The List 6/10 – Ranking The Top 100 Starting Pitchers Every Week

[pitcher_list_new list_id=”32397″]

 

Fringe Starters

 

 

What is happening!

It’s another week and another edition of the Top 100 Starting Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball.

Before I dive into the player notes, here’s an outline of how I’m handling The List this season:

• Previous/Best/Worst columns removed
  • These took a heavy chunk of loading time and ultimately provided very little value. The change arrows themselves are all that’s needed
• Tiers added
  • As much as I hate making tiers (When do they start and end? How big are the cliffs?), ya’ll have been asking for them and I’m here for all of you. Please understand how hard it is to accurately place them and don’t get too worked up about it.
• Labels added
  • There’s often confusion as to why a pitcher is a spot or two above or below another. These labels should help understand what each pitcher brings to the table, showing that some pitchers may be better or worse for what you need.
  • Hover over them (or tap on mobile) to see each label’s name next to the pitcher.
  • Ratio Focused = Their value lies in you chasing their ERA/WHIP more than strikeouts and Wins.
  • Toby = Boring arm that doesn’t excite you, but you stare at the waiver wire and accept that he just okay enough. You don’t like that he’s around the office, but he gets his work done.
  • Cherry Bomb = Volatile pitchers who are either “super sweet” or “blow up in your face.” Heed warning.
  • Ace Potential = I define an ace as: 3.40 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 24% K rate, 6.0 IPS. It’s why you see some surprising names as having the upside of an ace.
• Fringe Starters added
  • There are always a handful of starters I badly want to add to The List but I don’t have enough room. I’ll always have this table at the end for a collection of starters – in no order – that I also heavily considered, as well as why they could be relevant
  • This will be where IL Players will land. I’ll mention where they would slot when healthy.

Please let me know how you feel about these changes and I’m looking forward to another fun year assessing the wonderful entity that is the SP Landscape.

On to the notes! Remember, these ranks are for 12-teamers in H2H categories leagues.

 

Player Notes

 

• UPDATE: Anibal Sanchez should be on The List. He’d be placed around 75/80.
• I gave a drop to both Trevor Bauer and Patrick Corbin, while raising Jacob deGrom and Walker Buehler. Nothing really to add, I expect many complaints here. Bauer could jump back up quickly.
• With Caleb Smith, Domingo German, and Carlos Carrasco heading to the IL, 70%+ of The List gained an easy three spots. Keep that in mind.
• Mike Soroka got some love as he continues to be a stud ratio wise. I question his longevity this season and if he can hit a 25% strikeout rate, but he deserved a push up the ranks.
• Tier four is the interesting one with plenty of fun arms getting boosts. I’m loving what Andrew Heaney is doing, even with the 5 ER game. Kyle Hendricks is doing better than you’d think, Frankie Montas, Mike Minor, and Jake Odorizzi each deserve a ton of love as well.
• I really struggled to mark the Tiers for six/seven/eight/nine as there is a clear break around the mid-40s to the rest of the SP pool. Remember, it’s about chasing upside and at the moment a lot of possible studs are disappointing except for…
• …Well I didn’t expect raising Nick Pivetta this much, but man I just don’t like the options in the 50s these days, making it worth it to chase Pivetta more than I anticipated. This is still very risky and I’d be selling if someone is buying, but who knows, maybe, just maybe this is the turning point for Pivetta I’ve been waiting over a year to see.
• Steven Matz, Lance Lynn, and Pablo Lopez are pitching like their best selves at the moment, forcing my hand to push them up The List. No reason not to be going with them over the options behind them in 12-teamers as the late 60s and beyond are close to replacement level.
• Joining The List this week are Zach Eflin (back from injury), Peter Lambert (maybe the skill set is real?), Dylan Bundy (shockingly good month), Framber Valdez (Cherry Bomb but maybe it’s a good stretch in June), Jason Vargas (Vargas Rule n all), John Means and Mike Fiers (streaming options), Michael Pineda (return from injury), and Adrian Sampson (is his slider really that good now?).

(Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire)