Rest-Of-Season Starting Pitcher Rankings (September Update)

With the MLB regular season winding down, we begin to close in on the final stretch of your fantasy baseball championship run. We've collected some of the brightest baseball minds here at Rotoballer to deliver you our rest-of-season rankings analysis to help you secure your league title. Now that fantasy football is nearly in full swing, take advantage of distracted managers in your league by staying active on the waiver wire and staying on top of trending hitters.

Starting pitchers have been the bane of fantasy owners' existence this year. Whether you side with Justin Verlander or not, it's obvious that offense as a whole, especially home runs, are up. That's been bad news for many SP that were drafted in the first few rounds. If you are still in the thick of the race in your mixed roto league, it's critical to find the right pitchers to trust so your ratios don't tank.

Throw those preseason ADPs out along with any preconceived notion of how these players were going to perform - we've taken into account injuries, team context, Statcast metrics, and gameplay observations in order to provide you with the most current rankings possible. Check out our fantasy baseball rankings dashboard for the very latest rankings which are continually updated. Without any more delay, let's break down the 2019 SP rest-of-season rankings for September.

 

Updated SP Ranks - 5x5 Mixed Leagues (September)

In case you missed it, our very own "Big Pick Nick" Mariano was named the #1 overall most accurate industry expert ranker for the 2018 season. You can follow his ranks all season long. Win big with RotoBaller in 2019! 

