Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Kershaw Back on Top

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Updated on July 14, 2019 10:25PM EST

Huh.

I learned something this week. The last time I ran a survey, the number of leagues keeping the abbreviated All-Star week separate surpassed those combining the weekend series with another week. A reran the question and the number of leagues with an extended transaction period blows away those with two transactions periods by a 4-to-1 margin.

I'm guessing the reason is the cross-section of my Twitter followers have changed since the last time I asked the question. ESPN and Yahoo combine the week, so it's likely I've picked up more followers from there over the years. Initially, most of my followers were in the high stakes arena where the weeks are distinct.

Due to the revelation, rankings for the combined period were provided and will be in future seasons. That said, there's still a significant number of site users with separate weeks so here are the rankings for the upcoming period. As always, they'll be refreshed Sunday night after pitching plans are crystallized.

UPDATED: Sunday July 14, 10:25 PM ET

For the week July 15-21

MLB

Rank	PITCHER	TM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	at PHI, vs. MIA	Back on his familiar perch
2	Walker Buehler	LAD	at PHI, vs. MIA
3	Lucas Giolito	CWS	at KC, at TB	Good pair to break out of rut entering the break
4	Blake Snell	TB	at NYY, vs. CWS
5	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	vs. CIN, vs. SD	Should be full strength after shoulder injury before the break
6

Huh.

