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 | Jose Fernandez | MIA | ATL, LAD | 1.99 | 37.9% | 4.8% |
| 2 | Max Scherzer | DET | @CWS, @KC | 2.45 | 34.1% | 6.2% |
| 3 | Yu Darvish | TEX | OAK, @LAA | 1.61 | 25.4% | 7.0% |
| 4 | Madison Bumgarner | SF | SD, @ATL | 3.14 | 24.4% | 6.9% |
| 5 | Zack Greinke | LAD | @MIN, @MIA | 2.46 | 34.2% | 4.3% |
| 6 | Alex Wood | ATL | @MIA, SF | 1.54 | 26.5% | 5.3% |
| 7 | Michael Wacha | STL | MIL, @CHC | 2.10 | 28.5% | 6.5% |
| 8 | Adam Wainwright | STL | @CHC | 1.46 | 25.5% | 6.6% |
| 9 | Cliff Lee | PHI | WSH | 3.09 | 25.9% | 1.4% |
| 10 | Stephen Strasburg | WSH | @PHI | 5.33 | 34.4% | 8.2% |
| 11 | Felix Hernandez | SEA | @NYY | 2.04 | 30.9% | 2.9% |
| 12 | Masahiro Tanaka | NYY | TB | 2.15 | 31.5% | 1.8% |
| 13 | Anibal Sanchez | DET | @KC | 3.55 | 26.2% | 10.7% |
| 14 | Johnny Cueto | CIN | MIL | 1.38 | 26.5% | 7.5% |
| 15 | James Shields | KC | DET | 1.91 | 25.9% | 5.2% |
| 16 | Cole Hamels | PHI | NYM | 3.00 | 20.8% | 4.2% |
| 17 | Jordan Zimmermann | WSH | @HOU | 4.04 | 24.6% | 6.1% |
| 18 | Julio Teheran | ATL | SF | 1.80 | 15.4% | 5.1% |
| 19 | David Price | TB | @NYY | 4.03 | 27.8% | 2.8% |
| 20 | Homer Bailey | CIN | CHC | 5.76 | 25.8% | 8.2% |
| 21 | Ervin Santana | ATL | SF | 0.86 | 30.8% | 5.1% |
| 22 | Gio Gonzalez | WSH | @HOU | 3.00 | 23.6% | 8.9% |
| 23 | Hyun-Jin Ryu | LAD | @MIA | 2.12 | 19.9% | 7.8% |
| 24 | Andrew Cashner | SD | ARI | 2.10 | 22.6% | 7.3% |
Additional information: Masahiro Tanaka has looked like an ace in every start and is on the verge of becoming a top-10 starting pitcher. Cole Hamels looked like vintage Hamels in his debut start against the Dodgers. I’ll admit that I underestimated Alex Wood. After watching his last two outings, I am a believer, and he is must-start regardless of the matchup because he misses a lot of bats and doesn’t walk batters.
Backend starters
| Rank | Name | Team | Opp. | ERA | K% | BB% |
| 25 | Hisashi Iwakuma | SEA | @HOU | – | – | – |
| 26 | Mike Minor | ATL | @MIA | – | – | – |
| 27 | Justin Verlander | DET | @KC | 2.18 | 19.0% | 8.5% |
| 28 | Yordano Ventura | KC | TOR | 2.65 | 27.1% | 10.0% |
| 29 | Chris Tillman | BAL | PIT | 3.38 | 19.6% | 6.5% |
| 30 | Gerrit Cole | PIT | TOR | 3.67 | 20.0% | 7.3% |
| 31 | Matt Cain | SF | SD | 4.35 | 19.1% | 7.6% |
| 32 | Tony Cingrani | CIN | CHC, MIL | 2.86 | 25.6% | 12.8% |
| 33 | Jeff Samardzija | CHC | @CIN, STL | 1.53 | 19.3% | 6.4% |
| 34 | Sonny Gray | OAK | @TEX, @BOS | 2.25 | 22.5% | 9.4% |
| 35 | Justin Masterson | CLE | @LAA, CWS | 4.50 | 23.1% | 10.0% |
| 36 | Alfredo Simon | CIN | CHC, MIL | 1.30 | 15.5% | 8.2% |
| 37 | John Lackey | BOS | TB, OAK | 4.22 | 25.2% | 5.2% |
| 38 | Hiroki Kuroda | NYY | SEA | 4.07 | 16.0% | 6.0% |
| 39 | Corey Kluber | CLE | @LAA | 3.90 | 21.4% | 4.3% |
| 40 | A.J. Burnett | PHI | WSH | 2.73 | 15.3% | 13.0% |
| 41 | Jon Lester | BOS | OAK | 2.67 | 25.5% | 5.7% |
| 42 | Scott Kazmir | OAK | @TEX | 1.62 | 24.2% | 4.7% |
| 43 | Chris Archer | TB | @BOS | 3.64 | 20.8% | 5.0% |
Additional information: Both Mike Minor and Hisashi Iwakuma are set to make their 2014 debuts, and I have no hesitation in starting them immediately. I’m a believer in Alfredo Simon. He features a 94-95 mph fastball along with a cutter, curveball and change-up. What has impressed me the most is his willingness to effectively throw any pitch in any count for a strike. He tends to leave the ball up in the zone at times, which will make him home-run prone, especially in that ballpark. Simon should be owned in leagues as shallow as 12-team mixed. In the preseason, Corey Kluber was one of my flag players and I never lost faith, even after a slow start because he’s a ground ball pitcher, doesn’t walk batters and strikes out a healthy number of batters.
