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/Best/Worst” columns. Please ignore them for now.
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 | Madison Bumgarner | 3 | 3 | 11 |
| 4 | Jose Fernandez | 4 | 4 | 9 |
| 5 | Noah Syndergaard | 5 | 4 | 11 |
| 6 | Max Scherzer | 6 | 3 | 6 |
| 7 | Chris Sale | 7 | 3 | 7 |
| 8 | Stephen Strasburg | 8 | 7 | 12 |
| 9 | Jacob DeGrom | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| 10 | Johnny Cueto | 26 | 26 | 30 |
| 11 | Jon Lester | 17 | 17 | 19 |
| 12 | Zack Greinke | 12 | 12 | 17 |
| 13 | Carlos Carrasco | 13 | 9 | 19 |
| 14 | David Price | 14 | 8 | 14 |
| 15 | Corey Kluber | 15 | 8 | 15 |
| 16 | Danny Salazar | 16 | 16 | 23 |
| 17 | Matt Harvey | 17 | 12 | 17 |
| 18 | John Lackey | 18 | 18 | 67 |
| 19 | Rich Hill | 19 | 19 | 105 |
| 20 | Justin Verlander | 20 | 20 | 31 |
| 21 | Steven Matz | 22 | 21 | 27 |
| 22 | Julio Teheran | 21 | 21 | 116 |
| 23 | Jose Quintana | 23 | 23 | 39 |
| 24 | Masahiro Tanaka | 39 | 37 | 39 |
| 25 | Gerrit Cole | 25 | 13 | 25 |
| 26 | Jeff Samardzija | 26 | 26 | 78 |
| 27 | Yu Darvish | 27 | 27 | 44 |
| 28 | Cole Hamels | 28 | 20 | 28 |
| 29 | Kyle Hendricks | 29 | 29 | 61 |
| 30 | Steven Wright | 30 | 30 | 222 |
| 31 | Matt Shoemaker | 31 | 31 | 124 |
| 32 | Michael Fulmer | 32 | 32 | 254 |
| 33 | Aaron Nola | 33 | 33 | 48 |
| 34 | Sonny Gray | 34 | 25 | 34 |
| 35 | Carlos Martinez | 35 | 23 | 35 |
| 36 | Drew Pomeranz | 36 | 36 | 172 |
| 37 | James Paxton | 37 | 37 | 121 |
| 38 | Joe Ross | 38 | 31 | 38 |
| 39 | Jameson Taillon | 39 | 39 | 188 |
| 40 | Lance McCullers | 43 | 36 | 43 |
| 41 | Felix Hernandez | 41 | 16 | 41 |
| 42 | Trevor Bauer | 42 | 42 | 136 |
| 43 | Danny Duffy | 43 | 43 | 142 |
| 44 | Carlos Rodon | 44 | 39 | 63 |
| 45 | Kevin Gausman | 45 | 45 | 72 |
| 46 | Tanner Roark | 46 | 46 | 142 |
| 47 | Aaron Sanchez | 47 | 47 | 236 |
| 48 | Taijuan Walker | 29 | 29 | 50 |
| 49 | Kenta Maeda | 49 | 35 | 63 |
| 50 | Blake Snell | 50 | 50 | 85 |
| 51 | Chris Tillman | 51 | 51 | 129 |
| 52 | Jason Hammel | 52 | 50 | 68 |
| 53 | Adam Wainwright | 53 | 22 | 84 |
| 54 | Jerad Eickhoff | 54 | 45 | 70 |
| 55 | CC Sabathia | 55 | 55 | 237 |
| 56 | Marco Estrada | 56 | 56 | 91 |
| 57 | Vincent Velasquez | 57 | 37 | 72 |
| 58 | Lucas Giolito | 58 | 58 | 136 |
| 59 | Anthony DeSclafani | 59 | 59 | 110 |
| 60 | Michael Pineda | 60 | 24 | 82 |
| 61 | Daniel Mengden | 61 | 61 | 334 |
| 62 | Drew Smyly | 62 | 22 | 62 |
| 63 | Michael Wacha | 63 | 45 | 63 |
| 64 | Chris Archer | 64 | 14 | 64 |
| 65 | Dallas Keuchel | 65 | 15 | 65 |
| 66 | Jake Odorizzi | 66 | 34 | 66 |
| 67 | Cody Reed | 67 | 67 | 335 |
| 68 | Rick Porcello | 68 | 51 | 70 |
| 69 | Mike Leake | 69 | 68 | 127 |
| 70 | Julio Urias | 70 | 70 | 117 |
| 71 | Josh Tomlin | 71 | 71 | 87 |
| 72 | Jordan Zimmermann | 72 | 40 | 72 |
| 73 | Jon Gray | 73 | 73 | 144 |
| 74 | Eduardo Rodriguez | 74 | 37 | 74 |
| 75 | Junior Guerra | 75 | 75 | 329 |
| 76 | Zach Davies | 76 | 76 | 187 |
| 77 | Archie Bradley | 77 | 77 | 135 |
| 78 | Ian Kennedy | 78 | 56 | 81 |
| 79 | Robbie Ray | 79 | 71 | 119 |
| 80 | Gio Gonzalez | 80 | 55 | 80 |
| 81 | Nate Karns | 81 | 63 | 93 |
