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I’ve gone over the top 20 starters for 2013 fantasy baseball, the top 40 starters for 2013 fantasy baseball and the top 60 starters for 2013 fantasy baseball, which brings us to the top 80 starters for 2013 fantasy baseball.  Crazy how that worked, huh?  Next thing you tomorrow will be the top 100.  There’s a few names in these post that I’m really gunning for on my teams.  In last year’s version of this post, there were a few guys that shot up the rankings (Peavy, Vogelsong, Niese, Kuroda, Dickey and Chris Sale), so I imagine a lot of you won’t need most of the names on this list, but there will be some.  Now humor me.  There’s tiers and projections mentioned for everyone.  Anyway, here’s the top 80 starters for 2013 fantasy baseball:

61. A.J. Griffin – This tier started in the top 60 starters for 2013 fantasy baseball.  This tier goes from here until Cobb.  I called this tier, “I love you, I love you not… I love you!”  Alfredo Jettuccine will probably will only throw about 170 innings this year.  There’s some nice upside here and he should get a sleeper post.  Maybe when we’re finally done with these godforsaken rankings.  In the minors, he opened his trench and flashed some sexy K-rates, but it probably won’t translate to more than a 7.50 K/9 due to his stuff.  He’s more of a solid Ks, low walks guy.  Think a cheap Zimmermann.  Sorry, I mean, a frugal Zimmermann.  All I need is the Anti-Defamation League coming after me.  2013 Projections: 9-11/3.45/1.19/135

62. Matt Harvey – I already went over my Matt Harvey 2013 fantasy.  I wrote it while changing Chiddy Bang’s chorus of Handclaps & Guitars into, “Oh oh ooh oh, I just drafted Harvey…”  2013 Projections:  10-7/3.92/1.34/192 in 188 innings

63. Felix Doubront – I already went over my Felix Doubront 2013 fantasy.   I wrote it while trying to pronounce Tchoupitoulas.  2013 Projections:  12-12/3.92/1.33/185

64. Dillon Gee – In August, he had a shoulder artery cleared and needed to rest for six weeks.  That reminds me of the time they were doing work on the 10 Freeway and I got a flat tire, but the shoulder was closed… Oh, Gee, where was I?  In 109 2/3 IP last year, he had a near-8 K-rate and a sub-2.50 BB/9.  If he were to make any strides forward, he’ll be a top 40 starter.  Not the sexiest of names.  His name sounds a bit like what a Boy Scout would exclaim if he stubbed his toe.  There’s some nice upside here.  To read more, here’s Sky’s Dillon Gee sleeper post.  2013 Projections: 12-8/3.82/1.24/157

65. Hyun-Jin Ryu – Here’s what I said about Ryu when he came stateside, “The South Korean phenom signed with the Dodgers.  That’s the South Korean phenom NOT known for riding imaginary horses.  Shoot, maybe the Gangnam Style guy signed with the Dodgers too.  Or make that Psy-igned.  That gives the Dodgers Kershaw, Greinke, Beckett, Billingsley, Lilly, Capuano, Harang and Ryu.  I’m guessing the Dodgers know Bills won’t be available due to an elbow injury.  Though, they could just Isiah make some new Bills.  And Kershaw could have hip problems.  In South Korea, Ryu had a 2.80 ERA over 7 seasons.  Scouts have said he’s probably an MLB draft first round talent.  Ryu serious?  Yes, I am.  He’s 25 years old and should be entering his prime.  He throws a 90 MPH fastball with a slow curve, tight slider and an excellent changeup, according to sources familiar with him.  Ryu familiar?  I’m not, no.  Bob Engle, the Dodgers international scout, compared him to David Wells.  I totally believe that was meant as a compliment.  Ryu doesn’t look like he’s missed many feedings of kimchi.  He’s a chunky-physique’d, control-minded lefty like Wells was.  Because of his park and his ability to command his pitches, I’m gonna say he’ll beat Darvish’s first year in the bigs for ratios, but come well short of him for Ks.”  And that’s me quoting me!  UPDATE:  Ryu showed up fat to camp.  No, not Ryu you, Ryu– Forget it.  Dodgers are now wondering if Ryu can make the rotation.  I still love the numbers he put up in Japan, but without a bullet train and some serious tonkatsu, I’m not sure how well he’s going to translate.  2013 Projections:  8-6/3.95/1.19/110

