Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Flying Solo

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Updated on August 8, 2022 1:17AM EST

Blech. It's an industry term. Part of it is only 91 scheduled games, and that includes a pair of doubleheaders. The CBA limits the number of consecutive games a team can play, and many need an off day after things reset following the break. The point is two-start options are lacking in both quantity and quality this week. This makes choosing the best single-start options even more important.

Slates like this one are part of the reason rostership levels are now included. Lance McCullers was dropped in over half of the leagues in the NFBC Rotowire Online Championship, so it's worth checking on his availability in all 10 and 12 mixed team leagues. JP Sears should get a look in Oakland, where he's ostensibly replacing Frankie Montas. Sears won't get much run support, but he'll work in a great home park with some soft matchups against the Angels and Rangers.

By means of reminder, I cull the rotations from the Probable Pitchers page, so if you have a scheduling question, please direct it over there. I'm always ready to address rankings questions below.

UPDATED: August 8 1:15 AM ET

Week of August 8 - 14

Mixed

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comments
1	Zack Wheeler	PHI	MIA, @NYM	Missing a couple early games could help stay fresh down the stretch
2	Shane McClanahan	TB	BAL
3	Chris Bassitt	NYM	CIN, PHI	Boosted by home pair
4	Shane Bieber	CLE	@DET, @TOR

By means of reminder, I cull the rotations from the Probable Pitchers page, so if you have a scheduling question, please direct it over there. I'm always ready to address rankings questions below.

