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The List 4/9: Ranking The Top 100 Starting Pitchers Every Monday

Nick Pollack updates his Pitcher List ranking the Top 100 Starting Pitchers in fantasy baseball for the rest of 2018.

[pitcher_list list_id=”16851″ season=”2018″ include_stats=”1″]

Welcome to The List – The weekly top 100 rankings of starting pitchers in fantasy baseball for the rest of the season. Use this list to help make choices on the waiver wire and as a tool to gauge trade value in your fantasy leagues. These rankings are made with 5×5 H2H standard 12-team leagues in mind.

Let’s talk about how the SP landscape has changed since last week:

  • Still very little movement in the Top 25, with the main moves coming from Gerrit Cole entering the Top 20 given his hot start and Luis Castillo falling slightly as his fastball command hasn’t been there thus far.
  • Jameson Taillon, Sean Manaeaand Patrick Corbin all had major jumps this week. Taillon’s fastball command has improved and is fresh off a CGSHO, Manaea has been dominant as well with just one walk to his name, and Corbin has fanned 20 in just 13 innings thus far.
  • With Alex Wood showing diminished velocity, he takes a step back. Joining him is Chase Anderson with the same flaw, and Jordan Montgomery who hasn’t featured the same deception that made me a huge fan in the preseason.
  • One of the bigger drops is from Jake Faria who has been as unpolished as anyone out of the gate. I still believe he has the skillset to climb back the ranks, but at this point you’re better off looking elsewhere.
  • I’m loving how both Marco Estrada and Reynaldo Lopez are looking, with Estrada’s fastball/changeup command as good as he’s ever had it and Lopez’s slider addition the perfect compliment to his fastball/changeup.
  • Eduardo Rodriguez, Andrew Triggsand Nick Pivetta are other intriguing upside plays. Rodriguez missed plenty of bats in his return from the DL, Triggs providing a decent floor with his groundball/whiff approach, and Pivetta’s breaking balls leading to a stellar nine-strikeout performance against the Marlins
  • Cole Hamels is boasting a 15% swing-and-miss rate through his first three starts, forcing me to raise him near #70. Rick Porcello has also given me no choice as he’s excelled out of the gate. Tyson Ross might not have figured it all out quite yet, but he’s trending in the right direction and could hint Top 50 shortly.
  • Lucas Giolito could make a jump in the near future, but at the moment he’s not looking close to the player we expected out of spring training. It could be the cold, it could be a mini-slump, so keep an eye on him in the upcoming weeks.
  • Also falling down are Jake Odorizzi and Chris StrattonOdorizzi’s curveball made me excited in his first outing, but lacked the consistency I was hoping he’d showcase in his second start of the year. Stratton’s approach is moving away from his stellar curveball, turning into more of a streaming option than a sturdy arm.
  • Three others join The List this week. Yonny Chirinos could be stretched out into a proper starter for the Rays and could turn into a decent arm at the back of a 12-teamer. Homer Bailey is a streaming option despite his low floor, and Tyler Mahle’s fastball command earns him a look on any given day.

Nick Pollack

Founder of Pitcher List. Creator of CSW, The List, and SP Roundup. Worked with MSG, FanGraphs, CBS Sports, and Washington Post. Former college pitcher, travel coach, pitching coach, and Brandeis alum. Wants every pitcher to be dope.

36 responses to “The List 4/9: Ranking The Top 100 Starting Pitchers Every Monday”

  1. Sean says:

    Just want to make sure I’m reading this list correctly. You would take Alex Wood over Charlie Morton for ROS?

    • Nick Pollack says:

      They are pretty even – just two spots different!

      They are both massively injury prone, with the tie-breaker going to Wood showcasing a higher ceiling than Morton. I have no real objection if someone favors Morton over Wood.

  2. Brandon says:

    I know you have these based on ROS, but if you were to just look at ceiling and upside, how would you rank the following arms?

    Minor, Faria, Triggs, Ross, E-Rod, Pivetta

    • Nick Pollack says:

      Faria, E-Rod, Minor, Ross, Pivetta, Triggs. Pretty close save for Triggs being at the end and Pivetta a little behind the rest.

      • Brandon says:

        Thanks! I’ve also been reading that people are still pretty high on Glasnow even though he’s working out of the pen right now. What’s your opinion on him this year if he ever cracks the rotation? (do you think he will?)

