This article is part of our Weekly Pitcher Rankings series.
How to incorporate streaks into analysis is up for debate. Those in daily leagues and DFS players deal with it on a daily basis. While I trust the research suggesting hot and cold streaks are largely non-predictive, there is some solid work (most notably from BaseballHQ) demonstrating there is something real about a pitcher with a string of solid efforts. With starters having three or four starts on the docket, there is enough sample to be actionable. As such, this week's rankings reflect recent outings. The Sunday night update uses the most recent data, so the rankings for this week's Saturday and Sunday starters could move a little.
I'm always happy to address (and sometimes change) rankings. However, please direct scheduling rotation questions to the Probable Pitchers page.
UPDATED: Monday May 2 1:00 AM ET
Week of May 2 - 8
Mixed
Rank | Pitcher | TM | OPP | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Alek Manoah | TOR | NYY, @CLE | Easily Top-10 starter if drafting now |
2 | Brandon Woodruff | MIL | CIN, @ATL | |
3 | Pablo Lopez | MIA | ARI, @SD | 2.57 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 24 starts since beginning of last season |
4 | Max Fried | ATL | @NYM, MIL | |
5 | Gerrit Cole | NYY | TEX | |
6 | Joe Musgrove | SD | MIA | |
7 | Logan Gilbert | SEA | TB | |
8 | Joe Ryan | MIN | @BAL, OAK | Will deception continue to be effective as teams see him more? |
9 | Kevin Gausman | TOR | @CLE | |
10 | Drew Rasmussen | TB | @OAK, @SEA | On the road, but good pitcher's park and manageable lineups |
How to incorporate streaks into analysis is up for debate. Those in daily leagues and DFS players deal with it on a daily basis. While I trust the research suggesting hot and cold streaks are largely non-predictive, there is some solid work (most notably from BaseballHQ) demonstrating there is something real about a pitcher with a string of solid efforts. With starters having three or four starts on the docket, there is enough sample to be actionable. As such, this week's rankings reflect recent outings. The Sunday night update uses the most recent data, so the rankings for this week's Saturday and Sunday starters could move a little.
I'm always happy to address (and sometimes change) rankings. However, please direct scheduling rotation questions to the Probable Pitchers page.
UPDATED: Monday May 2 1:00 AM ET
Week of May 2 - 8
Mixed
Rank | Pitcher | TM | OPP | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Alek Manoah | TOR | NYY, @CLE | Easily Top-10 starter if drafting now |
2 | Brandon Woodruff | MIL | CIN, @ATL | |
3 | Pablo Lopez | MIA | ARI, @SD | 2.57 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 24 starts since beginning of last season |
4 | Max Fried | ATL | @NYM, MIL | |
5 | Gerrit Cole | NYY | TEX | |
6 | Joe Musgrove | SD | MIA | |
7 | Logan Gilbert | SEA | TB | |
8 | Joe Ryan | MIN | @BAL, OAK | Will deception continue to be effective as teams see him more? |
9 | Kevin Gausman | TOR | @CLE | |
10 | Drew Rasmussen | TB | @OAK, @SEA | On the road, but good pitcher's park and manageable lineups |
