Every Monday, I will be releasing “The List” where I rank the current value of the Top 100 pitchers in fantasy baseball for the rest of the season. Use these rankings to help understand what to expect from pitchers for the rest of 2016, and as a tool to gauge trade value in your fantasy leagues.
Note: We’re working on fixing the “prev” column. They may be a bit off this week.
Let’s see how the SP landscape has changed since last week:
| Rank | Player | Prev | Best | Worst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clayton Kershaw | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Jake Arrieta | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Chris Sale | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | Noah Syndergaard | 4 | 4 | 11 |
| 5 | Jose Fernandez | 9 | 7 | 9 |
| 6 | Stephen Strasburg | 7 | 7 | 12 |
| 7 | Max Scherzer | 5 | 3 | 5 |
| 8 | Madison Bumgarner | 11 | 5 | 11 |
| 9 | Corey Kluber | 8 | 8 | 11 |
| 10 | Jacob DeGrom | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| 11 | Carlos Carrasco | 19 | 9 | 19 |
| 12 | David Price | 10 | 8 | 10 |
| 13 | Johnny Cueto | 26 | 26 | 30 |
| 14 | Danny Salazar | 21 | 21 | 23 |
| 15 | Steven Matz | 23 | 23 | 27 |
| 16 | Aaron Nola | 36 | 36 | 48 |
| 17 | Yu Darvish | 32 | 32 | 44 |
| 18 | Jon Lester | 17 | 17 | 19 |
| 19 | Gerrit Cole | 13 | 13 | 14 |
| 20 | Zack Greinke | 15 | 14 | 17 |
| 21 | Jose Quintana | 28 | 28 | 39 |
| 22 | Rich Hill | 56 | 48 | 105 |
| 23 | Masahiro Tanaka | 39 | 37 | 39 |
| 24 | Lance McCullers | 43 | 36 | 43 |
| 25 | Justin Verlander | 30 | 28 | 31 |
| 26 | Jeff Samardzija | 63 | 55 | 78 |
| 27 | Cole Hamels | 20 | 20 | 21 |
| 28 | Chris Archer | 14 | 14 | 16 |
| 29 | Joe Ross | 31 | 31 | 35 |
| 30 | Felix Hernandez | 16 | 16 | 18 |
| 31 | Matt Harvey | 12 | 12 | 13 |
| 32 | Drew Smyly | 22 | 22 | 33 |
| 33 | Jaime Garcia | 38 | 31 | 38 |
| 34 | John Lackey | 65 | 54 | 67 |
| 35 | Jake Odorizzi | 34 | 34 | 43 |
| 36 | Kevin Gausman | 68 | 53 | 72 |
| 37 | Drew Pomeranz | 57 | 52 | 172 |
| 38 | Taijuan Walker | 29 | 29 | 50 |
| 39 | Marcus Stroman | 25 | 20 | 26 |
| 40 | Jordan Zimmermann | 40 | 40 | 53 |
| 41 | Kyle Hendricks | 61 | 47 | 61 |
| 42 | Jason Hammel | 60 | 50 | 68 |
| 43 | Aaron Sanchez | 69 | 51 | 236 |
| 44 | Dallas Keuchel | 18 | 15 | 18 |
| 45 | Carlos Martinez | 27 | 23 | 27 |
| 46 | Raisel Iglesias | 42 | 26 | 42 |
| 47 | Tyler Duffey | 64 | 64 | 112 |
| 48 | Chris Tillman | 107 | 100 | 129 |
| 49 | Vincent Velasquez | 37 | 37 | 72 |
| 50 | Wei-Yin Chen | 55 | 53 | 60 |
| 51 | Nathan Eovaldi | 87 | 67 | 94 |
| 52 | Gio Gonzalez | 58 | 55 | 58 |
| 53 | Tanner Roark | 53 | 53 | 142 |
| 54 | Kenta Maeda | 54 | 35 | 63 |
| 55 | Eduardo Rodriguez | 55 | 37 | 68 |
| 56 | Edinson Volquez | 56 | 56 | 95 |
| 57 | Julio Teheran | 57 | 57 | 116 |
| 58 | Ian Kennedy | 58 | 56 | 69 |
| 59 | Michael Fulmer | 59 | 59 | 254 |
| 60 | Jerad Eickhoff | 60 | 45 | 70 |
| 61 | Michael Wacha | 61 | 45 | 61 |
| 62 | Rick Porcello | 62 | 51 | 70 |
| 63 | Carlos Rodon | 63 | 39 | 63 |
| 64 | Jameson Taillon | 64 | 64 | 188 |
| 65 | Blake Snell | 65 | 62 | 85 |
| 66 | Tyler Glasnow | 66 | 66 | 86 |
| 67 | Marco Estrada | 67 | 67 | 91 |
| 68 | Mike Leake | 68 | 68 | 127 |
| 69 | Collin McHugh | 69 | 59 | 88 |
| 70 | Nate Karns | 93 | 63 | 93 |
| 71 | Sonny Gray | 25 | 25 | 29 |