| 82 | Doug Fister | 82 | 82 | 147 |
| 83 | Yordano Ventura | 83 | 50 | 91 |
| 84 | Zach Eflin | 84 | 84 | 333 |
| 85 | Adam Conley | 85 | 72 | 120 |
| 86 | Bud Norris | 86 | 86 | 323 |
| 87 | Marcus Stroman | 88 | 20 | 88 |
| 88 | Jaime Garcia | 86 | 31 | 88 |
| 89 | Hisashi Iwakuma | 87 | 40 | 89 |
| 90 | J.A. Happ | 89 | 72 | 90 |
| 91 | Josh Hader | 90 | 90 | 331 |
| 92 | Alex Reyes | 91 | 91 | 330 |
| 93 | Tyler Glasnow | 92 | 66 | 93 |
| 94 | Wei-Yin Chen | 93 | 53 | 94 |
| 95 | Collin McHugh | 94 | 59 | 95 |
| 96 | Bartolo Colon | 95 | 89 | 143 |
| 97 | Alex Cobb | 96 | 92 | 101 |
| 98 | Zack Wheeler | 97 | 93 | 103 |
| 99 | Jimmy Nelson | 99 | 85 | 111 |
| 100 | Jake Peavy | 100 | 96 | 120 |
Notes
– Simple moves in the Top 20 that make sense: Noah Syndergaard and Stephen Strasburg have small dips due to injury issues, Carlos Carrasco and teammate Corey Kluber get a few bumps as well.
– The biggest fall is of Aaron Nola who has completely lost his impeccable command that made him a stud in the first place. I’ve seen people dropping him in leagues, which is far from what I’d suggest. While I had to drop him a bit due to the risk involved, I see him turning it around and returning to his stud lifestyle in the second half. Best buy low out there.
– Julio Teheran gets a sizeable jump, even with his questionable FIP/xFIP. He’s been on one of the hottest streaks playing in the best division in the bigs.
– Justin Verlander squeezes into the Top 20 despite his blow up over the weekend. It’s a mix of believing his horrible 5th inning was a fluke, and an indication for the lack of dependable options outside the Top 20.
– A lot of good pitchers are coming of the DL soon: Rich Hill is estimated to pitch this weekend, Taijuan Walker should return this week, Vincent Velasquez gets the ball tonight for the Phils, and Gerrit Cole + Yu Darvish could return before the all-star break. Felix Hernandez will be about three weeks or so, though.
– The “Sea of Upside” is getting broken up as Matt Shoemaker and Michael Fulmer are keeping up their excellent numbers. Danny Duffy has slowed down and looks shakier than the rest. Meanwhile, other upside candidates have joined the fray with Trevor Bauer and Carlos Rodon pulling off excellent hot streaks of their own.
– Lucas Giolito is set to make his big league debut on Tuesday against the Mets, and he’s worth a flier while you can still pick him up. It may not be for an extended period of time, but there’s little reason not to take the chance.
– Zach Davies joins the fray as he joins his teammate Junior Guerra as a good team play to be avoided against tough opponents, i.e. a Toby.
– It’s tough to see Marcus Stroman continue to fall, and if you’re still holding on, it’s time to let go.
– Jake Peavy got an invitation this week, pushing Scott Kazmir off the ranks. He’s be surprisingly great in his last six starts, holding a 1.91 ERA in that span. It isn’t going to last much longer, but he’s worth a nod.
– The same goes for Bud Norris who has been on fire since getting his rotation spot back in the beginning of June. It’s mostly against poor teams, so be wise about throwing him out there.