Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Rankings: Shane Bieber, Kenta Maeda, Logan Gilbert (Week 15)

The All-Star break is upon us, so Week 15 will be only three games long. Many leagues combine Week 15 with Week 14 or 16; however, many do not. If you play in such a league, it is essential that you check the Pitcher Planner next Wednesday or Thursday, as many of our assumptions about who will pitch next weekend may be incorrect.

Each club will have an opportunity to reset the order of their pitching staff, making it hard to predict who will start next weekend. Players pitching in the All-Star game may not throw in the second half’s first series, though some may start on Sunday. How clubs reorder their rotations depends on who needs rest, who’s on an innings limit, and how desperately the team needs to win coming out of the break. We’ve done our best to estimate who will start during the short week but be advised that much will likely change.

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Top-50 Starting Pitchers: July 14 – July 16

As a reminder, our planning starts with the rest-of-season Expert Consensus Rankings (ECR) and is adjusted based on FantasyPros’ Pitcher Planner, their season-to-date stats, recent performance, and the number of scheduled starts. As next week is only three days long, no pitcher will start two games.

The complete Top 50 is below, but first, let’s review some of next week’s more intriguing matchups.

Starters with Promising Matchups Next Week

The Twins begin the second half in Oakland, so whoever starts for them is worthy of a lineup spot. We’re estimating it will be Joe Ryan (SP – MIN), Pablo Lopez (SP – MIN), and Kenta Maeda (SP – MIN), as Sonny Gray (SP – MIN) made the All-Star team.

St. Louis will host the Washington Nationals, making Jordan Montgomery (SP – STL) and Jack Flaherty (SP – STL) good options. Whoever starts the third game between Miles Mikolas (SP – STL) and Steven Matz (SP – STL) could also be an interesting streamer.

The Mariners will host the Tigers, and even though Luis Castillo (SP – SEA) and George Kirby (SP – SEA) will represent the AL in the Midsummer Classic, we think they may go as Seattle desperately needs to generate some momentum. Logan Gilbert (SP – SEA) will almost assuredly be one of the three pitchers used by Seattle against Detroit.

The Rays have cooled lately but open the second half in Kansas City, which figures to give them a boost. Shane McClanahan (SP – TB) hit the IL recently, knocking him out of the All-Star game and likely at least the first series, so look for Tyler Glasnow (SP – TB), Zach Eflin (SP – TB), and perhaps Taj Bradley (SP – TB) to take the hill against the Royals.

Starters with Worrisome Matchups Next Week

The Chisox figure to be sellers at the trade deadline this year and could be showcasing Lucas Giolito (SP – CWS) and Lance Lynn (SP – CWS) fresh off the break. The only problem is they face the red-hot Atlanta Braves. Dylan Cease (SP – CWS) also figures to pitch in that series, though he’s likely not going anywhere.

The Mets, who desperately need to start the second half strong, will have to do so against the Dodgers’ high-powered offense. Look for Max Scherzer (SP – NYM), Justin Verlander (SP – NYM), and Kodai Senga (SP – NYM) to toe the rubber as New York tries to avoid a sell-off at the end of the month.

The Blue Jays are in the thick of the tough AL East and will face the Diamondbacks in Phoenix in their first series. Kevin Gausman (SP – TOR) made the AL team and thus may not pitch in this series. But we think there’s a good chance he’ll go on Sunday, given Toronto’s urgency. Chris Bassitt (SP – TOR) and Jose Berrios (SP – TOR) seem likely to take two of the three starts.

Elsewhere, Shane Bieber (SP – CLE) and any other Guardian who starts may be better off on your bench as they are in Texas facing the Rangers. The Yankees travel to Colorado, which is never fun. We don’t think Gerrit Cole (SP – NYY) will go in this series, but you need to start him if he does. It’s a more challenging choice between the other Yankees who may start, whether it is Domingo German (SP – NYY), Luis Severino (SP – NYY), Clarke Schmidt (SP, RP – NYY), or the recently activated Carlos Rodon (SP – NYY).

Last, the Brewers travel to Cincinnati to take on the suddenly scary young Reds. Corbin Burnes (SP – MIL) and Freddy Peralta (SP – MIL) figure to pitch and should both be in your lineup, even if the Great American Ballpark can be a rough place for opposing pitchers.

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