The matchups and statistical data were pulled Saturday morning. Please be aware the matchups are subject to change. Top Starters Rank Name Team Opp. ERA K% BB% 1 Jordan Zimmermann WSH NYM, MIN 2.37 15.8% 3.2% 2 Felix Hernandez SEA CWS, NYY 2.38 26.5% 4.9% 3 A.J. Burnett PIT @ATL, @CHC 2.72 28.7% 9.4% 4 Lance Lynn STL ARI, @CIN 2.91 25.4% 9.1% 5 Anibal Sanchez DET TB, CLE 2.79 30.8% 6.2% 6 Mike Minor ATL PIT, @LAD 2.48 23.7% 5.0% 7 Clayton Kershaw LAD SD 1.68 25.3% 6.9% 8 Matt Harvey NYM MIA 1.85 28.5% 5.8% 9 Adam Wainwright STL ARI 2.48 23.7% 1.9% 10 Yu Darvish TEX @TOR 3.03 36.0% 7.5% 11 Cliff Lee PHI @MIL 2.34 20.1% 4.1% 12 Hisashi Iwakuma SEA CWS 2.35 25.3% 4.0% 13 James Shields KC HOU 2.96 23.5% 6.4% 14 Chris Sale CWS OAK 2.53 24.7% 6.1% 15 Justin Verlander DET CLE 3.68 29.0% 8.1% 16 Max Scherzer DET TB 3.43 31.0% 6.1% 17 Stephen Strasburg WSH NYM 2.49 24.5% 7.2% 18 Shelby Miller STL ARI 2.02 26.6% 6.6% 19 Madison Bumgarner SF @ARI 3.13 23.9% 7.6% 20 Doug Fister DET TB 3.28 21.1% 3.7% 21 Jeff Samardzija CHC PIT 2.85 27.5% 8.2% 22 Hyun-Jin Ryu LAD ATL 2.89 23.3% 7.6% 23 Johnny Cueto CIN COL 2.76 23.9% 10.3% 24 Matt Moore TB @DET 2.21 22.5% 11.2% Additional Information: In his last five starts (including the one on Saturday), Justin Verlander has a 7.42 ERA and is walking a little more than nine percent of batters. However, with a 33 percent strikeout rate his struggles have been command rather than his stuff. This week he pitches against the 5th best team in OPS in the majors. Stephen Strasburg left the game on Friday after two innings due to a slight oblique strain. Nationals manager Davey Johnson said Strasburg's next start could be pushed back if necessary. The Detroit Tigers have the second best OPS against left handed pitching, but Matt Moore isn't necessarily a bona fide. Backend Starters Rank Name Team Opp. ERA K% BB% 25 Zack Greinke LAD ATL 4.37 15.2% 4.5% 26 Mat Latos CIN STL 3.01 20.9% 6.8% 27 Clay Buchholz BOS LAA 1.73 26.0% 9.6% 28 Ervin Santana KC HOU 3.33 20.2% 3.9% 29 Jake Peavy CWS @SEA, OAK 3.62 25.5% 5.8% 30 Hiroki Kuroda NYY @SEA 2.39 17.2% 5.2% 31 Patrick Corbin ARI SF 1.71 20.9% 7.5% 32 Jered Weaver LAA CHC 3.71 18.3% 8.5% 33 Homer Bailey CIN COL 3.84 24.3% 6.8% 34 Gio Gonzalez WSH MIN 3.89 21.8% 10.9% 35 Cole Hamels PHI MIA 4.43 21.6% 8.6% 36 Alex Cobb TB @DET, BAL 2.66 22.8% 5.1% 37 CC Sabathia NYY CLE 3.96 19.6% 5.1% 38 Ryan Dempster BOS TEX, LAA 4.45 26.2% 11.8% 39 Matt Garza CHC PIT 4.00 30.0% 17.5% 40 Derek Holland TEX @BOS 2.97 23.6% 6.3% Additional Information: Maybe I should have Clay Buchholz higher, but I wasn’t a believer in the preseason, and I’m still not. In the month of May, CC Sabathia has a 4.14 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and now faces one of the best offenses in majors. The month of May has been kind