66. Alexi Ogando – One year, he’s a starter.  One year, he’s a reliever.  One year, he’s a production assistant on Sweet Genius in charge of shaving Ron-Ben Israel’s head.  There’s a chance for upside with Ogando if he can carry his K-rate from his relieving days into his starting, but if his year starting is any indication, that probably won’t happen.  At least he’s not manscaping RBI anymore.  2013 Projections:  12-9/3.77/1.15/135

67. Chris Tillman – Last year he had a 2.93 ERA, but had a huge amount of help with a .221 BABIP, which hid his 4.34 xFIP.  His K-rate was under seven after routinely being above nine in the minor leagues.  Due to the suppressed BABIP, this cautionary tale of a top pitching prospect still not performing in the major leagues after six years in the minors isn’t as clear as it could be.  He still really isn’t there.  Or at least as of last year he wasn’t.  With another year under his belt, he could finally put it together.  The long road to fantasy success for Tillman will be where I point when people are like, “Hey, Grey, are you wearing pants in your profile pic?  I hope not!  Anyway, when do you think top pitching prospect Gerrit Cole will be called up?”  Or Taillon, Bundy, Bauer, et al (not the Israeli airline).  2013 Projections:  9-10/3.87/1.32/142

68. Alex Cobb – Tillman’s projections came out slightly worse than those of Cobb, but I ended up ranking them in this order because Tillman has slightly bigger upside, while Cobb is slightly safer.  At this point in the rankings, you don’t want safer.  The upside argument for Tillman is in his first start in the big leagues when he touched 97 MPH.  If Alex Cobb were in a convertible moving at eight miles per hour and he threw as hard as he could, he wouldn’t hit 97 MPH.  He would also get a cruising ticket if he were driving that slow at the Jersey Shore.  2013 Projections:  10-8/3.86/1.30/147

69. Edwin Jackson – This is a new tier.  This tier goes from here until Lohse.  I call this tier, “The opposite argument.”  What I mean by this tier name is there’s an argument to be made to fill out the back of your staff from this tier rather than an upside tier.  I make the opposite argument.  The reality is none of these guys are staying on your team for very long if they struggle in April.  You go to the Stream-o-Nator until someone else sticks.  Last year, on the solid Nationals team, Jackson had a line of 10-11/4.03/1.22/168.  He’s now on the Cubs.  If this offseason move screams to you someone who’s going to get better, give me some of what you’re smoking.  For full disclosure purposes — or porpoises if dolphins are reading — there was one stat I wasn’t able to account for in Edwin’s line.  He had the 2nd best percentage in the majors for swings and misses generated from strikes.  Top five:  Hamels, Edwin, Scherzer, Dickey, Samardzija.  That’s about the best company any pitcher can keep.  To keep it in perspective, Lincecum, Halladay and Anibal were all in the top 8 the previous year.  Liriano was the best in 2010.  F-Liriano had a 5+ ERA in 2011, if you need a reminder.  So Jackson might nudge his Ks up even further, but he will continue to struggle to have an ERA below 4.  2013 Projections:  9-12/4.11/1.33/179

70. Shaun Marcum – Missed a large portion of 2012 due to elbow tightness and when he returned his velocity wasn’t there.  Hey, maybe he can star in the stage adaption of, “No Velocity for Old Men.”  2013 Projections:  9-7/3.84/1.29/145

71. Matt Harrison – He took the biggest dive from the end of the season rankings to here, and the Rangers didn’t play one game, unless you count the game of chicken they played with Josh Hamilton and lost.  Last year, Harrison had 18 wins and a 3.29 ERA with a 4.13 xFIP (nah, that ain’t lucky).  Here’s my theory:  George Harrison did all that touchy-feely singing about My Sweet Lord and Hare Krishna, but since George is no longer with us, there’s some leftover karma floating around the universe for a Harrison, so Matt was the recipient of said karma.  Or not.  Just a theory!  Also, Harrison gets no Ks whatsoever.  He’ll be a matchups starter vs. the Mariners and in interleague.  2013 Projections: 13-10/3.88/1.29/130

72. James McDonald – His first and 2nd half were night and day, Al B. Sure.  His pre-All-Star break 2.37 ERA was sixth best in the majors and his 0.97 WHIP was seventh best.  His 2nd half was the worst thing God ever spit up.  Due to BABIP, he wasn’t that good in the 1st half or that bad in the 2nd half.  So you throw out the good, and you throw out the bad and you got The Facts of the Averagest Pitcher, The Facts of the Averagest Pitcher… If you sing that about 200 times, it gets catchy.  Trust me.  2013 Projections:  10-9/4.01/1.28/155

