Fantasy baseball starting pitcher rankings for week 2

Yu Darvish throws a pitch.

Will Yu Darvish deliver in the postseason? (Jim Cowsert/USA TODAY Sports)

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 PorcelloAndrew 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.