2018 Fantasy Baseball Midseason Starting Pitcher Rankings

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So, I could have devoted my time to trying to get into the minds of every manager in major league baseball. That sounds pretty fun, right?

I say this because trying to figure out who will be starting for each team the weekend after the All-Star Game can be living hell. A.J. Hinch is a maniac. Scott Servais is confusing as hell. The Rays already have no idea who's going to start on a particular day. It would have been foolish for me to try to do a weekend update for the pitching planner.

Instead, I decided to do something a bit more beneficial to the readers. We all have questions on who in our pitching staff is the real deal or the fake snake. Who can we count on down the stretch to either turn their season around or continue their success? Which guys could potentially hit innings limits or get bumped out of rotations due to a trade?

In an attempt to start the pitching planner rankings on the right foot for the second half, I have completed my midseason starting pitcher rankings. Not only will this help you evaluate your staff, but it should help you in your trades in redraft leagues.

Click here to view the featured chart

Midseason Starting Pitcher Rankings

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Rankings

Alright, the chart is pretty self-explanatory. The 'Wody' rankings are my own and I will be comparing my rankings to the 'FantasyPros' experts using the 'diff' column. The other four columns represent how many times a player landed in the four tiers in my weekly pitching planner. 'AS1' and 'AS2' are the Auto-Start and Auto-Stream tiers. Lastly, 'DS' and 'BB' are of course the Dream Stream and Buyer Beware tiers.

Name	Team	Wody	FP	Diff	AS1	AS2	DS	BB
Chris Sale	Red Sox	1	2	1	16
Max Scherzer	Nationals	2	1	-1	16
Corey Kluber	Indians	3	3	0	16
Jacob deGrom	Mets	4	6	2	9	7
Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	5	7	2	11
Luis Severino	Yankees	6	4	-2	9	7
Justin Verlander	Astros	7	5	-2	9	7
Noah Syndergaard	Mets	8	10	2	6	5
Gerrit Cole	Astros	9	14	5	9	4	3
Trevor Bauer	Indians	10	15	5		5	11
James Paxton	Mariners	11	9	-2		15
Aaron Nola	Phillies	12	8	-4		16
Stephen Strasburg	Nationals	13	11	-2	1	11
Zack Greinke	Diamondbacks	14	12	-2		14	2
Carlos Carrasco	Indians	15	16	1		14
Blake Snell	Rays	16	19	3		5	9	2
Jose Berrios	Twins	17	23	6		4	12
Charlie Morton	Astros	18	21	3		12	3
Lance McCullers	Astros	19	22	3		8	8
Patrick Corbin	Diamondbacks	20	20	0		9	7
Ross Stripling	Dodgers	21	39	18			8
Miles Mikolas	Cardinals	22	38	16			14	1
Kenta Maeda	Dodgers	23	45	22			14
Alex Wood	Dodgers	24	29	5		3	13
Tyler Skaggs	Angels	25	46	21			12	3
Jameson Taillon	Pirates	26	34	8		2	13
Madison Bumgarner	Giants	27	17	-11		6
Mike Foltynewicz	Braves	28	43	14			12	4
Jack Flaherty	Cardinals	29	49	19			8	3
Robbie Ray	Diamondbacks	30	18	-13		8
Andrew Heaney	Angels	31	57	25			7	6
Mike Clevinger	Indians	32	33	0			14	1
Rick Porcello	Red Sox	33	36	2			15	1
Carlos Martinez	Cardinals	34	13	-22		6	7
Walker Buehler	Dodgers	35	48	12		5	2
Nick Pivetta	Phillies	36	56	19			14	2
J.A. Happ	Blue Jays	37	41	3			15	1
Masahiro Tanaka	Yankees	38	32	-7		3	10
Shane Bieber	Indians	39	67	26			3	2
David Price	Red Sox	39	40	0			15	1
Johnny Cueto	Giants	40	58	16			6
Chris Archer	Rays	41	26	-17		6	6
Michael Fulmer	Tigers	42	44	0			8	8
Dallas Keuchel	Astros	43	28	-17		4	12
Dylan Bundy	Orioles	44	30	-16			7	8
Nick Kingham	Pirates	45	74	27			6	1
Sean Manaea	Athletics	46	37	-11			13	3
Yu Darvish	Cubs	47	31	-18		7	2
Eduardo Rodriguez	Red Sox	49	42	-7			12	1
Jon Lester	Cubs	50	24	-26			15	1
Marco Gonzales	Mariners	51	68	17			5	7
Vince Velasquez	Phillies	52	81	29			12	3
Jose Quintana	Cubs	53	35	-18			16
Rich Hill	Dodgers	54	50	-4		5	6
Domingo German	Yankees	55	77	22			5	4
Nathan Eovaldi	Rays	56	72	16			3	5
Kyle Gibson	Twins	57	66	9			6	10
Jake Arrieta	Phillies	58	27	-31			14
Kevin Gausman	Orioles	59	61	2			5	10
Zack Wheeler	Mets	60	91	31			7	6
Zach Eflin	Phillies	61	84	23			5	5
Joey Lucchesi	Padres	62	80	18			7	3
Sean Newcomb	Braves	63	53	-10			11	4
Kyle Hendricks	Cubs	64	25	-39			16
Joe Musgrove	Pirates	65	70	5			4	2
Gio Gonzalez	Nationals	66	52	-14			15
Luis Castillo	Reds	67	60	-7			13	3
Tyler Anderson	Rockies	68	92	24			5	11
Andrew Suarez	Giants	69	104	35			6	4
Marcus Stroman	Blue Jays	70	47	-23			8	2
Steven Matz	Mets	71	76	5			12	4
Cole Hamels	Rangers	72	54	-18			5	11
Freddy Peralta	Brewers	73	62	-11			5
Carlos Rodon	White Sox	74	75	1			3	2
Jonathan Gray	Rockies	75	65	-10			16
Luke Weaver	Cardinals	76	55	-21			16
CC Sabathia	Yankees	77	89	12			5	10
Junior Guerra	Brewers	78	79	1			5	8
German Marquez	Rockies	79	99	20			7	9
Zack Godley	Diamondbacks	80	51	-29			12	3
Anibal Sanchez	Braves	81	105	24			3	5
Tyson Ross	Padres	82	69	-13			7	6
Mike Minor	Rangers	83	95	12			6	10
Felix Pena	Angels	84	106	22			1	2
Tyler Mahle	Reds	85	83	-2			7	9
Wade LeBlanc	Mariners	86	107	21			1	7
Jordan Zimmermann	Tigers	87	108	21				6
Sonny Gray	Yankees	88	71	-17			12	4
Mike Leake	Mariners	89	85	-4			3	9
Jeff Samardzija	Giants	90	63	-27			5	3
Danny Duffy	Royals	91	73	-18			8	8
Ivan Nova	Pirates	92	101	9			9	5
Trevor Cahill	Athletics	93	97	4			3	4
Jose Urena	Marlins	94	109	15			1	13
Frankie Montas	Athletics	95	110	15			3	3
Brent Suter	Brewers	96	111	15			4	10
Dereck Rodriguez	Giants	97	112	15			2	2
Jake Odorizzi	Twins	98	64	-34			2	14
Tanner Roark	Nationals	99	78	-21			9	6
Chase Anderson	Brewers	100	59	-41			6	9
Felix Hernandez	Mariners	101	113	12			4	12
Hyun-Jin Ryu	Dodgers	102	100	-2			5
Matt Harvey	Reds	103	82	-21				9
Jimmy Nelson	Brewers	104	86	-18
Kyle Freeland	Rockies	105	90	-15				13
Jeremy Hellickson	Nationals	106	114	8			1	7
Max Fried	Braves	107	115	8				2
Jhoulys Chacin	Brewers	108	93	-15			2	11
John Gant	Cardinals	109	116	7			1	2
Clayton Richard	Padres	110	117	7			2	14
Mike Fiers	Tigers	111	88	-23				7
Brandon McCarthy	Braves	112	102	-10			4	7
Marco Estrada	Blue Jays	113	103	-10			1	12
Jakob Junis	Royals	114	118	4			6	9
Julio Teheran	Braves	115	87	-28			2	13
Lance Lynn	Twins	116	94	-22			4	8
Jake Faria	Rays	117	119	2			5	4
Matt Boyd	Tigers	118	120	2			1	14
Fernando Romero	Twins	119	98	-21			5	3
Aaron Sanchez	Blue Jays	120	96	-24			1	8

Guys that I'm high on...

• I'm not Dodging any starters in Los Angeles as I am somehow the high man on Ross Stripling, Kenta Maeda, and Walker Buehler. As long as none of them get crazy innings limits, I'm feeling good about my aggressive ranking.
• How is the fantasy community STILL underrating Miles Mikolas? The dude's been an animal this year and really has pieced together a nice season.
• Please, Pittsburgh, let Nick Kingham pitch in the majors interrupted for the remainder of 2018. He's deserved it and is a much better option than the Trevor Williamses of the world.

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• I love what I've seen from Domingo German despite the elevated ERA. However, I am concerned that the Yankees make a move to acquire a starting pitcher before the trade deadline. That would effectively knock German back down to a mid-relief role, sadly.
• If Nathan Eovaldi keeps doing what he's doing, the Rays could turn a low-risk contract from a year ago into a nice prospect. Eovaldi would be a rental for a potential contender and that would raise his eye value quite a bit for most rankers. I've decided to be proactively aggressive.
• C'mon, Joey Lucchesi, time to stay healthy and dominate down the stretch!

Not so much...

• The guys I'm low on all have a theme: great ERA, terrible underlying metrics.
• We've seen flashes of the old Madison Bumgarner, but not the full picture. Maybe the All-Star Break will help him refresh.
• I kept throwing Robbie Ray and Carlos Martinez in the Auto-Stream tier out of trust and stubbornness, but that time ends now. They've got to prove to me that they can regain their 2017 form.

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• It's funny to me that Dallas Keuchel is the worst Houston starter and he's still ranked in the top 50. Good luck everyone else in the American League.
• Southpaws Sean Manaea and Jon Lester both have nice ERA's, but where have the strikeouts gone? You can't keep expecting these results with a K% under 20%.
• My ranking on Jake Arrieta will throw off the most readers. I don't know, I'm just thinking he's at the Cole Hamels stage of his career. I could be COMPLETELY wrong, but he's become very hittable and his 9.2% K-BB% is incredibly mediocre.

Watch List

There were some players that were left off of the list above that I wanted to at least mention. I grouped them into three sections: injured, minors, and reliever. Each of these guys has the chance to be viable streamers given the opportunity and/or bill of health.

Name	Team	Category	Note
Shohei Ohtani	Angels	Injured	Hitting, elbow issue lingers
Mike Soroka	Braves	Injured	60-day DL, retro to 6/20
Michael Wacha	Cardinals	Injured	10-day DL, retro to 6/21
Kolby Allard	Braves	Minors	Gwinnett Stripers (Triple-A)
Luiz Gohara	Braves	Minors	Gwinnett Stripers (Triple-A)
Enyel De Los Santos	Phillies	Minors	Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (Triple-A)
Jalen Beeks	Red Sox	Minors	Pawtucket Red Sox (Triple-A)
Michael Kopech	White Sox	Minors	Charlotte Knights (Triple-A)
Jonathan Loaisiga	Yankees	Minors	Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Triple-A)
Justus Sheffield	Yankees	Minors	Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Triple-A)
Mike Montgomery	Cubs	Reliever	3.20 ERA as starter in 2018
Clay Buchholz	Diamondbacks	Reliever	2.56 ERA as starter in 2018
Seth Lugo	Mets	Reliever	3.52 ERA as starter in 2018

Notables

• It doesn't appear that the Angels are rushing Shohei Ohtani back to the mound anytime soon. While he is hitting regularly now, the Angels are falling out of the playoff race and could just decide to save his arm for 2019.
• Michael Wacha and Mike Soroka could both be out until mid-to-late August. I don't know your league format, but I would be moving on in most redraft leagues.
• Of the minor league arms, I believe in Kolby Allard and Justus Sheffield the most on a talent basis. Both southpaws have incredible repertoires and should have no qualms about adjusting to the next level.

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• However, the minor leaguer that I believe gets the most extended look of the group is Michael Kopech. There will be growing pains, but there's no reason that Kopech couldn't put up nice strikeout numbers right away.
• If you have read my recent pitching planners, you know that I'm upset by the Mets. The reason behind moving Seth Lugo back to the bullpen did not sit well with me. Nonetheless, as the sun rises and sets, Mets starters get hurt and Lugo should have another shot soon.

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