Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Yeah, But

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Updated on September 24, 2023 11:18PM EST

The last week of the season always brings last-minute shuffling of pitching rotations. Some changes are out of the blue, but some are predictable under certain circumstances. For instance:

Kyle Bradish has two starts, yeah, but he isn't likely to go deep into the Sunday game
Justin Steele has two starts, yeah but he won't start Sunday if the Cubs have clinched a wild-card spot
Justin Verlander has two starts, yeah but he isn't likely to go deep into the Sunday game
Ryan Pepiot has two starts, yeah, but he could piggyback with Bobby Miller in the last game
Braxton Garrett has two starts, yeah, but he won't start Sunday if the Marlins have clinched a wild-card spot
Kenta Maeda has two starts, yeah, but he isn't likely to go deep into the Sunday game
Aaron Nola has two starts, yeah, but he won't start Sunday if the Phillies have clinched a wild-card spot
George Kirby has two starts, yeah, but he isn't likely to go deep into the Sunday game if the Mariners have clinched a playoff spot
Kevin Gausman has two starts, yeah, but he won't start Sunday if the Blue Jays have clinched a wild-card spot

As always, the schedule is pulled from the Probable Starters grid, so I am not responsible for rotations, yeah, but you can direct questions to that page.

I can't guarantee accuracy, yeah, but you can ask my thinking below.

UPDATED: Sunday September 24, 11:15 PM ET

Week of September 25 -

The last week of the season always brings last-minute shuffling of pitching rotations. Some changes are out of the blue, but some are predictable under certain circumstances. For instance:

Kyle Bradish has two starts, yeah, but he isn't likely to go deep into the Sunday game
Justin Steele has two starts, yeah but he won't start Sunday if the Cubs have clinched a wild-card spot
Justin Verlander has two starts, yeah but he isn't likely to go deep into the Sunday game
Ryan Pepiot has two starts, yeah, but he could piggyback with Bobby Miller in the last game
Braxton Garrett has two starts, yeah, but he won't start Sunday if the Marlins have clinched a wild-card spot
Kenta Maeda has two starts, yeah, but he isn't likely to go deep into the Sunday game
Aaron Nola has two starts, yeah, but he won't start Sunday if the Phillies have clinched a wild-card spot
George Kirby has two starts, yeah, but he isn't likely to go deep into the Sunday game if the Mariners have clinched a playoff spot
Kevin Gausman has two starts, yeah, but he won't start Sunday if the Blue Jays have clinched a wild-card spot

As always, the schedule is pulled from the Probable Starters grid, so I am not responsible for rotations, yeah, but you can direct questions to that page.

I can't guarantee accuracy, yeah, but you can ask my thinking below.

