Rest of Season Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Flaherty Lighting It Up

I am going to start this week’s edition of my rest-of-season fantasy baseball rankings with a little trivia. There were 76 qualified starting pitchers entering this weekend’s action. Only one ranked in the top five in both strikeout rate and walk rate. This led him to pace all qualifying pitchers with a 29.4 percent K-BB rate and a 2.13 xFIP. And I would guess that most cannot name the pitcher in question. I know I couldn’t. OK, here is a hint – he pitches for the Detroit Tigers.

Wrong. It’s Jack Flaherty, not Tarik Skubal. 

After being one of the best pitchers in baseball from 2018 and 2019, Flaherty had a decent (but not great) 2020 season. Then, the injuries hit. First, it was an oblique injury suffered while batting, which cost him over two months. Ah, remember when pitchers used to hit? Soon upon his return, he suffered a shoulder strain. All told he had a solid season, going 9-2 with a 3.22 ERA. But he only made 15 starts, and his underlying metrics were down from previous years. The next season was a mess. He missed the first two months of the year due to more shoulder issues, then pitched just eight innings before he was back on the Injured List. Flaherty made just eight starts in total that year. 

Last season, Flaherty’s numbers continued to decline. In 20 starts for the Cardinals, he posted a 4.43 ERA and 1.55 WHIP. He allowed more hits than innings pitched and had an ugly 106-54 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Saint Louis sent him to Baltimore at last year’s trade deadline for prospects. Flaherty was hit hard in his brief tenure as an Oriole. He allowed 26 earned runs in just 34.2 innings of work. The Detroit Tigers signed him to a one-year contract in December. Given how far Flaherty had fallen, there was not much optimism in fantasy circles. Fantasy managers largely ignored the 28-year-old. Fast forward two months and Flaherty has been one of the most pleasant surprises of the 2024 season. 

At least in real life. From a fantasy perspective, not as much. 

Two major issues have plagued Flaherty so far this year. First, was that as good as he had been in his first eight starts, Flaherty entered the weekend without a win. Yes, A.J. Minter and Reed Garrett each had five more wins apiece than Flaherty. Seems fair. Also, Flaherty had run into a bit of bad ERA luck. Despite leading the Majors with a 2.13 xFIP, his ERA stood nearly two full runs higher, at 3.88. That ranked just 49th among those same 76 qualified starting pitchers. Because of the middling ERA and lack of wins, Flaherty ranked outside the top 70 starters in fantasy production. Flaherty was able to secure his first victory as a Tiger on Saturday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, so perhaps his luck is turning around. He struck out nine in that outing and is now second in all of MLB with 72 strikeouts. 

For ROS rankings purposes, I find myself hedging a bit. Even at his peak, he was not this precise. Flaherty is on pace to set new career highs in both strikeout rate and walk rate. However, those are the only Statcast numbers that have been elite this season. The rest are still above average, but his batted-ball metrics are a far cry from his 2019 levels. Considering that offense is down throughout the league, that is not ideal. And it could get him in trouble if his control metrics dip. I listed him as an SP5 in 12-team leagues in this week’s rankings. That feels low given how he has performed so far. But there are so many pitchers dealing this season that I just couldn’t go much higher. Having said that, if you have Flaherty on your fantasy team, enjoy the ride. 

