Baseball is back and with it, my first official tiered top-125 starting pitcher rankings. I’ve done some consensus starting pitcher rankings, but I’ve never put together my own personal rankings, until now. However, as aforementioned, these are tiered rankings. Some starting pitchers are ranked over others for a reason, but for the most part, the pitchers are numbered for organizational purposes.
I try to stick to tiered rankings, mainly because it helps me better visualize the differences in values between certain players. More than that, I believe tiered rankings help make the task of gauging a player’s trade value simpler. In total, there are eight tiers containing 125 SP eligible players in this piece. Each tier listing is accompanied by a brief breakdown that explains why those starting pitchers are in the tier that they are in. Questions, comments and concerns are always welcome, all I ask is that you keep them at a respectful level. Without further ado, my first ever official tiered starting pitching rankings, enjoy!
What?! Your league is not using Fantrax? Inconceivable! Check out everything Fantrax has to offer and I’m sure you’ll come around to our way of thinking.
Tiered Starting Pitcher Rankings
* = currently on IL/suspended/in minors
Tier 1: The Elite
- Gerrit Cole
- *Jacob deGrom
- Max Scherzer
- Brandon Woodruff
- *Yu Darvish
- Corbin Burnes
These are my bonafide aces for the rest of the season. I would have moved Darvish to Tier 2 if I was confident that this left hip inflammation was going to keep him out for a while. The reports state he’ll be starting July 19th against Atlanta, so he’s sticking in Tier 1. All in all, having any one of these pitchers on your fantasy roster gives your staff someone you can truly rely on every time.
Tier 2: The Almost-Elite
- Walker Buehler
- Zack Wheeler
- Kevin Gausman
- Lucas Giolito
- *Aaron Nola
- Lance Lynn
- *Clayton Kershaw
- Carlos Rodon
All eight of these pitchers are very close to being elite options, and one could make a legitimate argument for a handful of them being elite options right now. Carlos Rodon and Clayton Kershaw if their durability was more trustworthy, and I can go on. Speaking of Kershaw, the reports indicate the forearm injury might not be too serious, so I’m comfortable keeping him in this tier for now. As a whole, all of these pitchers should continue to help fantasy rotations everywhere.
Tier 3: The High-End Options
- Luis Castillo
- Freddy Peralta
- *Shane Bieber
- Zac Gallen
- Sonny Gray
- Julio Urías
- Joe Musgrove
- Sandy Alcántara
- Charlie Morton
- Jose Berrios
- Shohei Ohtani
- Trevor Rogers
- Robbie Ray
- Hyun-jin Ryu
- Kyle Hendricks
- *Jack Flaherty
This is my favorite tier. Shane Bieber is only here because he’s hurt, but all of these arms should provide high-end value for the rest of the 2021 season. Luis Castillo could easily be moved up to Tier 2 soon, but until his changeup starts to induce whiffs like it did in the past, he’ll be here. More than that, Trevor Rogers just missed my top-25 because of the possibility of his innings being limited down the stretch. If he’s truly being limited by August/September, he’ll likely be moved down to Tier 4. This is the last tier that includes a pitcher that could potentially anchor your fantasy rotation.
Tier 4: The Rock Solid Options
- Kenta Maeda
- Zack Greinke
- Lance McCullers Jr.
- Ian Anderson
- Tyler Mahle
- Framber Valdez
- Chris Bassit
- Max Fried
- *Blake Snell
- Eduardo Rodriguez
- Sean Manaea
- *John Means
- Germán Márquez
We’re now approaching the ‘depth tiers’. None of these pitchers will be anchoring the typical fantasy rotation, but they’re capable of performing like a SP1in any given start. More than that, some of these names could graduate to Tier 3 with a strong run. Having two or more of these arms on your fantasy roster would surely give your staff some stability.
