Starting Pitcher (Part 2): Updated March Rankings and Tiers

7 years ago by Nick Mariano

We rolled out our final update on 2017 rankings this past weekend. While there haven’t been seismic shifts, some players have naturally seen their stocks rise or fall since our initial valuations were made in December. We’re gathered here today to look at part one of our outfield rankings, tiers, and auction values, which have certainly seen some movement. Part two of this SP look will check in with three risers and three fallers within the lower tiers.

As before, this round of rankings features picks from myself -- Nick Mariano, as well as Kyle Bishop, Bill Dubiel, Brad Johnson, Harris Yudin and Jeff Kahntroff.

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.

Editor's Note: Our incredible team of writers received five total writing awards and 13 award nominations by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, tops in the industry! Congrats to all the award winners and nominees including Best MLB Series, NFL Series, NBA Writer, PGA Writer and Player Notes writer of the year. Be sure to follow their analysis, rankings and advice all year long, and win big with RotoBaller! Read More!

Editor's note: Get 50% off any MLB Premium Pass. Draft guide, cheat sheets, 200 days of DFS access, and over 20 premium tools. Dominate your leagues all year long! Sign Up Now!

2017 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Starting Pitcher

Ranking	Tier	Player	Position	Brad	Kyle	Nick	Bill	Harris	Jeff	Auction $
46	7	J.A. Happ	SP	154	179	164	175	155	217	8
47	7	Jameson Taillon	SP	207	186	149	165	166	172	8
48	7	Jeff Samardzija	SP	203	182	152	153	180	219	7
49	7	Matt Shoemaker	SP	168	253	171	176	194	199	6
50	7	Carlos Rodon	SP	214	197	200	227	147	194	6
51	7	Vincent Velasquez	SP	268	168	194	192	167	242	5
52	7	Garrett Richards	SP	210	175	166	211	250	220	5
53	7	Drew Pomeranz	SP	244	158	205	186	193	254	5
54	7	Joe Ross	SP	299	212	186	195	204	152	5
55	8	Robbie Ray	SP	172	201	203	220	203	256	5
56	8	Jerad Eickhoff	SP	235	208	210	203	220	200	4
57	8	Marco Estrada	SP	206	231	196	198	195	251	4
58	8	Adam Wainwright	SP	245	191	183	177	179	341	4
59	8	Drew Smyly	SP	272	222	216	209	202	201	4
60	8	Taijuan Walker	SP	220	235	263	191	229	253	3
61	8	Jake Odorizzi	SP	273	198	208	233	237	255	3
62	8	Anthony DeSclafani	SP		227	251	230	231		3
63	8	Matt Moore	SP	174	308	246	274	238	173	3
64	8	Raisel Iglesias	SP/RP	221	202	343	255	254	174	3
65	8	Sonny Gray	SP	243	230	250	229	183	367	3
66	8	Tyler Anderson	SP	265	271	211	232	272	269	3
67	8	Blake Snell	SP	258	307	247	315	219	208	3
68	9	Michael Pineda	SP	301	241	221	190	301	311	3
69	9	Hisashi Iwakuma	SP	262	245	265	228	230	343	3
70	9	Jharel Cotton	SP	289	250	223	244	343	226	3
71	9	Ivan Nova	SP	264	302	243	299	240	252	3
72	9	Jeremy Hellickson	SP	246	266	179	271	304	339	3
73	9	Junior Guerra	SP	260	244	274	260	271	312	2
74	9	Alex Cobb	SP	248	333	214	248	305	283	2
75	9	Francisco Liriano	SP	224	327	218	328	294	243	2
76	9	Joe Musgrove	SP	324	265	206	326	270	320	2
77	9	Luke Weaver	SP	281	211		321	314	321	2
78	9	Gio Gonzalez	SP	354	305	293	183	292	346	2
79	10	Trevor Bauer	SP	292	299	268	313	239	366	2
80	10	Dylan Bundy	SP	398	400	271	338	221	167	2
81	10	Lance Lynn	SP	269	324	236	300	353	315	2
82	10	Collin McHugh	SP	388	233	261	259	252	407	2
