Fantasy baseball starting pitcher rankings for week 10

The matchups and statistical data were pulled Saturday morning. Please be aware the matchups are subject to change.

Top Starters

Rank	Name	Team	Opp.	ERA	K%	BB%
1	Jordan Zimmermann	WSH	NYM, MIN	2.37	15.8%	3.2%
2	Felix Hernandez	SEA	CWS, NYY	2.38	26.5%	4.9%
3	A.J. Burnett	PIT	@ATL, @CHC	2.72	28.7%	9.4%
4	Lance Lynn	STL	ARI, @CIN	2.91	25.4%	9.1%
5	Anibal Sanchez	DET	TB, CLE	2.79	30.8%	6.2%
6	Mike Minor	ATL	PIT, @LAD	2.48	23.7%	5.0%
7	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	SD	1.68	25.3%	6.9%
8	Matt Harvey	NYM	MIA	1.85	28.5%	5.8%
9	Adam Wainwright	STL	ARI	2.48	23.7%	1.9%
10	Yu Darvish	TEX	@TOR	3.03	36.0%	7.5%
11	Cliff Lee	PHI	@MIL	2.34	20.1%	4.1%
12	Hisashi Iwakuma	SEA	CWS	2.35	25.3%	4.0%
13	James Shields	KC	HOU	2.96	23.5%	6.4%
14	Chris Sale	CWS	OAK	2.53	24.7%	6.1%
15	Justin Verlander	DET	CLE	3.68	29.0%	8.1%
16	Max Scherzer	DET	TB	3.43	31.0%	6.1%
17	Stephen Strasburg	WSH	NYM	2.49	24.5%	7.2%
18	Shelby Miller	STL	ARI	2.02	26.6%	6.6%
19	Madison Bumgarner	SF	@ARI	3.13	23.9%	7.6%
20	Doug Fister	DET	TB	3.28	21.1%	3.7%
21	Jeff Samardzija	CHC	PIT	2.85	27.5%	8.2%
22	Hyun-Jin Ryu	LAD	ATL	2.89	23.3%	7.6%
23	Johnny Cueto	CIN	COL	2.76	23.9%	10.3%
24	Matt Moore	TB	@DET	2.21	22.5%	11.2%

Additional Information: In his last five starts (including the one on Saturday), Justin Verlander has a 7.42 ERA and is walking a little more than nine percent of batters. However, with a 33 percent strikeout rate his struggles have been command rather than his stuff. This week he pitches against the 5th best team in OPS in the majors. Stephen Strasburg left the game on Friday after two innings due to a slight oblique strain. Nationals manager Davey Johnson said Strasburg’s next start could be pushed back if necessary. The Detroit Tigers have the second best OPS against left handed pitching, but Matt Moore isn’t necessarily a bona fide.

Backend Starters

Rank	Name	Team	Opp.	ERA	K%	BB%
25	Zack Greinke	LAD	ATL	4.37	15.2%	4.5%
26	Mat Latos	CIN	STL	3.01	20.9%	6.8%
27	Clay Buchholz	BOS	LAA	1.73	26.0%	9.6%
28	Ervin Santana	KC	HOU	3.33	20.2%	3.9%
29	Jake Peavy	CWS	@SEA, OAK	3.62	25.5%	5.8%
30	Hiroki Kuroda	NYY	@SEA	2.39	17.2%	5.2%
31	Patrick Corbin	ARI	SF	1.71	20.9%	7.5%
32	Jered Weaver	LAA	CHC	3.71	18.3%	8.5%
33	Homer Bailey	CIN	COL	3.84	24.3%	6.8%
34	Gio Gonzalez	WSH	MIN	3.89	21.8%	10.9%
35	Cole Hamels	PHI	MIA	4.43	21.6%	8.6%
36	Alex Cobb	TB	@DET, BAL	2.66	22.8%	5.1%
37	CC Sabathia	NYY	CLE	3.96	19.6%	5.1%
38	Ryan Dempster	BOS	TEX, LAA	4.45	26.2%	11.8%
39	Matt Garza	CHC	PIT	4.00	30.0%	17.5%
40	Derek Holland	TEX	@BOS	2.97	23.6%	6.3%

Additional Information: Maybe I should have Clay Buchholz higher, but I wasn’t a believer in the preseason, and I’m still not. In the month of May, CC Sabathia has a 4.14 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and now faces one of the best offenses in majors. The month of May has been kind to Gio Gonzalez. He has a 2.48 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. Gonzalez is a walker (nearly 11 percent walk rate this year) and like most walkers will have a higher likelihood of blowup outings than non-walkers. He’s a set-it and forget-it pitcher. I fully admit I’m overly optimistic about Matt Garza, but the stuff has looked great, and he faces the Pirates, the 24th-ranked team in OPS.

