As we head down the home stretch of the fantasy baseball season it’s important for fantasy managers to evaluate their current situation as it relates to pitching. For teams that are contending it becomes more important to protect ratios and play it smart when making starting pitcher decisions. That doesn’t necessarily mean to solely play it safe, rather, take into consideration recent performances to avoid the damage from down trending pitchers. This week’s starting pitcher rankings reflect this mindset as several recent sure thing pitchers, like Garret Crochet and Zac Gallen, have been sputtering out. Make the right lineup decisions to maintain your edge with our weekly starting pitcher rankings for week 21.
Starting Pitcher Rankings for Week 21 (8/12 – 8/18)
Rnk | Pitcher | Team | Opp | Confidence Level |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Zack Wheeler | PHI | WSH | 9 |
2 | Paul Skenes | PIT | SEA | 9 |
3 | Tarik Skubal | DET | SEA/ NYY | 8 (SEA=9 & NYY=7) |
4 | Framber Valdez | HOU | @TBR/ CWS | 8 (both matchups) |
5 | Jack Flaherty | LAD | @MIL | 8 |
6 | Aaron Nola | PHI | WSH | 8 |
7 | Blake Snell | SFG | ATL/ @OAK | 8 (ATL=7 & @OAK=9) |
8 | George Kirby | SEA | @DET/ @PIT | 8 (both matchups) |
9 | Luis Castillo | SEA | @PIT | 8 |
10 | Zac Gallen | ARI | @TBR | 7 |
11 | Chris Sale | ATL | @SFG/ @LAA | 7 (@SFG=6 & @LAA=8) |
12 | Max Fried | ATL | @SFG | 7 |
13 | Spencer Schwellenbach | ATL | @LAA | 7 |
14 | Corbin Burnes | BAL | BOS | 7 |
15 | Yusei Kikuchi | HOU | @TBR | 7 |
16 | Hunter Brown | HOU | CWS | 7 |
17 | Tyler Glasnow | LAD | @STL | 7 |
18 | Bailey Ober | MIN | KCR | 7 |
19 | Luis Gil | NYY | @CWS/ @DET | 7 (both matchups) |
20 | Carlos Rodon | NYY | @CWS | 7 |
21 | Gerrit Cole | NYY | @DET | 7 |
22 | Cristopher Sanchez | PHI | WSH | 7 |
23 | Michael King | SDP | PIT/ @MIA | 7 (both matchups) |
24 | Dylan Cease | SDP | @COL | 7 |
25 | Bryan Woo | SEA | @DET | 7 |
26 | Bryce Miller | SEA | @DET | 7 |
27 | Merrill Kelly | ARI | @TBR | 6 |
28 | Shota Imanaga | CHC | @CLE | 6 |
29 | Justin Steele | CHC | TOR | 6 |
30 | Spencer Arrighetti | HOU | CWS | 6 |
31 | Cole Ragans | KCR | @MIN | 6 |
32 | Clayton Kershaw | LAD | @MIL/ @STL | 6 (both matchups) |
33 | Freddy Peralta | MIL | LAD | 6 |
34 | Pablo Lopez | MIN | KCR/ @TEX | 6 (both matchups) |
35 | Joe Ryan | MIN | KCR/ @TEX | 6 (both matchups) |
36 | Marcus Stroman | NYY | @DET | 6 |
37 | Mitch Keller | PIT | @SDP | 6 |
38 | Erick Fedde | STL | @CIN | 6 |
39 | Joe Musgrove | SDP | PIT/ @MIA | 6 (both matchups) |
40 | Matt Waldron | SDP | @COL | 6 |
41 | Robbie Ray | SFG | ATL | 6 |
42 | Logan Webb | SFG | ATL | 6 |
43 | Heyden Birdsong | SFG | @OAK | 6 |
44 | Kevin Gausman | TOR | @LAA | 6 |
45 | Jose Berrios | TOR | @LAA | 6 |
46 | Brandon Pfaadt | ARI | COL | 5 |
47 | Eduardo Rodriguez | ARI | COL | 5 |
48 | Ryne Nelson | ARI | @TBR | 5 |
49 | Dean Kremer | BAL | WSH | 5 |
50 | Zac Eflin | BAL | BOS | 5 |
51 | Tanner Houck | BOS | TEX | 5 |
52 | Javier Assad | CHC | @CLE | 5 |
53 | Hunter Greene | CIN | STL | 5 |
54 | Nick Lodolo | CIN | KCR | 5 |
55 | Tanner Bibee | CLE | @MIL | 5 |
56 | Cal Quantrill | COL | SDP | 5 |
57 | Ronel Blanco | HOU | @TBR | 5 |
58 | Seth Lugo | KCR | @MIN | 5 |
59 | Michael Wacha | KCR | @CIN | 5 |
60 | Carson Fulmer | LAA | TOR | 5 |
61 | Tyler Anderson | LAA | TOR | 5 |
62 | Edward Cabrera | MIA | @NYM | 5 |
63 | David Peterson | NYM | OAK | 5 |
64 | Jose Quintana | NYM | OAK | 5 |
65 | Sean Manaea | NYM | MIA | 5 |
66 | Luis Severino | NYM | MIA | 5 |
67 | Nestor Cortes | NYY | @CWS | 5 |
68 | Marco Gonzales | PIT | @SDP/ SEA | 5 (@SDP=4 & SEA=6) |
69 | Bailey Falter | PIT | SEA | 5 |
