These fantasy baseball starting pitcher rankings were pulled Friday morning base on data as of Thursday night. Please be aware the matchups are subject to change. Top starters Rank Name Team Opp. ERA K% BB% 1 Yu Darvish TEX HOU - - - 2 Adam Wainwright STL CHC 0.00 32.1% 14.3% 3 Max Scherzer DET @LAD 0.00 25.9% 3.7% 4 Madison Bumgarner SF COL 0.00 14.3% 9.5% 5 Felix Hernandez SEA OAK 3.00 44.0% 4.0% 6 Chris Sale CWS CLE 3.70 29.6% 3.7% 7 Cliff Lee PHI MIL 14.40 3.7% 3.7% 8 Jose Fernandez MIA @PHI 1.50 39.1% 0.0% 9 David Price TB @CIN 2.47 21.4% 3.6% 10 Homer Bailey CIN @STL, TB 8.37 13.6% 13.6% 11 Gio Gonzalez WSH MIA, @ATL 1.50 27.3% 4.5% 12 Michael Wacha STL CIN, CHC 0.00 26.9% 3.8% 13 Jordan Zimmermann WSH MIA 3.25 18.6% 4.6% 14 James Shields KC @MIN 4.29 12.5% 4.2% 15 Anibal Sanchez DET @SD 2.57 27.1% 7.2% 16 Stephen Strasburg WSH @ATL 6.00 40.0% 8.0% 17 Alex Cobb TB @CIN 7.20 12.5% 16.7% 18 Justin Verlander DET @SD 3.00 7.1% 10.7% 19 Gerrit Cole PIT @CHC - - - 20 Chris Tillman BAL TOR 1.80 17.4% 4.3% 21 Jered Weaver LAA NYM 4.29 22.2% 11.1% 22 Justin Masterson CLE @CWS 0.00 16.0% 4.0% 23 Danny Salazar CLE SD - - - Additional Information: Yu Darvish is expected to make his season debut on Sunday against the Rays. It appears his neck issues are fine. As long as his stuff looks good, I have no hesitation about starting him in week two. I’m not worried about Cliff Lee. If his first start happened in the middle of July most people would not have noticed. Stephen Strasburg’s fastball velocity was down nearly three mph in his first start of the year. I’m not worried, but if his velocity is still down, then I will be. After watching Jose Fernandez’s season debut, I wouldn’t be surprised if ends the year as the best fantasy starting pitcher. Backend starters Rank Name Team Opp. ERA K% BB% 24 C.J. Wilson LAA @HOU, NYM 9.47 30.8% 7.7% 25 Scott Kazmir OAK @MIN, @SEA 0.00 20.0% 0.0% 26 Hiroki Kuroda NYY BAL, BOS 3.00 22.7% 4.5% 27 Corey Kluber CLE SD, @CWS 13.64 9.1% 13.6% 28 Andrew Cashner SD DET 1.50 20.8% 8.3% 29 Matt Cain SF COL 3.60 8.7% 8.7% 30 Zack Greinke LAD @ARI 3.60 26.3% 10.5% 31 Johnny Cueto CIN TB 1.29 32.0% 4.0% 32 R.A. Dickey TOR @BAL 10.80 15.4% 23.1% 33 Yordano Ventura KC TB - - - 34 Shelby Miller STL CIN 3.06 23.4% 7.9% 35 Chris Archer TB @KC 3.00 29.2% 8.3% 36 A.J. Burnett PHI MIA 1.50 11.1% 7.4% 37 Julio Teheran ATL WSH 3.00 8.3% 4.2% 38 Sonny Gray OAK @SEA 0.00 26.9% 11.5% 39 Jon Lester BOS @NYY 2.57 30.8% 3.8% 40 Alex Wood ATL WSH 1.29 18.5% 11.1% 41 Dan Straily OAK @MIN - - - 42 Drew Smyly DET @LAD - - - 43 Rick Porcello DET @SD - - - 44 Jeff Samardzija CHC @STL 0.00 12.0% 8.0% Additional Information: Scott Kazmir was extremely effective in his debut with the A’s. He changed speeds effectively, threw a lot of quality strikes, kept the ball down and generated a lot of ground balls. Most importantly, he went seven innings. Last year, he only averaged a little more than five innings per start. He should be owned in all formats. I have questions about the Tigers infield defense, but a start in San Diego is too good to pass up for Rick Porcello. Andrew Cashner pitched well toward the end of 2013, and in 2014 he should be in the first tier, but the Tigers lineup still has me wary. In the preseason, I had Corey Kluber and R.A. Dickey as top 30 starting pitchers, and I’m not jumping off the ship. Spot starters Rank Name Team Opp. ERA K% BB% 45 Matt Moore TB @KC, @CIN 3.16 15.4% 11.5% 46 Bartolo Colon NYM @ATL, @LAA 4.50 14.8% 0.0% 47 Tim Hudson SF ARI, COL 0.00 25.9% 0.0% 48 James Paxton SEA LAA, OAK 0.00 37.5% 8.3% 49 Francisco Liriano PIT @MIL 0.00 41.7% 12.5% 50 Lance Lynn STL CIN 5.40 28.0% 4.0% 51 Travis Wood CHC PIT 3.11 17.5% 8.0% 52 Clay Buchholz BOS @NYY 1.75 23.1% 8.7% 53 Hyun-Jin Ryu LAD DET 0.00 27.3% 9.1% 54 Michael Pineda NYY BOS - - - 55 Jake Odorizzi TB @KC - - - 56 Drew Hutchison TOR @BAL 0.00 20.0% 15.0% 57 Wade Miley ARI LAD 5.25 26.0% 6.0% 58 Marco Estrada MIL @PHI - - - 59 Masahiro Tanaka NYY BAL - - - 60 Ivan Nova NYY