UPDATED: August 8 1:15 AM ET

Week of August 8 - 14

Mixed

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comments	MIX12	MIX15
1	Zack Wheeler	PHI	MIA, @NYM	Missing a couple early games could help stay fresh down the stretch
2	Shane McClanahan	TB	BAL
3	Chris Bassitt	NYM	CIN, PHI	Boosted by home pair
4	Shane Bieber	CLE	@DET, @TOR
5	Justin Verlander	HOU	TEX	I'm out of superlatives
6	Max Scherzer	NYM	PHI
7	Carlos Rodon	SF	PIT
8	Shohei Ohtani	LAA	@OAK	29 K over last 18 IP, but saddled with three losses
9	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	@PHI
10	Lance Lynn	CWS	@KC, DET	Coming together, 2.55 ERA and .70 WHIP with 22 K over last 17.2 IP
11	Jacob deGrom	NYM	PHI
12	Gerrit Cole	NYY	@SEA
13	Logan Webb	SF	PIT
14	Corbin Burnes	MIL	@STL
15	Joe Musgrove	SD	SF
16	Spencer Strider	ATL	@MIA
17	Luis Garcia	HOU	OAK
18	Nestor Cortes	NYY	@SEA
19	Merrill Kelly	ARI	PIT
20	Aaron Nola	PHI	@NYM
21	Framber Valdez	HOU	TEX	18 straight quality starts should be extended
22	Julio Urias	LAD	MIN
23	Freddy Peralta	MIL	TB
24	Alek Manoah	TOR	@BAL
25	Dylan Cease	CWS	@KC
26	Martin Perez	TEX	@HOU, SEA
27	Tony Gonsolin	LAD	@KC
28	Jordan Montgomery	STL	MIL
29	Luis Castillo	SEA	NYY
30	Carlos Carrasco	NYM	CIN
31	Max Fried	ATL	@MIA	Only 6 HR allowed in 132 IP
32	Cristian Javier	HOU	OAK
33	Jameson Taillon	NYY	@SEA, @BOS
34	Kevin Gausman	TOR	CLE
35	Taijuan Walker	NYM	CIN
36	Lucas Giolito	CWS	DET
37	Yu Darvish	SD	@WAS
38	Lance McCullers Jr.	HOU	OAK	Welcome back!		47%
39	Alex Wood	SF	@SD, PIT
40	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	TB
41	Michael Kopech	CWS	DET
42	Tyler Mahle	MIN	@LAA	Should really benefit from Target Field
43	Zac Gallen	ARI	PIT, @COL
44	Jose Urquidy	HOU	TEX
45	Tyler Anderson	LAD	@KC
46	Corey Kluber	TB	BAL
47	Pablo Lopez	MIA	ATL
48	Adam Wainwright	STL	MIL
49	Drew Rasmussen	TB	BAL
50	Marcus Stroman	CHC	WAS
51	Cole Irvin	OAK	LAA, @HOU
52	Triston McKenzie	CLE	@TOR
53	Logan Gilbert	SEA	NYY
54	Kyle Wright	ATL	@BOS
55	Sonny Gray	MIN	@LAD
56	Miles Mikolas	STL	@COL, MIL
57	Charlie Morton	ATL	@BOS
58	Ranger Suarez	PHI	@NYM
59	Reid Detmers	LAA	MIN	Shoving since promotion
60	Eric Lauer	MIL	@STL
61	Robbie Ray	SEA	NYY	Struggling, and not the ideal get-well matchup
62	Mike Clevinger	SD	@WAS
63	Blake Snell	SD	SF, @WAS
64	Jake Odorizzi	ATL	@MIA
65	Frankie Montas	NYY	@BOS
66	Jesus Luzardo	MIA	ATL
67	Jeffrey Springs	TB	@MIL
68	Keegan Thompson	CHC	WAS, @CIN
69	Joe Ryan	MIN	@LAD
70	Madison Bumgarner	ARI	PIT
71	Richard Bleier	MIA	ATL		0%	0%
72	Kyle Gibson	PHI	MIA
73	Ian Anderson	ATL	@MIA
74	Johnny Cueto	CWS	@KC
75	Brady Singer	KC	CWS, LAD
76	Andrew Heaney	LAD	@KC
77	James Kaprielian	OAK	LAA			4%
78	Nathan Eovaldi	BOS	NYY
79	Dylan Bundy	MIN	@LAA			11%
80	Mix 12 Reliever
81	Jaime Barria	LAA	MIN		0%	0%
82	Patrick Sandoval	LAA	@OAK
83	Dane Dunning	TEX	SEA			28%
84	Aaron Civale	CLE	@DET		38%	7%
85	Alex Cobb	SF	@SD
86	George Kirby	SEA	@TEX
87	Chris Archer	MIN	@LAA			6%
88	Mix 15 Reliever
89	Nick Lodolo	CIN	CHC
90	Sean Manaea	SD	SF
91	Jakob Junis	SF	@SD
92	Noah Syndergaard	PHI	MIA
93	Jose Suarez	LAA	@OAK		28%	1%
94	Paul Blackburn	OAK	LAA
95	Edward Cabrera	MIA	@PHI
96	Kutter Crawford	BOS	NYY
97	Zach Plesac	CLE	@DET
98	Jose Berrios	TOR	@BAL
99	Justin Steele	CHC	WAS			21%
100	Nick Pivetta	BOS	ATL
101	Aaron Ashby	MIL	@STL
102	Beau Brieske	DET	CLE		15%	0%
103	Kris Bubic	KC	CWS		19%	3%
104	Michael Wacha	BOS	NYY			40%
105	Yusei Kikuchi	TOR	@BAL, CLE			31%
106	Cal Quantrill	CLE	@TOR
107	Mitch White	TOR	CLE		43%	27%
108	Justin Dunn	CIN	@NYM, CHC		0%	0%
109	Andre Jackson	LAD	MIN		0%	0%
110	Mike Minor	CIN	@NYM		13%	0%
111	Josiah Gray	WAS	@CHC
112	Spenser Watkins	BAL	@TB			16%
113	Chris Flexen	SEA	@TEX
114	Tucker Davidson	LAA	MIN		0%	0%
115	Braxton Garrett	MIA	@PHI	26 K over prior 16.2 IP
116	Zach Thompson	PIT	@ARI, @SF		2%	1%
117	Graham Ashcraft	CIN	CHC			30%
118	Jonathan Heasley	KC	CWS		0%	1%
119	Matt Manning	DET	@CWS			8%
120	Adrian Sampson	CHC	@CIN			3%
121	Tommy Henry	ARI	PIT, @COL		0%	0%
122	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	@MIL		15%	1%
123	Adrian Martinez	OAK	@HOU		0%	0%
124	Jordan Lyles	BAL	TOR, @TB		47%	6%
125	Rich Hill	BOS	ATL		34%	4%
126	Trevor Rogers	MIA	ATL
127	Garrett Hill	DET	@CWS		0%	0%
128	Josh Winckowski	BOS	BAL		21%	2%
129	Domingo German	NYY	@BOS			50%
130	Mitch Keller	PIT	@ARI			46%
131	Zack Greinke	KC	CWS			21%
132	Tyler Alexander	DET	CLE, @CWS		2%	0%
133	Bryse Wilson	PIT	@SF		2%	0%
134	Kyle Bradish	BAL	TOR, @TB		36%	7%
135	Drew Hutchison	DET	CLE		0%	0%
136	Drew Smyly	CHC	@CIN			4%
137	Anibal Sanchez	WAS	@CHC, SD		0%	0%
138	JT Brubaker	PIT	@ARI			45%
139	Glenn Otto	TEX	@HOU			4%
140	Robert Dugger	CIN	@NYM		0%	0%
141	Cory Abbott	WAS	SD		0%	0%
142	Paolo Espino	WAS	@CHC		0%	0%
143	Marco Gonzales	SEA	@TEX
144	Cole Ragans	TEX	@HOU		0%	0%
145	Brad Keller	KC	LAD			32%
146	Tyler Beede	PIT	@ARI, @SF		0%	0%
147	Jose Quintana	STL	@COL			39%
148	Dean Kremer	BAL	TOR			30%
149	Daniel Lynch	KC	LAD		23%	3%
150	Austin Voth	BAL	@BOS		4%	1%
151	German Marquez	COL	STL			40%
152	Davis Martin	CWS	@KC		0%	0%
153	Zach Davies	ARI	@COL		17%	4%
154	Spencer Howard	TEX	SEA			2%
155	Antonio Senzatela	COL	ARI		0%	0%
156	Kyle Freeland	COL	STL		23%	5%
157	Patrick Corbin	WAS	SD		47%	7%
158	Dakota Hudson	STL	@COL			20%
159	Adam Oller	OAK	@HOU		0%	0%
160	Ryan Feltner	COL	STL, ARI		0%	0%
161	Jose Urena	COL	ARI		2%	1%

