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2015 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Rankings: Top 100

What's up RotoBallers. The MLB season is right around the corner, and this is the home stretch for our fantasy baseball drafts.  There has been a lot of recent news around MLB, so I thought I'd take a few minutes and give you our updated 2015 starting pitcher rankings for your fantasy baseball drafts.

These updated starting pitcher rankings are based on a combination of recent injuries, spring training performances and players winning/losing position battles. I think it's a pretty solid list overall, but as we all know pitching is volatile so pre-season rankings can change drastically throughout the year. Players can emerge to become fantasy superstars (Arrieta, DeGrom last year), and perennial studs can become afterthoughts with one injury.

Editor's Note: the below starting pitcher rankings compare RotoBaller's rankings versus the ADPs of various fantasy providers. If you see big discrepancies between the RotoBaller rankings compared to ADPs, those players have been identified as potential draft sleepers or busts. Also you can view these pitcher rankings in tiers with our premium rankings, which provide the same ADP comparisons but for all positions -- and also break the player rankings into different tiers.

 

Starting Pitcher Rankings Analysis

I struggled a little bit with the top 10 pitcher rankings, because I think some of them can easily be switched -- but at the end of the day it would just be nitpicking. For example, I wouldn't be surprised if Scherzer or Strasburg finish in the top three rankings this year. Also it's crazy to see how some players can lose a ton of fantasy value within a span of a few days (cough Danny Salazar).

Risers - Some of my biggest rankings surgers happen to be some of my favorite ADP draft sleepers for the 2015 season. In no particular order, these pitchers can return a significant profit on their current draft day price: Yordano Ventura, Michael Pineda, Carlos Martinez, Scott Kazmir, Jake Odorizzi, Taijuan Walker, Jason Hammel, Danny Duffy, Jesse Hahn, Kyle Hendricks.

Fallers - Some of my biggest rankings fallers are either battling injuries, have been demoted to the minors, or just aren't looking good for the 2015 season. In no particular order, I will be trying my best to avoid these pitchers in all my drafts: Justin Verlander, Doug Fister, Homer Bailey, Jose Fernandez, Danny Salazar, Matt Cain.

 

Starting Pitcher Rankings - Top 100

AVERAGE DRAFT POSITION BY PROVIDER
RotoBaller Rank Player
Name
YAHOO
ADP
FT
ADP
NFBC
ADP
RTS
ADP
MDC
ADP
ADP (avg)
1 Clayton Kershaw 3.0 3.0 5.0 4.0 3.0 3.6
2 Felix Hernandez 12.0 11.0 13.0 8.0 12.0 11.2
3 Chris Sale 22.0 27.0 19.0 19.0 18.5 21.1
4 David Price 32.0 28.0 21.0 29.0 38.5 29.7
5 Corey Kluber 37.0 34.0 28.0 31.0 58.5 37.7
6 Max Scherzer 14.0 17.0 17.0 15.0 22.5 17.1
7 Stephen Strasburg 23.0 25.0 25.0 21.0 40.5 26.9
8 Madison Bumgarner 24.0 31.0 27.0 22.0 45.0 29.8
9 Zack Greinke 36.0 48.0 54.0 36.0 58.0 46.4
10 Johnny Cueto 44.0 37.0 35.0 34.0 30.0 36.0
11 Jon Lester 43.0 54.0 48.0 38.0 78.5 52.3
12 Jordan Zimmermann 49.0 56.0 42.0 43.0 55.5 49.1
13 Adam Wainwright 50.0 58.0 47.0 58.0 57.0 54.0
14 Matt Harvey 63.0 60.0 51.0 57.0 89.5 64.1
15 Cole Hamels 47.0 61.0 55.0 51.0 96.5 62.1
16 James Shields 81.0 87.0 88.0 66.0 137.0 91.8
17 Hisashi Iwakuma 75.0 99.0 98.0 117.0 131.5 104.1
18 Carlos Carrasco 125.0 114.0 87.0 105.0 153.5 116.9
19 Masahiro Tanaka 113.0 127.0 71.0 78.0 90.0 95.8
20 Julio Teheran 70.0 77.0 77.0 67.0 70.0 72.2
21 Jake Arrieta 90.0 104.0 70.0 100.0 119.5 96.7
22 Alex Wood 99.0 101.0 96.0 131.0 131.0 111.6
23 Michael Wacha 160.0 149.0 113.0 111.0 167.0 140.0
24 Gerrit Cole 87.0 79.0 78.0 76.0 135.5 91.1
25 Jacob DeGrom 105.0 112.0 69.0 91.0 144.0 104.2
26 Jeff Samardzija 86.0 70.0 58.0 60.0 87.5 72.3
27 Tyson Ross 106.0 96.0 93.0 89.0 148.5 106.5
28 Sonny Gray 88.0 83.0 102.0 64.0 83.0 84.0
29 Alex Cobb 83.0 95.0 101.0 116.0 116.0 102.2
30 Gio Gonzalez 100.0 121.0 117.0 81.0 171.0 118.0
31 Garrett Richards 129.0 144.0 118.0 102.0 220.5 142.7
32 Hyun-Jin Ryu 130.0 172.0 173.0 164.0 170.0 161.8
33 Phil Hughes 134.0 177.0 90.0 183.0 169.5 150.7
34 Andrew Cashner 138.0 163.0 150.0 154.0 211.0 163.2
35 Lance Lynn 143.0 146.0 134.0 121.0 125.5 133.9
36 Francisco Liriano 174.0 214.0 202.0 162.0 246.5 199.7
37 Anibal Sanchez 122.0 190.0 156.0 147.0 158.5 154.7
38 Ian Kennedy 163.0 166.0 129.0 166.0 220.0 168.8
39 Yordano Ventura 155.0 141.0 151.0 159.0 142.5 149.7
40 Doug Fister 146.0 148.0 166.0 134.0 103.0 139.4
41 Michael Pineda 204.0 147.0 152.0 180.0 119.5 160.5
42 Carlos Martinez 338.0 288.0 281.0 #N/A 302.3
43 Scott Kazmir 186.0 245.0 174.0 203.0 #N/A 202.0
44 Jake Odorizzi 203.0 225.0 217.0 197.0 222.0 212.8
45 Drew Smyly 183.0 189.0 218.0 231.0 146.5 193.5
46 Matt Shoemaker 198.0 210.0 188.0 238.0 #N/A 208.5
47 Chris Archer 148.0 184.0 186.0 137.0 138.0 158.6
48 Jose Quintana 178.0 200.0 178.0 179.0 228.5 192.7
49 Mat Latos 156.0 188.0 184.0 143.0 131.0 160.4
50 Collin McHugh 184.0 193.0 159.0 176.0 134.0 169.2
51 Jose Fernandez 176.0 208.0 189.0 169.0 234.0 195.2
52 Dallas Keuchel 361.0 234.0 153.0 185.0 #N/A 233.3
53 Taijuan Walker 249.0 243.0 209.0 209.0 252.0 232.4
54 Brandon McCarthy 199.0 235.0 244.0 206.5 221.1
55 Jason Hammel 296.0 296.0 234.0 275.3
56 Mike Fiers 169.0 194.0 181.0 251.0 #N/A 198.8
57 John Lackey 216.0 274.0 263.0 266.0 155.5 234.9
58 Jered Weaver 165.0 196.0 131.0 152.0 223.5 173.5
59 Danny Duffy 298.0 258.0 259.0 276.0 191.0 256.4
60 Drew Hutchison 237.0 206.0 256.0 #N/A 233.0
61 Jesse Hahn 284.0 326.0 #N/A 305.0
62 Henderson Alvarez 291.0 212.0 241.0 #N/A 248.0
63 Wily Peralta 285.0 276.0 268.0 201.0 257.5
64 Rick Porcello 219.0 282.0 245.0 202.0 217.0 233.0
65 James Paxton 280.0 228.0 228.0 263.0 #N/A 249.8
66 Nathan Eovaldi 341.0 336.0 289.0 257.0 #N/A 305.8
67 Drew Pomeranz 347.0 297.0 280.0 #N/A 308.0
68 Justin Verlander 139.0 191.0 138.0 160.0 199.0 165.4
69 Kendall Graveman 444.0 362.0 #N/A 403.0
70 Kyle Hendricks 323.0 280.0 269.0 #N/A 290.7
71 Shelby Miller 300.0 244.0 249.0 249.0 210.0 250.4
72 Mike Leake 335.0 341.0 269.0 315.0
73 Chris Tillman 282.0 257.0 195.0 205.0 195.0 226.8
74 Homer Bailey 161.0 222.0 226.0 126.0 208.5 188.7
75 Wade Miley 301.0 360.0 323.0 264.0 #N/A 312.0
76 Danny Salazar 227.0 239.0 216.0 275.0 #N/A 239.3
77 Justin Masterson 410.0 366.0 #N/A 388.0
78 Derek Holland 242.0 210.0 252.0 231.5 233.9
79 Yovani Gallardo 341.0 297.0 261.0 #N/A 299.7
80 Kyle Lohse 225.0 275.0 284.0 #N/A 261.3
81 Ervin Santana 212.0 289.0 236.0 255.0 223.0 243.0
82 Jimmy Nelson 364.0 301.0 #N/A 332.5
83 Jonathon Niese 344.0 361.0 #N/A 352.5
84 A.J. Burnett 314.0 303.0 #N/A 308.5
85 T.J. House 374.0 344.0 #N/A 359.0
86 Trevor Bauer 302.0 260.0 #N/A 281.0
87 Shane Greene 346.0 353.0 273.0 #N/A 324.0
88 Kevin Gausman 355.0 254.0 252.0 272.0 254.5 277.5
89 Tanner Roark 222.0 286.0 242.0 #N/A 250.0
90 Clay Buchholz 305.0 332.0 270.0 233.0 #N/A 285.0
91 Matt Garza 317.0 339.0 281.0 #N/A 312.3
92 Jake Peavy 323.0 312.0 #N/A 317.5
93 Tim Hudson 299.0 383.0 371.0 #N/A 351.0
94 Matt Cain 209.0 236.0 223.0 204.0 268.5 228.1
95 Mike Minor 365.0 327.0 276.0 #N/A 322.7
96 Wei-Yin Chen 334.0 327.0 #N/A 330.5
97 R.A. Dickey 253.0 279.0 254.0 214.0 178.5 235.7
98 Dan Haren 352.0 382.0 #N/A 367.0
99 Bartolo Colon 419.0 375.0 #N/A 397.0

 




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