UPDATED: Sunday September 24, 11:15 PM ET

Week of September 25 - October 1

Mixed

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comments	MIX12	MIX15
1	Blake Snell	SD	@SF, @CWS	Looking to add NL Cy Young to his 2018 award
2	Kevin Gausman	TOR	NYY, TB	May not pitch on Sunday of playoffs are clinched
3	Sonny Gray	MIN	OAK
4	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	CHC	Layoff has him fresh for the playoffs
5	Corbin Burnes	MIL	STL
6	Luis Castillo	SEA	HOU, TEX	Huge week in a tight race
7	Tarik Skubal	DET	KC
8	Hunter Greene	CIN	@CLE, @STL
9	Framber Valdez	HOU	@SEA
10	Logan Webb	SF	SD, LAD
11	Kyle Bradish	BAL	WAS, BOS	Should start Sunday, but likely won't go deep
12	Braxton Garrett	MIA	@NYM, @PIT
13	Pablo Lopez	MIN	OAK
14	Freddy Peralta	MIL	CHC
15	Aaron Nola	PHI	PIT, @NYM	Second start in jeopardy
16	Justin Verlander	HOU	@SEA, @ARI
17	Gerrit Cole	NYY	@TOR
18	Justin Steele	CHC	@ATL, @MIL
19	Kodai Senga	NYM	MIA
20	George Kirby	SEA	HOU, TEX
21	Zack Wheeler	PHI	PIT
22	Bryce Elder	ATL	CHC, WAS	Probably the No. 4 if Braves make the NLCS
23	Reese Olson	DET	KC
24	Merrill Kelly	ARI	@NYY, HOU
25	Jordan Montgomery	TEX	@SEA
26	Michael King	NYY	@TOR, @KC	Earned a full-fledges starter role
27	Cole Ragans	KC	@DET
28	Bailey Ober	MIN	OAK, @COL
29	Jesus Luzardo	MIA	@NYM
30	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	@SF
31	Zac Gallen	ARI	HOU
32	Cristian Javier	HOU	@SEA
33	Mitch Keller	PIT	@PHI, MIA
34	Allan Winans	ATL	WAS		4%	25%
35	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	@SEA
36	Lucas Giolito	CLE	CIN
37	Logan Gilbert	SEA	TEX
38	Triston McKenzie	CLE	@DET		16%	34%
39	Jose Berrios	TOR	NYY
40	Chris Sale	BOS	@BAL
41	Eduardo Rodriguez	DET	CLE
42	Chris Bassitt	TOR	NYY
43	Shane Bieber	CLE	CIN		44%	47%
44	Nick Pivetta	BOS	@BAL
45	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	@NYM
46	Grayson Rodriguez	BAL	WAS
47	Spencer Strider	ATL	WAS
48	Jon Gray	TEX	@LAA, @SEA	Really struggling, needs to step up in the final week
49	Mike Clevinger	CWS	SD
50	Lance Lynn	LAD	@SF
51	Tanner Houck	BOS	TB, @BAL		34%
52	Seth Lugo	SD	@SF
53	Taijuan Walker	PHI	@NYM
54	Tyler Glasnow	TB	@BOS
55	Hyun Jin Ryu	TOR	TB
56	Gavin Williams	CLE	@DET
57	Aaron Civale	TB	@TOR
58	Joey Lucchesi	NYM	MIA		8%	34%
59	Andrew Abbott	CIN	@CLE
60	Jose Quintana	NYM	PHI
61	Kutter Crawford	BOS	@BAL
62	Zach Eflin	TB	@BOS
63	Zack Littell	TB	@TOR
64	Cal Quantrill	CLE	@DET		47%
65	Sean Manaea	SF	SD		4%	36%
66	Bryan Woo	SEA	TEX
67	Dylan Cease	CWS	SD
68	Carlos Rodon	NYY	@KC
69	Mix 12 Reliever
70	Martin Perez	TEX	@LAA, @SEA		46%	30%
71	Brayan Bello	BOS	TB
72	Wade Miley	MIL	STL
73	Dane Dunning	TEX	@LAA
74	Ranger Suarez	PHI	PIT
75	Clarke Schmidt	NYY	ARI, @KC
76	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	@MIL
77	Chase Silseth	LAA	OAK		32%
78	Sawyer Gipson-Long	DET	KC
79	Mix 15 Reliever
80	Reid Detmers	LAA	TEX
81	Alex Faedo	DET	CLE		4%	43%
82	Yusei Kikuchi	TOR	TB
83	Brandon Williamson	CIN	@STL		38%
84	JP Sears	OAK	@LAA
85	Jordan Wicks	CHC	@MIL
86	Ryan Pepiot	LAD	@COL, @SF
87	Patrick Sandoval	LAA	TEX, OAK
88	John Means	BAL	BOS		27%
89	Bryce Miller	SEA	HOU
90	Edward Cabrera	MIA	@PIT
91	Hunter Brown	HOU	@ARI
92	Darius Vines	ATL	CHC		3%	15%
93	Bobby Miller	LAD	@COL
94	Griffin Canning	LAA	TEX
95	J.P. France	HOU	@ARI
96	Adrian Houser	MIL	STL, CHC		14%
97	Kenta Maeda	MIN	@COL
98	David Peterson	NYM	MIA		15%
99	Connor Phillips	CIN	@STL		0%	0%
100	Ross Stripling	SF	LAD		7%	28%
101	Michael Wacha	SD	@CWS
102	Johan Oviedo	PIT	@PHI
103	Joe Ryan	MIN	@COL
104	Zack Greinke	KC	@DET, NYY		2%	9%
105	Kyle Gibson	BAL	BOS
106	Kyle Harrison	SF	SD		42%	43%
107	Alex Wood	SF	LAD		11%	45%
108	Johnny Cueto	MIA	@NYM		3%	32%
109	Jameson Taillon	CHC	@ATL
110	Jordan Lyles	KC	NYY		0%	0%
111	Nick Martinez	SD	@CWS		3%	9%
112	Miles Mikolas	STL	@MIL
113	Jose Butto	NYM	PHI		10%
114	Kenny Rosenberg	LAA	OAK		1%	6%
115	Javier Assad	CHC	@ATL
116	Taj Bradley	TB	@TOR
117	Alec Marsh	KC	NYY		2%	40%
118	Anthony Veneziano	KC	@DET		0%	0%
119	Joe Boyle	OAK	@LAA		0%	0%
120	Matt Waldron	SD	@SF		0%	0%
121	Ken Waldichuk	OAK	@MIN		4%	36%
122	Emmet Sheehan	LAD	@COL		29%
123	Osvaldo Bido	PIT	MIA		1%	2%
124	Drew Rom	STL	CIN		2%	15%
125	Paul Blackburn	OAK	@MIN, @LAA		45%
126	Zack Thompson	STL	@MIL, CIN		14%
127	Jared Shuster	ATL	CHC		8%	13%
128	Quinn Priester	PIT	MIA		0%	0%
129	Slade Cecconi	ARI	@CWS		1%	4%
130	Dean Kremer	BAL	BOS
131	Touki Toussaint	CWS	ARI		11%
132	Bryan Hoeing	MIA	@PIT		1%	2%
133	Josiah Gray	WAS	@BAL
134	Zach Davies	ARI	@CWS, HOU		1%	21%
135	Chase Anderson	COL	LAD, MIN		0%	2%
136	Ryne Nelson	ARI	@CWS		8%
137	Dakota Hudson	STL	@MIL		7%
138	Tylor Megill	NYM	PHI		21%
139	Karl Kauffmann	COL	MIN		0%	0%
140	Luke Weaver	NYY	@TOR		0%	13%
141	Luis Ortiz	PIT	@PHI		0%	0%
142	Luis Medina	OAK	@MIN		4%	23%
143	Joey Wentz	DET	CLE		0%	0%
144	Luis Patino	CWS	ARI		0%	0%
145	Ryan Feltner	COL	LAD		0%	0%
146	Ty Blach	COL	MIN		1%	4%
147	Jose Urena	CWS	ARI, SD		0%	0%
148	Noah Davis	COL	LAD		0%	0%
149	Michael Grove	LAD	@COL		2%	9%
150	Trevor Williams	WAS	@BAL		0%	11%
151	Joan Adon	WAS	@ATL		2%	13%
152	Jackson Rutledge	WAS	@ATL		0%	0%
153	Patrick Corbin	WAS	@ATL		1%	30%
154	Adam Wainwright	STL	CIN		5%	6%
155	Chris Flexen	COL	LAD		0%	4%

