Every week, 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.
Let’s see how the SP landscape has changed since last week:
| Rank | Player | Prev | Best | Worst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clayton Kershaw | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 2 | Max Scherzer | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | Madison Bumgarner | 3 | 3 | 11 |
| 4 | Stephen Strasburg | 4 | 3 | 12 |
| 5 | Jose Fernandez | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| 6 | Jake Arrieta | 6 | 2 | 6 |
| 7 | Chris Sale | 7 | 3 | 7 |
| 8 | Jacob DeGrom | 8 | 6 | 8 |
| 9 | Noah Syndergaard | 9 | 4 | 11 |
| 10 | Carlos Carrasco | 13 | 9 | 19 |
| 11 | Johnny Cueto | 11 | 11 | 30 |
| 12 | Jon Lester | 12 | 12 | 19 |
| 13 | Corey Kluber | 13 | 8 | 15 |
| 14 | Justin Verlander | 14 | 14 | 31 |
| 15 | Yu Darvish | 15 | 15 | 44 |
| 16 | Zack Greinke | 16 | 12 | 18 |
| 17 | David Price | 17 | 8 | 17 |
| 18 | Steven Matz | 18 | 17 | 27 |
| 19 | Gerrit Cole | 19 | 13 | 25 |
| 20 | Danny Salazar | 20 | 16 | 23 |
| 21 | Drew Pomeranz | 21 | 21 | 172 |
| 22 | Rich Hill | 22 | 14 | 105 |
| 23 | Masahiro Tanaka | 39 | 37 | 39 |
| 24 | Kyle Hendricks | 24 | 24 | 61 |
| 25 | Aaron Nola | 25 | 25 | 48 |
| 26 | Michael Fulmer | 26 | 26 | 254 |
| 27 | Carlos Martinez | 27 | 23 | 35 |
| 28 | Cole Hamels | 28 | 20 | 30 |
| 29 | John Lackey | 29 | 18 | 67 |
| 30 | Matt Shoemaker | 30 | 30 | 124 |
| 31 | Felix Hernandez | 31 | 16 | 41 |
| 32 | Jose Quintana | 32 | 23 | 39 |
| 33 | Kenta Maeda | 33 | 28 | 63 |
| 34 | Danny Duffy | 34 | 32 | 142 |
| 35 | Adam Wainwright | 35 | 22 | 84 |
| 36 | Jerad Eickhoff | 36 | 36 | 70 |
| 37 | Anthony DeSclafani | 38 | 36 | 110 |
| 38 | Steven Wright | 39 | 30 | 222 |
| 39 | Aaron Sanchez | 40 | 38 | 236 |
| 40 | Vincent Velasquez | 41 | 37 | 72 |
| 41 | Tanner Roark | 42 | 42 | 142 |
| 42 | Julio Teheran | 43 | 21 | 116 |
| 43 | Lance McCullers | 44 | 36 | 46 |
| 44 | Marco Estrada | 45 | 44 | 91 |
| 45 | Bud Norris | 46 | 46 | 323 |
| 46 | Trevor Bauer | 47 | 42 | 136 |
| 47 | Rick Porcello | 48 | 48 | 70 |
| 48 | James Paxton | 37 | 35 | 121 |
| 49 | Jason Hammel | 49 | 49 | 68 |
| 50 | Taijuan Walker | 50 | 29 | 50 |
| 51 | Sonny Gray | 51 | 25 | 51 |
| 52 | Kevin Gausman | 52 | 45 | 72 |
| 53 | Dallas Keuchel | 53 | 15 | 65 |
| 54 | Chris Archer | 54 | 14 | 64 |
| 55 | Jameson Taillon | 55 | 39 | 188 |
| 56 | Michael Pineda | 56 | 24 | 82 |
| 57 | Blake Snell | 57 | 50 | 85 |
| 58 | Jeff Samardzija | 58 | 26 | 78 |
| 59 | Chris Tillman | 59 | 51 | 129 |
| 60 | Mike Leake | 82 | 68 | 127 |
| 61 | Michael Wacha | 60 | 45 | 63 |
| 62 | Ian Kennedy | 61 | 56 | 81 |
| 63 | Brandon McCarthy | 62 | 62 | 225 |
| 64 | Drew Smyly | 63 | 22 | 65 |
| 65 | Mike Foltynewicz | 64 | 64 | 316 |
| 66 | Jon Gray | 65 | 65 | 144 |
| 67 | Junior Guerra | 66 | 64 | 329 |
| 68 | Marcus Stroman | 67 | 20 | 88 |
| 69 | Carlos Rodon | 68 | 39 | 68 |
| 70 | J.A. Happ | 69 | 69 | 90 |
| 71 | Jake Odorizzi | 70 | 34 | 71 |
