The List 6/19: Top 100 Starting Pitchers – Week 12 Fantasy Baseball 2023

Welcome to The List, where I rank the Top 100 SP for Fantasy Baseball every single Monday of the year.

Want an earlier update to The List? Join me on Mondays at 2:00pm ET as I live-stream its creation each week!

Have questions? My “office hours” are on Twitch 10:00 am – 12:00 pm ET Monday – Friday + the aforementioned stream of The List.

For each edition of The List, I have a set of rules to outline my thought process and how to best use these rankings. Please take note:

1. This is 5×5, 12-teamer, H2H format focused. It generally is the same as roto as well, but make sure you adjust accordingly.
2. We have two tables to review before the notes and rankings. First is an injury table that outlines where players would be relatively ranked if fully healthy. It’s the best way to tackle how to value players on the IL.
3. If a player is on the IL or not confirmed inside the rotation, they aren’t on the List. That includes injuries and guys in the minors, but there are exceptions for players who are expected to be in the rotation but are being skipped this week.
4. Updated 6/6 – I am now adding an “Honorable Mentions” at the end of The List to cover all the other SP who are off The List. It replaces the “Others I Considered” table.
5. Since this is a 12-teamer, I heavily weigh upside in the back-half of the rankings. Tier 10 is likely going to underperform those in Tier 11 across a full season, but it’s in your best interest to chase Tier 10’s ceiling vs. settling for Tier 11’s floor.
6. I’ve made a decision to limit labels to just one label per player, with few exceptions for a second. It streamlines the process much better and hopefully gives you a more targeted understanding of the player.
7. The notes outline oh-so-much to help your team. Please read the notes if you can instead of just scrolling to the bottom.

 

Let’s get to the tables. First are all of our injured compatriots:

I made a decision last year: I removed the “Preseason tiers” and changed “tiers” to “Relative Rank” as it’ll be more consistent week-to-week — Tiers change while their relative rank does not.

Please understand that “70-80” does not guarantee the player will be exactly in that range when they return. Rankings are 100% relative to the landscape and while this table reflects where they would sit in a vacuum, it’s a fluid creature. Sometimes there are oh-so-many options, sometimes I want to see them healthy and stretched out again, and others we’re starving for pitchers and they jump higher than “70-80”. It’s a loose reference point and why it’s called “relative ranking.” It’s difficult to update this week-to-week and I apologize if the ranking is different when the player actually returns from the IL. I hope it helps!

One last point about that – oftentimes pitchers need an extra week or two to ramp up once they do return to the majors. It’s why Still ILL exists and the “relative rank” you see is when those guys have shaken off their rust. Will they be back to normal in their first start or will they need a few? I have no idea! Those ranks are to show what I’d expect once they are fully back to normal.

I added something new to The List this season. It’s a small table of the prospects I’m personally excited about who would jump up The List quickly if they were confirmed in the rotation. Please don’t read too much into these, there are far better prospect analysts out there than me. Still, I think this table will help you quickly stay on top of who should be on your radar.

They are ordered by my general preference/focus on those guys right now. If any of these are called up, they should be added to your 12-teamers ASAP. Some guys aren’t here and that’s due to my own belief they aren’t as pressing as the ones below. I could be very wrong there.

Colors: Green = Most excited about. Yellow = Solid but not as urgent. Orange = Will likely take some time.

 

Lastly, I heavily recommend you follow my daily SP Roundup that outlines all pitcher performances through the season, as each week’s update will reflect the comments and findings from those daily articles. If you’re unfamiliar with some of the players listed, I highly recommend that you read my 45,000+ Top 300 Starting Pitchers from February. Many things will have changed, but the root of my perception of these players is outlined there.

Let’s get to it.

 

Ranking Notes

 

• This is your reminder to please read these notes as they’ll tell you plenty about why “someone moved up” or “why is he at #X?!”
• Seriously. Read the notes.

 

• I know there are going to be a ton of comments about I hate how much these rankings change each week and I’m going to get out ahead of them here.
• These rankings mostly change in the back half of The List as that’s your waiver wire. Those aren’t the players you hold onto throughout the year like your SPs 1-4, which means we’re going to be a bit more chaotic and roll with the waves more aggressively. If I see elements that suggest a pitcher could be a Top 40 arm, I’m going to move up a ton from the 80s to the 60s. Shazam, there we go.

