Updated Starting Pitcher Rankings for Fantasy Baseball: The Top 101 Baller Ranks

Howdy, RotoBallers, and allow me to welcome you to the thick of June! We've got burgers on the grill, cornhole in the yard, and yet another updated edition of my top-101 starting pitcher rankings that look at rest-of-season values. As always, I've got you covered with ranks, tiers, trends, and notes with the top-101 in a table with other fun things like earned value via Fangraphs. It's time for another 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 the last 30 days. Do note that the bottom of the top-101 table has the injured arms and where they'd slot in when healthy, plus some brief updates on where they're at recovery-wise. I highly encourage you to click the sheet.

As is tradition, these fantasy baseball starting pitcher rankings are geared toward traditional 5x5 leagues. Without further ado, here's my top-101 SP for the rest of 2022!

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Starting Pitcher Rankings Analysis

-Lance Lynn, Clayton Kershaw, and Tylor Megill are all welcomed back from the infirmary ward with some rusty returns, but we’re just happy to see them. Lynn at least didn’t issue any walks, opting instead to be done in by batted balls with a horrid .529 BABIP on the day. Kershaw got roughed up a bit in the second inning but looked like himself for the most part. And Megill pushed out to 64 pitches looking no worse for wear, so I’m going to call all of these a win.

I’d plopped Shane Baz back onto the table for his return last Saturday but he’s right there in that conversation. It’s never recommended to deploy an arm in their first start back from the IL and Baz allowing five runs over 2 ⅓ IP underscores why! After looking alright through two frames, he loaded up the bases for a Luis Arraez grand slam in the third and would exit after 48 pitches. He’s in wait-and-see mode for Friday’s outing at Baltimore but the future is bright and any buy-low opportunities should be taken advantage of.

-Kevin Gausman has lost four of his last six and while he’s still rocking a stellar 77/10 K/BB on the year (70 ⅔ IP), the 12/5 ratio over his last three starts (14 ⅔ IP) is far less impressive. He’s yet to surrender more than three earned runs in any outing so you aren’t getting scorched, but you can’t have a three-start stretch like that alongside a 2-4 record in his last six starts and keep your slot near the top of the table.

-Shane Bieber continues to make me feel silly for my early doubts regarding his reduced velocity, but he’s also enjoyed a swell run of matchups. He’s faced Texas, Baltimore (at Camden), Detroit x2, Minnesota, Oakland, Colorado, and Toronto over his last eight games. And you’ll recall Toronto gave him that seven-run thrashing back in early May. That’s not exactly a Murderer’s Row, but props to him for delivering all the same! I give solid credit for turning in a quality start at Coors Field on Tuesday as well.

-Zac Gallen was phenomenal through his first seven starts, allowing only five earned runs in that window (39 ⅓ IP) with a 39/8 K/BB ratio. Unfortunately, he then got walloped by KC on May 24 for six earned and has now given up 14 ER with a 16/8 K/BB mark in his last four trips to the hill. Let’s hope he can regain his command and feel more confident on the bump soon.

-Eric Lauer is another arm that’s fading as the heat rises, only exceeding five innings twice in his last six turns. He’d shown tremendous growth in the control department early on, walking one or fewer in five of his first seven starts of 2022. As you know by now, seeing that the K/BB ratio slide is very bad and now Lauer has walked multiple batters in each of his last four starts. The early 54/8 K/BB rate has given way to a 13/13 split in his last four games and that yields warning bells.

-Robbie Ray gives us a positive blurb in 2022 as he’s dusted off a sinker that gave us seven shutout innings against a good Red Sox lineup on June 12. The southpaw threw it nearly half of the time per Savant and perhaps this could stabilize his arsenal enough to limit the insane bad innings that have devastated him thus far. In case you’ve missed it, Ray’s worst inning from each game has been responsible for roughly 75% of all earned runs against him. So any pitch he can dip into the stop the bleeding and induce some DP-friendly grounders is welcome.

-Hunter Greene pulled out of his spiral and now has a sexy 3.57 SIERA underneath the 5.10 ERA and 5.16 FIP. That 30.3% strikeout rate is electrifying, even in today’s strikeout-happy era, but it’s his only walking two batters in his last three starts with an emphasis on the slider that has us truly happy. His triple-digit fastball remains a threat but is no longer the backbone of his approach, as MLB hitters can adjust and line up their barrel. Take when Aroldis Chapman has command of his fastball-slider combo in the ninth and make that into a starter. If Greene can develop a third pitch then we’d be seeing a frontline ace emerge, but this will do for now.

-Trevor Rogers is in droppable territory for 10-teamers and some 12’s. Taking on the Phillies at Citizens Bank was going to be tough, but allowing four earned with SIX walks in just 3 ⅔ IP is just terrible. He’s now posted a WHIP of 2.50 or higher in three of his last five starts. The implosions remain too frequent to be worth chasing the upside in many formats. The chase rate on his changeup went from 45% in 2021 down to around 30% in ‘22 and hitters have more than doubled the barrel rate from last year against his heater. It’s terrible, avert your eyes. Yusei Kikuchi also destroyed a little confidence I’d regained, and Ranger Suarez couldn’t deliver in a streaming spot against Arizona so they both fall as well.

 

Top-101 Starting Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball

These are rest-of-season fantasy baseball rankings for starting pitchers.

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