American League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Shane McClanahan	TB	BAL
2	Shane Bieber	CLE	@DET, @TOR
3	Justin Verlander	HOU	TEX	I'm out of superlatives
4	Shohei Ohtani	LAA	@OAK	29 K over last 18 IP, but saddled with three losses
5	Lance Lynn	CWS	@KC, DET	Coming together, 2.55 ERA and .70 WHIP with 22 K over last 17.2 IP
6	Gerrit Cole	NYY	@SEA
7	Luis Garcia	HOU	OAK
8	Nestor Cortes	NYY	@SEA
9	Framber Valdez	HOU	TEX	18 straight quality starts should be extended
10	Alek Manoah	TOR	@BAL
11	Dylan Cease	CWS	@KC
12	Martin Perez	TEX	@HOU, SEA
13	Luis Castillo	SEA	NYY
14	Cristian Javier	HOU	OAK
15	Jameson Taillon	NYY	@SEA, @BOS
16	Kevin Gausman	TOR	CLE
17	Lucas Giolito	CWS	DET
18	Lance McCullers Jr.	HOU	OAK	Welcome back!
19	Michael Kopech	CWS	DET
20	Tyler Mahle	MIN	@LAA	Should really benefit from Target Field
21	Jose Urquidy	HOU	TEX
22	Corey Kluber	TB	BAL
23	Drew Rasmussen	TB	BAL
24	Cole Irvin	OAK	LAA, @HOU
25	Triston McKenzie	CLE	@TOR
26	Logan Gilbert	SEA	NYY
27	Sonny Gray	MIN	@LAD
28	Reid Detmers	LAA	MIN	Shoving since promotion
29	Robbie Ray	SEA	NYY	Struggling, and not the ideal get-well matchup
30	Frankie Montas	NYY	@BOS
31	Jeffrey Springs	TB	@MIL
32	Joe Ryan	MIN	@LAD
33	Johnny Cueto	CWS	@KC
34	Brady Singer	KC	CWS, LAD
35	James Kaprielian	OAK	LAA
36	Nathan Eovaldi	BOS	NYY
37	Dylan Bundy	MIN	@LAA
38	Jaime Barria	LAA	MIN
39	Patrick Sandoval	LAA	@OAK
40	Dane Dunning	TEX	SEA
41	Aaron Civale	CLE	@DET
42	George Kirby	SEA	@TEX
43	Chris Archer	MIN	@LAA
44	Jose Suarez	LAA	@OAK
45	Paul Blackburn	OAK	LAA
46	Kutter Crawford	BOS	NYY
47	Zach Plesac	CLE	@DET
48	Jose Berrios	TOR	@BAL
49	Nick Pivetta	BOS	ATL
50	AL Reliever
51	Beau Brieske	DET	CLE
52	Kris Bubic	KC	CWS
53	Michael Wacha	BOS	NYY
54	Yusei Kikuchi	TOR	@BAL, CLE
55	Cal Quantrill	CLE	@TOR
56	Mitch White	TOR	CLE
57	Spenser Watkins	BAL	@TB
58	Chris Flexen	SEA	@TEX
59	Tucker Davidson	LAA	MIN
60	Jonathan Heasley	KC	CWS
61	Matt Manning	DET	@CWS
62	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	@MIL
63	Adrian Martinez	OAK	@HOU
64	Jordan Lyles	BAL	TOR, @TB
65	Rich Hill	BOS	ATL
66	Garrett Hill	DET	@CWS
67	Josh Winckowski	BOS	BAL
68	Domingo German	NYY	@BOS
69	Zack Greinke	KC	CWS
70	Tyler Alexander	DET	CLE, @CWS
71	Kyle Bradish	BAL	TOR, @TB
72	Drew Hutchison	DET	CLE
73	Glenn Otto	TEX	@HOU
74	Marco Gonzales	SEA	@TEX
75	Cole Ragans	TEX	@HOU
76	Brad Keller	KC	LAD
77	Dean Kremer	BAL	TOR
78	Daniel Lynch	KC	LAD
79	Austin Voth	BAL	@BOS
80	Davis Martin	CWS	@KC
81	Spencer Howard	TEX	SEA
82	Adam Oller	OAK	@HOU

