All the final 2016 fantasy baseball rankings for hitters are done. For those that skipped today’s title, this starts the top 20 starters for 2016 fantasy baseball. This is NOT for 2017 (caps for those who can’t read titles; supposedly it’s easier to read caps, I have my doubts). This is a recap. Will these affect next year’s rankings? Sure. But not entirely. To recapitulate, these rankings are from our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater. We’re (me’re) using it to fairly gauge our (my) preseason rankings. Anyway, here’s the top 20 starters for 2016 fantasy baseball and how they compare to where I originally ranked them:
1. Max Scherzer – You know how awesome Scherzer is, so, instead, I’ll talk a bit about pitchers, in general. Since I rank 100 outfielders and 100 pitchers in the preseason, those two seem the most analogous. (By the way, analogous is not a scoresheet a gay man keeps of conquests.) There were three outfielders in the top 20 recap that were ranked after the top 40 in the preseason. There are six starters that were preseason ranked after the top 40 with one more at 39 overall. Now, you can take this to mean I’m an idiot, and I guess there’s an argument to be made there, but I’d prefer to point out how I rank around top 20 for all ‘perts across multiple seasons. I’m really not that terrible at this ranking thing. So, instead, what I’d like to point out is how many more starters can be had later in drafts who give huge value. Know why? Because starters are more unpredictable. Hitters get runs and RBIs due to lineup placement and their teams. No one is getting 120 RBIs as an eight hole hitter. Hitters have 40-homer power or they have 40-steal speed or they don’t. Only thing that is fickle for hitters is their batting averages. For pitchers, they can control their Ks. They can’t control their Wins; their ERA and WHIP are somewhat up to the whim of luck, and starters don’t get saves. So in a 5×5 league, hitters can give you five categories and control two (HRs/SBs) and you can predict two (runs/RBIs). With starters, you get a K or pray. Tell me again how it’s better to draft starters before hitters? Preseason Rank #4, 2016 Projections: 16-8/2.65/0.98/258, Final Numbers: 20-7/2.96/0.97/284
2. Jon Lester – Okay, PETA’s about to get called in if I keep beating this dead horse, but look at Lester’s projected Ks vs. everything else? Since you really want to believe I’m an idiot, Steamer’s projections for Lester — and Steamer is the best in the business — were 14-9/3.17/1.12/196. Hunh. Wonder why Steamer didn’t project him for more wins? Oh, I know! Because no one has any freakin’ clue how many wins a pitcher is going to get. “Buh-buh-buh-but–” No stuttering buts! Preseason Rank #24, 2016 Projections: 15-10/3.51/1.14/199, Final Numbers: 19-5/2.44/1.02/197
3. Rick Porcello – For a moment while Porcello was being hit around in a playoff game, I thought about how that sucked because it might lower him in next season’s rankings, and I want him to be high as possible because I have no intention on drafting him. Then, I realized how Yahoo and ESPN will still rank him high next year. Know how I know? They always rank guys like this high. It’s this weird phenomenon. They rank guys high that they think their readers want to see high. I believe it’s easier for them to rank some players high (mostly big market players) than explain why they’ve ranked him low. Piss off Red Sox Nation or just rank Porcello high? They’ll just rank him high. By the by, I want to open a Japanese restaurant where I serve weird foods and call it, Weird Phenom-nom-nom. Preseason Rank #87, 2016 Projections: 13-9/4.08/1.32/145, Final Numbers: 22-4/3.45/1.01/189