UPDATED: Sunday July 14, 10:25 PM ET

For the week July 15-21

MLB

Rank	PITCHER	TM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	at PHI, vs. MIA	Back on his familiar perch
2	Walker Buehler	LAD	at PHI, vs. MIA
3	Lucas Giolito	CWS	at KC, at TB	Good pair to break out of rut entering the break
4	Blake Snell	TB	at NYY, vs. CWS
5	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	vs. CIN, vs. SD	Should be full strength after shoulder injury before the break
6	Luis Castillo	CIN	at CHC, vs. STL	Entered break on a roll, primed for a solid 2H
7	Jack Flaherty	STL	vs. PIT, at CIN	Dominating lesser teams, struggling versus better offenses
8	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	vs. ATL, at ARI	Not a fluke
9	James Paxton	NYY	vs. TB, vs. COL
10	Lance Lynn	TEX	vs. ARI, at HOU	Continues to limit homers
11	Zack Wheeler	NYM	at MIN, at SF	Is another second half surge in store?
12	Justin Verlander	HOU	vs. TEX
13	Max Scherzer	WAS	at ATL	Tentative, back issue said to be muscular, a good sign
14	Chris Sale	BOS	vs. TOR
15	Hyun-Jin Ryu	LAD	vs. MIA	Every start feels like a bonus
16	Rick Porcello	BOS	vs. TOR, at BAL	Tough to trust, but matchups say just do it
17	Joe Musgrove	PIT	at STL, vs. PHI	Back on track
18	Trevor Bauer	CLE	vs. DET
19	Stephen Strasburg	WAS	at BAL
20	Shane Bieber	CLE	vs. KC
21	Jacob deGrom	NYM	at SF
22	Gerrit Cole	HOU	at LAA
23	CC Sabathia	NYY	vs. TB, vs. COL
24	Andrew Heaney	LAA	vs. HOU, at SEA	Admitted leap of faith, but expecting solid 2H
25	Miles Mikolas	STL	vs. PIT, at CIN
26	Zack Greinke	ARI	vs. MIL
27	Michael Pineda	MIN	vs. NYM, vs. OAK
28	Chris Paddack	SD	at MIA
29	Collin McHugh	HOU	at LAA, vs. TEX
30	German Marquez	COL	vs. SF, at NYY	Strikeout rate down, but 3rd most IP keeping raw total high
31	Mike Soroka	ATL	vs. WAS	Expect some measure of workload monitoring
32	David Price	BOS	at BAL
33	Mike Clevinger	CLE	vs. DET
34	Noah Syndergaard	NYM	at SF
35	Jose Berrios	MIN	vs. OAK
36	Caleb Smith	MIA	vs. SD
37	Aaron Nola	PHI	vs. LAD	Not a rebound candidate - he's already done it
38	Charlie Morton	TB	at NYY
39	Max Fried	ATL	at MIL, vs. WAS
40	Anthony DeSclafani	CIN	at CHC, vs. STL	Strikeouts boost ranking
41	Zach Plesac	CLE	vs. DET, vs. KC	A pair of soft lineups
42	Domingo German	NYY	vs. TB
43	Madison Bumgarner	SF	vs. NYM
44	Patrick Corbin	WAS	at ATL
45	Kenta Maeda	LAD	at PHI
46	Jake Odorizzi	MIN	vs. OAK
47	Griffin Canning	LAA	vs. HOU, at SEA
48	Zach Eflin	PHI	vs. LAD, at PIT
49	Trevor Richards	MIA	vs. SD
50	Jose Quintana	CHC	vs. SD	Expecting better things after the break
51	Jon Lester	CHC	vs. SD
52	Joey Lucchesi	SD	at CHC
53	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	vs. COL
54	Eduardo Rodriguez	BOS	vs. TOR
55	Eric Lauer	SD	at MIA	Take out 2 disasters @COL and you get a 2.94 ERA and 1.13 ERA
56	Adam Plutko	CLE	vs. DET, vs. KC
57	Matthew Boyd	DET	at CLE
58	Wade Miley	HOU	at LAA
59	Yu Darvish	CHC	vs. CIN
