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Starting Pitcher Rankings

Here’s an updated, midseason version of rankings. This isn’t based on how they’ve played so far, but rather, how I view them from this point going forward.

I’m going to be out of town in a wedding this weekend, so I might not be able to defend myself when you bash/heap praise on these rankings for a couple of days.

1. C.C. Sabathia
2. Johan Santana
3. Jake Peavy
4. Tim Lincecum
5. Cole Hamels
6. Dan Haren
7. John Lackey
8. Brandon Webb
9. Josh Beckett
10. Roy Halladay
11. Cliff Lee
12. Joba Chamberlain
13. Scott Kazmir
14. Ben Sheets
15. Justin Verlander
16. Felix Hernandez
17. Chad Billingsley
18. James Shields
19. Matt Cain
20. Carlos Zambrano
21. Rich Harden
22. Justin Duchscherer
23. Derek Lowe
24. Ervin Santana
25. Chris Young
26. Edinson Volquez
27. John Danks
28. Zack Greinke
29. A.J. Burnett
30. Ted Lilly
31. Jair Jurrjens
32. Ricky Nolasco
33. Joe Saunders
34. Scott Baker
35. Ryan Dempster
36. Mike Mussina
37. Andy Pettitte
38. Jon Lester
39. Roy Oswalt
40. Aaron Harang
41. Javier Vazquez
42. Kevin Slowey
43. Manny Parra
44. Jonathan Sanchez
45. Johnny Cueto
46. Jered Weaver
47. Matt Garza
48. Kyle Lohse
49. Adam Wainwright
50. Max Scherzer

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15 responses to “Starting Pitcher Rankings”

  1. RotoScoop Avatar
    RotoScoop

    Looking over these, I really don’t see a HUGE difference b/w #27 and #47, as they are all pretty much bunched together and not that far off in value.

  2. Donald Trump Avatar
    Donald Trump

    Liriano is an oversight. I would also add Ubaldo in the top 50.
    I would bump down Ben Sheets about 10 slots, too risky.
    I would like to say Lincecum is due to your Giants fanaticism/disease, but I agree with you.

  3. Dan Avatar
    Dan

    While I can’t explain his success thus far, I think Aaron Cook has to make the top 50 at this point. The man’s been solid all year. And this is in spite of the fact that historically he’s not a good pitcher, that he pitches at a notoriously hitter friendly ball park, and that he pitches for a team that doesn’t win many games. At the very least that should put him on the list above people who aren’t even currently pitching for a major league ball club. He belongs in that 27-47 grouping

  4. Brett Avatar
    Brett

    DDD,

    Ya had to add Scherzer on! What a tease…

    Nice rankings though.

    Are we assuming Harden gets hurt?

    Love Chris Young.

  5. finite24 Avatar
    finite24

    what about IP caps. Aren’t Lincecum and Volquez going to get shut down in time for most leagues playoffs?

  6. RotoScoop Avatar
    RotoScoop

    Donald – Yup, just totally missed Liriano. Would have obviously included him. Ubaldo has become very interesting.

  7. RotoScoop Avatar
    RotoScoop

    Dan – Despite Cook getting touched up tonight, I see your argument. Still, I personally wouldn’t want to trust a pitcher with a 4.16 K/9 IP mark, let alone one who calls Coors Field home.

  8. RotoScoop Avatar
    RotoScoop

    Brett – Ya, the only reason Harden isn’t top-5 is b/c of risk of injury. If it wasn’t for that, I’d probably have him third, even though he won’t pitch as many innings as the other elite guys.

  9. RotoScoop Avatar
    RotoScoop

    finite24 – Excellent point. I’d be more worried about Volquez than Lincecum, who hasn’t been babied at all this season and did reach a decent amount of innings last year. Then again, it’s not like Dusty Baker is known for worrying about pitchers’ arms. Regardless, that’s a great point, and if you are debating b/w one SP on a bad team vs. one on a playoff contender, that’s a huge tiebreaker.

  10. Dreamweapon Avatar
    Dreamweapon

    Just on the IP limit issue, I don’t think I’d worry much about Lincecum. The Giants have done anything but limit Cain (who is even younger than Lincecum) in his career so far, regardless of the date, and Lincecum has no injury history.

    Plus, he still has a reasonable shot at winning an improbable Cy Young on a horrible team. They have little else to play for (they aren’t making the playoffs, no matter how much LA and AZ trip over their own feet), he’s their best gate attraction, and it would be pretty heartless of management to shut him down if he’s within hailing distance of the award.

  11. Walt Weiss Avatar
    Walt Weiss

    Jesus Christ! Ervin Santana is fifth in MLB in Ks, sports a 3.37 ERA, and pitches for a team that has already posted a dozen wins for the cat. How can you not rank this G. in the top 10? I’m disgusted.

  12. RotoScoop Avatar
    RotoScoop

    Ervin Santana is the man. I’d have no problem bumping him up 5-10 spots. He’s the real deal.

  13. Walt Weiss Avatar
    Walt Weiss

    Upon sober reflection, I think somewhere between 14 and 19 sounds about right for E-Dawg.

  14. Donald Trump Avatar
    Donald Trump

    What is Carlos Zambrano so low? You would prefer Shields?

  15. RotoScoop Avatar
    RotoScoop

    Zambrano is the rare type of pitcher who can seemingly keep a low ERA with not-so-great peripherals, but come on, a 6.03 K/9 IP mark?! That’s pretty bad, especially for someone with poor command. Now, that hasn’t resulted in a lot of baserunners (1.21 WHIP), but it’s also pretty unsustainable.

    Zambrano has the NL and a terrific offense on his side, but Shields is the superior pitcher. That 1.11 WHIP is underrated.

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