11 | Dylan Cease | CWS | LAA, @BOS | Lower BB% and we're talking elite |
12 | Robbie Ray | SEA | TB | |
13 | Zac Gallen | ARI | @MIA, COL | |
14 | Miles Mikolas | STL | @SF | |
15 | Tylor Megill | NYM | ATL | |
16 | Shane McClanahan | TB | @SEA | |
17 | Kyle Wright | ATL | @NYM | 34 K in 24 IP |
18 | Max Scherzer | NYM | @PHI | |
19 | Walker Buehler | LAD | @CHC | |
20 | Aaron Nola | PHI | NYM | |
21 | Nestor Cortes Jr. | NYY | @TOR | Nice test - 28 K, 3 BB in first 20 IP |
22 | Logan Webb | SF | STL | |
23 | Carlos Rodon | SF | @LAD, STL | |
24 | Yu Darvish | SD | MIA | Back on track? 20 K, 4 BB over last 18.2 IP |
25 | Frankie Montas | OAK | TB | |
26 | Corbin Burnes | MIL | @ATL | |
27 | Clayton Kershaw | LAD | @CHC | |
28 | Julio Urias | LAD | SF | |
29 | Shane Bieber | CLE | TOR | |
30 | Sean Manaea | SD | MIA | Nice spot to rebound after LAD hit him hard |
31 | Jordan Montgomery | NYY | @TOR, TEX | at TOR never easy, but underrated arm deserves high rank regardless |
32 | Tony Gonsolin | LAD | SF | |
33 | Chris Bassitt | NYM | ATL, @PHI | Quietly dominant 26 K in 24 IP |
34 | Sandy Alcantara | MIA | @SD | |
35 | Adrian Houser | MIL | CIN | |
36 | Luis Severino | NYY | TEX | |
37 | Madison Bumgarner | ARI | @MIA | |
38 | Trevor Rogers | MIA | ARI, @SD | Control off early |
39 | Corey Kluber | TB | @OAK | |
40 | Dakota Hudson | STL | @KC, @SF | |
41 | Zack Wheeler | PHI | TEX | |
42 | Lucas Giolito | CWS | @CHC | |
43 | Jose Berrios | TOR | @CLE | |
44 | Patrick Sandoval | LAA | @CWS, WAS | Huge test for fledgling ace |
45 | Michael Wacha | BOS | LAA, CWS | Increasing reliance on improved changeup |
46 | Cristian Javier | HOU | SEA | |
47 | Sonny Gray | MIN | OAK | |
48 | Ian Anderson | ATL | @NYM | |
49 | Brad Keller | KC | STL | |
50 | Justin Verlander | HOU | SEA | |
51 | Chris Paddack | MIN | @BAL, OAK | |
52 | Michael Kopech | CWS | @CHC | |
53 | David Peterson | NYM | ATL | |
54 | Nathan Eovaldi | BOS | CWS | |
55 | Michael Pineda | DET | PIT, @HOU | |
56 | Bruce Zimmermann | BAL | MIN, KC | Changing grips/repertoire, with encouraging results |
57 | Alex Cobb | SF | STL | |
58 | Shohei Ohtani | LAA | @BOS | |
59 | Charlie Morton | ATL | @NYM, MIL | Early command and control woes |
60 | Framber Valdez | HOU | DET | |
61 | Carlos Carrasco | NYM | ATL, @PHI | 23 K with 4 BB in 22 IP |
62 | Ranger Suarez | PHI | TEX, NYM | ERA artificially low, but peripherals should improve |
63 | Garrett Whitlock | BOS | LAA | |
64 | Freddy Peralta | MIL | CIN | |
65 | Paul Blackburn | OAK | TB | |
66 | Michael Lorenzen | LAA | WAS | Lucky so far, but still transition to SP encouraging |
67 | Cal Quantrill | CLE | SD | |
68 | Steven Matz | STL | KC, @SF | |
69 | MacKenzie Gore | SD | @CLE | |
70 | Merrill Kelly | ARI | COL | |
71 | Jose Urquidy | HOU | DET | |
72 | Sam Long | SF | STL | |
73 | Luis Garcia | HOU | DET | |
74 | Chad Kuhl | COL | @ARI | |
75 | Tarik Skubal | DET | PIT | |
76 | Beau Brieske | DET | @HOU | |
77 | Elieser Hernandez | MIA | ARI | |
78 | Eric Lauer | MIL | @ATL | |
79 | Marco Gonzales | SEA | @HOU, TB | |
80 | Chris Flexen | SEA | @HOU, TB | |
81 | Mix 12 Reliever | |||
82 | Eduardo Rodriguez | DET | @HOU | |