 

• As is tradition, I need to tell you about the guys who were removed and added from the Top 70, so you have context for the ranking shifts.
• Added: Emmet Sheehan (56)
• Removed: Triston McKenzie (39), Edward Cabrera (66), Alex Cobb (63)
• Net Change Inside Top 70:  (+2)
• Please understand how this affects movement across The List.

 

I’ve changed the notes this year to have a small blurb on everyone. Much easier to write and follow along in my view and it matches the formatting of the streamers. Please leave your feedback on this change – is it better or worse?

 

Tier 1 – The Workhorses

 

1. Shane McClanahan – Aces gonna ace. He’s not getting the double strikeout games, but he’s the defaulted SP #1 with Cole and Strider not at their peaks.

2. Gerrit Cole – He jumps over Strider simply because of Strider’s faults. Cole will get his 2022 slider location back at some point, right?

3. Spencer Strider – Strider is still missing bats and earning strikeouts. He’s not as broken as his recent string would suggest – hold strong.

4. Luis Castillo – The four-seamer is still magnificent and we’re just coming to the summer…

5. Kevin Gausman – We’re itching for another Gausman stud game after a few middling performances.

 

Tier 2 – AGA Without The UNREAL factor

 

6. Corbin Burnes – His cutter command is there as the secondaries are supporting well. I was tempted to slot him above but I want to see another outing or two first.

7. Shohei Ohtani – The sweeper hasn’t been as sharp as it used to be. It’ll come back.

8. Zack Wheeler – Get that dang slider down and you’ll have a phenomenal second-half.

9. Clayton Kershaw – It’s TATIAGA, who has not given us a reason to avoid him. 40% of the season done and he’s still chucking pearls.

10. Max Scherzer – Two straight clunkers and I’m not going to sound the alarms. One slider whiff isn’t typical and should return.

11. Zac Gallen – The four-seamer and curve dominated last time out and Gallen is looking more like his early-season self again.

12. Tyler Glasnow – Success or failure rests solely on Glasnow’s ability to find strikes, regardless of opposition. Still can’t believe he stumbled against the Athletics.

13. Framber Valdez – He’s the rock you need in rotation, especially with the heavier focus on the cutter this season.

14. Cristian Javier – I’m still waiting for the slider to return to form (60%+ strike rate please) and while I expect it to come eventually, it gets harder and harder to wait with each outing it doesn’t.

15. Joe Ryan – Speaking of missing secondaries, Ryan’s splitter and slider aren’t the proper #2 pitches he needs. The four-seamer is elite and is carrying him through the year, but without the secondaries, he may lose his AGA in time.

 

Tier 3 – Potential Aces

 

16. Justin Verlander – His command has been strong across his last three outings (yes, all three). Give me another start or two of dominance and the AGA tag is back.

17. Pablo López – Y’all know the ERA won’t live above 4.00 by season’s end, especially when his strikeout rate is 12th best among starting pitchers and the velocity has held up at 95 mph.

18. Aaron Nola – It’s frustrating and maybe Nola needs to drop a little…and yet I very much believe he’s better than the one silly inning he keeps allowing.

19. Logan Gilbert – It’s been a weird stretch lately for Gilbert and I don’t think it’s representative of who he is.

20. Nathan Eovaldi – Eovaldi is still cruising along, featuring the best splitter I’ve seen from him.

21. George Kirby – The man doesn’t walk anyone. He also doesn’t have a dominant secondary pitch, but hey, that’s okay.

22. Bobby Miller – Those 7 Er are gonna scare many, but I watched this and don’t feel as if Bobby is suddenly not the guy we thought he was. Everyone has those blowups, he’ll recover.

23. Sandy Alcantara – I had to lower Sandy as his command is out of whack while the changeup hasn’t performed as well as we want it to for most of the season. We’ve seen many starters across the years run into trouble in the opening months only to calibrate and soar in the second half and I think the same will come for Alcantara. Cy young pitchers make adjustments to tweak their command and the stuff is too good.

