ESPN’s 2016 SP Ranks

Better late than never! February in the following year is always THE BEST time to review last year’s follies and jollies, amiright Razzball Nation!?

After making it through the duldrums of Winter (which I haven’t really had in NC, but ya know, the EPA was lying about global warming), I’m finally catching up on my Pitcher Profile wrap-up for the 2016 season. If anything, it turns out to be a pretty funny post! Let’s see how bad JB/Grey/ESPN ranked the AL Cy Young Winner! Always a good time… They say hindsight is 20/20, but seeing how bad some of these went, I’ll need my hindsight to be 420 to get through this!

As I did last year and the previous seasons ere’twixt, I’m here to break down my initial 2016 Starting Pitcher Ranks with the – hot, hot, hot! …or cold – hits and misses. I compare and contrast what happened with Grey’s 2016 ranks at SP, along with ESPN’s initial ranks from the 2016 season, then make us all look foolish by lining these up with Razzball’s Player Rater rank amongst SP. And as I did last year, complete the analysis with the Player Rater’s top-40 SP that I missed on in my ranks. Lots of whiffing this season! Whiffing as bad as I do when I play Rocket League, the boost makes you go too fast!

Here’s the recap to 2016’s starting pitching ranks (plus my 2017 ranks should be out hopefully in a week or two):

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Pitcher Profile: Recapping All Starting Pitching & JB’s 2014 Top 100 Starting Pitchers

by: JB Gilpin

Razzball Nation! Hopefully the musings and GIFfings (man that sounds dirty) of this friendly, big-ol baseball nerd helped bring you low ERAs and WHIPs in 2014. And shameless plug, if you need some JB love-n-rubbin’ and/or looking for Fantasy Basketball talk, come over and join us at Hoops!

As I always like to do with rankings, it’s fun to go back and see what went right. What went wrong. Especially when you get to say “Member in preseason when Grey wanted everyone to get Justin Masterson Top 25? Yeah, no fun to make fun of wrong ranks/calls to everyone, is it Grey?! Hell, everyone knows I’m only writing this since I’ve been talking about Corey Kluber since May 2013! (True story, I watched these two innings and had him in my line-up in a ton of leagues while either 0 or 1% owned, game went into a 2 or 3 hour rain delay, but those two innings got me hooked on the firebeard!)

So what I’ve put together are my 2014 Preseason Starting Pitcher Ranks (be sure to look at my 5 sleeper picks in the intro – saucy! Better than last year, HUH GREY?!) in the order I had them mid-March, followed by Grey’s rank, ESPN’s pre-season rank (since RCL Baseball was played there and using this list), and the Razzball Player Rater Final SP Value to establish the final rank. Here’s how Big Biscuit did:

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2014 Top 100 Starting Pitchers

March 19, 2014 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Pitcher Profiles | 194 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Pitcher Profiles are almost back baby! Oh man, I haven’t been this excited for pitchers to return ever since all the crap I got for saying Ryan Dempster was a sleeper last year. Of course, no one remembers Matt Harvey was my #1 sleeper (audio proof!), and then Grey even forgets which old bad pitcher I lumped in my sleepers saying it was Josh Beckett! Ugh. Being such a bully around the office. Punk me for the rest of those picks! Yikes.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Pitcher Profile: Jeff Samardzija Blows Away Diamondbacks

June 3, 2013 | Pitcher Profiles | 37 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

You ask and you shall receive! I had numerous requests for a Jeff Samardzija Pitcher Profile, and since I’d only seen the fire-baller throw maybe once or twice against my Brewers, I thought it would be a great idea to break him down for Razzball Nation.

