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Nick Mariano's 2023 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Rankings

David Peterson - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, MLB News

I hope you've enjoyed the March Madness of preparing for the fantasy baseball season! That's what that phrase references, right? We here at RotoBaller are here to help with all kinds of content to help you win, and with that in mind, my fantasy baseball rankings series heads to the mound. And in case you missed any earlier pieces, you can see the rest of the positional rankings articles here:

Starting pitcher is deep and we've talked about most of the top arms backward and forward throughout the preseason. So instead, I'm going to list my top 150 in the table and talk more about the fringe and deeper names that have risen to relevance later in the offseason.

Beyond the top 150, I'll also list some key rookies at the end for those who like a zesty NA stash. Remember the tiers are more important than one spot ahead of another. Now, let's dive into the tiered table and analysis below.

Editor's Note: Our incredible team of writers received 13 award nominations by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association including Baseball Writer of the Year, Football Writers of the Year, Golf Writer of the Year and many more! Be sure to follow their analysis, rankings and advice all year long, and win big with RotoBaller! Read More!

 

Starting Pitcher Fantasy Baseball Rankings - Roto Leagues

Rank Tier Name Team RB Pos
1 1 Gerrit Cole NYY SP
2 1 Corbin Burnes MIL SP
3 2 Jacob deGrom TEX SP
4 2 Spencer Strider ATL SP
5 2 Sandy Alcantara MIA SP
6 2 Aaron Nola PHI SP
7 2 Brandon Woodruff MIL SP
8 2 Justin Verlander NYM SP
9 2 Shane McClanahan TB SP
10 2 Zack Wheeler PHI SP
11 2 Max Scherzer NYM SP
12 2 Shohei Ohtani LAA DH/SP
13 3 Cristian Javier HOU SP/RP
14 3 Dylan Cease CWS SP
15 3 Julio Urias LAD SP
16 3 Shane Bieber CLE SP
17 3 Luis Castillo SEA SP
18 3 Kevin Gausman TOR SP
19 3 Max Fried ATL SP
20 3 Yu Darvish SD SP
21 4 Alek Manoah TOR SP
22 4 Zac Gallen ARI SP
23 4 Framber Valdez HOU SP
24 4 Triston McKenzie CLE SP
25 4 Robbie Ray SEA SP
26 5 Nestor Cortes NYY SP/RP
27 5 George Kirby SEA SP
28 5 Hunter Greene CIN SP
29 5 Blake Snell SD SP
30 5 Luis Severino NYY SP
31 5 Joe Musgrove SD SP
32 5 Logan Webb SF SP
33 5 Clayton Kershaw LAD SP
34 5 Kyle Wright ATL SP
35 6 Chris Sale BOS SP
36 6 Logan Gilbert SEA SP
37 6 Carlos Rodon NYY SP
38 6 Freddy Peralta MIL SP
39 6 Lance Lynn CWS SP
40 6 Chris Bassitt TOR SP
41 6 Nick Lodolo CIN SP
42 6 Joe Ryan MIN SP
43 6 Jesus Luzardo MIA SP
44 6 Charlie Morton ATL SP
45 6 Lucas Giolito CWS SP
46 6 Pablo Lopez MIN SP
47 6 Luis Garcia (SP) HOU SP
48 6 Jordan Montgomery STL SP
49 6 Jeffrey Springs TB SP/RP
50 7 Drew Rasmussen TB SP
51 7 Brady Singer KC SP
52 7 Dustin May LAD SP
53 7 Kodai Senga NYM SP
54 7 Grayson Rodriguez BAL SP
55 7 Jon Gray TEX SP
56 7 Patrick Sandoval LAA SP
57 7 Andrew Heaney TEX SP
58 8 Reid Detmers LAA SP
59 8 Tyler Glasnow TB SP
60 8 Nathan Eovaldi TEX SP
61 8 Alex Cobb SF SP
62 8 Hunter Brown HOU SP/RP
63 8 Jose Berrios TOR SP
64 8 Edward Cabrera MIA SP
65 8 Tony Gonsolin LAD SP
66 8 Sonny Gray MIN SP
67 8 Jack Flaherty STL SP
