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 2016, and as a tool to gauge trade value in your fantasy leagues.
Let’s see how the SP landscape has changed since last week:
[the-list]
Notes
– There are no changes in the Top 40 since it’s way too small of a sample size to rush to judgements among the top pitchers.
– Carlos Rodon’s relatively low ranking in the pre-season was one of my more difficult choices. After watching his latest start, I’m leaning toward bringing him into the Top 40. It really depends on his consistency to limit the walks and if he keeps it up, he’ll soar to the Top 30.
– Francisco Liriano and Aaron Nola each get small bumps with Tyson Ross taking a hit due to his recent injury stint.
– Speaking of floors, Kenta Maeda enters the Top 50. Maeda isn’t going to go much higher than this, but he should hover around the #50 mark as he provides a steady option given his approach and repertoire.
– The big upside candidates close out the top 60, with Juan Nicasio, Aaron Sanchez, Vincent Velasquez, and Brandon Finnegan all looking stellar out of the gate. Ride them while they are hot as they have great upside, but don’t hold on for too long if/when they falter.
– James Shields isn’t looking like he’s made any adjustments since last season, forcing him to drop out of the Top 60 as more enticing options are available.
– Many others took some hits this week, including Collin McHugh, John Lackey, Robbie Ray, and Clay Buchholz. All four are upside picks that don’t look to get back into their groove in the short term, making it a wise investment to look elsewhere early on.
– A trio of names fell out of the Top 100: Matt Shoemaker, Alex Wood, and Andrew Heaney. The Angels’ southpaw hit the DL, Shoemaker is an enigmatic hurler who can present value when he’s cooking, but came out cold, and Wood’s hype wasn’t warranted as he looked as broken as ever in his turn through the rotation.
– Nick Tropeano, Bartolo Colon, Rich Hill, and Chris Tillman have entered the party this week. Tropeano will be replacing Heaney in the rotation, and could stick around for a while given his solid skillset. Colon is still able to generate productive outings inside the NL Easy, and Tillman has looked sharp in the early going. There were concerns that Hill wasn’t looking like his September self, but his hook was vicious over the weekend and could continue his high production.