Every Monday, I will be releasing “The List” where I rank the current value of the Top 100 pitchers in fantasy baseball for the rest of the season. Use these rankings to help understand what to expect from pitchers for the rest of 2015, and as a tool to gauge trade value in your fantasy leagues.
Let’s see what has changed in the SP market since last week:
[expand title=”The List (Click to expand table)” swaptitle=”The List” startwrap=”%(%h2%)%” endwrap=”%(%/h2%)%” trigclass=”noarrow”][table id=1 datatables_counter_column=”true” /][/expand]
Notes
– Not too many changes this week as there have only been four days of games played since the last update due to the All-Star break. We elected to update on Tuesday this week to add more substance to this update.
– More shuffling this week in the Top 20. The biggest moves are Felix Hernandez and Madison Bumgarner taking to their lowest respective spots all year, while David Price shoots up back to the Top 10. Felix’s lack of dominance was the major factor, with Bumgarner’s peripherals not supporting a very good but not elite season.
– Dallas Keuchel heads into the Top 15, though it’s due more to the guys in front of him slowing down while Keuchel keeps his absurd season afloat. I don’t expect him to continue dominating, but Keuchel’s FIP/xFIP, Soft contact rate, GB rate and improved strikeout numbers are all very impressive. He simply doesn’t have the elite strikeout numbers or history to demand a Top 10 ranking given the density of ace pitchers this season.
– I’ve seen enough as of late from Jon Lester to slide him right near the Top 20. Noah Syndergaard has continued to excel on the hill, preventing him from relinquishing his well-earned #20 rank.
– In LA, Garrett Richards looked like a new man in his last outing, going the distance and keeping his walks in check. We’ve seen him have brief moments of clarity before relapsing, but the promise of a better tomorrow earned him a solid bump.
– Richards’ buddy Andrew Heaney is continuing to take full advantage of his role in the starting rotation. Considering his success, the Angels should be looking elsewhere to find a spot for Jered Weaver when he returns in the next week or two.
– Robbie Ray has been a decent ERA/WHIP guy while struggling to putaway batters, but he made a good case for a sneaky add in your leagues after striking out eight batters over the weekend.
– We have three newbies this week, all three of which are getting opportunities in Tuesday’s games. First is Aaron Nola at #70, who looks ready to take full advantage of the NL Easy. While Joe Ross has the most dominant stuff of the three, his security inside the Nationals rotation remains in question with Stephen Strasburg’s return looming. Brian Johnson will get his first crack at MLB hitters for the Red Sox, and while his stuff isn’t top-of-the-rotation material, he could be serviceable at the bottom of your staff as teams figure him out.
– Making room for the trio are big name pitchers who are simply not cutting it. Justin Verlander already has three starts of 6 ER or more under his belt since returning in June, Doug Fister has displayed few numbers to be excited about, and Bartolo Colon has simply been too hittable. All three could return shortly, but need to make solid strides first.