Fantasy baseball starting pitcher rankings for week 11

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	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	ARI, @PIT	1.93	25.1%	7.2%
2	Hisashi Iwakuma	SEA	HOU, @OAK	1.94	24.0%	4.0%
3	Doug Fister	DET	@KC, @MIN	3.27	20.3%	3.7%
4	Yu Darvish	TEX	TOR	2.77	34.8%	7.5%
5	Adam Wainwright	STL	@NYM	2.34	24.3%	1.9%
6	Felix Hernandez	SEA	@OAK	2.58	26.8%	4.8%
7	Cliff Lee	PHI	@MIN	2.55	22.1%	4.3%
8	Justin Verlander	DET	@KC	3.71	27.2%	7.6%
9	Derek Holland	TEX	CLE, TOR	2.82	23.3%	6.4%
10	Max Scherzer	DET	@KC	3.24	31.5%	6.3%
11	Lance Lynn	STL	@MIA	2.76	25.2%	8.6%
12	A.J. Burnett	PIT	LAD	3.22	28.1%	9.6%
13	Matt Harvey	NYM	CHC	2.17	27.7%	5.9%
14	Shelby Miller	STL	@NYM	1.91	27.6%	5.8%
15	Chris Sale	CWS	TOR	2.68	24.1%	6.0%
16	Anibal Sanchez	DET	@MIN	2.65	31.2%	6.1%
17	Jeff Samardzija	CHC	CIN	2.96	28.3%	8.7%
18	Jordan Zimmermann	WSH	@CLE	2.16	15.6%	3.2%
19	Mike Minor	ATL	SF	2.52	23.8%	4.6%

Additional Information: In his last six starts, Mike Minor has a 1.80 ERA, 0.93 WHIP with a 26.5 strikeout rate and only a 5.8 walk rate. The San Francisco Giants have a much improved offense compared to the last couple of seasons, but they rank in the bottom third of the league in OPS against left handed pitching. In 19 career starts at home, Chris Sale has a 2.25 ERA and 0.93 WHIP compared to a 3.60 ERA and 1.21 WHIP on the road. Don’t let Friday’s box score fool you, Sale pitched extremely well, but threw one bad pitch to Josh Donaldson.

Backend Starters

Rank	Name	Team	Opp.	ERA	K%	BB%
20	Julio Teheran	ATL	@SD, SF	3.30	18.6%	5.1%
21	Mat Latos	CIN	@CHC	2.90	21.6%	6.9%
22	Madison Bumgarner	SF	@ATL	3.46	23.7%	7.3%
23	Alex Cobb	TB	BOS, KC	2.39	22.8%	5.6%
24	Homer Bailey	CIN	@CHC, MIL	3.84	24.4%	6.5%
25	Matt Moore	TB	KC	2.95	21.4%	12.5%
26	CC Sabathia	NYY	@OAK, @LAA	3.74	21.5%	4.6%
27	Bartolo Colon	OAK	NYY, SEA	3.14	15.2%	2.0%
28	Clay Buchholz	BOS	@BAL	1.62	25.8%	9.4%
29	Hiroki Kuroda	NYY	@OAK	2.84	17.7%	5.3%
30	Patrick Corbin	ARI	@LAD	1.98	20.0%	6.8%
31	Hyun-Jin Ryu	LAD	ARI	2.72	23.0%	7.2%
32	Ervin Santana	KC	@TB	3.03	20.3%	4.2%
33	Kris Medlen	ATL	SF	3.14	17.2%	7.6%
34	Zack Greinke	LAD	ARI	3.89	16.4%	6.7%
35	James Shields	KC	DET	2.81	22.8%	6.5%
36	Jered Weaver	LAA	@BAL	3.13	18.4%	7.1%
37	John Lackey	BOS	@TB, @BAL	2.79	23.4%	6.5%
38	Ricky Nolasco	MIA	MIL	3.61	19.9%	6.0%
39	Alexi Ogando	TEX	CLE, TOR	2.93	18.7%	9.6%
40	Justin Masterson	CLE	WSH	3.57	24.0%	9.3%
41	Matt Cain	SF	@PIT	5.09	22.1%	7.9%