4. Justin Verlander – Now, with everything I said about Ks and ERA and blah blah, Verlander legitimately surprised me. I thought his aging curve was taking its usual slope. He was great, he started to get old, and he was no longer great. Obvious, right? Verlander wasn’t obvious. At 33 years of age, he gained velocity (not normal). This led to him having the highest K-rate of his career except for one year. That’s not normal. His K-rates went from 7 K/9 in 2014, 7.63 in 2015 to 10 K/9. This is not normal. Good for him and the people who drafted him. Being engaged to the hottest Upton agreed with him, but find me someone who it wouldn’t agree with, and don’t end a sentence with with — dah! Preseason Rank #64, 2016 Projections: 11-10/3.68/1.25/172, Final Numbers: 16-9/3.04/1.00/254
5. Madison Bumgarner – I will say this about pitchers, and this is my last big general note (until my next one). Pitchers are fun to research. You can really get a handle on what makes them tick. Not the same with hitters. The answer I think is easy. It’s sorta like with a male gay couple, the pitcher controls the action. A hitter is only as good as the pitch he’s given. The pitcher can do anything he wants. He could throw inside, outside, all fastballs, all cutters, all changes, have control or have no control. Whatever the case, the action starts with him. It still doesn’t help him that he doesn’t control the action after the ball is into play, but he has total control up until the batter swings. Preseason Rank #8, 2016 Projections: 17-9/2.95/1.03/216, Final Numbers: 15-9/2.74/1.02/251
6. Clayton Kershaw – It saddens me that I will never own Kershaw at the height of his powers. I just don’t want to draft a high starter. This doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate Kershaw. Would you agree with me Tanner Roark had a great year? Okay, don’t agree, but he did, he’s even in this top 20. Kershaw faced 544 batters; Roark faced 855. In sixty-one less innings, Kershaw had the same number of Ks as Roark. That’s goofy good. In 149 IP, Kershaw had 11 walks. I believe Liriano had that many in one, two-game stretch. Kershaw led the league in shutouts. That’s Kershaw who missed two months! In. Dot dot dot. Sane. Preseason Rank #1, 2016 Projections: 18-6/2.28/0.90/277, Final Numbers: 12-4/1.69/0.72/172
7. Corey Kluber – Said in robot voice, “I am Klubot. I have come here to disable your hitters and try to avoid Hitter-Tron’s sexual advances. I am Klubot.” I’m not going to call out people; it’s not my style unless they work for ESPN, Yahoo or Razzball. If we can’t make fun of ourselves, who are we? ESPN and Yahoo, namely. Any hoo! There were a lot of people convinced Kluber would not bounce back from his 2015 down year; I had more faith. Preseason Rank #15, 2016 Projections: 14-10/3.18/1.08/235, Final Numbers: 18-9/3.14/1.06/227
8. Kyle Hendricks – If you click on the player’s name, you see their preseason projections, and, with that in mind, I went to see Steamer’s preseason projections on Hendricks (10-8/3.60/1.22/114) to see if there was anything I missed in the preseason, and my big takeaway was, Hendricks got more lucky this year than right after he played at Woodstock. Preseason Rank #49, 2016 Projections: 13-8/3.57/1.13/151, Final Numbers: 16-8/2.13/0.98/170
9. Chris Sale – This guy surprises me every year. I keep thinking he’s going to have a top three overall year, and he keeps finding ways to disappoint, if just slightly. Maybe it’ll be next year, unless he has a relapse and thinks he works at SuperCuts again. Preseason Rank #3, 2016 Projections: 17-6/2.49/0.99/245, Final Numbers: 17-10/3.34/1.04/233
10. Jose Fernandez – The other day I was watching an old Larry Sanders episode with Garry and his guest, Phil Hartman. Made me Google Phil to see how long ago he died. I remembered the way he died was something tragic; it was. Absolutely ghastly. But his death was just a passing occurrence, pun noted. What you really think about with Garry and Phil is how much they made you laugh while they were alive. The manner in which they died and how long ago is forgotten. At some point, I hope to Google Jose Fernandez to recall how long ago he died, and then forget it all over again and remember how he lived. Preseason Rank #10, 2016 Projections: 13-5/2.44/1.01/210, Final Numbers: 16-8/2.86/1.12/253
11. Johnny Cueto – I’d like to just show Cueto’s stats to Samardzija and say, “How could you not? It’s the NL West. C’mon, I held up my end of the bargain, I learned to spell your name.” *sees I preseason ranked Samardzija 38th overall and he ended the year at 39th* Oh. Well. Still! You were supposed to exceed expectations! Preseason Rank #21, 2016 Projections: 14-9/3.31/1.09/186, Final Numbers: 18-5/2.79/1.09/198
12. Jake Arrieta – I’ve gone over Arrieta’s fall from a top three pitcher to being ‘simply’ a top 15 pitcher, I don’t want to repeat myself, but I will repeat that I called that shizz about four months before everyone else. Eat some hay, nayayers. Preseason Rank #2, 2016 Projections: 17-8/2.38/0.96/224, Final Numbers: 18-8/3.10/1.08/190
13. Noah Syndergaard – I was thinking during Syndergaard’s one playoff game this year, “How does anyone ever get a hit off this guy?” Which was followed by an hour of running through my head questions of how many elbow spurs he will have by next April. Preseason Rank #11, 2016 Projections: 15-6/2.88/1.07/208, Final Numbers: 14-9/2.60/1.15/218
14. J.A. Happ – I know someone out there is thinking, “Is there any way to tell who is going to be next year’s Happ and Porcello?” Maybe, and I’ll try, but it feels highly doubtful. Remember, shizz Happens. Preseason Rank #88, 2016 Projections: 10-8/4.08/1.35/156, Final Numbers: 20-4/3.18/1.17/163
15. Tanner Roark – In fairness to me, because if I’m not fair to me, no one will be, I had Roark in a tier of starters that I wanted everyone to draft. Also, in that tier: Daniel Norris, Velasquez, Aaron Sanchez, Rich Hill *covers mouth to mumble* Erasmo, Nicasio, Eovaldi and Jimmy Nelson. Preseason Rank #80, 2016 Projections: 10-7/3.61/1.27/124, Final Numbers: 16-10/2.83/1.17/172
16. David Price – Surprises me to see Price here. I mean that in every sense. In the preseason, I figured he would’ve ended up higher and, after owning him, I’m surprised he ended up here at the end of the season. When you pitch 230 innings on a division winner, it goes a long way towards being ranked high at the end of the season (wins and Ks). Preseason Rank #7, 2016 Projections: 17-7/3.03/1.10/225, Final Numbers: 17-9/3.99/1.20/228
17. Masahiro Tanaka – I actually wasn’t that far off on Tanaka’s projections when you consider I only thought he’d throw 160 IP and he threw 200. Of course, that’s kinda exactly why I was off on him; I never thought he’d throw a full season due to his torn elbow tendon. I kinda hate that I’ve made a personal vow to not draft Tanaka due to his torn tendon, because now I think if I forgive his tendons, for they do not know what they do, he will immediately injure himself. Preseason Rank #39, 2016 Projections: 11-6/3.37/1.04/148, Final Numbers: 14-4/3.07/1.08/165
18. Kenta Maeda – I’m beginning to think all Japanese pitchers should be given the benefit of the doubt and projected to be a top 20 to 30 starter. Though, that feels a little raycess and/or lazy. Plus, I’m not good at math because I’m not Japanese. Preseason Rank #67, 2016 Projections: 9-7/3.79/1.19/115, Final Numbers: 16-11/3.48/1.14/179
19. Stephen Strasburg – If I said to you, “Name me the top 20 starters from last year,” I bet you wouldn’t name Strasburg. He only threw 147 2/3 IP! Pretty obvious where a lot of his value came from and it had little to do with him, unless you’re talking to Murray Chass. That’s right, wins. Preseason Rank #12, 2016 Projections: 14-9/2.89/1.08/231, Final Numbers: 15-4/3.60/1.10/183
20. Carlos Martinez – Ranking on C-Mart wasn’t too far off, but it doesn’t tell the full story since I was pretty adamant — Don’t drink, don’t smoke, what do you do? — against drafting Martinez. Oh, well, you win some, you Carlos some. Preseason Rank #30, 2016 Projections: 12-6/3.43/1.27/148, Final Numbers: 16-9/3.04/1.22/174
