September Starter Rankings

Here are some final-month rankings. Please try not to get too bent out of shape if your star player isn’t listed where you like ... anything can happen in a month. Heck, there was a month this year in which Owen Miller compiled a 1.166 OPS and Madison Bumgarner had a 1.17 ERA.

As always, players are ranked by position and then combined into an overall top 300 list.

Click to see other September rankings:

Top 300 | SP | RP | OF | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | C

Starting pitcher rankings

Sept	Starting pitchers	Team	2022	Aug
1	Max Scherzer	Mets	3	4
2	Jacob deGrom	Mets	14	6
3	Corbin Burnes	Brewers	4	1
4	Gerrit Cole	Yankees	1	5
5	Sandy Alcantara	Marlins	8	3
6	Carlos Rodón	Giants	27	10
7	Max Fried	Braves	11	7
8	Julio Urías	Dodgers	7	12
9	Shohei Ohtani	Angels	24	16
10	Dylan Cease	White Sox	48	15
11	Brandon Woodruff	Brewers	5	11
12	Joe Musgrove	Padres	19	13
13	Kevin Gausman	Blue Jays	15	18
14	Aaron Nola	Phillies	23	20
15	Alek Manoah	Blue Jays	22	14
16	Luis Castillo	Mariners	32	17
17	Yu Darvish	Padres	20	19
18	Shane Bieber	Guardians	6	21
19	Robbie Ray	Mariners	21	26
20	Chris Bassitt	Mets	25	24
21	Charlie Morton	Braves	18	28
22	Framber Valdez	Astros	71	25
23	Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	26	44
24	Zack Wheeler	Phillies	9	9
25	Freddy Peralta	Brewers	16	46
26	Blake Snell	Padres	35	48
27	Logan Webb	Giants	12	22
28	Dustin May	Dodgers	156	76
29	Luis Garcia	Astros	34	32
30	Alex Cobb	Giants	41	29
31	Kyle Wright	Braves	168	37
32	Sonny Gray	Twins	38	36
33	Tyler Anderson	Dodgers	106	34
34	Zac Gallen	Diamondbacks	89	35
35	Jordan Montgomery	Cardinals	50	51
36	Spencer Strider	Braves	126	54
37	Miles Mikolas	Cardinals	132	39
38	Justin Verlander	Astros	10	2
39	Cristian Javier	Astros	100	40
40	Logan Gilbert	Mariners	33	23
41	Joe Ryan	Twins	55	41
42	Edward Cabrera	Marlins	111	77
43	Nestor Cortes	Yankees	110	30
44	Triston McKenzie	Guardians	47	45
45	Pablo Lopez	Marlins	36	31
46	Andrew Heaney	Dodgers	58	53
47	Adam Wainwright	Cardinals	76	70
48	Lance Lynn	White Sox	31	67
49	Brady Singer	Royals	103	50
50	Jesus Luzardo	Marlins	93	75
51	Lucas Giolito	White Sox	13	43
52	Drew Rasmussen	Rays	81	49
53	Patrick Sandoval	Angels	86	71
54	Mike Clevinger	Padres	44	42
55	Frankie Montas	Yankees	29	27
56	Jose Urquidy	Astros	46	61
57	José Berríos	Blue Jays	17	59
58	Ranger Suárez	Phillies	60	72
59	Lance McCullers	Astros	82	68
60	Tony Gonsolin	Dodgers	74	38
61	Ross Stripling	Blue Jays	155	96
62	Tyler Mahle	Twins	57	33
63	Carlos Carrasco	Mets	63	47
64	George Kirby	Mariners	170	83
65	Alex Wood	Giants	66	57
66	Shane McClanahan	Rays	28	8
67	José Quintana	Cardinals	232	78
68	Jameson Taillon	Yankees	83	56
69	Luis Severino	Yankees	54	NR
70	Marcus Stroman	Cubs	51	55
71	Merrill Kelly	Diamondbacks	204	74
72	Jeffrey Springs	Rays	NR	63
73	Eric Lauer	Brewers	70	64
74	Johnny Cueto	White Sox	199	105
75	Nick Pivetta	Red Sox	124	79
76	Brayan Bello	Red Sox	NR	146
77	Jake Odorizzi	Braves	101	73
78	Taijuan Walker	Mets	75	52
79	Trevor Rogers	Marlins	43	97
80	Reid Detmers	Angels	139	93
81	Josiah Gray	Nationals	79	80
82	Ken Waldichuk	Athletics	NR	169
83	Mitch White		150	100
84	Martín Pérez	Rangers	NR	92
85	Sean Manaea	Padres	49	58
86	Kyle Gibson	Phillies	187	110
87	Hunter Brown	Astros	NR	118
88	Cal Quantrill	Guardians	92	103
89	David Peterson	Mets	147	104
90	Noah Syndergaard	Phillies	94	89
91	Domingo German	Yankees	165	114
92	Jack Flaherty	Cardinals	30	126
93	Nick Lodolo	Reds	159	85
94	JT Brubaker	Pirates	97	90
95	Eduardo Rodriguez	Tigers	65	95
96	Aaron Civale	Guardians	69	122
97	Michael Wacha	Red Sox	225	133
98	Kyle Muller	Braves	171	101
99	Justin Steele	Cubs	175	107
100	Matt Manning	Tigers	123	142
101	Kyle Bradish	Orioles	NR	149
102	Drew Smyly	Cubs	135	145
103	Austin Voth	Orioles	121 RP	155
104	Roansy Contreras	Pirates	172	128
105	Michael Kopech	White Sox	68	65
106	Corey Kluber	Rays	104	81
107	Jakob Junis	Giants	91 RP	98
108	Clarke Schmidt	Yankees	205	138
109	Nathan Eovaldi	Red Sox	45	60
110	Luis Patino	Rays	98	163
111	Dylan Bundy	Twins	96	87
112	Ryan Pepiot	Dodgers	234	137
113	Dakota Hudson	Cardinals	121	134
114	Daniel Lynch	Royals	200	99
115	Dane Dunning	Rangers	105	116
116	Cole Irvin	Athletics	208	123
117	Zach Plesac	Guardians	116	120
118	Marco Gonzales	Mariners	112	106
119	Aaron Ashby	Brewers	91	66
120	Dean Kremer	Orioles	NR	158
121	Andre Pallante	Cardinals	NR	108
122	Mitch Keller	Pirates	125	94
123	Jose Suarez	Angels	177	168
124	Yonny Chirinos	Rays	122	124
125	Rich Hill	Red Sox	146	131
126	Bailey Ober	Twins	107	139
127	Trevor Williams	Mets	167	130
128	JP Sears	Athletics	NR	NR
129	Hunter Greene	Reds	181	125
130	Germán Márquez	Rockies	118	150
131	Mike Minor	Reds	174	NR
132	Kutter Crawford	Red Sox	236	119
133	Tucker Davidson	Angels	161	143
134	James Kaprielian	Athletics	129	140
135	Zack Greinke	Royals	59	102
136	Michael Grove	Dodgers	NR	NR
137	Jordan Lyles	Orioles	NR	151
138	Chris Flexen	Mariners	115	111
139	Keegan Thompson	Cubs	215	91
140	Jon Gray	Rangers	90	148
141	Zach Davies	Diamondbacks	219	159
142	Mike Soroka	Braves	109	NR
143	DL Hall	Orioles	NR	NR
144	Erick Fedde	Nationals	228	NR
145	Bailey Falter	Phillies	149	NR
146	Adbert Alzolay	Cubs	137	153
147	Glenn Otto	Rangers	169	154
148	Javier Assad	Cubs	NR	NR
149	Adrian Houser	Brewers	128	166
150	Michael Lorenzen	Angels	166	170
151	Hunter Gaddis	Guardians	NR	88
152	Graham Ashcraft	Reds	NR	84
153	Tyler Wells	Orioles	64	NR
154	Michael Pineda	Tigers	133	NR
155	Grayson Rodriguez	Orioles	NR	NR
156	Tommy Henry	Diamondbacks	NR	NR
157	Kris Bubic	Royals	114	135
158	Ian Anderson	Braves	39	82
159	Madison Bumgarner	Diamondbacks	145	136
160	Matthew Liberatore	Cardinals	131	156

