Fantasy Baseball Rest of Season Rankings: Tony and Tyler Taking on Tinseltown

As we enter the first weekend of June, the Los Angeles Dodgers have the best record in the National League. That is not necessarily a surprise. It is also not surprising that Mookie Betts is playing at an MVP level, or that Trea Turner is currently riding a 26-game hitting streak. But what may raise a few eyebrows is that arguably their two best pitchers through the first third of the season have been Tony Gonsolin and Tyler Anderson. That is saying a lot for a staff that features Walker Buehler, Julio Urias, and Clayton Kershaw. And it is not as if Buehler, Urias, and Kershaw have struggled. The trio has a 13-6 record and a 2.80 ERA thus far. It just so happens that Gonsolin and Anderson have been that impressive. The pair has combined to go 13-0 with a 2.11 ERA in 20 starts.

Tony Gonsolin Review and Outlook

Coming into the season, I ranked Tony Gonsolin at 263 overall. That is not too far off from where most people had him ranked. Gonsolin’s skill set has not been the issue. Though he does not blow hitters away with an overpowering fastball, his splitter and slider give him a formidable repertoire. Those two offerings have a -10 and -6 Run Value, respectively. Gonsolin is one of just six pitchers in baseball who have multiple pitches which have produced at least a -6 Run-Value through this point in the year. He has wisely increased the usage of both pitches this season at the expense of his fastball. Gonsolin has also thrown more curveballs this year, particularly to left-handed batters. His refined pitch mix has limited opposing hitters to a paltry .158 batting average through 10 starts.

The biggest question mark heading into the season was whether the Dodgers would let him loose. Gonsolin had not thrown as many as 100 innings in a season since back in 2018. To this point in the year, Los Angeles has indeed loosened the leash a bit, albeit in the scope of how pitchers are handled nowadays. Gonsolin has yet to surpass six innings or throw more than 92 pitches in a single start this season. However, it is hard to argue with the results. Among 70 pitchers who have thrown at least 50 innings, Gonsolin ranks third in ERA and eighth in xERA per Fangraphs.

I still worry a bit about the workload going forward. I am not expecting him to exceed 150 total innings during the regular season. Los Angeles could very well manage his innings throughout the summer in an attempt to save him for another postseason run. Because of that, I currently only have him ranked 70th among starters in my latest ROS rankings. However, I will add the caveat that this is a cumulative ranking from now through the end of the season. If I were grading on a per-start basis, I would probably rank him closer to where Eric Cross has him ranked in his latest starting pitcher rankings.  

Tyler Anderson Review and Outlook

Tyler Anderson was a complete afterthought in most fantasy baseball drafts this spring. He wasn’t even a top-five Tyler in ADP. His ECR (expert consensus ranking) on FantasyPros was outside the top-600 overall. Looking back, it is hard to give most experts or fantasy managers too much gruff for ignoring Anderson. In addition to the Dodgers having many well-seasoned arms in their rotation, Anderson himself hadn’t been very good. He had bounced around, playing for four different teams over the previous three seasons. And in that time, he had amassed a record of 11-17 with a 5.09 ERA over 47 starts. But Anderson has enjoyed a career renaissance in Dodger blue.

Anderson became the Major League’s first seven-game winner of the 2022 season with his latest victory, which came on Friday against the New York Mets. Anderson hurled six scoreless innings in the win and increased his scoreless innings streak to 26. With the victory, Anderson became the first pitcher in the modern era to earn a win in at least seven of his first 10 appearances while allowing fewer than seven walks. His improved control is at the forefront of this season’s resurgence. Anderson has allowed just 0.97 walks per nine innings, third-best in the Majors. His primary weapon against right-handed batters has been his changeup. Opponents are hitting just .119 with a .136 slugging percentage against the pitch, which accounts for 40 percent of his offerings to righties.  

Besides the improved command and results against the changeup, however, I question how sustainable Anderson’s success is moving forward. His other pitches are rather pedestrian. Opposing hitters are hitting .318 versus Anderson’s fastball and .381 against his sinker. His cutter has induced a .242 average, but with an xBA of .276. I believe Anderson can still be a solid pitcher moving forward due to his impeccable control and ability to limit hard contact. At the same time, if there were ever a time to sell high, this would be it. Despite his success to date this season, I have a hard time moving him too far up my rankings. I have him at SP100, which is in the range of a solid streamer as opposed to a weekly plug-and-play starter in 12-team leagues.

Rest of Season Fantasy Baseball Rankings