 

Tier 4 – Stability And Excitement

 

24. Logan Webb – He’s a rock in rotation, even if the slider isn’t the whiffs we want it to have.

25. Marcus Stroman – Low sinkers are pushing up his groundball rate this year – a perfect match for the Cubs’ elite infield defense.

26. Hunter Brown – Hunter’s three-pitch mix creates a good enough foundation that you’re starting him regularly + he comes with an exciting ceiling if he irons out all the command kinks.

27. Joe Musgrove – We haven’t seen the breakers perform well lately + the report of elbow bursitis has given us concern about the future. Just one strikeout last start is making us pull on our collars.

28. Yu Darvish – It’s been painful watching Darvish struggle with his command all season and without his slider and sweeper missing bats like they used to, he becomes a good-but-not-great arm who has moments of brilliance.

29. Freddy Peralta – The fastball returned and that’s all we needed to see.

30. James Paxton – The secondaries returned and I still love the heater. Only question is health at this point.

31. Bryce Miller – See? No need to worry about those Yankees and Rangers starts.

32. Tyler Wells – I can’t deny the man, we’re starting him and hoping for the best.

33. Zach Eflin – Eflin is as Holly of any pitcher you’ll come across with sinkers, cutters, and curves.

34. Merrill Kelly – I had no choice after earning 20 whiffs in his last start.

35. Mitch Keller – I spent six weeks discussing how weird it was that Keller was performing as well as he did, then got sold by the brilliant 12 strikeout game, and now it feels like what I expected back in April…and I have no idea what to do now. I think we have to believe the new cutter is still helping and he hasn’t deserved the recent results. We keep starting him until it’s apparent that April and May were a fluke.

 

Tier 5 – You Want Strikeouts But At What Cost?

 

36. Jesús Luzardo – You’re going to have opinions about this tier. I felt the four of them were all clear ceiling plays without the full trust of managers and they deserved their own little bucket. As for Luzardo, his four-seamer and changeup are looking great, but the slider has been struggling a bit against RHB. It’ll get better and the BABIP will fall.

37. Dylan Cease – He earned slider whiffs last time out, but the locations were a little weird. Here’s to hoping he’s actually back.

38. Blake Snell – That’s two straight 12 strikeout games from Snell in two very difficult matchups (Coors and Rays). His success hasn’t just been the last two games, though. Snell holds a 0.60 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, and a 39% strikeout rate across his last five outings in 30 IP…along with an 11% walk rate and a 98% LOB rate. I watch each of these games and I’m aghast as he does something different each outing. I want to believe the slider and curve are able to consistently earn strikes moving forward, that the changeup can hold its 50% CSW in that stretch, and that the four-seamer can hold the 60%+ strike rate. It feels so volatile despite the results and I hope to quell my skepticism soon.

39. Hunter Greene – The fastball just hasn’t been the pitch lately and it’s driving me up the wall. We know how good he can be, but there seems to be something missing that holds him back from that elite level. Seems like the premium example of sacrificing ratios for strikeouts. Update: Greene was placed on the IL just before I published The List. I have removed him and added Randy Vásquez at the end.

 

Tier 6 – Hollys + A Little Risk

 

40. Lucas Giolito – Giolito hasn’t been consistent with fastball velocity nor high CSW marks on his change or slider, but his pitch separation has been great and that’s good enough for me.

41. Chris Bassitt – Do I believe that Bassitt is solid the rest of the year? Absolutely. Do I need to recognize that he’s having more blowups this year than usual and he isn’t as solid as a variety of others? Yes, that too. I don’t have much of a choice to move him down this week.

42. Braxton Garrett – Have you picked up Garrett yet? His new cutter has propelled success since his disaster against Atlanta and the schedule is still a lovely sight.

43. Eury Pérez – We have borrowed time with Eury given the Marlins’ injuries and I love his skill set.

44. Garrett Whitlock – I wanted to raise Whitlock higher, but I figured it would be wise to wait another start or two. We need to ensure he has the full repertoire cooking.

45. Bailey Ober – The four-seamer is solid and the only question is how good the slider and changeup actually are. So far so good.

46. José Berríos – He’s still cruising after his first two starts of the year, though I do wonder if he can keep this up with an 87% LOB rate and not a whole lot of oomph in his arsenal.

47. Michael Wacha – Wacha has gone eight straight starts of beauty, boasting one of the best changeups in the majors. He deserved this week’s cover image.

48. Taj Bradley – Taj almost fell into the strikeout tier above, but he’s move volatile than the others. His command just isn’t good. Those double-digit strikeout games are still going to be there, though.

49. Sonny Gray – Before you yell at me that Sonny has a 2.37 ERA, note that he has a 3.82 ERA and 1.57 WHIP wit ha 17% strikeout rate across his last six outings.

50. Justin Steele – He’s back from the IL and had solid overall command. Carrying over from before his IL stint, I still question how consistent the repertoire actually is as he’s squeezed out as much production as he can from his two-pitch mix so far. I know that seems awfully nebulous, but watch one of his starts and you’ll understand what I mean. He doesn’t dominate.

 

Tier 7 – The Cherry Bombs To Chase

51. Jon Gray – It’s a massive tumble from being the featured image last week, but Gray had a blister, didn’t pitch for ten days, and got rocked by the Jays. I worry he won’t be able to find the same feel he had before, prompting me to get ahead of it and lower him down to the fifties. Welcome to the tier of Purgatory.

52. Charlie Morton – The man exudes Cherry Bomb and you don’t know what to do with him. I understand. You start him and hope for the best.

53. Lance Lynn – 16 strikeouts in one night, I don’t have a choice, do I? Lynn’s secondaries were the crown jewel of the evening while Lynn normally gets by forcing cutters and four-seamers over the plate. I’m skeptical that teams that don’t rhyme with Beattle will flail as much, but I have to pre-emptively raise him for the time being.

54. Shane Bieber – The strikeouts can’t be relied upon as the slider and curve are nothing like they used to be. Sell if you still can.

55. Luis Severino – The last four games have been rough, though I have liked the four-seamer lately. Next step is the slider and changeup to return to form.

56. Emmet Sheehan – I see a better version of Brady Singer in Sheehan, but I need to see more to decide if I like anything outside of his heater. Take the chance and see what we get.

57. Yusei Kikuchi – I dig his new approach of sliders and curves inside the zone, which has catalyzed a lovely three start stretch. Pick him up for the upcoming schedule and go from there.

58. Brayan Bello – The changeup and fastballs are working, though there is work to be done on the slider

59. Jack Flaherty – While typing this, Flaherty had already given up three runs in the first (ultimately five ER in the books) and yet his ranking remains. He’s all the makings of a Cherry Bomb with believability that he can overcome it with time.

60. Tony Gonsolin – I didn’t like his splitters in his last start and while there is upside in ratios, the strikeouts seem like they’ll remain tempered. The new curve could be something, monitor if it sticks around.

 

Tier 8 – Are We On Or Off The Cliff?

 

61. Tanner Bibee – We know the ceiling, but Bibee hasn’t been consistent with what works on a given day. Show me all four pitches working please. Or at least just two with legit consistency.

62. Louie Varland – He finally got a good matchup and fell flat on his face. Fortunately he gets the Tigers a second time and can redeem himself, but it’s a deflating moment, especially with concerns he gets demoted with the near return of Kenta Maeda.

63. Bryan Woo – The fastball is solid, the changeup and slider…not so much. They don’t need to be excellent, though, just decent. We may get that.

64. AJ Smith-Shawver – I’m not sure what to make of AJSS quite yet. I think he got away with a lot last game and to expect precision from a 20-year-old is a silly thing to do. That said, will he deliver enough to make him a worthwhile hold this year?

65. Andrew Abbott – I don’t quite buy the skills. Feel free to Vargas Rule this, but it may come screeching to a halt shortly. Pitching for the Reds isn’t helping things, either.

66. Reid Detmers – We just saw a legit outing from Detmers with his fastball, slider, and curve all working in tandem. It was just one evening, though, and we need to wait for more.

67. Domingo Germán – It’s the opposite for Germán – he had a major off night and it’s too quick to proclaim his demise. The curveball should be far better.