Ranking	Tier	Player	Position	Nick	Nick G	Riley
1	1	Justin Verlander	SP	5	4	5
2	1	Gerrit Cole	SP	6	6	6
3	1	Jacob deGrom	SP	13	10	10
4	2	Walker Buehler	SP	17	20	16
5	2	Luis Castillo	SP	29	28	30
6	2	Clayton Kershaw	SP	31	26	33
7	2	Hyun-Jin Ryu	SP	23	46	26
8	2	Max Scherzer	SP	47	29	22
9	2	Zack Greinke	SP	28	41	29
10	2	Stephen Strasburg	SP	32	27	43
11	2	Shane Bieber	SP	45	25	38
12	3	Charlie Morton	SP	37	37	36
13	3	Mike Clevinger	SP	42	49	65
14	3	Patrick Corbin	SP	52	63	59
15	3	Aaron Nola	SP	41	51	94
16	3	Jack Flaherty	SP	71	39	103
17	3	Lucas Giolito	SP	69	77	88
18	3	Domingo German	SP	77	74	89
19	4	Mike Soroka	SP	111	86	50
20	4	Trevor Bauer	SP	103	94	63
21	4	Jose Berrios	SP	101	83	77
22	4	Noah Syndergaard	SP	83	99	90
23	4	Madison Bumgarner	SP	98	97	80
24	4	Lance Lynn	SP	89	82	109
25	4	Yu Darvish	SP	66	114	117
26	4	Sonny Gray	SP	113	87	98
27	4	James Paxton	SP	94	112	101
28	4	Mike Minor	SP	119	91	97
29	5	Caleb Smith	SP	133	95	84
30	5	Matthew Boyd	SP	95	92	142
31	5	Masahiro Tanaka	SP	112	115	115
32	5	Kyle Hendricks	SP	137	88	129
33	5	Kenta Maeda	SP	131	126	112
34	5	Zack Wheeler	SP	144	142	116
35	5	Cole Hamels	SP	141	171	111
36	5	Max Fried	SP	147	147	161
37	5	Mike Fiers	SP	189	129	138
38	5	German Marquez	SP	151	143	171
39	5	Robbie Ray	SP	201	148	118
40	6	Ryan Yarbrough	SP	148	146	176
41	6	Wade Miley	SP	153	141	179
42	6	Jake Odorizzi	SP	210	156	123
43	6	Eduardo Rodriguez	SP	166	177	148
44	6	Chris Paddack	SP	202	182	114
45	6	Marcus Stroman	SP	184	184	157
46	6	Zac Gallen	SP	160	188	187
47	6	Andrew Heaney	SP	161	205	#N/A
48	6	David Price	SP	139	181	265
49	6	Miles Mikolas	SP	194	178	213
50	6	Ian Kennedy	SP	182	176	250
51	6	Jose Quintana	SP	179	189	245
52	6	Dinelson Lamet	SP	186	172	275
53	6	Cal Quantrill	SP	270	163	#N/A
54	6	Zach Plesac	SP	218	208	224
55	6	Joey Lucchesi	SP	294	194	165
56	7	Joe Musgrove	SP	212	206	236
57	7	Michael Pineda	SP	245	199	217
58	7	Jeff Samardzija	SP	303	207	167
59	7	Diego Castillo	RP/SP	219	236	#N/A
60	7	Dallas Keuchel	SP	309	231	149
61	7	Anibal Sanchez	SP	272	193	229
62	7	John Gant	SP	223	240	#N/A
63	7	Julio Teheran	SP	244	218	241
64	7	Aaron Sanchez	SP	226	251	#N/A
65	7	Chris Bassitt	SP	317	160	#N/A
66	7	Colin Poche	SP	237	241	#N/A
67	7	John Means	SP	256	229	235
68	8	Kyle Gibson	SP	322	211	195
69	8	Jon Lester	SP	340	#N/A	152
70	8	Giovanny Gallegos	SP	238	246	289
71	8	Brendan McKay	SP/1B	265	266	243
72	8	Dakota Hudson	SP	261	261	#N/A
73	8	Dustin May	SP	311	268	206
74	8	Reynaldo Lopez	SP	267	260	#N/A
75	8	Blake Snell	SP	290	255	256
76	8	Brandon Woodruff	SP	#N/A	267	#N/A
77	8	Jose Urena	SP	269	#N/A	#N/A
78	9	Jose Suarez	SP	275	#N/A	#N/A
79	9	Merrill Kelly	SP	338	#N/A	220
80	9	Corey Kluber	SP	297	288	262
81	9	Anthony DeSclafani	SP	308	269	#N/A
82	9	Steven Matz	SP	310	285	278
83	9	J.A. Happ	SP	316	#N/A	266
84	9	Dylan Cease	SP	287	#N/A	299
85	9	Carlos Carrasco	SP	332	256	#N/A
86	9	Homer Bailey	SP	296	296	#N/A
87	9	Yonny Chirinos	SP	301	293	#N/A
88	10	Alex Wood	SP	323	273	#N/A
89	10	Chase Anderson	SP	299	#N/A	#N/A
90	10	Joe Ross	SP	300	#N/A	#N/A
91	10	Jakob Junis	SP	306	#N/A	#N/A
92	10	Jordan Lyles	SP	307	#N/A	#N/A
93	10	Amir Garrett	SP	315	#N/A	#N/A
94	10	Brad Keller	SP	337	294	#N/A
95	10	Sandy Alcantara	SP	319	#N/A	#N/A
96	10	Trevor Richards	SP	408	292	264
97	10	Marco Gonzales	SP	325	#N/A	#N/A
98	10	Vince Velasquez	SP	327	#N/A	#N/A
99	10	Jordan Yamamoto	SP	328	#N/A	#N/A
100	10	Adam Conley	SP/RP	329	#N/A	#N/A
101	10	Tyler Beede	SP	330	#N/A	#N/A
102	10	Tanner Roark	SP	422	242	#N/A
103	11	Chris Archer	SP	389	#N/A	288
104	11	Asher Wojciechowski	SP	341	#N/A	#N/A
105	11	Julio Urias	SP	391	#N/A	296
106	11	Nathan Eovaldi	SP	419	#N/A	279
107	11	Pablo Lopez	SP	351	#N/A	#N/A
108	11	Mitch Keller	SP	423	#N/A	284
109	11	Matt Strahm	RP/SP	354	#N/A	#N/A
110	11	Rick Porcello	SP	355	#N/A	#N/A
111	11	Trevor Williams	SP	357	#N/A	#N/A
112	11	Zach Davies	SP	361	#N/A	#N/A
113	11	Mike Leake	SP	363	#N/A	#N/A
114	11	Tony Gonsolin	SP	372	#N/A	#N/A
115	11	Sean Manaea	SP	388	#N/A	#N/A
116	11	Ivan Nova	SP	392	#N/A	#N/A
117	11	Elieser Hernandez	SP/RP	395	#N/A	#N/A
118	11	Jake Arrieta	SP	397	#N/A	#N/A
119	11	Kevin Gausman	SP	401	#N/A	#N/A
120	11	Framber Valdez	SP	403	#N/A	#N/A
121	11	Drew Smyly	SP	406	#N/A	#N/A
122	12	Adam Wainwright	SP	407	#N/A	#N/A
123	12	CC Sabathia	SP	409	#N/A	#N/A
124	12	Mike Montgomery	SP/RP	410	#N/A	#N/A
125	12	Yusei Kikuchi	SP	413	#N/A	#N/A
126	12	Mike Foltynewicz	SP	414	#N/A	#N/A
127	12	Gio Gonzalez	SP	416	#N/A	#N/A
128	12	Eric Lauer	SP	417	#N/A	#N/A
129	12	Zach Eflin	SP	418	#N/A	#N/A
130	12	Andrew Cashner	SP	421	#N/A	#N/A
131	12	Martin Perez	SP	424	#N/A	#N/A
132	12	Drew Pomeranz	SP	425	#N/A	#N/A
133	12	Luis Severino	SP	426	#N/A	#N/A
134	12	Jesus Luzardo	SP	427	#N/A	#N/A
135	12	Spencer Turnbull	SP	428	#N/A	#N/A
136	12	Jose Urquidy	SP	429	#N/A	#N/A
137	12	Dylan Bundy	SP	430	#N/A	#N/A

