Weekly Pitcher Rankings: deGromination

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Updated on May 3, 2021 2:45PM EST

One month down, five to go. It's a little jarring to remember this would have been the halfway point this time last season.

One month also represents when in-season performance begins to move the needle off strictly initial expectations. That is, individual pitching and team hitting number from April have some influence on these rankings. History shows not to get carried away with the outcomes from the first month of play, but they do begin to adjust both player and team expectations. Keep in mind team expectations are relevant since they affect the matchups.

Speaking of which, some matchups are sure to change as teams formally announce their pitching plans. As such, the rankings will be refreshed Sunday might with the most current intel.

Week of May 3 - May 9

UPDATED: Monday May 3 12:20 AM ET

Mixed

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comments
1	Jacob deGrom	NYM	@STL, ARI	Best 2-2 pitcher in MLB history	N
2	Aaron Nola	PHI	MIL, @ATL	Early on getting fewer Ks but also walking a lot fewer hitters	N
3	Tyler Glasnow	TB	@LAA, @OAK		A
4	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	@CHC, @LAA		N
5	Walker Buehler	LAD	@CHC, @LAA	Ks picking up	N
6	Aaron Civale	CLE	@KC, CIN	Lack of strikeouts will catch up if he doesn't ramp them up	A
7	Zack Greinke	HOU	@NYY, TOR		A
8	Shane Bieber	CLE	@KC		A
9	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	ARI, MIL		N
10	Yu Darvish	SD	PIT

One month down, five to go. It's a little jarring to remember this would have been the halfway point this time last season.

Speaking of which, some matchups are sure to change as teams formally announce their pitching plans. As such, the rankings will be refreshed Sunday might with the most current intel.