Spot Starters

Rank	Name	Team	Opp.	ERA	K%	BB%
41	Kris Medlen	ATL	PIT, @LAD	3.48	16.7%	8.4%
42	A.J. Griffin	OAK	@MIL, @CWS	4.04	19.6%	6.3%
43	Ricky Nolasco	MIA	@PHI	3.69	19.7%	5.8%
44	Dan Straily	OAK	@CWS	5.08	20.4%	8.0%
45	Jarrod Parker	OAK	@CWS	5.40	16.2%	9.6%
46	Corey Kluber	CLE	@NYY	4.58	25.1%	4.1%
47	Wandy Rodriguez	PIT	@ATL	3.58	18.1%	4.0%
48	Andy Pettitte	NYY	CLE, @SEA	3.83	18.8%	7.2%
49	Alexi Ogando	TEX	@TOR	3.08	17.7%	9.1%
50	Bartolo Colon	OAK	@MIL	3.82	16.0%	1.6%
51	Jason Vargas	LAA	CHC	3.34	15.5%	8.4%
52	Michael Wacha	STL	ARI, @CIN	1.29	26.1%	0.0%
53	Scott Feldman	CHC	@LAA	2.82	19.9%	7.4%
54	Tommy Milone	OAK	@MIL, @CWS	4.04	19.8%	5.1%
55	Rick Porcello	DET	CLE	5.29	19.0%	4.7%
56	Nick Tepesch	TEX	@BOS	3.88	17.8%	6.7%
57	David Phelps	NYY	CLE, @SEA	4.65	23.1%	9.3%
58	Jose Fernandez	MIA	@NYM	3.79	23.4%	9.5%
59	John Lackey	BOS	TEX	2.95	23.7%	7.4%
60	Matt Cain	SF	@ARI	5.01	21.6%	8.4%
61	Jon Lester	BOS	TEX	3.34	20.1%	6.4%
62	Josh Johnson	TOR	@SF	6.85	19.4%	9.2%
63	Andrew Cashner	SD	@LAD, @COL	3.65	17.9%	7.3%
64	Kyle Kendrick	PHI	MIA, @MIL	3.26	14.9%	6.9%
65	C.J. Wilson	LAA	@BOS	3.95	21.1%	10.5%
66	Jose Quintana	CWS	OAK	3.74	18.3%	7.5%

Additional Information: This section is where most of us have the toughest decisions. Usually, we have two to four pitchers we’re debating between. Since joining the rotation in late March, Corey Kluber is striking out 26 percent of batters and is only walking 5.1 percent of batters. Don’t look at his 4.70 ERA as it’s likely to regress with the aforementioned peripherals. He’s only owned in 23 percent of NFBC leagues, so he’s most likely available in your league. In Jarrod Parker’s last four starts, he has a 2.96 ERA and 0.95 WHIP. The reason why I’m a believer is he’s throwing more quality strikes. Specifically, in the beginning of the season, he threw a lot of pitches in the middle of the zone, and now he’s throwing strikes on the corners. Jon Lester has a 5.13 ERA and 1.48 WHIP. The most worrisome is the drop in strikeout rate. To begin the year, it was 21.5 percent and now it’s only 17 percent. In his last six starts, Rick Porcello has a 3.32 ERA and 1.03 WHIP while striking out 25 percent of batters. That is not a misprint.

