Top 100 Starting Pitchers For 2022: Week 8

May 30, 2022 | Top 100 Starting Pitchers | 44 Comments

“Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.” — Tony LaRussa, probably.

The thing about being a historian is you carry the past with you. Like Tim O’Brien wrote in his most famous novel, Tomcat in Love…wait, is that the right book? Or was it that other Vietnam-themed book where it was all a dream? Oh, sorry, The Things They Carried. Yes, this one is for Lemon, who’s floating in the breeze out there. ENYWHEY. We carry the burdens of the past with us, etched upon our hearts, weighing heavy on our souls. As the immortal poet collective, Papa Roach once taught us, “The scars remind us that the past is real.” Funny, how that works for fantasy baseball. What you did in the past is both predictive of what you do in the future, but also completely detached from what’s going on in the present. “He’s changed,” we all whisper. “Velocity is down.” What, exactly, was the normal velocity? Do we all run 4-minute miles every year of our life? Or is it good enough to run 4.5 or 5-minute miles? Does it matter if we throw 96 or 94 or 25 or 6 to 4? And on and on it goes. Let’s jump over to the news and notes and find out which pitcher has me thinking so nostalgic.

News and Notes

Dallas Keuchel: DFA’d by the Chicago White Sox. You wanna know the fleetingness of prime talent? The 2015 Cy Young Award Winners were Dallas Keuchel (now unemployed) and Jake Arrieta (retired due to unemployment in early 2022). That said, these guys don’t need to work a day in their lives again — each of them brought home about $100 million over the course of their career. In 2022, Keuchel walked as many batters as he struck out and sported an ERA of nearly 8 with true skill stats above 5.00. We all like to joke that you or I could go out there and generate some whiffs, but after watching Andrelton Simmons freeze batters with a 45-MPH fastball, it does make us wonder how pitchers like Keuchel fell so far from the Cy Young tree. This is sort of a fantasy obituary for our dear Keuchel, who was last relevant in 2020 when he finished 5th in the Cy Young race (and maybe deep-league relevant in 2021). Can we learn anything from Keuchel’s decline? The closest comparison on the K/BB/HR-allowed chart is Ian Anderson. Yeesh. At least Anderson has a fastball that’s 6-7 MPH faster than Keuchel. Best wishes to our legacy fantasy lothario as Keuchel looks to revive his career, likely on the Rockies as a closer or something.

Robbie Ray: Can I go three weeks without mentioning my man? No, no I cannot. Last time I raised Ray’s name, it was in response to Coolwhip wondering if our man Jordache had given up the ghost. And to Whip I replied with nothing. Because I ghosted him! HAR HAR HAR. ENYWHEY. Since Whip last asked me if I was concerned about Ray and I said “no” and he said “prove it,” Ray has unleashed for a 14+ K/9, 3 BB/9, and a 2.52 xFIP, which I only mention because of the 5.32 ERA in the same period. Ugh. 12 readers, you know how I feel about ERA. None of the “runs responsible for” metrics are truly “the best,” but when you see the metrics in massive disagreement, you know there’s something un-lucky happening. In fact, Ray is one of the few pitchers who is generating more strikes by whiff than by called strike, and his big ERA is caused by an unexpected level of homers allowed over the past month. I mean, Ray is always a homer-magnet. Always has been. But when you’ve got a guy who is top 10 in the league in whiff rate (and indeed, has a 22% swinging strike rate since May 10, which is extraordinary) and is generating nearly 38% of his outs by himself, you’ve gotta pay attention to that. If Ray’s current repertoire continues through June, the ERA will normalize and we’ll be seeing Ray compete for his second consecutive Cy Young Award. Take that Keuchel!

Name	L30$/G	wK/9	wPABIB	wL30FIP
Robbie Ray	-12.3	-7.48%	2.39%	7.64%

Sonny Gray: Here’s a list: Gerrit Cole, Clay Holmes, Keegan Akin, Sonny Gray, Aaron Nola, Spencer Strider. That list is the 13th-18th best CSW% generators in 2022. Cole and Nola are stalwarts, Holmes and Strider are newcomers, and Akin is the guy who kinda figured it out this year. Gray? He’s always been a good strike generator, but he struggles to put up lengthy runs of health due to his bad back. After the Twins acquired Gray from the Reds earlier this year, Gray spent time on the IL (expected) before coming back and pitching in short spurts as he recovered (also expected). But Gray’s 12.6 K/9 over the last month? Unexpected, my friends. His ERA and true skill stats align, and we’re looking at a crafty vet who is at the top of his game going into June. Problem is, we know Gray will miss some more time. He hasn’t topped 200 IP in 7 years, and the main projection systems view him as having 100 IP left in the tank for 2022. Enjoy Gray while he’s healthy, and let him start every matchup until he gets hurt again.

Name	L30$/G	wK/9	wPABIB	wL30FIP
Sonny Gray	24.5	4.35%	2.69%	53.43%

Hyun-Jin Ryu: Came back! And then left again. Fresh off the IL, Ryu is dealing with elbow tightness…right after forearm tightness. Pitchers can be effective while dealing with those injuries (see Jacob deGrom in 2021), but we’re looking at a ticking timebomb with the usually reliable Ryu. In the pre-season I wrote about how Ryu had become a reliable option over the past few years as he neared the top of the charts in overall IP. Then, the lockout happened. Reports indicate that Ryu struggled with conditioning during the lockout and wasn’t fully ready for the reason, and now we’re seeing him pitch through the precursor injuries to Tommy John surgery. So, keep an eye on his health, and start him in favorable home league matchups and DFS. But you high stakes mavens? I’d find anybody other than Ryu right now.

Freddy Peralta: Gonna miss “significant time” but there’s no timetable on his return from a shoulder strain. These kinds of injuries go with the territory of the “reliever becoming a starter.” Flash backward (what am I, a tachyon?) to pre-2021. Peralta’s pitching career featured spot starts, but about 70% of his appearances were non-starters (hmmm, sounds sus). In 2021, Peralta made 27 starts and threw 144 innings, which was about 40% more than his career previous highs. Say what you want about modern pitchers, but the recent emphasis on spin and grip can take their toll on young pitchers who are still building strength year after year. Last year, Tyler Glasnow burned his elbow out in the matter of 3 starts while prepping for the sticky substance ban. Peralta’s high K rate (11+ in 2022, 12+ in 2021) shows that he’s worth stashing in dynasty leagues, but for those of you in best balls or 12 team formats, you might want to move on. Milwaukee is already indicating they’re going to be careful with Peralta — he’s only 26! He’s got a team option on his contract until 2026! Like, holy crap, what agent did that to Peralta? Best wishes to our favorite pitcher who saved everybody’s team in 2021, and maybe he’ll be back for a 2022 fantasy (or MLB?) playoff run. Also, it’s worth noting that his high ranking on the confidence scale is due to Rudy’s algorithm not yet adjusting for the “significant time missed” news; it will catch up next week once it’s updated.

Aaron Ashby: Supposedly, Ashby’s coming back to a starter role to replace Peralta. Ashby’s been all over the place this season, and he’s not really usable at this point for 12-teams unless you’re one of the bold players who doesn’t care about blowups (that’s me). There are some games where Ashby K’s everybody. There are some games where Ashby walks more than he Ks — and K’s a lot! Maybe I’m being too conservative here. Let’s think about the best possible outcome: Ashby has the ability to K over 11 per 9, which is all any fantasy manager can ask for in an elite starter. If a starter can K 11 per 9, a 3.5+ BB/9 becomes somewhat tolerable. Low IP becomes tolerable. My questionable usage of singular vs plural nouns becomes tolerable. So, logic friends: IFF Aaron Ashby continues a 10+ K/9 (and preferably 11+) as a starter, he’s rosterable everywhere. However, if we see Ashby dial back his repertoire as a starter — because starters need to pitch more IP and more IP means more efficiency with pitches and a guy who walks a lot of batters may need to resort to contact rather than trying to K everybody — then he sits on your bench. QED. Almost wrote “queso” there.