I know the big righty features a huge fastball that flirts with the upper 90’s, but off the top of my head I couldn’t remember any specific secondary pitches so I was excited to really analyze one of his starts. Remember when he was the top WR target for Brady Quinn? Seems like ages ago! Remember when he was an erratic fixture in that Cubs bullpen along with Carlos Marmol? I bet some of those innings made even Steve Bartman cringe. But it’s much further down the road with Samardzija a fixture in that rotation (along with your fantasy squad’s staff) and a piece of the Cubs’ rebuilding future. Let’s go through how he hurled against the Diamondbacks on Saturday:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Pitcher Profile: Tyler Skaggs Debuts A Memorial Curveball

May 27, 2013 | Pitcher Profiles | 25 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

After an underwhelming cup of coffee last year, Tyler Skaggs looked primed for the 5th spot in the Diamondbacks rotation, only to lose out to Patrick Corbin. I remember there was some dissension with that decision, but you don’t hear any of those arguments now! With Corbin obviously one of the biggest surprises of the season, Skaggs had a really rough start to his AAA assignment with his ERA climbing close to 7.00 through six starts, but then again it was with Reno in the Pacific Coast League.

Skaggs has put it together recently though, racking up a 30:5 K:BB ratio in 25.1 May innings and three straight quality starts. With Ian Kennedy ailing with a cut on his finger, Skaggs got the call for a spot start in a tough matchup in the first leg of a double-header against the Rangers. I don’t think expectations were huge for this game, but having never seen Skaggs pitch and with no knowledge of his repertoire, I decided to tune in and break down his 2013 debut:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Pitcher Profile: Jake Odorizzi’s 2013 & Rays Debut

May 21, 2013 | Pitcher Profiles | 12 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

When David Price went down with a triceps injury, mercifully so with the struggles he was enduring, the Rays finally announced over the weekend that prospect Jake Odorizzi would be called up from Triple-A Durham to take his spot in the rotation . As Bill Murray would say, “Go Bulls!” I was fortunate enough to see Odorizzi pitch in Durham earlier this season, throwing 6.2 innings of shutout ball with 8 Ks against AAA Gwinnett.

From what I remember in that outing, he features a mid-to-low 90s fastball and a wipe out breaking ball. Other than that, I couldn’t tell much more from our seats, which were surprisingly tough to get in the Bulls home debut that night. There were free fireworks! Also, the city of Durham loves their Bulls, it is a very nice AAA experience. Anywho, I was stoked that Odorizzi would be pitching right around when my next Pitcher Profile was due out, so I decided to break down his Rays debut (and 3rd career start) at Toronto and see what kind of impact he could have for fantasy owners:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Pitcher Profile: Shelby Miller’s 1-Hitter In A Weekend Of Gems

May 13, 2013 | Pitcher Profiles | 79 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

As you all know, pitching is my favorite part of fantasy baseball and baseball in general. It’s as overpoweringly addictive to me as gasoline is to the leather-clad gangs in The Road Warrior. Now I most certainly don’t have any ass-less chaps, but I was on the edge of my seat watching some of thee performances, I’m not gonna lie mainly Chris Sale last night, just because he’s on many of my teams and I was on vacation over the weekend…

There were a lot of comments last week asking for a Shelby Miller breakdown, and as probably everyone knows (spoiler alert! Wait it’s in the title. Don’t look at the title…) all he did was go out and throw a 1-hitter. So I went back to watch the tape and break down the start for all you loyal pitcher profile fans:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Pitcher Profile: Alex Cobb Wins At Coors

May 6, 2013 | Pitcher Profiles | 47 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Ah Coors Field. One of the few baseball stadiums I’ve actually been to, it’s a magical land where hitters come to dream and pitchers come to die. You see mountains, you see towers… sounds like some sort of Lord of the Rings babble…

However, some pitchers can overcome the treachery that is thin air, and who better than Alex Cobb yesterday afternoon? A guy I haven’t followed too closely and is unfortunately on none of my teams (but I did get to see him pitch once in AAA for the Durham Bulls), Cobb boasts a 2.79 ERA and 33:8 K:BB ratio after yesterday’s start. Drafted at the end of standard drafts and even undrafted in some leagues, Cobb has obviously had a great start, but I wanted a better gauge of where to place him. He was cruising his last start out, then with two outs in the sixth couldn’t get out of the inning and a shutout turned into a 5.2 IP 10 H 4 ER shellacking So I decided to break down a Cobb game for the first time and attempt to place where I think he is right now:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Pitcher Profile: Tony Cingrani Gives Washington A Red Scare

April 29, 2013 | Pitcher Profiles | 115 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Rookie sensation Tony Cingrani has been lights out since he’s filled in for an injured Johnny Cueto, allowing 3 ERs in his first 12 innings with 17 strikeouts. But with those dominant outings at Miami and at home against the Chicago Cubs, it’s not exactly like he was blowing away elite offenses.

