Clayton Kershaw, Top 100 Pitchers, 2019 Fantasy Baseball

Not your Grandfathers top 100 starting pitchers…

It’s been a rough month for Grandpa-Donk. The old Donk isn’t supposed to be climbing ladders in his advanced age of 90, but the garage roof needed to be tarred and he felt he was the only donkey for such an urgent task. You guessed it, gramps fell off the garage roof, but somehow he escaped with only a broken wrist. A couple weeks later, while in a cast, G-Donk decided to use that same hoof to hammer some nails into his barn. This resulted in a second trip to the veterinarian for the stubborn old jackass.

Clayton Kershaw reminds me a little of Grandpa-Donk. I mean, minus the senility, reckless abandon, and tail. Kershaw suffers from a herniated disc in his lumbar spine (lower back). While I’m not a doctor, I have been called “Dr. Donkey” several times; and I think that’s qualification enough for me to assert that, while the symptoms may subside, a disc herniation will not heal without surgery. Mr. Kershaw has had no back surgeries.

All of this is to say, I trust Clayton Kershaw to stay healthy about as far as I can throw him. Which isn’t far, because I’m a donkey, I can’t throw anything. While Kershaw has looked very good so far this season, and I do have him ranked at #10, I’m afraid it’s only a matter of time before Kershaw finds himself on the shelf for another two month stin,t or worse. If I happened to own him, I’d sell him for any arm in my top 20. You should be able to get a useful piece added on if you’re forced to settle for one of those back end top 20 names.

Here are some other guys who I do trust to keep climbing the ladder…

Mike Foltynewicz (-1) – Grey suggested in one of this daily write-ups last week that Folty isn’t healthy. As a well known, highly respected doctor, I’m reluctant to admit my prognosis is still pending. While it’s a bit concerning that the fastball velocity is down a couple ticks from last year, I’m still cautiously optimistic and speculate he’s still rounding into form. Minus a few bites, The Foltwich has looked pretty tasty to me in his first two starts. He’s only walked one batter in 10 2/3 IP, plus he’s throwing lots of first pitch strikes (61.2%), and getting swinging strikes at the same rate as last year when he dominated (10%). I highlighted Folty’s slider usage in the top 100 preseason edition, and he’s throwing even more in the early going this season (30%). If the price is right, I’m willing to gamble on Foltynewicz for his top 20 upside over the rest of the season.

Hyun-Jin Ryu (+22) – Maybe trust isn’t a word I should be using in the same breath as Ryu. This guy’s health is more questionable than the bubble boy. That said, Ryu has been an absolute beast since the beginning of August 2018, sporting a 2.15 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and a 9.41 K/9 across his last 88 IP. He’s walked only 7 batters during this stretch! There’s a legitimate argument for Hyun-Jin Ryu as a top 10 pitcher right now.

Matt Strahm (+17) – I hoped Strahm’s velocity would come back as we got further into the year. It hasn’t, but Strahm is getting the job done even with his low 90s fastball. The strikeouts are even starting to pile up of late. Can we just keep increasing the number of eggs in his diet and see what happens?

Anthony DeSclafani (+25) – Another guy here that we shouldn’t fully trust since he hasn’t reached 125 IP in any of the past three seasons. But right now he’s enjoying success on the legs of his increased K rate and swinging strike rate. Streamonator also recommends taking Disco out for a dance this week as he’s set to face off against the Giants twice.

Mike Soroka (+51)– I was standoffish on Soroka a couple weeks back due mainly to all the pitching competition in Atlanta, but he’s already rising to the top of the pecking order down there in The ATL. I asked Ralph on the Razzball podcast this week if Soroka could be a Bieber type this year with his elite fastball command and developing slider. Ralph replied that he thinks Soroka could be even better than Bieber. As the President of the Donkeys for Bieber Fan Club, I’m not ready for such bold statements yet but there’s a lot to like here and Soroka has earned himself quite a bit of leash after four impressive outings. He’s still available in a surprising amount of leagues, make sure yours isn’t one of those leagues.

Chris Bassitt (+49) – We profiled The Bassitt Hound in depth on our most recent podcast. Bassitt hasn’t quite cracked 12-team relevance for me yet, but he’s on my radar.

Here are some guys I’d like to push off the garage roof right about now…

Carlos Rodon (NA) – The FIP and xFIP fairies are whispering that there should be some positive regression in Rodon’s future, but I don’t want any part of him until he strings a few quality starts together. Even then, I think I’d rather just let him be someone else’s headache. Rodon isn’t a rookie, but he has all the other token qualities of a notorious roofier: he lures you in with all that sexy strikeout potential, then suddenly you awaken in a bathtub full of ice minus one kidney and plus 8 earned runs on your ERA.

Edit: Rodon is now injured and may need Tommy John.

Freddy Peralta (-26) – See: Rodon, Carlos

Edit: Freddy isn’t hurt like Rodon, at least not right now.

Brad Keller (-34) – I was drawn to this young arm in the preseason due to an impressive 2018 2nd half led by improved slider effectiveness. Unfortunately, the gains Keller saw in the 2nd half haven’t seemed to stick. His first pitch strike rate, swinging strike rate, and ground ball rate have all faded in the early going with his walk rate increasing. Helen Keller, I mean Brad Keller, has been searching for the strike zone at times this year. I’m not fully writing him off long term, but for now it’s time to move on even in some deeper formats.