Sandy Alcantara: Something’s changing! Flash backward to the pre-season, and I was one of the more critical analysts on Alcantara, with good reason: over his career, his fantasy efficacy was very similar to Hyun-Jin Ryu. Alcantara had nearly 500 IP of sub-8 K/9 performance with a 3+ BB/9. Let’s pause here to comment: those are not the kinds of numbers that make you a fantasy champion. You know which pitchers had similar comps? Reynaldo Lopez, Chase Anderson, Jorge Lopez, Jordan Lyles, and Yusei Kikuchi. A veritable murder’s row! So, don’t come yelling at me about Alcantara — even mediocre pitchers can have hot streaks [stares at Martin Perez]. That said, Alcantara is changing his pitch mix a lot, and the results are 20%+ swinging strike rates over his last few games, with a 14K performance this past weekend. Those 14 strikeouts? Twice as many as any performance he’s had this year. Tied for his career-high — and he’s only K’d more than 10 batters in a game like 5 times in his career. I’m not trying to knock Alcantara because we’re seeing him make adjustments that could lead to him becoming elite. But, just like we can’t look at a high-strikeout performance from Kyle Hendricks and call it a renaissance, analysts can’t sit here and proclaim Alcantara as reborn. Even with the recent K success, Alcantara’s K/9 on the 2022 season stands at…8.4. Prior to the hot streak, his K/9 was 7.4 on the season with a 3.55 BB/9 with a pedestrian whiff rate of 11%. Best of luck to Sandy and I hope whatever he’s doing will stick. I’d love to be wrong about Alcantara. But right now, two games of performance isn’t sufficient to overturn years of data that describe him as a status quo pitcher.

The Rankings

Updated this week to add the team for each player. I think it’s worthwhile to add my usual addendum: ranking players over each other is kind of meaningless. Like, I’ve said this for two years while also topping the FantasyPros weekly football ranks four times in 2021. I understand why ranks are needed (TL;DR: To organize our thoughts) while similarly, I don’t actually use rankings myself. I’ve said this probably 100x over the course of my industry fantasy career. The point of the Confidence Score is to give players a shorthand, simple, quantifiable statement: this guy should be better than everybody below him. That’s it. In other words, I am more confident in this guy than everybody below him. But, like, a confidence score of 2.8 vs 2.6? That doesn’t really matter. 3.5 vs 3.4? Yeah, doesn’t matter. 3.5 vs 2.6? Yup, that matters. At a certain point, there’s decision paralysis when all the players are basically the same ranking. The takeaway is that, Somebody from the general range of scores is acceptable. Hope that helps clarify things.

Here’s how to use the list:

Tier: 1=best, 2=everybody else for 12 team consideration, 3=deep league/dynasty/best ball/tournaments/DFS.
Name/Team: Player name, player team
Confidence: The overall score my system outputs. The higher the score, the more confident I am in using the player in the near term.
Own%: This is the rostership % of the player in Razzball Commenter Leagues, run on Fantrax. This % may vary depending on site and format for readers.
L30$/G: This is how valuable the player has been over the past month. Players with high confidence who have low or negative $/G are “buy low” candidates. Spot starters/Roleless Robs will have a lower $/G because they play in more games.

Tier	Name	Team	Confidence	Own%	L30$/G
1	Shane McClanahan	TB	4.258	100	43.3
1	Shohei Ohtani	LAA	4.249	100	12.7
1	Freddy Peralta	MIL	4.131	100	23.6
1	Michael King	NYY	4.102		-8
1	Gerrit Cole	NYY	4.101	100	27.4
1	Aaron Nola	PHI	3.997	100	5.4
1	Carlos Rodon	SF	3.986	100	-42.9
1	Cristian Javier	HOU	3.977	100	11.3
1	Dylan Cease	CHW	3.837	100	-9.3
1	Kevin Gausman	TOR	3.597	100	23.2
1	Jesus Luzardo	MIA	3.574	84	-3.2
1	Brandon Woodruff	MIL	3.499	100	6
1	Alex Cobb	SF	3.467	86	-39.7
1	Tarik Skubal	DET	3.366	100	17.9
1	Zack Wheeler	PHI	3.324	100	41.3
1	Lucas Giolito	CHW	3.297	100	10.8
1	Nestor Cortes	NYY	3.271	100	32.4
1	Frankie Montas	OAK	3.256	100	-5.6
1	Kyle Wright	ATL	3.201	100	-3.6
1	Max Scherzer	NYM	3.178	100	8.4
1	Max Fried	ATL	3.168	100	-0.3
1	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	3.150	100	31.2
1	Pablo Lopez	MIA	3.076	100	-6.3
1	Carlos Carrasco	NYM	3.067	100	5.1
1	Corbin Burnes	MIL	3.029	100	9.9
1	MacKenzie Gore	SD	3.020	100	0.1
1	Zac Gallen	ARI	3.019	100	21.4
1	Joe Musgrove	SD	3.004	100	27
1	Drew Rasmussen	TB	2.947	100	28.8
1	Martin Perez	TEX	2.946	98	37.1
1	Tylor Megill	NYM	2.922	95	-40.5
1	Shane Bieber	CLE	2.896	100	-22.3
1	A.J. Minter	ATL	2.861	20	-2.7
1	Yu Darvish	SD	2.857	100	6.4
1	Sean Manaea	SD	2.853	100	-20.3
1	Michael Kopech	CHW	2.853	100	12.2
1	Kenley Jansen	ATL	2.850	100	6.3
1	Zach Eflin	PHI	2.844	27	-40.1
1	Kyle Gibson	PHI	2.837	77	-31.4
1	Spencer Strider	ATL	2.833	57	8.2
1	Garrett Whitlock	BOS	2.831	100	-38.6
1	Alek Manoah	TOR	2.831	100	22.7
1	Robbie Ray	SEA	2.824	100	-12.3
1	Justin Steele	CHC	2.813	2	-35.8
1	Logan Gilbert	SEA	2.807	100	-16.6
1	Eric Lauer	MIL	2.803	100	32
2	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	2.795	100	30
2	Jeffrey Springs	TB	2.795	50	4.1
2	Patrick Sandoval	LAA	2.795	100	-2.6
2	Tyler Anderson	LAD	2.782	100	19.2
2	Tony Gonsolin	LAD	2.781	100	43
2	Logan Webb	SF	2.773	100	-10.4
2	Paul Blackburn	OAK	2.759	100	3.7
2	Jameson Taillon	NYY	2.758	100	21.8
2	Joe Ryan	MIN	2.752	100	-9
2	Marcus Stroman	CHC	2.752	82	35.4
2	Corey Kluber	TB	2.747	55	-11
2	Tyler Mahle	CIN	2.744	84	-35.8
2	Justin Wilson	CIN	2.737
2	Justin Verlander	HOU	2.731	100	40
2	Dane Dunning	TEX	2.726	48	-7.2
2	Merrill Kelly	ARI	2.724	61	-28.5
2	Ryan Helsley	STL	2.717	100	12
2	Keegan Akin	BAL	2.704		3.6
2	Scott Effross	CHC	2.701		-4.9
2	Nick Pivetta	BOS	2.698	86	35.1
2	Alex Wood	SF	2.697	84	-43.1
2	Miles Mikolas	STL	2.692	100	9.5
2	Walker Buehler	LAD	2.650	100	-5.6
2	Devin Williams	MIL	2.643	91	2.6
2	Framber Valdez	HOU	2.638	100	12.6
2	Jason Adam	TB	2.630	16	-1.1
