It has now been over a month since I revealed my Top 100 Starters for 2017 and, simply put, stuff has happened. Injuries have arisen, returning stars haven’t impressed, rotations have...
It has now been over a month since I revealed my Top 100 Starters for 2017 and, simply put, stuff has happened. Injuries have arisen, returning stars haven't impressed, rotations have changed, or perhaps I've reassessed my stance on guys independent of their spring activities. Now that it's draft season, I want to tweak my rankings a bit and solidify who I'm favoring over who as you dive through the rounds. Let's do it.
Founder of Pitcher List. Creator of CSW, The List, and SP Roundup. Worked with MSG, FanGraphs, CBS Sports, and Washington Post. Former college pitcher, travel coach, pitching coach, and Brandeis alum. Wants every pitcher to be dope.
Excellent update! Burning keeper question involving a top 11 arm from your list: Yu Darvish.
12 team H2H Categories (6×6 Standard but OPS) league, keep 6. Debating my final keeper between: a 9th rd Darvish, 25th rd Dahl or 6th rd Britton. Other keepers include: Arenado, Rizzo, Marte, Odor, Villar.
Pitching depth available in the draft will likely be Arrieta onward, although a few cheap SPs will also likely be kept (Duffy, Nola, Quintana). Top RPs likely kept will be Jansen & Chapmon.
My gut says Darvish but my heart says Dahl (even with the injury). Thoughts?
Keep up the great work!
Considering the lack of SP options, you need to secure Darvish at the 9th round price. That’s a sturdy six man squad heading into your season and you don’t want to feel behind in pitching with that offense.
Nice Update, thanks. Michael Wacha, not rated top 100? Heres a guy who won 17 games just two seasons ago. Hes 25, and seemingly healthy. If we can give a rating to Grienke, why not Wacha?
Thanks!
Because Greinke has a much longer history of being great without the A) risk of being sent to the pen and B) the horrid injury history Wacha has had.
I really don’t want to go after Wacha in a 12-teamer where he could easily give a mediocre season that hurts my team more than helps or doesn’t even get a heavy dosage of starts.
That being said, Wacha is one of the closest to being on this List that isn’t and could find his way on it in the next month.
Hey Nick, big fan of your work. Wondering why Wainwright isn’t cracking the top 100. I know he looked bad last year but he was also coming back from injury. Seems like the Cardinals are pretty high on him and he’s been pitching pretty well in spring training. I’m not saying he should be high on the list but I’d rather have him and his upside than Reynaldo Lopez.
Thanks Josh!
Good question and I completely understand that.
The way I see it, I think it will be hard for me at a given point during this season to have a good amount of faith starting Wainwright on a game-to-game basis. There’s a ton of concern with his Fastball and overall I think he will hurt your team more than help.
With Reynaldo, there’s some time before he gets into the groove, but I can see him being more of a stable asset by the mid-point than Wainwright and be a more believable streamer in my eye. There’s more upside in Lopez than Wainwright at this point in my view.
Thanks for the thoughtful response! Really do love your stuff, you had me on the Shoemaker, Porcello, Fulmer, Paxton train last year and they carried me. Looking forward to reading pitcherlist this season.
Glad to hear it Josh! Can’t wait to get going with the SP Roundups again.
I feel like a part of me is missing during the off-season without them.
Hey Nick! So I currently have Wheeler in one league (don’t ask me why they drafted already) but Musgrove, Norris, and Gsellman are available. I personally feel like Norris is the guy to own out of the bunch. Obviously you have musgrove a little higher. Can I ask why?
I also have Neris, Giles, Capps, and Barraclough. Would you drop any of them to pick up one of the guys above? Standard 5×5 league.
Thanks!
Hey Matt! Good to see you round again.
I really like Musgrove’s potential this season, but as of now I’m with you and would be grabbing Norris and Gsellman first for your league. They have starting spots in their rotation making them the ones to own.
Barraclough is the one I’d drop as well to make room.
Sweet! Thanks Nick!
Actually one quick follow up. I’m thinking I might want to drop Rajai Davis instead of a pitcher as I have plenty of speed. If that were the case, would you hang on to Wheeler or Barraclough?
Wheeler is going to take a little bit before showing up this year. I think you drop him first.
You’re the man.
Hey Nick, huge fan. Ed Rodriguez or Folty in a 12 teamer dynasty for my high upside no cost pitcher to hang onto? Speaking of high upside, no cost…is Ryu droppable or can he turn it around?