Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Familiar Faces in Different Places

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Updated on August 2, 2021 11:05AM EST

Well, that was fun. At least eight starting pitchers will be wearing new uniforms for their next start, perhaps more as several teams' rotations are still unclear. For what it's worth, I generate a new baseline expectation for every player changing teams, encompassing the new home venue and other factors.

As this week lines up, there are several aces with a double dip. This is good for head-to-head leagues, but the dearth of viable options to pick up for the week hinders those needing an arms boost in roto leagues.

This is the second consecutive week Shohei Ohtani is listed for two starts. Obviously, this means he did not make his second start last week. Those in leagues needing to decide where to start the hitter or the pitcher version were burned if they opted for the hurler. Well, Ohtani pitched well in his only start, but he also hit .313 with two homers through Friday's action. The main point is, something may again come up preventing Ohtani from making two starts, so keep that in mind when making your hitter versus pitcher decision.

As always, the schedule is pulled from the Projected Starters page, so please direct rotation questions over there. I'm happy to address all rankings queries here.

UPDATED: Monday August 2 3:00 AM ET

Week of August 2-8

Mixed

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comments
1	Gerrit Cole	NYY	BAL, SEA	Proved he can pitch without the sticky stuff so last outing was just one of those days

As always, the schedule is pulled from the Projected Starters page, so please direct rotation questions over there. I'm happy to address all rankings queries here.

