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Updated May Rankings and Tiers: Starting Pitcher

The time for chalking things up to “just April shenanigans” has come and gone, and we here at RotoBaller felt that it was time for a rankings update with roughly 20 percent of the season in the books. Of course, now we’re closer to 25 percent but don’t worry -- we’ll always bring you the latest analysis across the site for the best context possible. This round features rankings from myself and my Reddit-famous brochacho Kyle Bishop, so you know you’re getting the best.

The pitching world has been absolutely rocked by this 10-day disabled list, as many arms are finding themselves on the shelf when they might’ve simply skipped a start or just pitched through some general fatigue/ineffectiveness/dirt-bike incidents. We can’t say for certain that anything fishy is afoot, but DL trips are up roughly 50 percent and the fantasy world is still reacting to those ripple effects.

As a result, those who have stayed healthy look even better thus far, and some hot starts stand out even more than usual with so many others hurt. For instance, James Paxton and Corey Kluber both got hurt pretty much as soon as we submitted our updated ranks. Obviously, Jameson Taillon's rank should be ignored and we wish him all the best in his battle with cancer.

Be sure to check all of our fantasy baseball lineup tools and resources:

 

2017 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Starting Pitchers (May Updates)

You can check out all of our updated rankings. Positional tiers, top prospects, dynasty ranks, and more. It's all free.

 