Spot starters
| Rank | Name | Team | Opp. | ERA | K% | BB% |
| 44 | Tim Hudson | SF | SD | 2.40 | 17.9% | 0.0% |
| 45 | Francisco Liriano | PIT | TOR | 4.22 | 23.5% | 8.8% |
| 46 | Dan Haren | LAD | @MIN | 2.03 | 20.8% | 3.1% |
| 47 | Lance Lynn | STL | MIL | 3.30 | 27.9% | 7.0% |
| 48 | Travis Wood | CHC | STL | 2.52 | 25.7% | 3.7% |
| 49 | Martin Perez | TEX | OAK | 1.42 | 17.0% | 6.7% |
| 50 | Jesse Chavez | OAK | @TEX | 1.38 | 27.5% | 4.9% |
| 51 | C.J. Wilson | LAA | CLE | 4.20 | 26.4% | 8.5% |
| 52 | Kyle Lohse | MIL | @STL, @CIN | 2.38 | 22.3% | 7.2% |
| 53 | Drew Hutchison | TOR | @KC | 3.46 | 29.5% | 8.0% |
| 54 | Garrett Richards | LAA | TEX | 2.52 | 24.2% | 14.1% |
| 55 | David Phelps | NYY | TB | 3.85 | 29.6% | 13.0% |
| 56 | Robbie Erlin | SD | @SF | 4.16 | 24.6% | 5.8% |
| 57 | Nathan Eovaldi | MIA | ATL | 2.88 | 23.4% | 3.1% |
| 58 | Brandon Morrow | TOR | @PIT | 5.03 | 27.1% | 9.4% |
| 59 | Jered Weaver | LAA | CLE | 4.10 | 17.6% | 8.8% |
| 60 | Clay Buchholz | BOS | OAK | 7.70 | 17.4% | 3.3% |
| 61 | Jake Peavy | BOS | TB | 3.33 | 23.1% | 13.0% |
| 62 | R.A. Dickey | TOR | @PIT | 5.90 | 18.2% | 13.6% |
| 63 | Aaron Harang | ATL | @MIA | 0.85 | 27.3% | 10.7% |
| 64 | Zach McAllister | CLE | CWS | 2.28 | 17.3% | 7.1% |
| 65 | Wily Peralta | MIL | @CIN | 2.19 | 18.4% | 5.8% |
| 66 | Marco Estrada | MIL | @CIN | 2.66 | 20.7% | 6.5% |
| 67 | Miguel Gonzalez | BAL | @MIN | 5.40 | 19.1% | 7.9% |
Additional information: Eventually, Aaron Harang is going to regress, but how can you sit him after he faces the same team he just dominated again. All the advanced statistics (BABIP, HR/FB, FIP and xFIP) say Martin Perez has been extremely lucky. I agree he has been lucky, but he has looked really good, too. His strikeout rate is up, the ground-ball rate is up and the walk rate is down. He’s not going to continue to have a sub-1.50 ERA, but a final stat line of 3.30 ERA with 160 strikeouts, 1.19 WHIP, and 14-15 wins is reasonable to expect. Quietly, Drew Hutchison has 33 strikeouts in 26 innings. He is a year removed from a Tommy John surgery, so he will likely only be limited to 150-170 innings, but if he were given 31-33 starts he’s a 200-plus strikeout pitcher.