Week of May 3 - May 9

UPDATED: Monday May 3 12:20 AM ET

Mixed

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comments
1	Jacob deGrom	NYM	@STL, ARI	Best 2-2 pitcher in MLB history	N
2	Aaron Nola	PHI	MIL, @ATL	Early on getting fewer Ks but also walking a lot fewer hitters	N
3	Tyler Glasnow	TB	@LAA, @OAK		A
4	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	@CHC, @LAA		N
5	Walker Buehler	LAD	@CHC, @LAA	Ks picking up	N
6	Aaron Civale	CLE	@KC, CIN	Lack of strikeouts will catch up if he doesn't ramp them up	A
7	Zack Greinke	HOU	@NYY, TOR		A
8	Shane Bieber	CLE	@KC		A
9	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	ARI, MIL		N
10	Yu Darvish	SD	PIT		N
11	Trevor Bauer	LAD	@CHC		N
12	Gerrit Cole	NYY	HOU		A
13	Kenta Maeda	MIN	TEX, @DET	Not quite ready to dock for early season woes, but will if he struggles this week	A
14	Zac Gallen	ARI	@NYM		N
15	Adam Wainwright	STL	NYM, COL	Dominant lately and weak foes at home	N
16	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	@PHI		N
17	J.A. Happ	MIN	TEX, @DET	Potential sell high after he continues early season roll facing two lesser lineups	A
18	Dinelson Lamet	SD	PIT, @SF		N
19	Jack Flaherty	STL	NYM	Concern is growing, but not in panic stage yet	N
20	Joe Musgrove	SD	@SF	Has improved velo and spin on all four pitches	N
21	John Means	BAL	@SEA	Continues to rack up strikeouts	A
22	Julio Urias	LAD	@LAA		N
23	Yusei Kikuchi	SEA	BAL		A
24	Hyun Jin Ryu	TOR	@OAK		A
25	Max Scherzer	WAS	@NYY		N
26	Lance Lynn	CWS	@KC		A
27	Zack Wheeler	PHI	MIL		N
28	Kevin Gausman	SF	SD		N
29	Lucas Giolito	CWS	@KC	Al Leiter should ask Giolito about the meatball he threw to Niko Goodrum last week	A
30	Shane McClanahan	TB	@LAA, @OAK	Impressive, but may not go five frames	A
31	Sean Manaea	OAK	TB		A
32	Joey Lucchesi	NYM	@STL, ARI	Looked good in the spring, but likely limited with innings	N
33	Jose Berrios	MIN	@DET		A
34	Michael Pineda	MIN	TEX		A
35	Pablo Lopez	MIA	ARI		N
36	Mike Minor	KC	CLE, CWS	6 HR in 25 IP	A
37	Madison Bumgarner	ARI	@MIA		N
38	Charlie Morton	ATL	PHI		N
39	German Marquez	COL	SF, @STL	Walks high, even on the road	N
40	Ryan Weathers	SD	PIT		N
41	Cristian Javier	HOU	TOR		A
42	Carlos Rodon	CWS	@KC		A
43	Cole Irvin	OAK	TOR, TB	Missing more bats, intriguing pickup for pair at home	A
44	Kwang Hyun Kim	STL	NYM, COL	Soft lineups, good week to deploy	N
45	Eduardo Rodriguez	BOS	@BAL		A
46	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	LAD, PIT	Resist temptation to reserve, lest you lose the good stats to balance poor April	N
47	Ian Anderson	ATL	PHI		N
48	Blake Snell	SD	@SF		N
49	Zach Plesac	CLE	CIN		A
50	Anthony DeSclafani	SF	SD		N
51	Marcus Stroman	NYM	@STL		N
52	Trevor Rogers	MIA	MIL	Good test for the young lefty	N
53	Steven Matz	TOR	@OAK, @HOU		A
54	Carlos Martinez	STL	COL		N
55	Kyle Gibson	TEX	@MIN, SEA		A
56	Danny Duffy	KC	CLE		A
57	Andrew Heaney	LAA	TB		A
58	Shohei Ohtani	LAA	TB, LAD	Big conundrum for many, use as P or UT in what could be only two-start week all season	A
59	Tyler Mahle	CIN	@CLE		N
60	Huascar Ynoa	ATL	@WAS, PHI		N
