Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Lefty Two-Step for Lester

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Updated on June 4, 2016 1:09PM EST

As always, remember that rotations are subject to change, so if you see something that looks incorrect, assume that it was a change that occurred since this was written and feel free to politely bring it up in the comments. I'll let you know where the new arm slots.

For the week June 6-12

AMERICAN LEAGUE

START

RANK	PITCHER	OPPONENT	COMMENT
1	Chris Sale	KC	Ks lagged early on, but now has 23 in his last 19.3 IP (10.7 K/9)
2	David Price	at SF
3	Rich Hill	at CIN	Stay tuned for news on the mild groin strain suffered vs. DET, but w/health he's been awesome
4	Danny Salazar	at SEA	I'd worry more about the huge BB rate if it wasn't accompanied by the 0.5 HR/9 rate (down from career 1.1 entering this yr)
5	Cole Hamels	HOU, at SEA
6	Corey Kluber	at LAA
7	Justin Verlander	at NYY	Since he got ripped for 7 ER at CLE: 1.91 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, and 44 Ks in 37.7 IP; 3.04 ERA in last 171.7 IP dating back to last yr
8	Jose Quintana	KC	Two months into th elevated K rate (career-best 24%), but it's still a little suspect w/a dropin SwStr, too
9	Masahiro Tanaka	LAA, DET
10	Carlos Carrasco	at SEA, at LAA	Not getting the normal 2-start bump just yet as he was limited to 78 pitches in his return and could scale up to 100+ w/tighter counts in these games
11	Lance McCullers	at