Ranking Tier Player Position Kyle Nick Composite
1 1 Clayton Kershaw SP 7 6 6.5
2 1 Max Scherzer SP 10 14 12
3 1 Chris Sale SP 18 20 19
4 1 Corey Kluber SP 23 23 23
5 1 Jacob deGrom SP 28 35 31.5
6 1 Yu Darvish SP 48 26 37
7 2 Stephen Strasburg SP 37 38 37.5
8 2 Justin Verlander SP 54 30 42
9 2 Jake Arrieta SP 50 42 46
10 2 Jon Lester SP 44 48 46
11 2 Carlos Carrasco SP 38 55 46.5
12 2 Chris Archer SP 56 43 49.5
13 3 Johnny Cueto SP 45 92 68.5
14 3 James Paxton SP 74 65 69.5
15 3 Masahiro Tanaka SP 89 52 70.5
16 3 Gerrit Cole SP 75 70 72.5
17 3 Carlos Martinez SP 96 58 77
18 3 Dallas Keuchel SP 90 69 79.5
19 3 Zack Greinke SP 85 96 90.5
20 4 Danny Duffy SP 93 93 93
21 4 Michael Fulmer SP 114 80 97
22 4 Kenta Maeda SP 92 108 100
23 4 Jose Quintana SP 110 105 107.5
24 4 Lance McCullers SP 129 91 110
25 4 David Price SP 98 123 110.5
26 4 Marcus Stroman SP 123 99 111
27 4 Danny Salazar SP 134 95 114.5
28 5 Kyle Hendricks SP 137 106 121.5
29 5 Rick Porcello SP 122 135 128.5
30 5 Julio Teheran SP 154 107 130.5
31 5 Rich Hill SP 148 127 137.5
32 5 Julio Urias SP 142 133 137.5
33 5 Jameson Taillon SP 188 89 138.5
34 5 John Lackey SP 145 134 139.5
35 5 Aaron Nola SP 149 138 143.5
36 5 Cole Hamels SP 143 149 146
37 6 Aaron Sanchez SP 184 110 147
38 6 Sean Manaea SP 158 141 149.5
39 6 Tanner Roark SP 159 144 151.5
40 6 Noah Syndergaard SP 169 136 152.5
41 6 Luis Severino SP 183 128 155.5
42 6 Madison Bumgarner SP 170 145 157.5
43 6 Matt Harvey SP 198 131 164.5
44 6 Michael Pineda SP 157 182 169.5
45 6 Jharel Cotton SP #N/A 170 170
46 7 Dylan Bundy SP 207 153 180
47 7 Jeff Samardzija SP 203 175 189
48 7 Steven Matz SP 178 210 194
49 7 Adam Wainwright SP 204 185 194.5
50 7 Drew Pomeranz SP 144 247 195.5
51 7 Vincent Velasquez SP 185 206 195.5
52 7 Jonathan Gray SP 150 243 196.5
53 7 Sonny Gray SP 236 160 198
54 7 J.A. Happ SP 180 218 199
55 8 Jerad Eickhoff SP 212 188 200
56 8 Ervin Santana SP 244 159 201.5
57 8 Ivan Nova SP 252 154 203
58 8 Robbie Ray SP 190 217 203.5
59 8 Chris Devenski SP/RP 168 254 211
60 8 Lance Lynn SP 247 181 214
61 8 Matt Shoemaker SP 235 199 217
62 8 Felix Hernandez SP #N/A 221 221
63 8 Gio Gonzalez SP 241 203 222
64 8 Jake Odorizzi SP 200 249 224.5
65 8 Ian Kennedy SP 245 213 229
66 8 Marco Estrada SP 237 227 232
67 8 Robert Gsellman SP 275 197 236
68 9 Zack Wheeler SP 271 205 238
69 9 Jeremy Hellickson SP 279 216 247.5
70 9 Carlos Rodon SP 249 252 250.5
71 9 Blake Snell SP #N/A 251 251
72 9 Alex Cobb SP #N/A 255 255
73 9 Joe Ross SP 286 225 255.5
74 9 Eduardo Rodriguez SP 264 250 257
75 9 Michael Wacha SP #N/A 259 259
76 9 Daniel Norris SP 299 220 259.5
77 9 Taijuan Walker SP 201 322 261.5
78 9 Kevin Gausman SP 298 228 263
79 10 Francisco Liriano SP 291 236 263.5
80 10 Alex Wood SP 269 262 265.5
81 10 Daniel Straily SP 268 #N/A 268
82 10 Andrew Triggs SP 272 266 269
83 10 Garrett Richards SP #N/A 270 270
84 10 Chris Tillman SP #N/A 272 272
85 10 Matt Moore SP #N/A 273 273
86 11 Kendall Graveman SP #N/A 278 278
87 11 Michael Foltynewicz SP 282 277 279.5
88 11 Zach Davies SP #N/A 283 283
89 11 Brandon McCarthy SP 263 310 286.5
90 11 Jason Hammel SP #N/A 287 287
91 11 Mike Leake SP 262 319 290.5
92 12 Miguel Gonzalez SP #N/A 293 293
93 12 Hector Santiago SP #N/A 299 299
94 12 Raisel Iglesias SP/RP 161 462 311.5
95 12 Patrick Corbin SP 274 356 315
96 12 Drew Smyly SP #N/A 323 323
97 12 Wily Peralta SP #N/A 329 329
98 12 Bartolo Colon SP #N/A 330 330
99 13 Anthony DeSclafani SP #N/A 333 333
100 13 Junior Guerra SP #N/A 336 336
101 13 Archie Bradley SP 267 406 336.5
102 13 Jaime Garcia SP #N/A 340 340
103 13 Tyler Anderson SP #N/A 342 342
104 13 Collin McHugh SP #N/A 343 343
105 13 Tyler Chatwood SP #N/A 344 344
106 13 Joe Musgrove SP #N/A 355 355
107 13 Derek Holland SP #N/A 362 362
108 13 Jose Berrios SP #N/A 363 363
109 13 Brandon Finnegan SP #N/A 364 364
110 14 Tyler Skaggs SP #N/A 369 369
111 14 Chad Kuhl SP #N/A 397 397
112 14 Adam Conley SP #N/A 400 400
113 14 Trevor Bauer SP #N/A 410 410
114 14 Matt Boyd SP #N/A 411 411
115 14 Jordan Zimmermann SP #N/A 422 422
116 14 Hisashi Iwakuma SP #N/A 425 425
117 14 Bud Norris SP #N/A 429 429
118 14 Wade Miley SP #N/A 433 433
119 14 Jimmy Nelson SP #N/A 452 452
120 14 Tyler Glasnow SP #N/A 455 455
121 14 James Shields SP #N/A 467 467
122 14 Wei-Yin Chen SP #N/A 474 474
123 14 Tyson Ross SP #N/A 475 475
124 14 David Phelps SP #N/A 476 476
125 14 Matt Garza SP #N/A 477 477
126 14 Mike Montgomery SP #N/A 482 482
127 14 Nate Karns SP #N/A 492 492
128 14 Homer Bailey SP #N/A 493 493
129 14 Scott Kazmir SP #N/A 494 494
130 14 Tom Koehler SP #N/A 495 495
131 14 Ariel Miranda SP #N/A 496 496
132 14 Tyler Duffey SP #N/A 497 497
133 14 Seth Lugo SP #N/A 498 498

