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Lovers of starting pitching unite, as it is once again time for my weekly top 101 SP Baller Ranks breakdown to hit the press. We fought through lockouts and a pandemic to get here, and we're going to get the gosh darn championships this year. Here we go with the first 2022 edition of my weekly Starting Pitcher Baller Ranks!
This google sheet accompanies the table below and adds relevant 5x5 stats, K%, BB%, BABIP, FIP, xFIP, SIERA, ERA-FIP, and CSW% from 2021, last season, as 2022 data trickles in. Do note that I leave off most injured players but for now, I will include them at the bottom with a rank of where they'd appear when healthy. I highly encourage you to click the link. CLICK IT!
As always, these ranks are geared towards traditional 5x5 leagues sans most injured SPs, lest a return is imminent. If 25% of the board is on the IL, then it isn't terribly actionable, and I'll intermittently weave in updates of where I'd throw them in if they were healthy. For now, let's dive into my Top 101 SPs and be sure we're starting strong.
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Top 101 Starting Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball - Week 1
| Tier | Player | Rank | EV | $ | Notes |
| 1 | Corbin Burnes | 1 | 59.8 | 43.0 | Mulligans at the top here. Don't do anything silly |
| 1 | Gerrit Cole | 2 | 42.1 | 42.0 | Freakin' Billy Crystal first pitch taking too long |
| 1 | Brandon Woodruff | 3 | 38.0 | 41.0 | Also poor debut in '21 then absolute fire |
| 1 | Max Scherzer | 4 | 42.9 | 38.5 | |
| 2 | Walker Buehler | 5 | 43.7 | 38.0 | Starting at Coors is never fun |
| 2 | Julio Urias | 6 | 39.8 | 35.0 | Poor results, velo dip hopefully bounces back |
| 2 | Zack Wheeler | 7 | 58.1 | 34.0 | |
| 2 | Freddy Peralta | 8 | 31.9 | 33.5 | |
| 2 | Robbie Ray | 9 | 31.5 | 27.5 | A few command hiccups but overall strong |
| 2 | Shane Bieber | 10 | 20.8 | 27.5 | Monitor his velo moving forward |
| 3 | Sandy Alcantara | 11 | 33.4 | 27.5 | |
| 3 | Max Fried | 12 | 30.4 | 25.5 | |
| 3 | Logan Webb | 13 | 32.6 | 23.5 | QS out of the gate, be happy |
| 3 | Dylan Cease | 14 | 35.1 | 23.0 | Strikeouts on display from the jump |
| 3 | Joe Musgrove | 15 | 26.4 | 21.0 | |
| 4 | Jose Berrios | 16 | 32.9 | 20.0 | Poor spring, poor first start, can't panic yet though |
| 4 | Alek Manoah | 17 | 16.0 | 19.5 | |
| 4 | Charlie Morton | 18 | 36.8 | 19.0 | That leg looks just fine, ATL a great spot |
| 4 | Justin Verlander | 19 | N/A | 19.0 | |
| 4 | Carlos Rodon | 20 | 39.1 | 19.0 | 5 IP, 12 K in first SF start, hell yeah |
| 4 | Yu Darvish | 21 | 22.9 | 18.0 | 6 hitless innings to start the season, casual |
| 4 | Kevin Gausman | 22 | 38.3 | 17.0 | No walks in '22 debut good, too hittable though |
