If there was ever an imaginary position that no one knows anything about, it’s starting pitchers. But you need a list, and we need a plan, so here we go.
The following are my suggested salaries if you are playing in a Fantasy Salary Cap Draft format. We’ve already done shuffles for all offensive positions: receivers, corner infielders, middle infielders and outfielders. We will end the series with relief pitchers later this week.
Do you have any disagreements? GOOD. That’s why we have a game. I welcome your reasonable and respectable comments at @scott_pianowski.
And we leave.
The big bills
$37Corbin Burnes
$36Gerrit Cole
$33 Sandy Alcantara
$32 Brandon Woodruff
$31Max Scherzer
$31Aaron How
$30Justin Verlander
$29 Spencer Strider
$28 Shane McClanahan
Adam Wainwright has the most Cy Young voting shares without winning the award; Cole is right behind him. The most important part of starting pitcher value is availability, and Cole hasn’t suffered a major injury since 2016. It’s foolish to suggest a pitcher is really safe, but some have to be safer than other pitchers. ‘others. Put Cole in that safe bucket. … Burnes didn’t repeat his Cy Young season, but he led the NL in strikeouts, and his WHIP was once again below one. He’s one of the few pitchers with a legitimate 200 inning chance.
Alcantara’s pitch-to-contact style is a double-edged sword; it keeps him in games longer (and he’ll get strikeouts anyway), but it also puts Miami’s risky defense on the line. Again, Alcantara hardly walks anyone and he keeps the ball in the park, so I suspect he’s too big to fail. Even though he has regressed to 2021 ratios, we are still talking about a star. … We usually get nervous about starting pitchers with just two offers, but Strider was so dominant with his fastball and slider that it didn’t matter last year. Although the southpaws had a slightly better chance against him, they didn’t do much against Strider in his breakout year: .202/.264/.277, just three homers.
Nola’s expected ERAs are often better than real life, which is a commentary on the Philadelphia defense. But his stellar control will keep the WHIP in a good zone, and he’s been over 200 strikeouts in four different years. He’s also very easy on the eyes, given that his command is consistently excellent.
Legit Building Blocks
$27 Jacob of Grom
$27 Shohei Ohtani
$26 Carlos Rodon
$26Shane Bieber
$26
$25 Dylan quit
$24 Julio Urias
$23Luis Castillo
$22Zac Gallen
$21 Kevin Gausman
$21Alek Manoah
$21
$21 Framber Valdez
$20 Christian Xavier
$20 maximum fried
$20 Robbie Ray
$19 Triston McKenzie
A healthy deGrom is the best pitcher in baseball, but after two seasons out and with him entering his campaign at 35, I can’t write a pending check. … Bieber has a run-of-the-mill fastball and his strikeout rate has dropped two straight years, but if you believe in his off-speed throws and the Guardians’ defense, you’ll consider him a near-ace, like me. . … Even if we admit that Urias ran favorably on batted balls last year, what’s wrong with an expected ERA of 2.81? Sadly, Dodgers Stadium isn’t the pitching paradise it used to be anymore, but heading into a 26-year-old season, Urias is still a proactive pick/
Anyone on the Astros’ rotation looks interesting to me, with Valdez having the first look because of his ground tilt. Maybe the shift restrictions will push the BABIP up, but he’s lacking enough bats and should be supported by the things we care about: defense, a good offense and a reliable bullpen. … If Cease takes control of his walking issues, he’s a contender for Cy Young. But I’m not going to proactively push that up her ranking. Let the room come to you.
Talk to them, talk to them
$17 Logan Webb
$16Luis Severino
$16Nestor Cortes Jr.
$15 Logan Gilbert
$15Clayton Kershaw
$15 George Kirby
$15 *Joe Musgrove
$14Kyle Wright
$13Blake Snell
$12Lance Lynn
$12Charlie Morton
$12 Lucas Giolito
$11 Tyler Glasnow
$11 Green Hunter
$11Freddy Peralta
$11 Brady Singer
$10 Nick Lodolo
$10Joe Ryan
$10Pablo Lopez
$10Chris Bassit
$10Jordan Montgomery
$10Jeffrey Springs
$10Tony Gonsolin
$10Luis Garcia
$9 Chris Sale
$9 Jesus Luzardo
$9 Dustin May
$9Drew Rasmussen
Giolito and Lynn are interesting targets for a White Sox team that went all wrong last year (Giolito also had a run with COVID). This team is shaping up to be a playoff contender on paper and could easily win AL Central with a reasonable runout. … I understand it’s hard to let go of Glasnow’s advantage, but he’s only gone past 90 innings once in his career. His ADP should not be in the top 100.
Planned maintenance and load management have been part of Kershaw’s plate for the past few years, but he’s still planning for low 3s ERA and plus WHIP, as well as one strikeout per inning. It’s a reasonable SP3 and a steal if you land it for a lower slot. … Dirty hasn’t launched a full season since 2017, and it’s always had a violent delivery and an unorthodox set of mechanics. Nobody ever questions his guts or his desire, but at 34, I will question his current ADP (160 for Yahoo, similar in NFBC).
Plausible asset
$8 Hunter Brown
$8 Kodai Senga
$7 Jon Gray
$7Grayson Rodriguez
$7 Miles Mikolas
$7 Cal Quantrill
$6Andrew Heaney
$6 Sonny Gray
$6 Tyler Mahle
$5Patrick Sandoval
$5Reid Detmers
$5Tyler Anderson
$5 Jameson Taillon
$5Marcus Stroman
$5Carlos Carrasco
$5 Eric Lauer
$5 Jose Quintana
$4Alex Cobb
$4 Jose Berrios
$4 Merrill Kelly
$4Edward Cabrera
$4Trevor Rogers
$4 Jose Urquidy
$4Sean Manaea
$4Justin Steele
$4 Martin Perez
$4Michael Kopech
$4 Ross Stripling
$4Adam Wainwright
$4Kenta Maeda
$4 Alex Wood
Brown is too good not to crush Houston’s rotation at some point, and maybe there’s a tailwind with Lance McCullers already down. … Quintana revitalized his career last season and was a shrewd addition for the Mets. … Lauer has topped his stats the past two years, but out of 49 starts, we’re looking at a 3.47 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and about one strikeout per inning. Its current tag (Yahoo ADP: 258) is a giveaway. … If Mahle can stay healthy, he easily crushes his ADP, which is no longer tied to Cincinnati’s messy defense and scoring-friendly park.
(Batter: Join or Create a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball League for Free Today)
good deal bin
$3Nathan Eovaldi
$3 Jack Flaherty
$3 Ranger Suarez
$3 Taijuan Walker
$3 Bailey Ober
$3 Noah Syndergaard
$3Aaron Civale
$3Mike Clevinger
$2 *Lance McCullers Jr.
$2 Roansy Contreras
$2 Garrett Whitlock
$2Eduardo Rodriguez
$2Aaron Ashby
$2Zach Eflin
$2 Hayden Wesneski
$2 Corey Kluber
$2Cole Irvin
$1Steven Matz
$1 MacKenzie Gore
$1Kyle Bradish
$1Taylor Megill
$1David Peterson