For the week June 6-12

AMERICAN LEAGUE

START

RANK	PITCHER	OPPONENT	COMMENT
1	Chris Sale	KC	Ks lagged early on, but now has 23 in his last 19.3 IP (10.7 K/9)
2	David Price	at SF
3	Rich Hill	at CIN	Stay tuned for news on the mild groin strain suffered vs. DET, but w/health he's been awesome
4	Danny Salazar	at SEA	I'd worry more about the huge BB rate if it wasn't accompanied by the 0.5 HR/9 rate (down from career 1.1 entering this yr)
5	Cole Hamels	HOU, at SEA
6	Corey Kluber	at LAA
7	Justin Verlander	at NYY	Since he got ripped for 7 ER at CLE: 1.91 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, and 44 Ks in 37.7 IP; 3.04 ERA in last 171.7 IP dating back to last yr
8	Jose Quintana	KC	Two months into th elevated K rate (career-best 24%), but it's still a little suspect w/a dropin SwStr, too
9	Masahiro Tanaka	LAA, DET
10	Carlos Carrasco	at SEA, at LAA	Not getting the normal 2-start bump just yet as he was limited to 78 pitches in his return and could scale up to 100+ w/tighter counts in these games
11	Lance McCullers	at TB
12	Yu Darvish	HOU	Not quite as good in his second start, but stuff looking great and all systems are go now
13	Jordan Zimmermann	TOR
14	Drew Smyly	HOU	Blasted twice in a row and in 3 of last 5 w/a 2.4 HR/9 in those five starts; injury lingering? Sadly that's the first question anytime he struggles
15	Jake Odorizzi	at ARI
16	Chris Archer	at ARI, HOU
17	Steven Wright	at MIN	Since HOU got him for his only bad start of the year: 2.63 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in 24 IP; avg'ing 7 IP/start
18	Marco Estrada	BAL
19	Kevin Gausman	at TOR	Now 4+ ER in three of last four
20	Taijuan Walker	CLE
21	Chris Tillman	KC
22	Aaron Sanchez	at DET, BAL	A 5% BB in his last three starts (20.3 IP): just a hot run or progress? Still viable even w/the BBs
23	Nathan Eovaldi	LAA	Smash job at BAL broke up run of 2.03 ERA in five starts; maybe just sit at BOS and at BAL?
24	Hisashi Iwakuma	TEX
25	Ian Kennedy	at CWS
26	Nate Karns	CLE
27	CC Sabathia	DET	Last five: 1.69 ERA and 0.91 WHIP with 30 Ks in 32 IP
28	J.A. Happ	at DET, BAL	Skills aren't on par with his run w/PIT at all, but he's getting results; just be careful
29	Danny Duffy	at BAL, at CWS
30	Dallas Keuchel	at TEX, at TB	Back-to-back QS and three of four, maybe something to build….?
31	Marcus Stroman	BAL	There's still plenty of upside, but upside isn't a fantasy category so he's not a true must-start with this 16% K rate; wouldn't cut him anywhere, though (obviously)
32	R.A. Dickey	at DET	Now has a 2.74 ERA in his last seven starts
33	Josh Tomlin	at SEA
34	Michael Pineda	LAA, DET
35	Michael Fulmer	TOR, at NYY	Looking really good through 7 MLB starts: 3.24 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 25% K, and 50% GB rate
36	Mike Fiers	at TEX, at TB
37	Matt Shoemaker	at NYY, CLE
38	Sean Manaea	at MIL, at CIN
39	Rick Porcello	at SF, at MIN	About those April Ks (9.9)… has just 6.3 K/9 since; has allowed multiple runs in all but 2 starts
40	Ervin Santana	BOS	Usually a perfectly solid option, especially in the thin AL, but I wouldn't blame you for sitting him vs. BOS
41	Collin McHugh	at TEX
42	Eduardo Rodriguez	at MIN	Solid in his return at BAL (6 IP/2 ER); love the offensive support, but the bullpen support is remarkably offensive
43	Trevor Bauer	at SEA, at LAA	Has a 4.14 ERA in seven starts in the rotation which qualifies as useful in the AL this year
44	Carlos Rodon	WAS	Not ready for the breakthrough many of us thought he could have this year, but this was well in the range of outcomes; stash where you can, but far from a must-start
45	Jesse Hahn	at MIL
46	Jhoulys Chacin	CLE
47	Nicholas Tropeano	at NYY	The fifth inning is often the final hump for starters and a big struggle for Trop right now: 1.119 OPS
48	Martin Perez	HOU
49	Colby Lewis	HOU, at SEA	He's allowed more than 3 ER in just two starts; I'm admittedly terrified of him bc a 6+ ER outing is seemingly alwaysaround the corner, but if you can avoid that landmine…
50	Wade Miley	CLE, TEX	I'm officially divorced from Miley, I'm over it
51	Doug Fister	at TEX	Has a 2.73 ERA in his last nine starts and is just a single out shy of a QS in all of them
52	Matt Boyd	TOR	Solid in two starts, but more of a watchlist guy than someone I'm picking up and starting right away
53	Matt Andriese	HOU
53	Matt Moore	at ARI
54	Ivan Nova	LAA

SIT

RANK	PITCHER	OPPONENT	COMMENT
55	Edinson Volquez	at BAL	Not good enough to trust at BAL
56	James Paxton	CLE, TEX
57	Pat Dean	MIA, BOS	I don't really buy his success, but even if I did I wouldn't start him against BOS
58	Hector Santiago	at NYY, CLE
59	Miguel Gonzalez	WAS
60	Tyler Duffey	BOS
61	Ricky Nolasco	MIA
62	Ubaldo Jimenez	KC, at TOR
63	Derek Holland	at SEA
64	Yordano Ventura	at BAL
65	Phil Hughes	MIA
66	Kendall Graveman	at CIN
67	Chris Young	at CWS
68	Tyler Wilson	at TOR
69	Mat Latos	WAS, KC
70	Jered Weaver	at NYY
71	Mike Pelfrey	at NYY
72	Mike Wright or replacement	KC, at TOR