National League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Zack Wheeler	PHI	MIA, @NYM	Missing a couple early games could help stay fresh down the stretch
2	Chris Bassitt	NYM	CIN, PHI	Boosted by home pair
3	Max Scherzer	NYM	PHI
4	Carlos Rodon	SF	PIT
5	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	@PHI
6	Jacob deGrom	NYM	PHI
7	Logan Webb	SF	PIT
8	Corbin Burnes	MIL	@STL
9	Joe Musgrove	SD	SF
10	Spencer Strider	ATL	@MIA
11	Merrill Kelly	ARI	PIT
12	Aaron Nola	PHI	@NYM
13	Julio Urias	LAD	MIN
14	Freddy Peralta	MIL	TB
15	Tony Gonsolin	LAD	@KC
16	Jordan Montgomery	STL	MIL
17	Carlos Carrasco	NYM	CIN
18	Max Fried	ATL	@MIA	Only 6 HR allowed in 132 IP
19	Taijuan Walker	NYM	CIN
20	Yu Darvish	SD	@WAS
21	Alex Wood	SF	@SD, PIT
22	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	TB
23	Zac Gallen	ARI	PIT, @COL
24	Tyler Anderson	LAD	@KC
25	Pablo Lopez	MIA	ATL
26	Adam Wainwright	STL	MIL
27	Marcus Stroman	CHC	WAS
28	Kyle Wright	ATL	@BOS
29	Miles Mikolas	STL	@COL, MIL
30	Charlie Morton	ATL	@BOS
31	Ranger Suarez	PHI	@NYM
32	Eric Lauer	MIL	@STL
33	Mike Clevinger	SD	@WAS
34	Blake Snell	SD	SF, @WAS
35	Jake Odorizzi	ATL	@MIA
36	Jesus Luzardo	MIA	ATL
37	Keegan Thompson	CHC	WAS, @CIN
38	Madison Bumgarner	ARI	PIT
39	Richard Bleier	MIA	ATL
40	Kyle Gibson	PHI	MIA
41	Ian Anderson	ATL	@MIA
42	Andrew Heaney	LAD	@KC
43	Alex Cobb	SF	@SD
44	Nick Lodolo	CIN	CHC
45	Sean Manaea	SD	SF
46	Jakob Junis	SF	@SD
47	Noah Syndergaard	PHI	MIA
48	Edward Cabrera	MIA	@PHI
49	Justin Steele	CHC	WAS
50	Aaron Ashby	MIL	@STL
51	NL Reliever
52	Justin Dunn	CIN	@NYM, CHC
53	Andre Jackson	LAD	MIN
54	Mike Minor	CIN	@NYM
55	Josiah Gray	WAS	@CHC
56	Braxton Garrett	MIA	@PHI	26 K over prior 16.2 IP
57	Zach Thompson	PIT	@ARI, @SF
58	Graham Ashcraft	CIN	CHC
59	Adrian Sampson	CHC	@CIN
60	Tommy Henry	ARI	PIT, @COL
61	Trevor Rogers	MIA	ATL
62	Mitch Keller	PIT	@ARI
63	Bryse Wilson	PIT	@SF
64	Drew Smyly	CHC	@CIN
65	Anibal Sanchez	WAS	@CHC, SD
66	JT Brubaker	PIT	@ARI
67	Robert Dugger	CIN	@NYM
68	Cory Abbott	WAS	SD
69	Paolo Espino	WAS	@CHC
70	Tyler Beede	PIT	@ARI, @SF
71	Jose Quintana	STL	@COL
72	German Marquez	COL	STL
73	Zach Davies	ARI	@COL
74	Antonio Senzatela	COL	ARI
75	Kyle Freeland	COL	STL
76	Patrick Corbin	WAS	SD
77	Dakota Hudson	STL	@COL
78	Ryan Feltner	COL	STL, ARI
79	Jose Urena	COL	ARI