to Gio Gonzalez. He has a 2.48 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. Gonzalez is a walker (nearly 11 percent walk rate this year) and like most walkers will have a higher likelihood of blowup outings than non-walkers. He’s a set-it and forget-it pitcher. I fully admit I’m overly optimistic about Matt Garza, but the stuff has looked great, and he faces the Pirates, the 24th-ranked team in OPS. Spot Starters Rank Name Team Opp. ERA K% BB% 41 Kris Medlen ATL PIT, @LAD 3.48 16.7% 8.4% 42 A.J. Griffin OAK @MIL, @CWS 4.04 19.6% 6.3% 43 Ricky Nolasco MIA @PHI 3.69 19.7% 5.8% 44 Dan Straily OAK @CWS 5.08 20.4% 8.0% 45 Jarrod Parker OAK @CWS 5.40 16.2% 9.6% 46 Corey Kluber CLE @NYY 4.58 25.1% 4.1% 47 Wandy Rodriguez PIT @ATL 3.58 18.1% 4.0% 48 Andy Pettitte NYY CLE, @SEA 3.83 18.8% 7.2% 49 Alexi Ogando TEX @TOR 3.08 17.7% 9.1% 50 Bartolo Colon OAK @MIL 3.82 16.0% 1.6% 51 Jason Vargas LAA CHC 3.34 15.5% 8.4% 52 Michael Wacha STL ARI, @CIN 1.29 26.1% 0.0% 53 Scott Feldman CHC @LAA 2.82 19.9% 7.4% 54 Tommy Milone OAK @MIL, @CWS 4.04 19.8% 5.1% 55 Rick Porcello DET CLE 5.29 19.0% 4.7% 56 Nick Tepesch TEX @BOS 3.88 17.8% 6.7% 57 David Phelps NYY CLE, @SEA 4.65 23.1% 9.3% 58 Jose Fernandez MIA @NYM 3.79 23.4% 9.5% 59 John Lackey BOS TEX 2.95 23.7% 7.4% 60 Matt Cain SF @ARI 5.01 21.6% 8.4% 61 Jon Lester BOS TEX 3.34 20.1% 6.4% 62 Josh Johnson TOR @SF 6.85 19.4% 9.2% 63 Andrew Cashner SD @LAD, @COL 3.65 17.9% 7.3% 64 Kyle Kendrick PHI MIA, @MIL 3.26 14.9% 6.9% 65 C.J. Wilson LAA @BOS 3.95 21.1% 10.5% 66 Jose Quintana CWS OAK 3.74 18.3% 7.5% Additional Information: This section is where most of us have the toughest decisions. Usually, we have two to four pitchers we’re debating between. Since joining the rotation in late March, Corey Kluber is striking out 26 percent of batters and is only walking 5.1 percent of batters. Don’t look at his 4.70 ERA as it’s likely to regress with the aforementioned peripherals. He’s only owned in 23 percent of NFBC leagues, so he’s most likely available in your league. In Jarrod Parker’s last four starts, he has a 2.96 ERA and 0.95 WHIP. The reason why I’m a believer is he’s throwing more quality strikes. Specifically, in the beginning of the season, he threw a lot of pitches in the middle of the zone, and now he’s throwing strikes on the corners. Jon Lester has a 5.13 ERA and 1.48 WHIP. The most worrisome is the drop in strikeout rate. To begin the year, it was 21.5 percent and now it’s only 17 percent. In his last six starts, Rick Porcello has a 3.32 ERA and 1.03 WHIP while striking out 25 percent of batters. That is not a misprint. Proceed With Caution Rank Name Team Opp. ERA K% BB% 67 Trevor Cahill ARI @STL, SF 2.88 16.3% 8.8% 68 Brandon McCarthy ARI @STL, SF 4.99 13.4% 3.4% 69 Paul Maholm ATL @LAD 3.74 17.6% 7.3% 70 Chris Tillman