61	Taijuan Walker	NYM	@STL		N
62	Matt Shoemaker	MIN	TEX		A
63	Dylan Bundy	LAA	LAD		A
64	Adrian Houser	MIL	@PHI, @MIA		N
65	Sonny Gray	CIN	CWS	Walks too high, not ideal lineup to get right	N
66	Frankie Montas	OAK	TOR, TB	4.34 xFIP and 4.01 SIERA say be patient	A
67	Nathan Eovaldi	BOS	DET		A
68	Nick Pivetta	BOS	DET, @BAL	Too many walks, but these lineups may not take advantage	A
69	Freddy Peralta	MIL	@PHI		N
70	Tyler Anderson	PIT	@SD, @CHC		N
71	Domingo German	NYY	HOU, WAS	Back on track, but tough draw	A
72	Merrill Kelly	ARI	@NYM		N
73	Robbie Ray	TOR	@OAK		A
74	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	@LAA		A
75	Jordan Montgomery	NYY	HOU		A
76	Dane Dunning	TEX	@MIN, SEA		A
77	Zach Eflin	PHI	@ATL		N
78	Brady Singer	KC	CLE		A
79	Rich Hill	TB	@OAK		A
80	Chris Bassitt	OAK	TOR		A
81	Mike Foltynewicz	TEX	SEA		A
82	Jameson Taillon	NYY	WAS		A
83	John Gant	STL	NYM		N
84	Lance McCullers Jr.	HOU	@NYY		A
85	Luis Castillo	CIN	@CLE		N
86	Paul Campbell	MIA	ARI		N
87	Josh Fleming	TB	@LAA		A
88	Justin Dunn	SEA	BAL	Mediocre arm but great matchups	A
89	David Peterson	NYM	ARI		N
90	Mix 12 Reliever
91	Jose Urquidy	HOU	TOR		A
92	Luke Weaver	ARI	@MIA	What happens when a pedestrian pitcher meets two beatable lineups	N
93	Chris Flexen	SEA	@TEX	Should get back on track after blip last time out	A
94	JT Brubaker	PIT	@SD		N
95	Corey Kluber	NYY	WAS		A
96	Triston McKenzie	CLE	@KC		A
97	Mix 15 Reliever
98	Austin Gomber	COL	@STL		N
99	Alex Cobb	LAA	TB		A
100	Patrick Corbin	WAS	@NYY		N
101	Joe Ross	WAS	ATL, @NYY		N
102	Erik Swanson	SEA	BAL		A
103	Wade Miley	CIN	@CLE		N
104	Dylan Cease	CWS	@CIN		A
105	Garrett Richards	BOS	@BAL		A
106	Spencer Turnbull	DET	@BOS		A
107	Dallas Keuchel	CWS	@CIN		A
108	Riley Smith	ARI	@MIA, @NYM		N
109	Adbert Alzolay	CHC	LAD		N
110	Chase Anderson	PHI	MIL		N
111	Michael Fulmer	DET	@BOS, MIN		A
112	Eric Lauer	MIL	@PHI, @MIA		N
113	Jorge Lopez	BAL	@SEA		A
114	Jose Quintana	LAA	TB		A
115	Ljay Newsome	SEA	@TEX		A
116	Luis Garcia	HOU	@NYY		A
117	Trevor Williams	CHC	PIT		N
118	Anthony Kay	TOR	@OAK, @HOU		A
119	Mike Fiers	OAK	TOR		A
120	Casey Mize	DET	@BOS		A
121	Martin Perez	BOS	DET		A
122	Griffin Canning	LAA	LAD		A
123	Jon Gray	COL	SF		N
124	Aaron Sanchez	SF	@COL, SD		N
125	Jordan Zimmermann	MIL	@MIA		N
126	Max Fried	ATL	@WAS		N
127	Vince Velasquez	PHI	MIL, @ATL		N
128	Ross Stripling	TOR	@HOU		A
129	Dean Kremer	BAL	@SEA, BOS		A
130	Jose Urena	DET	MIN		A
131	Daniel Lynch	KC	CLE, CWS		A
132	Jake Arrieta	CHC	LAD		N
133	Jon Lester	WAS	ATL		N
134	Erick Fedde	WAS	ATL		N
135	Zach Davies	CHC	PIT		N
136	Nick Neidert	MIA	MIL		N
137	Justus Sheffield	SEA	@TEX		A
138	Trevor Cahill	PIT	@CHC		N
139	Kohei Arihara	TEX	@MIN		A
140	Jeff Hoffman	CIN	CWS		N
141	Alex Wood	SF	@COL		N
142	Tarik Skubal	DET	MIN		A
143	Brad Keller	KC	CWS		A
144	Mitch Keller	PIT	@SD		N
145	Jordan Lyles	TEX	@MIN		A
146	Drew Smyly	ATL	@WAS		N
147	Chi Chi Gonzalez	COL	@STL		N
148	Matt Harvey	BAL	BOS		A
149	Sam Hentges	CLE	@KC, CIN		A
150	Bruce Zimmermann	BAL	BOS		A
151	Logan Webb	SF	@COL		N
152	Wil Crowe	PIT	@CHC		N
153	Jhoulys Chacin	COL	SF		N