UPDATED: Monday August 2 3:00 AM ET

Week of August 2-8

Mixed

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comments
1	Gerrit Cole	NYY	BAL, SEA	Proved he can pitch without the sticky stuff so last outing was just one of those days
2	Zack Wheeler	PHI	@WAS, NYM	Great chance to embellish Cy Young resume
3	Walker Buehler	LAD	HOU, LAA
4	Sean Manaea	OAK	SD, TEX	29 K in 18.1 IP since the break
5	Hyun Jin Ryu	TOR	CLE, BOS
6	Robbie Ray	TOR	CLE, BOS	Continues to shove
7	Lance McCullers Jr.	HOU	@LAD, MIN	A healthy McCullers is a dominant McCullers and he's healthy… for now
8	Kenta Maeda	MIN	@CIN, @HOU	2.15 ERA and 0.82 WHIP with 36 K and just 6 BB in 29.1 IP over 5 July GS
9	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	SF
10	Lucas Giolito	CWS	KC	1.29 ERA and .90 WHIP in 3 GS since the break
11	Anthony DeSclafani	SF	@ARI, @MIL
12	Freddy Peralta	MIL	PIT
13	Julio Urias	LAD	LAA
14	Corbin Burnes	MIL	SF
15	Yu Darvish	SD	ARI
16	Chris Bassitt	OAK	TEX
17	Max Fried	ATL	@STL, WAS	Great setup this week
18	Max Scherzer	LAD	HOU
19	Yusei Kikuchi	SEA	@TB, @NYY	5 HR allowed in 16 IP since the break
20	Tyler Mahle	CIN	MIN, PIT
21	Joe Musgrove	SD	@OAK
22	Adam Wainwright	STL	KC	Showing no signs of slowing down
23	Jordan Montgomery	NYY	SEA
24	Jose Berrios	TOR	BOS
25	Tylor Megill	NYM	@MIA, @PHI
26	Andrew Heaney	NYY	BAL, SEA	Great chance to impress in pinstripes from the jump
27	Shohei Ohtani	LAA	@TEX	One of these weeks he'll actually make two starts
28	Carlos Rodon	CWS	@CHC
29	Charlie Morton	ATL	WAS
30	Johnny Cueto	SF	@ARI, @MIL
31	Lance Lynn	CWS	@CHC
32	Zach Plesac	CLE	@TOR, DET	Hoping to salvage 2021 with a strong 2H
33	Luis Garcia	HOU	MIN
34	Dylan Cease	CWS	KC, @CHC
35	Framber Valdez	HOU	MIN
36	Mike Minor	KC	@STL
37	Zack Greinke	HOU	MIN
38	Kevin Gausman	SF	@ARI
39	John Means	BAL	TB
40	Aaron Nola	PHI	@WAS
41	Trevor Rogers	MIA	NYM
42	Kwang Hyun Kim	STL	KC
43	Cole Irvin	OAK	TEX
44	Logan Gilbert	SEA	@TB
45	Zac Gallen	ARI	SF
46	Alek Manoah	TOR	BOS
47	Rich Hill	NYM	@MIA
48	David Price	LAD	LAA
49	Jameson Taillon	NYY	BAL
50	Marcus Stroman	NYM	@PHI
51	Josh Fleming	TB	SEA
52	Carlos Carrasco	NYM	@MIA
53	Dane Dunning	TEX	LAA, @OAK
54	Dallas Keuchel	CWS	KC
55	Madison Bumgarner	ARI	SF, @SD
56	Nathan Eovaldi	BOS	@TOR
57	Frankie Montas	OAK	SD	27 K in 19 IP to begin the 2H
58	Luis Castillo	CIN	MIN	Strikeouts beginning to pile up
59	Merrill Kelly	ARI	SF
60	Tyler Anderson	SEA	@NYY
61	Kyle Gibson	PHI	NYM	10 BB over last 11 IP
62	Casey Mize	DET	BOS
63	Taijuan Walker	NYM	@MIA, @PHI	Needs to get it together for Mets to fend off Braves and Phillies.
64	Sonny Gray	CIN	PIT	Excellent chance to turn things around
65	Adrian Houser	MIL	PIT
66	Patrick Sandoval	LAA	@TEX
67	Chris Flexen	SEA	@TB, @NYY
68	Michael Pineda	MIN	@HOU
69	Wade Miley	CIN	PIT	Sorry, but still expecting regression. Peripherals don't support ratios.
70	Luis Patino	TB	SEA	Kid gloves are off, good thing with the recent news on Tyler Glasnow
71	Touki Toussaint	ATL	@STL
72	Austin Gomber	COL	MIA	Picking up where he left off pre-injury
73	Alex Wood	SF	@ARI
74	Mix 12 Reliever
75	Cal Quantrill	CLE	DET
76	Eric Lauer	MIL	PIT
77	Adbert Alzolay	CHC	CWS
78	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	@BAL
79	German Marquez	COL	MIA
80	Kyle Muller	ATL	WAS
81	JT Brubaker	PIT	@CIN
82	Kris Bubic	KC	@CWS, @STL
83	Mix 15 Reliever
84	Steven Matz	TOR	CLE
85	Nestor Cortes	NYY	SEA
86	Taylor Hearn	TEX	LAA
87	Drew Smyly	ATL	@STL
88	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	CWS
89	Shane McClanahan	TB	@BAL
90	Joe Ross	WAS	PHI
91	Tanner Houck	BOS	@TOR
92	Logan Webb	SF	@MIL
93	Jon Lester	STL	ATL, KC
94	Zach Thompson	MIA	NYM
95	Jordan Lyles	TEX	LAA, @OAK
96	Ross Stripling	TOR	CLE
97	Ryan Weathers	SD	ARI
98	Brett Anderson	MIL	SF
99	Tarik Skubal	DET	BOS
100	Dylan Bundy	LAA	@TEX
101	Blake Snell	SD	@OAK
102	Matt Manning	DET	@CLE
103	Jake Odorizzi	HOU	@LAD
104	Patrick Corbin	WAS	PHI, @ATL
105	Jon Gray	COL	CHC
106	Triston McKenzie	CLE	@TOR
107	Eduardo Rodriguez	BOS	@DET
108	Alexander Wells	BAL	@NYY
109	Daniel Lynch	KC	@CWS
110	Michael Wacha	TB	SEA, @BAL
111	Jose Suarez	LAA	@TEX, @LAD
112	Brad Keller	KC	@STL
113	Caleb Smith	ARI	@SD
114	Marco Gonzales	SEA	@NYY
115	Jaime Barria	LAA	@LAD
116	Bailey Ober	MIN	@HOU
117	Chad Kuhl	PIT	@MIL
118	Garrett Richards	BOS	@DET, @TOR
119	Kolby Allard	TEX	LAA
120	Carlos Hernandez	KC	@CWS
121	Griffin Jax	MIN	@CIN
122	Reid Detmers	LAA	@LAD
123	Nick Pivetta	BOS	@TOR
124	Josiah Gray	WAS	PHI, @ATL
125	Kyle Freeland	COL	CHC, MIA
126	Eli Morgan	CLE	@TOR, DET
127	Reiss Knehr	SD	ARI
128	Chase Anderson	PHI	@WAS
129	Ranger Suarez	PHI	@WAS, NYM
130	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	@COL
131	Erick Fedde	WAS	@ATL
132	Wade LeBlanc	STL	ATL
133	Mike Foltynewicz	TEX	@OAK
134	Braxton Garrett	MIA	NYM, @COL
135	Zach Davies	CHC	@COL, CWS
136	Vladimir Gutierrez	CIN	PIT
137	J.C. Mejia	CLE	@TOR
138	Jesus Luzardo	MIA	NYM, @COL
139	Bryse Wilson	PIT	@MIL, @CIN
140	Martin Perez	BOS	@DET
141	Antonio Senzatela	COL	CHC
142	J.A. Happ	STL	ATL
143	Mitch Keller	PIT	@CIN
144	Wily Peralta	DET	BOS, @CLE
145	Max Kranick	PIT	@MIL
146	Taylor Widener	ARI	SF, @SD
147	Matt Harvey	BAL	@NYY
148	Spenser Watkins	BAL	TB
149	Jorge Lopez	BAL	@NYY, TB
150	Tyler Alexander	DET	@CLE
151	Wil Crowe	PIT	@CIN
152	Charlie Barnes	MIN	@HOU
153	Paolo Espino	WAS	PHI
154	Alec Mills	CHC	@COL
155	Jake Arrieta	CHC	@COL

