Midseason Rankings and Tiers: Starting Pitcher (SP)

7 years ago by Kyle Bishop

With the first half of the season in the books, it’s time for one last RotoBaller rankings update. As with our May edition, these rest-of-season rankings come from yours truly and my favorite bandwagon Red Sox fan, Nick Mariano. Today, we're finishing things off with a look at the pitchers; I'll cover the starters below, while Nick will dissect the reliever ranks.

Check out all of our updated rankings. Adjust your league size, and export your rankings. Tiers, auction values, prospects, news and more. It's all free.

Let's get to it.

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2017 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Starting Pitchers (Midseason Update)

Ranking	Tier	Player	Position	Kyle	Nick	Composite
1	1	Clayton Kershaw	SP	6	4	5
2	1	Max Scherzer	SP	9	10	9.5
3	1	Chris Sale	SP	12	11	11.5
4	1	Corey Kluber	SP	20	22	21
5	2	Madison Bumgarner	SP	36	23	29.5
6	2	Stephen Strasburg	SP	29	34	31.5
7	2	Yu Darvish	SP	34	36	35
8	2	Jacob deGrom	SP	41	32	36.5
9	2	Chris Archer	SP	47	42	44.5
10	2	Zack Greinke	SP	26	65	45.5
11	2	Carlos Martinez	SP	39	63	51
12	2	Carlos Carrasco	SP	50	56	53
13	3	Lance McCullers	SP	53	57	55
14	3	Alex Wood	SP	59	66	62.5
15	3	Robbie Ray	SP	68	68	68
16	3	Jon Lester	SP	111	55	83
17	3	Jake Arrieta	SP	129	40	84.5
18	3	Luis Severino	SP	69	109	89
19	3	Dallas Keuchel	SP	81	99	90
20	4	David Price	SP	91	95	93
21	4	Michael Fulmer	SP	92	96	94
22	4	James Paxton	SP	115	94	104.5
23	4	Aaron Nola	SP	100	111	105.5
24	4	Johnny Cueto	SP	109	103	106
25	4	Justin Verlander	SP	123	92	107.5
26	4	Jose Quintana	SP	117	106	111.5
27	4	Sean Manaea	SP	103	129	116
28	5	Jose Berrios	SP	96	139	117.5
29	5	Jameson Taillon	SP	138	108	123
30	5	Jeff Samardzija	SP	101	147	124
31	5	Gerrit Cole	SP	179	76	127.5
32	5	Marcus Stroman	SP	160	97	128.5
33	5	Masahiro Tanaka	SP	180	91	135.5
34	5	Jonathan Gray	SP	140	146	143
35	5	Kenta Maeda	SP	155	132	143.5
36	5	Danny Duffy	SP	157	138	147.5
37	6	Jimmy Nelson	SP	137	158	147.5
38	6	Zack Godley	SP	152	155	153.5
39	6	Rich Hill	SP	203	113	158
40	6	Sonny Gray	SP	209	114	161.5
41	6	Daniel Straily	SP	166	159	162.5
42	6	Cole Hamels	SP	119	220	169.5
43	6	Ivan Nova	SP	188	154	171
44	6	Ervin Santana	SP	230	137	183.5
45	6	Kyle Hendricks	SP	181	189	185
46	7	Aaron Sanchez	SP	238	135	186.5
47	7	Lance Lynn	SP	217	176	196.5
48	7	Eduardo Rodriguez	SP	211	192	201.5
49	7	Steven Matz	SP	194	217	205.5
50	7	Jacob Faria	SP	191	227	209
51	8	J.A. Happ	SP	199	232	215.5
52	8	Gio Gonzalez	SP	225	213	219
53	8	Drew Pomeranz	SP	189	254	221.5
54	8	Carlos Rodon	SP	218	228	223
55	8	Alex Cobb	SP	269	180	224.5
56	8	Danny Salazar	SP	192	274	233
57	8	Julio Teheran	SP	308	165	236.5
58	8	Taijuan Walker	SP	215	260	237.5
59	8	Brad Peacock	SP	212	264	238
60	8	Noah Syndergaard	SP	207	283	245
61	8	Felix Hernandez	SP	255	239	247
62	8	Dylan Bundy	SP	315	181	248
63	8	John Lackey	SP	299	204	251.5
64	8	Jake Odorizzi	SP	258	245	251.5
65	9	Rick Porcello	SP	276	231	253.5
66	9	Jhoulys Chacin	SP/RP	#N/A	255	255
67	9	Brandon McCarthy	SP	242	271	256.5
68	9	Chase Anderson	SP	221	312	266.5
69	9	Adam Wainwright	SP	322	212	267
70	9	Tanner Roark	SP	339	206	272.5
71	9	Zach Davies	SP	#N/A	275	275
72	9	Marco Estrada	SP	305	248	276.5
73	9	Garrett Richards	SP	277	#N/A	277
74	9	Mike Clevinger	SP	280	276	278
75	10	Matt Shoemaker	SP	270	288	279
76	10	Jerad Eickhoff	SP	318	244	281
77	10	Michael Foltynewicz	SP	301	263	282
78	10	Michael Wacha	SP	319	251	285
79	10	Zack Wheeler	SP	342	230	286
80	10	Kevin Gausman	SP	316	262	289
81	10	Robert Gsellman	SP	#N/A	292	292
82	11	Vincent Velasquez	SP	292	#N/A	292
83	11	Trevor Bauer	SP	341	247	294
84	11	Ariel Miranda	SP	296	#N/A	296
85	11	Tyler Anderson	SP	#N/A	300	300
86	11	Mike Leake	SP	274	330	302
87	11	Ian Kennedy	SP	282	329	305.5
88	12	Patrick Corbin	SP	347	266	306.5
89	12	Mike Fiers	SP	295	320	307.5
90	12	Miguel Gonzalez	SP	#N/A	310	310
91	12	Mike Montgomery	SP	323	#N/A	323
92	12	Junior Guerra	SP	#N/A	324	324
93	12	Francisco Liriano	SP	331	318	324.5
94	12	CC Sabathia	SP	340	#N/A	340
95	12	Jason Hammel	SP	343	#N/A	343
96	12	Homer Bailey	SP	#N/A	344	344

