There are two certainties in starting pitching: every pitcher is ultimately an injury risk, and several exciting, new pitching options always emerge throughout the season. Both of these statements have proven true this season, especially in the last week. For instance, ace pitchers Hunter Greene and Dylan Cease both left their recent starts with concerning injuries. At the same time, prospects Gunnar Hoglund and Matthew Liberatore have quickly proven their worth as viable fantasy starters. It’s almost as if this ‘circle of life’ in starting pitching keeps contending fantasy baseball managers’ hopes alive when a lineup regular goes down. That’s why scouring the weekly starting pitcher rankings for new names with an average or better start confidence level can pay dividends in perpetuity.
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Starting Pitcher Rankings for Week 8 (5/12 – 5/18)
| Rank | Pitcher | Team | Opponent | Start Confidence Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zack Wheeler | PHI | PIT | 9 |
| 2 | Michael King | SDP | LAA/ SEA | 9 (both matchups) |
| 3 | Zac Gallen | ARI | COL | 8 |
| 4 | Logan Webb | SFG | ATH | 8 |
| 5 | Chris Sale | ATL | @BOS | 7 |
| 6 | Garrett Crochet | BOS | ATL | 7 |
| 7 | Matthew Boyd | CHC | CWS | 7 |
| 8 | Tarik Skubal | DET | BOS | 7 |
| 9 | Framber Valdez | HOU | KCR/ @TEX | 7 (both matchups) |
| 10 | Hunter Brown | HOU | KCR | 7 |
| 11 | Cole Ragans | KCR | STL | 7 |
| 12 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | LAD | ATH | 7 |
| 13 | Joe Ryan | MIN | @MIL | 7 |
| 14 | Pablo Lopez | MIN | @MIL | 7 |
| 15 | Kodai Senga | NYM | PIT | 7 |
| 16 | Max Fried | NYY | @SEA/ NYM | 7 (@SEA=8 & NYM=6) |
| 17 | Dylan Cease | SDP | LAA | 7 |
| 18 | Brandon Pfaadt | ARI | @SFG | 6 |
| 19 | Corbin Burnes | ARI | COL | 6 |
| 20 | Spencer Schwellenbach | ATL | WSH/ @BOS | 6 WSH=7 & @BOS=5) |
| 21 | AJ Smith-Shawver | ATL | WSH | 6 |
| 22 | Ben Brown | CHC | MIA | 6 |
| 23 | Nick Martinez | CIN | CWS | 6 |
| 24 | Andrew Abbott | CIN | CLE | 6 |
| 25 | Jack Flaherty | DET | @TOR | 6 |
| 26 | Reese Olson | DET | @TOR | 6 |
| 27 | Ronel Blanco | HOU | @TEX | 6 |
| 28 | Michael Wacha | KCR | @HOU/ STL | 6 (@HOU=5 & STL=7) |
| 29 | Seth Lugo | KCR | STL | 6 |
| 30 | Dustin May | LAD | LAA | 6 |
| 31 | Max Meyer | MIA | TBR | 6 |
| 32 | Sandy Alcantara | MIA | TBR | 6 |
| 33 | Freddy Peralta | MIL | MIN | 6 |
| 34 | Clay Holmes | NYM | PIT | 6 |
| 35 | Carlos Rodon | NYY | NYM | 6 |
| 36 | Cristopher Sanchez | PHI | STL/ PIT | 6 (both matchups) |
| 37 | Jesus Luzardo | PHI | STL | 6 |