| 4 | Aaron Nola | 23 | 35.7 | 17.0 | Same double-edged sword style: Good K/BB, HRs. |
| 4 | Frankie Montas | 24 | 32.5 | 17.0 | |
| 5 | Trevor Rogers | 25 | 33.6 | 17.0 | |
| 5 | Shane McClanahan | 26 | 20.2 | 15.5 | |
| 5 | Eduardo Rodriguez | 27 | 30.5 | 13.0 | Ugly DET debut but no Fenway should yield $$$ |
| 5 | Clayton Kershaw | 28 | 27.1 | 12.5 | |
| 5 | Nathan Eovaldi | 29 | 44.9 | 11.0 | |
| 5 | Chris Bassitt | 30 | 26.8 | 11.0 | |
| 5 | Shohei Ohtani | 31 | 23.7 | 11.0 | 4.2 IP, 1 ER, 9 K in first start, excellent form |
| 5 | Sean Manaea | 32 | 26.5 | 10.0 | One-upped Darvish with 7 hitless IP of his own |
| 5 | Pablo Lopez | 33 | 18.3 | 10.0 | |
| 5 | Michael Kopech | 34 | 13.5 | 9.0 | Hit 69 pitches in debut as ramp up continues |
| 5 | Sonny Gray | 35 | 19.0 | 9.0 | |
| 5 | Framber Valdez | 36 | 15.0 | 9.0 | |
| 5 | Tyler Mahle | 37 | 30.1 | 9.0 | |
| 6 | Ian Anderson | 38 | 15.0 | 8.5 | |
| 6 | Logan Gilbert | 39 | 17.9 | 8.0 | Once he threw his secondaries he looked great |
| 6 | Alex Cobb | 40 | 19.9 | 8.5 | |
| 6 | Zac Gallen | 41 | 11.8 | 8.0 | |
| 6 | Luis Garcia | 42 | 5.5 | 7.0 | |
| 6 | Patrick Sandoval | 43 | 12.1 | 7.0 | Dealing with fatigue already, hate to hear that |
| 6 | Jordan Montgomery | 44 | 26.5 | 6.5 | |
| 6 | Adam Wainwright | 45 | 30.2 | 6.5 | Has an arsenal that ages gracefully |
| 7 | Joe Ryan | 46 | 4.7 | 6.5 | |
| 7 | John Means | 47 | 19.9 | 6.0 | |
| 7 | Tanner Houck | 48 | 17.7 | 6.0 | |
| 7 | Alex Wood | 49 | 20.1 | 5.5 | |
| 7 | Marcus Stroman | 50 | 27.0 | 5.5 | Looked steady in CHC debut but Coors is next |
| 7 | Jose Urquidy | 51 | 14.5 | 5.0 | |
| 7 | Huascar Ynoa | 52 | 11.3 | 5.0 | |
| 7 | Noah Syndergaard | 53 | -0.3 | 5.0 | |
| 8 | Tarik Skubal | 54 | 5.9 | 5.0 | |
| 8 | Hyun Jin Ryu | 55 | 19.8 | 5.0 | 3.1 IP, 6 ER to open '22, command must improve |
| 8 | Triston McKenzie | 56 | 9.0 | 4.5 | |
| 8 | Reid Detmers | 57 | -1.2 | 4.0 | |
| 8 | Tylor Megill | 58 | 5.1 | 4.0 | Electric on Opening Day, can he avoid HR troubles? |
| 8 | Ranger Suarez | 59 | 24.2 | 4.0 | |
| 9 | Yusei Kikuchi | 60 | 9.0 | 4.0 | |
| 9 | Nestor Cortes | 61 | 13.4 | 4.0 | |
| 9 | Anthony DeSclafani | 62 | 24.2 | 3.5 | Rough sledding vs. MIA, good spot @CLE next |
| 9 | Kyle Hendricks | 63 | 10.1 | 3.5 | |
| 9 | German Marquez | 64 | 27.4 | 3.5 | Shut down LAD at Coors in opener, no walks! |
| 10 | Aaron Civale | 65 | 6.2 | 3.0 | |
| 10 | Tony Gonsolin | 66 | 4.0 | 3.0 | |
| 10 | Matt Brash | 67 | N/A | 2.5 | Watch how he handles hitters 2nd & 3rd time thru |
| 10 | Cal Quantrill | 68 | 15.3 | 2.5 | |
| 10 | Carlos Carrasco | 69 | 0.5 | 2.5 | Retired 15 straight with more sliders, split-changes |
| 10 | Jameson Taillon | 70 | 16.0 | 2.5 | |
| 10 | Hunter Greene | 71 | N/A | 2.5 | Solid debut vs. ATL, 7 Ks with frequent 100 MPH |
| 10 | Nick Lodolo | 72 | N/A | 2.5 | |
