The List 6/3 – Ranking The Top 100 Starting Pitchers Every Week

[pitcher_list_new list_id=”32095″]

 

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: I meant to add Dylan Bundy and somehow he got lost in the fray. He should be there around #85.
• It looks like a severe slap on the wrist, but Walker Buehler’s stock drop really isn’t much of anything as he stays in the same tier. The guys in front of him have simply continued to make a better case as Buehler’s progress of breakers for strikes and heaters up is still a little fragile.
• I had to lower Robbie Ray a bit this week as it’s been seven straight starts tossing fewer than seven frames, with his last coming with just 4.2 innings and four walks. I still think he’s a bit undervalued in the open market, but I had to pull him down.
• Major jumps we given to Lucas Giolito (ahem), Kenta Maeda (I ranked him too low last week), Joey Lucchesi (He’s been more consistent than expected), Wade Miley (he’s suddenly returned a hefty amount of Ks with better secondary stuff), Zach Davies (he’s the biggest Vargas Rule of them all), and Felix Pena (25% strikeout rate and high Win chance as a False Starter).
• Devin Smeltzer jumps in at #69, though I don’t anticipate that he’ll be in the bigs for too long. Thing of a Toby who should have success in the early goings as batters are unfamiliar with his mechanics and solid curveball/changeup combination. The eighth tier is filled with questionable waiver arms and Smeltzer is a slight step above them.
• Matt Strahm lost the slider whiffs he had last week, looking like the arm we had all year – the same that we anticipated plenty of regression. Here’s to hoping the slider feel comes back next time out.
• Jon Duplantier and Jose Suarez also got their first chances at starting in the bigs and while I don’t love their skill sets, it’s not the worst spin of the wheel to see if they can produce in the upcoming weeks.
• Tanner Roark, Merrill Kelly, and CC Sabathia all join The List this week. Roark has been producing plenty more than anticipated this year, Kelly just put together a phenomenal outing against the Mets, and CC returned from injury for six strong frames against the Sawx. None of these are strong 12-teamer options, but aren’t the worst out on the wire.
• There were a plethora of major fallers this week. Corbin Martin and Reynaldo Lopez are bombing a lot more than acting sweet, Martin Perez’s dwindling velocity is pushing him into the land of Tobys, while Yusei Kikuchi and Marco Gonzales are holding on to dear life as they hope to be at least mediocre for your squads.
• The big story this week is Jimmy Nelson returning on Wednesday to pitch for the first time since 2017. I wasn’t sure where to place him exactly, but he should be owned in all 12-teamers as we wait-and-see what we get.

(Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire)