What it is, RotoBallers? I'll tell you - it's the latest in our ongoing midseason rankings update series. We'll cover the top starting pitcher tiers today and tackle everyone else tomorrow. As a reminder, these rankings were a collaborative effort between yours truly and fellow columnists/handsome devils Nick Mariano and Bill Dubiel. As such, they may not fully represent my personal views on each player, and if someone is ranked inappropriately, I'm pretty sure you can blame either or both of them. One other thing to keep in mind is that these rankings are based on standard 5x5 scoring. As the youngs say, YMMV.

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Fantasy Baseball Midseason Rankings Analysis: Starting Pitcher (Part 1)

Tier One

Max Scherzer
Madison Bumgarner
Jose Fernandez
Noah Syndergaard
Clayton Kershaw
Jake Arrieta
Stephen Strasburg
Chris Sale
Johnny Cueto

If Kershaw were healthy, he’d be in his own tier. He’s simply playing a different game than everyone else. There are some concerns about Thor’s health as well, sadly. Bumgarner and Fernandez have been excellent as usual. Strasburg is having the best season of his career and finally getting his due as an elite pitcher. It says a lot about how terrific Sale and Scherzer were last season that they’ve taken steps back in 2016 and still belong in this group. Ditto for Arrieta’s recent struggles. Cueto doesn’t quite have the strikeout upside of the others in this tier, but he remains a king of inducing weak contact and has an ideal team and park context.

Tier Two

Jon Lester
Carlos Carrasco
Corey Kluber
Danny Salazar
Jacob DeGrom
David Price
Zack Greinke
Rich Hill
Steven Matz

A couple of disaster outings aside (including his last two turns), Lester has been a quality start machine. The Indians’ trio of aces are a big reason why they lead the AL Central. Speaking of ace trios, deGrom and Matz have teamed with Syndergaard to keep the Mets in contention despite a nightmarish season for Matt Harvey. Price and Greinke have had their ups and downs in Year 1 of their huge free-agent contracts, but they’re established quantities who could easily jump into the top tier. Finally, Hill has proven that his late-season renaissance last year was no fluke. Hell of a story, and he’ll be an asset to whichever contender trades for him this month.

Tier Three

John Lackey
Kyle Hendricks
Jose Quintana
Masahiro Tanaka
Carlos Martinez
Drew Pomeranz
Justin Verlander
Yu Darvish
Cole Hamels
Aaron Nola
Gerrit Cole

I’m much less enamored of Verlander than my colleagues, but he’s done a nice job of adjusting to his diminished arsenal. Quintana remains as dependable as they come. Strip out his flu-ridden May, and Martinez sports a sub-2.00 ERA. Nola’s recent struggles should pass; along with Hendricks, he’s one of the best young control specialists in the game. Pomeranz has resurrected his career thanks to a refined (and filthy) curveball. If Darvish is healthy, he and Hamels give the Rangers a dynamic 1-2 punch that can help cover for the mess behind them in the rotation. You can’t say enough about how well Tanaka has pitched through a partially torn elbow ligament.

Tier Four

Matt Shoemaker
Michael Fulmer
Danny Duffy
Julio Teheran
Steven Wright
Chris Archer
Jonathan Gray
Trevor Bauer
Lance McCullers
Kenta Maeda

Still giving Teheran a healthy dose of side-eye. An innings cap keeps Fulmer from ranking higher. I’ve completely bought into the Duffy breakout. Bauer’s is less convincing. Likewise, it’s tough to fully trust Shoemaker. We’ve seen how hittable he is when he doesn’t have a feel for the splitter. Archer looks like an excellent buy-low opportunity. McCullers and Gray are both electric arms, but each comes with caveats (walks for the former and homers/Coors for the latter). Maeda has exceeded my modest expectations thus far.

Tier Five

Jeff Samardzija
Aaron Sanchez
Sonny Gray
Felix Hernandez
Adam Wainwright
James Paxton
Tanner Roark
Joe Ross
Kevin Gausman
Marco Estrada
Michael Pineda

It’s been a tough year for some of the guys in this group. Wainwright appears to have gotten on track, but King Felix is still working his way back from injury and Gray still isn’t close to regaining his previous form. Shark hasn’t taken as well to his new team and park as expected and might be ranked a touch high here. Does anyone actually know if Sanchez is going to stick in the rotation? Seems like even the organization can’t agree, which dampens his second-half outlook. Roark and Ross have been steady at the back end of the Nationals rotation. Pineda’s overall ratios still look ugly but he’s been great over the last six weeks; buy low on him if you still can. After posting a historically low BABIP last season, Estrada has an even more ridiculous mark this year and is actually striking hitters out at a good clip to boot. Gausman still needs an effective third pitch if he’s ever going to reach his true potential. No idea what Paxton’s doing in this tier, as the added velocity hasn’t translated into results yet.

Tier Six

Anthony DeSclafani
Jerad Eickhoff
Jason Hammel
Carlos Rodon
Chris Tillman
Taijuan Walker
Jaime Garcia
Jake Odorizzi
Vincent Velasquez
Michael Wacha

Disco fever! DeSclafani’s looked pretty good since returning from his oblique injury and should be an under the radar asset in the second half. Hammel already looks to be hitting his annual wall, though. Both Odorizzi and Rodon are giving up too many long balls, leaving them with uninspiring ratios. The bottom is starting to fall out for Tillman; the time to sell him was a month ago. Wacha is trending back up after a lousy start, which will help soften the blow for the Cardinals when Garcia inevitably gets hurt. Velasquez is headed for an early shutdown but he’s had an encouraging season. Eickhoff has been less impressive, but relative to expectations his last calendar year has been a huge success.

Midseason Starting Pitcher Tiered Fantasy Baseball Rankings

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