Proceed with caution
| Rank | Name | Team | Opp. | ERA | K% | BB% |
| 68 | CC Sabathia | NYY | SEA, TB | 4.78 | 25.9% | 5.9% |
| 69 | Yovani Gallardo | MIL | @STL, @CIN | 1.42 | 18.3% | 7.1% |
| 70 | Jose Quintana | CWS | DET, @CLE | 3.90 | 17.6% | 7.2% |
| 71 | Tyler Skaggs | LAA | CLE, TEX | 3.21 | 14.4% | 7.2% |
| 72 | Wade Miley | ARI | COL, @SD | 4.50 | 22.7% | 10.7% |
| 73 | Shelby Miller | STL | MIL | 3.57 | 21.2% | 14.1% |
| 74 | Matt Harrison | TEX | @LAA | 8.41 | 23.5% | 13.7% |
| 75 | Danny Salazar | CLE | CWS | 7.87 | 26.1% | 11.4% |
| 76 | Brandon Maurer | SEA | @HOU | 2.09 | 25.0% | 12.5% |
| 77 | Hector Santiago | LAA | TEX | 3.68 | 21.1% | 12.6% |
| 78 | Matt Garza | MIL | @STL | 4.50 | 17.1% | 6.3% |
| 79 | Robbie Ross | TEX | OAK | 2.32 | 21.0% | 8.0% |
| 80 | Jason Vargas | KC | TOR, DET | 1.54 | 13.3% | 5.9% |
| 81 | Jordan Lyles | COL | @ARI | 3.04 | 14.7% | 6.3% |
| 82 | Henderson Alvarez | MIA | ATL | 2.66 | 13.9% | 6.9% |
| 83 | Jason Hammel | CHC | STL | 2.60 | 20.2% | 5.1% |
| 84 | Eric Stults | SD | @SF | 4.15 | 10.3% | 4.3% |
| 85 | Edinson Volquez | PIT | TOR | 1.93 | 14.7% | 4.6% |
| 86 | Brandon McCarthy | ARI | @SD | 6.24 | 16.2% | 5.9% |
Additional information: CC Sabathia has not looked good despite what the box scores of his last two starts say, but a start against the struggling Mariners offense, who are extremely left-handed, gives me optimism he can have an average week. Brandon Maurer looked like a different, more confident pitcher in his 2014 debut. Maurer was my fantasy kryptonite all of last year because he has really good stuff to be a must-start in 12-team mixed leagues. For the first four innings against the Marlins, he attacked hitters with his 93-97 mph fastball and his secondary offerings. In the fifth inning, he was gassed and was taken out after 63 pitches; the reason why he was gassed was because he only threw 50 pitches in his last outing in triple-A. He may only go five innings against the Astros because he hasn’t built up his arm strength, but I’ll gladly start him in a deep mixed league.
Avoid
| Rank | Name | Team | Opp. | ERA | K% | BB% |
| 87 | Bronson Arroyo | ARI | @SD | 9.50 | 8.9% | 7.8% |
| 88 | Phil Hughes | MIN | BAL | 6.43 | 20.8% | 6.3% |
| 89 | Dan Straily | OAK | @BOS | 5.39 | 22.8% | 6.5% |
| 90 | Rick Porcello | DET | @CWS | 3.15 | 16.0% | 4.0% |
| 91 | Brandon Cumpton | PIT | @BAL | 2.57 | 17.9% | 3.6% |
| 92 | Collin McHugh | HOU | SEA | 0.00 | 54.5% | 0.0% |
| 93 | Tyler Lyons | STL | @CHC | 3.00 | 25.0% | 14.3% |
| 94 | Vidal Nuno | NYY | SEA | 6.77 | 25.6% | 11.6% |
| 95 | Wei-Yin Chen | BAL | @MIN | 4.91 | 17.5% | 5.2% |
| 96 | Colby Lewis | TEX | @LAA | 4.21 | 17.4% | 2.2% |
| 97 | Mike Leake | CIN | MIL | 3.50 | 14.4% | 5.4% |
| 98 | Mark Buehrle | TOR | @KC | 0.64 | 17.4% | 4.6% |
| 99 | Charlie Morton | PIT | @BAL | 4.35 | 15.4% | 8.8% |
| 100 | Ricky Nolasco | MIN | LAD | 6.67 | 9.7% | 6.7% |
| 101 | Bartolo Colon | NYM | @PHI | 4.50 | 19.0% | 2.2% |
Additional Information: Bronson Arroyo is an extreme fly-ball and home-run prone pitcher and, this week, he gets to pitch in the best ballpark that suits his skill set. If Brandon Crumpton wasn’t facing the Orioles, he would have ranked one tier higher. Crumpton is basically a fastball and slider pitcher, but he can throw it effectively to both lefties and righties. Collin McHugh dominated the Mariners striking out 12 and only allowing three hits in 6.2 innings. McHugh doesn’t have overpowering stuff, but his fastball ticked up 1-2 mph (to 92-93 mph) and he had exceptional command in his only start. His walk rate in triple-A (8.6 percent) suggests he probably will not have the exceptional command again.