68. Michael Kopech – The four-seamer has carried Kopech thus far and it was putrid in his last outing. The schedule is tougher ahead and I wonder if it’s too risky.

 

Here is where prospect pitchers would appear if they are called up as I feel those in Tier 9 and below could be off your teams next week (or now?) in 12-teamers.

 

Tier 9 – The Tobys With A Vargas Rule

 

69. Bryce Elder – He recovered from his poor outing with a solid performance against Rockie Road. I’m still skeptical of the long term, but I understand that we have to keep starting him.

70. Logan Allen – The slider has disappeared lately and the Padres punished him for it. At least the schedule gets better now and makes for a decent hold despite the struggles.

71. Seth Lugo – He’s returning from the IL and could step up once again. Curious what we get – it’ll likely take an outing or two.

72. J.P. France – Don’t expect France to walk six and things will be fine.

73. Drew Smyly – The curve has been a little out of whack but it should get better in time.

74. Ranger Suárez – He’s been locked in, but the near future schedule isn’t pretty.

75. JP Sears – He’s this year’s Eric Lauer. That is, he’ll have these starts with a ton of four-seamer whiffs, then lose them all the next time out.

76. Jordan Montgomery – If the change and curve are both there, then he could be the Holly he once was. It’s hard to bank on that right now, sadly.

77. Julio Teheran – Teheran, you rascal.

78. Aaron Civale – Two great matchups lie ahead for Civale, making for a solid pickup despite the low ceiling.

 

Tier 10 – The Actual Cherry Bombs

 

79. Kodai Senga – Will he have the forkball? You decide.

80. MacKenzie Gore – I think there’s legit potential if he can execute the BSB, but I don’t buy he can pull it off regularly, let alone have the approach to do so.

81. Griffin Canning – The secondaries are stepping up fro 67%+ usage each start and it allows Canning to take advantage of weak lineups.

82. Matthew Boyd – That’s two out of his last three with precise four-seamers returning legit results. I want to believe it’s the product of a true tweak, but it’s a rare skill that is often not repeated.

83. Andrew Heaney – We all know the ceiling he’s capable of, but without an ability to get his sliders and changeups down, it’s a struggle each start.

84. Johan Oviedo – Oviedo’s success hinges on earning slider strikes and avoiding damage off his four-seamer. Some days the wind blows, some days it’s calm.

85. Brady Singer – He’s been a Cherry Bomb since 2021.

 

Tier 11 – The Actual Tobys

 

86. Taijuan Walker – Walker increased his velocity two starts ago and it changed everything. He dropped from 95 to 94 in his most recent outing, though cutters became a huge thing out of nowhere. I have no idea what we see next from Walker, but I hope 94+ mph fastballs are a part of it.

87. Kyle Hendricks – The curve is still missing, but Hendricks is commanding the sinker and change effectively.

88. Patrick Sandoval – The changeup propelled a Golden Goal against the Mariners, then promptly disappeared against the Royals. That’s The Irish Panda for ya.

89. Martín Pérez – He generally spots his pitches well, but those pitches themselves are not all that great.

90. Michael Lorenzen – Lorenzen can take down weak teams, just avoid him against the Top 10 offenses.

91. Clarke Schmidt – I wish Schmidt’s sweeper was a legit offering, but instead it struggles to get whiffs, leaving him without a true weapon in his arsenal.

 

Tier 12 – Stream Considerations

 

92. Kyle Gibson – Good luck trying to figure out when Gibson will help you out, but at least he’s able to go six frames for a winning club.

93. Kyle Bradish – It’s been a solid run for Bradish and yet, his slider (the best pitch in his arsenal) went just 7% CSW in his recent survival on the bump. Don’t get attached here.

94. Reese Olson – Reese’s numbers are all messed up by one terrible inning or two against Atlanta and I think there’s some talent in his arm with fastballs armside, a legit changeup that can miss bats, and a big slider away. Don’t overlook him.

95. Luis Ortiz – He went with 20% changeups out of nowhere last time and I responded with a shrug. He’s not a complete pitcher yet.