 

Rankings Analysis - Top Tiers

Tier One

Justin Verlander continues to be impossibly good at age 36, with a 2.77 ERA and 35% K-rate over 179 innings. But Verlander is somehow getting better as the season goes on, going 5-1 with a 2.25 ERA and 43.7% K-rate since the All-Star break. And then there's Gerrit Cole, who has a 2.25 ERA since the break and a 39.7% K-rate that's second only to his teammate Verlander. Cole has now struck out double-digit batters in six of his last nine starts and is in the midst of one the great contract-year performances in sports history. Listen to Teddy KGB and pay that man his mo-ney.
Here's the simplest way to explain why the Astros are the prohibitive World Series favorites; in a seven-game series, Verlander and Cole will start at least four of the games…Good luck, everyone!

The problem with having a transcendent year like the one that Mets starter Jacob deGrom had in 2018, is that anything but a repeat-performance is seen as disappointing. deGrom may not be as dominant as he was last year but he’s pretty close, posting a 31.9% K-rate that’s virtually identical and a 15.7% swinging-strike rate that’s actually increased by a half-point. And his 2.56 ERA might be almost a run higher than last year’s ridiculous 1.70 ERA, but it’s still a 2.56 ERA and 1.04 WHIP over 162 innings. So, no complaining allowed.

Tier Two

Welcome to the party, pal! After spending two years as an “ace-in-waiting”, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler is waiting no more after a dominant 2019 thus far. Buehler has only gotten better since his impressive rookie campaign, increasing his strikeout-rate by two points, while shaving two-points from his walk-rate and posting double-digit strikeouts in four games this season, including a 15 K shutout against the Padres on August 3. Ascend, young ace. Ascend.

In a tier full of the old-guard, it might be a 26-year-old Luis Castillo who’s one of the best of the bunch for the remainder of 2019. Over 154 innings this year, Castillo is 12-5 with a 3.04 ERA with 179 strikeouts. Castillo remains held back by a 9.7% walk-rate, but improvements may already be here; he has a 4.0% walk-rate in his nine starts since the beginning of July while keeping his K-rate steady.