73. Tim Hudson – He’s gonna be 38 years old this year, which in pitcher years is 38 (years don’t change for pitchers; that’s for dogs, silly).  Now 38 years in his arm’s age is… Well, that’s the same too.  Tim Hudson is so old he eats Nerds candy made from wax manufactured by Benjamin Franklin.  Truth.  2013 Projections:  12-7/3.90/1.24/100

74. Kyle Lohse – Member what I said about Harrison 367 words ago (I counted; thanks, OCD!)?  Lohse now takes the title of dropping the most from the end of the season to preseason rankings.  Lohse is exactly the kind of starter I would never draft.  I’m obviously not alone as he still didn’t have any offers to sign as of this writing.  “I’m calling on Kyle Lohse’s behalf and he wants you to know he would happily sign with the Diamondbacks.”  Kevin Towers, “Kyle, is this you calling again?”  *20 second pause*  “Kyle, I hear you breathing.”  2013 Projections:  9-12/4.09/1.29/130

75. Bud Norris – This is a new tier.  This tier goes from here until the top 100 starters for 2013 fantasy baseball.  I call this tier, “Schoolboy Q and Kendrick Lamar.” They are the new crop of rappers you should be listening to.  Download Good Kid M.A.A.D. City and Habits & Contradictions, in that order.  If you only want one song from either album, download Lamar’s B*tch Don’t Kill My Vibe.  (The asterisk is replacing a U.  The song is about Butch Patrick.)  If you ask the populace, they’ll all know Kanye and Jay-Z, they might not know these two.  Then Schoolboy Q or Kendrick will come out with another album this year and suddenly everyone will know them or they’ll disappoint and fall back to obscurity.  That’s the guys in this tier.  They all have a chance to blow up in the good way or in the bad way.  Someone from this late in the rankings will outperform preseason projections.  It happens every year.  It could be Norris.  It could be any of these guys.  Norris’s xFIP last year was 4.12, year before it was 3.73, 3.96 in 2010.  Last year he had the best K-rate of his career.  If he can actually throw 200 IP for the first time in his career (at 28 years old it shouldn’t be impossible), he could have his first 200 K season and a sub-4 ERA.  All he needs to do is shave a half walk off his 3.53 BB/9 from last year.  That won’t be easy, but doable.  Bud, don’t kill my vibe!  2013 Projections:  8-10/3.90/1.33/190

76. Jason Hammel – For full disclosure, I almost ranked Hammel about 35 spots higher.  I really like him.  Then I got to thinking, which is something I try to avoid, and I know that you can wait until the last round to draft Hammel, there’s no reason to rank him higher.  Last year, he threw his fastball almost a mile per hour faster (93.6) and forced a ton more ground balls.  Assuming his knee is fine (he wasn’t 100% confident it would be last I read), get him.  2013 Projections:  10-11/3.67/1.26/175

77. Dylan Bundy – I already went over my Dylan Bundy 2013 fantasy.  I wrote it while watching the Michael Jordan plays baseball 30 for 30.  What a waste of an hour that was.  Way to phone it in, Ron Shelton.  That’s why no one’s green-lighting the sequel, White Men Still Can’t Jump.  2013 Projections:  8-3/3.40/1.10/150 in 140 innings

78. Shelby Miller – I already went over my Shelby Miller 2013 fantasy.  I dictated it from what I heard after I put a seashell to my ear.  2013 Projections: 10-4/3.63/1.27/155 in 150 innings

79. Andrew Cashner – He’s already had his first setback of the season and the season is two months away.  He’ll start the year on the DL and won’t return until the end of April.  He probably won’t start more than fifteen games all year, but I’ll still grab him because of his upside.  I draft Cashner for the hell of it, just for the yell I get… Mmm mmm mmm, for the smell of it!  2013 Projections:  6-7/3.35/1.24/100

80. Kyle Kendrick – Kendrick’s a tough guy to draft due to Charlie Manuel’s use of him.  He’s like the pitching version of Domonic Brown.  Manuel said this offseason, “Kendrick, go get Pa some straw, I needs to be chewing before the rooster come-a-callin’!”  Five years ago, the Phils pegged Kendrick to be a starter.  Five years later, he’s still bouncing between the bullpen and the rotation.  If I was 100% sure he’d be a starter all year, I would’ve ranked him about 30 spots higher.  I like Kendrick.  It’s more about whether or not the Phillies like him.  2013 Projections:  12-10/3.72/1.25/130