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2018 Starting Pitchers - Dynasty Tiered Rankings

We continue our fantasy baseball dynasty rankings analysis with the first base position. RotoBaller writers Kyle Richardson, Chris Zolli, Pierre Camus, and I have come up with our preseason rankings to give you a sense of player values as early as possible.

In a dynasty league, it can be tough to decide between a proven veteran or a high-upside youngster. It is important to think about your own team when considering these rankings; if you're a rebuilding squad playing for the future, consider a younger player in a tier.

Without any more delay, let's take a peek at the 2018 starting pitcher dynasty rankings for February. Be sure to also check out more of our staff's initial 2018 fantasy baseball rankings and analysis columns for other formats including mixed leagues, dynasty leagues, 2018 prospects and more.

Be sure to check all of our fantasy baseball lineup tools and resources:

 

2018 Fantasy Baseball Dynasty League Rankings: Starting Pitcher

Ranking Tier Player Name Pos
1 1 Clayton Kershaw SP
2 1 Chris Sale SP
3 1 Corey Kluber SP
4 1 Noah Syndergaard SP
5 1 Stephen Strasburg SP
6 2 Max Scherzer SP
7 2 Madison Bumgarner SP
8 2 Luis Severino SP
9 2 Jacob deGrom SP
10 2 Carlos Martinez SP
11 2 Carlos Carrasco SP
12 2 Robbie Ray SP
13 3 Chris Archer SP
14 3 Aaron Nola SP
15 3 Yu Darvish SP
16 3 James Paxton SP
17 3 Jose Berrios SP
18 3 Shohei Ohtani SP/OF
19 3 Zack Greinke SP
20 4 Michael Fulmer SP
21 4 Lance McCullers SP
22 4 Justin Verlander SP
23 4 Gerrit Cole SP
24 4 Marcus Stroman SP
25 4 Dallas Keuchel SP
26 4 Alexander Reyes SP/RP
27 4 Jose Quintana SP
28 4 Sonny Gray SP
29 4 Kyle Hendricks SP
30 5 Masahiro Tanaka SP
31 5 Luke Weaver SP
32 5 Jameson Taillon SP
33 5 Jake Arrieta SP
34 5 Luis Castillo SP
35 5 Danny Duffy SP
36 5 Danny Salazar SP
37 5 Alex Wood SP
38 5 Zack Godley SP
39 5 Johnny Cueto SP
40 5 Jon Lester SP
41 6 Jimmy Nelson SP
42 6 Jonathan Gray SP
43 6 Kevin Gausman SP
44 6 David Price SP
45 6 Lucas Giolito SP
46 6 Walker Buehler SP
47 6 Aaron Sanchez SP
48 6 Carlos Rodon SP
49 6 Blake Snell SP
50 7 Patrick Corbin SP
51 7 Julio Urias SP
52 7 Brent Honeywell SP
53 7 Cole Hamels SP
54 7 Rich Hill SP
55 7 Reynaldo Lopez SP
56 7 Taijuan Walker SP
57 7 Garrett Richards SP
58 7 Dylan Bundy SP
59 7 Jordan Montgomery SP
60 8 Kenta Maeda SP
61 8 Steven Matz SP
62 8 Jeff Samardzija SP
63 8 Gio Gonzalez SP
64 8 Sean Manaea SP
65 8 Drew Pomeranz SP
66 8 Charlie Morton SP
67 8 Michael Kopech SP
68 9 Vincent Velasquez SP
69 9 Alex Cobb SP
70 9 Tyler Anderson SP
71 9 Lance Lynn SP
72 9 Tyler Chatwood SP
73 9 Julio Teheran SP
74 9 Eduardo Rodriguez SP
75 9 J.A. Happ SP
76 9 Chase Anderson SP
77 10 Jacob Faria SP
78 10 Adam Wainwright SP
79 10 Matt Harvey SP
80 10 Trevor Bauer SP
81 10 Dinelson Lamet SP
82 10 Rick Porcello SP
83 10 Luiz Gohara SP
84 11 Josh Hader SP
85 11 Michael Wacha SP
86 11 Mike Montgomery SP/RP
87 11 Joe Musgrove SP
88 11 John Lackey SP
89 11 Jake Odorizzi SP
90 12 Jeremy Hellickson SP
