Justin Mason’s Top 121 Starting Pitchers

by Justin Mason

February 7, 2019

Our positional previews series on The Sleeper and the Bust are upon us and so I thought I would begin to release my personal ranks for the 2019 season. Like in Paul’s ranks, I have highlighted the tiers, but I did it in Giants Orange because that is better than Tigers blue. I also ranked a total of 121 pitchers because, like on the pod, I just want to be a little bit better than Paul.

Over the next ten days, I will release the rest of my positional ranks for the 2019 season. ADP is from NFBC sorted by 1/1/2019 through 2/7/19

My Rank	Player	Team	Pos	SP ADP	ADP	Min Pick	Max Pick	Difference
1	Scherzer, Max	WAS	P	1	6.55	3	12	0
2	deGrom, Jacob	NYM	P	2	11.77	8	19	0
3	Verlander, Justin	HOU	P	4	22.74	14	39	-1
4	Sale, Chris	BOS	P	3	16.54	9	30	1
5	Cole, Gerrit	HOU	P	7	27.74	16	36	-2
6	Kluber, Corey	CLE	P	6	23.68	14	40	0
7	Severino, Luis	NYY	P	10	36.79	26	51	-3
8	Nola, Aaron	PHI	P	5	23.09	12	31	3
9	Snell, Blake	TB	P	8	29.07	3	40	1
10	Bauer, Trevor	CLE	P	9	34.62	27	45	1
11	Carrasco, Carlos	CLE	P	11	36.87	27	52	0
12	Buehler, Walker	LAD	P	12	38.02	21	53	0
13	Kershaw, Clayton	LAD	P	13	38.06	25	52	0
14	Taillon, Jameson	PIT	P	17	61.09	49	83	-3
15	Syndergaard, Noah	NYM	P	14	41.79	30	54	1
16	Paxton, James	NYY	P	16	56.33	41	77	0
17	Flaherty, Jack	STL	P	21	66.02	49	101	-4
18	Clevinger, Mike	CLE	P	19	65.15	41	87	-1
19	Martinez, Carlos	STL	P	33	127.13	95	158	-14
20	Greinke, Zack	ARZ	P	20	65.39	45	94	0
21	Corbin, Patrick	WAS	P	15	50.11	34	74	6
22	Strasburg, Stephen	WAS	P	18	62.41	44	99	4
23	Berrios, Jose	MIN	P	23	78.73	62	103	0
24	Wheeler, Zack	NYM	P	26	94.51	67	126	-2
25	Price, David	BOS	P	28	98.62	72	130	-3
26	Marquez, German	COL	P	25	84.83	49	127	1
27	Castillo, Luis	CIN	P	29	112.78	82	144	-2
28	Heaney, Andrew	LAA	P	44	165.28	130	196	-16
29	Foltynewicz, Mike	ATL	P	24	82.54	59	114	5
30	Bumgarner, Madison	SF	P	22	76.06	46	117	8
31	Mikolas, Miles	STL	P	27	95.05	64	133	4
32	Morton, Charlie	TB	P	32	122.73	86	158	0
33	Pivetta, Nick	PHI	P	40	155.88	126	182	-7
34	Freeland, Kyle	COL	P	38	153.94	114	209	-4
35	Tanaka, Masahiro	NYY	P	36	136.91	108	168	-1
36	Darvish, Yu	CHC	P	42	157.06	120	191	-6
37	Hendricks, Kyle	CHC	P	31	120.21	72	158	6
38	Hamels, Cole	CHC	P	37	148.94	106	197	1
39	Ray, Robbie	ARZ	P	30	120.01	81	149	9
40	Gausman, Kevin	ATL	P	53	199.32	145	238	-13
41	Nelson, Jimmy	MLW	P	71	250.99	188	306	-30
42	Skaggs, Tyler	LAA	P	63	230.77	129	281	-21
43	Eovaldi, Nathan	BOS	P	45	165.51	108	213	-2
44	Stripling, Ross	LAD	P	62	227.46	183	294	-18
45	Wood, Alex	CIN	P	61	225.72	171	295	-16
46	Quintana, Jose	CHC	P	51	187.4	151	227	-5
47	Lester, Jon	CHC	P	50	186.06	132	229	-3
48	Keuchel, Dallas	HOU	P	49	180.56	142	218	-1
49	James, Josh	HOU	P	54	201.43	146	279	-5
50	Whitley, Forrest	HOU	P	65	238.63	151	315	-15
51	Glasnow, Tyler	TB	P	46	166.82	120	201	5
52	Happ, J.A.	NYY	P	35	136.54	100	162	17
53	Gray, Jon	COL	P	55	201.83	166	254	-2
54	Godley, Zack	ARZ	P	66	245.8	160	314	-12
55	Gibson, Kyle	MIN	P	73	271.55	183	356	-18
56	Luzardo, Jesus	OAK	P	68	246.85	186	322	-12
57	Bieber, Shane	CLE	P	39	155.61	112	190	18
58	Rodriguez, Eduardo	BOS	P	41	156.35	131	218	17
59	Archer, Chris	PIT	P	34	134.41	99	172	25
60	Wacha, Michael	STL	P	77	278.66	150	339	-17
61	Rodon, Carlos	CWS	P	79	281.99	146	385	-18
62	Maeda, Kenta	LAD	P	60	222.82	102	304	2
63	Hill, Rich	LAD	P	47	173.77	119	237	16
64	Ryu, Hyun-Jin	LAD	P	52	187.74	146	239	12
65	Reyes, Alex	STL	P	57	203.8	144	287	8
66	Lopez, Reynaldo	CWS	P	70	250.88	174	321	-4
67	Soroka, Mike	ATL	P	83	298.09	225	393	-16
68	Samardzija, Jeff	SF	P	121	475.88	256	460	-53
69	Toussaint, Touki	ATL	P	91	330.21	212	416	-22
70	Fulmer, Michael	DET	P	90	327.32	267	389	-20
71	Kikuchi, Yusei	SEA	P	48	174.1	96	300	23
72	Teheran, Julio	ATL	P	81	286.4	210	368	-9
73	Bundy, Dylan	BAL	P	82	290.01	172	375	-9
74	Porcello, Rick	BOS	P	43	159.37	128	210	31
75	Chacin, Jhoulys	MLW	P	67	246.38	160	322	8
76	Lucchesi, Joey	SD	P	56	202.8	162	251	20
77	Musgrove, Joe	PIT	P	64	233.22	172	295	13
78	Woodruff, Brandon	MLW	P	94	348.39	266	414	-16
79	Sanchez, Anibal	WAS	P	78	279.93	174	354	1
80	Newcomb, Sean	ATL	P	58	211.07	152	297	22
81	Weaver, Luke	ARZ	P	84	306.32	226	379	-3
82	Arrieta, Jake	PHI	P	59	218.21	162	285	23
83	Williams, Trevor	PIT	P	74	272.23	210	345	9
84	Minor, Mike	TEX	P	89	326.99	230	402	-5
85	McHugh, Collin	HOU	P	69	248.12	145	450	16
86	Gonzales, Marco	SEA	P	75	274.73	230	326	11
88	Junis, Jake	KC	P	87	319.79	249	375	1
89	Anderson, Chase	MLW	P	105	401.76	298	463	-16
90	Peralta, Freddy	MLW	P	96	350.98	233	415	-6
91	Harvey, Matt	LAA	P	95	349.38	268	474	-4
92	Eflin, Zach	PHI	P	93	341.57	254	376	-1
93	Gonzalez, Gio	MLW	P	111	436.56	310	498	-18
94	Urias, Julio	LAD	P	80	282.01	137	362	14
95	Matz, Steven	NYM	P	72	254.76	203	324	23
95	Roark, Tanner	CIN	P	107	405.98	293	497	-12
96	Lynn, Lance	TEX	P	113	438.72	292	512	-17
97	Rodriguez, Dereck	SF	P	85	316.76	213	415	12
98	Lugo, Seth	NYM	P	122	481.57	303	528	-24
99	Boyd, Matthew	DET	P	86	317.83	241	393	13
100	Sanchez, Aaron	TOR	P	102	386.94	275	449	-2
101	DeSclafani, Anthony	CIN	P	104	399.28	259	453	-3
102	Duffy, Danny	KC	P	117	445.33	302	523	-15
103	Richards, Trevor	MIA	P	116	442.99	318	548	-13
104	Holland, Derek	SF	P	97	364.39	284	460	7
105	Strahm, Matt	SD	P	120	468.63	274	584	-15
106	Velasquez, Vince	PHI	P	100	376.63	292	404	6
107	Allen, Logan	SD	P	148	594.93	385	623	-41
108	Lauer, Eric	SD	P	149	596.61	315	654	-41
109	Reid-Foley, Sean	TOR	P	164	643.07	425	652	-55
110	Faria, Jacob	TB	P	169	662.13	490	646	-59
111	Gray, Sonny	CIN	P	76	277.24	202	356	35
112	Fiers, Mike	OAK	P	88	322.55	254	393	24
113	Miley, Wade	HOU	P	140	560.98	326	659	-27
114	Gohara, Luiz	ATL	P	147	591.56	369	589	-33
115	Wright, Kyle	ATL	P	159	630.23	364	695	-44
116	Straily, Dan	MIA	P	163	642.7	382	613	-47
117	Cahill, Trevor	LAA	P	99	374.23	251	537	18
118	Odorizzi, Jake	MIN	P	101	378.33	278	458	17
119	Puk, AJ	OAK	P	155	617.29	315	716	-36
120	Estrada, Marco	OAK	P	171	663.59	372	745	-51
121	Keller, Brad	KC	P	118	456.18	340	532	3

You can get continuously updated ranks in the Friends with Fantasy Benefits draft guide along with 400+ pages of strategy, team by team previews, prospect profiles and much more by buying a paperback or eBook on Amazon or emailing me at justinmasonfantasy@gmail.com for a PDF.

16 Comments

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Russell EassomMember since 2019

7 years ago

Interesting list, what do you see in Carlos Martinez and Andrew Heaney to boost them up so high?

MustBunique

Justin, you’re fierce. Tearing down Paul, building yourself and your Giants up. Though not even you or Machado and Harper could help them. Love the podcast dude, and glad to see you’re posting rankings too.

hebrewMember since 2016

Are you a Belieber?

Trying to decide if I should keep him in the 13th round of a 20-team 6×6 keeper draft (QS, K/9, ERA, WHIP, SV, HLD)

I’d be keeping him at pick #262

Justin MasonFanGraphs Staff

Reply to hebrew

That’s cheap enough to keep but I don’t see a breakout

LightenUpFGMember since 2018

Danny Duffy … how the once and temporarily mighty have fallen.

Tristan

Reply to LightenUpFG

Add Marcus Stroman to that list 🙁

Reply to Tristan

Not until he gets moved off of turf

yojiveself

You must love getting hostile tweets to rank Kershaw so low (carrasco above him is pretty bold).

Reply to yojiveself

I struggle with Kershaw. Love him as a pitcher but don’t think I’ll end up with him at any point so my ranking reflected that

carterMember since 2020

I don’t think its that bold, seen him in the 20s in places. Super bold w Heaney. I do agree there is a lot to like in him, but in particular what do you see?

cavebirdMember since 2018

Do the tiers stop or start with the shaded player? I.e. is Snell top tier or second tier? Paul started tiers with shaded (and with Snell starting the second tier), so I assume that is it, but thought I would check.

Reply to cavebird

It was the end of my tier.

OddBall Herrera

Wow, Flaherty at 17. I have no numbers to support this but he’s pretty high on my list of regression guys, mostly because he doesn’t seem to have a third pitch, and I sure hope people are grabbing him and leaving Grienke for me.

freescopeMember since 2026

Why is everyone down on Chris Archer this year. Is he an injury risk? Are we too afraid of last year?

ltos55

This is Roto, yeah? Not FGPTS?

God Albatross

Hey Justin, is Thor’s ranking health-based, or are you seeing other things?