Midseason Starting Pitcher Rankings Analysis

The usual spate of injuries, along with the continuing surge in home runs, has made this season a hellish one for fantasy owners in search of quality pitching. Hardly anyone has been immune to the "allegedly" juiced ball. Even once and future king Clayton Kershaw has already set a career high in homers allowed, though it hasn't kept him from posting his typically transcendent results. Despite some whispers to the contrary, he remains in a class by himself, ahead of fellow top-tier aces Max Scherzer, Chris Sale, and Corey Kluber. The entire quartet has everything you want from a pitcher, of course: Tons of strikeouts, great ratios, high volume, and lengthy track records that point to more of the same in the games to come.

The group in Tier 2 have plenty going for them, they're just not quite up to the standard set by our Four Horsemen. Madison Bumgarner has the strongest case for inclusion in the top group, we just need to see how he rebounds from his shoulder injury. I maintain that Stephen Strasburg's health issues are overblown by most folks, but between those and his propensity for the occasional clunker outing, it's enough to relegate him to the second tier. Yu Darvish, Jacob deGrom, and Chris Archer are immensely talented, but none of the trio is pitching at his best this season.

Carlos Carrasco is likewise great, he just never seems to give you the innings you need to classify him as a no-doubt stud. Carlos Martinez remains vulnerable to left-handed batters, which keeps him from reaching his full potential. There's not much disagreement at the top between Nick and I, with the exception of Zack Greinke. He's completely rebounded from his difficult first year in Arizona and is having one of the best seasons of his illustrious career.

The next couple of tiers are an interesting mix of underachieving stars and guys who are excelling but have limited track records. In the former category, you have three-fifths of the Cubs' starting rotation - Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, and newly acquired Jose Quintana. All have had issues with the long ball this year and occasional control problems, which is why they're each rocking 4.00+ ERA and 1.30+ WHIP marks. Johnny Cueto and Justin Verlander have also taken a tumble in our rankings after struggling in the first half. Given the track records involved, it would hardly come as a shock to see any of all of these veterans turn it on after the break.

Hell, Verlander did so just last year, though he didn't have quite as poor a showing in the first few months of 2016 as he has this time around. In the "talented but less established" bucket, there's Lance McCullers, Alex Wood, Robbie Ray, Luis Severino, James Paxton, Aaron Nola, and Sean Manaea. Of that group, only Wood has ever topped 175 MLB innings in a season. Most of them have had their share of health issues, and only Ray and Severino have avoided the disabled list this year. That said, each of them has been largely excellent when on the mound and that figures to continue.

After a relatively harmonious top 30, the next several tiers are where you start to see some major disagreements between Nick and myself. After touting him during the offseason as a rebound candidate and investing in several leagues, I'm completely off the Gerrit Cole train. He's got a 4.75 ERA and 1.40 WHIP over the past calendar year at this point. Marcus Stroman's improved ERA feels like a mirage, since his peripherals have barely budged. No idea what the deal is with Masahiro Tanaka, but I'm certainly not putting him in the top 20 SP after his awful first half. Ervin Santana is #fakenews. Aaron Sanchez has been even more of a disappointment than I expected thanks to a season-long battle with blisters. Speaking of blisters, Rich Hill...pass. Between his health, his inconsistent performance to date, and the Dodgers' rotation shell game, I'm staying away. Also, Dylan Bundy is bad and Nick should feel bad for ranking him as high as he did.

As for the arms I've ranked higher, Cole Hamels looks more like himself on the other side of his DL stint. I'm cautiously optimistic on the Jimmy Nelson breakout. Drew Pomeranz has been quietly excellent of late, particularly with keeping the ball in the yard. Danny Salazar is worth a gamble in the second half, and could frankly make both of our rankings look foolish if he's healthy. Lastly, while there's a lot of uncertainty around when (or if) he'll return this season and in what capacity, even 4-5 starts from Noah Syndergaard at 70-80 percent could be a boon to fantasy owners in September.