91 12 Marco Estrada SP
92 12 Junior Guerra SP
93 12 Tanner Roark SP
94 12 Jerad Eickhoff SP
95 12 David Phelps SP
96 12 Michael Pineda SP
97 12 Jake Junis SP/RP
98 12 Steven Wright SP
99 12 Zach Davies SP
100 12 Ervin Santana SP
101 12 Jharel Cotton SP
102 12 Brandon Woodruff SP
103 12 Jordan Zimmermann SP
104 12 Anthony DeSclafani SP
105 13 Matt Moore SP
106 13 Michael Foltynewicz SP
107 13 Joe Ross SP
108 13 Robert Gsellman SP
109 13 Mike Leake SP
110 13 Daniel Norris SP
111 13 Collin McHugh SP
112 13 Seth Lugo SP
113 13 Ivan Nova SP
114 13 Felix Hernandez SP
115 13 Jaime Garcia SP
116 13 Josh Tomlin SP
117 13 Clay Buchholz SP
118 13 Matt Shoemaker SP
119 13 Tyler Glasnow SP
120 13 Zack Wheeler SP
121 13 Sean Newcomb SP
122 13 Hyun-Jin Ryu SP
123 13 Homer Bailey SP
124 13 Ian Kennedy SP
125 13 Chris Devenski SP/RP
126 13 Chad Bettis SP
127 13 Drew Smyly SP
128 13 Ariel Miranda SP
129 13 Rubby de la Rosa SP
130 13 Chris Tillman SP
131 13 German Marquez SP
132 13 Tyler Skaggs SP
133 13 Adam Conley SP
134 13 Brandon Finnegan SP
135 13 Robert Stephenson SP
136 14 Nathan Eovaldi SP
137 14 Matt Andriese SP
138 14 Matt Boyd SP
139 14 Kyle Gibson SP
140 14 Tom Koehler SP
141 14 Carson Fulmer SP
142 14 Chad Kuhl SP
143 14 Trevor Cahill SP
144 14 John Lamb SP
145 14 Aaron Blair SP
146 14 Alex Meyer SP
147 14 Brandon McCarthy SP
148 14 Bartolo Colon SP
149 14 Amir Garrett SP
150 14 Tyson Ross SP
151 14 Wei-Yin Chen SP
152 14 Drew Hutchison SP/RP
153 14 Shelby Miller SP
154 14 Marco Gonzales SP
155 14 Hisashi Iwakuma SP
156 14 Francisco Liriano SP
157 14 Mitch Keller SP
158 14 Jason Hammel SP
159 14 Brady Aiken SP
160 14 Matt Manning SP
161 14 Max Fried SP
162 14 Kyle Zimmer SP
163 14 Beau Burrows SP
164 14 AJ Cole SP
165 14 Kyle Freeland SP
166 14 Kendall Graveman SP
167 14 Jose De Leon SP
168 14 Scott Kazmir SP
169 14 Brock Stewart SP
170 14 Miguel Gonzalez SP
171 14 Edinson Volquez SP
172 14 Mike Fiers SP
173 15 Jhoulys Chacin SP/RP
174 15 Cody Anderson SP
175 15 James Shields SP
176 15 Matt Wisler SP
177 15 Hector Santiago SP
178 15 Wade Miley SP
179 15 Doug Fister SP
180 15 Derek Holland SP
181 15 Anibal Sanchez SP
182 15 Nate Karns SP
183 15 CC Sabathia SP
184 15 Ricky Nolasco SP
185 15 Ubaldo Jimenez SP
186 15 Martin Perez SP
187 15 Christian Friedrich SP
188 15 Matt Garza SP
189 15 Tyler Duffey SP
190 15 Wily Peralta SP
191 15 Ross Stripling SP
192 15 Chris Rusin SP
193 15 Colin Rea SP
194 15 Yovani Gallardo SP
195 15 Phil Hughes SP
196 15 Liam Hendriks SP
197 15 Brett Anderson SP
198 15 Kolby Allard SP
199 15 A.J. Puk SP
200 15 Jason Groome SP
201 15 Stephen Gonsalves SP
202 15 Justus Sheffield SP
203 15 Yohander Mendez SP
204 15 Triston McKenzie SP
205 15 Bud Norris SP
206 15 Mike Sororka SP
207 15 Kohl Stewart SP

Tier 1

No surprises here. When these guys are healthy, they're the best in the game. Syndergaard is the youngest of the bunch, but he also has the most injury risk, after tearing his lat last season and throwing just 30 1/3 innings. He's healthy entering 2018, though, and he could put up another monster season.