Rest of Season Fantasy Baseball Rankings

RANK	PLAYER	TEAM	POS
1	Ronald Acuna Jr.	ATL	OF
2	Shohei Ohtani	LAD	DH
3	Bobby Witt Jr.	KC	SS
4	Mookie Betts	LAD	2B/SS/ OF
5	Kyle Tucker	HOU	OF
6	Juan Soto	NYY	OF
7	Fernando Tatis Jr.	SD	OF
8	Julio Rodriguez	SEA	OF
9	Aaron Judge	NYY	OF
10	Yordan Alvarez	HOU	OF
11	Freddie Freeman	LAD	1B
12	Jose Ramirez	CLE	3B
13	Elly De La Cruz	CIN	SS/3B
14	Matt Olson	ATL	1B
15	Austin Riley	ATL	3B
16	Zack Wheeler	PHI	SP
17	Gunnar Henderson	BAL	SS/3B
18	Rafael Devers	BOS	3B
19	Michael Harris II	ATL	OF
20	Bryce Harper	PHI	1B
21	Tarik Skubal	DET	SP
22	Ozzie Albies	ATL	2B
23	Pablo Lopez	MIN	SP
24	Corbin Burnes	BAL	SP
25	Pete Alonso	NYM	1B
26	Luis Castillo	SEA	SP
27	Tyler Glasnow	LAD	SP
28	Marcus Semien	TEX	2B
29	Corey Seager	TEX	SS
30	George Kirby	SEA	SP
31	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD	SP
32	Francisco Lindor	NYM	SS
33	Freddy Peralta	MIL	SP
34	CJ Abrams	WSH	SS
35	Jose Altuve	HOU	2B
36	Corbin Carroll	ARI	OF
37	Joe Ryan	MIN	SP
38	Kevin Gausman	TOR	SP
39	Max Fried	ATL	SP
40	Logan Gilbert	SEA	SP
41	Dylan Cease	SD	SP
42	Randy Arozarena	TB	OF
43	Aaron Nola	PHI	SP
44	Zac Gallen	ARI	SP
45	Emmanuel Clase	CLE	RP
46	Framber Valdez	HOU	SP
47	Ketel Marte	ARI	2B
48	Vladimir Guerrero Jr.	TOR	1B
49	Josh Hader	HOU	RP
50	Josh Naylor	CLE	1B
51	Jazz Chisholm Jr.	MIA	OF
52	Chris Sale	ATL	SP
53	Manny Machado	SD	3B
54	Adolis Garcia	TEX	OF
55	Logan Webb	SF	SP
56	Bo Bichette	TOR	SS
57	Marcell Ozuna	ATL	DH
58	Teoscar Hernandez	LAD	OF
59	Sonny Gray	STL	SP
60	Christian Walker	ARI	1B
61	Kyle Schwarber	PHI	OF
62	Christian Yelich	MIL	OF
63	Cole Ragans	KC	SP
64	Adley Rutschman	BAL	C
65	Andres Gimenez	CLE	2B
66	Zach Eflin	TB	SP
67	Oneil Cruz	PIT	SS
68	George Springer	TOR	OF
69	Edwin Diaz	NYM	RP
70	Nico Hoerner	CHC	2B/SS
71	Anthony Volpe	NYY	SS
72	Bryan Reynolds	PIT	OF
73	William Contreras	MIL	C
74	Camilo Doval	SF	RP
75	Alex Bregman	HOU	3B
76	Paul Goldschmidt	STL	1B
77	Gleyber Torres	NYY	2B
78	Tyler O’Neill	BOS	OF
79	Shota Imanaga	CHC	SP
80	Cody Bellinger	CHC	1B/OF
81	Jarren Duran	BOS	OF
82	Justin Steele	CHC	SP
83	Jhoan Duran	MIN	RP
84	Willy Adames	MIL	SS
85	Spencer Steer	CIN	1B/3B/ OF
86	J.T. Realmuto	PHI	C
87	Carlos Rodon	NYY	SP
88	Christopher Morel	CHC	3B/OF
89	Justin Verlander	HOU	SP
90	Seiya Suzuki	CHC	OF
91	Jeremy Pena	HOU	SS
