Fantasy baseball starting pitcher rankings for week 1

Philadelphia Phillies

There are no questions about Cliff Lee's role, but the Phillies have plenty obstacles to overcome heading into opening day. (Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

Welcome to a new fantasy baseball season and a weekly roundup of fantasy baseball starting pitcher rankings to help you plan your week. These matchups were pulled Friday morning, and please be aware they are subject to change. The data is from the majors for the entire 2013 season.

Top starters

Rank

Name

Team

Opp.

ERA

K%

BB%

1

Adam Wainwright

STL

@CIN, @PIT

2.94

22.9%

3.7%

2

Cliff Lee

PHI

@TEX, @CHC

2.87

25.3%

3.7%

3

Felix Hernandez

SEA

@LAA, @OAK

3.04

26.2%

5.6%

4

Madison Bumgarner

SF

@ARI, @LAD

2.77

24.8%

7.7%

5

Chris Sale

CWS

MIN, @KC

3.07

26.1%

5.3%

6

Jose Fernandez

MIA

COL, SD

2.19

27.5%

8.5%

7

Stephen Strasburg

WSH

@NYM, ATL

3.00

26.2%

7.7%

8

David Price

TB

TOR, TEX

3.33

20.4%

3.6%

9

Clayton Kershaw

LAD

SF

1.83

25.6%

5.7%

10

Max Scherzer

DET

KC

2.90

28.7%

6.7%

11

Jordan Zimmermann

WSH

@NYM

3.25

18.6%

4.6%

12

Alex Cobb

TB

TOR, TEX

2.76

23.2%

7.8%

13

Justin Verlander

DET

KC, BAL

3.46

23.5%

8.1%

14

James Shields

KC

@DET, CWS

3.15

20.7%

7.2%

15

R.A. Dickey

TOR

@TB, NYY

4.21

18.8%

7.5%

16

Anibal Sanchez

DET

KC

2.57

27.1%

7.2%

17

Gio Gonzalez

WSH

@NYM

3.36

23.4%

9.3%

18

Homer Bailey

CIN

STL

3.49

23.4%

6.4%

19

Danny Salazar

CLE

MIN

3.12

30.8%

7.1%

20

Gerrit Cole

PIT

STL

3.22

21.3%

6.0%

21

Andrew Cashner

SD

LAD, @MIA

3.09

18.1%

6.6%

22

Jered Weaver

LAA

SEA, @HOU

3.27

18.5%

5.8%

23

Matt Cain

SF

@ARI, @LAD

4.00

20.8%

7.2%

24

Justin Masterson

CLE

@OAK, MIN

3.45

24.3%

9.5%

25

Julio Teheran

ATL

@MIL, @WSH

3.20

22.0%

5.8%

Additional Information: Clayton Kershaw threw on Friday and will throw again on Saturday. It’s still too early to tell if he’ll be available to pitch on his scheduled start on Friday. I have concerns about Jered Weaver’s long-term fantasy viability, but with one start against the Astros, Weaver is a must start. The Athletics love to utilize the platoon advantage, and I’m not worried about the viability of Justin Masterson because he was able to finally neutralize left handed hitters last year. For example, his strikeout rate increased six percentage points (to 19 percent) and opposing hitters hit 50 points less than last year.

Backend starters

Rank

Name

Team

Opp.

