Rookie hurlers Bobby Miller and Eury Perez have started their careers strong and cracked our Top 50 this week. Miller only gave up two runs in his first four starts, while Perez has four wins and is sporting a 1.80 ERA. Several other rookies have debuted recently and shown potential, including Hogan Harris, Bryan Woo, and AJ Smith-Shawver. These three are worth monitoring, even if they’re not quite ready for the Top 50. Below are our top starters for next week based on ability, matchups, number of scheduled starts, and momentum. The rankings below are for the week beginning Monday, June 19.
- Weekly Trade Advice
- Weekly Waiver Wire Advice
- Weekly Fantasy Baseball Content
- MLB Prop Bet Cheat Sheet
Top 50 Starting Pitcher Rankings: Week 12
For those new to this column, our planning starts with the rest-of-season Expert Consensus Rankings (ECR) and is adjusted based on FantasyPros’ Pitcher Planner and their season-to-date statistics. As rotations change frequently, double-check the planner before setting your lineup. The complete top 50 is below, but first, let’s review some of next week’s more intriguing matchups.
Two-Start Starters with Plus Matchups
Pablo Lopez and Bailey Ober start the week with home dates vs. the Red Sox, who aren’t as productive away from Fenway. They follow with weekend matchups against the Tigers in Detroit. The underrated Merrill Kelly makes a giant leap up our rankings thanks to two road matchups at Milwaukee and San Francisco. Toronto’s Jose Berrios has been sneaky good this year and will look to pad his stats against the Marlins in Miami and the resurgent A’s at home.
Two-Start Starters with Minus Matchups
Many staff aces have two challenging starts ahead of them next week. Spencer Strider is ranked first, but road matchups against the Phillies and Reds aren’t ideal. Gerrit Cole gets the Mariners at home to start the week, which isn’t bad, but then he has to face the Rangers on the weekend. The up-and-down Max Scherzer will keep fantasy managers on edge with road games at Houston and Philadelphia. Framber Valdez gets the Mets at home before traveling to L.A. to take on the Dodgers. Last, George Kirby does an east coast swing with road games at the Yankees and Orioles.
Solo-Starters with Plus Matchups
Rays’ teammates Shane McClanahan and Zach Eflin get the Royals at home, while Freddy Peralta takes on the Guardians in Cleveland. Elsewhere, Kevin Gausman and Mitch Keller have road dates against the Marlins in Miami. Gausman’s teammate, Chris Bassitt, will host the Oakland A’s, as will Cleveland’s Triston McKenzie. Meanwhile, McKenzie’s teammate, Shane Bieber, will face the Brewers at home.
Solo-Starters with Minus Matchups
On the flip side, Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola and Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene will square off against the high-powered Braves’ offense in Atlanta. Dylan Cease has the unenviable task of taking on the Rangers. At least the game will be in Chicago. Finally, the young Hunter Brown will face the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine.
| Rank | Player | Matchup(s) |
| 1 | Spencer Strider | @PHI, @CIN (two starts) |
| 2 | Gerrit Cole | SEA, TEX (two starts) |
| 3 | Shane McClanahan | KC |
| 4 | Max Scherzer | @HOU, @PHI (two starts) |
| 5 | Clayton Kershaw (SP – LAD) | @LAA, HOU (two starts) |
| 6 | Framber Valdez | NYM, @LAD (two starts) |
| 7 | Kevin Gausman | @MIA |
| 8 | Pablo Lopez | BOS, @DET (two starts) |
| 9 | Shohei Ohtani (SP, DH – LAA) | LAD |
| 10 | Tyler Glasnow (SP – TB) | BAL, KC (two starts) |
| 11 | Luis Castillo (SP – SEA) | @NYY |
| 12 | Corbin Burnes (SP – MIL) | ARI |
| 13 | Zac Gallen (SP – ARI) | @MIL |
| 14 | Zack Wheeler (SP – PHI) | NYM |
| 15 | George Kirby | @NYY, @BAL (two starts) |
| 16 | Cristian Javier (SP – HOU) | NYM |
| 17 | Joe Ryan (SP – MIN) | BOS |
| 18 | Sandy Alcantara (SP – MIA) | TOR |
| 19 | Justin Verlander (SP – NYM) | @HOU |
| 20 | Aaron Nola | ATL |
| 21 | Logan Gilbert (SP – SEA) | @BAL |
| 22 | Yu Darvish (SP – SD) | @SF |
| 23 | Logan Webb (SP – SF) | SD |
| 24 | Joe Musgrove (SP – SD) | WSH |
| 25 | Nathan Eovaldi (SP – TEX) | @CWS |
| 26 | Freddy Peralta | @CLE |
| 27 | Chris Bassitt | OAK |
| 28 | Shane Bieber | MIL |
| 29 | Merrill Kelly | @MIL, @SF (two starts) |
| 30 | Marcus Stroman (SP – CHC) | @PIT |
| 31 | Hunter Greene | ATL |
| 32 | Mitch Keller | @MIA |
| 33 | Dylan Cease | TEX |
| 34 | Sonny Gray (SP – MIN) | BOS |
| 35 | Lucas Giolito (SP – CWS) | BOS |
| 36 | Jose Berrios | @MIA, OAK (two starts) |
| 37 | Zach Eflin | KC |
| 38 | Hunter Brown | @LAD |
| 39 | Jon Gray (SP – TEX) | @NYY |
| 40 | Jesus Luzardo (SP – MIA) | PIT |
| 41 | Blake Snell (SP – SD) | @SF |
| 42 | Triston McKenzie | OAK |
| 43 | Charlie Morton (SP – ATL) | @CIN |
| 44 | Bailey Ober | BOS, @DET (two starts) |
| 45 | Garrett Whitlock (SP, RP – BOS) | @MIN, @CWS (two starts) |
| 46 | Andrew Heaney (SP – TEX) | @CWS, @NYY (two starts) |
| 47 | Bobby Miller | HOU |
| 48 | Tony Gonsolin (SP – LAD) | HOU |
| 49 | Eury Perez | TOR, PIT (two starts) |
| 50 | Michael Wacha (SP – SD) | @SF, WSH (two starts) |
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | SoundCloud| iHeartRadio
