X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Player Comparisons
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

Top 101 Starting Pitchers: Fantasy Baseball Rankings (Week 9 Updates) - The Baller Ranks

Chris Sale - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, Waiver Wire Pickups

Howdy, RotoBallers, as we gather for my weekly top 101 SP Baller Ranks breakdown. June is approaching, which means almost one-third of the season is behind us! It's a marathon but that doesn't mean we can't make each mile count with the Week 9 edition of my weekly Starting Pitcher Baller Ranks!

Some key hot starts to the season have not slowed down, while others can't seem to get rolling. Let's dive into the data and see what we've got moving forward with tiered ranks, complemented by a rest-of-season auction value ($), their Previous Week's Value (PV), the trend between the two, and a (+/-) column denoting the rank shift compared to last week.

These ranks are geared toward traditional 5x5 roto leagues and I typically exclude most injured SPs, lest a return is imminent. This week includes a notable prospect stash list. For now, let's dive into my top 101 healthy SPs and build a winner.

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

 

Starting Pitcher Rankings Analysis

Let's start with a little leaderboard love. FYI, 32 of 162 pitchers over the last 30 days have a K-BB% over 20% (min. 10 IP). Nine pitchers have a >20% K-BB%, a SIERA under 4.00, and a gap of >1.00 between their ERA and underlying SIERA in that span:

Name ERA SIERA K-BB% ERA-SIERA
Joe Musgrove 6.48 3.30 20.90% 3.18
Pablo Lopez 5.23 2.81 25.55% 2.42
Dane Dunning 4.40 2.34 29.82% 2.05
Nick Pivetta 4.60 2.75 27.59% 1.85
Jack Flaherty 3.26 1.84 33.04% 1.42
Taj Bradley 4.00 2.58 28.17% 1.42
Nick Lodolo 4.70 3.33 20.21% 1.36
Paul Skenes 2.70 1.60 38.46% 1.10
Bailey Ober 4.08 3.02 24.77% 1.06

-Joe Musgrove, Nick Pivetta, and Taj Bradley just returned while Dane Dunning and Nick Lodolo are out, so those sample sizes are limited. I’d be happy to sneak that first trio into a trade get. I’m sending several offers for Pablo Lopez, who has a phenomenal xFIP, SIERA, xERA, walk rate, xBA, etc. behind the ugly 4.72 ERA. Jack Flaherty is legit. Paul Skenes deserves the phenom label. Bailey Ober is also doing his usual thing but has an awkward 63% strand rate (career 76%) to inflate the 4.40 ERA. Most of these are nice targets! Now to business as usual.

-Chris Sale demands I stop playing doctor and overcompensating for year-long injury risk. Unlike Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet, Sale did pitch over 100 innings last year and has plenty in the theoretical tank, health willing. Whiffs are up (the 15.5% swinging-strike rate trails only his 2018 mark), yet walks are at a career-low 3.6% through 57 IP.

-Freddy Peralta continues to bring the strikeouts and sports his usual control -- whiffs and walks are not the problem here. The quality of contact surrendered is. His xwOBACON (Expected Weighted On-Base Average on Contact, which effectively measures how well balls are put in play) is .427, which resides in the bottom 10% of MLB. The 10.9% barrel rate and 39.5% Launch Angle Sweet Spot rate are career-worst marks. I think he’s a nice buy-low; the 3.47 FIP/3.07 SIERA are cushy behind the 4.17 ERA, though his ERA typically creeps above them.

-Grayson Rodriguez had a sweet “re-entry” matchup against Seattle after missing over two weeks due to right shoulder inflammation. GrayRod struck out seven M’s over six shutout frames, allowing just one hit alongside three walks. In a perfect world, that ~9% walk rate starts to drop but his raw stuff is tough to punish and Camden is a friendly backdrop. Let’s hope the shoulder stays good. I don’t blame anyone for selling high following the shining return.

-Seth Lugo had been pitching well but I wasn’t prepared for back-to-back gems with double-digit strikeouts. And with only one free pass issued in those 13 ⅔ IP? (Yes, a 22:1 K:BB in nearly 14 IP is great, thanks for asking.) The Ks raised the pitch count enough to rob him of an eighth quality start by one out, but his seventh win in 10 trips to the hill would do.

A quick glance at sabermetrics like FIP, SIERA, SwStr%, K-BB%, xBA, xwOBA, Barrel%, and more don’t look sizably different from past seasons. There is some luck (.253 vs. .286 career) and facing the likes of Oakland, Detroit, and the ChiSox (x2), but he’s an AL Central pitcher!

