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One of the best ways to ensure a finish at or near the top of the standings in your fantasy baseball league is to build a strong staff of starting pitchers. It's one of my most important goals going into any draft.
But doing so can prove quite challenging, especially with the litany of arm injuries that we've seen this season to high-end starting pitchers. Plenty of pitchers that we had hoped would perform at a high level will struggle and prospects will bust.
Meanwhile, other pitchers that we weren't expecting big seasons from will develop and thrive. Some pitchers who went undrafted will be claimed off waivers and turn in very useful fantasy seasons. With two months of the season already behind us, let's examine which starting pitchers who are off to great starts have the staying power needed to turn in a top-10 season by October.
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Current Top 10 Starting Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball
Here are the top 10 most valuable starting pitchers in 5x5 roto leagues right now according to Yahoo's player rankings.
| Player | W | K | ERA | WHIP |
| Ranger Suarez | 8 | 58 | 1.37 | 0.76 |
| Tarik Skubal | 6 | 66 | 1.8 | 0.78 |
| Chris Sale | 7 | 70 | 2.22 | 0.86 |
| Shota Imanaga | 5 | 58 | 0.84 | 0.91 |
| Seth Lugo | 7 | 58 | 1.79 | 0.98 |
| Tyler Glasnow | 6 | 81 | 2.9 | 0.9 |
| Tanner Houck | 4 | 62 | 1.94 | 0.95 |
| Zack Wheeler | 5 | 71 | 2.52 | 0.97 |
| Dylan Cease | 5 | 73 | 3.05 | 0.93 |
| Yu Darvish | 4 | 46 | 2.08 | 0.9 |
Spencer Strider - the first pitcher off the board in drafts - went down for the season just two starts into the season. Noticeably absent here is the consensus No. 2 pitcher, Corbin Burnes, as well, though he's doing just fine in his first season in Baltimore.
Shōta Imanaga's ERA+ is 500 and that's totally insane. pic.twitter.com/jWvh3C5Z3g
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) May 20, 2024
Seth Lugo and Tanner Houck have to be the biggest surprises here and no one had any idea just how good Shota Imanaga would be in his first MLB season. Chris Sale is looking like a version of himself from five years ago, while Ranger Suarez is having the best start to a season in his career.
Projected Top 10 Starting Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball
A lot can and will change between now and October. Here's how I think the top 10 will shake out by the season's end, barring any unforeseen injuries.
- Zack Wheeler
- Tarik Skubal
- Tyler Glasnow
- Chris Sale
- Corbin Burnes
- Shota Imanaga
- Yoshinobu Yamamoto
- Luis Castillo
- Aaron Nola
- Cole Ragans
Just because I think Ranger Suarez and Tanner Houck will drop out of the top 10, it doesn't mean I think they'll pitch poorly or that you should try to sell high on them. Even a guy like Seth Lugo could hold value for the rest of the season, though it's not likely he will maintain top-10 value.
Zack Wheeler, Painted 97mph Fastball. 🖌️🎨
6th K pic.twitter.com/HGs20RLUrK
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 18, 2024
The best guys to hitch your wagons to are the proven workhorse aces. Over time, they should work their way up into the top spots. I have Wheeler and Skubal taking home the Cy Young awards in their respective leagues.
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