83 | Kyle Gibson | PHI | NYM | |
84 | Dylan Bundy | MIN | @BAL | |
85 | Jordan Hicks | STL | @SF | |
86 | Zack Greinke | KC | @STL, @BAL | |
87 | Connor Overton | CIN | PIT | |
88 | Rich Hill | BOS | LAA | |
89 | Tyler Wells | BAL | MIN, KC | |
90 | Huascar Ynoa | ATL | MIL | |
91 | Triston McKenzie | CLE | TOR | |
92 | Jesus Luzardo | MIA | @SD | |
93 | Adam Wainwright | STL | @KC | |
94 | Noah Syndergaard | LAA | @BOS | |
95 | Mix 15 Reliever | |||
96 | Ryan Yarbrough | TB | @OAK, @SEA | |
97 | Nick Lodolo | CIN | PIT | |
98 | Jake Odorizzi | HOU | SEA, DET | |
99 | Zach Eflin | PHI | NYM | |
100 | Nick Martinez | SD | MIA | |
101 | JT Brubaker | PIT | @CIN | |
102 | Zach Plesac | CLE | SD, TOR | |
103 | Kyle Hendricks | CHC | CWS | |
104 | German Marquez | COL | WAS, @ARI | Average fly ball distance in Coors WAY down |
105 | Nick Pivetta | BOS | CWS | |
106 | Daniel Lynch | KC | @BAL | |
107 | Tyler Mahle | CIN | @MIL | |
108 | Alex Wood | SF | @LAD | |
109 | Jaime Barria | LAA | WAS | |
110 | Mike Clevinger | SD | @CLE | Decent matchups, but may not work long enough for a win |
111 | Jameson Taillon | NYY | @TOR | |
112 | Yusei Kikuchi | TOR | NYY | |
113 | Glenn Otto | TEX | @PHI, @NYY | |
114 | Josiah Gray | WAS | @LAA | |
115 | Kris Bubic | KC | STL | |
116 | Daulton Jefferies | OAK | TB, @MIN | |
117 | Kyle Freeland | COL | @ARI | |
118 | Drew Smyly | CHC | CWS, LAD | |
119 | Ross Stripling | TOR | NYY, @CLE | |
120 | Josh Fleming | TB | @SEA | |
121 | Humberto Castellanos | ARI | @MIA | |
122 | Marcus Stroman | CHC | LAD | |
123 | Hunter Greene | CIN | @MIL | |
124 | Jose Quintana | PIT | @DET | |
125 | Cole Irvin | OAK | @MIN | |
126 | Kyle Bradish | BAL | MIN | |
127 | Vince Velasquez | CWS | @BOS | |
128 | Martin Perez | TEX | @PHI | |
129 | Tyler Anderson | LAD | @CHC | |
130 | Taijuan Walker | NYM | @PHI | |
131 | Matt Brash | SEA | @HOU | |
132 | Chris Archer | MIN | @BAL | |
133 | Jordan Lyles | BAL | KC | |
134 | Vladimir Gutierrez | CIN | @MIL, PIT | |
135 | Dane Dunning | TEX | @NYY | |
136 | Bryse Wilson | PIT | @DET, @CIN | |
137 | Reiver Sanmartin | CIN | PIT | |
138 | Reid Detmers | LAA | @BOS | |
139 | Mitch Keller | PIT | @CIN | |
140 | Aaron Civale | CLE | TOR | |
141 | James Kaprielian | OAK | @MIN | |
142 | Zach Davies | ARI | COL | |
143 | Antonio Senzatela | COL | WAS | |
144 | Carlos Hernandez | KC | @BAL | |
145 | Tyler Alexander | DET | @HOU | |
146 | Joan Adon | WAS | @LAA | |
147 | Austin Gomber | COL | WAS | |
148 | Spenser Watkins | BAL | MIN | |
149 | Erick Fedde | WAS | @COL, @LAA | |
150 | Zach Thompson | PIT | @CIN | |
151 | Justin Steele | CHC | LAD | |
152 | Taylor Hearn | TEX | @NYY | |
153 | Patrick Corbin | WAS | @COL | |
154 | Aaron Sanchez | WAS | @COL | |
155 | Dallas Keuchel | CWS | @BOS |
American League
Rank | Pitcher | TM | OPP | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Alek Manoah | TOR | NYY, @CLE | Easily Top-10 starter if drafting now |
2 | Gerrit Cole | NYY | TEX | |
3 | Logan Gilbert | SEA | TB | |
4 | Joe Ryan | MIN | @BAL, OAK | Will deception continue to be effective as teams see him more? |
5 | Kevin Gausman | TOR | @CLE | |