NATIONAL LEAGUE

START

Rank	Pitcher	Opponent(s)	Comments
1	Jon Lester	at PHI, at ATL	Matchups against the worst and second-worst teams in the league vs. lefties earns Lester the top spot this week
2	Clayton Kershaw	at SF	The only time he's not in the top spot is when another ace has two starts and even then, it's not guaranteed if that ace's matchups aren't great
3	Jake Arrieta	at ATL
4	Stephen Strasburg	PHI
5	Jose Fernandez	at ARI	After his first BB-free game of the year, he now has just 2 BB in his last 20 IP (and 27 Ks)
6	Noah Syndergaard	at PIT
7	Max Scherzer	at CWS	Hard to remember after the 2013-15 run, but HRs have been in his history: 1.1 HR/9 (and 3.88 ERA) in first 804.7 IP; should come down from 1.8 HR/9, but they won't necessarily auto-correct to 0.9 of 2013-15
8	Madison Bumgarner	BOS
9	Steven Matz	at PIT, at MIL
10	Jacob deGrom	at PIT, at MIL	I said the Ks were coming back in 5/21 edition and he has outings of 7, 7, and 10 since; the SwStr% was always encouraging
11	Johnny Cueto	LAD
12	Zack Greinke	TB	Enjoyed his best start of the season at HOU with seven scoreless and 11 Ks
13	Drew Pomeranz	ATL	5 of 6 ER came in one bad inning at ARI; it wasn't BBs, either, as he had just 1 in that awful 2nd inn.; developing into a stud
14	Jeff Samardzija	LAD
15	Gerrit Cole	STL
16	Matt Harvey	at MIL	His best start of the season yielded a 78 game score, his previous three starts combined were 75; he gets a boost, but not allthe way back up to previous heights just yet
17	John Lackey	at PHI	His strikeout surge has continued and it's supported by a spike in SwStr rate
18	Aaron Nola	at WAS	We're now 149.7 innings into his career and posted a 3.25 ERA and 1.07 WHIP; he's arrived as expected: very polished
19	Jason Hammel	at ATL
20	Vince Velasquez	CHC
21	Joe Ross	at CWS, PHI	Riding back-to-back 7 IP/1 ER efforts into a two-start week
22	Julio Teheran	at SD
23	Tanner Roark	PHI	Since getting ripped by MIA for 7 ER, he has a 1.74 ERA in 20.7 IP; he's replicating '14 except trading some BBs for Ks which is of course what we wanted in fantasy
24	Kyle Hendricks	at PHI
25	Jaime Garcia	at CIN
26	Jimmy Nelson	NYM
27	Wei-Yin Chen	at MIN	Has a 3.72 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and 31 Ks in 29 IP since his 0 K game vs. PHI
28	Gio Gonzalez	at CWS
29	Kenta Maeda	COL	Fanned 6+ just once in April, but in five of six starts in May; he's a got 2.73 ERA and 0.91 WHIP in his L3, too
30	Scott Kazmir	at SF
31	Adam Wainwright	at CIN	Now has a 3.03 ERA in his last four starts going at least 6 IP in all of them and more than 6 in three of four
32	Adam Conley	at MIN, at ARI
33	Carlos Martinez	at PIT	He hasn't been great, but keeps showing enough to stay interested in all formats
34	Jeremy Hellickson	at WAS
35	Brandon Finnegan	STL
36	Junior Guerra	NYM
37	Dan Straily	OAK	6 IP/5 ER is actually "surviving" in Coors, espec. w/just one bad inning; keep him on the radar
38	Mike Leake	at CIN, at PIT
39	Juan Nicasio	NYM, STL
40	Jon Gray	SD
41	Tyler Chatwood	at LAD, SD	His 58% GB rate mitigates some of the concern over his meager 16% K rate
42	Eddie Butler	at LAD, SD
43	Bartolo Colon	at MIL	He's basically a set-it-and-forget-it guy save the obviously awful matches like at COL
44	Matt Wisler	CHC	Wisler and Eickhoff have both shown some promise, but it's tough running any mid-tier or below arm up against CHC
45	Jerad Eickhoff	CHC
46	Francisco Liriano	NYM
47	Patrick Corbin	MIA
48	Julio Urias	COL	He's opened with at NYM and at CHC and it's gone about as expected; COL away from Coors isn't so bad
49	Archie Bradley	TB	Now three strong outings since recall including at COL and at CHC; remember, he was a big-time prospect; worth watchlisting, at least
50	Chad Bettis	PIT
51	Robbie Ray	TB, MIA
52	Jon Niese	NYM, STL	Don't look now, but Niese has a 2.64 ERA in his last five starts and he's an inning shy of a QS in all five; keep an eye out, Searage's magic might've just needed some time
53	Chase Anderson	OAK
54	Michael Wacha	at PIT	I'm still worried that he's ailing, but survived a baseline QS at WAS w/6 Ks
55	John Lamb	STL, OAK	Of course, he goes 7 IP/1 ER at Coors because that's baseball in a nutshell: expect the unexpected
56	Colin Rea	ATL
57	Mike Bolsinger	COL, at SF

