With your fantasy draft just around the corner, the debate on who just go number one in reagrds to the starting pitchers is a good one.
Any one of these guys in the top ten listed below would be a great choice, but the top four, Verlander, Kershaw, Strasburg or "King Felix" are realistically the pitchers that will give you the advantage you are looking for all season.
Surprisginly, when it comes to fantasy, Greinke and Dickey are ranked as the 14th and 15th best picthers, but taking them in the second round is not out of the question.
One pitcher I would consider taking early is Blue Jays' Brandon Morrow. Starting on night's after teams get the knuckleball of R.A. Dickey will give him a huge advantage. His fastball will look at least five mph faster to hitters after the hitters struggle to hit the knuckleball.
A review of the prior composite rankings:
Catchers
First Base
Second Base
Third Base
Shortstop
Outfield
Here are the picthing rankings, with just the closers still to go!
| Pitchers | ESPN | Yahoo | CBS | SI.COM | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Verlander (DET) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1.25 |
| Clayton Kershaw (LAD) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2.25 |
| Stephen Strasburg (WAS) | 4 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 3.5 |
| Felix Hernandez (SEA) | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3.75 |
| David Price (TB) | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4.5 |
| Cole Hamels (PHI) | 8 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6.25 |
| Matt Cain (SF) | 6 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 7.75 |
| Jered Weaver (LAA) | 9 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 8.5 |
| Cliff Lee (PHI) | 7 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 9.25 |
| Yu Darvish (TEX) | 14 | 12 | 15 | 9 | 12.5 |
| Madison Bumgarner (SF) | 13 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 12.75 |
| Gio Gonzalez (WAS) | 11 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 13.25 |
| CC Sabathia (NYY) | 16 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 13.75 |
| Zack Greinke (LAD) | 10 | 9 | 13 | 24 | 14 |
| R.A. Dickey (TOR) | 15 | 15 | 8 | 20 | 14.5 |
| Adam Wainwright (STL) | 12 | 10 | 23 | 15 | 15 |
| Chris Sale (CWS) | 17 | 18 | 16 | 10 | 15.25 |
| Johnny Cueto (CIN) | 18 | 20 | 20 | 14 | 18 |
| Roy Halladay (PHI) | 21 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 19.25 |
| Kris Medlen (ATL) | 23 | 17 | 19 | 21 | 20 |
| Mat Latos (CIN) | 19 | 21 | 21 | 25 | 21.5 |
| Aroldis Chapman (CIN) | 22 | 23 | 30 | 17 | 23 |
| Max Scherzer (DET) | 27 | 24 | 22 | 22 | 23.75 |
| James Shields (KC) | 25 | 27 | 17 | 26 | 23.75 |
| Yovani Gallardo (MIL) | 26 | 26 | 24 | 23 | 24.75 |
| Jordan Zimmermann (WAS) | 20 | 25 | 25 | 30 | 25 |
| Matt Moore (TB) | 24 | 22 | 36 | 32 | 28.5 |
| Brandon Morrow (TOR) | 29 | 28 | 29 | 28 | 28.5 |
| Tim Lincecum (SF) | 34 | 29 | 34 | 18 | 28.75 |
| Josh Johnson (TOR) | 32 | 33 | 28 | 27 | 30 |
| Ian Kennedy (ARI) | 30 | 30 | 32 | 29 | 30.25 |
| Jake Peavy (CWS) | 35 | 31 | 26 | 36 | 32 |
| Jon Lester (BOS) | 39 | 34 | 27 | 35 | 33.75 |
| Jeff Samardzija (CHC) | 41 | 32 | 33 | 39 | 36.25 |
| Dan Haren (WAS) | 31 | 35 | 47 | 34 | 36.75 |
| C.J. Wilson (LAA) | 43 | 43 | 30 | 33 | 37.25 |
| Hiroki Kuroda (NYY) | 33 | 36 | 39 | 49 | 39.25 |
| Doug Fister (DET) | 28 | 38 | 31 | 60 | 39.25 |
| Jonathan Niese (NYM) | 37 | 45 | 35 | 41 | 39.5 |
| Brett Anderson (OAK) | 40 | 39 | 42 | 43 | 41 |
| Lance Lynn (STL) | 38 | 44 | 38 | 46 | 41.5 |
| Anibal Sanchez (DET) | 36 | 40 | 43 | 50 | 42.25 |
| Jarrod Parker (OAK) | 44 | 46 | 45 | 37 | 43 |
| Mike Minor (ATL) | 51 | 41 | 37 | 48 | 44.25 |
| Matt Harvey (NYM) | 46 | 37 | 41 | 56 | 45 |
| A.J. Burnett (PIT) | 56 | 51 | 40 | 51 | 49.5 |
| Homer Bailey (CIN) | 45 | 42 | 53 | 59 | 49.75 |
| Derek Holland (TEX) | 50 | 49 | 60 | 47 | 51.5 |
| Ryan Vogelsong (SF) | 53 | 48 | 49 | 63 | 53.25 |
| Matt Garza (CHC) | 61 | 50 | 44 | 64 | 54.75 |
| Marco Estrada (MIL) | 60 | 47 | 55 | 66 | 57 |
I'm big on Scherzer this year and not so much on Jered Weaver. We'll see how it goes and Weaver should get wins just being on that team but I think he'll under produce his draft spot.
ReplyDelete