Fantasy baseball starting pitcher rankings for week 4

These fantasy baseball starting pitcher rankings were pulled Friday morning. Please be aware the matchups are subject to change. The data is up to date as of Thursday night.

Top starters

Rank

Name

Team

Opp.

ERA

K%

BB%

1

Adam Wainwright

STL

@NYM, PIT

1.80

28.1%

7.9%

2

Yu Darvish

TEX

@OAK, @SEA

0.82

27.1%

4.7%

3

Jose Fernandez

MIA

@ATL, @NYM

2.66

34.0%

6.2%

4

Cliff Lee

PHI

@LAD, @ARI

4.00

23.3%

1.7%

5

Chris Sale

CWS

@DET, TB

2.31

27.9%

6.7%

6

Felix Hernandez

SEA

HOU, TEX

1.91

35.5%

2.7%

7

Anibal Sanchez

DET

CWS, @MIN

3.21

28.8%

13.6%

8

Cole Hamels

PHI

@LAD, @ARI

3.60

22.3%

5.5%

9

James Shields

KC

@CLE, @BAL

2.00

24.1%

5.6%

10

Justin Verlander

DET

CWS, @MIN

2.08

17.7%

8.8%

11

Stephen Strasburg

WSH

SD

6.00

33.3%

9.1%

12

David Price

TB

MIN

4.38

25.2%

2.7%

13

Max Scherzer

DET

CWS

2.70

32.1%

6.4%

14

Michael Wacha

STL

@NYM

1.89

23.7%

3.9%

15

Jordan Zimmermann

WSH

SD

5.26

27.9%

6.6%

16

Homer Bailey

CIN

@ATL

8.18

24.3%

7.1%

17

Ervin Santana

ATL

CIN

0.64

34.0%

4.0%

18

Yordano Ventura

KC

@BAL

0.69

27.1%

6.3%

19

Chris Tillman

BAL

@TOR

0.85

18.1%

3.6%

20

Gio Gonzalez

WSH

LAA

3.50

22.4%

9.2%

21

Gerrit Cole

PIT

@STL

4.74

19.5%

8.5%

22

Madison Bumgarner

SF

@COL

3.48

26.5%

8.2%

Additional information: Cliff Lee’s peripherals are essentially the same as 2013, but batters are hitting .342 against him. The batting average should regress because his ground ball rate is 50 percent, seven percentage points higher than last year. If you believed in Homer Bailey on draft day, then you shouldn’t lose faith after his last outing. There is no way he is going to continue to have a 46.2 percent HR/FB rate. In Madison Bumgarner’s career (52.2 innings) he has a 4.27 ERA and 1.41 WHIP at Coors Field, but if you own him you have to start him.

Backend starters

Rank

Name

Team

Opp.