2	Enyel De Los Santos	CLE	2.610		-20.6
2	JT Brubaker	PIT	2.609	14	-19.5
2	Steven Matz	STL	2.605	32	-21.4
2	Alex Vesia	LAD	2.603	2	-7.2
2	Tanner Houck	BOS	2.600	34	-21.2
2	Hunter Greene	CIN	2.588	55	-39
2	Triston McKenzie	CLE	2.579	100	38.4
2	Aaron Ashby	MIL	2.577	100	-16.9
2	Luis Severino	NYY	2.572	100	0.5
2	Wil Crowe	PIT	2.563	7	-6
2	Alex Lange	DET	2.560		1
2	Eli Morgan	CLE	2.543		-2.5
2	Sam Hentges	CLE	2.537		-1.1
2	Victor Arano	WSH	2.536		-9.7
2	Jose Quintana	PIT	2.531	7	7.1
2	Ron Marinaccio	NYY	2.528		-10.6
2	John Brebbia	SF	2.526		-3.2
2	Parker Mushinski	HOU	2.526		11.6
2	David Bednar	PIT	2.524	100	6.3
2	Jordan Montgomery	NYY	2.522	100	-23.1
2	Matt Strahm	BOS	2.515	2	-3.3
2	Jon Gray	TEX	2.511	36	-32
2	J.P. Feyereisen	TB	2.498	30	7.5
2	Clay Holmes	NYY	2.488	100	7.7
2	Zach Jackson	OAK	2.486		-4.9
2	Penn Murfee	SEA	2.478		-2.9
2	Josh Hader	MIL	2.474	100	7.5
2	Giovanny Gallegos	STL	2.474	100	1.6
2	Kyle Nelson	ARI	2.469		-2.8
2	Luis Garcia	HOU	2.469	100	5.8
2	Luis Garcia	HOU	2.469	100	5.8
2	Trevor Stephan	CLE	2.455	2	-6.6
2	Dylan Bundy	MIN	2.450	32	-67
2	Jordan Lyles	BAL	2.449	5	-11.9
2	Jimmy Herget	LAA	2.439	2	2.9
2	JT Chargois	TB	2.433
2	Jovani Moran	MIN	2.432		1.4
2	Andrew Heaney	LAD	2.429	75
2	Kyle Freeland	COL	2.427	9	-22.6
2	Taylor Rogers	SD	2.424	100	5.8
2	Chris Paddack	MIN	2.421	2	-10.7
2	Keegan Thompson	CHC	2.421	23	1.9
2	Jared Solomon	CIN	2.418		-6.4
2	Erik Swanson	SEA	2.416		-6.4
2	Daulton Jefferies	OAK	2.415	5	-70.9
2	Adam Ottavino	NYM	2.414		-6.8
2	Hector Neris	HOU	2.414	2	-6
2	Edwin Diaz	NYM	2.411	100	1
2	Bryan Abreu	HOU	2.410		-7.9
2	Evan Phillips	LAD	2.404		-7
2	Cody Stashak	MIN	2.398		3.4
2	Noah Syndergaard	LAA	2.397	100	-9.9
2	Sam Selman	OAK	2.396
2	Dany Jimenez	OAK	2.390	100	-1.4
2	Jordan Romano	TOR	2.388	100	0.8
2	Chris Bassitt	NYM	2.386	100	-35.8
2	Seranthony Dominguez	PHI	2.378	2	-3.5
2	Brady Singer	KC	2.370	48	43.7
2	Will Vest	DET	2.366	2	0.5
2	Raisel Iglesias	LAA	2.361	100	-4
2	Eduardo Rodriguez	DET	2.359	68	-22.8
2	Adrian Houser	MIL	2.349	36	-19.6
2	Daniel Bard	COL	2.345	100	1.1
2	Andrew Chafin	DET	2.341		-5.5
2	Josh Staumont	KC	2.340	20	-3.4
2	Tyler Kinley	COL	2.328		-3.6
2	Daniel Hudson	LAD	2.326	9	-0.6
2	Liam Hendriks	CHW	2.325	100	5.6
2	Cole Sands	MIN	2.324		-7.8
2	Jake Odorizzi	HOU	2.322	5	43.8
2	Sonny Gray	MIN	2.319	100	24.5
2	Jhoan Duran	MIN	2.317	100	2
2	Austin Gomber	COL	2.309	16	-43.9
2	Chad Kuhl	COL	2.307	25	-28.6
2	Jakob Junis	SF	2.304	7	-11.7
2	Daniel Lynch	KC	2.301	7	-39.7
2	Colin Holderman	NYM	2.300		4.1
2	Joel Kuhnel	CIN	2.300		-2.8
2	Brooks Raley	TB	2.299	59	-4.5