He also introduced a cutter and started throwing his curveball more exclusively against left-handed batters. The curve’s whiff rate has jumped over 10 percentage points from ‘23, with the putaway rate more than doubling (16.9% to 36.4%!). His slider is still reserved for righty bats but he’s increased the spin rate by over 100 rpm with solid results. Is he really this good? No. But that division remains weak and he’s made some changes to optimize his attack that might get lost in the shuffle.

-Michael King has top-25 upside but remember this is his first full year as a starter in new digs. His 11% walk rate and 19% HR/FB rate are dragging him down, though he looked as though he’d left those issues in the past with consecutive scoreless outings on May 4 and 10. Then, he crashed with six runs against the road Rockies. Inconsistency is a factor here. Only four QS in nine starts caps the excitement on someone who likely has ~100 more innings tops.

-Luis Gil crushed the White Sox with 14 strikeouts over six innings on Saturday. The 25-year-old has a 2.39 ERA and 31.2% strikeout rate through 49 IP but only threw four innings last year and 25 IP in ‘22 due to injuries. How many innings do they put on him? Would they save him as a bullpen arm for a team with playoff aspirations? If health holds for all and Gerrit Cole returns, then someone is getting shifted and the entire rotation is doing extremely well.

Guys near the end of the table who carry underrated upside: Jose Soriano, Alec Marsh, Robert Gasser, Spencer Arrighetti, and Tylor Megill.

Prospects to Stash via our stud Eric Cross:

Cade Horton (CHC)
Cade Povich (BAL)
Max Meyer (MIA)
Drew Thorpe (CHW)
AJ Smith-Shawver (ATL)
Jack Leiter (TEX)
Jackson Jobe (DET)
Jacob Misiorowski (NYM)
Blade Tidwell (NYM)
Chayce McDermott (BAL)
Sem Robberse (STL)
Carson Whisenhunt (SF)
A.J. Blubaugh (HOU)
David Festa (MIN)

 