6 | Drew Rasmussen | TB | @OAK, @SEA | On the road, but good pitcher's park and manageable lineups |
7 | Dylan Cease | CWS | LAA, @BOS | Lower BB% and we're talking elite |
8 | Robbie Ray | SEA | TB | |
9 | Shane McClanahan | TB | @SEA | |
10 | Nestor Cortes Jr. | NYY | @TOR | Nice test - 28 K, 3 BB in first 20 IP |
11 | Frankie Montas | OAK | TB | |
12 | Shane Bieber | CLE | TOR | |
13 | Jordan Montgomery | NYY | @TOR, TEX | at TOR never easy, but underrated arm deserves high rank regardless |
14 | Luis Severino | NYY | TEX | |
15 | Corey Kluber | TB | @OAK | |
16 | Lucas Giolito | CWS | @CHC | |
17 | Jose Berrios | TOR | @CLE | |
18 | Patrick Sandoval | LAA | @CWS, WAS | Huge test for fledgling ace |
19 | Michael Wacha | BOS | LAA, CWS | Increasing reliance on improved changeup |
20 | Cristian Javier | HOU | SEA | |
21 | Sonny Gray | MIN | OAK | |
22 | Brad Keller | KC | STL | |
23 | Justin Verlander | HOU | SEA | |
24 | Chris Paddack | MIN | @BAL, OAK | |
25 | Michael Kopech | CWS | @CHC | |
26 | Nathan Eovaldi | BOS | CWS | |
27 | Michael Pineda | DET | PIT, @HOU | |
28 | Bruce Zimmermann | BAL | MIN, KC | Changing grips/repertoire, with encouraging results |
29 | Shohei Ohtani | LAA | @BOS | |
30 | Framber Valdez | HOU | DET | |
31 | Garrett Whitlock | BOS | LAA | |
32 | Paul Blackburn | OAK | TB | |
33 | Michael Lorenzen | LAA | WAS | Lucky so far, but still transition to SP encouraging |
34 | Cal Quantrill | CLE | SD | |
35 | Jose Urquidy | HOU | DET | |
36 | Luis Garcia | HOU | DET | |
37 | Tarik Skubal | DET | PIT | |
38 | Beau Brieske | DET | @HOU | |
39 | Marco Gonzales | SEA | @HOU, TB | |
40 | Chris Flexen | SEA | @HOU, TB | |
41 | Eduardo Rodriguez | DET | @HOU | |
42 | Dylan Bundy | MIN | @BAL | |
43 | Zack Greinke | KC | @STL, @BAL | |
44 | Rich Hill | BOS | LAA | |
45 | Tyler Wells | BAL | MIN, KC | |
46 | Triston McKenzie | CLE | TOR | |
47 | Noah Syndergaard | LAA | @BOS | |
48 | Ryan Yarbrough | TB | @OAK, @SEA | |
49 | Jake Odorizzi | HOU | SEA, DET | |
50 | Zach Plesac | CLE | SD, TOR | |
51 | AL Reliever | |||
52 | Nick Pivetta | BOS | CWS | |
53 | Daniel Lynch | KC | @BAL | |
54 | Jaime Barria | LAA | WAS | |
55 | Jameson Taillon | NYY | @TOR | |
56 | Yusei Kikuchi | TOR | NYY | |
57 | Glenn Otto | TEX | @PHI, @NYY | |
58 | Kris Bubic | KC | STL | |
59 | Daulton Jefferies | OAK | TB, @MIN | |
60 | Ross Stripling | TOR | NYY, @CLE | |
61 | Josh Fleming | TB | @SEA | |
62 | Cole Irvin | OAK | @MIN | |
63 | Kyle Bradish | BAL | MIN | |
64 | Vince Velasquez | CWS | @BOS | |
65 | Martin Perez | TEX | @PHI | |
66 | Matt Brash | SEA | @HOU | |
67 | Chris Archer | MIN | @BAL | |
68 | Jordan Lyles | BAL | KC | |
69 | Dane Dunning | TEX | @NYY | |
70 | Reid Detmers | LAA | @BOS | |
71 | Aaron Civale | CLE | TOR | |
72 | James Kaprielian | OAK | @MIN | |
73 | Carlos Hernandez | KC | @BAL | |
74 | Tyler Alexander | DET | @HOU | |
75 | Spenser Watkins | BAL | MIN | |
76 | Taylor Hearn | TEX | @NYY | |
77 | Dallas Keuchel | CWS | @BOS |
National League
Rank | Pitcher | TM | OPP | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Brandon Woodruff | MIL | CIN, @ATL | |
