Fantasy baseball starting pitcher rankings for week 22

Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg throwing a pitch in spring training. — Stephen Strasburg is ready to lead the Washington Nationals back to the postseason. (Chuck Myers/MCT)

The matchups and statistical data were pulled Saturday morning. Please be aware these fantasy baseball starting pitcher matchups are subject to change.

Top starters

Rank	Name	Team	Opp.	ERA	K%	BB%
1	Stephen Strasburg	WSH	@PHI, @MIA	2.96	26.0%	7.6%
2	Madison Bumgarner	SF	@SD, ARI	2.91	23.8%	7.8%
3	Cole Hamels	PHI	WSH, ATL	3.58	21.6%	5.6%
4	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	@COL, @CIN	1.72	25.3%	5.9%
5	Adam Wainwright	STL	@CIN, PIT	2.96	23.2%	3.4%
6	Felix Hernandez	SEA	@KC, TB	2.97	25.7%	5.3%
7	Hiroki Kuroda	NYY	CWS, BOS	2.89	17.9%	4.5%
8	Homer Bailey	CIN	STL, LAD	3.55	24.0%	5.7%
9	Chris Sale	CWS	@NYY, @BAL	3.00	26.5%	5.3%
10	Jose Fernandez	MIA	@CHC	2.30	27.2%	8.4%
11	Cliff Lee	PHI	ATL	3.07	23.3%	4.0%
12	Yu Darvish	TEX	@OAK	2.68	33.4%	8.6%
13	Mike Minor	ATL	@PHI	2.99	22.3%	5.6%
14	David Price	TB	@LAA	3.28	20.3%	3.7%
15	Zack Greinke	LAD	@CIN	2.86	19.4%	6.7%
16	Jered Weaver	LAA	TB	3.46	19.8%	5.8%
17	Max Scherzer	DET	@BOS	2.73	28.7%	6.1%

Additional Information: If you remove the first two starts of the year, Cole Hamels has a 3.13 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 22.2 percent strikeout rate and 5.3 walk rate. Last year, he had a 3.05 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 24.9 strikeout rate and 6 percent walk rate. Hamels is easily a top 10-15 pitcher next year. Since the All-Star break, the Philadelphia Phillies are 29th in OPS (the Marlins are 30th). Other than the Atlanta Braves, stream pitchers facing the NL East. Since 2008, Homer Bailey’s ERA has decreased year over year. If Bailey’s ERA stays in the 3.40-3.70 range he’ll most likely be a great value in drafts in 2014.

Backend starters

Rank	Name	Team	Opp.	ERA	K%	BB%
18	Derek Holland	TEX	@OAK, @LAA	3.00	22.4%	7.5%
19	Mat Latos	CIN	STL, LAD	3.03	23.1%	6.7%
20	Gio Gonzalez	WSH	@PHI	3.72	23.7%	9.7%
21	Francisco Liriano	PIT	@MIL	2.74	24.9%	9.5%
22	Shelby Miller	STL	@CIN	2.90	26.4%	7.2%
23	Danny Salazar	CLE	NYM	3.67	30.2%	8.5%
24	Alex Wood	ATL	@PHI	2.27	26.0%	7.9%
25	A.J. Burnett	PIT	@STL	3.18	25.6%	8.6%
26	Julio Teheran	ATL	NYM	3.08	21.5%	6.0%
27	Anibal Sanchez	DET	@KC	2.61	26.7%	7.4%
28	Hisashi Iwakuma	SEA	TB	3.03	21.5%	4.7%
29	Ervin Santana	KC	SEA	3.21	19.4%	5.6%
30	Jordan Zimmermann	WSH	@PHI	3.32	18.4%	4.9%
31	Alex Cobb	TB	@LAA	2.87	22.3%	7.7%
32	Justin Verlander	DET	@KC	3.73	22.0%	8.5%
33	Eric Stults	SD	SF	3.72	15.0%	5.2%
34	C.J. Wilson	LAA	TEX	3.36	20.9%	9.1%
35	James Shields	KC	DET	3.14	19.4%	7.7%
36	Matt Garza	TEX	@LAA	3.68	21.4%	6.1%
37	Jarrod Parker	OAK	TEX	3.58	17.1%	8.0%

Additional Information: Since being acquired by the Padres, Eric Stults, in 20 home starts, has a 2.89 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. I keep writing about him every week because he’s still only owned in 67 percent of NFBC leagues. Since being acquired by the Texas Rangers, Matt Garza has pitched fairly well with a 4.44 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. What’s the most promising is he’s reduced his walk rate from 6.8 percent to 5 percent and is throwing more strikes (five percentage points more). Since coming off the DL in May, Ivan Nova has the sixth-lowest ERA (2.47) among starters with at least 10 starts; Jarrord Parker is seventh with 2.48. Despite both pitchers having tough matchups, I would feel confident starting them.