Top 101 Starting Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball

(+/-) Tier Player Rank $ PV Trend
0 1 Tyler Glasnow 1 $44.0 44.0 0.0 ▬
0 1 Zack Wheeler 2 $42.5 43.0 -0.5 ▼
0 1 Corbin Burnes 3 $42.0 42.0 0.0 ▬
0 2 Tarik Skubal 4 $41.0 41.0 0.0 ▬
9 2 Chris Sale 5 $39.0 32.5 6.5 ▲
-1 2 Pablo Lopez 6 $39.0 40.0 -1.0 ▼
-1 2 Luis Castillo 7 $38.0 39.0 -1.0 ▼
1 2 Cole Ragans 8 $36.0 36.0 0.0 ▬
-2 3 George Kirby 9 $36.0 38.0 -2.0 ▼
0 3 Jared Jones 10 $35.0 35.0 0.0 ▬
0 3 Yoshinobu Yamamoto 11 $35.0 35.0 0.0 ▬
1 3 Shota Imanaga 12 $34.0 33.0 1.0 ▲
-5 3 Freddy Peralta 13 $33.0 36.0 -3.0 ▼
-2 3 Max Fried 14 $32.5 34.0 -1.5 ▼
1 3 Zac Gallen 15 $31.0 30.5 0.5 ▲
-1 3 Logan Webb 16 $31.0 31.0 0.0 ▬
0 3 Aaron Nola 17 $30.0 30.0 0.0 ▬
1 3 Joe Ryan 18 $28.0 28.0 0.0 ▬
-1 3 Dylan Cease 19 $28.0 29.0 -1.0 ▼
0 4 Kevin Gausman 20 $25.5 26.0 -0.5 ▼
0 4 Logan Gilbert 21 $25.5 25.5 0.0 ▬
1 4 Kyle Bradish 22 $25.0 24.0 1.0 ▲
N/A 4 Grayson Rodriguez 23 $25.0 N/A N/A
-2 4 Sonny Gray 24 $25.0 25.0 0.0 ▬
-1 4 Bailey Ober 25 $23.0 22.0 1.0 ▲
-1 4 Yu Darvish 26 $21.5 21.0 0.5 ▲
1 4 Jesus Luzardo 27 $21.0 20.0 1.0 ▲
2 4 Garrett Crochet 28 $20.0 19.0 1.0 ▲
4 4 Paul Skenes 29 $20.0 17.0 3.0 ▲
7 5 Ranger Suarez 30 $19.0 15.0 4.0 ▲
7 5 Jack Flaherty 31 $19.0 15.0 4.0 ▲
-1 5 Framber Valdez 32 $17.5 18.0 -0.5 ▼
-1 5 Justin Steele 33 $17.5 18.0 -0.5 ▼
0 5 Yusei Kikuchi 34 $17.5 17.0 0.5 ▲
6 5 Nick Pivetta 35 $17.5 15.0 2.5 ▲
3 5 Bryce Miller 36 $17.5 19.5 -2.0 ▼
-8 5 Kutter Crawford 37 $17.0 19.0 -2.0 ▼
7 5 Seth Lugo 38 $16.5 14.5 2.0 ▲
-4 5 Ronel Blanco 39 $16.5 16.5 0.0 ▬
-13 6 Michael King 40 $16.0 20.0 -4.0 ▼
-1 6 MacKenzie Gore 41 $15.0 15.0 0.0 ▬
0 6 Walker Buehler 42 $15.0 15.0 0.0 ▬
1 6 Tanner Houck 43 $15.0 14.5 0.5 ▲
2 6 Reynaldo Lopez 44 $14.5 14.0 0.5 ▲
12 6 Luis Gil 45 $14.0 9.0 5.0 ▲
5 6 Carlos Rodon 46 $14.0 10.0 4.0 ▲
19 6 Bryan Woo 47 $13.0 6.0 7.0 ▲
-1 6 Cristopher Sanchez 48 $12.0 12.0 0.0 ▬
-13 6 Christian Scott 49 $11.0 15.5 -4.5 ▼
-7 6 John Means 50 $11.0 15.0 -4.0 ▼
-2 7 Tanner Bibee 51 $11.0 11.0 0.0 ▬
-4 7 Chris Bassitt 52 $10.0 12.0 -2.0 ▼
1 7 Nestor Cortes 53 $10.0 10.0 0.0 ▬
N/A 7 Ryan Pepiot 54 $10.0 N/A N/A
N/A 7 Blake Snell 55 $9.0 N/A N/A
N/A 7 Joe Musgrove 56 $9.0 N/A N/A
6 7 Taj Bradley 57 $8.5 8.0 0.5 ▲
0 7 Reese Olson 58 $8.5 8.5 0.0 ▬
-6 7 Brayan Bello 59 $8.5 10.0 -1.5 ▼
-8 7 Jose Berrios 60 $8.5 10.0 -1.5 ▼
-5 7 Hunter Greene 61 $8.0 9.0 -1.0 ▼
-12 7 Justin Verlander 62 $8.0 10.5 -2.5 ▼
-3 7 Cristian Javier 63 $8.0 8.5 -0.5 ▼
6 8 Clarke Schmidt 64 $7.0 5.0 2.0 ▲
-6 8 Jordan Hicks 65 $7.0 8.5 -1.5 ▼
-2 8 Casey Mize 66 $6.0 6.5 -0.5 ▼
-2 8 Marcus Stroman 67 $6.0 6.0 0.0 ▬
-7 8 Jordan Montgomery 68 $5.5 8.0 -2.5 ▼
-2 8 Gavin Stone 69 $5.5 6.0 -0.5 ▼
-2 8 Erick Fedde 70 $5.5 5.5 0.0 ▬
-2 8 Brady Singer 71 $5.0 5.0 0.0 ▬
-1 8 Triston McKenzie 72 $4.5 4.5 0.0 ▬
2 8 Javier Assad 73 $4.0 4.0 0.0 ▬
-12 8 Charlie Morton 74 $4.0 8.0 -4.0 ▼
13 8 Alek Manoah 75 $4.0 2.0 2.0 ▲
-4 8 Mitch Keller 76 $4.0 4.5 -0.5 ▼
-4 8 Dean Kremer 77 $4.0 4.0 0.0 ▬
-4 9 Andrew Heaney 78 $4.0 4.0 0.0 ▬
-2 9 Jose Soriano 79 $4.0 3.5 0.5 ▲
-2 9 Brandon Pfaadt 80 $3.5 3.5 0.0 ▬
0 9 Griffin Canning 81 $3.0 3.0 0.0 ▬
1 9 Jon Gray 82 $3.0 3.0 0.0 ▬
3 9 Tyler Anderson 83 $2.5 2.0 0.5 ▲
9 9 Andrew Abbott 84 $2.0 1.5 0.5 ▲
10 9 Alec Marsh 85 $2.0 1.0 1.0 ▲
-4 9 Jameson Taillon 86 $2.0 3.0 -1.0 ▼
-8 9 Aaron Civale 87 $2.0 3.5 -1.5 ▼
-4 10 James Paxton 88 $1.5 2.5 -1.0 ▼
-4 10 Zack Littell 89 $1.5 2.5 -1.0 ▼
-3 10 Sean Manaea 90 $1.5 2.0 -0.5 ▼
11 10 Michael Wacha 91 $1.5 1.0 0.5 ▲
-16 10 Reid Detmers 92 $1.5 4.0 -2.5 ▼
N/A 10 Robert Gasser 93 $1.5 N/A N/A
N/A 10 Spencer Arrighetti 94 $1.0 N/A N/A
-15 10 Matt Manning 95 $1.0 3.5 -2.5 ▼
-7 10 Kyle Harrison 96 $1.0 1.5 -0.5 ▼
-5 10 Luis Severino 97 $1.0 1.5 -0.5 ▼
-4 10 Logan Allen 98 $1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬
-2 10 Frankie Montas 99 $1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬
N/A 10 Tylor Megill 100 $1.0 N/A N/A
-2 10 Hunter Brown 101 $1.0 1.0 0.0 ▬


Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App

Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy baseball app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, sleepers, prospects & more. All free!



More Fantasy Baseball Analysis




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Player Comparisons
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Jacksonville Jaguars2 hours ago

Jaguars Fire General Manager Trent Baalke
New York Jets3 hours ago

Jets Hiring Aaron Glenn As Next Head Coach
Jalen Hurts4 hours ago

Will Take Part In Wednesday's Practice
Derrick Henry4 hours ago

Ravens Looking At Extension For Derrick Henry
Tampa Bay Buccaneers5 hours ago

Buccaneers Reach Extension With Offensive Coordinator Liam Coen
Los Angeles Chargers5 hours ago

Khalil Mack Will Play In 2025
Justin Tucker5 hours ago

Ravens Expected To Stick With Kicker Justin Tucker
New York Jets22 hours ago

Aaron Glenn Expected To Become Jets Next Head Coach
New England Patriots23 hours ago

Patriots Hire Josh McDaniels As Offensive Coordinator
Minnesota Vikings24 hours ago

Vikings Agree To Multi-Year Extension With Kevin O'Connell
Christian Watson1 day ago

Unlikely To Be Ready For Start Of 2025 Campaign
Cooper Kupp2 days ago

Plans To Play In 2025, But Future With Rams Uncertain
Jalen Hurts2 days ago

' Status Uncertain For NFC Championship
Chicago Bears2 days ago

Ben Johnson Hired As Bears Head Coach
Matthew Stafford2 days ago

Contemplating His Future
Saquon Barkley2 days ago

Dominates Rams Again
George Pickens3 days ago

Could Be Traded If Steelers Add WR1
Jalen Hurts3 days ago

Confident He Will Play In NFC Championship
Detroit Lions3 days ago

Aaron Glenn At Top Of List For Jets, Saints
Las Vegas Raiders3 days ago

Raiders Planning To Make Big Push For Ben Johnson
Josh Allen3 days ago

Rushes For Two Touchdowns Against Baltimore

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP
10
8
11
9
12
19
13
23
14
27
15
32
16
38
17
40
18
41
19
43

MORE RECENT ARTICLES

 
A.J. Brown - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL DFS Picks, NFL Injury News

Fantasy Football Matchups We Love - Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Picks for Championship Weekend Include Jayden Daniels, James Cook, Xavier Worthy, Travis Kelce

Championship weekend has arrived in the NFL. With playoff leagues and DFS still in full swing, fantasy players must refine their start/sit decisions. There are only four teams to choose from, which means that the pickings are scarce. Given that most teams that make it this far are generally solid all around, no matchup is […]


Patrick Mahomes - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL DFS

Ranking The Top 10 Players For Conference Championship Sunday

And then there were four. The Chiefs, Bills, Commanders, and Eagles are the only teams left in the NFL playoffs, with one of those four set to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. Before that, though, we must get through the AFC and NFC Championship Games on Sunday. These four talented teams will take the field this […]


Michael Florio's Football Show - Podcast RotoBaller Network

Florio's Football Show: Ben Johnson to Chicago, Divisional Recap!