68 8 Miles Mikolas STL SP
69 8 Tyler Mahle MIN SP
70 8 Merrill Kelly ARI SP
71 8 Carlos Carrasco NYM SP
72 8 Trevor Rogers MIA SP
73 8 Eric Lauer MIL SP
74 8 Tyler Anderson LAA SP
75 8 Jameson Taillon CHC SP
76 9 Jose Urquidy HOU SP
77 9 Michael Kopech CWS SP
78 9 Lance McCullers Jr. HOU SP
79 9 Roansy Contreras PIT SP
80 9 Marcus Stroman CHC SP
81 9 Ross Stripling SF SP/RP
82 9 David Peterson NYM SP/RP
83 9 Michael Wacha SD SP
84 9 Sean Manaea SF SP
85 9 Eduardo Rodriguez DET SP
86 10 Martin Perez TEX SP
87 10 Justin Steele CHC SP
88 10 Garrett Whitlock BOS SP/RP
89 10 Tanner Houck BOS SP/RP
90 10 Kenta Maeda MIN SP
91 10 MacKenzie Gore WSH SP
92 10 Cal Quantrill CLE SP
93 10 Hayden Wesneski CHC SP
94 10 Steven Matz STL SP/RP
95 10 Taijuan Walker PHI SP
96 10 Aaron Civale CLE SP
97 10 Alex Wood SF SP
98 10 Jose Suarez LAA SP
99 10 Noah Syndergaard LAD SP
100 10 Domingo German NYY SP
101 10 Ranger Suarez PHI SP
102 10 Drey Jameson ARI SP
103 10 Adam Wainwright STL SP
104 10 Josiah Gray WSH SP
105 10 Michael Soroka ATL SP
106 10 Mike Clevinger CWS SP
107 10 Brayan Bello BOS SP
108 10 Kyle Bradish BAL SP
109 10 Ken Waldichuk OAK SP
110 10 Braxton Garrett MIA SP
111 10 Aaron Ashby MIL SP/RP
112 10 Mitch Keller PIT SP
113 10 Clarke Schmidt NYY SP/RP
114 10 Tylor Megill NYM SP/RP
115 11 Cole Irvin BAL SP
116 11 Bailey Falter PHI SP
117 11 Corey Kluber BOS SP
118 11 Nick Martinez SD SP/RP
119 11 Shintaro Fujinami OAK SP
120 11 Nick Pivetta BOS SP
121 11 Kyle Gibson BAL SP
122 11 Dean Kremer BAL SP
123 11 Ryne Nelson ARI SP
124 11 James Paxton BOS SP
125 11 German Marquez COL SP
126 12 Drew Smyly CHC SP
127 12 Matt Manning DET SP
128 12 Jared Shuster ATL SP
129 12 Michael Lorenzen DET SP
130 12 Andrew Painter PHI SP
131 12 Spencer Turnbull DET SP
132 12 Anthony DeSclafani SF SP
133 12 Rich Hill PIT SP
134 13 Daniel Lynch KC SP
135 13 Marco Gonzales SEA SP
136 13 James Kaprielian OAK SP
137 13 Wade Miley MIL SP
138 13 Johnny Cueto MIA SP
139 13 Bailey Ober MIN SP
140 13 JT Brubaker PIT SP
141 13 Graham Ashcraft CIN SP
142 13 Drew Rucinski OAK SP
143 13 Zack Greinke KC SP
144 13 Kyle Muller OAK SP
145 13 Yusei Kikuchi TOR SP/RP
146 13 Luis Patino TB SP
147 13 JP Sears OAK SP
148 13 Zach Davies ARI SP
149 13 Vince Velasquez PIT SP/RP
150 13 Jordan Lyles KC SP
151 14 Ryan Pepiot LAD SP
152 14 Brandon Pfaadt ARI SP
153 14 Gavin Stone LAD SP
154 14 Kyle Harrison SF SP
155 14 Bryce Miller SEA SP
156 14 Taj Bradley TB SP
157 14 Eury Perez MIA SP
158 14 Tanner Bibee CLE SP
159 14 Bobby Miller LAD SP
160 14 Ricky Tiedemann TOR SP

Starting Pitcher Recent Riser Analysis

Hunter Brown is currently dealing with back soreness but that shouldn’t stop “JV Jr.” from stepping into Houston’s No. 5 slot. With a delivery modeled after the ace, Brown boasts a powerful fastball, sharp slider, and devastating curve that yielded 134 strikeouts in 106 Triple-A innings last year. The 2.55 ERA/1.08 WHIP weren’t bad either!

We then got 20 ⅓ hybrid innings in Houston, where we allowed just two runs (1.98 FIP) with a 68% groundball rate and a 22/7 K/BB ratio. How they’ll manage him if Houston’s pitchers are all at full health is another story, but that’s hardly a given and we’re targeting talent and short-term opportunity here.