Tier 2

33-year-old Max Scherzer falls to Tier 2, as it's not clear how long he'll be able to continue as an elite pitcher. Meanwhile, 24-year-old Luis Severino is nearly a decade younger but should be almost just as effective this season. Severino had a nasty 29.4% K-rate and a 6.5% walk-rate in his first full season in the majors, and he can make a break for Tier 1 if his success continues this season.

Tier 3 

Aaron Nola is one of my favorite names from this tier. The 24-year-old is arguably an ace already, as he had a 2.64 Deserved Run Average in 168 innings last year, along with a 3.27 FIP. His dominant curveball registered an 18.3 pVAL in 2017 with a 39.2% K-rate. He is another guy who can continue climbing the ranks as fantasy players recognize his value.

Shoehi Ohtani landed in this tier despite having never thrown a pitch in the major leagues. There's a ton of upside here, but also plenty of risks. He already has damage in his UCL, and it will be interesting to see how he will handle getting plate appearances as a DH. Ohtani should be the first overall selection in every dynasty league's first-year player draft, where he is easily better than any minor leaguer or foreign player.

Tier 4 

Lance McCullers has an insanely high ceiling, which he showed in his age 23 season where he posted a 25.8% K-rate and a 3.10 FIP. McCullers has yet to throw an entire season's worth of innings, and he probably won't in 2018 either. However, he is still so young that it's worth investing in - and he should perform well on a per-inning basis this season.

Alex Reyes was a top five prospect last year before tearing his UCL and missing all of 2017. He's incredibly talented, as evidenced by his 1.57 ERA in 46 innings in 2016, but he is projected to be out until at least May as the Cardinals ease him back into action. Reyes's 2018 is pretty unclear, as the Cardinals may use him in the minor leagues or in the bullpen. However, his long-term potential shouldn't be questioned.

Tier 5

Zack Godley is undervalued here in Tier 5 - his 2017 performance was legitimate and repeatable. Godley had a 3.32 xFIP and a 3.14 DRA. With a 26.3% K-rate and a 55.3% groundball rate, batters are hardly ever getting solid contact off of him. And best of all, Arizona will be implementing a humidor this season at Chase Field, which will be an extreme benefit to pitchers. Buy in while he's at this price.

Tier 6

If you have the chance to buy low on Blake Snell before the season starts, do it now. He took a huge step forward in the second half of last season when he changed the position from where he pitched, moving to the middle of the rubber on the mound. This dropped his walk rate from 14.5% in the first half to 8.0% in the second, which he paired with a 23.7% K-rate and a 3.49 ERA.

Tier 7

Cole Hamels is a guy you might want to avoid here. Things went south for him in 2017, where he posted a poor 17.1% K-rate and a 4.20 ERA. At 34 years old, Hamels probably won't be turning things around. He only made 24 starts last year, and may not stay healthy enough for a full season - even if he does, it likely won't be innings that are worth owning.

Tiers 8-10

Dinelson Lamet may be a diamond in the rough. His 28.7% K-rate is outstanding, and while his full season ERA looks ugly, it was only 3.80 in the second half of 2017. Petco Park is arguably the best pitcher's park in all of baseball, so the 25-year-old can provide some sneaky value.

Tiers 11-15

There are a ton of names here, but one in particular to keep an eye on is Robert Stephenson. The former top prospect is still only 25 years old, and he had a 3.30 second half ERA in 60 innings. It's a long shot, but there's a chance he puts it all together in 2018 and delivers a great return on investment.

 

More Dynasty Leagues Analysis




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QB
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TE
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