Michael F. Florio is back and talks what Ben Johnson going to Chicago could mean for Caleb Williams and the Bears! Florio then talks the Bills beating the Ravens, Jayden Daniels' hot run and takes an early look at the AFC and NFC Championship games! Be sure to also tune into RotoBaller Radio on SiriusXM (SiriusXM […]


Josh Allen - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL Injury News, DFS Lineup Picks

2024-25 AFC Championship Preview: Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Picks

Welcome to the AFC Championship preview. This week, we are going to do things a little differently. With only four teams remaining, we will break down the matchup and discuss which players fantasy managers can trust in their postseason fantasy lineups. Kansas City punched their ticket to their seventh consecutive AFC Championship with a 23-14 […]


Why The Buffalo Bills Can Win Super Bowl LIX - Conference Championship Week Edition

The Buffalo Bills knocked off the Baltimore Ravens 27-25 in the Divisional round of the 2024-2025 NFL playoffs. The likely-to-be MVP, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, one of the best running backs in the NFL in Baltimore's lead RB Derrick Henry, and a surging defense that played well against everyone not named Ja'Marr Chase and Joe […]


Mecole Hardman - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Fantasy Football Injury Reports: Conference Championship Round Updates for Jalen Hurts, Mecole Hardman, Rashee Rice, Zach Ertz, Saquon Barkley

The Conference Championship round is here! The Divisional Round was much more exciting than the Wild Card Round, with multiple games going down to the wire, as well as a massive upset. The Detroit Lions were many people's picks to win the whole thing, but they were sent home by the sensational Jayden Daniels and […]


Jalen Hurts - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL Injury News, Draft Sleepers

2024-25 NFC Championship Preview: Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Picks

Welcome to the NFC Championship preview, an NFC rubber match between the Washington Commanders and Philadelphia Eagles, who split their two regular-season matchups. This week, we are going to do things a little differently. With only four teams remaining, we will break down the matchups and discuss which players fantasy managers can trust in their […]


Ja'Lynn Polk - Fantasy Football rankings, sleepers, waiver wire

Rookie Flops: Ranking The 10 Biggest Fantasy Football Busts of the 2024 NFL Draft Class

We saw plenty of fresh faces in the NFL in 2024! The draft class was greatly hyped up, especially on offense. Let's be honest, embracing the unknown in fantasy can be a fascinating endeavor! We (the fantasy community) tend to overhype rookies. We don't want to miss out on the next generational talent. But for […]


Jayden Daniels - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL Injury News, DFS Lineup Picks

Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em - Conference Championship Matchups Analysis

Welcome back, RotoBallers, to another start 'em and sit 'em piece as we look ahead to the Conference Championship games! If you are new here, this matchups analysis and Start 'Em, Sit 'Em article will look at the best and worst matchups of the week.  There will be only two games this week as part of […]


Josh Allen - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL Injury News, DFS Lineup Picks

2024 RotoBaller Pickem Challenge (ESPN Pigskin) - And The Winner Is...

The 2024-25 NFL season was filled with dramatic moments and exciting games from start to finish. The NFL is the most competitive league from top to bottom, so nailing picks each week is no easy task. This year's RotoBaller challenge winner correctly picked nearly 74% of the 272 NFL regular-season games, so needless to say, […]


Derrick Henry - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL Injury News, DFS Lineup Picks

2024 RotoBaller NFL Challenge Winners - And The Champion Is...

The 2024 fantasy football season is in the books! What a season, RotoBallers. Fantasy football is always a fun, interesting, and long season - filled with injuries, breakout players, and different strategies. It takes stamina and endurance to win the marathon, and we're here today to recognize those who pulled it off. With 492 teams, […]


Ashton Jeanty - NFL Draft, Fantasy Football Rookie Rankings, Draft Sleepers

2025 Fantasy Football Rookie Rankings (Pre-NFL Draft) - Ashton Jeanty, Tetairoa McMillan, Shedeur Sanders, Kaleb Johnson, Luther Burden, more

The 2025 NFL Draft will be here before you know it, and we're already thinking ahead to 2025 fantasy football drafts and rookie/dynasty drafts. Our NFL team has released its early 2025 fantasy football rookie rankings for the top 70 NFL rookies, before the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine. These 2025 rookie rankings are released before […]


Terry McLaurin - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL Injury News, DFS Lineup Picks

Conference Championship PPR Rankings for Fantasy Football - Saquon Barkley, Travis Kelce, Terry McLaurin, A.J. Brown, Josh Allen, Khalil Shakir, Zach Ertz

The Eagles, Commanders, Chiefs, and Bills are the last four teams standing in the fight for a Super Bowl LIX crown. As always, we have you covered for fantasy and DFS contests. In the overall rankings below, you'll see where Saquon Barkley, Travis Kelce, Terry McLaurin, A.J. Brown, Josh Allen, Khalil Shakir, and Zach Ertz […]