ERA

K%

BB%

23

Masahiro Tanaka

NYY

@BOS, LAA

2.05

33.7%

2.4%

24

Johnny Cueto

CIN

@PIT, @ATL

1.50

30.7%

7.0%

25

Andrew Cashner

SD

@MIL, @WSH

1.27

24.3%

7.2%

26

Julio Teheran

ATL

MIA, CIN

1.93

11.8%

5.5%

27

Jon Lester

BOS

NYY, @TOR

2.17

25.7%

3.5%

28

Hyun-Jin Ryu

LAD

PHI, COL

1.93

22.3%

8.0%

29

Zack Greinke

LAD

PHI

2.76

31.3%

3.0%

30

Alex Wood

ATL

MIA

1.67

23.1%

6.7%

31

Scott Kazmir

OAK

@HOU

1.40

26.0%

5.5%

32

Hiroki Kuroda

NYY

LAA

3.85

18.4%

5.3%

33

Michael Pineda

NYY

@BOS

1.00

22.1%

4.4%

34

Justin Masterson

CLE

KC

5.88

20.3%

12.2%

35

Chris Archer

TB

@CWS

4.50

21.5%

6.3%

36

Jeff Samardzija

CHC

ARI

1.29

19.0%

6.3%

37

Corey Kluber

CLE

KC

5.39

20.8%

3.9%

38

Matt Cain

SF

@COL

4.00

17.3%

6.7%

39

Tony Cingrani

CIN

@PIT

2.60

29.0%

13.0%

40

Sonny Gray

OAK

TEX

0.95

24.1%

8.9%

41

A.J. Burnett

PHI

@LAD

2.74

14.4%

15.4%

42

Jered Weaver

LAA

@WSH

5.78

22.7%

9.3%

Additional information: Matt Cain has a career 4.16 ERA and 1.25 WHIP at Coors Field. Most people remember the six earned runs in six innings he gave up in his first outing at Coors last year, but he also went eight innings and only gave up one earned run in his second outing. I haven’t been a Hyun-Jin Ryu fan, but this week he faces one of the worst offenses in the majors at home. The Rangers offense is not the great offense of years past; Adrian Beltre is on the DL and Prince Fielder looks more and more like 2002 version of Mo Vaughn.

Spot starters

Rank

Name

Team

Opp.

ERA

K%

BB%

43

Clay Buchholz

BOS

BAL, @TOR

5.52

19.5%

2.6%

44

Danny Salazar

CLE

KC, @SF

7.71

25.8%

12.1%

45

Francisco Liriano

PIT

CIN, @STL

3.96

26.7%

9.5%

46

Tim Hudson

SF

CLE

2.35

19.0%

0.0%

47

Drew Smyly

DET

CWS

0.00

30.0%

5.0%

48

Jesse Chavez

OAK

@HOU

1.35

28.6%

2.6%

49

Alfredo Simon

CIN

@PIT

1.20

17.9%

3.6%

50

Dan Haren

LAD

PHI

2.03

20.8%

2.8%

51

John Lackey

BOS

NYY

3.85

22.7%

4.0%

52

C.J. Wilson

LAA

@NYY

3.91

29.6%

7.4%

53

Matt Garza

MIL

CHC

3.43

20.0%

4.7%

54

Zack Wheeler

NYM

MIA

4.68

20.0%

6.7%

55

Jon Niese

NYM

STL

3.46

18.0%

4.0%

56

Kyle Lohse

MIL

SD

3.04

25.0%

8.3%

57

Lance Lynn

STL

@NYM

4.00

27.8%

5.1%

58

Charlie Morton

PIT

CIN

3.32

17.5%

6.3%

59

Dillon Gee

NYM

STL, MIA

3.71

16.2%

6.7%

60

Garrett Richards

LAA

@WSH, @NYY

2.84

23.7%

13.2%

61

Travis Wood

CHC

ARI, @MIL

3.00

23.2%

4.9%

62

Jason Hammel

CHC

ARI, @MIL

3.04

21.1%

6.6%

63

Zach McAllister

CLE

KC, @SF

2.03

20.8%

8.3%

64

Mike Leake

CIN

@PIT, @ATL

2.96

17.1%

6.1%

65

Scott Feldman

HOU

@SEA, OAK

1.69

8.6%

8.6%

66

Wily Peralta

MIL

SD, CHC

1.97

17.3%

6.7%

67

Martin Perez

TEX

@OAK

2.70

16.2%

8.1%

68

Jason Vargas

KC

@CLE

1.64

14.6%

6.1%

69

Shelby Miller

STL

PIT

4.68

19.2%

12.3%

70

Robbie Erlin

SD

@WSH

3.19

31.1%

2.2%

71

Tyler Skaggs

LAA

@WSH

3.43

13.1%

4.8%

Additional information: Danny Salazar has not got off to the start fantasy owners would like, but his stuff is among the best in the majors, and he faces two of the worst offenses in the majors this week. Look for a bounce back. Shelby Miller still does not look right; I don’t know what it is, specifically, but he has no control of his fastball, and he’s constantly missing up in the zone with it. Once he posts a great box score, I would look to sell high. If you’re in a shallow league and looking to stream starters, I always go with guys with low walk rates because the odds of them blowing up are less likely. Both Robbie Erlin and Tyler Skaggs fit that mold.