83	10	Daniel Norris	SP	373	261	224	355	341	245	2
84	10	Mike Leake	SP	259	342	279	249	307	389	1
85	10	Ervin Santana	SP	352	270	257	224	251	472	1
86	11	Jason Hammel	SP	286	292	256	331	296	364	1
87	11	Zach Davies	SP	397	301	253	293	273	319	1
88	11	Bartolo Colon	SP	316	252	285	283	283	423	1
89	11	Michael Wacha	SP	303	315	319	349	236	318	1
90	11	Jordan Zimmermann	SP	285	359	313	254	293	340	1
91	11	Ian Kennedy	SP	371	238	349	296	295	316	1
92	12	Eduardo Rodriguez	SP	325	367	272	332	380	195	1
93	12	Brandon McCarthy	SP	234	345	365	333		285	1
94	12	Tyler Skaggs	SP	447	332	284	215	342	304	1
95	12	Chris Tillman	SP	389	340	278	305	291		1
96	12	Michael Foltynewicz	SP	274	304	333	318	362	337	1
97	12	Mike Montgomery	SP	288	344	357	279	355	314	1
98	12	Wei-Yin Chen	SP	375	334	355	269	306	345	1
99	13	Steven Wright	SP	250	341	334	357	398	306	1
100	13	Tyler Glasnow	SP	438	428	347	222	317	257	1
101	13	Archie Bradley	SP	278	355	322	377	379	342	1
102	13	Brandon Finnegan	SP	386	316	310	359	361	327	1
103	13	David Phelps	SP	378	335	344	256	443	317	1
104	13	Tyson Ross	SP	406	356	401	189	352	371	1
105	13	Daniel Straily	SP	308	389	342	398	345	338	1
106	13	Luis Severino	SP	331	294	440	376	340	365	1
107	13	Matt Andriese	SP		431	329	250	444		1
108	13	Zack Wheeler	SP	328	395	474	373	269	369	1
109	13	Chris Devenski	SP/RP	418	293	377	294	356	473	1
110	14	Shelby Miller	SP	314	392	399	360	397	348	1
111	14	Andrew Triggs	SP	492	430	327	253	346		1
112	14	Jaime Garcia	SP	358	429	276	354	434	368	1
113	14	Adam Conley	SP	429	300	425	379	344	344	1
114	14	Josh Tomlin	SP	359				384		1
115	14	Miguel Gonzalez	SP	446	366	299	368	382		1
116	14	Jose De Leon	SP	425	310	471	390	316	323	1
117	14	Robert Gsellman	SP	330	441	323	395	313	442	1
118	14	Alex Wood	SP	376	408	364	298	442	398	1
119	14	Edinson Volquez	SP	451				308	390	1
120	14	Ricky Nolasco	SP			407	366			1
121	14	Scott Kazmir	SP	439	457	339	361	354		1
122	14	Liam Hendriks	SP		394					1
123	14	Lucas Giolito	SP		450	442	353	318	438	1
124	14	Clay Buchholz	SP	360	437	422	370	456	388	1
125	14	Matt Boyd	SP						410	1
126	14	CC Sabathia	SP			410	367	455		1
127	14	Jose Berrios	SP	462	451	445	382	315	414	1
128	14	Jimmy Nelson	SP	313	391	496	424	485	387	1
129	14	Tyler Chatwood	SP			463		383	408	1
130	14	Patrick Corbin	SP	343	440		489		399	1
131	14	Kendall Graveman	SP	424	491	330	404	381	498	1
132	14	Rubby de la Rosa	SP	377	427				476	1
133	14	Mike Fiers	SP	455	456	384	351	486	426	1
134	14	Ariel Miranda	SP	420	432		449			1
135	14	Seth Lugo	SP	341	420	498	482		455	1
136	14	Chad Kuhl	SP	393	442	455	458		486	1
137	14	Nate Karns	SP	491	487			422	391	1
138	14	R.A. Dickey	SP	479	485			433	401	1
139	14	Brock Stewart	SP	445	480				424	1
140	14	Homer Bailey	SP		438	493	452	435		1
141	15	Reynaldo Lopez	SP	456	463	487			439	1
142	15	James Shields	SP	461		466	456			1
143	15	Hector Santiago	SP	464						1
144	15	Doug Fister	SP	478		452	445		489	1
145	15	Chase Anderson	SP	440					494	1
146	15	Matt Garza	SP			477	460			1
147	15	Mike Clevinger	SP	470	479					1
148	15	Matthew Wisler	SP	463	466				495	1
149	15	Anibal Sanchez	SP	482	473		481			1
150	15	Derek Holland	SP	480						1
151	15	Tom Koehler	SP			495	476		466	1
152	15	Wade Miley	SP	471		494	480			1
153	15	Wily Peralta	SP					487		1
154	15	Tyler Duffey	SP			497	485			1
155	15	Adam Morgan	SP			499	483			1