American League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Gerrit Cole	NYY	BAL, SEA	Proved he can pitch without the sticky stuff so last outing was just one of those days
2	Sean Manaea	OAK	SD, TEX	29 K in 18.1 IP since the break
3	Hyun Jin Ryu	TOR	CLE, BOS
4	Robbie Ray	TOR	CLE, BOS	Continues to shove
5	Lance McCullers Jr.	HOU	@LAD, MIN	A healthy McCullers is a dominant McCullers and he's healthy… for now
6	Kenta Maeda	MIN	@CIN, @HOU	2.15 ERA and 0.82 WHIP with 36 K and just 6 BB in 29.1 IP over 5 July GS
7	Lucas Giolito	CWS	KC	1.29 ERA and .90 WHIP in 3 GS since the break
8	Chris Bassitt	OAK	TEX
9	Yusei Kikuchi	SEA	@TB, @NYY	5 HR allowed in 16 IP since the break
10	Jordan Montgomery	NYY	SEA
11	Jose Berrios	TOR	BOS
12	Andrew Heaney	NYY	BAL, SEA	Great chance to impress in pinstripes from the jump
13	Shohei Ohtani	LAA	@TEX	One of these weeks he'll actually make two starts
14	Carlos Rodon	CWS	@CHC
15	Lance Lynn	CWS	@CHC
16	Zach Plesac	CLE	@TOR, DET	Hoping to salvage 2021 with a strong 2H
17	Luis Garcia	HOU	MIN
18	Dylan Cease	CWS	KC, @CHC
19	Framber Valdez	HOU	MIN
20	Mike Minor	KC	@STL
21	Zack Greinke	HOU	MIN
22	John Means	BAL	TB
23	Cole Irvin	OAK	TEX
24	Logan Gilbert	SEA	@TB
25	Alek Manoah	TOR	BOS
26	Jameson Taillon	NYY	BAL
27	Josh Fleming	TB	SEA
28	Dane Dunning	TEX	LAA, @OAK
29	Dallas Keuchel	CWS	KC
30	Nathan Eovaldi	BOS	@TOR
31	Frankie Montas	OAK	SD	27 K in 19 IP to begin the 2H
32	Tyler Anderson	SEA	@NYY
33	Casey Mize	DET	BOS
34	Patrick Sandoval	LAA	@TEX
35	Chris Flexen	SEA	@TB, @NYY
36	Michael Pineda	MIN	@HOU
37	Luis Patino	TB	SEA	Kid gloves are off, good thing with the recent news on Tyler Glasnow
38	Cal Quantrill	CLE	DET
39	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	@BAL
40	Kris Bubic	KC	@CWS, @STL
41	Steven Matz	TOR	CLE
42	Nestor Cortes	NYY	SEA
43	Taylor Hearn	TEX	LAA
44	Shane McClanahan	TB	@BAL
45	Tanner Houck	BOS	@TOR
46	AL Reliever
47	Jordan Lyles	TEX	LAA, @OAK
48	Ross Stripling	TOR	CLE
49	Tarik Skubal	DET	BOS
50	Dylan Bundy	LAA	@TEX
51	Matt Manning	DET	@CLE
52	Jake Odorizzi	HOU	@LAD
53	Triston McKenzie	CLE	@TOR
54	Eduardo Rodriguez	BOS	@DET
55	Alexander Wells	BAL	@NYY
56	Daniel Lynch	KC	@CWS
57	Michael Wacha	TB	SEA, @BAL
58	Jose Suarez	LAA	@TEX, @LAD
59	Brad Keller	KC	@STL
60	Marco Gonzales	SEA	@NYY
61	Jaime Barria	LAA	@LAD
62	Bailey Ober	MIN	@HOU
63	Garrett Richards	BOS	@DET, @TOR
64	Kolby Allard	TEX	LAA
65	Carlos Hernandez	KC	@CWS
66	Griffin Jax	MIN	@CIN
67	Reid Detmers	LAA	@LAD
68	Nick Pivetta	BOS	@TOR
69	Eli Morgan	CLE	@TOR, DET
70	Mike Foltynewicz	TEX	@OAK
71	J.C. Mejia	CLE	@TOR
72	Martin Perez	BOS	@DET
73	Wily Peralta	DET	BOS, @CLE
74	Matt Harvey	BAL	@NYY
75	Spenser Watkins	BAL	TB
76	Jorge Lopez	BAL	@NYY, TB
77	Tyler Alexander	DET	@CLE
78	Charlie Barnes	MIN	@HOU