Spot starters

Rank	Name	Team	Opp.	ERA	K%	BB%
39	Chris Archer	TB	@LAA, @SEA	2.82	17.3%	7.8%
40	Chris Tillman	BAL	@CLE, CWS	3.66	20.3%	8.7%
41	Danny Duffy	KC	SEA, DET	1.10	26.2%	7.7%
42	Travis Wood	CHC	MIA, MIL	3.09	17.5%	8.0%
43	Matt Moore	TB	@LAA, @SEA	3.41	22.6%	11.0%
44	Justin Masterson	CLE	BAL, NYM	3.49	24.0%	9.4%
45	John Lackey	BOS	DET, @NYY	3.19	21.1%	5.2%
46	Doug Fister	DET	@BOS, @KC	3.80	17.4%	4.5%
47	Jake Peavy	BOS	@NYY	3.99	21.2%	4.9%
48	Patrick Corbin	ARI	@SF	2.79	21.5%	6.3%
49	Joe Kelly	STL	PIT	2.91	15.4%	8.9%
50	Scott Feldman	BAL	CWS	3.87	17.7%	7.1%
51	Jeff Samardzija	CHC	MIA	4.03	23.3%	8.7%
52	Felix Doubront	BOS	@NYY	3.74	20.5%	9.4%
53	Scott Kazmir	CLE	NYM	4.25	21.6%	7.7%
54	Hector Santiago	CWS	@NYY	3.25	22.5%	10.7%
55	Tyler Chatwood	COL	@SD	3.15	16.6%	7.7%
56	Andrew Cashner	SD	COL	3.56	16.8%	7.2%
57	Dan Haren	WSH	@MIA	4.66	20.5%	4.1%
58	Kris Medlen	ATL	NYM	3.74	17.9%	5.9%
59	Sonny Gray	OAK	HOU	3.18	26.1%	7.8%
60	Wei-Yin Chen	BAL	CWS	3.76	15.9%	6.8%
61	Kyle Lohse	MIL	@CHC	3.39	15.9%	4.8%
62	Carlos Torres	NYM	@ATL	2.96	17.2%	3.5%
63	Dillon Gee	NYM	@ATL	3.69	17.1%	6.0%
64	Lance Lynn	STL	@CIN	4.02	22.3%	8.8%
65	Zack Wheeler	NYM	@CLE	3.42	21.1%	10.1%

Additional Information: In the last seven starts before going on the DL, Matt Moore looked like he was turning the corner. His walk rate went from 12 percent to 9.3 percent, and his strikeout rate increased five percentage points (to 25.8 percent). That said, Moore’s performance this year has been extremely inconsistent, so fantasy owners in weekly leagues have an extremely tough decision. I own Moore in my most important (weekly) league and I’m rolling the dice with him. Currently, Tyler Chatwood is expected to start on Sunday against the Red, and if his stuff looks sharp, he’s another great streaming candidate with a start in San Diego. Even if the stuff isn’t so sharp, he’ll be able to get away with more mistakes in that ballpark. Since the All-Star break, the Yankees and Mets are 22nd and 23rd, respectively, in the majors in OPS. You can stream pitchers against these offenses.

