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With September right around the corner, this will be the final edition of my biweekly Top 101 Starting Pitcher Baller Ranks breakdown. Matchups will play such a huge role and it's a short window with your individual team needs determining priority. Stay locked in with our streamer and waiver wire pieces for the latest as we wrap up 2023's weekly Starting Pitcher Baller Ranks!
As usual, the tiers are the most critical piece of the puzzle, though the position within them is still informative! We've added the previous edition's position and the change (Delta) since then. I've removed most injured pitchers from the equation as we need upright guys who can contribute down the stretch.
These ranks are geared toward traditional 5x5 roto leagues. I apologize for the brief notes but I've spent most of the evening/night at the vet ER with the pup (he's fine now). Let's get to it!
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Starting Pitcher Rankings Analysis
-Spencer Strider ripped a few hearts out with his clunker against Pittsburgh but he’s tossed back-to-back scoreless outings with 16 strikeouts in 14 frames since. He’s on quite the run of plus matchups as he destroyed a struggling San Francisco (7 IP, 10 K, 1 H, 1 BB) and gets them again at pitcher-friendly Oracle Park next.
-Gerrit Cole is coming off of a season-worst six runs allowed against Boston on August 19 yet his ERA only rose to 3.03. I know speed bumps from your studs stink but the current favorite for the A.L. Cy Young looks to right the ship against the Rays in Tampa next.
Other superstar arms have been shoving over the last two weeks: Luis Castillo, Zac Gallen, Julio Urias, Max Scherzer, and Sandy Alcantara.
-Eury Perez went 90 stellar pitches against the Dodgers, striking out 10 with zero walks over six shutout innings. The rookie surrendered just two hits as he showed off his arsenal. He needed this after allowing four earned in each of his two starts since returning to the majors. This also shows Miami is willing to let him work enough for effective fantasy appearances. Let him guide their playoff push.
-Framber Valdez is drawing out his no-hitter cooldown, with 15 earned runs on five home runs with only 12 strikeouts in 19 ⅔ IP since the achievement. The no-no didn’t tax him from a volume perspective, as he needed just 93 pitches against Cleveland. And the southpaw’s FIP in each of the three poor outings since has been above 5.60. He’s got Detroit next. You can’t avoid it, right?
The five long balls match his total from his previous 12 starts combined! Extend the window to his last nine starts and he’s given up 10 taters. I’ll let Chandler Rome juxtapose that against last year:
Framber Valdez has allowed 10 home runs in his past nine starts. He allowed 11 total last season.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) August 20, 2023
Some are blaming Dusty Baker for throwing Valdez in the All-Star game while others think Martin Maldonado is doing a poor job at making adjustments. Cristian Javier’s terrible 2023 campaign steals the spotlight but Valdez needs to quickly course correct. Hunter Brown has also shown signs of fading. J.P. France is our champion! (Yes, Justin Verlander is still good.)
-Hunter Greene illustrated why you don’t start a pitcher in his first turn off of the injured list. After missing two months with a hip injury, Greene allowed nine runs (eight earned) on 10 hits and three walks with four strikeouts in three-plus innings. Most of the damage came via five home runs. Ouch.
-Chris Sale needs to get his velocity back up over 93 mph for me to get excited about his prospects down the stretch. The BoSox could also get creative with him in the 'pen with Tanner Houck healthy now.
-Cole Ragans navigated a couple of tough matchups in STL and CHC and lines up for a strong finishing schedule. I'd be chuffed with him on my roster. You better have already read Elliott Baas' piece discussing him:
With improved fastball velocity, a new slider, and a lights out changeup, Cole Ragans looks like the whole package https://t.co/0uRgbHsV4d
— Elliott Baas (@ElliottBaasBB) August 22, 2023
-Braxton Garrett struck out six Dodgers without walking any en route to a quality start last weekend. I don't think we get another torrid run out of him, but he's quietly posted a 2.57 ERA with a 21/5 K/BB in his last five outings.
-Joe Musgrove is set to play catch on Friday. It’ll be his first throwing since being shut down and there’s plenty of room for setbacks or the Padres to fade further out of contention. If the playoffs become a distant hope by mid-September then I see no reason for them to push Musgrove, competitive as he may be. Furthermore, if he does return by then, would you trust him to go five or six innings?
-Kyle Harrison came very close to making this but he hadn't pitched five innings since the middle of June in the minors. He went 3 1/3 IP against Philly in his MLB debut, posting five strikeouts against one walk. The whiffs are neat, though the upside is capped in 2023.
Top 101 Starting Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball - Week 22
| Tier | Name | Rank | $Value | Last Rank | Delta |
| 1 | Spencer Strider | 1 | $43.5 | 1 | 0 |
| 1 | Gerrit Cole | 2 | $43.0 | 2 | 0 |
| 1 | Corbin Burnes | 3 | $42.0 | 3 | 0 |
| 1 | Kevin Gausman | 4 | $42.0 | 4 | 0 |
| 1 | Luis Castillo | 5 | $41.0 | 5 | 0 |
| 2 | Zack Wheeler | 6 | $40.0 | 6 | 0 |
| 2 | Zac Gallen | 7 | $39.0 | 7 | 0 |
| 2 | Shohei Ohtani | 8 | $38.0 | 8 | 0 |
| 2 | Blake Snell | 9 | $36.5 | 9 | 0 |
| 2 | Tyler Glasnow | 10 | $36.0 | 10 | 0 |
| 2 | Max Scherzer | 11 | $35.0 | 14 | 3 |
| 2 | Max Fried | 12 | $34.0 | 13 | 1 |
| 2 | Clayton Kershaw | 13 | $31.5 | 15 | 2 |
| 2 | Pablo Lopez | 14 | $31.5 | 25 | 11 |
| 2 | Sandy Alcantara | 15 | $31.0 | 20 | 5 |
| 3 | Justin Verlander | 16 | $29.5 | 11 | -5 |
| 3 | Brandon Woodruff | 17 | $28.5 | 21 | 4 |
| 3 | George Kirby | 18 | $28.5 | 17 | -1 |
| 3 | Julio Urias | 19 | $27.0 | 27 | 8 |
| 3 | Logan Webb | 20 | $26.0 | 16 | -4 |
| 3 | Freddy Peralta | 21 | $25.0 | 24 | 3 |
| 4 | Yu Darvish | 22 | $24.0 | 18 | -4 |
| 4 | Jesus Luzardo | 23 | $23.5 | 22 | -1 |
| 4 | Zach Eflin | 24 | $24.0 | 23 | -1 |
| 4 | Chris Bassitt | 25 | $23.0 | 19 | -6 |
| 4 | Kodai Senga | 26 | $22.0 | 33 | 7 |
| 4 | Framber Valdez | 27 | $21.5 | 12 | -15 |
| 4 | Aaron Nola | 28 | $19.5 | 26 | -2 |
| 4 | Logan Gilbert | 29 | $19.5 | 30 | 1 |
| 4 | Jordan Montgomery | 30 | $19.0 | 32 | 2 |
| 4 | Tarik Skubal | 31 | $19.0 | 49 | 18 |
| 4 | Kenta Maeda | 32 | $18.0 | 42 | 10 |
| 4 | Eury Perez | 33 | $17.0 | 44 | 11 |
| 5 | Justin Steele | 34 | $17.0 | 29 | -5 |
| 5 | Sonny Gray | 35 | $17.0 | 35 | 0 |
| 5 | Kyle Bradish | 36 | $16.5 | 46 | 10 |
| 5 | Bryce Miller | 37 | $16.5 | 37 | 0 |
| 6 | Andrew Abbott | 38 | $16.0 | 36 | -2 |
| 6 | Grayson Rodriguez | 39 | $15.5 | 48 | 9 |
| 6 | Chris Sale | 40 | $15.0 | 31 | -9 |
| 6 | Tanner Bibee | 41 | $15.0 | 39 | -2 |
| 6 | Eduardo Rodriguez | 42 | $14.5 | 41 | -1 |
| 6 | Lance Lynn | 43 | $14.5 | 45 | 2 |
| 6 | Bobby Miller | 44 | $14.0 | 47 | 3 |
| 6 | Yusei Kikuchi | 45 | $13.5 | 75 | 30 |
| 6 | Dylan Cease | 46 | $13.5 | 28 | -18 |
| 6 | Charlie Morton | 47 | $13.5 | 34 | -13 |