| 10 | Jesus Luzardo | 73 | -1.5 | 2.5 | Can he locate fastball better to set up slider? |
| 11 | Steven Matz | 74 | 22.1 | 2.0 | |
| 11 | Zach Eflin | 75 | 17.3 | 2.0 | |
| 11 | Bailey Ober | 76 | 7.7 | 2.0 | |
| 11 | Josiah Gray | 77 | -0.1 | 2.0 | Big whiffs, loud contact. Keep monitoring |
| 11 | Casey Mize | 78 | 10.7 | 2.0 | |
| 11 | Nick Martinez | 79 | N/A | 2.0 | |
| 11 | Drew Rasmussen | 80 | 11.5 | 2.0 | |
| 11 | Merrill Kelly | 81 | 19.1 | 1.5 | Improved velo, secondaries from spring held up |
| 12 | Marco Gonzales | 82 | 4.6 | 1.5 | |
| 12 | Mitch Keller | 83 | 8.9 | 1.5 | Good & bad in first game, I'd stay for Start No. 2 |
| 12 | Luis Patino | 84 | 5.2 | 1.5 | |
| 12 | Zach Plesac | 85 | 8.5 | 1.0 | |
| 12 | Eric Lauer | 86 | 13.5 | 1.0 | |
| 12 | Michael Lorenzen | 87 | 1.7 | 1.0 | |
| 12 | Zack Greinke | 88 | 10.3 | 1.0 | |
| 12 | Austin Gomber | 89 | 10.5 | 1.0 | |
| 12 | Patrick Corbin | 90 | 1.4 | 1.0 | |
| 12 | Corey Kluber | 91 | 11.8 | 1.0 | |
| 12 | Elieser Hernandez | 92 | 0.0 | 1.0 | |
| 12 | Taijuan Walker | 93 | 11.1 | 1.0 | |
| 12 | Kyle Gibson | 94 | 23.9 | 1.0 | 10 strikeouts in 1st game is quite the statement |
| 12 | Michael Pineda | 95 | 11.3 | 1.0 | |
| 12 | Chris Flexen | 96 | 24.2 | 1.0 | |
| 12 | Nick Pivetta | 97 | 17.2 | 1.0 | |
| 12 | Andrew Heaney | 98 | 8.4 | 1.0 | |
| 12 | Kyle Wright | 99 | -2.1 | 1.0 | Velo back to mid-90s, offspeed looked sharp |
| 12 | Dane Dunning | 100 | 14.2 | 1.0 | |
| 12 | Carlos Hernandez | 101 | 7.7 | 1.0 | |
| INJ | Jacob deGrom | 1 | 39.0 | 6.5 | Hope for July, be pleasantly surprised if earlier |
| INJ | Lucas Giolito | 10 | 32.3 | 27.5 | Lower ab strain, I'd wager 3 weeks |
| INJ | Chris Sale | 15 | 6.3 | 2.5 | Will feel better about any timelines when throwing |
| INJ | Lance Lynn | 25 | 33.4 | 2.5 | 4-6 weeks then built back up, so June? |
| INJ | Jack Flaherty | 30 | 7.0 | 2.5 | Aiming for May, monitor his throwing program |
| INJ | Luis Castillo | 35 | 29.9 | 9.0 | Mid/late April if we're lucky, hate shoulder woes |
| INJ | Lance McCullers Jr. | 35 | 26.0 | 3.0 | Also hate forearms, but nearing throwing here |
| INJ | Blake Snell | 40 | 17.2 | 8.0 | Likely IL incoming w/ adductor issue, Gore time? |
| INJ | Shane Baz | 50 | 1.6 | 5.0 | He'll need to ramp up at AAA, timeline still unclear |
| INJ | Mike Clevinger | 55 | N/A | 6.5 | Right knee sprain but elbow is OK, that matters |
| INJ | Stephen Strasburg | 60 | -0.2 | 1.0 | Mid-May is target, building up after '21 TOS surgery |
| INJ | Jon Gray | 65 | 18.1 | 2.5 | Dang blisters, I liked his stuff before exiting |
**REMEMBER THE SEASON HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN AND PITCHERS GOT A RAW DEAL WITH THE ABRUPT LOCKOUT END AND SHORTENED SPRING.
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