96. Wade Miley – Miley had a lovely return from the IL, featuring fantastic pitch separation with his changeup and cutter. Let’s hope it sticks.

97. Paul Blackburn – Blackburn returned 17 whiffs last time out, executing close to a BSB as he featured elevated four-seamers. It’s something to keep a close eye on.

98. Dean Kremer – Kremer has these evenings where he goes 40% CSW on his four-seamer and others where he can’t buy a strike. At least there’s a chance on a given evening.

99. Rich Hill – Despite a decent schedule ahead, he just walked six batters against the Brewers and it makes us all kinds of frustrated.

100. Joey Wentz – I watched his domination of the Twins and I want to believe there’s something there. I do think it was more of a product of foul balls that would normally be balls in play (thus longer at-bats –> nine strikeouts), but there is upside here if Wentz can replicate the command showcased here.

101. Randy Vásquez – He gets a matchup against the Mariners this week and with his fastball command, he could mess them up.

 

Honorable Mentions

 

You’re getting little blurbs on everyone else I can think of. I can’t help myself. This is not in ranking order.

 

Kenta Maeda – He’s not confirmed to start at the time of publication. If he were, I’d slot him into Tier 8.

Tarik Skubal – The same goes for Skubal, who I expect to be back next week. Both are solid pickups once they return (and IL stashes now), but give them a little patience when they do.

Alex Wood – He came back from the IL and did well, but it’s the Padres next and he’s not stretched out yet. That’s to suggest he’s startable when ready to go and that’s up for debate.

Tanner Houck – He’s hurt and on the cusp of the Top 100 right when he returns. Would likely take a few weeks before he gets stretched out + hints at the same command.

Kutter Crawford – His stuff was worse when stretched to 80 pitches. I’m curious, but it seems like he’s not ready yet.

Zach Davies – The changeup was good against the Guardians and yet disaster arrived. It’s hard to pick your spots well.

Dane Dunning – I don’t believe in Dunning’s arsenal to trust him on a given night.

Osvaldo Bido – You’re looking for something stable and Bido is far from it. There will be brief moments, but he’s not the arm you need.

Hogan Harris – Was a fun moment, but the craft lefty was shaky against the Marlins and has a bad schedule ahead.

Jared Shuster – He failed to earn a single strikeout against the Nationals. Yeah.

Steve Nebraska – Apparently he throws hard, but I’ve yet to see it in real life. Thanks for reading the notes! Here’s a 20% off discount for PL Pro yearly: NEBRASKA

Mike Clevinger – He doesn’t have an elite pitch and the schedule is getting harder.

Miles Mikolas – It’s just so boring. He had two great outings and regressed to his normal self after.

Cole Irvin – He went sub 70 pitches in his second outing. It may be a moment before we circle his start for a stream.

Ben Lively – The slider is gone and the schedule is tough.

Graham Ashcraft – He’s on the IL and a major avoid when he does return. The command is too rough.

Michael Soroka – He’s in the minors now.

Jhony Brito – If the Yankees call him up, I’m still out as the ceiling is too low.

Ronel Blanco – He may be a streamer for the Astros if the right spot starts arrive. Nothing more.

Daniel Lynch – If the new slider is legit, then I’ll add him to The List. Time will tell. He’s going fastball/change now and it’s all kinds of weird.

Trevor Rogers – He’s expected back soon(ish) and I’m excited to see what he does.

Luis Medina – Medina is a desperate PQS option and nothing more.

Mike Mayers – The low slider and change weren’t there and the fun ends.

Hayden Wesneski – I want to see him dominate once before I get excited again. Keep your eye on him as he replaces Steele in the rotation.

Anthony DeSclafani – His command has been wonky and the schedule is far worse now.

Josiah Gray – The command just isn’t good enough and the fastball/cutter situation isn’t what we want it to be. Too risky without enough reward.

Sean Manaea – He’s throwing a loopier slider and it could be what he needs, but the Giants aren’t letting him start. Sit back and monitor.

Matthew Liberatore – The four-seamer/curve aren’t enough. We need the slider to wake up, not to mention regaining his early season velocity bump.

