As we head into the fifth week of the baseball season, we’re in the midst of arguably the worst offensive environment in Major League Baseball history. In April, teams averaged more than a strikeout per inning (36.5 K% to be exact). Teams were also averaging fewer than eight hits per game for only the fifth time in MLB history, and home runs were down the most they’ve been in years.

Is it the ball? Maybe. Is it the weather still being cold? Potentially. However, there’s no doubting this has been one of the weirdest starts to the season we’ve ever seen. However, while this offensive environment is as bad as it’s been, we’re going to capitalize by continuing to smash pitching every week as we’ve been doing.

One of the best ways to make sure to do this is to look at a pitcher’s matchups for the following week. You can find who has weaker matchups to potentially stream, bench certain pitchers with difficult matchups, and take advantage of two-start pitchers for that week.

I’m here to try and help you figure out those tough pitcher decisions for your daily or weekly lineups by ranking my top 50 pitchers ahead of each week this season. This will not be a pitcher’s ranking for the season but rather how I rank them for that particular week. For example, a pitcher with two starts or who faces a team with a horrible offense will usually get a bump compared to pitchers with bad matchups.

The projected matchups and two-start starting pitchers are from the MLB Probable Pitchers tool on FantasyPros. Make sure to look for this article every weekend and make the necessary adjustments throughout the week with injury list (IL) stints, postponements, and everything in between. Remember, the most active manager is usually the one who gets the best free agents and dramatically increases their chances to win their league!

Let’s take a look at my top 50 starting pitchers starting today (5/6) and for the next seven days total.

Top 50 Starting Pitchers for Week 5

1. Max Scherzer (2 starts) @PHI & @WAS
2. Gerrit Cole (2 starts) vs. TEX & @CHW
3. Logan Gilbert (2 starts) vs. TB & PHI
4. Logan Webb (2 starts) vs. STL & COL
5. Sandy Alcantara (2 starts) @SD & @ARI
6. Eric Lauer (2 starts) @ATL & vs CIN
7. Clayton Kershaw (2 starts) @CHC & vs PHI
8. Corbin Burnes @ATL
9. Walker Buehler @CHC
10. Brandon Woodruff @ATL
11. Kevin Gausman @CLE
12. Joe Musgrove vs MIA
13. Freddy Peralta @CIN
14. Julio Urias @PIT
15. Carlos Rodon vs STL
16. Alek Manoah @CLE
17. Justin Verlander @MIN
18. Shane McClanahan @LAA
19. Zack Wheeler @SEA
20. Lucas Giolito vs CLE
21. Shane Bieber vs TOR
22. Frankie Montas vs DET
23. Sean Manaea vs PIT
24. Dylan Cease @BOS
25. Max Fried vs MIL
26. Aaron Nola @SEA
27. Yu Darvish vs PIT
28. Joe Ryan vs OAK
29. Tylor Megill @WAS
30. Kyle Wright vs BOS
31. Chris Bassitt @PHI
32. Zac Gallen vs COL
33. Jesus Luzardo @ARI
34. Shohei Ohtani vs TB
35. Adam Wainwright vs BAL
36. Robbie Ray vs PHI
37. Luis Garcia vs DET
38. Patrick Sandoval vs WAS
39. Merrill Kelly (2 starts) vs COL & @MIA
40. Pablo Lopez @SD
41. Mitch Keller (2 starts) @CIN & vs CIN
42. Nathan Eovaldi vs CHW
43. MacKenzie Gore vs CHC
44. Jose Berrios @NYY
45. Eduardo Rodriguez (2 starts) @HOU & vs OAK
46. Michael Kopech vs CLE
47. Trevor Rogers @SD
48. Chad Kuhl (2 starts) @ARI & vs SF
49. Tyler Anderson (2 starts) @CHC & @PIT
50. Kyle Gibson (2 starts) vs NYM & @SEA

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Whether you’re new to fantasy baseball or a seasoned pro, our Fantasy Baseball 101: Strategy Tips & Advice page is for you. You can get started with our Sabermetrics Glossary or head to a more advanced strategy – like Maximizing Your Potential in Multi-Lineup Contests – to learn more.

David Mendelson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from David, check out his archive and follow him on Twitter at @DMendy02.