| 6 | James Paxton | 48 | $13.0 | 38 | -10 |
| 6 | Jose Berrios | 49 | $12.0 | 50 | 1 |
| 6 | Michael Lorenzen | 50 | $11.0 | 52 | 2 |
| 7 | Bailey Ober | 51 | $10.5 | 53 | 2 |
| 7 | Hunter Greene | 52 | $10.5 | 57 | 5 |
| 7 | Jack Flaherty | 53 | $10.0 | 56 | 3 |
| 7 | Merrill Kelly | 54 | $10.0 | 60 | 6 |
| 7 | Gavin Williams | 55 | $10.0 | 66 | 11 |
| 7 | Aaron Civale | 56 | $10.0 | 55 | -1 |
| 7 | Lucas Giolito | 57 | $9.5 | 58 | 1 |
| 7 | Cole Ragans | 58 | $9.0 | 79 | 21 |
| 7 | Joe Ryan | 59 | $8.5 | 62 | 3 |
| 7 | Nathan Eovaldi | 60 | $8.0 | 54 | -6 |
| 7 | Jon Gray | 61 | $8.0 | 63 | 2 |
| 7 | Michael Wacha | 62 | $8.0 | -- | -- |
| 8 | Hunter Brown | 63 | $8.0 | 40 | -23 |
| 8 | Cristian Javier | 64 | $7.0 | 59 | -5 |
| 8 | Brayan Bello | 65 | $6.0 | 61 | -4 |
| 8 | Reid Detmers | 66 | $6.0 | 64 | -2 |
| 8 | J.P. France | 67 | $6.0 | 85 | 18 |
| 8 | Carlos Rodon | 68 | $5.5 | -- | -- |
| 8 | Bryan Woo | 69 | $5.0 | -- | -- |
| 8 | Seth Lugo | 70 | $5.0 | 70 | 0 |
| 8 | Brady Singer | 71 | $4.5 | 76 | 5 |
| 8 | Braxton Garrett | 72 | $4.5 | 72 | 0 |
| 8 | Mitch Keller | 73 | $4.5 | 69 | -4 |
| 8 | Graham Ashcraft | 74 | $4.5 | -- | -- |
| 8 | Cristopher Sanchez | 75 | $4.0 | 77 | 2 |
| 9 | Andrew Heaney | 76 | $4.0 | 68 | -8 |
| 9 | Patrick Sandoval | 77 | $4.0 | 78 | 1 |
| 9 | Kyle Hendricks | 78 | $4.0 | 84 | 6 |
| 9 | Jose Urquidy | 79 | $3.5 | 100 | 21 |
| 9 | Bryce Elder | 80 | $3.5 | 86 | 6 |
| 9 | Dean Kremer | 81 | $3.0 | 92 | 11 |
| 9 | Hyun Jin Ryu | 82 | $3.0 | 97 | 15 |
| 9 | Chase Silseth | 83 | $2.5 | 82 | -1 |
| 9 | Logan Allen | 84 | $2.5 | -- | -- |
| 9 | Dane Dunning | 85 | $2.0 | 94 | 9 |
| 9 | Clarke Schmidt | 86 | $2.0 | 99 | 13 |
| 9 | Zack Littell | 87 | $2.0 | -- | -- |
| 10 | Jameson Taillon | 88 | $2.0 | 80 | -8 |
| 10 | JP Sears | 89 | $2.0 | 73 | -16 |
| 10 | Taijuan Walker | 90 | $1.5 | 65 | -25 |
| 10 | Allan Winans | 91 | $1.5 | -- | -- |
| 10 | Dakota Hudson | 92 | $1.5 | -- | -- |
| 10 | Javier Assad | 93 | $1.5 | -- | -- |
| 10 | Brandon Williamson | 94 | $1.0 | -- | -- |
| 10 | Jose Quintana | 95 | $1.0 | 87 | -8 |
| 10 | Wade Miley | 96 | $1.0 | 96 | 0 |
| 10 | Mike Clevinger | 97 | $1.0 | -- | -- |
| 10 | Brandon Pfaadt | 98 | $1.0 | -- | -- |
| 10 | Cole Irvin | 99 | $1.0 | -- | -- |
| 10 | Paul Blackburn | 100 | $1.0 | -- | -- |
| 10 | Alex Cobb | 101 | $1.0 | 81 | -20 |
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