Proceed with caution

Rank

Name

Team

Opp.

ERA

K%

BB%

72

Marco Estrada

MIL

CHC

3.05

21.7%

8.7%

73

Nathan Eovaldi

MIA

@ATL

4.20

24.7%

1.3%

74

Brandon Morrow

TOR

BOS

5.51

26.2%

9.2%

75

Jake Peavy

BOS

@TOR

1.93

26.0%

13.0%

76

Yovani Gallardo

MIL

SD

1.46

19.2%

7.1%

77

Miguel Gonzalez

BAL

@TOR, KC

6.29

15.6%

7.8%

78

Jake Odorizzi

TB

MIN, @CWS

5.63

16.9%

9.9%

79

R.A. Dickey

TOR

BAL, BOS

6.26

17.3%

14.4%

80

Tommy Milone

OAK

TEX, @HOU

4.09

15.1%

3.8%

81

Ivan Nova

NYY

LAA

5.93

10.7%

6.7%

82

Rick Porcello

DET

@MIN

4.15

16.0%

4.0%

83

Brandon McCarthy

ARI

@CHC, PHI

7.11

14.4%

5.4%

84

Dan Straily

OAK

TEX, @HOU

5.39

21.7%

5.8%

85

Drew Hutchison

TOR

BAL

3.67

23.8%

12.7%

86

Jose Quintana

CWS

@DET

2.37

23.1%

9.0%

87

Mark Buehrle

TOR

BOS

0.86

19.5%

2.4%

Additional information: Normally, I would not recommend Nate Eovaldi because of his inability to get out left-handed batters, but the Braves are predominately right-handed hitters and Atlanta is a pitcher friendly ballpark. Dan Straily’s fastball velocity is two mph less than last year. He gets a lot of late movement, which makes it extremely difficult to hit. However, I have to imagine an 88-89 mph fastball can miss bats for only so long. R.A. Dickey has looked bad in three of four starts. I was a huge believer in Dickey entering drafts but I’ve begun to lose some faith. He’s struggled against teams that are patient at the plate and work deep into counts, waiting for Dickey to throw slower knuckle ball for a strike. If Ivan Nova has fastball command, he’s a top 40 starting pitcher. Identifying when he will have command is difficult to guess.

Avoid

Rank

Name

Team

Opp.

ERA

K%

BB%

88

Brad Peacock

HOU

OAK

7.42

22.4%

16.3%

89

Edinson Volquez

PIT

CIN, @STL

1.71

15.9%

4.9%

90

Wei-Yin Chen

BAL

@BOS, KC

4.76

15.8%

2.6%

91

Felix Doubront

BOS

NYY

6.73

11.8%

10.3%

92

Robbie Ross

TEX

@SEA

1.00

17.3%

10.7%

93

Colby Lewis

TEX

@SEA

6.79

16.7%

0.0%

94

Brandon Mauer

SEA

Tex

95

Wade Miley

ARI

@CHC

5.04

18.3%

7.7%

96

Hector Santiago

LAA

@NYY

4.97

18.3%

9.9%

97

Kyle Gibson

MIN

@TB

0.93

13.2%

11.8%

98

Ricky Nolasco

MIN

@TB

5.50

11.3%

8.8%

99

Erasmo Ramirez

SEA

HOU

7.50

14.3%

9.5%

100

Aaron Harang

ATL

MIA

0.96

24.3%

8.6%

101

Juan Nicasio

COL

@LAD

3.50

20.5%

5.5%

Additional information: Colby Lewis looked good in bursts before giving up four earned runs. Despite a very good statistical start to the season, I’m not buying Kyle Gibson. He doesn’t miss a lot of bats and walks too many guys (eight walks in 11 innings). He is going to regress fast. The word out of Mariners camp is Brandon Mauer will get the start on Sunday (4/20), and if he performs well, he could pitch stay in the rotation. Mauer was never regarded as a highly touted prospect, but he has the stuff to be a very good streaming option for two reasons: He misses a decent number of bats and Seattle’s home ballpark.

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