BAL, BOS 3.16 3.8% 19.2% 61 Mark Buehrle TOR HOU, @BAL 0.00 36.7% 3.3% 62 Tony Cingrani CIN @STL, TB 0.00 37.5% 8.3% Additional Information: Matt Moore still walks too many batters to be a reliable fantasy starter, but with one start in the NL and the other in one of the best pitcher’s parks, the upside is too good to pass up. I was not high on Tony Cingrani entering the season because his success relies entirely on deception. Eventually, he is going to get figured out and this great run of his is going to end. I never saw the top-30 starting pitcher upside with Hyun-Jin Ryu. He’s looked great for the first two starts, but got lit up by the Giants on Friday. Ryu does not pitch inside to right-handed batters and relies on hitting the corners to get outs. It’s extremely difficult to consistently get hitters out that way. It’s possible for that strategy to work. For example, Tom Glavine consistently did that his entire career, but he had elite-level command. Proceed with caution Rank Name Team Opp. ERA K% BB% 63 Matt Garza MIL @PHI 1.13 25.9% 3.7% 64 Phil Hughes MIN OAK 7.20 29.2% 4.2% 65 Hector Santiago LAA @SEA 7.20 17.4% 13.0% 66 Tyler Skaggs LAA NYM - - - 67 Zack Wheeler NYM @ATL 4.50 23.1% 7.7% 68 Bronson Arroyo ARI @SF 4.19 15.0% 10.0% 69 Dan Haren LAD DET, @ARI 0.00 26.1% 0.0% 70 John Lackey BOS TEX, @NYY 3.00 27.3% 4.5% 71 Kyle Lohse MIL @PHI, PIT 3.86 29.6% 7.4% 72 Charlie Morton PIT @CHC, @MIL 0.00 26.1% 4.3% 73 Edwin Jackson CHC PIT, @STL 1.70 23.8% 19.0% 74 Jason Vargas KC TB, @MIN 1.29 23.1% 3.8% 75 Yovani Gallardo MIL PIT 0.00 16.7% 8.3% 76 Ricky Nolasco MIN KC 7.50 14.8% 7.4% 77 Garrett Richards LAA @SEA 4.16 16.3% 7.1% 78 Joe Kelly STL CHC - - - 79 Tommy Milone OAK @SEA - - - 80 Erasmo Ramirez SEA OAK 2.57 21.4% 0.0% Additional Information: This is a speculative ranking for Tyler Skaggs because he has yet to pitch, but from reading the scouting reports, his fastball is back in the mid-90s and the curveball is back. If he looks good against the Astros on Saturday, I would bump him up five spots. Phil Hughes, an extreme fly-ball pitcher, gave up a lot of home runs to the White Sox in Chicago. I am not surprised by that outcome. I still believe Hughes can be a very viable streaming option at home. Zack Wheeler struggled with his command again and his fastball dropped two mph again in the fifth inning. If he doesn’t improve his fastball command, he eventually become a late-inning reliever. Avoid Rank Name Team Opp. ERA K% BB% 81 Jesse Chavez OAK @MIN 1.50 16.0% 8.0% 82 Taylor Jordan WSH @ATL - - - 83 Brandon Morrow TOR HOU 7.20 18.2% 4.5% 84 Nathan Eovaldi MIA @PHI 3.00 25.0% 4.2% 85 Robbie Erlin SD @CLE 0.00 50.0% 0.0% 86 Roberto Hernandez PHI MIL 4.89 17.6% 5.9% 87 Scott Feldman HOU @TEX 0.00 11.5% 7.7% 88 Kyle Gibson MIN KC - - - 89 Jake Peavy BOS TEX 4.03 16.9% 7.1% 90 Jorge De La Rosa COL @SF 10.47 30.0% 10.0% 91 Wily Peralta MIL PIT 4.37 16.1% 9.1% 92 Wei-Yin Chen BAL @NYY 6.32 18.5% 0.0% 93 Miguel Gonzalez BAL @NYY 3.78 16.9% 7.4% 94 Martin Perez TEX @BOS 3.16 30.4% 0.0% 95 John Danks CWS CLE 4.75 15.3% 4.6% 96 Eric Stults SD @CLE - - - 97 Jason Hammel CHC PIT 1.34 21.7% 4.3% 98 Tim Lincecum SF ARI 6.00 28.0% 0.0% 99 Bud Norris BAL TOR 4.79 24.6% 10.3% 100 Ubaldo Jimenez BAL @NYY, TOR 6.00 23.1% 11.5% 101 Zach McAllister CLE SD, @CWS 6.75 19.0% 19.0% Additional Information: In his first start of the year, Jesse Chavez did not pitch as well as the box score indicated. He benefitted from a good defense behind him and a blunder by the Mariners. Starting in the fifth inning, the velocity of his cutter dropped one to two mph (86-88 mph), and he started leaving the ball up in the zone. If can consistently throw the change-up for strikes, he'll have a better chance at success deep in the ball game. If he can only go five or six innings, the likelihood of earning a win will decrease. Taylor Jordan is a ground-ball machine and gets an opportunity to pitch in a pitcher’s ballpark. When you’re down this far on the list, you could do a lot worse.
