Weekly Pitcher Rankings: Max Output

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Updated on August 6, 2016 7:39PM 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 Aug. 8-14

AMERICAN LEAGUE

START

RANK	PITCHER	OPPONENT	COMMENT
1	Chris Sale	at KC, at MIA	Even amidst the turmoil, he has a 1.64 ERA with 20 Ks in 22 IP over his last 3 starts
2	Cole Hamels	at COL, DET	Not a great two-pack, but Hamels has been rolling since the break (1.59 ERA, 29 Ks in 28.3 IP)
3	Michael Fulmer	at SEA, at TEX
4	Justin Verlander	at SEA
5	Matt Shoemaker	at CLE
6	Aaron Sanchez	HOU	TOR wisely keeping him in the rotation and expanding to a 6-man
7	Danny Duffy	at MIN	Since June 1, he has the 18th-best ERA, 9th-best WHIP, 7th-best K% and 17th-best BB%; stud
8	Corey Kluber	LAA
9	Carlos Carrasco	LAA	Allowed 7 ER in July and then 8 ER in his first August start; not sure it's any more than a rotten start
10	Masahiro Tanaka	TB
11	Jose Quintana	at KC
12	Yu Darvish	DET
13	David Price	ARI	Was brilliant through 7, allowing 3 H and 0 ER before a 4 H/4 ER 8th inn.; it's not like he was taxed at 91 pitches going into 8th
14	Rick Porcello	NYY, ARI
15

