The Baller Ranks: Weekly Top 101 Starting Pitcher Rankings

3 years ago by Nick Mariano

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Lovers of starting pitching unite, as it is once again time for my weekly top 101 SP Baller Ranks breakdown to hit the press. We fought through lockouts and a pandemic to get here, and we're going to get the gosh darn championships this year. Here we go with the first 2022 edition of my weekly Starting Pitcher Baller Ranks!

This google sheet accompanies the table below and adds relevant 5x5 stats, K%, BB%, BABIP, FIP, xFIP, SIERA, ERA-FIP, and CSW% from 2021, last season, as 2022 data trickles in. Do note that I leave off most injured players but for now, I will include them at the bottom with a rank of where they'd appear when healthy. I highly encourage you to click the link. CLICK IT!

As always, these ranks are geared towards traditional 5x5 leagues sans most injured SPs, lest a return is imminent. If 25% of the board is on the IL, then it isn't terribly actionable, and I'll intermittently weave in updates of where I'd throw them in if they were healthy. For now, let's dive into my Top 101 SPs and be sure we're starting strong.

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Top 101 Starting Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball - Week 1

Tier	Player	Rank	EV	$	Notes
1	Corbin Burnes	1	59.8	43.0	Mulligans at the top here. Don't do anything silly
1	Gerrit Cole	2	42.1	42.0	Freakin' Billy Crystal first pitch taking too long
1	Brandon Woodruff	3	38.0	41.0	Also poor debut in '21 then absolute fire
1	Max Scherzer	4	42.9	38.5
2	Walker Buehler	5	43.7	38.0	Starting at Coors is never fun
2	Julio Urias	6	39.8	35.0	Poor results, velo dip hopefully bounces back
2	Zack Wheeler	7	58.1	34.0
2	Freddy Peralta	8	31.9	33.5
2	Robbie Ray	9	31.5	27.5	A few command hiccups but overall strong
2	Shane Bieber	10	20.8	27.5	Monitor his velo moving forward
3	Sandy Alcantara	11	33.4	27.5
3	Max Fried	12	30.4	25.5
3	Logan Webb	13	32.6	23.5	QS out of the gate, be happy
3	Dylan Cease	14	35.1	23.0	Strikeouts on display from the jump
3	Joe Musgrove	15	26.4	21.0
4	Jose Berrios	16	32.9	20.0	Poor spring, poor first start, can't panic yet though
4	Alek Manoah	17	16.0	19.5
4	Charlie Morton	18	36.8	19.0	That leg looks just fine, ATL a great spot
4	Justin Verlander	19	N/A	19.0
4	Carlos Rodon	20	39.1	19.0	5 IP, 12 K in first SF start, hell yeah
4	Yu Darvish	21	22.9	18.0	6 hitless innings to start the season, casual
4	Kevin Gausman	22	38.3	17.0	No walks in '22 debut good, too hittable though
4	Aaron Nola	23	35.7	17.0	Same double-edged sword style: Good K/BB, HRs.
4	Frankie Montas	24	32.5	17.0
5	Trevor Rogers	25	33.6	17.0
5	Shane McClanahan	26	20.2	15.5
5	Eduardo Rodriguez	27	30.5	13.0	Ugly DET debut but no Fenway should yield $$$
5	Clayton Kershaw	28	27.1	12.5
5	Nathan Eovaldi	29	44.9	11.0
5	Chris Bassitt	30	26.8	11.0
5	Shohei Ohtani	31	23.7	11.0	4.2 IP, 1 ER, 9 K in first start, excellent form
5	Sean Manaea	32	26.5	10.0	One-upped Darvish with 7 hitless IP of his own
5	Pablo Lopez	33	18.3	10.0
5	Michael Kopech	34	13.5	9.0	Hit 69 pitches in debut as ramp up continues
5	Sonny Gray	35	19.0	9.0
5	Framber Valdez	36	15.0	9.0
5	Tyler Mahle	37	30.1	9.0
6	Ian Anderson	38	15.0	8.5
6	Logan Gilbert	39	17.9	8.0	Once he threw his secondaries he looked great
6	Alex Cobb	40	19.9	8.5
6	Zac Gallen	41	11.8	8.0
6	Luis Garcia	42	5.5	7.0
6	Patrick Sandoval	43	12.1	7.0	Dealing with fatigue already, hate to hear that