Additional Information: If you remove Julio Teheran’s first three starts of the year he has 2.13 ERA and 1.06 WHIP. What’s most impressive about Teheran is he’s not walking anyone; only allowing eight walks in 55 innings (3.7 walk rate), which puts him in Cliff Lee and Bartolo Colon territory. In Madison Bumgarner’s last four starts, at Colorado, Washington, at Oakland and at St. Louis, he has a 6.29 ERA and 1.32 WHIP. Consistency is one attribute he has lacked in his career. Since 2011, 13 percent of starts have been blowup starts (a start with five earned runs or more). John Lackey has morphed himself into a ground-ball pitcher, generating ground balls nearly 55 percent of the time. Also, the command of his fastball has been exceptional; throwing it for strikes 68 percent of the time and in the bottom of the strike zone. This week, he’s scheduled to pitch against the second best offense (in terms of OPS) in the majors, so this will be a great opportunity to show his resurgence is legitimate.

Spot Starters

Rank	Name	Team	Opp.	ERA	K%	BB%
42	Jarrod Parker	OAK	NYY	4.68	17.1%	9.3%
43	Trevor Cahill	ARI	@SD	3.27	15.0%	9.0%
44	Rick Porcello	DET	@MIN	5.21	19.9%	4.7%
45	Paul Maholm	ATL	@SD	3.46	17.1%	6.8%
46	C.J. Wilson	LAA	NYY	3.92	21.9%	9.6%
47	Phil Hughes	NYY	@OAK	4.79	22.1%	6.0%
48	Gerrit Cole	PIT	SF, LAD	–	–	–
49	Zack Wheeler	NYM	CHC	–	–	–
50	Hector Santiago	CWS	@HOU	3.35	23.5%	11.7%
51	David Phelps	NYY	@LAA	4.16	23.9%	10.1%
52	Matt Garza	CHC	CIN, @NYM	4.04	22.6%	8.6%
53	Andrew Cashner	SD	ATL	3.67	17.4%	7.2%
54	Travis Wood	CHC	CIN	2.65	18.3%	8.5%
55	A.J. Griffin	OAK	SEA	3.67	19.6%	6.1%
56	Dan Straily	OAK	NYY	4.67	20.6%	7.0%
57	Tommy Milone	OAK	SEA	3.91	19.4%	4.7%
58	Bronson Arroyo	CIN	MIL	3.38	13.7%	4.0%
59	Gio Gonzalez	WSH	@COL	3.64	22.3%	10.3%
60	Tyler Skaggs	ARI	@SD	3.85	27.7%	6.4%
61	Mike Leake	CIN	@CHC	2.93	17.2%	5.5%
62	Jose Fernandez	MIA	STL	3.34	24.4%	8.9%

Additional Information: C.J. Wilson, in his last four starts (27 innings), only has four walks, which is great for every Wilson owner. Throughout his career (as a starter), walks have always been an issue for him. But if this trend continues, he could be a top-30 starting pitcher the rest of the year. This section contains a lot of highly touted rookie pitchers: Gerrit Cole, Zack Wheeler, Tyler Skaggs, Jose Fernandez and Dan Straily. I ranked Cole the highest because he has the best combination of skill, stuff, bullpen and quality of team around him. Jim Callis has noted Cole “has made two scoreless seven-inning starts in the last week, issuing just two walks in the process and snapping Myers’ 12-game hitting streak on Wednesday.” Mike Leake has pitched very well in his past five starts (1.13 ERA and 1.10 WHIP), but three of those starts came against come against the Marlins, Mets, and Pirates, not exactly the best offenses in the National League.