Starting Pitcher (Part Two) Rankings Analysis: March Risers and Fallers

Rankings Risers

Jharel Cotton, Athletics

Buzz, buzz. Hey, what’s the buzz? Cotton shoots up from SP79 to SP70 with some serious fire despite his premier pitch being the offspeed stuff. While that 2.15 ERA and 0.82 WHIP from his 29 1/3 innings last season was backed by a comical .198 BABIP, the talent for a 3.75 ERA arm is absolutely there. And for what it’s worth, he posted a BABIP around .260 in his 135 Triple-A innings last season before being promoted (with 155 strikeouts). Oakland Coliseum is about as pitcher-friendly as it gets, even if the wins won’t necessarily roll in with the A’s offense still establishing itself.

Daniel Norris, Tigers

Norris goes from SP103 to SP83 as his late-season momentum from 2016 really starts to reenter the forefronts of our minds. While he is notably dealing with a dead arm right now, he also played catch the day after his affected start (where he gave up nine earned in three innings). It’s a troubling thing to start the season with, though at least it isn’t a lower back or oblique issue considering those are the two injuries that seem to send him to the DL with reckless abandon. This is a guy who turned in a beautiful September – 2.73 ERA with 38 strikeouts in 29 2/3 innings – and can be had for peanuts at the end of drafts/for free on the waiver wire.

Mike Foltynewicz, Braves

Folty goes from SP113 to SP96 as he enters the top 100 with some pizzazz, as the 25-year-old took some nice strides last season and has pieced together a neat spring thus far (2.66 ERA, 18-to-5 K:BB ratio through 23 2/3 innings). While we’re not calling for excellence here, it should be noted that he raised his swinging-strike rate from 8.9% to 10% alongside a lowered BB/9 figure (3.01 to 2.55). Homers are still an issue – a 1.31 HR/9 isn’t good – but if he continue to up his groundball rate (+7.9% last season) and keep that improved control then we could see a very serviceable mixed-league streamer here.

Rankings Fallers

Francisco Liriano, Blue Jays

Liriano falls from SP67 to SP75 despite a very strong spring as Bill’s confidence in him was clearly shaken with a 100-slot bump (or there was an administrative error in February’s rankings, but either way we’ve got a shift here). One likely knows the story by now, as the southpaw turned his season around after rejoining Russell Martin in Toronto by posting a 2.92 ERA and a 9.49 K/9 in his 49 1/3 innings north of the border. He has rolled that over into a red-hot spring by striking out 25 in 14 1/3 innings (~15.3 K/9) with a 1.88 ERA. This writer is buying.

Robbie Ray, Diamondbacks

Ray drops from Tier Seven as the SP48 to SP55, Tier Eight territory, as we clearly can’t just rely on sabermetrics like FIP/xFIP/SIERA (cough, Michael Pineda, cough). Ray’s huge strikeout stuff plays up very well with those fielding-independent metrics, as his 3.76 FIP, 3.45 xFIP and 3.59 SIERA would’ve joined those 218 strikeouts to make him a bona fide ace in all formats. Unfortunately, his actual ERA was 4.90 alongside a gaudy 1.47 WHIP, as that .352 BABIP and 3.67 BB/9 point to a guy who has inconsistent control and command. The potential is absolutely there, but the reality of needing to be a complete pitcher can really throw off a hype train’s course.

Dylan Bundy, Orioles

Going from SP80 to SP90 is a sizeable slide after the 2011 first-round pick posted a decent 4.02 ERA and nearly a strikeout per inning last season after a three-year absence from big-league pitching. While his name elicits excitement, his fielding-independent metrics don’t point to him as being a particularly strong candidate to burst through that 4.00 ERA mark (4.70 FIP, 4.61 xFIP, 4.23 SIERA). He’ll need to rein in those homers (1.48 HR/9) and walks (3.45 BB/9) first, at the very least. His two most recent spring starts haven’t pointed to this occurring, as he’s allowed two homers alongside four walks (two Ks) in six combined innings against the Twins and Yankees. There’s still strikeout upside in deeper formats, but he needs to find some consistency in his second MLB campaign.