Michael Grove – He was optioned by the Dodgers, which is all kinds of frustrating after having a ridiculous night with his slider. He just needs to elevate the four-seamer!

Carlos Carrasco – The schedule is blegh and Carrasco doesn’t do enough.

Marco Gonzales – He’s hurt and I’ll need to see the same command when he comes back before returning to The List.

Alek Manoah – He’s been demoted to their Florida complex. Don’t stash.

Patrick Corbin – Ha, that was a fun four-start ride, wasn’t it?

Brandon Williamson – The cutter makes for some nights of survival, but you want a better life.

Jaime Barría – Slider and change can be good, but the ceiling feels awfully low.

Tommy Henry – Props to him for a new slider, I need to see more before trusting it.

Tylor Megill – I need to see something new in his repertoire before signing on again, yes even after his start against the Cardinals.

Adam Wainwright – He hasn’t been fantasy relevant for a while.

Noah Syndergaard – He hasn’t been fantasy relevant for a while.

Ryne Nelson – The secondaries let him down each time. Wait for them to return before jumping in.

Roansy Contreras – I hate his four-seamer even if it’s still a solid slider, and now he’s out of the rotation.

Colin Rea – He has these ridiculous nights out of nowhere. There are worse dart throws.

Yonny Chirinos – He’s been on a solid stretch, but the sinker/slider combo is sooooo mediocre.

Austin Voth – He didn’t come through against the Guardians and we pass for now.

Zack Greinke – Greinke does what Greinke does.

Jordan Lyles – He’s come through once when the matchup was good. ONCE.

James Kaprielian – When he has his four-seamer and slider in the zone, things can actually work for those needing a desperate stream.

Dylan Covey – I wonder who the Phillies will replace him with at the deadline.

Jake Irvin – The stuff just isn’t good.

Trevor Williams – He hasn’t been fantasy relevant for a while.

Connor Seabold – It’s Coors and far too risky on any night.

Chase Anderson – It’s Coors and far too risky on any night.

Austin Gomber – It’s Coors and far too risky on any night.

Kyle Freeland – It’s Coors and far too risky on any night.

Matt Strahm – Is he stretched out? Are the Phillies actually going to lean on him? Highly unlikely and sadly I don’t think he’s a guy to chase.

Ryan Weathers – Absolutely not.

Trevor Richards – Not stretched out and would be off The List even if he were.

Jesse Scholtens – Not stretched out and holds a super low strikeout rate.

Jonathan Heasley – Please.

Cristopher Sánchez – He’s not stretched out and I don’t buy the solid four frames he tossed over the weekend.

Hunter Gaddis – The Guardians may turn to him to replace Triston McKenzie and there maaaay be a world he comes through against the Athletics if his cut-fastball is legit. I’m not a fan of it.

 

 

SCROLL BACK UP AND READ THE NOTES

 