For the week Aug. 8-14

AMERICAN LEAGUE

START

RANK	PITCHER	OPPONENT	COMMENT
1	Chris Sale	at KC, at MIA	Even amidst the turmoil, he has a 1.64 ERA with 20 Ks in 22 IP over his last 3 starts
2	Cole Hamels	at COL, DET	Not a great two-pack, but Hamels has been rolling since the break (1.59 ERA, 29 Ks in 28.3 IP)
3	Michael Fulmer	at SEA, at TEX
4	Justin Verlander	at SEA
5	Matt Shoemaker	at CLE
6	Aaron Sanchez	HOU	TOR wisely keeping him in the rotation and expanding to a 6-man
7	Danny Duffy	at MIN	Since June 1, he has the 18th-best ERA, 9th-best WHIP, 7th-best K% and 17th-best BB%; stud
8	Corey Kluber	LAA
9	Carlos Carrasco	LAA	Allowed 7 ER in July and then 8 ER in his first August start; not sure it's any more than a rotten start
10	Masahiro Tanaka	TB
11	Jose Quintana	at KC
12	Yu Darvish	DET
13	David Price	ARI	Was brilliant through 7, allowing 3 H and 0 ER before a 4 H/4 ER 8th inn.; it's not like he was taxed at 91 pitches going into 8th
14	Rick Porcello	NYY, ARI
15	Jake Odorizzi	at TOR, at NYY
16	J.A. Happ	TB
17	Dallas Keuchel	at MIN	Rough 1st inn at DET is only hiccup in a 9-start run during which he has a 3.13 ERA over 60.3 IP (2.28 ERA in the other 59.3 IP)
18	Chris Tillman	at OAK
19	Chris Archer	at NYY
20	Steven Wright	NYY	Just keeps plugging away and whenever he has a bad start, he seems to rebound with 2-3 solid ones; shutout at LAD on 8/5
21	Marco Estrada	TB	One wonky start at OAK is the only mark on his ledger over his last 6: 3.29 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 43 Ks and 8.6 K:BB ratio in 41 IP
22	Marcus Stroman	HOU
23	James Paxton	at OAK
24	Kevin Gausman	at OAK, at SF	Boosted his rank because of 2 friendly venues for the HR-happy Gausman
25	Dylan Bundy	at SF
26	Taijuan Walker	at OAK	Keep an eye on him Saturday, if he looks lke the Walker we're used to, bump him 5-6 spots
27	Felix Hernandez	DET
28	Sean Manaea	SEA	Has earned enough trust not to run away after any bad start: 3.43 ERA, 58 Ks and 4.5 K:BB ratio in last 60.3 IP despite some duds mixed in
29	Trevor Bauer	at WAS, LAA	After 6 starts of 0-2 ER, he's allowed 22 ER in his last 23.7 IP; shades of Michael Pineda here
30	Matt Andriese	at NYY
31	Drew Pomeranz	NYY	It's been 2 good, 2 bad so far with BOS: 5, 2, 5 and 2 ER; 21 K in 20.3 IP, but also 12 BB and 5 HR
32	Hisashi Iwakuma	DET, at OAK
33	Edinson Volquez	CWS, at MIN
34	Blake Snell	at TOR
35	Carlos Rodon	at MIA
36	Drew Smyly	at TOR
37	Luis Severino	at BOS, TB	Excellent pen work since recall (0.00 ERA in 8.3 IP with 10 Ks) has earned him a return to the rotation
38	Doug Fister	at MIN
39	Michael Pineda	at BOS
40	Tyler Skaggs	at CLE
41	Josh Tomlin	LAA	HRs starting to catch up: 4.59 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 13 HR over his last 51 IP
42	Joe Musgrove	at TOR	Scintillating debut (4.3 IP, 1 H, 8 Ks) for the injured Lance McCullers leads to him replacing the injured righty
43	Ervin Santana	HOU
44	CC Sabathia	TB
45	Sonny Gray	BAL
46	Jordan Zimmermann	at SEA	Looked rusty in DL return so much so that some thought he might still be hurt, thankfully tests came back clean on that end
47	Mike Fiers	at MIN, at TOR	Since that blowup at OAK: 2.33 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 15 Ks and just 2 BB
48	Jose Berrios	HOU
49	Eduardo Rodriguez	ARI
50	Ian Kennedy	CWS
51	R.A. Dickey	TB	Previous starts are rarely an indication of future performance with knuckleballers, which makes them maddening to deal with
52	Collin McHugh	at MIN, at TOR
53	Yordano Ventura	at MIN
54	A.J. Griffin	at COL, DET	Awful pair of starts for the super HR prone Griffin
55	James Shields	at MIA	The 2.94 ERA over his last 8 starts is muted by the 25/18 K:BB ratio
56	Hector Santiago	HOU, KC
57	Kyle Gibson	KC	Was looking solid over 8 starts (3.53 ERA) before a shellacking at CLE (4.7 IP/6 ER)
58	Jharel Cotton	BAL, SEA
59	Kendall Graveman	BAL, SEA
60	Anibal Sanchez	at TEX
61	Nathan Eovaldi	at BOS
62	Tyler Duffey	HOU, KC
63	Martin Perez	COL
64	Mike Clevinger	at WAS
65	Matt Boyd	at TEX
66	Dillon Overton	BAL
67	Yovani Gallardo	at OAK
68	Wade Miley	at OAK, at SF
69	Ricky Nolasco	at CHC
70	Francisco Liriano	HOU
71	Miguel Gonzalez	at KC
72	Ariel Miranda	DET
73	Dillon Gee	CWS
73	Lucas Harrell	COL
74	Jered Weaver	at CHC, at CLE