| 72 | Josh Tomlin | 71 | 71 | 87 |
| 73 | Alex Cobb | 72 | 72 | 101 |
| 74 | Zack Wheeler | 73 | 73 | 103 |
| 75 | Joe Ross | 74 | 31 | 101 |
| 76 | Tyler Glasnow | 75 | 66 | 93 |
| 77 | Daniel Mengden | 76 | 61 | 334 |
| 78 | Zach Davies | 76 | 76 | 187 |
| 79 | Zach Eflin | 77 | 77 | 333 |
| 80 | Jordan Zimmermann | 97 | 40 | 97 |
| 81 | Collin McHugh | 78 | 59 | 95 |
| 82 | Hisashi Iwakuma | 80 | 40 | 89 |
| 83 | Adam Conley | 81 | 72 | 120 |
| 84 | Robbie Ray | 83 | 71 | 119 |
| 85 | Doug Fister | 84 | 82 | 147 |
| 86 | Bartolo Colon | 95 | 89 | 143 |
| 87 | Dylan Bundy | 87 | 87 | 154 |
| 88 | Lucas Giolito | 82 | 58 | 136 |
| 89 | Mike Montgomery | 88 | 86 | 297 |
| 90 | Alex Reyes | 89 | 87 | 330 |
| 91 | Scott Kazmir | 90 | 66 | 102 |
| 92 | Matt Moore | 91 | 56 | 113 |
| 93 | Tyson Ross | 92 | 44 | 103 |
| 94 | Archie Bradley | 93 | 77 | 135 |
| 95 | Gio Gonzalez | 94 | 55 | 94 |
| 96 | Jeremy Hellickson | 105 | 88 | 153 |
| 97 | Cody Reed | 95 | 67 | 335 |
| 98 | Chad Green | 96 | 96 | 337 |
| 99 | Yordano Ventura | 98 | 50 | 98 |
| 100 | Jimmy Nelson | 99 | 85 | 111 |
Notes
– Not much has changed since only three games have been played since our last update.
– Clayton Kershaw has reclaimed the #1 spot as he’s expected to be back on the field this Thursday. Thank the baseball gods for that.
– David Price takes a fall inside the Top 20 due to his Hard Contact being way up this season, while Yu Darvish with all of his walk and injury issues finds himself climbing as there are so few pitchers that can get in his way.
– It was sad to hear of Rich Hill’s blister as Hill on the mound is a Top 10 SP, but he has to take a dip as we wait for it to heal.
– I wanted to move James Paxton down for his recent efforts, but given the lack of exciting options past the mid 30s, he took just a minor hit. UPDATE: I read Paxton’s schedule incorrectly and he’s facing four top tier offenses in a row: Blue Jays + Cubs + Sawx + Tigers. I have dropped his order from the mid 30s to late 40s two hours after its mid Monday publication.
– Mike Foltynewicz and Jon Gray are becoming excellent streamer picks and their K upside has propelled them comfortably inside the Top 70.
– We don’t know when we’ll see Lucas Giolito again, forcing him down into the 80s, while fellow prospect Dylan Bundy could provide some value now that he’s inside the O’s rotation.
– Did you know that across his last 12 starts Mike Leake has a 3.29 ERA, 3.46 FIP, and 3.49 xFIP? That’s with a miniscule 0.94 BB/9 and averaging well into the 7th inning per start. Too bad his K/9 is a paltry 6.34 K/9 or he’d make a bigger jump as he pitches for a winning team with only one strong opponent in his division.
– Leaving The List is Jaime Garcia, who simply can’t put it together after another pair of 4 ER starts against two average offenses.
– No Hyun-Jin Ryu just yet even though he’s now a part of the Dodgers rotation. I need to see him look like his former self before considering him above other streaming options.