92	Will Smith	LAD	C
93	Raisel Iglesias	ATL	RP
94	Clay Holmes	NYY	RP
95	Andres Munoz	SEA	RP
96	Nolan Arenado	STL	3B
97	Tanner Bibee	CLE	SP
98	Taylor Ward	LAA	OF
99	Grayson Rodriguez	BAL	SP
100	Jose Berrios	TOR	SP
101	Mason Miller	OAK	RP
102	Vinnie Pasquantino	KC	1B
103	Alec Bohm	PHI	1B/3B
104	David Bednar	PIT	RP
105	Ezequiel Tovar	COL	SS
106	Bobby Miller	LAD	SP
107	Nick Castellanos	PHI	OF
108	Blake Snell	SF	SP
109	Bailey Ober	MIN	SP
110	Evan Phillips	LAD	RP
111	Riley Greene	DET	OF
112	Yu Darvish	SD	SP
113	Ryan Helsley	STL	RP
114	Yandy Diaz	TB	1B
115	Luis Arraez	SD	2B
116	Xander Bogaerts	SD	2B/SS
117	Salvador Perez	KC	C/1B
118	Anthony Santander	BAL	OF
119	Brandon Nimmo	NYM	OF
120	Evan Carter	TEX	OF
121	Bryson Stott	PHI	2B
122	Hunter Greene	CIN	SP
123	Mitch Keller	PIT	SP
124	Chris Bassitt	TOR	SP
125	Yainer Diaz	HOU	C
126	Dansby Swanson	CHC	SS
127	Jake Burger	MIA	3B
128	Alexis Diaz	CIN	RP
129	Ryan Mountcastle	BAL	1B
130	Gerrit Cole	NYY	SP
131	Ranger Suarez	PHI	SP
132	Kyle Bradish	BAL	SP
133	Cedric Mullins	BAL	OF
134	Joe Musgrove	SD	SP
135	Ha-Seong Kim	SD	2B/SS/ 3B
136	Maikel Garcia	KC	3B
137	Trea Turner	PHI	SS
138	Jesus Luzardo	MIA	SP
139	Walker Buehler	LAD	SP
140	Jordan Montgomery	ARI	SP
141	Ian Happ	CHC	OF
142	Charlie Morton	ATL	SP
143	Lourdes Gurriel Jr.	ARI	OF
144	Isaac Paredes	TB	1B/3B
145	Yusei Kikuchi	TOR	SP
146	Starling Marte	NYM	OF
147	Nathaniel Lowe	TEX	1B
148	Jordan Romano	TOR	RP
149	Kenley Jansen	BOS	RP
150	Jorge Soler	SF	OF
151	Nestor Cortes	NYY	SP
152	Reid Detmers	LAA	SP
153	Cristian Javier	HOU	SP
154	Daulton Varsho	TOR	OF
155	Spencer Torkelson	DET	1B
156	Michael King	SD	SP
157	Robert Suarez	SD	RP
158	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	SP
159	Cal Raleigh	SEA	C
160	Aaron Civale	TB	SP
161	Royce Lewis	MIN	3B
162	Rhys Hoskins	MIL	1B
163	Jordan Westburg	BAL	2B/3B
164	Jared Jones	PIT	SP
165	Lars Nootbaar	STL	OF
166	Matt Chapman	SF	3B
167	Bryce Miller	SEA	SP
168	Paul Skenes	PIT	SP
169	Ryan McMahon	COL	2B/3B
170	Paul Sewald	ARI	RP
171	Max Scherzer	TEX	SP
172	Jack Flaherty	DET	SP
173	Thairo Estrada	SF	2B/SS
174	Craig Kimbrel	BAL	RP
175	Nick Pivetta	BOS	SP
176	Tanner Scott	MIA	RP
177	Luis Robert Jr.	CHW	OF
178	Carlos Correa	MIN	SS
179	Nolan Jones	COL	OF
180	Jackson Chourio	MIL	OF
181	Brayan Bello	BOS	SP
182	Nick Lodolo	CIN	SP