70 | Sonny Gray | STL | @CIN/ LAD | 5 (both matchups) |
71 | Kyle Gibson | STL | @CIN | 5 |
72 | Martin Perez | SDP | @COL | 5 |
73 | Kyle Harrison | SFG | ATL | 5 |
74 | Logan Gilbert | SEA | @PIT | 5 |
75 | Tyler Mahle | TEX | @BOS/ MIN | 5 (both matchups) |
76 | Nathan Eovaldi | TEX | MIN | 5 |
77 | Andrew Heaney | TEX | MIN | 5 |
78 | Jordan Montgomery | ARI | COL | 4 |
79 | Grant Holmes | ATL | @SFG | 4 |
80 | Albert Suarez | BAL | BOS | 4 |
81 | Nick Pivetta | BOS | TEX/ @BAL | 4 (both matchups) |
82 | Brayan Bello | BOS | @BAL | 4 |
83 | Garrett Crochet | CWS | @HOU | 4 |
84 | Andrew Abbott | CIN | STL/ KCR | 4 (both matchups) |
85 | Nick Martinez | CIN | KCR | 4 |
86 | Ben Lively | CLE | CHC/ @MIL | 4 (both matchups) |
87 | Carlos Carrasco | CLE | CHC | 4 |
88 | Kyle Freeland | COL | SDP | 4 |
89 | Brant Hunter | DET | SEA | 4 |
90 | Brady Singer | KCR | @MIN/ @CIN | 4 (both matchups) |
91 | Jose Soriano | LAA | ATL | 4 |
92 | Gavin Stone | LAD | @MIL | 4 |
93 | Walker Buehler | LAD | @MIL | 4 |
94 | River Ryan | LAD | @STL | 4 |
95 | Max Meyer | MIA | @NYM | 4 |
96 | Colin Rea | MIL | LAD | 4 |
97 | Tobias Myers | MIL | CLE | 4 |
98 | Simeon Woods Richardson | MIN | @TEX | 4 |
99 | David Festa | MIN | @TEX | 4 |
100 | Paul Blackburn | NYM | OAK/ MIA | 4 (both matchups) |
101 | JP Sears | OAK | SFG | 4 |
102 | Taijuan Walker | PHI | MIA/ WSH | 4 (both matchups) |
103 | Tyler Phillips | PHI | MIA | 4 |
104 | Lance Lynn | STL | LAD | 4 |
105 | Randy Vasquez | SDP | PIT | 4 |
106 | Taj Bradley | TBR | HOU/ ARI | 4 (both matchups) |
107 | Shane Baz | TBR | HOU | 4 |
108 | Jeffrey Springs | TBR | ARI | 4 |
109 | Chris Bassitt | TOR | @CHC | 4 |
110 | Mitchell Parker | WSH | @PHI | 4 |
111 | MacKenzie Gore | WSH | @PHI | 4 |
112 | Kutter Crawford | BOS | TEX/ @BAL | 3 (TEX=4 & @BAL=2) |
113 | James Paxton | BOS | @BAL | 3 |
114 | Kyle Hendricks | CHC | @CLE/ TOR | 3 (both matchups) |
115 | Jameson Taillon | CHC | TOR | 3 |
116 | Jonathan Cannon | CWS | NYY | 3 |
117 | Chris Flexen | CWS | @HOU | 3 |
118 | Carson Spiers | CIN | STL | 3 |
119 | Alex Cobb | CLE | CHC | 3 |
120 | Gavin Williams | CLE | @MIL | 3 |
121 | Noah Davis | COL | @ARI/ SDP | 3 (both matchups) |
122 | Tanner Gordon | COL | @ARI | 3 |
123 | Brayan Sammons | DET | SEA | 3 |
124 | Kenta Maeda | DET | NYY | 3 |
125 | Keider Montero | DET | NYY | 3 |
126 | Michael Lorenzen | KCR | @CIN | 3 |
127 | Griffin Canning | LAA | ATL | 3 |
128 | Roddery Munoz | MIA | @NYM | 3 |
129 | Frankie Montas | MIL | LAD | 3 |
130 | Aaron Civale | MIL | CLE | 3 |
131 | Ross Stripling | OAK | @NYM/ @TOR | 3 (both matchups) |
132 | Joey Estes | OAK | @NYM | 3 |
133 | Mitch Spence | OAK | @NYM | 3 |
134 | Luis L. Ortiz | PIT | @SDP | 3 |
135 | Miles Mikolas | STL | LAD | 3 |
136 | Zack Littell | TBR | HOU | 3 |
137 | Tyler Alexander | TBR | ARI | 3 |
138 | Jose Urena | TEX | @BOS/ MIN | 3 (both matchups) |
139 | Cody Bradford | TEX | @BOS | 3 |
140 | Bowden Francis | TOR | @LAA/ @CHC | 3 (@LAA=4 & @CHC=2) |
141 | Yariel Rodriguez | TOR | @CHC | 3 |
142 | Jake Irvin | WSH | @BAL/ @PHI | 3 (both matchups) |
143 | DJ Herz | WSH | @BAL | 3 |
144 | Charlie Morton | ATL | @SFG/ @LAA | 2 (@SFG=1 & @LAA=3) |
145 | Trevor Rogers | BAL | WSH/ BOS | 2 (WSH=3 & BOS=1) |
146 | Ky Bush | CWS | NYY/ @HOU | 2 (both matchups) |
147 | Davis Martin | CWS | NYY | 2 |
148 | Austin Gomber | COL | @ARI | 2 |
149 | Davis Daniel | LAA | TOR/ ATL | 2 (TOR=3 & ATL=1) |
150 | Valente Bellozo | MIA | @PHI | 2 |
151 | Kyle Tyler | MIA | @PHI | 2 |
152 | Joe Ross | MIL | CLE | 2 |
153 | Osvaldo Bido | OAK | SFG | 2 |
154 | Patrick Corbin | WSH | @PHI | 1 |