Dropping off: Braxton Garrett (62nd), Tarik Skubal (69th), Paul Blackburn (86th), Chris Sale (109th), Sixto Sanchez (112th), Walker Buehler (113th), Ryan Yarbrough (115th), Yusei Kikuchi (117th), Kyle Hendricks (127th), Zach Eflin (129th), Sam Long (132nd), Bryce Elder (141st), MacKenzie Gore (144th), Brad Keller (147th)

• I was all prepared to get some angry emails this month for dropping Shane McClanahan out of the top 20 here, but, unfortunately, I’m going to be spared that by the shoulder impingement that will sideline him for a couple of weeks. My original plan was to rank him 22nd, since he had probably the worst schedule in MLB for the final month: Yankees, Yankees, Blue Jays, Astros, Blue Jays, Astros, Red Sox. Obviously, the shoulder is the much bigger factor now, which is why he’s ranked in the 60s. Still, it should be noted that even if he does miss just 2-3 starts as hoped, he could still have a tough time after returning.

• Now, I didn’t do a deep dive on every pitcher’s upcoming starts as I did McClanahan’s, but I did try to note each team’s strength of schedule the rest of the way. The Cardinals and Brewers seem especially fortunate in that regard, so I gave their starters a boost. For instance, Corbin Burnes probably would have dropped to fifth, all things being equal, but because of his matchups, I’m keeping him ahead of Gerrit Cole and Sandy Alcantara. I also downgraded the rest of the Rays starters some.

• It looks like there’s hope that Justin Verlander (calf) will return to make three or four starts for the Astros. In the meantime, Cristian Javier should get his spot back, and there’s a good chance Hunter Brown will be asked to make at least two or three spot starts. Since he also has the potential for wins in middle relief, Brown could prove pretty useful in deeper leagues.

• Ken Waldichuk, a product of the Frankie Montas trade with the Yankees, will make his major league debut for the A’s when he faces the Angels on Thursday. He has a good chance of being fairly effective right away, but since his control is average at best, limiting his ability to work deep into games, and he’s pitching for a bad team, wins are going to be hard to come by. My guess is that he’ll fall a little short of being useful in shallow leagues.

• The original plan was for Cade Cavalli to show up 105th here, but that’s off the table as a result of his shoulder issue. It’s unlikely that he’ll return for more than a cameo.