SIT

RANK	PITCHER	OPPONENT	COMMENT
58	Mike Foltynewicz	CHC	He's on the watchlist: pumps 95 mph, cut his BB% to 6%, and four of his six starts have been good; can't start vs. CHC, but keep an eye
59	James Shields	at COL	Oh man, if the owner was mad at his laststart….
60	Christian Friedrich	ATL, at COL	Any excitement over the gaudy 2.53 ERA is tamped down by the reality check of a 1.68 WHIP, I'm not letting that into Coors for the Regression Monster to get fat on
61	Andrew Cashner	at COL	LOL, yeah right
62	Chris Stratton	BOS
63	Tom Koehler	at MIN
64	Jake Peavy	LAD
65	Adam Morgan	CHC, at WAS
66	Wily Peralta	NYM
67	Jon Moscot	OAK
68	Williams Perez	at SD, CHC
69	Zach Davies	OAK, NYM
70	Aaron Blair	at SD
71	Chris Rusin	at LAD
72	Jeff Locke	at COL
73	Justin Nicolino	at ARI
74	Edwin Escobar	MIA
75	Alfredo Simon	STL

MLB TOP 100

RANK	PITCHER	OPPONENT	COMMENT
1	Jon Lester	at PHI, at ATL	Matchups against the worst and second-worst teams in the league vs. lefties earns Lester the top spot this week
2	Clayton Kershaw	at SF	The only time he's not in the top spot is when another ace has two starts and even then, it's not guaranteed if that ace's matchups aren't great
3	Jake Arrieta	at ATL
4	Stephen Strasburg	PHI
5	Jose Fernandez	at ARI	After his first BB-free game of the year, he now has just 2 BB in his last 20 IP (and 27 Ks)
6	Noah Syndergaard	at PIT
7	Chris Sale	KC	Ks lagged early on, but now has 23 in his last 19.3 IP (10.7 K/9)
8	David Price	at SF
9	Rich Hill	at CIN	Stay tuned for news on the mild groin strain suffered vs. DET, but w/health he's been awesome
10	Danny Salazar	at SEA	I'd worry more about the huge BB rate if it wasn't accompanied by the 0.5 HR/9 rate (down from career 1.1 entering this yr)
11	Cole Hamels	HOU, at SEA
12	Max Scherzer	at CWS	Hard to remember after the 2013-15 run, but HRs have been in his history: 1.1 HR/9 (and 3.88 ERA) in first 804.7 IP; should come down from 1.8 HR/9, but they won't necessarily auto-correct to 0.9 of 2013-15
13	Madison Bumgarner	BOS
14	Steven Matz	at PIT, at MIL
15	Jacob deGrom	at PIT, at MIL	I said the Ks were coming back in 5/21 edition and he has outings of 7, 7, and 10 since; the SwStr% was always encouraging
16	Corey Kluber	at LAA
17	Justin Verlander	at NYY	Since he got ripped for 7 ER at CLE: 1.91 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, and 44 Ks in 37.7 IP; 3.04 ERA in last 171.7 IP dating back to last yr
18	Johnny Cueto	LAD
19	Zack Greinke	TB	Enjoyed his best start of the season at HOU with seven scoreless and 11 Ks
20	Drew Pomeranz	ATL	5 of 6 ER came in one bad inning at ARI; it wasn't BBs, either, as he had just 1 in that awful 2nd inn.; developing into a stud
21	Jeff Samardzija	LAD
22	Gerrit Cole	STL
23	Matt Harvey	at MIL	His best start of the season yielded a 78 game score, his previous three starts combined were 75; he gets a boost, but not allthe way back up to previous heights just yet
