Chad Kuhl	PIT	@KC
72	Jose Urena	MIA	@ATL, PHI
73	Trevor Cahill	SF	@SD
74	Taylor Clarke	ARI	LAD
75	Jake Woodford	STL	MIN
76	Erick Fedde	WAS	ATL
77	Colin Rea	CHC	CIN
78	Michael Wacha	NYM	BAL
79	Steven Brault	PIT	@KC
80	Ryan Castellani	COL	LAA