Proceed With Caution

Rank	Name	Team	Opp.	ERA	K%	BB%
67	Trevor Cahill	ARI	@STL, SF	2.88	16.3%	8.8%
68	Brandon McCarthy	ARI	@STL, SF	4.99	13.4%	3.4%
69	Paul Maholm	ATL	@LAD	3.74	17.6%	7.3%
70	Chris Tillman	BAL	@HOU, @TB	4.27	19.5%	8.3%
71	Bronson Arroyo	CIN	COL, STL	3.75	14.0%	4.4%
72	Phil Hughes	NYY	@SEA	4.97	20.6%	5.6%
73	Kevin Slowey	MIA	@NYM	3.59	18.0%	4.6%
74	Justin Masterson	CLE	@NYY, @DET	3.07	24.7%	9.2%
75	Julio Teheran	ATL	PIT	3.68	14.5%	5.0%
76	Kyle Lohse	MIL	OAK, PHI	4.37	14.9%	4.4%
77	John Danks	CWS	@SEA, OAK	5.40	17.5%	2.5%
78	Jeremy Hefner	NYM	@WSH, MIA	4.74	17.6%	8.4%
79	Justin Grimm	TEX	@BOS, @TOR	3.93	19.0%	6.0%
80	Miguel Gonzalez	BAL	@HOU	3.94	16.9%	8.5%
81	Jeremy Guthrie	KC	MIN	3.84	13.1%	7.2%
82	Dillon Gee	NYM	@WSH	5.68	18.9%	6.6%
83	Jonathan Pettibone	PHI	MIA, @MIL	3.64	15.8%	7.9%
84	Brandon Morrow	TOR	TEX	5.64	17.4%	7.4%
85	Tyler Chatwood	COL	@CIN, SD	2.12	21.3%	7.4%
86	R.A. Dickey	TOR	@SF, TEX	5.18	18.3%	9.9%

Additional Information: Brandon McCarthy was just placed on the DL. It looks like Tyler Skaggs will take McCarthy’s rotation spot. I would rank Skaggs 79 overall for this week (assuming he takes McCarthy’s starts). Chris Tillman has two very favorable matchups, which is why he’s ranked so high. Every time I watch Tillman pitch, I don’t understand why hitters don’t square his pitches more often because it’s not plus (on the scouting scale) stuff. Phil Hughes gives up a lot of fly balls and home runs. What better situation than a ballpark where fly balls never leave the park. If you’re a R. A. Dickey owner you have to keep him on your bench. The velocity of the knuckleball is still in the mid-70s and it doesn’t have the same life as it did last year. Despite the solid baseball card statistics, Jonathan Pettibone is a fringe major leaguer, but with a start against the Marlins, I would be very tempted to put him in my lineup.

Avoid

Rank	Name	Team	Opp.	ERA	K%	BB%
87	Travis Wood	CHC	@LAA	2.75	17.7%	8.5%
88	Mike Leake	CIN	STL	3.01	17.0%	5.7%
89	Ian Kennedy	ARI	@STL	4.70	19.0%	8.7%
90	Wade Miley	ARI	@STL	4.52	17.0%	8.5%
91	Zach McAllister	CLE	@DET	3.08	17.2%	6.9%
92	Freddy Garcia	BAL	@HOU	3.57	10.9%	4.3%
93	Francisco Liriano	PIT	@CHC	2.35	27.7%	7.9%
94	Ted Lilly	LAD	SD, ATL	4.26	16.9%	9.0%
95	Chris Capuano	LAD	SD, ATL	5.45	16.1%	8.7%
96	Tom Koehler	MIA	@PHI, @NYM	3.22	17.0%	7.8%
97	Marco Estrada	MIL	OAK, PHI	4.96	21.3%	6.1%
98	Yovani Gallardo	MIL	OAK	4.79	18.2%	8.4%
99	Tim Lincecum	SF	TOR, @ARI	5.12	23.7%	10.8%
100	Jeremy Hellickson	TB	BAL	5.61	18.7%	6.7%
101	Chris Archer	TB	BAL	–	–	–

Additional Information: Chris Archer did not look as bad as the box score would indicate. He has a plus-plus (on the scouting scale) fastball that sits in the mid-90s and maxed out at 99 mph. He also has a devastating slider and a solid changeup. If I knew for sure he was guaranteed a start this upcoming week, I would rank him 73rd overall. I know what the numbers say for Francisco Liriano this year, but I rather believe the past four years than the last four starts.