NATIONAL LEAGUE

START

RANK	PITCHER	OPPONENT	COMMENT
1	Max Scherzer	CLE, ATL	Stifling HR of late (0.7 HR/9 in L7 starts) yielding super-elite results: 1.46 ERA, 0.77 WHIP and 60 Ks in 49.3 IP
2	Jose Fernandez	SF, CWS
3	Johnny Cueto	at MIA, BAL	Identical or even a tick better than he was with Cincy last year when he was a Cy Young frontrunner before the trade to KC
4	Stephen Strasburg	ATL
5	Madison Bumgarner	BAL
6	Jacob deGrom	SD	Has allowed just 8 ER in his last 46.7 IP and 5 of those were in a bad start at MIA (46 Ks, 5.8 K:BB)
7	Noah Syndergaard	ARI	Clearly not as sharp as his peak-self and yet still has a 3.49 ERA and 34 Ks in his last 28.3 IP
8	Steven Matz	ARI, SD
9	Jake Arrieta	STL	BBs are up, but it's not really impacting the bottom line
10	Gerrit Cole	at LAD
11	Tanner Roark	ATL	Toting a 2.72 ERA in his last 49.7 IP with both hiccup outings coming because of the HR (2 v. SD & ARI)
12	Kyle Hendricks	STL	Insane 0.79 ERA over his last 34.4 IP and all 3 ER were in one start!
13	Carlos Martinez	at CHC
14	Adam Wainwright	at CHC
15	Jon Lester	STL
16	Zack Greinke	at NYM, at BOS	Slated to return Tuesday and gets a two-start off the jump; ranking him a little conservatively out of the gate
17	Jason Hammel	LAA, STL
18	Junior Guerra	ATL, CIN
19	Michael Wacha	CIN, at CHC	Hasn't allowed more than 3 ER in any of his last 10, but it's mostly 2s & 3s: 3.45 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 48 Ks in 60 IP
20	Zach Davies	ATL, CIN
21	Jon Gray	at PHI	I wrote about Gray over at FanGraphs
22	Vincent Velasquez	at LAD
23	Kenta Maeda	PHI
24	Anthony DeSclafani	at STL	Has gone at least 6 IP in 8 of his last 9 starts: 3.07 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 54 Ks and 5.4 K:BB ratio in 58.7 IP
25	Matt Moore	at MIA
26	Adam Conley	CWS
27	John Lackey	LAA	Opened July with back-to-back 5 ER outings, but he's rebounded with a 3.67 ERA, 25 Ks and 5.0 K:BB ratio in his last 27 IP
28	Jeremy Hellickson	at LAD
29	Jaime Garcia	CIN
30	Jameson Taillon	SD
31	Brandon McCarthy	PHI, PIT	There is no truth to the rumor that the Dodgers traded for Rich Hill so that McCarthy could feel like "the healthy one"
32	Tyler Anderson	TEX, at PHI	He's survived Coors even with a .367 BABIP: 3.32 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 8.5 K and 4.1 K:BB in 43.3 IP
33	Jeff Samardzija	at MIA
34	Mike Leake	CIN, at CHC
35	Rich Hill	PIT	I'll believe it when I see it at this point
36	Jerad Eickhoff	COL
37	Gio Gonzalez	CLE
38	Brandon Finnegan	at STL	Such a hot-cold SP, but that pretty much describes any developing 23-year old: 8, 5, 2, 6, 0 and 0 ER over his last six
39	Dan Straily	at MIL
40	Andrew Cashner	CWS
41	Scott Kazmir	PHI	A solid, if unspectacular strikeout asset; hasn't allowed >4 ER in his last 13: 3.99 ERA, 78 Ks in 70 IP
42	Robbie Ray	at NYM
43	Jimmy Nelson	CIN
44	Bartolo Colon	ARI
45	Ivan Nova	at LAD	Check out his debut for PIT on Saturday; eager to see how he fares in a pitcher-friendly NL park
46	Homer Bailey	at MIL	Velocity up 2 mph compared to last yr (though still a tick off 2013-14 level); intrigued by him, but TJ returners are inconsistent
47	Chase Anderson	ATL
48	Tyler Chatwood	TEX, at PHI	Really only using if I can split the starts: 5.72 ERA at home, 1.30 on the road
49	Tom Koehler	SF
50	Jake Thompson	COL
51	Logan Verrett	SD	Allowed 5 ER in his first start since joining the rotation, but since has a 3.86 ERA in 23.3 IP, though just 16 Ks
52	Mike Foltynewicz	at MIL
53	Braden Shipley	at NYM
54	Archie Bradley	at BOS
55	Zach Eflin	at LAD, COL
56	Ross Stripling	PIT	Looks like he's going to take the spot that many believed Jose De Leon might get a chance at securing
57	Jarred Cosart	at NYM
58	Christian Friedrich	at PIT
59	David Phelps	SF
60	Cody Reed	at STL, at MIL
61	Tyrell Jenkins	at MIL, at WAS
62	Matt Wisler	at WAS
63	Luis Perdomo	at PIT, at NYM
64	Rob Whalen	at MIL, at WAS
65	Matt Garza	ATL
66	Patrick Corbin	at BOS
67	Edwin Jackson	at PIT
68	Chad Bettis	at TEX
69	Matt Cain	BAL
70	Ryan Vogelsong	SD
71	Paul Clemens	at NYM
72	Jeff Locke	SD, at LAD
73	Jorge De La Rosa	at TEX
74	Joel De La Cruz	at MIL