2	Zack Greinke	KC	2.298	27	-52.5
2	Yusei Kikuchi	TOR	2.297	80	6.7
2	Collin McHugh	ATL	2.288	2	-8.6
2	Patrick Corbin	WSH	2.285	11	-30.5
2	Emmanuel Clase	CLE	2.285	100	2.5
2	Nathan Eovaldi	BOS	2.284	100	-12.5
2	Pierce Johnson	SD	2.275	2
2	German Marquez	COL	2.274	61	-54.7
2	Anthony Bass	MIA	2.256	7	-5.6
2	Tyler Wells	BAL	2.254		-14
2	Brandon Hughes	CHC	2.253		-2.3
2	Charlie Morton	ATL	2.250	100	-13.9
2	David Robertson	CHC	2.249	100	-3.9
2	Sean Doolittle	WSH	2.246
2	Rafael Montero	HOU	2.242	36	-3
2	Erick Fedde	WSH	2.237		2.9
2	Aaron Civale	CLE	2.232	27	-28.2
2	Craig Kimbrel	LAD	2.232	100	-3.9
2	Bryan Baker	BAL	2.226		-10.2
2	Duane Underwood Jr.	PIT	2.224		-5.8
2	Alexis Diaz	CIN	2.224	18	1.4
2	Tanner Rainey	WSH	2.224	95	-4.3
2	Bruce Zimmermann	BAL	2.217		-22.1
2	Joe Jimenez	DET	2.215		-6.6
2	Nick Martinez	SD	2.213	5	0.1
2	Seth Lugo	NYM	2.210		-5.1
2	Adam Wainwright	STL	2.208	100	7
2	John Schreiber	BOS	2.206	9	3.3
2	Joe Mantiply	ARI	2.194	5	-1.3
2	Julian Merryweather	TOR	2.190		-11
2	Amir Garrett	KC	2.189		-10.9
2	A.J. Puk	OAK	2.189	18	-1.6
2	Michael Lorenzen	LAA	2.189	64	11.6
2	Rich Hill	BOS	2.179	2	-5.8
2	Bryse Wilson	PIT	2.178		-85.1
2	Brock Burke	TEX	2.174	25	-7.1
2	Chris Martin	CHC	2.172		-8.7
2	Joely Rodriguez	NYM	2.172		-7.3
2	Mitch Keller	PIT	2.166		-39.2
2	Dillon Peters	PIT	2.164		-11.1
2	Rony Garcia	DET	2.163		-8.7
2	Carl Edwards Jr.	WSH	2.156		-20.7
2	Trevor Rogers	MIA	2.156	91	-19
2	Cal Quantrill	CLE	2.155	36	-25.8
2	Paul Sewald	SEA	2.153	98	-0.2
2	Reid Detmers	LAA	2.149	18	3.1
2	Trevor Gott	MIL	2.149		-6.1
2	Reynaldo Lopez	CHW	2.147	2	0.4
2	Ryan Feltner	COL	2.145		-6.6
2	Jackson Stephens	ATL	2.133		2.5
2	Josiah Gray	WSH	2.129	73	-31.3
2	Brad Keller	KC	2.124	23	-38
2	Kyle Bradish	BAL	2.122		-49.7
2	Chasen Shreve	NYM	2.122		-12.1
2	Sam Moll	OAK	2.121		0.3
2	Kyle Finnegan	WSH	2.120	2	-8.2
2	Cole Sulser	MIA	2.116	16	-5
2	Matt Foster	CHW	2.114		-7.1
2	Aaron Loup	LAA	2.114		-12.3
2	George Kirby	SEA	2.113	82	-28.7
2	Jalen Beeks	TB	2.107	5	-3.4
2	Kervin Castro	SF	2.106		-58.8
2	Jose Berrios	TOR	2.104	100	-23.8
2	Luis Castillo	CIN	2.100	100	-13.9
2	Bailey Ober	MIN	2.096	86	-32.3
2	Mike Clevinger	SD	2.094	77	-2.5
2	Jeff Hoffman	CIN	2.093		-2.4
2	Phillips Valdez	BOS	2.091		-27.1
2	Ranger Suarez	PHI	2.086	45	-24.7
2	Chad Green	NYY	2.080	7	0
2	Nick Vespi	BAL	2.079		28.1
2	Ian Anderson	ATL	2.078	100	-18.8
2	Julio Urias	LAD	2.070	100	1.9
2	Jordan Hicks	STL	2.068	9	-42.4
2	Trevor Williams	NYM	2.067		-11
2	Jake Walsh	STL	2.067		-15.3
2	Vince Velasquez	CHW	2.061		-12.7
2	Corbin Martin	ARI	2.061		-24.4
