The List 8/12 – Ranking The Top 100 Starting Pitchers Every Monday

[pitcher_list_new list_id=”35125″]

 

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

 

• With Hyun-Jin Ryu not only back from the IL, but dominating in the his return means I’m finally allowing him to be in Tier 1. I still have stamina questions deep into September, but with weeks to go, the idea that he can pull off these ratios for a full year is within reach. Chris Sale’s return to fame in his last start has him one spot higher still, though. That 50% extra strikeout production is just too much to ignore. Understand the innate (-1) assigned to everyone outside Tier 1 because of Ryu’s return.
• Major boost this week to Jack Flaherty who has been unreal across his last six starts. This is the stretch we’ve been waiting for all year and while it could fade, the rest of Tier 3 is failing to put together a strong case for a Top 20 ranking. Flaherty deserves to be the focus.
• Tuesday marks the return of Griffin Canning, which is a slight DLH, but it may return five strong frames. His ceiling is a Top 25 stud, so take a shot where you can.
• Mike Foltynewicz’s slider has returned paired with 95+ mph velocity. While his immediate next start against the Dodgers may bring a bit of disappointment, this could be a fantastic few weeks to end the season.
• The Dodgers may be looking to Dustin May plenty in the final weeks of the season and while I’m skeptical of how high he can climb, he provides solid volume and Win chances every time he starts.
• Tier six features plenty of questionable arms that could soar and become darlings of the off-season, or find themselves pushed out of the final rounds of drafts. Ryan Yarbrough is getting chances as a true starter for the Rays and capitalizing, Marcus Stroman’s shift to the Mets doesn’t do him favors, Masahiro Tanaka is more volatile than ever, and the headache of Jon Gray continues.
• If you’re looking for the fun stuff, Tier 7 is your friend. Adrian Houser and Mike Montgomery enter the fray with incredibly impressive starts over the weekend and could provide value in the short term with the chance of lasting for weeks. Chris Bassitt is getting whiffs on heaters again and deserves your attention, especially if his secondary stuff follows suit. Aaron Civale has a rough schedule ahead, but if he’s still in the rotation in September, he can provide valuable innings, while Mitch Keller is returning to start tonight against the Angels and may provide dividends instantly.
• Tier 8 is the Toby tier, with the surprise of Gio Gonzalez leading the fray above boring options like Dallas Keuchel, Jon Lester, Anibal Sanchez, and the rest. In some leagues, these arms are more valuable than plenty in Tier 7, though in standard 12-teamers, I’d prefer to chase the upside plays as the wire is full enough these days to find similar arms to these Tier 8 pitchers if the upside doesn’t come through.
• At the bottom of The List, a few new names show up as dark horses to provide value. Joe Ross is surprising with his sinker as of late, Kolby Allard had two ticks extra velocity, Brett Anderson is beating the odds and could be a decent streamer, and Hector Noesi – yes, Noesi – pitched a shockingly good game on Sunday. Maybe it turns into something, likely not.

(Photo by Justin Paradis – @FreshmeatComm)