True story: DonkeyTeeth calls me up on the ol’ Twitter machine this morning. Me, I’m just awake from dreaming of 5-year-old Blair riding out in my dad’s Buick Skylark into the Minneapolis night to celebrate the Twin’s 1987 World Series win. Suddenly Donkey’s typing: “Top 100 Switchers.” And I’m like, “Donkey, it’s 7AM, I’m not ready for that!” He types into the Twitter machine, “TOP 100 PITCHERS!” So I say, that’s fine, here: 1) Beer, 2) Sangria, 3) Margarita… . Donk does it. You know. He starts typing, but doesn’t finish. The little dots on the bottom of my Twitter machine beep out in morse code–or whatever code Jack wants to call it–that causes mental insanity among so many people. I’m transfixed. The next use of a nuclear code, you know it’s going to be preceded by those little waiting dots. President Swift will have to verify the code with Vice President Lovitz but only after they clear their notifications. Finally, Donkey’s message comes across. “2-for-1 pitchers at BWW if you get there before 9AM. See ya.” That’s the level of training they give here at Razzball. I tell ya, I get no respect at all.
Welcome to Summer Training, then! Pitchers and catchers report to the bubble soon, and Covid-willing, we’ll have a 60-game baseball season in 2020. It may be daring to say, but pitchers will likely be the most affected by the change in schedule in terms of fantasy baseball. There are a lot of rumors right now, but some teams have discussed 4-man rotations while other teams have discussed 6-man rotations. Some teams have hinted that starters will throw 3-4 innings at most, while other teams are rumored to let their starters run wild. In real life, we’re all wishing for the health and well-being of pitchers, along with the rest of the teams and their communities. But for fantasy purposes, we’ll be monitoring the rumors and adjusting as much as possible as quick as possible.
The standings in this post are organized as of 06.28.2020, and will be updated weekly throughout the season. For fantasy purposes, players shouldn’t worry too much about the ordering, but rather focus on position within tiers. If you’re in a standard 12-person league, I would focus on grabbing healthy hitters first, one top tier pitcher, and then 5-7 starters from the middle and lower tiers. You’re going to see plenty of great matchups that you’ll be able to take advantage of in the late rounds.
Tier 1: Grey’s Afternoon Delights
| Rank | Name | Previous Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gerrit Cole | 1 | |
| 2 | Jacob deGrom | 2 | |
| 3 | Jack Flaherty | 3 | |
| 4 | Max Scherzer | 4 | Poor 2nd half 2019 |
| 5 | Shane Bieber | 5 | |
| 6 | Walker Buehler | 6 | |
| 7 | Stephen Strasburg | 7 | |
| 8 | Patrick Corbin | 8 | |
| 9 | Luis Castillo | 9 | |
| 10 | Lucas Giolito | 10 | |
| 11 | Justin Verlander | 11 | Surgery Recovery |
Tier 2: Donkey Teeth’s Denture Cleaners
| Rank | Name | Previous Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Yu Darvish | 12 | |
| 13 | Chris Paddack | 13 | |
| 14 | Tyler Glasnow | 14 | |
| 15 | Clayton Kershaw | 15 | |
| 16 | Mike Clevinger | 16 | Injury recovery |
| 17 | Aaron Nola | 17 | |
| 18 | Jose Berrios | 18 | |
| 19 | Zack Greinke | 19 | |
| 20 | Sonny Gray | 20 | |
| 21 | Charlie Morton | 21 | |
| 22 | Trevor Bauer | 22 | Stressful 2019 |
| 23 | Zac Gallen | 23 | |
| 24 | Hyun-Jin Ryu | 24 | |
| 25 | Shohei Ohtani | 25 |
Tier 3: Blair’s Flairs
| Rank | Name | Previous Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | Brandon Woodruff | 26 | |
| 27 | Eduardo Rodriguez | 27 | |
| 28 | Lance Lynn | 28 | |
| 29 | Blake Snell | 29 | Cortisone shot in elbow |
| 30 | Jake Odorizzi | 30 | Sleeper |
| 31 | Dinelson Lamet | 31 | Sleeper |
| 32 | Zack Wheeler | 32 | |
| 33 | Carlos Carrasco | 33 | |
| 34 | Corey Kluber | 34 | |
| 35 | Robbie Ray | 35 | Poor command |
| 36 | Max Fried | 36 | Sleeper |
| 37 | Mike Soroka | 37 | |
| 38 | Julio Urias | 38 | |
| 39 | Kyle Hendricks | 39 | |
| 40 | Kenta Maeda | 40 | Sleeper |
| 41 | Marcus Stroman | 41 | Sleeper |
Tier 4: Coolwhip’s Cake Toppers
| Rank | Name | Previous Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 42 | Madison Bumgarner | 42 | |
| 43 | Frankie Montas | 43 | Sleeper |
| 44 | Mike Minor | 44 | |
| 45 | Luke Weaver | 45 | |
| 46 | Andrew Heaney | 46 | Sleeper |
| 47 | Jesus Luzardo | 47 | Grey’s rave |
| 48 | Sean Manaea | 48 | |
| 49 | Matthew Boyd | 49 | |
| 50 | James Paxton | 50 | Surgery recovery |
| 51 | German Marquez | 51 | |
| 52 | Adrian Houser | 52 | |
| 53 | David Price | 53 | |
| 54 | Mike Foltynewicz | 54 | |
| 55 | Joe Musgrove | 55 | Sleeper |
| 56 | Carlos Martinez | 56 | |
| 57 | Lance McCullers | 57 | |
| 58 | Joey Lucchesi | 58 | |
| 59 | Ryan Yarbrough | 59 | Sleeper |
| 60 | Brendan McKay | 60 | Grey’s rave |
Tier 5: JKJ’s Tiny Dancers