6	Jordan Montgomery	44	26.5	6.5
6	Adam Wainwright	45	30.2	6.5	Has an arsenal that ages gracefully
7	Joe Ryan	46	4.7	6.5
7	John Means	47	19.9	6.0
7	Tanner Houck	48	17.7	6.0
7	Alex Wood	49	20.1	5.5
7	Marcus Stroman	50	27.0	5.5	Looked steady in CHC debut but Coors is next
7	Jose Urquidy	51	14.5	5.0
7	Huascar Ynoa	52	11.3	5.0
7	Noah Syndergaard	53	-0.3	5.0
8	Tarik Skubal	54	5.9	5.0
8	Hyun Jin Ryu	55	19.8	5.0	3.1 IP, 6 ER to open '22, command must improve
8	Triston McKenzie	56	9.0	4.5
8	Reid Detmers	57	-1.2	4.0
8	Tylor Megill	58	5.1	4.0	Electric on Opening Day, can he avoid HR troubles?
8	Ranger Suarez	59	24.2	4.0
9	Yusei Kikuchi	60	9.0	4.0
9	Nestor Cortes	61	13.4	4.0
9	Anthony DeSclafani	62	24.2	3.5	Rough sledding vs. MIA, good spot @CLE next
9	Kyle Hendricks	63	10.1	3.5
9	German Marquez	64	27.4	3.5	Shut down LAD at Coors in opener, no walks!
10	Aaron Civale	65	6.2	3.0
10	Tony Gonsolin	66	4.0	3.0
10	Matt Brash	67	N/A	2.5	Watch how he handles hitters 2nd & 3rd time thru
10	Cal Quantrill	68	15.3	2.5
10	Carlos Carrasco	69	0.5	2.5	Retired 15 straight with more sliders, split-changes
10	Jameson Taillon	70	16.0	2.5
10	Hunter Greene	71	N/A	2.5	Solid debut vs. ATL, 7 Ks with frequent 100 MPH
10	Nick Lodolo	72	N/A	2.5
10	Jesus Luzardo	73	-1.5	2.5	Can he locate fastball better to set up slider?
11	Steven Matz	74	22.1	2.0
11	Zach Eflin	75	17.3	2.0
11	Bailey Ober	76	7.7	2.0
11	Josiah Gray	77	-0.1	2.0	Big whiffs, loud contact. Keep monitoring
11	Casey Mize	78	10.7	2.0
11	Nick Martinez	79	N/A	2.0
11	Drew Rasmussen	80	11.5	2.0
11	Merrill Kelly	81	19.1	1.5	Improved velo, secondaries from spring held up
12	Marco Gonzales	82	4.6	1.5
12	Mitch Keller	83	8.9	1.5	Good & bad in first game, I'd stay for Start No. 2
12	Luis Patino	84	5.2	1.5
12	Zach Plesac	85	8.5	1.0
12	Eric Lauer	86	13.5	1.0
12	Michael Lorenzen	87	1.7	1.0
12	Zack Greinke	88	10.3	1.0
12	Austin Gomber	89	10.5	1.0
12	Patrick Corbin	90	1.4	1.0
12	Corey Kluber	91	11.8	1.0
12	Elieser Hernandez	92	0.0	1.0
12	Taijuan Walker	93	11.1	1.0
12	Kyle Gibson	94	23.9	1.0	10 strikeouts in 1st game is quite the statement
12	Michael Pineda	95	11.3	1.0
12	Chris Flexen	96	24.2	1.0
12	Nick Pivetta	97	17.2	1.0
12	Andrew Heaney	98	8.4	1.0
12	Kyle Wright	99	-2.1	1.0	Velo back to mid-90s, offspeed looked sharp
12	Dane Dunning	100	14.2	1.0
12	Carlos Hernandez	101	7.7	1.0
INJ	Jacob deGrom	1	39.0	6.5	Hope for July, be pleasantly surprised if earlier
INJ	Lucas Giolito	10	32.3	27.5	Lower ab strain, I'd wager 3 weeks
INJ	Chris Sale	15	6.3	2.5	Will feel better about any timelines when throwing
INJ	Lance Lynn	25	33.4	2.5	4-6 weeks then built back up, so June?
INJ	Jack Flaherty	30	7.0	2.5	Aiming for May, monitor his throwing program
INJ	Luis Castillo	35	29.9	9.0	Mid/late April if we're lucky, hate shoulder woes
INJ	Lance McCullers Jr.	35	26.0	3.0	Also hate forearms, but nearing throwing here
INJ	Blake Snell	40	17.2	8.0	Likely IL incoming w/ adductor issue, Gore time?
INJ	Shane Baz	50	1.6	5.0	He'll need to ramp up at AAA, timeline still unclear
INJ	Mike Clevinger	55	N/A	6.5	Right knee sprain but elbow is OK, that matters
INJ	Stephen Strasburg	60	-0.2	1.0	Mid-May is target, building up after '21 TOS surgery
INJ	Jon Gray	65	18.1	2.5	Dang blisters, I liked his stuff before exiting

**REMEMBER THE SEASON HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN AND PITCHERS GOT A RAW DEAL WITH THE ABRUPT LOCKOUT END AND SHORTENED SPRING.

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