BAL @HOU, @TB 4.27 19.5% 8.3% 71 Bronson Arroyo CIN COL, STL 3.75 14.0% 4.4% 72 Phil Hughes NYY @SEA 4.97 20.6% 5.6% 73 Kevin Slowey MIA @NYM 3.59 18.0% 4.6% 74 Justin Masterson CLE @NYY, @DET 3.07 24.7% 9.2% 75 Julio Teheran ATL PIT 3.68 14.5% 5.0% 76 Kyle Lohse MIL OAK, PHI 4.37 14.9% 4.4% 77 John Danks CWS @SEA, OAK 5.40 17.5% 2.5% 78 Jeremy Hefner NYM @WSH, MIA 4.74 17.6% 8.4% 79 Justin Grimm TEX @BOS, @TOR 3.93 19.0% 6.0% 80 Miguel Gonzalez BAL @HOU 3.94 16.9% 8.5% 81 Jeremy Guthrie KC MIN 3.84 13.1% 7.2% 82 Dillon Gee NYM @WSH 5.68 18.9% 6.6% 83 Jonathan Pettibone PHI MIA, @MIL 3.64 15.8% 7.9% 84 Brandon Morrow TOR TEX 5.64 17.4% 7.4% 85 Tyler Chatwood COL @CIN, SD 2.12 21.3% 7.4% 86 R.A. Dickey TOR @SF, TEX 5.18 18.3% 9.9% Additional Information: Brandon McCarthy was just placed on the DL. It looks like Tyler Skaggs will take McCarthy's rotation spot. I would rank Skaggs 79 overall for this week (assuming he takes McCarthy's starts). Chris Tillman has two very favorable matchups, which is why he’s ranked so high. Every time I watch Tillman pitch, I don’t understand why hitters don’t square his pitches more often because it’s not plus (on the scouting scale) stuff. Phil Hughes gives up a lot of fly balls and home runs. What better situation than a ballpark where fly balls never leave the park. If you’re a R. A. Dickey owner you have to keep him on your bench. The velocity of the knuckleball is still in the mid-70s and it doesn’t have the same life as it did last year. Despite the solid baseball card statistics, Jonathan Pettibone is a fringe major leaguer, but with a start against the Marlins, I would be very tempted to put him in my lineup. Avoid Rank Name Team Opp. ERA K% BB% 87 Travis Wood CHC @LAA 2.75 17.7% 8.5% 88 Mike Leake CIN STL 3.01 17.0% 5.7% 89 Ian Kennedy ARI @STL 4.70 19.0% 8.7% 90 Wade Miley ARI @STL 4.52 17.0% 8.5% 91 Zach McAllister CLE @DET 3.08 17.2% 6.9% 92 Freddy Garcia BAL @HOU 3.57 10.9% 4.3% 93 Francisco Liriano PIT @CHC 2.35 27.7% 7.9% 94 Ted Lilly LAD SD, ATL 4.26 16.9% 9.0% 95 Chris Capuano LAD SD, ATL 5.45 16.1% 8.7% 96 Tom Koehler MIA @PHI, @NYM 3.22 17.0% 7.8% 97 Marco Estrada MIL OAK, PHI 4.96 21.3% 6.1% 98 Yovani Gallardo MIL OAK 4.79 18.2% 8.4% 99 Tim Lincecum SF TOR, @ARI 5.12 23.7% 10.8% 100 Jeremy Hellickson TB BAL 5.61 18.7% 6.7% 101 Chris Archer TB BAL - - - Additional Information: Chris Archer did not look as bad as the box score would indicate. He has a plus-plus (on the scouting scale) fastball that sits in the mid-90s and maxed out at 99 mph. He also has a devastating slider and a solid changeup. If I knew for sure he was guaranteed a start this upcoming week, I would rank him 73rd overall. I know what the numbers say for Francisco Liriano this year, but I rather believe the past four years than the last four starts.