Injury concerns are the only reasons that Max Scherzer is slumming it in Tier 2, instead of taking his rightful place near the top. Having spent nearly 50 days on the injured list this year, Scherzer finally returned on August 22 to pitch four innings ( and 71 pitches), allowing one run and striking out three. While there were no reported setbacks, Scherzer has said that he’s not out of the woods yet and will likely not be throwing with maximum effort in order to avoid reinjuring himself. Danger Will Robinson. Danger.

Looks like I’m the low-man on Dodger pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu but it’s not talent or performance that lands him in this tier, as his 12 wins, 2.00 ERA and 0.98 WHIP say that he obviously belongs higher. But this time of year, it’s less about what you’ve done, and more about what lies ahead. And that might be more rest for Ryu, as his 152 2/3 innings are the most for the 32-year-old leftie since 2014. With his worst performances of the year coming in his last two starts, in which he gave up a total of 11 runs in 10 innings – allowing five home runs – Dodger management could be very careful in managing his health and innings as September rolls around.

We’re all on the same page with rooting for Cleveland’s Shane Bieber to challenge Justin to a Highlander-style fight to the death, right? If there can only be one Bieber, then hopefully the one who has an 11.0 K/9 and 3.23 ERA over 175 innings will win. After an impressive rookie campaign, Bieber now has a 30.1 % K-rate on the season which is a six-point increase over 2018’s mark, while pitching the third-most innings in baseball in 2019.

Tier Three

Cleveland’s Mike Clevinger started the year off in spectacular fashion, going 1-0 in his first two starts with 22 strikeouts in 12 innings. But then injuries cost him over two months, and after allowing 12 earned runs in his first two starts back, the world seemed to forget about the breakout that was promised by his dominant start to 2019. But since those two bad starts, Clevinger has been all that was promised and more, going 8-0 over his last 10 starts, with a 2.11 ERA and 34.6% K-rate over 60 innings. If not for the early-season injuries, we could very well be placing him in the same conversation with Walker Buehler and Luis Castillo.

It’s been an up-and-down season for Philadelphia ace Aaron Nola, with his owners spending much of the first half of the season wondering what exactly was wrong, be it injuries or stuff. Through his first 15 starts, Nola was 6-1 with a 25.1% K-rate but had an unsightly 4.89 ERA and 10% walk-rate. But Nola seems to have turned a corner since the middle of June and is now 6-3 through his last 13 starts, with a 2.27 ERA, 28.4% K-rate, and 7.6% walk-rate.

Welcome to the official Jack Flaherty Hype Train section! And judging by our rankings, it’s clear to see that I’m the conductor. Why is Flaherty’s 3.32 ERA and 28.7% K-rate (which are almost identical to Flaherty’s marks in 2018) deserved of a hype train? Wasn’t Flaherty pretty bad after entering the season as a favorite to make the leap to Ace? Well, a 4.90 ERA in his first 17 starts wasn’t exactly good but Flaherty at least kept his strikeout stuff, posting a 26.4% K-rate over his first 90 innings pitched. But in his last nine starts, Flaherty hasn’t just turned a corner…He’s lapping a lot of the field. Since July 7, Flaherty is 6-1 and earned his only loss giving up only one earned run in seven innings against the Giants. In these last 56 innings, Flaherty has 70 strikeouts and a 0.80 ERA that's best in the majors over that period, crushing Jacob deGrom’s measly 1.04 ERA. It may have taken two-thirds of the season, but it’s now time to lay Jack and let the hype wash over you.