Anyway, here’s my updated Top 100 Starting Pitchers for 2019 Fantasy Baseball:

Rank	Name	Previous Rank
1	Max Scherzer	1
2	Jacob deGrom	NA
3	Trevor Bauer	2
4	Justin Verlander	4
5	Gerrit Cole	5
6	Chris Sale	6
7	Blake Snell	3
8	Carlos Carrasco	8
9	German Marquez	9
10	Clayton Kershaw	13
11	Jack Flaherty	14
12	Walker Buehler	10
13	Tyler Glasnow	22
14	Patrick Corbin	11
15	Noah Syndergaard	15
16	Luis Castillo	19
17	Zack Greinke	20
18	Shane Bieber	17
19	Stephen Strasburg	24
20	Hyun-Jin Ryu	42
21	Aaron Nola	16
22	Zack Wheeler	23
23	Charlie Morton	26
24	Madison Bumgarner	18
25	Jose Berrios	27
26	Chris Paddack	33
27	Matt Boyd	37
28	David Price	25
29	Mike Foltynewicz	28
30	Caleb Smith	55
31	Yusei Kikuchi	30
32	Robbie Ray	29
33	Joe Musgrove	32
34	Domingo German	36
35	Cole Hamels	39
36	Max Fried	46
37	Matt Strahm	54
38	Kyle Hendricks	34
39	Mike Soroka	90
40	Collin McHugh	41
41	Jose Quintana	45
42	Masahiro Tanaka	35
43	Steven Matz	49
44	Miles Mikolas	40
45	Jon Lester	60
46	Rich Hill	52
47	Eduardo Rodriguez	48
48	Pablo Lopez	68
49	Luke Weaver	71
50	Yonny Chirinos	50
51	J.A. Happ	53
52	Anthony DeSclafani	77
53	Mike Minor	86
54	Yu Darvish	43
55	Jon Gray	44
56	Frankie Montas	56
57	Kenta Maeda	59
58	Rick Porcello	73
59	Zach Eflin	67
60	Jake Odorizzi	95
61	Spencer Turnbull	93
62	Trevor Williams	57
63	Merrill Kelly	87
64	Kevin Gausman	38
65	Brad Peacock	51
66	Marcus Stroman	64
67	Marco Gonzales	69
68	Jake Arrieta	62
69	Vince Velasquez	61
70	Sonny Gray	84
71	Jared Eickhoff	122
72	Brandon Woodruff	76
73	Julio Teheran	91
74	Drew Pomeranz	72
75	Lucas Giolito	74
76	Tyler Skaggs	98
77	Chris Bassitt	126
78	Martin Perez	135
79	Wade Miley	83
80	Zach Davies	92
81	Jalen Beeks	NA
82	Joey Lucchesi	70
83	Trevor Richards	58
84	Kyle Gibson	82
85	Jake Junis	94
86	Jordan Lyles	79
87	Trent Thornton	113
88	Aaron Sanchez	85
89	Brad Keller	63
90	Michael Wacha	66
91	CC Sabathia	78
92	Kyle Freeland	65
93	Jeff Samardzija	105
94	Griffin Canning	NA
95	Tyler Mahle	103
96	Danny Duffy	108
97	Gio Gonzalez	NA
98	Erik Swanson	89
99	Reynaldo Lopez	102
100	Drew Smyly	97
101	Jhoulys Chacin	109
102	Chase Anderson	106
103	Dakota Hudson	128
104	Felix Pena	119
105	Brett Anderson	99
106	Matt Harvey	139
107	Mike Fiers	136
108	Tanner Roark	117
109	Freddy Peralta	75
110	Sandy Alcantara	81
111	Michael Pineda	80
112	Eric Lauer	125
113	Nick Margevicius	114
114	Felix Hernandez	132
115	Adam Wainwright	129
116	Trevor Cahill	107
117	Anibal Sanchez	118
118	Daniel Norris	121
119	Lance Lynn	120
120	Jeremy Hellickson	116
121	Dylan Bundy	131
122	Clay Buchholz	111
123	Tyson Ross	96
124	Homer Bailey	112
125	Jason Vargas	137
126	Jose Urena	123
127	Jorge Lopez	133
128	Mike Leake	127
129	Andrew Cashner	145
130	Adrian Sampson	146
131	Aaron Brooks	134
132	Dan Straily	140
133	Antonio Senzatela	130
134	Manny Banuelos	NA
135	John Means	NA
136	Dereck Rodriguez	101
137	David Hess	142
138	Shelby Miller	138
139	Alex Cobb	144
140	Ivan Nova	115
141	Tyler Anderson	143

Injured: Corey Kluber, James Paxton, Jameson Taillon, Luis Severino, Mike Clevinger, Chris Archer, Nate Eovaldi, Jimmy Nelson, Carlos Rodon, Derek Holland, Jordan Zimmerman, Andrew Heaney, Alex Wood, Carlos Martinez, Marco Estrada, Wade LeBlance, Danny Salazar, Taijuan Walker, Ryan Borucki, Edinson Volquez

On the Farm: Forrest Whitley, Alex Reyes, Jesus Luzardo, Jon Duplantier, Zac Gallen, Casey Mize, Corbin Burnes, Jonathan Loaisiga, Nick Pivetta, Touki Toussaint, Brent Honeywell, Mitch Keller, Kyle Wright, Daniel Mengden, AJ Puk, Luiz Gohara, Justus Sheffield, Bryse Wilson

Unsigned: Dallas Keuchel, Ervin Santana

Out of the Pen: Julio Urias, Josh James, Ross Stripling, Sean Newcomb, Zack Godley, Luis Cessa, Nick Kingham, Framber Valdez

Find Donkey Teeth on Twitter @DonkeyTeeth87. Subscribe to his podcast: Ditka, Sausage, and Fantasy Sports on Itunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

All statistics courtesy of Fangraphs & Baseball Savant.