183	Pete Fairbanks	TB	RP
184	Jonathan India	CIN	2B
185	Josh Lowe	TB	OF
186	Brandon Pfaadt	ARI	SP
187	MacKenzie Gore	WSH	SP
188	Jonah Heim	TEX	C
189	Lane Thomas	WSH	OF
190	Garrett Crochet	CHW	SP
191	Hunter Brown	HOU	SP
192	Steven Kwan	CLE	OF
193	Andrew Vaughn	CHW	1B
194	Jeimer Candelario	CIN	1B/3B
195	Ke’Bryan Hayes	PIT	3B
196	Edouard Julien	MIN	2B
197	Kerry Carpenter	DET	OF
198	Eloy Jimenez	CHW	DH
199	Marcus Stroman	NYY	SP
200	Ryan Jeffers	MIN	C
201	Kutter Crawford	BOS	SP
202	Mike Trout	LAA	OF
203	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	SP
204	Jose Alvarado	PHI	RP
205	Tanner Houck	BOS	SP
206	Logan O’Hoppe	LAA	C
207	Zach Neto	LAA	SS
208	Christian Encarnacion-Strand	CIN	1B
209	Ryan Pepiot	TB	SP
210	Ceddanne Rafaela	BOS	SS/OF
211	Vaughn Grissom	BOS	SS
212	Jon Gray	TEX	SP
213	Bryan Woo	SEA	SP
214	Kodai Senga	NYM	SP
215	Jake Fraley	CIN	OF
216	Kyle Finnegan	WSH	RP
217	Jake Cronenworth	SD	1B/2B
218	Brenton Doyle	COL	OF
219	J.D. Martinez	NYM	DH
220	Jorge Polanco	SEA	2B
221	Brady Singer	KC	SP
222	Bryan De La Cruz	MIA	OF
223	Tyler Stephenson	CIN	C
224	Gabriel Moreno	ARI	C
225	Anthony Rizzo	NYY	1B
226	Taj Bradley	TB	SP
227	Byron Buxton	MIN	OF
228	Luis Rengifo	LAA	2B/SS/ 3B/OF
229	MJ Melendez	KC	OF
230	Jordan Hicks	SF	SP
231	Willson Contreras	STL	C
232	Kirby Yates	TEX	RP
233	Max Kepler	MIN	OF
234	Keibert Ruiz	WSH	C
235	Carlos Estevez	LAA	RP
236	Luis Campusano	SD	C
237	Braxton Garrett	MIA	SP
238	Brendan Rodgers	COL	2B
239	Justin Turner	TOR	1B
240	Max Muncy	LAD	3B
241	Brendan Donovan	STL	2B/OF
242	Merrill Kelly	ARI	SP
243	Luis Severino	NYM	SP
244	Jackson Merrill	SD	SS/OF
245	Luis Garcia	WSH	2B
246	Wyatt Langford	TEX	OF
247	Josh Bell	MIA	1B
248	Kyle Harrison	SF	SP
249	Dean Kremer	BAL	SP
250	Tommy Pham	CHW	OF
251	Jack Suwinski	PIT	OF
252	Seth Lugo	KC	SP
253	Sean Murphy	ATL	C
254	Andrew Abbott	CIN	SP
255	Giancarlo Stanton	NYY	OF
256	Nolan Gorman	STL	2B
257	Leody Taveras	TEX	OF
258	Brice Turang	MIL	2B/SS
259	Reynaldo Lopez	ATL	SP
260	Bo Naylor	CLE	C
261	Clarke Schmidt	NYY	SP
262	Brandon Marsh	PHI	OF
263	Masataka Yoshida	BOS	OF
264	Zack Gelof	OAK	2B
265	Jo Adell	LAA	OF
266	Kyle Gibson	STL	SP
267	Sal Frelick	MIL	OF
268	Alex Verdugo	NYY	OF
269	Michael Wacha	KC	SP
270	Eugenio Suarez	ARI	3B
271	James McArthur	KC	RP
272	Jameson Taillon	CHC	SP
