My May 8th Starting Pitcher ranks will be similar to my Hitter Ranks. These rankings will be a combination of my preseason projections, found at the bottom of my Draft Day Manifesto, and my current perception of these strike throwers. Some of these pitchers are throwing out of their mind and, like my hitter ranks, I will try to give you some underlying stats that should back up their performances with some statistical anomalies. I have a lot of faith in a handful of pitchers to turn things around including Brewer's ace Yovani Gallardo and Boston's Jon Lester. Consider this list to be how I would value current pitchers as if I was drafting my fantasy team today. All of my rankings are based off of 5x5 roto scoring. Come back tomorrow to see my relief rankings. If you want to discuss my starting pitcher rankings feel free to hit me on twitter @Awies28

May 8th Starting Pitcher Ranks
1. Jered Weaver LAA
2. Justin Verlander DET
3. Clayton Kershaw LAD
4. Roy Halladay PHI
5. Cole Hamels PHI
6. Felix Hernandez SEA

Weaver was My AL Cy Young Pick and over his last 15 innings he's allowed 3 hits and 1 run. In 32.2 home innings pitched this season, Weaver has only allowed 3 runs and has 30 strikeouts. Justin Verlander has continued to build on last season's numbers and with 42 strikeouts in 45.1 innings pitched as Verlander is on his way to another 200 strikeout season (Has had 3 in a row). The strikeout rate for Halladay is down a bit this season and with the noted decrease in velocity there are some concerns here about Doc but his teammate Cole Hamels looks great. So far this year, Hamels has a 44/6 K/BB ratio and with no notable outlying stats I'd say Cole may end up climbing my rankings when I release my 2nd edition in two weeks.

7. Matt Cain SF
8. Zack Greinke MIL
9. CC Sabathia NYY
10. Stephen Strasburg WAS
11. Cliff Lee PHI
12. David Price TB
13. Madison Bumgarner SF
14. James Shields TB
15. Yu Darvish TEX
16. Matt Garza CHC

I'm still sticking with Greinke to win the NL Cy Young. If you take away his one bad start (April 12th @CHC) then he has 31.1 innings pitched with 30 strikeouts and 8 earned runs. He gave up 8 runs in the one bad outing at Wrigley field. Matt Cain is proving once again why he is the most underrated pitcher in all of baseball. Cain has a 2.38 ERA, a 0.73 WHIP and of course, a 1-2 record. I put Cliff Lee on this list just outside the top 10 because I have some concerns with his delayed bull pen sessions during his DL stint. If Lee is healthy he would be in the top 10. Yu Darvish is healthy, and performing better than many expected. Darvish is 4-1 with a 2.54 ERA. He has shown some control issues early on allowing 21 walks in 39 innings but he just edges out Matt Garza for a top 15 spot. 

17. Dan Haren LAA
18. C.J. Wilson LAA
19. Gio Gonzalez WAS
20. Ian Kennedy ARI
21. Jordan Zimmermann WAS

I think that right now the Washington Nationals have the best staff in all of baseball. We know about Strasburg but, many people outside of D.C. don't know about Gio and Jordan. Gonzalez came over from Oakland this off season and, in my opinion, has the best left handed curveball in all of baseball. Did I mention he tops out at 96 mph. Zimmermann is a control freak and was my preseason pick to have a monster breakout year. To this point Jordan Zimmermann has a 2.29 ERA, a 0.99 WHIP and arguably nothing to show for it with a 1-3 record. I hope Zimmermann doesn't become the next Matt Cain because that's what it looks like (great pitcher with a bad record due to lack of run support). 

22. Ricky Romero TOR
23. Brandon Beachy ATL
24. Jon Lester BOS
25. Tim Lincecum SF
26. Cory Luebke SD

I could bash Lincecum again but... Okay I will. Big time Timmy Jim has allowed 17 walks in 31.2 innings this year. I know a lot of people thought he got back on track after his April 23rd start against the Mets but, he's still walked 8 batters in the 13 innings since, only striking out 9. Lincecum's velocity remains down at this point as well. Jon Lester is struggling and it goes back to his 4.14 BB/9 rate this season. Lester is a clear bounce back candidate in my mind because he is a creature of habit. Lester's left on base percentage of 67.7% is well below his 76.1% career rate. He is also striking batters out at a 16.3% rate well below his career 22% rate. Once these two numbers begin to trend in the right direction he should have top 20 value, making him a solid buy low guy. 

27. Anibal Sanchez MIA
28. Jeremy Hellickson TB
29. Brandon Morrow TOR
30. Johnny Cueto CIN
31. Josh Beckett BOS
32. Shaun Marcum MIL
33. Yovani Gallardo MIL
34. Jake Peavy CHW

Brandon Morrow has altered his value this year from strikeout machine to an above average strikeout guy with a solid ERA, WHIP and with 3 wins, he remains among my top 30. Morrow has dropped his K/9 rate from last season (10.19 last season, 6.26 this year) but with an 88.7% strand rate he seems to have made the necessary adjustments to be considered a great #3 fantasy starter. Don't buy all in on Morrow as he has a very lucky .202 BABIP which is more than likely going to regress. Yovani Gallardo is in the middle of one of the worst stretches in his career with a 5.79 ERA, 1.65 WHIP and a 1-3 record. I'm still buying low on Yovani for the simple fact that his BABIP against is .360 and his strikeout and walk rates are close to his career averages. I think this is just Gallardo getting unlucky on balls in play (only 13 of his 40 hits allowed have gone for extra bases). Jake Peavy on the other hand is getting lucky with a .218 BABIP and a 77.6% strand rate both are somewhat uncharacteristic since he's put on a White Sox uniform. Peavy does have solid K rates and with a 1.19 BB/9 rate he appears to have found his control so the eventual BABIP regression won't hit him as hard as it will Brandon Morrow.

35. Tommy Hanson ATL
36. Adam Wainwright STL
37. Matt Latos CIN
38. Wandy Rodriguez HOU
39. Brandon McCarthy OAK

I have Tommy Hanson in here because he is still putting up solid numbers despite being on the brink of a shoulder tear that he has been dealing with for about a year now. As long as he is on the mound, Hanson is ownable in every fantasy league. Wandy Rodriguez continues to defy his haters, this season he is doing it along the lines of a 2.14 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and a 3-3 record for a team that should be fighting not to lose 100 games by season's end. Way-Rod has been impressive and so far this season is throwing into a career high number of ground balls which should keep his home run prone stuff from leaving the park as often as it did in the past. I'm beginning to buy in on Wandy.

40. Ted Lilly LAD
41. Jaime Garcia STL
42. Johan Santana NYM
43. Matt Moore TB

Like I said last week Matt Moore is on the cusp of making my sell high list. That night he went out and threw a gem, on May 6th (his next start) he got rocked (vs. OAK, 8 earned runs). I'm officially selling high (name recognition and high rookie status) on Matt Moore if I'm in a one year league. 

44. Daniel Hudson ARI- DL
45. Erik Bedard PIT
46. Jason Hammel BAL
47. Kyle Lohse STL
48. Lance Lynn STL
49. Drew Smyly DET
50. Ricky Nolasco MIA


Erik Bedard has pitched out of his mind this season but a lack of run support has his value about 10 spots lower than he deserves. Bedard has a 2.65 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 37 strikeouts in 34 innings. You may not think he can keep this up but here is why I think he will surprise many of his doubters; he has a .355 BABIP. If you can't tell I put a lot of my thought process in using BABIP, as I am a true believer in its value. Once his BABIP regresses his numbers may actually get better. He won't win the Cy Young Mathew Berry (cut to a picture of him about to block me from twitter) but he is worthy of a roster spot in any format.



That was my top 50 starters to this point in the season. I feel that if you roster a pitcher that did not make this list, they are droppable in a standard 10 team mix league. This is my official top 50 and I draw the line at Ricky Nolasco. I call it the...

 "Nolasco Line"

Thanks for reading and if you want to discuss my rankings more feel free to hit me on twitter or email the show at mrfantasyfreak@yahoo.com



@Awies28

Alex Wiesner