 

Starting Pitcher Rankings Analysis: May

50 percent of the preseason Tier One guys are on the DL, with Madison Bumgarner and Noah Syndergaard both out for the foreseeable future. Yu Darvish takes a small step forward into the bottom of the tier, but Jacob deGrom is the real mover and shaker here. He’s leapt from No. 14 to No. 5 here, though two of his three May starts haven’t gone so hot. Still, only one of them was a real clunker (May 3, five walks and five earned against the Braves) and he bounced back from that to strike out 11 Giants in a quality start.

Heck, he won that game against Atlanta. He’s just 2-1 through eight starts, but owns an absurd 12.39 K/9 that leads the National League and his 3.16 SIERA ranks inside the top 10 as well. His K’s are no fluke either, as his 15.3 percent swinging-strike rate trails only Danny Salazar, Chris Sale and Max Scherzer. Those guys can bring the electricity. Buy in to the stuff and hope the Mets can support him.

Dallas Keuchel, eh? He skyrockets to No. 18 from No. 39 here thanks to a perfect, MLB-leading 7-0 record with the third-best ERA out of qualified starters (1.84). He also leads the league in innings as of May 17 with 63 2/3 frames under his belt, which just makes him all the more sweeter for those of you in points leagues. Sure, his 7.63 K/9 won’t win anything on its own but it’s more than serviceable enough to go along with his league-leading 66.9 percent ground-ball rate. He seems to have regained his ability to just relentlessly snipe the edges of the strike zone and leave hitters with nothing good to hit while still limiting walks (1.98 BB/9,) so it’s hard to ignore this.

Aaron Sanchez drops from No. 23 to No. 37 thanks to gaining a bit of a Rich Hill vibe to him with Blister: The Sequel popping up far too often. It doesn’t help that when he’s been on the mound he’s surviving on some luck rather than skill, as his 4.77 FIP/4.40 xFIP/4.62 SIERA are pretty ugly with a relatively-low 43.6 percent ground-ball rate thus far (54.4 percent in ’16.) Yes, 18 1/3 innings where he hasn’t even been healthy for all of them make for an incredible tilted sample size to analyze, but there’s no questioning that his stock takes a hit regardless. He also made some real value with his 15-2 record last season, and Toronto needs to get their bats back in order before we can see Sanchez getting enough support for serious wins in ’17.

Ervin Santana only sits at No. 56 (for good reason,) though I’ve still got him nearly 100 slots higher than Kyle. I hate/am astounded by his peripherals as well, but his turnaround began in the middle of 2016 and he’s got the seventh-best ERA over the last calendar year (2.88) and seems to be channeling his early-2010s form when he habitually outpitched his underlying metrics. However, he never posted rates like these: .128 BABIP, 98.4 percent strand rate, 25.9 percent soft-contact rate, 52.5 percent pull rate. What that says is he’s getting lucky, but is also inducing terrible contact and batters are out in front of a lot of his offerings. It’s not an ideal (or sustainable) path to success, but he’s not going to suddenly become a pumpkin either.

Other notable risers are types like Luis Severino, Ivan Nova, Lance Lynn, Eduardo Rodriguez, Alex Wood and Andrew Triggs. I would put Wood higher today now that I feel more secure about his slot in the rotation, though I fear the Dodgers will place him on the DL with some minor injury as they continue to utilize their pitching depth to conserve innings. I guess that comes off as accusatory -- just calling it as I see it, and it’s smart baseball by them with their roster. And I would boost Nate Karns up a ton today as well, toward the SP50 range. Matt Garza, Ariel Miranda and even Wade Miley would draw a small bump up from that last group as well.

 

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