American League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Tyler Glasnow	TB	@LAA, @OAK
2	Aaron Civale	CLE	@KC, CIN	Lack of strikeouts will catch up if he doesn't ramp them up
3	Zack Greinke	HOU	@NYY, TOR
4	Shane Bieber	CLE	@KC
5	Gerrit Cole	NYY	HOU
6	Kenta Maeda	MIN	TEX, @DET	Not quite ready to dock for early season woes, but will if he struggles this week
7	J.A. Happ	MIN	TEX, @DET	Potential sell high after he continues early season roll facing two lesser lineups
8	John Means	BAL	@SEA	Continues to rack up strikeouts
9	Yusei Kikuchi	SEA	BAL
10	Hyun Jin Ryu	TOR	@OAK
11	Lance Lynn	CWS	@KC
12	Lucas Giolito	CWS	@KC	Al Leiter should ask Giolito about the meatball he threw to Niko Goodrum last week
13	Shane McClanahan	TB	@LAA, @OAK	Impressive, but may not go five frames
14	Sean Manaea	OAK	TB
15	Jose Berrios	MIN	@DET
16	Michael Pineda	MIN	TEX
17	Mike Minor	KC	CLE, CWS	6 HR in 25 IP
18	Cristian Javier	HOU	TOR
19	Carlos Rodon	CWS	@KC
20	Cole Irvin	OAK	TOR, TB	Missing more bats, intriguing pickup for pair at home
21	Eduardo Rodriguez	BOS	@BAL
22	Zach Plesac	CLE	CIN
23	Steven Matz	TOR	@OAK, @HOU
24	Kyle Gibson	TEX	@MIN, SEA
25	Danny Duffy	KC	CLE
26	Andrew Heaney	LAA	TB
27	Shohei Ohtani	LAA	TB, LAD	Big conundrum for many, use as P or UT in what could be only two-start week all season
28	Matt Shoemaker	MIN	TEX
29	Dylan Bundy	LAA	LAD
30	Frankie Montas	OAK	TOR, TB	4.34 xFIP and 4.01 SIERA say be patient
31	Nathan Eovaldi	BOS	DET
32	Nick Pivetta	BOS	DET, @BAL	Too many walks, but these lineups may not take advantage
33	Domingo German	NYY	HOU, WAS	Back on track, but tough draw
34	Robbie Ray	TOR	@OAK
35	Ryan Yarbrough	TB	@LAA
36	Jordan Montgomery	NYY	HOU
37	Dane Dunning	TEX	@MIN, SEA
38	Brady Singer	KC	CLE
39	Rich Hill	TB	@OAK
40	Chris Bassitt	OAK	TOR
41	Mike Foltynewicz	TEX	SEA
42	Jameson Taillon	NYY	WAS
43	Lance McCullers Jr.	HOU	@NYY
44	Josh Fleming	TB	@LAA
45	Justin Dunn	SEA	BAL	Mediocre arm but great matchups
46	Jose Urquidy	HOU	TOR
47	Chris Flexen	SEA	@TEX	Should get back on track after blip last time out
48	Corey Kluber	NYY	WAS
49	Triston McKenzie	CLE	@KC
50	Alex Cobb	LAA	TB
51	Erik Swanson	SEA	BAL
52	Dylan Cease	CWS	@CIN
53	Garrett Richards	BOS	@BAL
54	AL Reliever
55	Spencer Turnbull	DET	@BOS
56	Dallas Keuchel	CWS	@CIN
57	Michael Fulmer	DET	@BOS, MIN
58	Jorge Lopez	BAL	@SEA
59	Jose Quintana	LAA	TB
60	Ljay Newsome	SEA	@TEX
61	Luis Garcia	HOU	@NYY
62	Anthony Kay	TOR	@OAK, @HOU
63	Mike Fiers	OAK	TOR
64	Casey Mize	DET	@BOS
65	Martin Perez	BOS	DET
66	Griffin Canning	LAA	LAD
67	Ross Stripling	TOR	@HOU
68	Dean Kremer	BAL	@SEA, BOS
69	Jose Urena	DET	MIN
70	Daniel Lynch	KC	CLE, CWS
71	Justus Sheffield	SEA	@TEX
72	Kohei Arihara	TEX	@MIN
73	Tarik Skubal	DET	MIN
74	Brad Keller	KC	CWS
75	Jordan Lyles	TEX	@MIN
76	Matt Harvey	BAL	BOS
77	Sam Hentges	CLE	@KC, CIN
78	Bruce Zimmermann	BAL	BOS

