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.
Note: We’re working on fixing the “change” and “prev” columns. Please ignore them this week.
Let’s see how the SP landscape has changed since last week:
[the-list]
Notes
– Many changes this week, with the biggest being Noah Syndergaard jumping to #5. I wrestled with this one for a while, but at the end of the day, he is dominating as much as anyone in the bigs, with stuff that will stick. There is some concern that he will throw fewer innings than many also inside the Top 10, though the difference isn’t enough to overthrow the clear higher level of pitching.
– Madison Bumgarner takes a fall to #10 as he hasn’t looked like himself out of the gate. There are questions about his injured foot and consistency, and while he is still an elite starter, a drop was in order.
– I am conceding that I was a little harsh on both Sonny Gray and Johnny Cueto this season, giving them a bump to around Top 25, though it will take the others above them to greatly falter for me to consider them close to Top 20.
– Michael Pineda, Justin Verlander, and Adam Wainwright all fell a few notches this week. While I still like Pineda long-term, he isn’t looking like a pitcher that belongs ahead of guys like Carlos Martinez. Verlander will provide stable production through the year, though his occasional blips pull him down. Wainwright is struggling mightily, and even though I believe it will come together, his performances demand a decrease in value.
– I’ve really liked the quick development of Garrett Richards, and given that not many in the 30s have impressed mightily, a jump inside the Top 30 was necessary.
– Many high upside pitchers have done their work early, such as Vincent Velasquez, Aaron Sanchez, Matt Moore, and Jerad Eickhoff. Velasquez would be higher if it weren’t for his inevitable shutdown, Sanchez still has some walk issues but has performed well against difficult teams, Eickhoff has an incredible schedule ahead of him, and Moore finally gave me a performance that displayed command of his luscious stuff.
– Other pitchers also rising are Josh Tomlin, Rich Hill, Nick Tropeano, Adam Conley, Shane Greene, and Mat Latos. All have their risks, but are solid stream choices when given the right matchup. Greene, Hill, and Latos have the most potential to move further. I don’t see Conley with the same upside as guys like Moore and Eickhoff, though he should be serviceable inside the NL Easy. Tropeano is a pure stream matchups guy, but he has a favorable schedule ahead.
– Clay Buchholz, Shelby Miller, and Mike Fiers take a tumble as there are many other pitchers with upside that are performing while these arms continue to struggle.
– Ross Stripling is actually on The List, but we’re having back-end problems where he isn’t showing up. He’s slotted at #78 in between Mat Latos and Edinson Volquez, as he’s proving to be a worthy pitcher against all but the top tiers of offenses.