| 38 | Aaron Nola | PHI | STL | 6 |
| 39 | Paul Skenes | PIT | @NYM/ @PHI | 6 (both matchups) |
| 40 | Sonny Gray | STL | @PHI | 6 |
| 41 | Nick Pivetta | SDP | SEA | 6 |
| 42 | Landen Roupp | SFG | ATH | 6 |
| 43 | Luis Castillo | SEA | NYY | 6 |
| 44 | Shane Baz | TBR | @TOR/ @MIA | 6 (both matchups) |
| 45 | Ryan Pepiot | TBR | @TOR | 6 |
| 46 | Taj Bradley | TBR | @MIA | 6 |
| 47 | Drew Rasmussen | TBR | @MIA | 6 |
| 48 | Tyler Mahle | TEX | COL/ HOU | 6 (COL=7 & HOU=5) |
| 49 | Jose Berrios | TOR | TBR/ DET | 6 (both matchups) |
| 50 | Kevin Gausman | TOR | TBR | 6 |
| 51 | Merrill Kelly | ARI | @SFG/ COL | 5 (both matchups) |
| 52 | Eduardo Rodriguez | ARI | @SFG | 5 |
| 53 | Grant Holmes | ATL | WSH/ @BOS | 5 (WSH=6 & @BOS=4) |
| 54 | Bryce Elder | ATL | WSH | 5 |
| 55 | Cade Povich | BAL | MIN/ WSH | 5 (MIN=4 & WSH=6) |
| 56 | Dean Kremer | BAL | MIN | 5 |
| 57 | Tomoyuki Sugano | BAL | MIN | 5 |
| 58 | Zach Eflin | BAL | WSH | 5 |
| 59 | Brayan Bello | BOS | @DET | 5 |
| 60 | Lucas Giolito | BOS | ATL | 5 |
| 61 | Colin Rea | CHC | MIA/ CWS | 5 (both matchups) |
| 62 | Jameson Taillon | CHC | MIA | 5 |
| 63 | Nick Lodolo | CIN | CWS | 5 |
| 64 | Brady Singer | CIN | CLE | 5 |
| 65 | Gavin Williams | CLE | MIL | 5 |
| 66 | Tanner Bibee | CLE | @CIN | 5 |
| 67 | Jackson Jobe | DET | BOS/ @TOR | 5 (BOS=4 & @TOR=6) |
| 68 | Lance McCullers Jr. | HOU | @TEX | 5 |
| 69 | Kris Bubic | KCR | @HOU/ @LAD | 5 (both matchups) |
| 70 | Yusei Kikuchi | LAA | @SDP | 5 |
| 71 | Roki Sasaki | LAD | ATH | 5 |
| 72 | Ben Casparius | LAD | LAA | 5 |
| 73 | Clayton Kershaw | LAD | LAA | 5 |
| 74 | Jose Quintana | MIL | @CLE | 5 |
| 75 | Brandon Woodruff | MIL | MIN | 5 |
| 76 | Clarke Schmidt | NYY | NYM | 5 |
| 77 | Jeffrey Springs | ATH | @LAD/ @SFG | 5 (@LAD=4 & @SFG=6) |
| 78 | JP Sears | ATH | @SFG | 5 |
| 79 | Luis Severino | ATH | NYY | 5 |
| 80 | Ranger Suarez | PHI | PIT | 5 |
| 81 | Mitch Keller | PIT | @NYM | 5 |
| 82 | Matthew Liberatore | STL | @PHI/ @KCR | 5 (@PHI=4 & @KCR=6) |
| 83 | Randy Vasquez | SDP | LAA | 5 |
| 84 | Robbie Ray | SFG | ARI | 5 |
| 85 | Bryan Woo | SEA | NYY | 5 |
| 86 | Bryce Miller | SEA | @SDP | 5 |
| 87 | Zack Littell | TBR | @TOR | 5 |
| 88 | Jack Leiter | TEX | COL/ HOU | 5 (COL=6 & HOU=4) |
| 89 | Jacob deGrom | TEX | HOU | 5 |
| 90 | Nathan Eovaldi | TEX | HOU | 5 |
| 91 | Chris Bassitt | TOR | TBR | 5 |
| 92 | Bowden Francis | TOR | DET | 5 |
| 93 | MacKenzie Gore | WSH | @BAL | 5 |
| 94 | Kyle Gibson | BAL | WSH | 4 |
| 95 | Tanner Houck | BOS | @DET/ ATL | 4 (@DET=5 & ATL=3) |
| 96 | Chris Flexen | CHC | CWS | 4 |
