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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 | ||