ERA

K%

BB%

26

Chris Tillman

BAL

BOS, @DET

3.71

21.2%

8.0%

27

A.J. Burnett

PHI

@TEX, @CHC

3.30

26.1%

8.4%

28

Sonny Gray

OAK

CLE, SEA

2.67

25.7%

7.7%

29

Zack Greinke

LAD

@SD

2.63

20.6%

6.4%

30

Corey Kluber

CLE

@OAK

3.85

22.4%

5.4%

31

Michael Wacha

STL

@CIN

2.78

25.0%

7.3%

32

Shelby Miller

STL

@PIT

3.06

23.4%

7.9%

33

Hiroki Kuroda

NYY

@HOU

3.31

18.2%

5.2%

34

Ivan Nova

NYY

@HOU

3.10

19.8%

7.5%

35

Chris Archer

TB

TOR

3.22

19.2%

7.2%

36

Dan Haren

LAD

@SD

4.67

21.1%

4.3%

37

Yordano Ventura

KC

@DET

3.53

17.2%

9.4%

38

C.J. Wilson

LAA

SEA

3.39

20.6%

9.3%

39

Alex Wood

ATL

@MIL, @WSH

3.13

23.5%

8.3%

40

Jon Lester

BOS

@BAL, MIL

3.76

19.6%

7.4%

41

Hyun-Jin Ryu

LAD

@SD, SF

3.00

19.7%

6.3%

42

CC Sabathia

NYY

@HOU, @TOR

4.78

19.3%

7.2%

43

Johnny Cueto

CIN

STL, @NYM

2.82

21.1%

7.4%

44

Clay Buchholz

BOS

MIL

1.75

23.1%

8.7%

45

Jose Quintana

CWS

MIN

3.51

19.7%

6.7%

46

Lance Lynn

STL

@CIN

3.97

23.1%

8.9%

47

Scott Kazmir

OAK

CLE, SEA

4.04

24.1%

7.0%

48

Dan Straily

OAK

SEA

3.96

19.4%

8.9%

49

Jeff Samardzija

CHC

@PIT, PHI

4.34

23.4%

8.5%

Additional Information: The Tigers offense will not be as potent as last year, which is why I’m not concerned about having Chris Tillman or Yordano Ventura this high. Ventura has some of the best raw stuff in the majors, and I predict he will win the AL Rookie of the Year. If Ivan Nova improves his fastball command, he’s a top 40-50 starting pitcher. CC Sabathia has looked great during the spring, and I predict he’ll positively regress in 2014. He won’t be a Cy Young candidate anymore, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he posts a sub 3.80 ERA.

Spot starters

Rank

Name

Team

Opp.

ERA

K%

BB%

50

Drew Smyly

DET

BAL

2.37

26.7%

5.6%

51

Rick Porcello

DET

BAL

4.32

19.3%

5.7%

52

Francisco Liriano

PIT

CHC, STL

3.02

24.5%

9.5%

53

Matt Moore

TB

TOR

3.29

22.3%

11.8%

54

John Lackey

BOS

@BAL

3.52

20.7%

5.1%

55

Ricky Nolasco

MIN

@CWS, @CLE

3.52

20.5%

5.7%

56

Scott Feldman

HOU

NYY, LAA

3.46

17.8%

6.6%

57

Travis Wood

CHC

PHI

3.11

17.5%

8.0%

58

Bartolo Colon

NYM

WSH

2.65

15.2%

3.8%

59

Kyle Lohse

MIL

ATL

3.35

15.5%

4.5%

60

Michael Pineda

NYY

@TOR

61

Tony Cingrani

CIN

STL

2.92

28.6%

10.2%

62

Tommy Milone

OAK

SEA

4.15

18.9%

5.8%

63

Eric Stults

SD

@MIA

3.93

15.3%

4.7%

64

Tyler Skaggs

LAA

@HOU

5.12

21.2%

8.8%

65

Tyler Chatwood

COL

@MIA

3.15

13.9%

8.6%

66

Jon Niese

NYM

CIN

3.71

16.9%

7.7%

67

Dillon Gee

NYM

WSH, CIN

3.62

16.9%

5.6%

68

Tanner Roark

WSH

ATL

1.51

19.5%

5.4%

69

Mike Leake

CIN

@NYM

3.37

15.2%

6.0%

Additional Information: Tommy Milone has a career 3.21 ERA at home. I’m buying Tyler Skaggs as a deep sleeper. His velocity is back in the mid 90s, the curveball has more bite and he pitches half of his games in a pitcher-friendly ballpark. Eric Stults had a 3.06 ERA at home and he gets to pitch in another big ballpark. Tanner Roark generates a lot of ground balls and can miss an above-average number of bats, which makes him a fantastic stream candidate.