        • Nick Pollack says:

          I am on a 100% “I’ll Believe It When I See It” for Glasnow. We’ve been down this road of “he’s fixed it!” plenty of times already.

  3. Reynaldo the fox says:

    Highlight of the week, good to see my boys Minor and Reynaldo heading upwards.
    Last season this colomn lead me to take Severino from waivers, who is this seasons likeliest candidate to be the new Severino?

    • Nick Pollack says:

      Great The Magicians pun there.

      If I knew that answer, I’d be a rich man!

      The intriguing upside guys right now are Jake Junis, Reynaldo Lopez, and Mike Minor.

  4. bbboston says:

    Nick,

    With Sabbathia, is the reason he doesn’t make the list more about innings than performance. The guy has had a sub-4 era the last two years and obviously has learned to pitch around his loss of velocity.

    On another note, I don’t remember hearing that Giolito had a drop in velocity during ST, yet now he’s throwing low 90’s in the cold weather. It feels like the loss of velocity and efficacy are related to the cold.

    • Nick Pollack says:

      CC is on the DL.

      I hope you’re right about the cold weather and he will definitely jump back up if he shows us good velocity again. We just haven’t seen it and it’s the point where we need to look elsewhere for upside.

  5. lmb says:

    so based on your rankings i should drop a. sanchez and scoop up manaea? or should i hold pat

  6. lmb says:

    also, i dropped faria on sunday in an AL only keeper league with no bench. got chirinos instead. was i too reactionary?? i just have no faith in him after his last outing and how poor ST was for him ….

  7. ionescorhino says:

    What do you envision Minor’s ceiling to be? Also, when would you pick up Tyson Ross in a 12-teamer? Wait for next start?

  8. Jack says:

    Should I drop Chase Anderson for Mikolas or Eduardo Rodriguez?

  9. mrsashimi says:

    Tyler Chatwood not in your top 100? Seems like he should have more upside on the Cubs than some of the guys near the end of the list at the very list. Also, thanks for all your commentary late last year – you helped me finally take down my keeper pool!

  10. Brad says:

    Time to drop Teheran?

    Thoughts on Newcomb and Heaney?

  11. Ty says:

    I really like Cole this year and think he will be top 10 on your list soon. Just was offered Springer for him though in Roto. I’m tempted.

  12. Andrew says:

    Jack Flaherty or Zach Davies? 12 team keep 12 points

  13. Erik says:

    Would you trade Castillo for Encarnacion? have price as an Ace and am plugging pitching as the season goes along.

  14. Slothrop says:

    Stashing Ross or keeping Stratton in 20 category head to head dynasty-ish? Win now mode. Thank you

  15. Slothrop says:

    *20 team, category h2h

  16. Eric says:

    Can Maeda be counted on as a starter iyo, seems they’re already using him some in the bullpen which concerns me.

  17. BravesUK says:

    Brilliant list, thanks!! Surprised not to see Matz in top 100 given his upside? Or am I very out of date?

    I could replace him with Triggs or T Ross in my 15 teamer but with NL East opponents being easier for Matz…?

    • Nick Pollack says:

      I don’t buy into the success from Matz at all so far, making me barely leave him off this List.

      I’d target Triggs if you want a little more stability in the short term, Ross if you want more upside long term.

  18. Vinny says:

    Nick! I had to run this by you since it’s two of your guys. I’ve been trying to buy low on Castillo and finally got a counter asking for Paxton. I know they are too favs of the list but who would you pick between the two?

  19. Steven says:

    Joey Lucchesi… does he make your next list, and where?

    • Joe says:

      I bet towards the bottom for Lucchesi, no love from my league yet. My question is JorMont, Ive picked up Pivetta and Minor and will eventually need to dump one of these SP’s. I watched Pivetta tonight and he looks like he can have long term success. Obviously Minor is a risk of injury, but on the bottom of my roster things need to fly. To me JorMont drops again after next start, I loved him last year on my team, am I panicking to fast? To me he just doesnt have the stuff or location this year. If Nick or anyone else would care to comment please do.

  20. Geno says:

    in 8 team NL only. We have only 1 bench spot and only 25 moves for the whole season. I have Joe Musgrove, Brent Suter, and Jose Urena as 3 of my 10 pitchers. Pitchers available Blach, Stratton, Freeland, Peters, Straily. Wheeler and Holland. Any thoughts?

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