Fantasy baseball starting pitcher rankings for week 5

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.