2	Matt Moore	TEX	2.059		-3.7
2	Camilo Doval	SF	2.055	100	-2.3
2	Joan Adon	WSH	2.052		-53.1
2	Lou Trivino	OAK	2.048	14	-9.9
2	Phoenix Sanders	TB	2.041		2.9
2	Taylor Hearn	TEX	2.040		-11.5
2	Humberto Castellanos	ARI	2.039		-34.6
2	Chris Stratton	PIT	2.039	2	-7.5
2	Brett Martin	TEX	2.039		-8
2	Jose Urquidy	HOU	2.038		-6.1
2	Tim Mayza	TOR	2.037		-4
2	Jhon Romero	MIN	2.036
2	Konnor Pilkington	CLE	2.035	2	-64.9
2	Steven Okert	MIA	2.032		-7.4
2	Kyle Barraclough	LAA	2.032		-3.5
2	Dominic Leone	SF	2.030		-3
2	Josh Winder	MIN	2.028	11	-9.2
2	Jackson Kowar	KC	2.028
2	Cole Irvin	OAK	2.017	16	-27.1
2	Stephen Nogosek	NYM	2.016		8.3
2	Roansy Contreras	PIT	2.016	75	10.5
2	Taijuan Walker	NYM	2.012	23	-11.4
2	Ross Stripling	TOR	2.010		-37.1
2	Zach Thompson	PIT	2.001		-7.8
2	Anderson Severino	CHW	2.000		-6.4
3	David McKay	NYY	1.997		0.6
3	Corey Knebel	PHI	1.993	100	-2.7
3	Nabil Crismatt	SD	1.983		-6.8
3	Noe Ramirez	ARI	1.981		-6
3	Caleb Thielbar	MIN	1.975	2	-2.6
3	Rowan Wick	CHC	1.967	20	-7.9
3	Tanner Scott	MIA	1.964		-7.7
3	Archie Bradley	LAA	1.963		-0.1
3	Glenn Otto	TEX	1.962		-44.9
3	Jorge Lopez	BAL	1.960	100	0.1
3	Hunter Harvey	WSH	1.957
3	Jesse Chavez	ATL	1.955		-13.5
3	Tyler Duffey	MIN	1.951	9	-5.6
3	Brad Boxberger	MIL	1.951	2	-9.9
3	Garrett Cleavinger	LAD	1.947		2.8
3	Nick Nelson	PHI	1.945		-30
3	Zach Davies	ARI	1.944		-25.5
3	David Phelps	TOR	1.940		-8.6
3	Michael Wacha	BOS	1.940	39	-23.3
3	Lucas Luetge	NYY	1.927		-11
3	Zach Plesac	CLE	1.927	30	-63.2
3	Davis Martin	CHW	1.924		-1.8
3	Anthony Kay	TOR	1.923
3	Chris Flexen	SEA	1.919	7	-40.6
3	Joel Payamps	KC	1.918		-5.7
3	Andrew Bellatti	PHI	1.916		-5.3
3	Elieser Hernandez	MIA	1.910	14	-28.8
3	Austin Davis	BOS	1.907		-1.8
3	Robert Dugger	FA	1.903		-18.6
3	Adam Cimber	TOR	1.898	45	-4.6
3	Steven Wilson	SD	1.897		-3.2
3	Diego Castillo	SEA	1.890	20	-18.2
3	Dennis Santana	TEX	1.890		2.6
3	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	1.889	61	-45.3
3	Andres Munoz	SEA	1.889	5	-14.1
3	Drew Smyly	CHC	1.883		-36.3
3	Blake Treinen	LAD	1.882	16
3	Daniel Norris	CHC	1.879		-7.1
3	Hoby Milner	MIL	1.879		-5.6
3	Kendall Graveman	CHW	1.861	7	-8.1
3	Justin Lawrence	COL	1.859		-20.1
3	Joe Kelly	CHW	1.855		-15.4
3	Robert Suarez	SD	1.843	2	-2.1
3	Steve Cishek	WSH	1.840		-6.1
3	David Peterson	NYM	1.839	20	26
3	Yency Almonte	LAD	1.834		-3.9
3	Zach Pop	MIA	1.832		-27.6
3	Anthony Banda	PIT	1.825		-15.3
3	Jose Alvarado	PHI	1.822		-15.8
3	Tyler Rogers	SF	1.822		-20.5
3	Michael Rucker	CHC	1.818		-9.2
3	Jake Cousins	MIL	1.816		-3.9
3	Madison Bumgarner	ARI	1.816	25	-20.1

