Starting Pitcher Consensus Ranks for Second Half

by
July 16, 2012

Starting pitchers. Man, there are so many of them. And every week, there’s a no-name that throws a shutout and burns bright for a few days. Those matchstick burns very rarely turn into anything substantial.

And yet we have to wait five days between starts, wondering what the next heaping pile of information will tell us. Imagine if a position player got 30 plate appearances every five days, we’d spend a lot of time thinking about them in between, too. Maybe this is the appeal with fantasy football, eh?

Off-topic. Point is, information about starting pitchers comes in leaps and surges. That makes them particularly tough to rank, but it also provides opportunity.

Jake Peavy, for example, looks great now. But his next start could show reduced velocity and we’d start thinking about how brittle he is once again. Roy Halladay seems like a question mark, for once. But he could come back Tuesday and make us forget he was even gone. Mat Latos looks like he’s got it one start, and then the next, he’s useless again. And then you’ve got Chris Sale and Stephen Strasburg (and Adam Wainwright?) that are putting up great stats every fifth day, but possibly gobbling up more of those precious remaining innings before they are shut down, too. And then there’s Tim Lincecum, and all his whiffs and walks, confounding our rankers as well. Ian Kennedy even.

Remember that different ranks mean the player is rife with opportunity. If we have a hard time deciding what Tim Lincecum is worth, his fantasy owner in your league will be having a hard time deciding what he’s worth. And every pitcher is a buy-low if the price is low enough.

Good luck in the second half!