National League

Rank	Pitcher	TM	OPP	Comment
1	Jacob deGrom	NYM	@STL, ARI	Best 2-2 pitcher in MLB history
2	Aaron Nola	PHI	MIL, @ATL	Early on getting fewer Ks but also walking a lot fewer hitters
3	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	@CHC, @LAA
4	Walker Buehler	LAD	@CHC, @LAA	Ks picking up
5	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	ARI, MIL
6	Yu Darvish	SD	PIT
7	Trevor Bauer	LAD	@CHC
8	Zac Gallen	ARI	@NYM
9	Adam Wainwright	STL	NYM, COL	Dominant lately and weak foes at home
10	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	@PHI
11	Dinelson Lamet	SD	PIT, @SF
12	Jack Flaherty	STL	NYM	Concern is growing, but not in panic stage yet
13	Joe Musgrove	SD	@SF	Has improved velo and spin on all four pitches
14	Julio Urias	LAD	@LAA
15	Max Scherzer	WAS	@NYY
16	Zack Wheeler	PHI	MIL
17	Kevin Gausman	SF	SD
18	Joey Lucchesi	NYM	@STL, ARI	Looked good in the spring, but likely limited with innings
19	Pablo Lopez	MIA	ARI
20	Madison Bumgarner	ARI	@MIA
21	Charlie Morton	ATL	PHI
22	German Marquez	COL	SF, @STL	Walks high, even on the road
23	Ryan Weathers	SD	PIT
24	Kwang Hyun Kim	STL	NYM, COL	Soft lineups, good week to deploy
25	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	LAD, PIT	Resist temptation to reserve, lest you lose the good stats to balance poor April
26	Ian Anderson	ATL	PHI
27	Blake Snell	SD	@SF
28	Anthony DeSclafani	SF	SD
29	Marcus Stroman	NYM	@STL
30	Trevor Rogers	MIA	MIL	Good test for the young lefty
31	Carlos Martinez	STL	COL
32	Tyler Mahle	CIN	@CLE
33	Huascar Ynoa	ATL	@WAS, PHI
34	Taijuan Walker	NYM	@STL
35	Adrian Houser	MIL	@PHI, @MIA
36	Sonny Gray	CIN	CWS	Walks too high, not ideal lineup to get right
37	Freddy Peralta	MIL	@PHI
38	Tyler Anderson	PIT	@SD, @CHC
39	Merrill Kelly	ARI	@NYM
40	Zach Eflin	PHI	@ATL
41	John Gant	STL	NYM
42	Luis Castillo	CIN	@CLE
43	Paul Campbell	MIA	ARI
44	David Peterson	NYM	ARI
45	Luke Weaver	ARI	@MIA	What happens when a pedestrian pitcher meets two beatable lineups
46	JT Brubaker	PIT	@SD
47	Austin Gomber	COL	@STL
48	Patrick Corbin	WAS	@NYY
49	Joe Ross	WAS	ATL, @NYY
50	Wade Miley	CIN	@CLE
51	NL Reliever
52	Riley Smith	ARI	@MIA, @NYM
53	Adbert Alzolay	CHC	LAD
54	Chase Anderson	PHI	MIL
55	Eric Lauer	MIL	@PHI, @MIA
56	Trevor Williams	CHC	PIT
57	Jon Gray	COL	SF
58	Aaron Sanchez	SF	@COL, SD
59	Jordan Zimmermann	MIL	@MIA
60	Max Fried	ATL	@WAS
61	Vince Velasquez	PHI	MIL, @ATL
62	Jake Arrieta	CHC	LAD
63	Jon Lester	WAS	ATL
64	Erick Fedde	WAS	ATL
65	Zach Davies	CHC	PIT
66	Nick Neidert	MIA	MIL
67	Trevor Cahill	PIT	@CHC
68	Jeff Hoffman	CIN	CWS
69	Alex Wood	SF	@COL
70	Mitch Keller	PIT	@SD
71	Drew Smyly	ATL	@WAS
72	Chi Chi Gonzalez	COL	@STL
73	Logan Webb	SF	@COL
74	Wil Crowe	PIT	@CHC
75	Jhoulys Chacin	COL	SF