MLB TOP 100

RANK	PITCHER	OPPONENT	COMMENT
1	Max Scherzer	CLE, ATL	Stifling HR of late (0.7 HR/9 in L7 starts) yielding super-elite results: 1.46 ERA, 0.77 WHIP and 60 Ks in 49.3 IP
2	Jose Fernandez	SF, CWS
3	Johnny Cueto	at MIA, BAL	Identical or even a tick better than he was with Cincy last year when he was a Cy Young frontrunner before the trade to KC
4	Chris Sale	at KC, at MIA	Even amidst the turmoil, he has a 1.64 ERA with 20 Ks in 22 IP over his last 3 starts
5	Cole Hamels	at COL, DET	Not a great two-pack, but Hamels has been rolling since the break (1.59 ERA, 29 Ks in 28.3 IP)
6	Stephen Strasburg	ATL
7	Madison Bumgarner	BAL
8	Jacob deGrom	SD	Has allowed just 8 ER in his last 46.7 IP and 5 of those were in a bad start at MIA (46 Ks, 5.8 K:BB)
9	Michael Fulmer	at SEA, at TEX
10	Justin Verlander	at SEA
11	Noah Syndergaard	ARI	Clearly not as sharp as his peak-self and yet still has a 3.49 ERA and 34 Ks in his last 28.3 IP
12	Steven Matz	ARI, SD
13	Jake Arrieta	STL
14	Matt Shoemaker	at CLE
15	Aaron Sanchez	HOU	TOR wisely keeping him in the rotation and expanding to a 6-man
16	Danny Duffy	at MIN	Since June 1, he has the 18th-best ERA, 9th-best WHIP, 7th-best K% and 17th-best BB%; stud
17	Gerrit Cole	at LAD
18	Corey Kluber	LAA
19	Carlos Carrasco	LAA	Allowed 7 ER in July and then 8 ER in his first August start; not sure it's any more than a rotten start
20	Masahiro Tanaka	TB
21	Tanner Roark	ATL	Toting a 2.72 ERA in his last 49.7 IP with both hiccup outings coming because of the HR (2 v. SD & ARI)
22	Kyle Hendricks	STL	Insane 0.79 ERA over his last 34.4 IP and all 3 ER were in one start!
23	Jose Quintana	at KC
24	Yu Darvish	DET
25	Carlos Martinez	at CHC
26	Adam Wainwright	at CHC
27	David Price	ARI	Was brilliant through 7, allowing 3 H and 0 ER before a 4 H/4 ER 8th inn.; it's not like he was taxed at 91 pitches going into 8th
28	Rick Porcello	NYY, ARI
29	Jake Odorizzi	at TOR, at NYY
30	Jon Lester	STL
31	J.A. Happ	TB
32	Zack Greinke	at NYM, at BOS	Slated to return Tuesday and gets a two-start off the jump; ranking him a little conservatively out of the gate
33	Jason Hammel	LAA, STL
34	Junior Guerra	ATL, CIN
35	Michael Wacha	CIN, at CHC	Hasn't allowed more than 3 ER in any of his last 10, but it's mostly 2s & 3s: 3.45 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 48 Ks in 60 IP
36	Zach Davies	ATL, CIN
37	Dallas Keuchel	at MIN	Rough 1st inn at DET is only hiccup in a 9-start run during which he has a 3.13 ERA over 60.3 IP (2.28 ERA in the other 59.3 IP)
38	Chris Tillman	at OAK
39	Jon Gray	at PHI	I wrote about Gray over at FanGraphs
40	Vincent Velasquez	at LAD
41	Chris Archer	at NYY
42	Kenta Maeda	PHI
43	Steven Wright	NYY	Just keeps plugging away and whenever he has a bad start, he seems to rebound with 2-3 solid ones; shutout at LAD on 8/5
44	Anthony DeSclafani	at STL	Has gone at least 6 IP in 8 of his last 9 starts: 3.07 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 54 Ks and 5.4 K:BB ratio in 58.7 IP
45	Marco Estrada	TB	One wonky start at OAK is the only mark on his ledger over his last 6: 3.29 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 43 Ks and 8.6 K:BB ratio in 41 IP
46	Marcus Stroman	HOU
47	Matt Moore	at MIA
48	Adam Conley	CWS