Proceed With Caution

Rank	Name	Team	Opp.	ERA	K%	BB%
63	Cole Hamels	PHI	@MIN, @COL	4.56	22.3%	7.5%
64	Corey Kluber	CLE	@TEX, WSH	4.56	26.5%	4.4%
65	Wade Miley	ARI	@LAD, @SD	4.92	17.0%	7.8%
66	Michael Wacha	STL	@NYM, @MIA	5.38	20.8%	2.1%
67	Chris Archer	TB	BOS	4.91	12.8%	10.6%
68	Tony Cingrani	CIN	@CHC, MIL	3.27	31.1%	6.8%
69	Tim Hudson	ATL	@SD	4.48	17.3%	5.8%
70	Bud Norris	HOU	@SEA	3.43	15.6%	8.3%
71	Jon Lester	BOS	@TB	3.60	19.5%	7.4%
72	Ryan Dempster	BOS	@BAL	4.39	25.8%	11.0%
73	Andy Pettitte	NYY	@LAA	4.17	18.1%	7.8%
74	Tyler Chatwood	COL	PHI	2.14	21.9%	7.3%
75	Joe Saunders	SEA	@OAK	5.20	12.0%	7.4%
76	Tyler Lyons	STL	@MIA	2.66	15.8%	5.3%
77	Ian Kennedy	ARI	@LAD	5.73	19.4%	8.3%
78	Josh Johnson	TOR	@TEX	5.39	20.0%	7.2%
79	Nick Tepesch	TEX	CLE	3.92	17.2%	6.1%
80	Scott Feldman	CHC	CIN, @NYM	2.83	18.6%	7.1%

Additional Information: Michael Wacha has either looked great or extremely hittable in first two starts, but he gets an opportunity to start against two of the four worst offenses (in OPS) in the league. I’m buying Ian Kennedy either through trade or waivers. Kennedy has not pitched nearly as bad as his 5.72 ERA suggests. Before Thursday’s blowup, he only had a 1.24 WHIP. Walks have been an issue this year, but this is a pitcher who pitches in the most favorable division in the majors. If you remove Jon Lester’s first four starts he has a 4.42 ERA and 1.32 WHIP with a 18 percent strikeout rate and 8.7 percent walk rate.

Avoid

Rank	Name	Team	Opp.	ERA	K%	BB%
81	Edwin Jackson	CHC	@NYM	6.29	20.1%	9.0%
82	Yovani Gallardo	MIL	@MIA, @CIN	5.25	18.6%	8.4%
83	Kyle Lohse	MIL	@CIN	4.38	14.6%	4.0%
84	Dillon Gee	NYM	STL	5.20	19.3%	6.2%
85	Jeremy Hellickson	TB	KC	5.59	18.6%	6.2%
86	R.A. Dickey	TOR	@CWS, @TEX	4.66	18.2%	9.7%
87	Francisco Liriano	PIT	SF	1.75	30.9%	9.2%
88	Chris Tillman	BAL	BOS	3.97	20.5%	8.2%
89	John Danks	CWS	@HOU	5.63	18.2%	3.0%
90	Kevin Correia	MIN	PHI	4.10	10.0%	4.1%
91	Jason Vargas	LAA	@BAL	3.71	15.4%	8.3%
92	Wandy Rodriguez	PIT	SF	3.59	17.7%	4.6%
93	Chad Gaudin	SF	@ATL	2.21	21.9%	9.3%
94	Alfredo Figaro	MIL	@MIA	4.08	19.5%	4.1%
95	Jacob Turner	MIA	MIL	0.69	14.0%	10.0%
96	Tim Lincecum	SF	@PIT, @ATL	4.75	23.9%	10.3%
97	Jeff Locke	PIT	LAD	2.45	17.2%	9.8%
98	Joe Blanton	LAA	NYY	5.52	15.8%	4.0%
99	Aaron Harang	SEA	HOU	6.70	20.5%	4.4%
100	Dallas Keuchel	HOU	@SEA, CWS	4.69	14.0%	8.1%
101	Wily Peralta	MIL	@MIA	6.16	12.9%	8.9%

Additional Information: It’s safe to say Edwin Jackson has been a disappointment for fantasy owners, but there is hope for optimism. In his last six starts, he’s only allowed 10 walks in 30.1 innings. However, in the same time frame, he has a 7.71 ERA and 1.91 WHIP. Boston has the best offense in the league (in OPS), and Chris Tillman’s stuff isn’t as powering as his statistics indicate. In R.A. Dickey’s last start against the Giants, his knuckleball averaged 79 mph, which is the velocity he had last year. But with two starts in two of the most hitter friendly ballparks, I’m benching him if I can.