National League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Zack Wheeler	PHI	@WAS, NYM	Great chance to embellish Cy Young resume
2	Walker Buehler	LAD	HOU, LAA
3	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	SF
4	Anthony DeSclafani	SF	@ARI, @MIL
5	Freddy Peralta	MIL	PIT
6	Julio Urias	LAD	LAA
7	Corbin Burnes	MIL	SF
8	Yu Darvish	SD	ARI
9	Max Fried	ATL	@STL, WAS	Great setup this week
10	Max Scherzer	LAD	HOU
11	Tyler Mahle	CIN	MIN, PIT
12	Joe Musgrove	SD	@OAK
13	Adam Wainwright	STL	KC	Showing no signs of slowing down
14	Tylor Megill	NYM	@MIA, @PHI
15	Charlie Morton	ATL	WAS
16	Johnny Cueto	SF	@ARI, @MIL
17	Kevin Gausman	SF	@ARI
18	Aaron Nola	PHI	@WAS
19	Trevor Rogers	MIA	NYM
20	Kwang Hyun Kim	STL	KC
21	Zac Gallen	ARI	SF
22	Rich Hill	NYM	@MIA
23	David Price	LAD	LAA
24	Marcus Stroman	NYM	@PHI
25	Carlos Carrasco	NYM	@MIA
26	Madison Bumgarner	ARI	SF, @SD
27	Luis Castillo	CIN	MIN	Strikeouts beginning to pile up
28	Merrill Kelly	ARI	SF
29	Kyle Gibson	PHI	NYM	10 BB over last 11 IP
30	Taijuan Walker	NYM	@MIA, @PHI	Needs to get it together for Mets to fend off Braves and Phillies.
31	Sonny Gray	CIN	PIT	Excellent chance to turn things around
32	Adrian Houser	MIL	PIT
33	Wade Miley	CIN	PIT	Sorry, but still expecting regression. Peripherals don't support ratios.
34	Touki Toussaint	ATL	@STL
35	Austin Gomber	COL	MIA	Picking up where he left off pre-injury
36	Alex Wood	SF	@ARI
37	Eric Lauer	MIL	PIT
38	Adbert Alzolay	CHC	CWS
39	German Marquez	COL	MIA
40	Kyle Muller	ATL	WAS
41	JT Brubaker	PIT	@CIN
42	Drew Smyly	ATL	@STL
43	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	CWS
44	Joe Ross	WAS	PHI
45	NL Reliever
46	Logan Webb	SF	@MIL
47	Jon Lester	STL	ATL, KC
48	Zach Thompson	MIA	NYM
49	Ryan Weathers	SD	ARI
50	Brett Anderson	MIL	SF
51	Blake Snell	SD	@OAK
52	Patrick Corbin	WAS	PHI, @ATL
53	Jon Gray	COL	CHC
54	Caleb Smith	ARI	@SD
55	Chad Kuhl	PIT	@MIL
56	Josiah Gray	WAS	PHI, @ATL
57	Kyle Freeland	COL	CHC, MIA
58	Reiss Knehr	SD	ARI
59	Chase Anderson	PHI	@WAS
60	Ranger Suarez	PHI	@WAS, NYM
61	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	@COL
62	Erick Fedde	WAS	@ATL
63	Wade LeBlanc	STL	ATL
64	Braxton Garrett	MIA	NYM, @COL
65	Zach Davies	CHC	@COL, CWS
66	Vladimir Gutierrez	CIN	PIT
67	Jesus Luzardo	MIA	NYM, @COL
68	Bryse Wilson	PIT	@MIL, @CIN
69	Antonio Senzatela	COL	CHC
70	J.A. Happ	STL	ATL
71	Mitch Keller	PIT	@CIN
72	Max Kranick	PIT	@MIL
73	Taylor Widener	ARI	SF, @SD
74	Wil Crowe	PIT	@CIN
75	Paolo Espino	WAS	PHI
76	Alec Mills	CHC	@COL
77	Jake Arrieta	CHC	@COL