Rank	Pitcher	Badges	Change
1	Shane McClanahanT1	Aces Gonna Ace	-
2	Gerrit Cole	Aces Gonna Ace	+1
3	Spencer Strider	Aces Gonna Ace	-1
4	Luis Castillo	Aces Gonna Ace	-
5	Kevin Gausman	Aces Gonna Ace	-
6	Corbin Burnes T2	Aces Gonna Ace	+1
7	Shohei Ohtani	Aces Gonna Ace	-1
8	Zack Wheeler	Aces Gonna Ace	-
9	Clayton Kershaw	Aces Gonna Ace Injury Risk	-
10	Max Scherzer	Aces Gonna Ace Injury Risk	-
11	Zac Gallen	Aces Gonna Ace	+3
12	Tyler Glasnow	Aces Gonna Ace Injury Risk	-
13	Framber Valdez	Aces Gonna Ace	+2
14	Cristian Javier	Aces Gonna Ace	-3
15	Joe Ryan	Aces Gonna Ace	-2
16	Justin Verlander T3	Ace Potential	+1
17	Pablo López	Ace Potential	+1
18	Aaron Nola	Ace Potential	+1
19	Logan Gilbert	Ace Potential	+1
20	Nathan Eovaldi	Ace Potential	+3
21	George Kirby	Ace Potential	+3
22	Bobby Miller	Ace Potential	-1
23	Sandy Alcantara	Ace Potential	-7
24	Logan Webb T4	Quality Starts	+1
25	Marcus Stroman	Quality Starts	+3
26	Hunter Brown	Quality Starts	+1
27	Joe Musgrove	Quality Starts	-5
28	Yu Darvish	Ace Potential	+1
29	Freddy Peralta	Ace Potential	+3
30	James Paxton	Ace Potential Injury Risk	+4
31	Bryce Miller	Ace Potential	+5
32	Tyler Wells	Quality Starts	+10
33	Zach Eflin	Quality Starts	-2
34	Merrill Kelly	Quality Starts	+12
35	Mitch Keller	Quality Starts	-5
36	Jesús Luzardo T5	Strikeout Upside	+2
37	Dylan Cease	Strikeout Upside	-
38	Blake Snell	Strikeout Upside	+11
39	Lucas Giolito T6	Quality Starts	+1
40	Chris Bassitt	Quality Starts	-14
41	Braxton Garrett	Quality Starts	+7
42	Eury Pérez	Quality Starts Playing Time Question	+8
43	Garrett Whitlock	Quality Starts	+9
44	Bailey Ober	Quality Starts	+9
45	José Berríos	Quality Starts	+14
46	Michael Wacha	Quality Starts	+14
47	Taj Bradley	Strikeout Upside	-
48	Sonny Gray	Quality Starts	-5
49	Justin Steele	Quality Starts	+UR
50	Jon Gray T7	Cherry Bomb	-15
51	Charlie Morton	Cherry Bomb	+3
52	Lance Lynn	Cherry Bomb	+20
53	Shane Bieber	Cherry Bomb	-8
54	Luis Severino	Cherry Bomb	-13
55	Emmet Sheehan	Cherry Bomb	+UR
56	Yusei Kikuchi	Cherry Bomb	+13
57	Brayan Bello	Cherry Bomb	+4
58	Jack Flaherty	Cherry Bomb	-1
59	Tony Gonsolin	Cherry Bomb	-3
60	Tanner Bibee T8	Cherry Bomb	-16
61	Louie Varland	Cherry Bomb	-10
62	Bryan Woo	Cherry Bomb	+6
63	AJ Smith-Shawver	Cherry Bomb	+8
64	Andrew Abbott	Cherry Bomb	+9
65	Reid Detmers	Cherry Bomb	+2
66	Domingo Germán	Cherry Bomb	-11
67	Michael Kopech	Cherry Bomb	-9
68	Bryce Elder T9	Toby	-3
69	Logan Allen	Toby	-7
70	Seth Lugo	Toby	+UR
71	J.P. France	Toby	-7
72		Toby	-2
73	Ranger Suárez	Toby	+1
74		Toby	+6
75	Jordan Montgomery	Toby	-
76	Julio Teheran	Toby	-
77	Aaron Civale	Toby	+11
78	Kodai Senga T10	Cherry Bomb	+3
79	MacKenzie Gore	Cherry Bomb	+7
80	Griffin Canning	Cherry Bomb	+4
81	Matthew Boyd	Cherry Bomb	+18
82	Andrew Heaney	Cherry Bomb	-
83	Johan Oviedo	Cherry Bomb	-
84	Brady Singer	Cherry Bomb	+1
85	Taijuan Walker T11	Toby	+4
86	Kyle Hendricks	Toby	+UR
87	Patrick Sandoval	Toby	+3
88	Martín Pérez	Toby	+3
89	Michael Lorenzen	Toby	+3
90	Clarke Schmidt	Toby	-13
91	Kyle Gibson	Toby	+2
92	Kyle Bradish T12	Streaming Option	+6
93	Reese Olson	Streaming Option	+1
94	Luis F. Ortiz	Streaming Option	-7
95	Wade Miley	Streaming Option	+UR
96	Paul Blackburn	Streaming Option	+1
97	Dean Kremer	Streaming Option	+UR
98	Rich Hill	Streaming Option	-19
99	Joey Wentz	Streaming Option	+UR
100	Randy Vásquez	Streaming Option	+UR

 

Photo by Ric Tapia/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)