273	Mitch Garver	SEA	C
274	Jason Foley	DET	RP
275	John Means	BAL	SP
276	Christian Scott	NYM	SP
277	Will Benson	CIN	OF
278	Hector Neris	CHC	RP
279	Miles Mikolas	STL	SP
280	Lance Lynn	STL	SP
281	Tommy Edman	STL	2B/SS/ OF
282	Elias Diaz	COL	C
283	Sean Manaea	NYM	SP
284	Devin Williams	MIL	RP
285	Gavin Williams	CLE	SP
286	Trevor Megill	MIL	RP
287	Zack Littell	TB	SP
288	Jarred Kelenic	ATL	OF
289	Ryan O’Hearn	BAL	1B/OF
290	Joc Pederson	ARI	OF
291	Andrew Benintendi	CHW	OF
292	Kenta Maeda	DET	SP
293	Chas McCormick	HOU	OF
294	Triston McKenzie	CLE	SP
295	J.P. Crawford	SEA	SS
296	Brandon Drury	LAA	1B/2B
297	Connor Wong	BOS	C
298	Wilyer Abreu	BOS	OF
299	Brent Rooker	OAK	OF
300	Javier Assad	CHC	SP
301	Patrick Sandoval	LAA	SP
302	Shea Langeliers	OAK	C
303	TJ Friedl	CIN	OF
304	Colton Cowser	BAL	OF
305	Jason Adam	TB	RP
306	Jeff McNeil	NYM	2B/OF
307	Orlando Arcia	ATL	SS
308	Ty France	SEA	1B
309	Triston Casas	BOS	1B
310	Erick Fedde	CHW	SP
311	Ronel Blanco	HOU	SP
312	Eduardo Rodriguez	ARI	SP
313	Danny Jansen	TOR	C
314	Adbert Alzolay	CHC	RP
315	Michael Busch	CHC	1B/3B
316	Matt Strahm	PHI	RP
317	Shane Baz	TB	SP
318	Brandon Lowe	TB	2B
319	Hunter Harvey	WSH	RP
320	James Outman	LAD	OF
321	Reese Olsen	DET	SP
322	Jacob Young	WSH	OF
323	Tyler Anderson	LAA	SP
324	Luis Gil	NYY	SP
325	Jalen Beeks	COL	RP
326	Jose Siri	TB	OF
327	Junior Caminero	TB	SS/3B
328	Andy Pages	LAD	OF
329	Ryan Pressly	HOU	RP
330	Yimi Garcia	TOR	RP
331	Michael Kopech	CHW	RP
332	Frankie Montas	CIN	SP
333	Michael Massey	KC	2B
334	Alejandro Kirk	TOR	C
335	Jackson Holliday	BAL	2B/SS
336	JP Sears	OAK	SP
337	Charlie Blackmon	COL	OF
338	Tim Anderson	MIA	SS
339	Logan Allen	CLE	SP
340	Griffin Canning	LAA	SP
341	Masyn Winn	STL	SS
342	Chris Paddack	MIN	SP
343	Jose Caballero	TB	2B/SS
344	Andrew Heaney	TEX	SP
345	Josh Jung	TEX	3B
346	Whit Merrifield	PHI	2B/OF
347	Max Meyer	MIA	SP
348	Jordan Walker	STL	OF
349	Esteury Ruiz	OAK	OF
350	Jose Leclerc	TEX	RP
351	Graham Ashcraft	CIN	SP
352	Griffin Jax	MIN	RP
353	Kevin Ginkel	ARI	RP
354	David Robertson	TEX	RP
355	Alex Kirilloff	MIN	1B/OF
356	Nolan Schanuel	LAA	1B
357	Reed Garrett	NYM	RP
358	Kris Bryant	COL	OF
359	Garrett Whitlock	BOS	SP
360	Mark Canha	DET	OF
361	Jose Quintana	NYM	SP
362	A.J. Minter	ATL	RP
363	James Paxton	LAD	SP
364	Brett Baty	NYM	3B
365	James Wood	WSH	OF