| 97 | Jonathan Cannon | CWS | @CIN/ @CHC | 4 (@CIN=5 & @CHC=3) |
| 98 | Davis Martin | CWS | @CIN | 4 |
| 99 | Bryse Wilson | CWS | @CIN | 4 |
| 100 | Ben Lively | CLE | MIL/ @CIN | 4 (both matchups) |
| 101 | Logan Allen | CLE | MIL | 4 |
| 102 | Luis Ortiz | CLE | @CIN | 4 |
| 103 | Chase Dollander | COL | @TEX/ @ARI | 4 (both matchups) |
| 104 | Ryan Feltner | COL | @ARI | 4 |
| 105 | Casey Mize | DET | BOS | 4 |
| 106 | Jose Soriano | LAA | @SDP | 4 |
| 107 | Tyler Anderson | LAA | @LAD | 4 |
| 108 | Landon Knack | LAD | ATH | 4 |
| 109 | Ryan Weathers | MIA | @CHC | 4 |
| 110 | Edward Cabrera | MIA | TBR | 4 |
| 111 | Quinn Priester | MIL | @CLE | 4 |
| 112 | Tobias Myers | MIL | MIN | 4 |
| 113 | Bailey Ober | MIN | @BAL | 4 |
| 114 | Chris Paddack | MIN | @BAL | 4 |
| 115 | David Peterson | NYM | PIT/ @NYY | 4 (PIT=5 & @NYY=3) |
| 116 | Will Warren | NYY | @SEA | 4 |
| 117 | Gunnar Hoglund | ATH | @LAD | 4 |
| 118 | Osvaldo Bido | ATH | @LAD | 4 |
| 119 | Bailey Falter | PIT | @NYM | 4 |
| 120 | Erick Fedde | STL | @PHI | 4 |
| 121 | Andre Pallante | STL | @KCR | 4 |
| 122 | Stephen Kolek | SDP | SEA | 4 |
| 123 | Justin Verlander | SFG | ARI/ ATH | 4 (ARI=3 & ATH=5) |
| 124 | Jordan Hicks | SFG | ARI | 4 |
| 125 | Emerson Hancock | SEA | NYY/ @SDP | 4 (both matchups) |
| 126 | Logan Evans | SEA | @SDP | 4 |
| 127 | Jose Urena | TOR | DET | 4 |
| 128 | Michael Soroka | WSH | @ATL | 4 |
| 129 | Mitchell Parker | WSH | @ATL | 4 |
| 130 | Walker Buehler | BOS | @DET | 3 |
| 131 | Shane Smith | CWS | @CHC | 3 |
| 132 | Sean Burke | CWS | @CHC | 3 |
| 133 | Chase Petty | CIN | CWS/ CLE | 3 (both matchups) |
| 134 | Kyle Freeland | COL | @TEX | 3 |
| 135 | Antonio Senzatela | COL | @TEX | 3 |
| 136 | German Marquez | COL | @ARI | 3 |
| 137 | Ryan Gusto | HOU | KCR/ @TEX | 3 (both matchups) |
| 138 | Michael Lorenzen | KCR | @HOU | 3 |
| 139 | Kyle Hendricks | LAA | @SDP | 3 |
| 140 | Valente Bellozo | MIA | @CHC | 3 |
| 141 | Chad Patrick | MIL | @CLE | 3 |
| 142 | Simeon Woods Richardson | MIN | @BAL/ @MIL | 3 (both matchups) |
| 143 | Tylor Megill | NYM | @NYY | 3 |
| 144 | Griffin Canning | NYM | @NYY | 3 |
| 145 | Ryan Yarbrough | NYY | @SEA | 3 |
| 146 | Andrew Heaney | PIT | @PHI | 3 |
| 147 | Miles Mikolas | STL | @KCR | 3 |
| 148 | Patrick Corbin | TEX | COL | 3 |
| 149 | Jake Irvin | WSH | @ATL/ @BAL | 3 (both matchups) |
| 150 | Jack Kochanowicz | LAA | @LAD | 2 |
| 151 | Cal Quantrill | MIA | @CHC | 2 |
| 152 | Carmen Mlodzinski | PIT | @PHI | 2 |
| 153 | Trevor Williams | WSH | @ATL | 2 |
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