American League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Kevin Gausman	TOR	NYY, TB	May not pitch on Sunday of playoffs are clinched
2	Sonny Gray	MIN	OAK
3	Luis Castillo	SEA	HOU, TEX	Huge week in a tight race
4	Tarik Skubal	DET	KC
5	Framber Valdez	HOU	@SEA
6	Kyle Bradish	BAL	WAS, BOS	Should start Sunday, but likely won't go deep
7	Pablo Lopez	MIN	OAK
8	Justin Verlander	HOU	@SEA, @ARI
9	Gerrit Cole	NYY	@TOR
10	George Kirby	SEA	HOU, TEX
11	Reese Olson	DET	KC
12	Jordan Montgomery	TEX	@SEA
13	Michael King	NYY	@TOR, @KC	Earned a full-fledges starter role
14	Cole Ragans	KC	@DET
15	Bailey Ober	MIN	OAK, @COL
16	Cristian Javier	HOU	@SEA
17	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	@SEA
18	Lucas Giolito	CLE	CIN
19	Logan Gilbert	SEA	TEX
20	Triston McKenzie	CLE	@DET
21	Jose Berrios	TOR	NYY
22	Chris Sale	BOS	@BAL
23	Eduardo Rodriguez	DET	CLE
24	Chris Bassitt	TOR	NYY
25	Shane Bieber	CLE	CIN
26	Nick Pivetta	BOS	@BAL
27	Grayson Rodriguez	BAL	WAS
28	Jon Gray	TEX	@LAA, @SEA	Really struggling, needs to step up in the final week
29	Mike Clevinger	CWS	SD
30	Tanner Houck	BOS	TB, @BAL
31	Tyler Glasnow	TB	@BOS
32	Hyun Jin Ryu	TOR	TB
33	Gavin Williams	CLE	@DET
34	Aaron Civale	TB	@TOR
35	Kutter Crawford	BOS	@BAL
36	Zach Eflin	TB	@BOS
37	Zack Littell	TB	@TOR
38	Cal Quantrill	CLE	@DET
39	Bryan Woo	SEA	TEX
40	Dylan Cease	CWS	SD
41	Carlos Rodon	NYY	@KC
42	Martin Perez	TEX	@LAA, @SEA
43	Brayan Bello	BOS	TB
44	Dane Dunning	TEX	@LAA
45	Clarke Schmidt	NYY	ARI, @KC
46	Chase Silseth	LAA	OAK
47	Sawyer Gipson-Long	DET	KC
48	Reid Detmers	LAA	TEX
49	Alex Faedo	DET	CLE
50	Yusei Kikuchi	TOR	TB
51	JP Sears	OAK	@LAA
52	Patrick Sandoval	LAA	TEX, OAK
53	John Means	BAL	BOS
54	Bryce Miller	SEA	HOU
55	Hunter Brown	HOU	@ARI
56	Griffin Canning	LAA	TEX
57	AL Reliever
58	J.P. France	HOU	@ARI
59	Kenta Maeda	MIN	@COL
60	Joe Ryan	MIN	@COL
61	Zack Greinke	KC	@DET, NYY
62	Kyle Gibson	BAL	BOS
63	Jordan Lyles	KC	NYY
64	Kenny Rosenberg	LAA	OAK
65	Taj Bradley	TB	@TOR
66	Alec Marsh	KC	NYY
67	Anthony Veneziano	KC	@DET
68	Joe Boyle	OAK	@LAA
69	Ken Waldichuk	OAK	@MIN
70	Paul Blackburn	OAK	@MIN, @LAA
71	Dean Kremer	BAL	BOS
72	Touki Toussaint	CWS	ARI
73	Luke Weaver	NYY	@TOR
74	Luis Medina	OAK	@MIN
75	Joey Wentz	DET	CLE
76	Luis Patino	CWS	ARI
77	Jose Urena	CWS	ARI, SD