24	John Lackey	at PHI	His strikeout surge has continued and it's supported by a spike in SwStr rate
25	Jose Quintana	KC	Two months into th elevated K rate (career-best 24%), but it's still a little suspect w/a dropin SwStr, too
26	Aaron Nola	at WAS	We're now 149.7 innings into his career and posted a 3.25 ERA and 1.07 WHIP; he's arrived as expected: very polished
27	Jason Hammel	at ATL
28	Vince Velasquez	CHC
29	Masahiro Tanaka	LAA, DET
30	Carlos Carrasco	at SEA, at LAA	Not getting the normal 2-start bump just yet as he was limited to 78 pitches in his return and could scale up to 100+ w/tighter counts in these games
31	Joe Ross	at CWS, PHI	Riding back-to-back 7 IP/1 ER efforts into a two-start week
32	Lance McCullers	at TB
33	Yu Darvish	HOU	Not quite as good in his second start, but stuff looking great and all systems are go now
34	Jordan Zimmermann	TOR
35	Drew Smyly	HOU	Blasted twice in a row and in 3 of last 5 w/a 2.4 HR/9 in those five starts; injury lingering? Sadly that's the first question anytime he struggles
36	Julio Teheran	at SD
37	Tanner Roark	PHI	Since getting ripped by MIA for 7 ER, he has a 1.74 ERA in 20.7 IP; he's replicating '14 except trading some BBs for Ks which is of course what we wanted in fantasy
38	Kyle Hendricks	at PHI
39	Jake Odorizzi	at ARI
40	Jaime Garcia	at CIN
41	Jimmy Nelson	NYM
42	Chris Archer	at ARI, HOU
43	Steven Wright	at MIN	Since HOU got him for his only bad start of the year: 2.63 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in 24 IP; avg'ing 7 IP/start
44	Marco Estrada	BAL
45	Wei-Yin Chen	at MIN	Has a 3.72 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and 31 Ks in 29 IP since his 0 K game vs. PHI
46	Gio Gonzalez	at CWS
47	Kenta Maeda	COL	Fanned 6+ just once in April, but in five of six starts in May; he's a got 2.73 ERA and 0.91 WHIP in his L3, too
48	Scott Kazmir	at SF
49	Kevin Gausman	at TOR	Now 4+ ER in three of last four
50	Taijuan Walker	CLE
51	Adam Wainwright	at CIN	Now has a 3.03 ERA in his last four starts going at least 6 IP in all of them and more than 6 in three of four
52	Aaron Sanchez	at DET, BAL	A 5% BB in his last three starts (20.3 IP): just a hot run or progress? Still viable even w/the BBs
53	Nathan Eovaldi	LAA	Smash job at BAL broke up run of 2.03 ERA in five starts; maybe just sit at BOS and at BAL?
54	Adam Conley	at MIN, at ARI
55	Carlos Martinez	at PIT	He hasn't been great, but keeps showing enough to stay interested in all formats
56	Jeremy Hellickson	at WAS
57	Brandon Finnegan	STL
58	Chris Tillman	KC
59	Hisashi Iwakuma	TEX
60	Ian Kennedy	at CWS
61	Junior Guerra	NYM
62	Dan Straily	OAK	6 IP/5 ER is actually "surviving" in Coors, espec. w/just one bad inning; keep him on the radar
63	Nate Karns	CLE
64	CC Sabathia	DET	Last five: 1.69 ERA and 0.91 WHIP with 30 Ks in 32 IP