| Rank | Name | Previous Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61 | Jon Gray | 61 | |
| 62 | Zach Plesac | 62 | |
| 63 | Caleb Smith | 63 | Coolwhip’s rave |
| 64 | Yonny Chirinos | 64 | |
| 65 | Aaron Civale | 65 | |
| 66 | Garrett Richards | 66 | |
| 67 | Johnny Cueto | 67 | |
| 68 | Anthony DeSclafani | 68 | |
| 69 | Jordan Yamamoto | 69 | |
| 70 | Kevin Gausman | 70 | |
| 71 | Jose Urquidy | 71 | |
| 72 | Pablo Lopez | 72 | |
| 73 | Dustin May | 73 | Outlook |
| 74 | Sandy Alcantara | 74 | |
| 75 | Dallas Keuchel | 75 | |
| 76 | Steven Matz | 76 | |
| 77 | Chris Bassitt | 77 | |
| 78 | Zach Eflin | 78 | |
| 79 | Josh James | 79 | Coolwhip’s rave |
| 80 | A.J. Puk | 80 | Injury risk |
Tier 6: The Itch’s Back Scratchers
| Rank | Name | Previous Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 81 | Mitch Keller | 81 | |
| 82 | Kyle Gibson | 82 | |
| 83 | Jose Quintana | 83 | |
| 84 | Mike Fiers | 84 | |
| 85 | Dylan Bundy | 85 | |
| 86 | Justus Sheffield | 86 | |
| 87 | Masahiro Tanaka | 87 | |
| 88 | Alex Wood | 88 | |
| 89 | Jeff Samardzija | 89 | |
| 90 | Jon Lester | 90 | |
| 91 | Anibal Sanchez | 91 | |
| 92 | Gio Gonzalez | 92 | |
| 93 | Julio Teheran | 93 | |
| 94 | Marco Gonzales | 94 | |
| 95 | Josh Lindblom | 95 | |
| 96 | Dakota Hudson | 96 | |
| 97 | Reynaldo Lopez | 97 | |
| 98 | Rick Porcello | 98 | |
| 99 | Nathan Eovaldi | 99 | |
| 100 | Kwang-Hyun Kim | 100 |
Injured: Noah Syndergaard, Luis Severino, Chris Sale, Chris Archer
Suspended: Michael Pineda
EWB, thanks for this. Always love lists.
Long live long lists!
Cheers! I’m more bullish on some pitchers than Grey, and I submitted this *before* the camps were announced yesterday.
It’s a great draft list as it stands, but shizz is going to get wild, and it’s going to get wild soon.
But for fantasy fans, this is a great summary of Razzball’s top pitcher ordering. Myself, I aimed for Corbin as my #1 this year, and I’ve rostered Gallen on a ton of teams.
(whispers) and those deep leagues–and i’m talking 16 teams–are just leaving Yamamoto and Teheran on the table (looks around) (extra whispery) Gio Gonzalez isn’t that bad either.
Eovaldi over Kwang-Hyun Kim?! WHAT?! Kidding…Nice work, Blair!
<3
Excellent Article!!!, Bold Predictions here…, Dylan Bundy is a top 30 starter…, based on his ability to suppress hard contact, a knockout /elite pitch( slider), he’s going from the biggest joke in baseball to a real team…, fastball( although slow, spin rate is borderline elite) command is the key, he’s paired with one of top framing catchers in baseball( Jason Castro), that will greatly help…… getting out of AL East helps too…., The Other Dylan (Cease) is a top 50 starter (maybe better)…, changing mechanics, secondary pitches already plus( slider, change up, curve).., again, fastball command is key.., at least it travels 96/97 mph on average( near elite spin) plus , again, top framing Catcher Arrival Alert( Grandal) can do the trick…, my 2 cents, peace…, Razzball Rules!!!
My Razzslam team sure hopes Dylan Cease is a top 50 starter. Some metrics don’t say that though. White Sox pitchers are gonna be under the radar this year, so a lot of veterans are going to grab them late and win a lot of leagues with them. Thanks for the read and the comment!
What do you think about Dylan Cease? Is he worth dropping for,
Lopez
Guasman
Bassitt
Cueto
Samardjzia
Eflin
Lester
Sheffield
My rotation currently:
Gallen
Soroka
Lynn
Price
Minor
Luzardo
Desclafani
In redraft and dynasty, I’d keep Cease over all of those.
Give him a chance this year. Plus secondary pitches will help support his fastball. His upside is worth the risk.
Thinking of dumping Eovaldi for Seth Lugo for his ratios. Does that make sense with the staff I have?
Stras, Paddack, Greinke, Lynn, Robbie Ray, Bundy, Civale, Sonny Gray* (May be in the process of trading him for Whit Merrifield)
RP I have are Chapman, Hendricks and Pagan.
Great work on this list everywhereblair!
Yeah, you’ve got more than enough SP. in a traditional league. Depends on how many RP/P slots you have. I always make sure my P slots (hehe!) are stocked with RP when SP aren’t pitching.
Appreciate the quick response!
I’ve tended to fade RP the last few years (Dynasty League by the way) but in this short year, I want quick and immediate impact for ratios. For as much as I like what Eovaldi COULD do, a blow up game from him can sink a week so quick. Loved him to gamble on for a long haul season but in a short, seems like an obvious fade.
I see you’ve got Kim at #100. I’m glad you took notice of him. Most people don’t even know he exists, much less who he is.
By the time the season ends, he’ll be the Cards’ #2 pitcher behind Flaherty because he already is. Mark my word, while the #100 ranking is a nice tip of the cap to him now, it will be an insult by the end of September. Book it Dan-O. Dude is for real.