The List 6/17 – Ranking The Top 100 Starting Pitchers Every Week

[pitcher_list_new list_id=”32661″]

 

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

 

• Before I begin, I have to note how poor the SP Landscape is. Don’t look at the number, look at the pitchers relative to the ranking. It’s why guys like Joe Musgrove, Miles Mikolas, Max Fried, and Matt Strahm are ranked higher than I believe their current ability would speak to in a vacuum.
• Alright, alright. Hyun-Jin Ryu is now Top Ten, even with his ridiculous injury history. The man hasn’t given me a choice.
• Mike Clevinger returns and I’M SO HAPPY. It also means 85% of pitchers got an automatic -1…but also a +1 for now being ahead of Chris Paddack, who I’ve placed as the #1 stash. I’ll keep him down there until he returns, where he’ll be Top 40 again, if not higher.
• With the fastball command of Patrick Corbin eluding him, I have to lower him to the fourth tier as it’s everything to his approach. There’s obviously a chance he gets it back, but for now I need to bake in the possibility he fights it for a while.
• Frankie Montas continues to climb with a strong pair of secondary pitches and an overpowering fastball. I couldn’t find a reason not to make him finally Top 25.
• I served some hits to quite a few arms this week. Mike Soroka, Max Fried, German Marquez, Masahiro Tanaka, and Mike Foltynewicz all fell inside the Top 50. Nothing unexpected there save for Soroka, who showed us a look of what happens when his fastball command is off. I was hoping to see him get through the outing without it, but without elite secondary pitches, it lowers his floor a bit.
• Seeing Yonny Chirinos get a locked rotation spot and not have an opener is a wonderful thing. He’s taken advantage and I have no choice but to raise him in the ranks.
• Anibal Sanchez should have been here last week in the mid-70s and concluded a strong two-start week to elevate himself to Top 60. Here’s to hoping the Cutter sticks around.
• I question his longevity, but I have to reward Framber Valdez for his strikeout ability and attacking batters in his two starts thus far.
• Joining The List this week are a few surprises. Tommy Milone (six strikeouts or more in four of his five games!) and Sandy Alcantara (three strong starts in a row prior to the middling outing on Sunday) could be options in the short term, while Elieser Hernandez and Jordan Yamamoto have chances – slim chances, but still chances – at turning into decent 12-teamer value.
• Yes, I too am shocked to see teammates Lance Lynn and Adrian Sampson rise. Lynn has been defying the odds with his fastball and cutter combination, while Sampson’s slider has been stupid good – ignore the start against the Sawx, you wouldn’t have started him there anyway. His ranking at #68 is surrounded by other arms who are matchup dependent as well.

(Photo by Justin Paradis – @FreshmeatComm)