2 | Pablo Lopez | MIA | ARI, @SD | 2.57 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 24 starts since beginning of last season |
3 | Max Fried | ATL | @NYM, MIL | |
4 | Joe Musgrove | SD | MIA | |
5 | Zac Gallen | ARI | @MIA, COL | |
6 | Miles Mikolas | STL | @SF | |
7 | Tylor Megill | NYM | ATL | |
8 | Kyle Wright | ATL | @NYM | 34 K in 24 IP |
9 | Max Scherzer | NYM | @PHI | |
10 | Walker Buehler | LAD | @CHC | |
11 | Aaron Nola | PHI | NYM | |
12 | Logan Webb | SF | STL | |
13 | Carlos Rodon | SF | @LAD, STL | |
14 | Yu Darvish | SD | MIA | Back on track? 20 K, 4 BB over last 18.2 IP |
15 | Corbin Burnes | MIL | @ATL | |
16 | Clayton Kershaw | LAD | @CHC | |
17 | Julio Urias | LAD | SF | |
18 | Sean Manaea | SD | MIA | Nice spot to rebound after LAD hit him hard |
19 | Tony Gonsolin | LAD | SF | |
20 | Chris Bassitt | NYM | ATL, @PHI | Quietly dominant 26 K in 24 IP |
21 | Sandy Alcantara | MIA | @SD | |
22 | Adrian Houser | MIL | CIN | |
23 | Madison Bumgarner | ARI | @MIA | |
24 | Trevor Rogers | MIA | ARI, @SD | Control off early |
25 | Dakota Hudson | STL | @KC, @SF | |
26 | Zack Wheeler | PHI | TEX | |
27 | Ian Anderson | ATL | @NYM | |
28 | David Peterson | NYM | ATL | |
29 | Alex Cobb | SF | STL | |
30 | Charlie Morton | ATL | @NYM, MIL | Early command and control woes |
31 | Carlos Carrasco | NYM | ATL, @PHI | 23 K with 4 BB in 22 IP |
32 | Ranger Suarez | PHI | TEX, NYM | ERA artificially low, but peripherals should improve |
33 | Freddy Peralta | MIL | CIN | |
34 | Steven Matz | STL | KC, @SF | |
35 | MacKenzie Gore | SD | @CLE | |
36 | Merrill Kelly | ARI | COL | |
37 | Sammy Long | SF | STL | |
38 | Chad Kuhl | COL | @ARI | |
39 | Elieser Hernandez | MIA | ARI | |
40 | Eric Lauer | MIL | @ATL | |
41 | Kyle Gibson | PHI | NYM | |
42 | Jordan Hicks | STL | @SF | |
43 | Connor Overton | CIN | PIT | |
44 | Huascar Ynoa | ATL | MIL | |
45 | Jesus Luzardo | MIA | @SD | |
46 | Adam Wainwright | STL | @KC | |
47 | Nick Lodolo | CIN | PIT | |
48 | Zach Eflin | PHI | NYM | |
49 | Nick Martinez | SD | MIA | |
50 | JT Brubaker | PIT | @CIN | |
51 | Kyle Hendricks | CHC | CWS | |
52 | NL Reliever | |||
53 | German Marquez | COL | WAS, @ARI | Average fly ball distance in Coors WAY down |
54 | Tyler Mahle | CIN | @MIL | |
55 | Alex Wood | SF | @LAD | |
56 | Mike Clevinger | SD | @CLE | Decent matchups, but may not work long enough for a win |
57 | Josiah Gray | WAS | @LAA | |
58 | Kyle Freeland | COL | @ARI | |
59 | Drew Smyly | CHC | CWS, LAD | |
60 | Humberto Castellanos | ARI | @MIA | |
61 | Marcus Stroman | CHC | LAD | |
62 | Hunter Greene | CIN | @MIL | |
63 | Jose Quintana | PIT | @DET | |
64 | Tyler Anderson | LAD | @CHC | |
65 | Taijuan Walker | NYM | @PHI | |
66 | Vladimir Gutierrez | CIN | @MIL, PIT | |
67 | Bryse Wilson | PIT | @DET, @CIN | |
68 | Reiver Sanmartin | CIN | PIT | |
69 | Mitch Keller | PIT | @CIN | |
70 | Zach Davies | ARI | COL | |
71 | Antonio Senzatela | COL | WAS | |
72 | Joan Adon | WAS | @LAA | |
73 | Austin Gomber | COL | WAS | |
74 | Erick Fedde | WAS | @COL, @LAA | |
75 | Zach Thompson | PIT | @CIN | |
76 | Justin Steele | CHC | LAD | |
77 | Patrick Corbin | WAS | @COL | |
78 | Aaron Sanchez | WAS | @COL |