FanGraphs Consensus Rankings:
Starting Pitchers
New Last Player Name Eno Sarris Mike Podhorzer Jeff Zimmerman Zach Sanders
1 4 Justin Verlander 1 3 1 2
2 2 Clayton Kershaw 3 1 3 1
3 5 Zack Greinke 2 4 2 3
4 3 Cliff Lee 4 2 5 4
5 6 Felix Hernandez 5 7 4 5
6 7 Cole Hamels 6 6 7 9
7 8 CC Sabathia 9 5 11 6
8 9 Jered Weaver 11 8 14 8
9 15 Matt Cain 8 14 15 7
10 1 Roy Halladay 7 9 16 16
11 14 David Price 12 12 17 15
12 12 Stephen Strasburg 13 10 21 13
13 26 Gio Gonzalez 10 21 10 18
14 11 James Shields 16 11 12 20
15 78 R.A. Dickey 19 22 18 10
16 17 Yu Darvish 18 15 19 23
17 24 Mat Latos 22 24 8 22
18 16 Yovani Gallardo 14 19 9 36
19 51 Chris Sale 20 16 30 14
20 20 Adam Wainwright 17 20 25 19
21 25 Madison Bumgarner 15 18 20 35
22 19 Jon Lester 26 13 22 32
23 23 C.J. Wilson 21 25 32 17
24 13 Tim Lincecum 28 23 6 39
25 22 Matt Garza 23 27 21 34
26 27 Josh Johnson 25 28 42 12
27 39 Max Scherzer 30 30 13 43
28 29 Tommy Hanson 24 34 23 37
29 30 Anibal Sanchez 29 33 29 28
30 10 Dan Haren 31 17 24 49
31 21 Ian Kennedy 44 40 27 11
32 41 Matt Moore 32 26 47 29
33 56 Jake Peavy 39 32 41 38
34 43 Johnny Cueto 36 38 51 31
35 34 Colby Lewis 35 29 26 70
36 54 Edwin Jackson 37 64 37 27
37 65 Johan Santana 27 37 78 25
38 33 Jordan Zimmerman 33 35 59 41
39 47 Ryan Dempster 38 41 44 48
40 37 Josh Beckett 43 31 52 52
41 38 Derek Holland 47 44 62 26
42 84 James McDonald 46 42 63 30
43 40 Wandy Rodriguez 41 62 38 50
44 31 Shaun Marcum 40 39 46 68
45 45 Gavin Floyd 57 48 31 57
46 63 A.J. Burnett 50 46 57 44
47 59 Chad Billingsley 52 63 35 47
48 28 Brandon Morrow 34 81 34 51
49 60 Jonathon Niese 45 49 45 62
50 48 Doug Fister 58 53 70 24
51 42 Bud Norris 42 43 28 96
52 44 Tim Hudson 51 58 84 21
53 66 Chris Capuano 49 55 48 66
54 36 Ricky Romero 56 80 49 40
55 53 Vance Worley 55 71 58 42
56 76 Justin Masterson 67 61 39 61
57 64 Lance Lynn 59 50 77 45
58 62 Hiroki Kuroda 65 54 53 63
59 69 Jason Hammel 60 87 61 33
60 73 Mark Buehrle 54 65 71 58
61 46 Jeremy Hellickson 48 47 100 56
62 72 Ubaldo Jimenez 77 83 40 64
63 50 Jeff Samardzija 66 36 109 54
64 70 Ryan Vogelsong 53 84 76 53
65 88 Trevor Cahill 75 57 60 74
66 49 Brandon McCarthy 79 59 74 55
67 58 Ricky Nolasco 69 94 36 72
68 67 Homer Bailey 81 56 55 80
69 113 Francisco Liriano 64 82 54 76
70 82 Trevor Bauer 62 73 83 60
71 55 Mike Minor 82 95 33 71
72 105 Phil Hughes 91 52 67 93
73 96 Ivan Nova 85 60 65 95
74 81 Matt Harrison 74 85 88 59
75 106 Roy Oswalt 61 45 119 82
76 85 Edinson Volquez 87 70 86 65
77 52 Ervin Santana 63 78 50 118
78 89 Mike Leake 78 86 72 73
79 57 Ted Lilly 80 75 68 89
80 114 Brett Myers 68 51 85 114
81 95 Wei-Yin Chen 72 96 64 99
82 61 John Danks 86 102 73 77
83 91 Tommy Milone 76 89 56 126
84 98 Joe Blanton 97 92 66 101
85 99 Jason Vargas 98 111 69 78
86 94 Kyle Lohse 93 91 114 69
87 68 Erik Bedard 88 69 118 97
88 102 Aaron Harang 108 119 87 67
89 77 Drew Smyly 71 67 146 98
90 111 Jarrod Parker 70 90 129 94
91 N/A Michael Fiers 83 93 106 102
92 109 Marco Estrada 73 76 95 141
93 N/A Felix Doubront 112 79 111 84
94 184 Wade Miley 118 97 126 46
95 92 Carlos Zambrano 96 72 105 123
96 130 J.A. Happ 122 122 81 83
97 93 Bartolo Colon 100 88 104 117
98 115 Bronson Arroyo 110 117 75 107
99 110 Clay Buchholz 94 110 132 75
100 169 Chris Tillman 92 68 170 88
101 107 Luke Hochevar 109 112 79 119
102 116 Travis Wood 101 127 90 104
103 186 Ben Sheets 84 74 116 152
104 N/A Scott Diamond 121 66 160 79
105 100 Randy Wolf 99 116 82 140
106 137 Rick Porcello 103 113 102 124
107 118 Ross Detwiler 113 106 142 81
108 80 Philip Humber 111 101 103 135
109 127 Clayton Richard 117 120 110 105
110 181 Franklin Morales 102 104 163 86
111 121 Derek Lowe 114 109 140 92
112 104 Henderson Alvarez 89 99 130 142
113 139 Kevin Millwood 132 129 117 85
114 125 Carl Pavano 115 107 101 144
115 N/A Jose Quintana 116 77 165 109
116 159 Josh Collmenter 106 179 96 87
117 182 Andrew Cashner 90 105 127 151
118 129 Paul Maholm 133 128 91 125
119 86 Jeff Niemann 105 103 98 174
120 N/A Zach McAllister 144 98 122 122
121 136 Jhoulys Chacin 126 174 89 100
122 124 Randall Delgado 104 160 92 136
123 131 Jake Westbrook 107 130 135 121
124 142 Drew Pomeranz 137 123 143 91
125 103 Jake Arrieta 120 147 97 134
126 135 Jordan Lyles 125 125 108 143
127 149 Bruce Chen 167 135 93 106
128 83 Juan Nicasio 143 154 94 120
129 112 Brett Anderson 95 148 180 90
130 146 Jeremy Guthrie 140 138 113 129
131 128 Joe Saunders 163 121 107 130
132 172 Charlie Furbush 124 167 128 103
133 133 Jerome Williams 127 100 137 161
134 150 Brett Cecil 131 178 112 108
135 N/A Chris Young 124 142
136 74 Neftali Feliz 139 156 123 115
137 119 Josh Tomlin 129 108 124 173
138 152 Jair Jurrjens 119 124 145 148
139 132 Hector Noesi 130 115 139 153
140 153 Kevin Correia 153 131 144 110
141 141 Barry Zito 128 133 152 131
142 140 Hisashi Iwakuma 135 161 99 149
143 147 Jeff Karstens 161 136 136 111
144 144 Alexi Ogando 159 162 80 150
145 N/A Christian Friedrich 134 144 149 127
146 97 Tyler Skaggs 155 149 120 132
147 148 Brian Matusz 145 134 121 158
148 87 Anthony Bass 157 155 133 116
149 71 Tim Stauffer 123 158 154 137
150 161 Wade Davis 175 169 115 113
151 123 Jonathan Sanchez 158 114 148 154
152 156 Jason Marquis 156 139 158 128
153 134 Chris Volstad 162 118 134 169
154 145 Blake Beavan 154 141 141 164
155 154 Alex White 164 126 162 156
156 126 Julio Teheran 168 173 131 138
157 138 Randy Wells 138 164 157 155
158 187 Lucas Harrell 147 151 161 163
159 75 Daniel Bard 170 153 166 133
160 N/A Brian Duensing 146 183 147 147
161 175 Freddy Garcia 177 181 153 112
162 165 Dustin Moseley 165 132 173 –
163 185 Kris Medlen 150 146 155 176
164 162 Jacob Turner 160 142 169 157
165 173 Nathan Eovaldi 172 143 171 146
166 N/A Joe Kelly 149 152 176 162
167 N/A Daisuke Matsuzaka 151 157 167 166
168 117 Brad Peacock 148 175 182 139
169 167 Nick Blackburn 166 137 164 181
170 170 Chien-Ming Wang 176 140 174 159
171 122 Jorge De La Rosa 136 163 189 165
172 143 Charlie Morton 142 165 185 –
173 168 Guillermo Moscoso 182 171 150 160
174 157 Dallas Braden 152 168 179 175
175 N/A Cole DeVries 188 145 172 170
176 183 Jesse Chavez 178 150 168 182
177 160 Livan Hernandez 186 170 151 171
178 166 Zach Britton 141 177 183 179
179 171 John Lannan 174 180 181 145
180 163 Chris Narveson 184 186 138 177
181 90 Dillon Gee 169 159 190 –
182 N/A Kyle Kendrick 185 192 156 168
183 164 Dustin McGowan 173 166 192 172
184 176 Tyler Chatwood 181 172 177 185
185 N/A Aaron Cook 171 191 175 180
186 N/A Kip Wells 189 182 184 167
187 158 Kevin Slowey 179 184 178 183
188 174 Fausto Carmona 180 176 191 184
189 177 Tsuyoshi Wada 183 188 186 –
190 151 Javier Vazquez 187 189 193 –





 

With a phone full of pictures of pitchers' fingers, strange beers, and his two toddler sons, Eno Sarris can be found at the ballpark or a brewery most days. Read him here, writing about the A's or Giants at The Athletic, or about beer at October. Follow him on Twitter @enosarris if you can handle the sandwiches and inanity.

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Jeff ZimmermanFanGraphs Staff
12 years ago

BTW, I will publish an article this afternoon looking at the problems ranking Strasburg. I had him anywhere from #1 to #60. The IP limit he is said to be under and each set of league rules will heavily influence his ranking.

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Marge Bouvier
12 years ago
Reply to  Jeff Zimmerman

I’ve yet to really hear/see/perceive the same circumstances for Chris Sale, yet his ranking reflects this to a certain extent. I have a hard time looking at Yovani Gallardo and Mat Latos ahead of Sale in terms of what I personally have seen and expect to see. Sale’s schedule alone is worth noting, as he’s probable to start vs KC 4 more times, Minn twice, Oakland and Cleveland. That’s 1/2 his remaining starts, if he pitches through the end of the year. Is this fate a certainty that has just slipped past my gaze?

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