The List 5/22: Ranking The Top 100 Starting Pitchers Every Monday

Every Monday during the season, 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 2017 and as a tool to gauge trade value in your fantasy leagues. Note: These rankings have been made with H2H 5×5 12-teamers in mind.

Let’s see how the SP landscape has changed:

[wpdatatable id=6]

Notes

• Aaron Nola has returned from the DL and possessed both the command and velocity we want to see from him. Get pumped.
• Johnny Cueto took the most significant drop this week, falling to #26 after previously in the Top 15. He’s making it difficult to believe he can be an elite finesse arm.
• Another finesse arm dipping fast is Masahiro Tanaka who simply can’t avoid the longball as his walk rate climbs relative to previous years. I expect him to figure it out at some point, but his stock clearly drops plenty.
• I’m sure to be criticized for still believing in Sean Manaea, while I have faith he needs a few starts after returning from the DL to refine his feel for his pitches. I’m imagining a Top 25 arm from June 1st moving forward considering his history of low walks and improved whiff rate.
• It’s hard not to be on the Jose Berrios hype train and he deserved a major bump as the biggest question – his sporadic command – was much improved in his fantastic outing.
• Despite previous Top 25 status, Dylan Bundy takes a tumble as all the fears surrounding him caught up to him against the Tigers. He’s still a clear rosterable arm, but a sub 3.40 ERA might be tough to achieve.
• With Mike Clevinger’s excellent start over the weekend, it’s possible it’s more than just a cup of coffee and he sticks in the rotation. I still question if he can keep the walks down, but if he’s out there I would see where this goes.
• Even with his poor outing over the weekend, Luis Perdomo gets a major boost as his underlying numbers – excellent hard contact mitigation and increased strikeout ability – suggest a sneaky upside play among a sea of mediocre options.
• Joe Ross is back in the majors tomorrow and deserves an add as a flier. I don’t expect him to climb quickly (he lacks plenty of polish on his main two pitches without a strong third), but we’re running out of fliers and Ross fits the bill.
• The news of Julio Urias’ demotion paired with his poor command lately has him taking a major dip.
• Tyler Anderson has showcased some impressive strikeout ability (9.19 K/9) and a solid xFIP of 3.65 to make you consider him in a deep 12 teamer.
• Other newcomers this week include Alex Cobb, Jesse Hahn, Matt Andriese, and Ariel Miranda. I wouldn’t classify any of them as roster options, more as ocassional streaming choices.
• Leaving The List this week are a good amount of arms: Eddie Butler, who we really just don’t know what to expect and was the victim of too many arms demanding a spot this week, Jeremy Hellickson who has some of the strangest K/BB numbers you’ll ever see and is relying on an unsustainable BABIP to have success thus far, Zach Davies who is just not worth the risk right now, while Trevor Cahill and Jharel Cotton aren’t worth the stashes as we wait for them to pitch in the majors again.