David Peterson looks to have the edge over Tylor Megill for the Mets’ No. 5 rotation spot following the news that Jose Quintana has a lesion on his rib. He’s likely out until at least July, which gives Peterson a chance to build on last year’s momentum.

The 27-year-old squeezed in 105 ⅔ IP, posting a 3.83 ERA (3.64 FIP, 3.31 xFIP, 3.57 SIERA) with a hefty 27.8% strikeout rate. I could do without the double-digit walk rate (10.6% last year) but a groundball rate near 50%, the whiffs, the Mets being a winning club, and the pitcher-friendly park makes him a fun target at the end of your draft.

Hayden Wesneski and his plus slider are once again ready to torment MLB hitters in 2023. Kyle Hendricks is still recovering from a July 2022 capsular tear in his shoulder, so Wesneski gets a chance. The 25-year-old flashed with 33 big-league innings in ‘22, posting a 2.18 ERA/0.94 WHIP backed by a little luck (.244 BABIP) and a little attacking of the zone (5.3% BB rate, 62.9% first-strike rate).

Drey Jameson is battling with Ryne Nelson and Tommy Henry for Arizona’s final rotation spot. He’d looked brilliant through three scoreless spring appearances but has given up eight runs in his last two. Still, I can’t speak to what he’s experimenting with and his only four MLB starts thus far were either scoreless outings or quality starts. The 95.2% strand rate helps, but he’s also good! His fastball and slider are the primary weapons, but his curve and changeup are plenty serviceable. Don’t lose sight of Brandon Pfaadt either!

Brayan Bello finally got to the mound this spring on Sunday, striking out three across two perfect frames. The BABIP gods were particularly cruel to Bello’s rookie campaign but this provides profit margins to be scooped up in ‘23. That .404 BABIP helped inflate his ERA to 4.71 (1.78 WHIP) despite a 2.94 FIP. He’ll need to hone his command, but his track record of plus whiffs, grounders, and mitigating home runs in the minors is promising indeed.

Clarke Schmidt made headlines with five perfect innings against the Pirates last week, which feeds the draft helium following Carlos Rodon’s injury. The Yanks were already down Frankie Montas but Domingo German was ahead of Schmidt in line. Now both are needed in the Bronx. We’ll see if Schmidt can handle lineups more than once through the order after performing admirably out of the ‘pen in 2022. The upside of a Yankee arm who can give us a strikeout per inning is worth the late-round dart.

Shintaro Fujinami is showing some bright spots this spring as he adjusts to MLB life. His 12 ⅔ IP over four starts has yielded 17 strikeouts, but the 4.26 ERA/1.58 WHIP keeps the hype temperature modest. And I doubt playing for Oakland affords him the same 3-0 record when the games start counting, but he’ll call pitcher-friendly Oakland Coliseum home (second-worst for offense per Statcast) and should have deep-league streaming appeal throughout 2023.

Jared Shuster looks to be Atlanta’s No. 5 pitcher, carrying a slight edge over Dylan Dodd after Ian Anderson was sent to Triple-A. The 24-year-old southpaw was excellent at Double-A last year, posting a 2.78 ERA/0.96 WHIP with a 30% strikeout rate over ~90 innings. He didn’t do as well over nine Triple-A starts, but he’s been lights out this spring (0.71 ERA, 0.55 WHIP, 16 Ks in 12 ⅔ IP) to earn a look. Supported by a stellar offense and bullpen, Shuster is a nice flier.

Gavin Stone has been tabbed as this year’s Spencer Strider after a spicy spring has seen him strike out 14 of his 27 batters faced. He quickly advanced through the Dodger system in 2022, starting at High-A, crushing Double-A, and ending with 23 ⅓ stellar innings at Triple-A. And that was the PCL for Triple-A, which can be tough on a pitcher!

The overall 33.9% strikeout rate in ~120 IP backs up the hot spring. The Dodger rotation is already hurting and Stone could get a shot in short order. Bobby Miller is another young arm of interest in Hollywood, though Ryan Pepiot and his questionable control likely open the season covering the rotation’s back end. But it's only a matter of time until we get Stone's change on the big stage.

 

Other Young SPs of Note:

Kyle Harrison, Bryce Miller, Taj Bradley, Eury Perez, Tanner Bibee, Ricky Tiedemann.



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