60	Logan Allen	SD	at MIA
61	Daniel Ponce de Leon	STL	vs. PIT
62	J.A. Happ	NYY	vs. TB
63	Jalen Beeks	TB	at NYY, vs. CWS
64	Jakob Junis	KC	vs. CWS, at CLE
65	Jordan Yamamoto	MIA	vs. SD, at LAD
66	Framber Valdez	HOU	at LAA, vs. TEX
67	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	vs. CWS
68	Julio Teheran	ATL	vs. WAS
69	Trevor Williams	PIT	vs. PHI
70	Dallas Keuchel	ATL	at MIL
71	Felix Pena	LAA	vs. HOU
72	Chase Anderson	MIL	vs. ATL
73	Mike Minor	TEX	at HOU
74	Tanner Roark	CIN	vs. STL
75	Ross Stripling	LAD	at PHI
76	Marcus Stroman	TOR	at DET
77	Yusei Kikuchi	SEA	vs. LAA
78	Wade LeBlanc	SEA	vs. LAA
79	Nick Pivetta	PHI	vs. LAD
80	Chris Archer	PIT	at STL
81	Trent Thornton	TOR	at BOS, at DET
82	Brad Keller	KC	vs. CWS
83	Tyler Mahle	CIN	vs. STL
84	Jordan Lyles	PIT	vs. PHI
85	Kyle Gibson	MIN	vs. OAK
86	Mike Leake	SEA	vs. LAA
87	Dylan Cease	CWS	at KC, at TB
88	Andrew Cashner	BOS	vs. TOR, at BAL
89	Sonny Gray	CIN	at CHC
90	Danny Duffy	KC	vs. CWS
91	Bryse Wilson	ATL	at MIL, vs. WAS
92	Jeff Samardzija	SF	at COL, vs. NYM
93	Daniel Mengden	OAK	vs. SEA, at MIN
94	Merrill Kelly	ARI	vs. MIL
95	Marco Gonzales	SEA	at OAK
96	John Means	BAL	vs. BOS
97	Robbie Ray	ARI	at TEX
98	Dinelson Lamet	SD	at CHC
99	Martin Perez	MIN	vs. NYM
100	Mike Fiers	OAK	at MIN	Good chance five homerless game streak ends
101	Yonny Chirinos	TB	at NYY
102	Jake Arrieta	PHI	at PIT
103	Jhoulys Chacin	MIL	at ARI
104	Vince Velasquez	PHI	vs. LAD, at PIT
105	Jon Gray	COL	vs. SF
106	Reynaldo Lopez	CWS	at TB
107	Jason Vargas	NYM	at SF
108	Adam Wainwright	STL	at CIN
109	Zach Davies	MIL	at ARI
110	Drew Pomeranz	SF	at COL, vs. NYM
111	Jesse Chavez	TEX	vs. ARI
112	Cal Quantrill	SD	at CHC
113	Anibal Sanchez	WAS	at ATL
114	Dario Agrazal	PIT	at STL
115	Spencer Turnbull	DET	at CLE
116	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	at LAD
117	Dakota Hudson	STL	at CIN
118	Jose Suarez	LAA	at SEA
119	Ariel Jurado	TEX	at HOU
120	Chris Bassitt	OAK	at MIN
121	Ivan Nova	CWS	at KC
122	Steven Matz	NYM	at MIN
123	Tommy Milone	SEA	at OAK
124	Alec Mills	CHC	vs. CIN
125	Kyle Freeland	COL	at NYY
126	Zac Gallen	MIA	at LAD
127	Asher Wojciechowski	BAL	vs. WAS, vs. BOS
128	Adrian Houser	MIL	vs. ATL, at ARI
129	Aaron Brooks	BAL	vs. WAS
130	Jordan Zimmermann	DET	vs. TOR
131	Daniel Norris	DET	at CLE, vs. TOR
132	Jacob Waguespack	TOR	at BOS, at DET
133	Matt Harvey	LAA	vs. HOU
134	Austin Voth	WAS	at BAL, at ATL
135	Brett Anderson	OAK	at MIN
136	Homer Bailey	OAK	vs. SEA
137	Shaun Anderson	SF	at COL
138	Ryan Carpenter	DET	at CLE, vs. TOR
139	Glenn Sparkman	KC	vs. CWS, at CLE
140	Peter Lambert	COL	vs. SF
141	Alex Young	ARI	at TEX, vs. MIL
142	Taylor Clarke	ARI	vs. MIL
143	Brian Flynn	KC	at CLE
144	Dereck Rodriguez	SF	at COL
145	Dylan Covey	CWS	at KC
146	Tyler Beede	SF	vs. NYM
147	Antonio Senzatela	COL	at NYY
148	Sean Reid-Foley	TOR	at BOS
149	Gabriel Ynoa	BAL	vs. BOS
150	Aaron Sanchez	TOR	at BOS
151	Chi Chi Gonzalez	COL	vs. SF