This time out on a Sunday afternoon, Tony C would be facing one of baseball’s most dynamic lineups on the road. Relying very heavily on his power fastball, it’s been debated how long Cingrani could have success in the Majors, so I decided to tune in to his start yesterday and break down the rookie’s third career start:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Pitcher Profile: Hyun-Jin Ryu Rues First Pitch Swings

April 22, 2013 | Pitcher Profiles | 53 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

South Korean native Hyun-Jin Ryu burst onto the scene this season, racking 20 strikeouts in his first three outings, notching two wins with a sub-3.00 ERA. Like many baseball fans and fantasy die-hards, I didn’t know much about Ryu’s repertoire and did little research into his scouting reports from overseas, mainly because it’s difficult to project a guy like Ryu’s prospects in the Majors with success in the Korean leagues, as language-barriers, increased talent level, and moving half a world away can completely change a pitcher’s approach.

Without much info and never having seen him pitch, I decided (and was suggested by a commenter) to watch his start on Saturday against the Orioles to see what his stuff really looks like:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Pitcher Profile: Can Against The Marlins A Good Day Keep The Doc Haters Away?

April 15, 2013 | Pitcher Profiles | 65 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Roy Halladay.

Is he the next Tim Lincecum? Can he pitch at all any more? Should he get sent to the minors?! Is he fantasy ownable in a 10-team league?! Is he really a doctor? Are Phillies fans all really that mean?! Why does being good in baseball mean you have to have the highest WAR!? WAR – what is it good for?! What does all this mean!?!

Roy Halladay has been one of the biggest hot topics heading into the fantasy season and real MLB season alike. After two brutal starts seeing his ERA climb close to the age of consent with a “woman” in France (14.73 – only 0.27 away!), the write-off for Halladay had become as frequent as an Enron tax return.

Curious to me was that debut against the Braves where Halladay got tagged for 5 runs and 9 baserunners in 3.1 innings, but struck out 9! That’s only one out not by the strikeout. All or nothing.

Obviously all the hubbub from Spring Training and entering the season was the lost velocity. I wanna throw fast! If you’re not first, you’re last. I was never big on Halladay because of his hefty price tag in drafts due to name value, but I thought he could be a usable pitcher this season. So I decided to tune into his start yesterday afternoon against those lowly Marlins to see how he looked. After all, if he can’t mow these guys down, he’s gotta be toast, right?

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Pitcher Profile: Jose Fernandez Makes The Mets Whiff More Than On A Madoff Investment

April 8, 2013 | Pitcher Profiles | 102 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Razzball Nation!

The pitcher profiles are back for 2013. Every Monday I will be breaking down a starting pitcher’s performance pitch-by-pitch so you can see an in-depth review of their velocity and how much luck factored into their numbers.

Jose Fernandez, the Miami Marlins 1st-round pick in 2011, had an unreal ascent through the Minors up until Spring Training a few months back, and in a surprise move a few days before Opening Day, decided to put the big righty in the rotation to start the season. Similar comparison could be made to Michael Pineda when he came up with the Mariners in 2011. A big, hard-thrower beginning in the Majors in the Opening Day rotation perhaps too early in their careers. Just look at what happened to Pineda’s shoulder. Hopefully Fernandez can avoid similar fate.

Listen, I know these can sometimes be a little drier than Grey’s mustache on a Caribbean beach. But they offer a different perspective on a pitcher’s outing other than looking at only stats. I will tend to pick young pitchers or fringe-owned starters, but if you have any suggestions of a pitcher you’d like broken down, pick a guy starting over next weekend and shoot that comment below.

Here’s how Fernandez looked:

Please, blog, may I have some more?