Proceed with caution

Rank	Name	Team	Opp.	ERA	K%	BB%
66	Tony Cingrani	CIN	STL	2.76	28.6%	10.0%
67	R.A. Dickey	TOR	@MIN	4.38	18.5%	8.0%
68	Gerrit Cole	PIT	@MIL	3.81	18.1%	5.4%
69	Brandon McCarthy	ARI	TOR, @SF	5.03	14.7%	4.4%
70	Nathan Eovaldi	MIA	WSH	3.75	17.0%	9.3%
71	Henderson Alvarez	MIA	@CHC, WSH	3.89	13.9%	6.4%
72	Jacob Turner	MIA	WSH	3.12	14.7%	10.1%
73	Andrew Albers	MIN	@HOU, TOR	2.92	9.3%	2.1%
74	Robbie Erlin	SD	SF	5.96	14.4%	8.0%
75	Joseph Ross	SD	COL	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
76	Taijuan Walker	SEA	@KC	#N/A	#N/A	#N/A
77	Edwin Jackson	CHC	MIA	4.90	17.7%	7.7%
78	Mike Leake	CIN	LAD	3.27	14.4%	5.8%
79	Bud Norris	BAL	@CLE, CWS	4.13	18.1%	8.8%
80	Wade Miley	ARI	TOR, @SF	3.55	17.6%	7.8%
81	Jose Quintana	CWS	@NYY, @BAL	3.66	20.0%	7.0%
82	Jon Lester	BOS	DET, @NYY	3.97	19.3%	7.8%
83	Jon Niese	NYM	@CLE	3.69	16.7%	8.5%
84	A.J. Griffin	OAK	HOU	3.94	19.0%	6.8%
85	Bronson Arroyo	CIN	STL	3.41	15.7%	3.8%
86	Rick Porcello	DET	@BOS	4.49	18.2%	5.6%
87	Hyun-Jin Ryu	LAD	@COL	3.08	20.2%	6.8%
88	Ricky Nolasco	LAD	@COL	3.26	19.7%	5.6%

Additional Information: Since the All-Star break, R.A. Dickey has been extremely effective. His walk rate has decreased two percentage points (to 6.6 percent) and his strikeout rate has increased nearly six percentage points (to 22.4 percent). In 2014, Dickey will most likely be one of sleepers in 2014 because I think the market will overlook and undervalue him. A.J. Griffin has a great matchup against the Astros, but Griffin isn’t very good. He leads the majors in home runs allowed (32) despite pitching in of the best pitchers parks and pitcher-friendly divisions. Taijuan Walker made his debut Friday night against the Astros and he got better as the game progressed. His fastball sat 93-94 and touched 97 mph a couple of times; the pitch had good arm-side run that bored in on right-handed hitters. His best secondary pitch was the cutter, which had good arm-side run. He threw a couple of show-me curveballs and change ups. If he can develop some consistency with the curveball and change-up he will be extremely good. With an approximate 160 innings cap, Walker may only have one more start the rest of the year, so fantasy owners should use all their FAAB trying to acquire him.

Avoid

Rank	Name	Team	Opp.	ERA	K%	BB%
89	Jason Vargas	LAA	TB, TEX	3.77	15.7%	7.5%
90	Paul Maholm	ATL	NYM, @PHI	4.37	15.4%	7.3%
91	Tim Lincecum	SF	@SD	4.55	24.5%	9.3%
92	Juan Nicasio	COL	@SD	4.57	16.8%	8.5%
93	Samuel Deduno	MIN	@HOU	3.69	14.1%	9.0%
94	Ryan Vogelsong	SF	ARI	5.58	17.9%	8.2%
95	Martin Perez	TEX	@OAK	3.58	15.5%	7.0%
96	Bartolo Colon	OAK	TEX, HOU	2.97	13.3%	4.0%
97	Dan Straily	OAK	TEX, HOU	4.42	18.9%	8.5%
98	Ethan Martin	PHI	WSH	6.34	22.3%	12.6%
99	Ian Kennedy	SD	SF, COL	5.09	19.9%	9.7%
100	Jarred Cosart	HOU	MIN	1.59	12.3%	12.7%
101	CC Sabathia	NYY	CWS	4.81	19.9%	6.7%

Additional Information: Roy Halladay did not make my top 101 because his stuff looked depressed and hittable; his fastball sat 87-88 mph. Also, his command was off as evidenced by the two hit batsman. It seems like every week I have Jason Vargas in the mid-to-late 80s as a shot-in-the-dark start. In the last two seasons, Vargas has had a game ERA above five if 29 percent of the time. This week with two starts at home, Vargas has an opportunity to provide two quality starts for fantasy owners. Bartolo Colon’s fastball, in his first start off the DL, averaged 89.5 mph and maxed out at 93.4 mph. Prior to going on the DL, he was throwing the fastball with much more velocity, touching 96 mph at times. Colon relies on the fastball more than any starting pitcher in league, and if his fastball doesn’t have the same giddyup, then Colon isn’t startable.