49	James Paxton	at OAK
50	John Lackey	LAA	Opened July with back-to-back 5 ER outings, but he's rebounded with a 3.67 ERA, 25 Ks and 5.0 K:BB ratio in his last 27 IP
51	Kevin Gausman	at OAK, at SF	Boosted his rank because of 2 friendly venues for the HR-happy Gausman
52	Dylan Bundy	at SF
53	Jeremy Hellickson	at LAD
54	Jaime Garcia	CIN
55	Jameson Taillon	SD
56	Taijuan Walker	at OAK	Keep an eye on him Saturday, if he looks lke the Walker we're used to, bump him 5-6 spots
57	Felix Hernandez	DET
58	Brandon McCarthy	PHI, PIT	There is no truth to the rumor that the Dodgers traded for Rich Hill so that McCarthy could feel like "the healthy one"
59	Tyler Anderson	TEX, at PHI	He's survived Coors even with a .367 BABIP: 3.32 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 8.5 K and 4.1 K:BB in 43.3 IP
60	Jeff Samardzija	at MIA
61	Mike Leake	CIN, at CHC
62	Sean Manaea	SEA	Has earned enough trust not to run away after any bad start: 3.43 ERA, 58 Ks and 4.5 K:BB ratio in last 60.3 IP despite some duds mixed in
63	Trevor Bauer	at WAS, LAA	After 6 starts of 0-2 ER, he's allowed 22 ER in his last 23.7 IP; shades of Michael Pineda here
64	Rich Hill	PIT	I'll believe it when I see it at this point
65	Jerad Eickhoff	COL
66	Gio Gonzalez	CLE
67	Matt andriese	at NYY
68	Drew Pomeranz	NYY	It's been 2 good, 2 bad so far with BOS: 5, 2, 5 and 2 ER; 21 K in 20.3 IP, but also 12 BB and 5 HR
69	Brandon Finnegan	at STL	Such a hot-cold SP, but that pretty much describes any developing 23-year old: 8, 5, 2, 6, 0 and 0 ER over his last six
70	Dan Straily	at MIL
71	Hisashi Iwakuma	DET, at OAK
72	Edinson Volquez	CWS, at MIN
73	Blake Snell	at TOR
74	Andrew Cashner	CWS
75	Scott Kazmir	PHI	A solid, if unspectacular strikeout asset; hasn't allowed >4 ER in his last 13: 3.99 ERA, 78 Ks in 70 IP
76	Robbie Ray	at NYM
77	Carlos Rodon	at MIA
78	Drew Smyly	at TOR
79	Luis Severino	at BOS, TB	Excellent pen work since recall (0.00 ERA in 8.3 IP with 10 Ks) has earned him a return to the rotation
80	Doug Fister	at MIN
81	Michael Pineda	at BOS
82	Tyler Skaggs	at CLE
83	Jimmy Nelson	CIN
84	Bartolo Colon	ARI
85	Ivan Nova	at LAD	Check out his debut for PIT on Saturday; eager to see how he fares in a pitcher-friendly NL park
85	Homer Bailey	at MIL	Velocity up 2 mph compared to last yr (though still a tick off 2013-14 level); intrigued by him, but TJ returners are inconsistent
86	Josh Tomlin	LAA	HRs starting to catch up: 4.59 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 13 HR over his last 51 IP
87	Joe Musgrove	at TOR	Scintillating debut (4.3 IP, 1 H, 8 Ks) for the injured Lance McCullers leads to him replacing the injured righty
88	Ervin Santana	HOU
89	Chase Anderson	ATL
90	CC Sabathia	TB
91	Sonny Gray	BAL
92	Jordan Zimmermann	at SEA	Looked rusty in DL return so much so that some thought he might still be hurt, thankfully tests came back clean on that end
93	Mike Fiers	at MIN, at TOR	Since that blowup at OAK: 2.33 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 15 Ks and just 2 BB
94	Tyler Chatwood	TEX, at PHI	Really only using if I can split the starts: 5.72 ERA at home, 1.30 on the road
96	Jose Berrios	HOU
97	Eduardo Rodriguez	ARI
98	Ian Kennedy	CWS
99	Tom Koehler	SF
100	Jake Thompson	COL