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RANK	PITCHER	TM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Lucas Giolito	CWS	at KC, at TB	Good pair to break out of rut entering the break
2	Blake Snell	TB	at NYY, vs. CWS
3	James Paxton	NYY	vs. TB, vs. COL
4	Lance Lynn	TEX	vs. ARI, at HOU	Continues to limit homers
5	Justin Verlander	HOU	vs. TEX
6	Chris Sale	BOS	vs. TOR
7	Rick Porcello	BOS	vs. TOR, at BAL	Tough to trust, but matchups say just do it
8	Trevor Bauer	CLE	vs. DET
9	Shane Bieber	CLE	vs. KC
10	Gerrit Cole	HOU	at LAA
11	CC Sabathia	NYY	vs. TB, vs. COL
12	Andrew Heaney	LAA	vs. HOU, at SEA	Admitted leap of faith, but expecting solid 2H
13	Michael Pineda	MIN	vs. NYM, vs. OAK
14	Collin McHugh	HOU	at LAA, vs. TEX
15	David Price	BOS	at BAL
16	Mike Clevinger	CLE	vs. DET
17	Jose Berrios	MIN	vs. OAK
18	Charlie Morton	TB	at NYY
19	Zach Plesac	CLE	vs. DET, vs. KC	A pair of soft lineups
20	Domingo German	NYY	vs. TB
21	Jake Odorizzi	MIN	vs. OAK
22	Griffin Canning	LAA	vs. HOU, at SEA
23	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	vs. COL
24	Eduardo Rodriguez	BOS	vs. TOR
25	Adam Plutko	CLE	vs. DET, vs. KC
26	Matthew Boyd	DET	at CLE
27	Wade Miley	HOU	at LAA
28	J.A. Happ	NYY	vs. TB
29	Jalen Beeks	TB	at NYY, vs. CWS
30	Jakob Junis	KC	vs. CWS, at CLE
31	Framber Valdez	HOU	at LAA, vs. TEX
32	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	vs. CWS
33	Felix Pena	LAA	vs. HOU
34	Mike Minor	TEX	at HOU
35	Marcus Stroman	TOR	at DET
36	Yusei Kikuchi	SEA	vs. LAA
37	Wade LeBlanc	SEA	vs. LAA
38	Trent Thornton	TOR	at BOS, at DET
39	Brad Keller	KC	vs. CWS
40	Kyle Gibson	MIN	vs. OAK
41	Mike Leake	SEA	vs. LAA
42	Dylan Cease	CWS	at KC, at TB
43	Andrew Cashner	BOS	vs. TOR, at BAL
44	Danny Duffy	KC	vs. CWS
45	Daniel Mengden	OAK	vs. SEA, at MIN
46	Marco Gonzales	SEA	at OAK
47	John Means	BAL	vs. BOS
48	Martin Perez	MIN	vs. NYM
49	Mike Fiers	OAK	at MIN	Good chance five homerless game streak ends
50	Yonny Chirinos	TB	at NYY
51	Reynaldo Lopez	CWS	at TB
52	Jesse Chavez	TEX	vs. ARI
53	Spencer Turnbull	DET	at CLE
54	Jose Suarez	LAA	at SEA
55	Ariel Jurado	TEX	at HOU
56	Chris Bassitt	OAK	at MIN
57	Ivan Nova	CWS	at KC
58	Tommy Milone	SEA	at OAK
59	Asher Wojciechowski	BAL	vs. WAS, vs. BOS
60	Aaron Brooks	BAL	vs. WAS
61	Jordan Zimmermann	DET	vs. TOR
62	Daniel Norris	DET	at CLE, vs. TOR
63	Jacob Waguespack	TOR	at BOS, at DET
64	Matt Harvey	LAA	vs. HOU
65	Brett Anderson	OAK	at MIN
66	Homer Bailey	OAK	vs. SEA
67	Ryan Carpenter	DET	at CLE, vs. TOR
68	Glenn Sparkman	KC	vs. CWS, at CLE
69	Brian Flynn	KC	at CLE
70	Dylan Covey	CWS	at KC
71	Sean Reid-Foley	TOR	at BOS
72	Gabriel Ynoa	BAL	vs. BOS
73	Aaron Sanchez	TOR	at BOS