Proceed with caution

Rank

Name

Team

Opp.

ERA

K%

BB%

70

Martin Perez

TEX

PHI

3.62

15.9%

7.0%

71

Zack Wheeler

NYM

WSH

3.42

19.5%

10.7%

72

Hector Santiago

LAA

SEA

3.56

20.9%

11.0%

73

Tim Hudson

SF

@ARI

3.98

17.8%

6.7%

74

Zach McAllister

CLE

@OAK

3.75

17.4%

8.5%

75

James Paxton

SEA

@LAA

1.50

22.3%

7.4%

76

Wade Miley

ARI

SF

3.55

17.4%

7.8%

77

Tim Lincecum

SF

@ARI

4.37

22.9%

9.0%

78

Matt Garza

MIL

ATL

4.38

20.6%

6.1%

79

Jake Odorizzi

TB

TEX

3.94

18.0%

6.6%

80

Joe Kelly

STL

@PIT

2.69

14.8%

8.3%

81

Jesse Chavez

OAK

CLE

3.93

22.2%

8.1%

82

Taylor Jordan

WSH

ATL

3.66

13.2%

5.0%

Additional Information: Taylor Jordan generates a lot of ground balls, but unlike Tanner Roark, Jordan does not miss enough bats. Jesse Chavez started utilizing the cutter more often last year and it became a true weapon against both lefties and righties. After he stopped tipping his pitches in late June, Zack Wheeler had a 3.23 ERA in his final 10 starts.

Avoid

Rank

Name

Team

Opp.

ERA

K%

BB%

83

Bronson Arroyo

ARI

SF

3.79

15.1%

4.1%

85

Garrett Richards

LAA

@HOU

4.16

16.3%

7.1%

86

Drew Hutchison

TOR

@TB, NYY

87

Edwin Jackson

CHC

@PIT

4.98

17.4%

7.6%

88

Kyle Gibson

MIN

@CLE

6.53

12.2%

8.4%

89

Wei-Yin Chen

BAL

BOS

4.07

18.2%

6.8%

90

Miguel Gonzalez

BAL

@DET

3.78

16.9%

7.4%

91

Jorge De La Rosa

COL

@MIA, ARI

3.49

15.7%

8.7%

92

Brandon Morrow

TOR

@TB

5.64

17.4%

7.4%

93

Nathan Eovaldi

MIA

COL, SD

3.39

17.3%

8.9%

94

Mark Buehrle

TOR

@TB

4.15

15.9%

5.8%

95

Jake Peavy

BOS

MIL

4.03

16.9%

7.1%

84

Erasmo Ramirez

SEA

@LAA, @OAK

4.98

17.8%

8.1%

96

Yovani Gallardo

MIL

ATL, @BOS

4.18

18.6%

8.5%

97

Ubaldo Jimenez

BAL

BOS

3.30

25.0%

10.3%

98

Charlie Morton

PIT

CHC

3.26

17.2%

7.3%

99

Felipe Paulino

CWS

MIN

100

Ian Kennedy

SD

LAD, @MIA

4.24

22.4%

10.2%

101

Phil Hughes

MIN

@CWS

5.19

18.8%

6.5%

Additional Information: Felipe Paulino’s biggest roadblock to success has been a long list of injuries. He has really good raw stuff, and if he’s able to stay healthy, he could be a top-50 starting pitcher. If Don Copper can keep Chris Sale healthy, then why not Paulino? Ian Kennedy is an extreme fly-ball pitcher and he has two starts in pitcher-friendly ballparks. If you’re picking this low, he provides a lot of upside. Kyle Gibson got lit up in his brief call-up to the majors last year, but he looked a lot better in triple-A. Gibson is a former first-round pick and has the ability to be an extremely viable streaming option if the strikeout rate regresses to the 21 percent he showed in triple-A last year.