65	J.A. Happ	at DET, BAL	Skills aren't on par with his run w/PIT at all, but he's getting results; just be careful
66	Danny Duffy	at BAL, at CWS
67	Dallas Keuchel	at TEX, at TB	Back-to-back QS and three of four, maybe something to build….?
68	Mike Leake	at CIN, at PIT
69	Juan Nicasio	NYM, STL
70	Marcus Stroman	BAL	There's still plenty of upside, but upside isn't a fantasy category so he's not a true must-start with this 16% K rate; wouldn't cut him anywhere, though (obviously)
71	R.A. Dickey	at DET	Now has a 2.74 ERA in his last seven starts
72	Josh Tomlin	at SEA
73	Michael Pineda	LAA, DET
74	Michael Fulmer	TOR, at NYY	Looking really good through 7 MLB starts: 3.24 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 25% K, and 50% GB rate
75	Matt Shoemaker	at NYY, CLE
76	Sean Manaea	at MIL, at CIN
77	Mike Fiers	at TEX, at TB
78	Rick Porcello	at SF, at MIN	About those April Ks (9.9)… has just 6.3 K/9 since; has allowed multiple runs in all but 2 starts
79	Jon Gray	SD
80	Tyler Chatwood	at LAD, SD	His 58% GB rate mitigates some of the concern over his meager 16% K rate
81	Eddie Butler	at LAD, SD
82	Bartolo Colon	at MIL	He's basically a set-it-and-forget-it guy save the obviously awful matches like at COL
83	Matt Wisler	CHC	Wisler and Eickhoff have both shown some promise, but it's tough running any mid-tier or below arm up against CHC
84	Jerad Eickhoff	CHC
85	Francisco Liriano	NYM
85	Ervin Santana	BOS	Usually a perfectly solid option, especially in the thin AL, but I wouldn't blame you for sitting him vs. BOS
86	Collin McHugh	at TEX
87	Eduardo Rodriguez	at MIN	Solid in his return at BAL (6 IP/2 ER); love the offensive support, but the bullpen support is remarkably offensive
88	Trevor Bauer	at SEA, at LAA	Has a 4.14 ERA in seven starts in the rotation which qualifies as useful in the AL this year
89	Carlos Rodon	WAS	Not ready for the breakthrough many of us thought he could have this year, but this was well in the range of outcomes; stash where you can, but far from a must-start
90	Patrick Corbin	MIA
91	Julio Urias	COL	He's opened with at NYM and at CHC and it's gone about as expected; COL away from Coors isn't so bad
92	Archie Bradley	TB	Now three strong outings since recall including at COL and at CHC; remember, he was a big-time prospect; worth watchlisting, at least
93	Jesse Hahn	at MIL
94	Jhoulys Chacin	CLE
96	Nicholas Tropeano	at NYY	The fifth inning is often the final hump for starters and a big struggle for Trop right now: 1.119 OPS
97	Martin Perez	HOU
98	Colby Lewis	HOU, at SEA	He's allowed more than 3 ER in just two starts; I'm admittedly terrified of him bc a 6+ ER outing is seemingly alwaysaround the corner, but if you can avoid that landmine…
99	Wade Miley	CLE, TEX	I'm officially divorced from Miley, I'm over it
100	Doug Fister	at TEX	Has a 2.73 ERA in his last nine starts and is just a single out shy of a QS in all of them