Welcome back to another edition of my top 100 starting pitcher rankings for redraft leagues! This week is extra special because the MLB Trade Deadline ended Monday at 4 PM giving new homes to many pitchers on this list. The Blue Jays even ended up with three new starters! This week I’m taking a look at pitch values from FanGraphs and diving into the top ten starters at throwing each offering. I had a lot of fun looking at this and making some observations, I hope you enjoy it as well! Be sure to interact with me about it on Twitter @devjake.
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Top-100 Starting Pitcher Rankings for Redraft Leagues
Notes on player movement:
- FanGraphs pitch values are a fun way to measure how effective individual pitches have been for fantasy players thus far in the season. These are not predictive as they are looking back on past performance, but they do tell us, generally speaking, the quality of these offerings. All of these observations are based on data through 8/30/2020.
- The top four-seam fastballs in the game this year have come from:
1. Trevor Bauer
2. Zach Wheeler
3. Lance Lynn
4. Walker Buehler
5. Lucas Giolito
6. Max Fried
7. Justin Dunn
8. Marco Gonzales
9. Brandon Woodruff
10. Zac Gallen - This is particularly interesting because Dunn is starting to creep towards relevance and almost made my list this week. Fried had struggled with his fastball last year, but his newfound success makes me even more bullish about him moving forward.
- Other interesting guys who didn’t quite make the list are Tony Gonsolin whose fastball ranked 13th, Spencer Turnbull at 15th, and Shane Bieber at 22nd. Bieber has reduced his fastball usage this year, yet added both velo and has reduced his HR/FB rate on the pitch.
- The top sliders in the game this year have come from:
1. Dinelson Lamet
2. Kenta Maeda
3. Christian Javier
4. Randy Dobnak
5. Brad Keller
6. Steven Brault
7. Carlos Carrasco
8. Max Scherzer
9. Anthony DiSclafani
10. Lance Lynn - Lamet has fully broken out this season partially due to his slider being one of the best pitches in the game. Javier, Dobnak, Keller, and Brault have also been relevant with the help of an elite slider.
- Outside of this group Dylan Bundy, who is known for his increased slider usage, comes in at number 11. Zach Plesac, a favorite breakout of mine, ranks 12th on this list while Corbin Burnes, who has looked great as a starter his last few outings is 20th.
- The top cutters in the game this year have come from:
1. Dallas Keuchel
2. Yu Darvish
3. Jon Lester
4. Yusei Kikuchi
5. Zac Gallen
6. Adam Wainwright
7. Zach Davies
8. Shane Bieber
9. Hyun Jin Ryu
10. Aaron Civale - The cutter is a brand new pitch for Bieber and man is it a good one. Waino is playing some of the best baseball we’ve seen from him in years and it’s helped mightily by that cutter. Zac Gallen appears on yet another top-10 showing why he really has taken the leap into the elite starter pool.
- Outside of this top ten, Trevor Bauer comes in at number 11 as he is having the best season of his career. My favorite new pitcher to watch is Dustin May who ranks 14th. Martin Perez of the Red Sox has been relevant continuing his reliance on the cutter that we started to see in 2019.
- The best curveballs in the game this year have come from:
1. Shane Bieber
2. Jose Berrios
3. Adam Wainwright
4. Zac Gallen
5. Gio Gonzalez
6. Framber Valdez
7. German Marquez
8. Clayton Kershaw
9. Sonny Gray
10. Austin Voth - Are you kidding me Bieber and Gallen?!!! Just give Bieber the Cy Young award now. Waino’s return to relevance is now backed by a second pitch that has been performing at an elite level. Valdez has a real out pitch with his curveball, he goes to it 58% of the time in two-strike counts.
- The ever elite Zack Greinke ranks just outside the top ten at number 11. Blake Snell ranks 18th and Aaron Nola ranks 19th on this list. These three guys all have so many weapons that they can throw at hitters any day they take the mound.
- The best changeups in the game this year have come from:
1. Chris Paddack
2. Kyle Freeland
3. Zach Davies
4. Johnny Cueto
5. Hyun Jin Ryu
6. Anibal Sanchez
7. Logan Webb
8. Dylan Bundy
9. Sean Manea
10. Kenta Maeda - Davies has now appeared on two of these lists, but it’s his changeup that gets batters to swing and miss. This year his swinging strike rate on the pitch is 21% and he throws it 54% of the time in two-strike counts. His cutter is just impossible to do damage against.
- Maeda and Bundy are two players having the best seasons of their careers. Bundy’s slider and changeup are elite and both are true out pitches. Maeda has shown increased confidence in his changeup going to it 44% of the time in two-strike counts this year up from 33% last year.
- Sixto Sanchez and Aaron Nola barely missed the list coming in at 13th and 16th respectively, however, its Sanchez’s changeup you need to look out for as it could challenge to be one of the best in the game.
If you have any questions about the list don’t hesitate to hit me up on Twitter @devjake. Thanks for reading!