NATIONAL LEAGUE

RANK	PITCHER	TM	OPP	COMMENT
1	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	at PHI, vs. MIA	Back on his familiar perch
2	Walker Buehler	LAD	at PHI, vs. MIA
3	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	vs. CIN, vs. SD	Should be full strength after shoulder injury before the break
4	Luis Castillo	CIN	at CHC, vs. STL	Entered break on a roll, primed for a solid 2H
5	Jack Flaherty	STL	vs. PIT, at CIN	Dominating lesser teams, struggling versus better offenses
6	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	vs. ATL, at ARI	Not a fluke
7	Zack Wheeler	NYM	at MIN, at SF	Is another second half surge in store?
8	Max Scherzer	WAS	at ATL	Tentative, back issue said to be muscular, a good sign
9	Hyun-Jin Ryu	LAD	vs. MIA	Every start feels like a bonus
10	Joe Musgrove	PIT	at STL, vs. PHI	Back on track
11	Stephen Strasburg	WAS	at BAL
12	Jacob deGrom	NYM	at SF
13	Miles Mikolas	STL	vs. PIT, at CIN
14	Zack Greinke	ARI	vs. MIL
15	Chris Paddack	SD	at MIA
16	German Marquez	COL	vs. SF, at NYY	Strikeout rate down, but 3rd most IP keeping raw total high
17	Mike Soroka	ATL	vs. WAS	Expect some measure of workload monitoring
18	Noah Syndergaard	NYM	at SF
19	Caleb Smith	MIA	vs. SD
20	Aaron Nola	PHI	vs. LAD	Not a rebound candidate - he's already done it
21	Max Fried	ATL	at MIL, vs. WAS
22	Anthony DeSclafani	CIN	at CHC, vs. STL	Strikeouts boost ranking
23	Madison Bumgarner	SF	vs. NYM
24	Patrick Corbin	WAS	at ATL
25	Kenta Maeda	LAD	at PHI
26	Zach Eflin	PHI	vs. LAD, at PIT
27	Trevor Richards	MIA	vs. SD
28	Jose Quintana	CHC	vs. SD	Expecting better things after the break
29	Jon Lester	CHC	vs. SD
30	Joey Lucchesi	SD	at CHC
31	Eric Lauer	SD	at MIA	Take out 2 disasters @COL and you get a 2.94 ERA and 1.13 ERA
32	Yu Darvish	CHC	vs. CIN
33	Logan Allen	SD	at MIA
34	Daniel Ponce de Leon	STL	vs. PIT
35	Jordan Yamamoto	MIA	vs. SD, at LAD
36	Julio Teheran	ATL	vs. WAS
37	Trevor Williams	PIT	vs. PHI
38	Dallas Keuchel	ATL	at MIL
39	Chase Anderson	MIL	vs. ATL
40	Tanner Roark	CIN	vs. STL
41	Ross Stripling	LAD	at PHI
42	Nick Pivetta	PHI	vs. LAD
43	Chris Archer	PIT	at STL
44	Tyler Mahle	CIN	vs. STL
45	Jordan Lyles	PIT	vs. PHI
46	Sonny Gray	CIN	at CHC
47	Bryse Wilson	ATL	at MIL, vs. WAS
48	Jeff Samardzija	SF	at COL, vs. NYM
49	Merrill Kelly	ARI	vs. MIL
50	Robbie Ray	ARI	at TEX
51	Dinelson Lamet	SD	at CHC
52	Jake Arrieta	PHI	at PIT
53	Jhoulys Chacin	MIL	at ARI
54	Vince Velasquez	PHI	vs. LAD, at PIT
55	Jon Gray	COL	vs. SF
56	Jason Vargas	NYM	at SF
57	Adam Wainwright	STL	at CIN
58	Zach Davies	MIL	at ARI
59	Drew Pomeranz	SF	at COL, vs. NYM
60	Cal Quantrill	SD	at CHC
61	Anibal Sanchez	WAS	at ATL
62	Dario Agrazal	PIT	at STL
63	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	at LAD
64	Dakota Hudson	STL	at CIN
65	Steven Matz	NYM	at MIN
66	Alec Mills	CHC	vs. CIN
67	Kyle Freeland	COL	at NYY
68	Zac Gallen	MIA	at LAD
69	Adrian Houser	MIL	vs. ATL, at ARI
70	Austin Voth	WAS	at BAL, at ATL
71	Shaun Anderson	SF	at COL
72	Peter Lambert	COL	vs. SF
73	Alex Young	ARI	at TEX, vs. MIL
74	Taylor Clarke	ARI	vs. MIL
75	Dereck Rodriguez	SF	at COL
76	Tyler Beede	SF	vs. NYM
77	Antonio Senzatela	COL	at NYY
78	Chi Chi Gonzalez	COL	vs. SF