National League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Blake Snell	SD	@SF, @CWS	Looking to add NL Cy Young to his 2018 award
2	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	CHC	Layoff has him fresh for the playoffs
3	Corbin Burnes	MIL	STL
4	Hunter Greene	CIN	@CLE, @STL
5	Logan Webb	SF	SD, LAD
6	Braxton Garrett	MIA	@NYM, @PIT
7	Freddy Peralta	MIL	CHC
8	Aaron Nola	PHI	PIT, @NYM	Second start in jeopardy
9	Justin Steele	CHC	@ATL, @MIL
10	Kodai Senga	NYM	MIA
11	Zack Wheeler	PHI	PIT
12	Bryce Elder	ATL	CHC, WAS	Probably the No. 4 if Braves make the NLCS
13	Merrill Kelly	ARI	@NYY, HOU
14	Jesus Luzardo	MIA	@NYM
15	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	@SF
16	Zac Gallen	ARI	HOU
17	Mitch Keller	PIT	@PHI, MIA
18	Allan Winans	ATL	WAS
19	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	@NYM
20	Spencer Strider	ATL	WAS
21	Lance Lynn	LAD	@SF
22	Seth Lugo	SD	@SF
23	Taijuan Walker	PHI	@NYM
24	Joey Lucchesi	NYM	MIA
25	Andrew Abbott	CIN	@CLE
26	Jose Quintana	NYM	PHI
27	Sean Manaea	SF	SD
28	Wade Miley	MIL	STL
29	Ranger Suarez	PHI	PIT
30	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	@MIL
31	Brandon Williamson	CIN	@STL
32	Jordan Wicks	CHC	@MIL
33	Ryan Pepiot	LAD	@COL, @SF
34	Edward Cabrera	MIA	@PIT
35	Darius Vines	ATL	CHC
36	Bobby Miller	LAD	@COL
37	NL Reliever
38	Adrian Houser	MIL	STL, CHC
39	David Peterson	NYM	MIA
40	Connor Phillips	CIN	@STL
41	Ross Stripling	SF	LAD
42	Michael Wacha	SD	@CWS
43	Johan Oviedo	PIT	@PHI
44	Kyle Harrison	SF	SD
45	Alex Wood	SF	LAD
46	Johnny Cueto	MIA	@NYM
47	Jameson Taillon	CHC	@ATL
48	Nick Martinez	SD	@CWS
49	Miles Mikolas	STL	@MIL
50	Jose Butto	NYM	PHI
51	Javier Assad	CHC	@ATL
52	Matt Waldron	SD	@SF
53	Emmet Sheehan	LAD	@COL
54	Osvaldo Bido	PIT	MIA
55	Drew Rom	STL	CIN
56	Zack Thompson	STL	@MIL, CIN
57	Jared Shuster	ATL	CHC
58	Quinn Priester	PIT	MIA
59	Slade Cecconi	ARI	@CWS
60	Bryan Hoeing	MIA	@PIT
61	Josiah Gray	WAS	@BAL
62	Zach Davies	ARI	@CWS, HOU
63	Chase Anderson	COL	LAD, MIN
64	Ryne Nelson	ARI	@CWS
65	Dakota Hudson	STL	@MIL
66	Tylor Megill	NYM	PHI
67	Karl Kauffmann	COL	MIN
68	Luis Ortiz	PIT	@PHI
69	Ryan Feltner	COL	LAD
70	Ty Blach	COL	MIN
71	Noah Davis	COL	LAD
72	Michael Grove	LAD	@COL
73	Trevor Williams	WAS	@BAL
74	Joan Adon	WAS	@ATL
75	Jackson Rutledge	WAS	@ATL
76	Patrick Corbin	WAS	@ATL
77	Adam Wainwright	STL	CIN
78	Chris Flexen	COL	LAD