All players that are injured or on COVID-19 IL are not included in these starting pitcher rankings.
| RNK | Name | PREV. RNK |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacob deGrom | 1 |
| 2 | Gerrit Cole | 2 |
| 3 | Shane Bieber | 3 |
| 4 | Yu Darvish | 4 |
| 5 | Sonny Gray | 5 |
| 6 | Lance Lynn | 6 |
| 7 | Clayton Kershaw | 7 |
| 8 | Aaron Nola | 8 |
| 9 | Max Fried | 12 |
| 10 | Jack Flaherty | 20 |
| 11 | Blake Snell | 11 |
| 12 | Max Scherzer | 13 |
| 13 | Lucas Giolito | 17 |
| 14 | Trevor Bauer | 15 |
| 15 | Zac Gallen | 16 |
| 16 | Brandon Woodruff | 10 |
| 17 | Dinelson Lamet | 14 |
| 18 | Luis Castillo | 16 |
| 19 | Patrick Corbin | 18 |
| 20 | Mike Clevinger | NR |
| 21 | Kenta Maeda | 23 |
| 22 | Aaron Civale | 21 |
| 23 | Dylan Bundy | 22 |
| 24 | Pablo Lopez | 24 |
| 25 | Zack Grienke | 25 |
| 26 | Jesus Luzardo | 26 |
| 27 | Hyun Jin Ryu | 27 |
| 28 | Kyle Hendricks | 28 |
| 29 | Zach Plesac | NR |
| 30 | Frankie Montas | 29 |
| 31 | Carlos Carrasco | 30 |
| 32 | Tyler Glasnow | 40 |
| 33 | Elieser Hernandez | 41 |
| 34 | Dallas Keuchel | 36 |
| 35 | Dustin May | 31 |
| 36 | Chris Paddack | 32 |
| 37 | Zack Wheeler | 33 |
| 38 | Julio Urias | 34 |
| 39 | German Marquez | 35 |
| 40 | Sixto Sanchez | 37 |
| 41 | Kevin Gausman | 38 |
| 42 | Jose Berrios | 39 |
| 43 | Corbin Burnes | 44 |
| 44 | Tony Gonsolin | NR |
| 45 | Marco Gonzales | 42 |
| 46 | Framber Valdez | 43 |
| 47 | Ian Anderson | NR |
| 48 | Zach Davies | 48 |
| 49 | Andrew Heaney | 49 |
| 50 | Tarik Skubal | 45 |
| 51 | Adam Wainwright | 68 |
| 52 | Randy Dobnak | 47 |
| 53 | Griffin Canning | 60 |
| 54 | Adrian Houser | 51 |
| 55 | Lance McCullers Jr. | 64 |
| 56 | Tyler Mahle | 70 |
| 57 | Zach Eflin | NR |
| 58 | Spencer Turnbull | 51 |
| 59 | Triston McKenzie | 52 |
| 60 | Brad Keller | 53 |
| 61 | Johnny Cueto | 54 |
| 62 | Chris Bassitt | 55 |
| 63 | Garrett Richards | 56 |
| 64 | Matthew Boyd | 74 |
| 65 | Masahiro Tanaka | 58 |
| 66 | Taijuan Walker | NR |
| 67 | Danny Duffy | NR |
| 68 | Luke Weaver | 61 |
| 69 | Ross Stripling | 63 |
| 70 | Rich Hill | 65 |
| 71 | Dylan Cease | 66 |
| 72 | Logan Webb | 67 |
| 73 | Casey Mize | 46 |
| 74 | Dane Dunning | 71 |
| 75 | Justus Sheffield | 73 |
| 76 | Mike Minor | 78 |
| 77 | David Peterson | NR |
| 78 | Chad Kuhl | 76 |
| 79 | Nick Margevicius | 77 |
| 80 | Kwang Hyun Kim | 98 |
| 81 | Robbie Ray | 79 |
| 82 | Jordan Montgomery | 80 |
| 83 | Christian Javier | 88 |
| 84 | Alex Cobb | 72 |
| 85 | Spencer Howard | 59 |
| 86 | Tommy Milone | 83 |
| 87 | Antonio Senzatela | 84 |
| 88 | Anthony DeSclafani | 86 |
| 89 | Yusei Kikuchi | 89 |
| 90 | Tyler Chatwood | NR |
| 91 | Kyle Freeland | 91 |
| 92 | Martin Perez | 92 |
| 93 | Trevor Cahill | 94 |
| 94 | Stephen Brault | 96 |
| 95 | Tyler Anderson | 97 |
| 96 | Dakota Hudson | 99 |
| 97 | Sandy Alcantara | NR |
| 98 | Jake Junis | NR |
| 99 | Michael Wacha | NR |
| 100 | Brady Singer | 85 |
Fell off List: Walker Buehler, Merrill Kelly, Ryan Yarborough, Matt Shoemaker, Nate Eovaldi, Jonathan Loaisiga, Patrick Sandoval, Adam Plutko, Daniel Ponce de Leon, Kyle Gibson, Alec Mills, Josh Lindblom
New to List: Tony Gonsolin, David Peterson, Danny Duffy, Mike Clevinger, Ian Anderson, Zach Eflin, Michael Pineda, Michael Wacha, Tyler Chatwood, Jake Junis, Zach Plesac, Taijuan Walker
If you’re on board with these starting pitcher rankings, you should also check out Jake’s Top 100 Starting Pitchers for Dynasty Leagues.
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