 

Rankings Analysis - Middle Tiers

Tiers Four

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Because this ranking for Cincinnati ne Cleveland pitcher Trevor Bauer might actually be too high, given his recent performances. Bauer started off the season fine, posting a 2.45 ERA through his first seven starts in April. But May didn’t bring flowers for Bauer, only horrors, as the Twitter commando has been on a swift decline ever since the calendar flipped. In 22 starts since (which includes a mid-season trade), Bauer has a 5.00 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, and even threw a ball over the centerfield fence in a fit of rage. Not a great trifecta. And after giving up 18 ER in his last 11 innings, Bauer owners have to wonder what exactly they are in store for during September.

Another year for Mets starter Noah Syndergaard, and another year of a declining strikeout rate, with Thor’s 23.8% K-rate far from his peak of 29.3% in 2016. But while the avalanche of strikeouts hasn’t come back, Syndergaard has quietly been very effective since the All-Star break, going 3-2 over 54 innings, with a 1.82 ERA and 0.98 WHIP, along with a 9.11 K/9 that doesn’t exactly make him Brett Anderson.

Tier Five

When you play for the worst team in baseball, it’s easy to be overlooked. Enter, Matthew Boyd. The 28-year-old leftie has certainly had his problems this year, posting a 4.47 ERA over 159 innings for the hapless Detroit Tigers. But Boyd has unlocked his filthiest stuff this year, with a career-high 31.1% K-rate that’s backed by a 14.3% swinging-strike rate that’s the eighth-highest in all of baseball. Boyd, oh Boyd…That’s nasty.

As a St. Louis native, I can’t tell you how odd it is to be the only one of us that’s championing a Cub. Especially a boring old Cub like pitcher Kyle Hendricks. But Hendricks is a great example of a player being valuable in fantasy by being above-average across the board, as opposed to having one or two standout skills. Would anyone like to guess where Hendricks ranks on Yahoo’s Player Rater? I can’t read your mind, but I have to assume that no one was guessing #79. And definitely, no would guess that Yahoo projects him as the #53 player by year’s end. The #53 player, not the #53 pitcher. Since the beginning of May, Hendricks has a 2.75 ERA over 118 innings, with 98 strikeouts and a 0.95 WHIP. Boring? Yes. But are those ratios extremely valuable in an innings-eater like Hendricks? Also, yes.

 

Tier Six

Want to know a secret? I wanted to put Dinelson Lamet a lot higher than #172 but I’m going to try and keep my expectations in check… just for this year. Before being taken down by the nefarious Tommy John, Lamet was a popular breakout pick entering the 2018 season, carrying elite velocity and strikeout ability, with the 28.7% K-rate to prove it. And now that he’s fully recovered in 2019, Lamet has been even better than he was in 2017, posting a 30.1% K-rate and 3.83 xFIP through his first nine starts back. I’ll keep the hype in check for the remainder of 2019 but all bets are off in 2020.

 

Rankings Analysis - Lower Tiers

Tier Seven

I suppose we should talk about Chris Bassitt, considering that I'm clearly the only one who is a believer in the 30-year-old right-hander. Like a worse version of Kyle Hendricks earlier, Bassitt doesn't strike fear into any one category with his numbers but is rather a pitcher whose fantasy whole is greater than the sum of his mediocre parts. Bassitt is now 9-5 on the year, with a 3.59 ERA and 117 strikeouts in his 125 innings pitched, good for #134 on the current Yahoo Player Rater. And for the near future, Bassitt has a few plus-matchups on the likely horizon, facing Kansas City(twice) and Detroit in his next five starts.

Tier Eight and lower

Hey! Who let Anthony DeSclafani on here? Oh wait, looks like I did, seeing I'm the only one of we three who ranked him in the top-300. But I certainly don't like him all the time, because the key to getting value out of Disco Tony is knowing when to use him, as he is a man of extremes. In 25 starts this year, DeSclafani has allowed one run or less 12 times (including his last two starts)...And four runs or more in six of those 25 starts. So if you're confident in choosing your spots, DeSclafani could be a boon down the stretch, especially considering his upcoming schedule, as the right-hander goes to Miami on August 28, followed by three starts against Philadelphia and Arizona(twice).

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