Updated Starting Pitcher Rankings for Fantasy Baseball: The Top 101 Baller Ranks

Howdy, and welcome back to another dose of my weekly-updated top-101 starting pitcher rankings - looking at rest-of-season values. The ball might be waking up with the warmer weather, so maybe think twice about those streaming candidates! RotoBallers can once again peruse my notes regarding key movers and then scroll through the top-101 in a table with tiers, ranks, earned value via Fangraphs, and even more notes. It's time for another 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 2022. Do note that I leave off 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 is tradition, these fantasy baseball starting pitcher rankings are geared toward traditional 5x5 leagues and focus on healthy players. Let's get right into my top-101 SP for the rest of 2022!

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Starting Pitcher Rankings Analysis

-Walker Buehler struggled as his most recent start moved up a day with Clayton Kershaw hitting the injured list, so I’m willing to forget about it. I still have a hard time leaning on him as a big-time SP1 without consistently higher strikeouts (though his 20.3% K rate is higher than Julio Urias’ 17.7%!). That said, he remains a consistent force and is a good bet to score the win on any night thanks to his Dodger brethren. Like it or not, this is judged by 5x5 settings and that plays a part. And I know Brandon Woodruff is still annoying y’all but I drift towards his 3.72 FIP, 3.37 xFIP, and 3.15 SIERA far more than the 5.35 ERA.

-Dylan Cease may have folks scratching their heads with a recent spate of WHIP bloat. After his first five starts of 2022 yield BABIPs of .333 or lower, he’s been hit by a .364, .800, and .500 figures in his last three outings. Only the Yankees were able to turn that into real damage, as his massive swing-and-miss potential allows him to escape traffic often. The K/9 will slow down a hair when those batted balls start finding gloves rather than gaps, but we know he’s going to push 250 strikeouts if he can sniff 200 IP. Stay confident.

-Pablo Lopez embodies confidence on the hill these days, throwing his changeup to both righties and lefties alike to tremendous effect. After throwing his change 32.5% of the time last season, he’s bumped that up to 37.9% in ‘22. He’s also taken his fastball up in step with the offspeed, going from 31.8% last year to 38.6% so far this season. Those gains have to come from somewhere, yes? He’s cut back on the cutter, sinker, and curveball, perhaps ready to deploy them deeper into the year as hitters cheat towards the changeup. Either way, a healthy López is your current MLB ERA leader and deserving of praise.

-Charlie Morton is alive again, as the 38-year-old toyed with the Padres on May 14 en route to a season-best nine strikeouts over six innings. He also only walked one batter, which broke a streak of five straight starts where he’d issued at least three free passes. One great day doesn’t completely change an outlook, but his track record is well established, Atlanta remains one of the best supporting environments, and he’s coming off of a lengthy injury rehab this offseason.

-Tarik Skubal has enjoyed some friendly matchups (v. COL, at OAK, v. BAL) but also went to Houston and struck out nine with zero walks against a very disciplined Astros squad. The southpaw has gone without an earned run in four of his seven starts thus far and his latest foray to the bump gave us an 11-strikeout masterpiece. He’s gone more slider-heavy than in the past, easing his fastball down from the 35-40% range of 2021 towards 30% in ‘22 as a tradeoff. Keep rolling, Tarik!

-Hunter Greene still has a powerhouse fastball but he too is starting to pull back on the heat in favor of his slider. This culminated in his throwing the slidepiece 55% of the time against Pittsburgh in that weird, no-hit bid of a loss. That may have also contributed to walking a season-high five batters, but facing a season-high 27 batters will bump the counting stats up anyway. If he can build on that and the previous game against Milwaukee where he only allowed two runs over 5 ⅓ IP, then we could be back on track. Or at the very least, not headed for the minors.

-Merrill Kelly should easily remain in the streaming conversation but you’re seeing what happens when he goes up against sturdy offenses. He’s nowhere near the “must-start” guys.

-Spencer Strider was going to make Tuesday’s start but then had to be used in relief on Monday, which meant Tucker Davidson got the nod instead. But it’s encouraging enough to me that they’re trying to work Strider into the rotation, so I’ll keep him on there.

 

Top-101 Starting Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball

These are rest-of-season fantasy baseball rankings for starting pitchers.

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