Pitching in general is always a delicate balance to work out when draft season comes around. SPs are often a little clearer than RPs just simply because you need more of them and their contribution is more wide reaching. However, even so there is always plenty of debate. How many studs do I need? Can I afford to take three SPs in the first five rounds? Am I targeting too many middle of the road guys?
Upside versus safety is also a big debate as Kyle and I discussed on our recent podcast. I am a big upside guy and subscribe to our old colleague Damian’s theory of high strikeout rates and the lights out stuff. Kyle is often a little more circumspect and is willing to sacrifice some strikeouts in order for more safety is his WHIP and ERA. Neither is probably a particularly better strategy than the other, and actually the right balance might be somewhere in the middle.
This year the top two tiers of pitching is anywhere from 12 to 18 deep. A lot of that depends on your feelings surrounding Noah Syndergaard, Clayton Kershaw and Jack Flaherty. If you believe they are all studs then the position is deep, but if you are circumspect on those then suddenly the true top calibre guys reduces in number. After that there is still a lot of quality, but all of them have question marks. German Marquez, Robbie Ray and Jameson Taillon are the young guys with real upside, while the likes of Yu Darvish and Cole Hamels could easily be top-25 pitchers if they get things working in Chicago.
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Delving deeper we also have an intriguing mix of the young in Joey Lucchesi and Matt Strahm, as well as the post hype sleeper types in Steven Matz and even the possibility of Michael Pineda. Whatever you are looking are for in starting pitching this year you can find all combinations in our rankings below.
SP Rankings
| Player | Team | Other Postions | Kyle's Ranks | Ben's Ranks | Combined Ranks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max Scherzer | WSH | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Chris Sale | BOS | 2 | 3 | 2.5 | |
| Jacob deGrom | NYM | 3 | 2 | 2.5 | |
| Corey Kluber | CLE | 4 | 5 | 4.5 | |
| Justin Verlander | HOU | 7 | 4 | 5.5 | |
| Gerrit Cole | HOU | 6 | 7 | 6.5 | |
| Carlos Carrasco | CLE | 9 | 6 | 7.5 | |
| Aaron Nola | PHI | 5 | 11 | 8 | |
| Blake Snell | TB | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
| Walker Buehler | LAD | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| James Paxton | NYY | 13 | 9 | 11 | |
| Trevor Bauer | CLE | 12 | 12 | 12 | |
| Noah Syndergaard | NYM | 11 | 15 | 13 | |
| Stephen Strasburg | WSH | 14 | 14 | 14 | |
| Patrick Corbin | WSH | 16 | 13 | 14.5 | |
| Zack Greinke | ARI | 15 | 18 | 16.5 | |
| Jack Flaherty | STL | 18 | 19 | 18.5 | |
| Clayton Kershaw | LAD | 22 | 17 | 19.5 | |
| German Marquez | COL | 23 | 20 | 21.5 | |
| Jameson Taillon | PIT | 19 | 25 | 22 | |
| Robbie Ray | ARI | 26 | 22 | 24 | |
| David Price | BOS | 24 | 27 | 25.5 | |
| Madison Bumgarner | SF | 25 | 26 | 25.5 | |
| Charlie Morton | TB | 29 | 23 | 26 | |
| Mike Clevinger | CLE | 17 | 37 | 27 | |
| Zack Wheeler | NYM | 21 | 33 | 27 | |
| Chris Archer | PIT | 39 | 16 | 27.5 | |
| Luis Castillo | CIN | 30 | 29 | 29.5 | |
| Jose Berrios | MIN | 20 | 41 | 30.5 | |
| Luis Severino | NYY | 27 | 34 | 30.5 | |
| Masahiro Tanaka | NYY | 28 | 36 | 32 | |
| Nick Pivetta | PHI | 34 | 31 | 32.5 | |
| Miles Mikolas | STL | 35 | 30 | 32.5 | |
| Yu Darvish | CHC | 45 | 24 | 34.5 | |
| Shane Bieber | CLE | 31 | 40 | 35.5 | |
| Kyle Hendricks | CHC | 32 | 39 | 35.5 | |
| Nathan Eovaldi | BOS | 40 | 35 | 37.5 | |
| Jose Quintana | CHC | 47 | 28 | 37.5 | |
| Cole Hamels | CHC | 38 | 38 | 38 | |
| J.A. Happ | NYY | 37 | 42 | 39.5 | |
| Eduardo Rodriguez | BOS | 36 | 44 | 40 | |
| Rich Hill | LAD | 61 | 21 | 41 | |
| Rick Porcello | BOS | 43 | 43 | 43 | |
| Tyler Glasnow | TB | RP | 44 | 47 | 45.5 |
| Ross Stripling | LAD | RP | 33 | 60 | 46.5 |
| Joe Musgrove | PIT | 48 | 46 | 47 | |
| Joey Lucchesi | SD | 62 | 32 | 47 | |
| Jon Gray | COL | 42 | 56 | 49 | |
| Kevin Gausman | ATL | 46 | 58 | 52 | |
| Kenta Maeda | LAD | RP | 59 | 45 | 52 |
| Andrew Heaney | LAA | 56 | 49 | 52.5 | |
| Jon Lester | CHC | 41 | 67 | 54 | |
| Marco Gonzales | SEA | 52 | 61 | 56.5 | |
| Hyun-Jin Ryu | LAD | 65 | 48 | 56.5 | |
| Steven Matz | NYM | 63 | 51 | 57 | |
| Tyler Skaggs | LAA | 64 | 50 | 57 | |
| Jake Arrieta | PHI | 58 | 59 | 58.5 | |
| Jakob Junis | KC | 68 | 54 | 61 | |
| Mike Foltynewicz | ATL | 71 | 52 | 61.5 | |
| Sean Newcomb | ATL | 49 | 75 | 62 | |
| Sonny Gray | NYY | 69 | 55 | 62 | |
| Luke Weaver | ARI | RP | 53 | 72 | 62.5 |
| Zack Godley | ARI | 54 | 71 | 62.5 | |
| Dallas Keuchel | HOU | 72 | 53 | 62.5 | |
| Kyle Freeland | COL | 50 | 76 | 63 | |
| Yusei Kikuchi | SEA | 51 | 77 | 64 | |
| