Fantasy Baseball 2014: Starting Pitcher Rankings #46-95

CC Sabathia
CC Sabathia
Greg M Cooper USA TODAY Sports

As mentioned in part one of our starting pitcher rankings, there were 59 qualified starters who finished with an ERA below 4.00 in 2013. Compare that to 2006 when just 28 qualified starters finished with ERAs under 4.00 and you see a league where stellar pitching has become the norm. As that has happened, batting production has declined which means it’s important to focus on getting great hitters first since there will be plenty of value available among pitchers later in the draft and even through the waiver wire during the season.

When you consider all of the starters who could provide good value throughout the season, it makes less sense to take risks on pitchers compared to hitters. There are more sure-things available which means you can really play on the “let him be someone else’s problem” strategy. Among the pitchers below, some that may not be worth the risk include R.A. Dickey after a disappointing first season with the Blue Jays, Tim Lincecum after two down years, Ubaldo Jimenez who bounced back in a big way in 2013 but has a shaky track record, Dan Haren who has really been on the slide for a couple of years, Josh Johnson who’s flat out a question mark, and Taijuan Walker who has yet to show he has Major League-ready stuff and is already nursing a shoulder injury.

On the other hand, there is plenty of cheap value that can be had late in drafts or even on the waiver wire. Dillon Gee may not have the strikeouts you’d like in a fantasy starter but his 3.62 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, and 12 wins can be had in the final rounds of most drafts. Tyson Ross was a solid reliever but he’s turned into an excellent starter. In 2013, Ross posted a 3.06 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and 97 strikeouts over 94 innings as a starter and is a burning value that can be had very late. Kyle Lohse, like Gee, may not offer a ton of strikeouts but when you consider he hasn’t posted an ERA over 3.39 in three straight seasons and has a combined 3.19 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and 41 wins over those three years, he’s clearly a guy who poses very little risk for his current ADP of 337 (basically, undrafted).

With all that in mind, let’s take a look at our full 2014 fantasy baseball starting pitcher rankings for the starters that didn’t crack our top 45. Be sure to check out our outfield rankings and projections, first base rankings and projections, second base rankings and projections, third base rankings and projections, shortstop rankings and projections, and catcher rankings and projections.

Stay tuned for full starting pitcher projections coming this week.

Tier Rank Player
5 46 CC Sabathia
47 R.A. Dickey
48 Chris Archer
49 C.J. Wilson
50 Patrick Corbin
51 Clay Buchholz
52 Alex Wood
53 Justin Masterson
54 A.J. Burnett
55 Ervin Santana
6 56 Yovani Gallardo
57 Chris Tillman
58 Zack Wheeler
59 Ian Kennedy
60 Tim Lincecum
61 Ubaldo Jimenez
62 A.J. Griffin
63 Jarrod Parker
64 Dan Straily
65 Dan Haren
66 Brandon Beachy
67 Jose Quintana
68 Corey Kluber
7 69 Jake Peavy
70 Marco Estrada
71 John Lackey
72 Bartolo Colon
73 Ivan Nova
74 Wade Miley
75 Jhoulys Chacin
76 Dillon Gee
77 Josh Johnson
78 Jon Niese
79 Tyson Ross
80 Alexi Ogando
81 Hector Santiago
8 82 Travis Wood
83 Trevor Cahill
84 Ricky Nolasco
85 Kyle Lohse
86 Mike Leake
87 Taijuan Walker
88 Scott Kazmir
89 Phil Hughes
90 Tim Hudson
91 Brandon Morrow
92 Henderson Alvarez
93 Rick Porcello
94 Wily Peralta
95 Kevin Gausman

 

author avatar
Igor Derysh
Igor Derysh is Editor-at-Large at XN Sports and has been featured in The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Boston Herald, Baltimore Sun, Orlando Sun-Sentinel, and FantasyPros. He has previously covered sports for COED Magazine, Fantasy Alarm, and Manwall.com.