| 72 | J.A. Happ | 72 | 72 | 90 |
| 73 | Steven Wright | 73 | 73 | 222 |
| 74 | Alex Wood | 74 | 74 | 130 |
| 75 | Josh Tomlin | 75 | 72 | 87 |
| 76 | James Shields | 76 | 46 | 77 |
| 77 | Jon Gray | 77 | 77 | 144 |
| 78 | Tyson Ross | 78 | 44 | 78 |
| 79 | Hisashi Iwakuma | 79 | 40 | 79 |
| 80 | Scott Kazmir | 80 | 66 | 80 |
| 81 | Matt Shoemaker | 81 | 81 | 124 |
| 82 | Michael Pineda | 82 | 24 | 82 |
| 83 | Francisco Liriano | 83 | 41 | 83 |
| 84 | Adam Conley | 84 | 72 | 120 |
| 85 | Jimmy Nelson | 85 | 85 | 111 |
| 86 | Yordano Ventura | 86 | 50 | 86 |
| 87 | Adam Wainwright | 64 | 22 | 84 |
| 88 | Jeremy Hellickson | 88 | 88 | 153 |
| 89 | Alex Cobb | 101 | 92 | 101 |
| 90 | Zack Wheeler | 102 | 93 | 103 |
| 91 | Mike Foltynewicz | 91 | 91 | 316 |
| 92 | Bartolo Colon | 92 | 92 | 143 |
| 93 | Mike Clevinger | 93 | 93 | 328 |
| 94 | Archie Bradley | 94 | 94 | 135 |
| 95 | Patrick Corbin | 95 | 31 | 95 |
| 96 | Juan Nicasio | 96 | 57 | 208 |
| 97 | Matt Moore | 97 | 56 | 113 |
| 98 | Robbie Ray | 98 | 71 | 119 |
| 99 | Mike Fiers | 99 | 68 | 99 |
| 100 | Shane Greene | 100 | 76 | 251 |
Notes
– Max Scherzer takes a small drop after being a bit inconsistent while the other three of Thor, JoFer and Stras have been complete studs.
– The likes of Gerrit Cole, and Zack Greinke plummet to the bottom of the Top 20 as new options have emerged to be stable and fantastic additions to pitching staffs, especially Yu Darvish who looked spectacular in his MLB debut.
– It’s time to stop holding back both Masahiro Tanaka and Rich Hill simply because of their injury issues. While the former did get pulled slightly early yesterday with a “really mild groin strain” he should be pitching again in a week or so and continuing his Top 10 numbers in no time. Meanwhile, Tanaka holds the best WHIP in the AL and while the strikeout numbers aren’t up there with the best, he’s been a very consistent and sturdy member of rosters without a hint of future injury.
– Justin Verlander looks like the guy I thought he was in the pre-season and it’s time to put your faith back into him fully.
– Marcus Stroman has issues to figure out and isn’t quite as ready to dominate as I believed. He should still be a good producer this season, just not with the same upside as predicted.
– Three prospect pitchers took different turns this week. Michael Fulmer has started to trust his Changeup more and has looked fantastic in his two recent outings. Mike Clevinger hasn’t featured the command he needs to excel in the bigs and needs more time in the oven. Julio Urias made his big league debut, but the Dodgers revealed their hand, and it looks like he will get very few chances this year to stand on the hill.
– Nathan Eovaldi keeps creeping close to Top 50 territory, though I’m cautious that he can provide value to owners.
– It’s time to fully give up on Michael Pineda, Patrick Corbin, and Francisco Liriano. While they are all still here given that it’s possible they turn it around, they are droppable and should be swapped with streaming options.
– Joining The List this week are Jeremy Hellickson and Archie Bradley. Hellickson has been surprisingly good, though I’m hesitant to raise him more given his volatile nature. Bradley had a great return to the majors over the weekend, yet his history of walking batters prevent him from entering at a higher mark.