Tier 5: The Very Useful Options
- Zach Plesac
- Jameson Taillon
- Dylan Cease
- Frankie Montas
- Marcus Stroman
- Alek Manoah
- Yusei Kikuchi
- Logan Gilbert
- Chris Paddack
- Zach Eflin
- Shane McClanahan
- Taijuan Walker
- *Pablo López
This feels like the ‘next big thing’ tier. A lot of youth here and all of these starting pitchers have flashed SP2/3 potential at some point this season, and for most, that’s likely around their ceiling for the rest of the 2021 season. Zach Plesac could easily graduate to Tier 4, or higher, if he can begin to regain the strong form he showcased in the 2020 sample size. Interestingly enough, there are a handful of arms in this tier that I’m confident will be regulars in the higher tiers at some point in their careers. All in all, all of these pitchers are capable of providing strong pitching depth to any fantasy roster.
Tier 6: The Useful Options
- Triston McKenzie
- Alex Wood
- Tarik Skubal
- Kyle Gibson
- Anthony DeSclafani
- Casey Mize
- Nathan Eovaldi
- Jordan Montgomery
- Andrew Heaney
- Logan Webb
- Rich Hill
- Tony Gonsolin
- Luis Garcia
- Alex Cobb
All of these pitchers provide much needed depth for fantasy rosters. Triston McKenzie could graduate to as high as Tier 4 rather quickly, he just needs to show some consistency. It’s possible I’m higher on Logan Webb than others, but I believe in the growth that he’s already shown this season. As the tier title states, all of these pitchers are useful fantasy options. However, I can see several of them graduating to higher tiers in time.
Tier 7: The Fallback Options
- *Tyler Glasnow
- *Aaron Civale
- *Chris Sale
- *José Urquidy
- *Carlos Carrasco
- Cristian Javier
- Michael Kopech
- Patrick Corbin
- Adam Wainwright
- Adbert Alzolay
- Dallas Keuchel
- Jake Odorizzi
- Marco Gonzales
- Danny Duffy
- Michael Pineda
- Wade Miley
- Domingo German
- Brady Singer
- James Kaprielian
- Steven Matz
- Patrick Sandoval
- Ryan Yarbrough
- Nick Pivetta
- Chris Flexen
- Jon Gray
- Zach Thompson
- Kyle Muller
- Cole Irvin
- Tylor Megill
- David Price
- Alec Mills
- *Madison Bumgarner
We are now in the tier that holds several players who you might hesitate to grab off the waiver wire. This is a diverse, and large, group that includes veterans who are pitching well but have low ceilings, veterans slowly returning from injuries and a good amount of speculative waiver wire adds. Cristian Javier would be in the last tier if Zack Greinke wasn’t dealing with right shoulder soreness. However, if Javier does rejoin the rotation and begins to perform well, he’ll quickly find himself in Tier 6, maybe even Tier 5. I’m confident that a handful of these players will prove they belong in higher tiers over the next few weeks.
Tier 8: The Roster Fillers
- Dane Dunning
- Kwang-hyun Kim
- *Joe Ross
- Mike Minor
- Ross Stripling
- Zach Davies
- Merrill Kelly
- Johnny Cueto
- *Corey Kluber
- *Jesús Luzardo
- *Austin Gomber
- *Dinelson Lamet
- Tanner Houck
- Drew Smyly
- *Matthew Boyd
- *Huascar Ynoa
- J.A. Happ
- JT Brubaker
- *Luis Severino
- *Spencer Turnbull
- *Noah Syndergaard
- *Sammy Long
- *Stephen Strasburg
We’ve made it to the end. These pitchers are the worst of the worst, they all hold absolutely no…
Just kidding. While it is true that this is the last tier of my starting pitcher rankings, this is another diverse group of arms who are capable of providing fantasy value. Whether that is through streaming or using them in deeper leagues, they can help you when used correctly. Additionally, there are also a handful of pitchers in this tier who would surely be in a higher tier if they were healthy. As a whole, these are some of your last resort options and should be treated as such in your fantasy leagues.
For more help on the pitching front, check out Mike Carter’s look at the top Two-Start Pitchers for the coming week.
Fantrax was one of the fastest-growing fantasy sites of 2020, and we’re not stopping now. With multi-team trades, designated commissioner/league managers, and drag/drop easy click methods, Fantrax is sure to excite the serious fantasy sports fan – sign up now for a free year at Fantrax.com.
Please list 130 pitchers next time. 125 is too short of a list. Also the top 5 should have photos too, preferably shirtless.