44 Comments

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Bill Buckner

2 months ago

We’re lost without week 9 from everywhereblair! All the witty quips and and finally tuned statistics! Hope everything is ok and all is well.

martinrostoker

2 months ago

Hi Blair,

I so enjoy your help and details. I can’t wait for your analysis and assistance!

1. I picked up Konnor Pilkington and waived Merrill Kelly. Would you try and get back Kelly of waivers? If the answer is yes, who would you cut from the list below?

2. There is a lot of fantasy chat about pro and con about Cinns Graham Ashcraft, His next two starts are against AZ and the Cards. Would you pick him up and if you say yes, who would you waive from the list below? Would you start him against both the Diamondbacks and the Cards?

3. The next two starts of the Cards’ Mikolasis at TB and home against Pitt. I was going to sit him against TB and start him against Pitt. Do you agree?

Corbin Barnes
Pablo Lopez
Cristian Javier
Tyler Anderson
Freddy Peralta  (IL)
Paul Blackburn
Mike Mikolas
Aaron Ashby
Mike Cleavinger
Nick Pivetta
Jeffery Springs

Thanks so much for taking your time!

Bill Buckner

Reply to martinrostoker

2 months ago

I know you didn’t ask me, but just an outside opinion. I wouldn’t drop any of those guys for Ashcroft. But I would drop Pilkington to get Kelly back.. but if you’re set on keeping him my next pick would be Clevinger for Kelly. But would definitely consider reversing that original move of dropping Kelly for pinkington. Hope that helps and I’m not stepping on anyones toes. But my opinion is based on Blair’s confidence list. Hope you and your team are doing well this week. And good looking pitching staff.

Brian M.

2 months ago

Sorry to add one more question on here. I know you don’t like to compare players that have limited or no stats, but… I have Baz on the IL and I’ll have to drop someone very soon when he comes back. Just ballparking, do you think he’s worth a gamble. The guys on the chopping block are Blackburn, McKenzie, possibly Pivetta (but not the way he’s performing at the moment) and Bassitt. Gore is also available. (It’s a smaller league) I’m guessing you’d recommend I drop one of those for Gore also, probably Bassit? So to sum it up Gore is available, and I got Baz coming off the IL. With those guys on the bottom of my rotation, what are your thoughts? My apologies for another long message . I just can’t make a decision and pull the trigger on this. Thanks for your all of help.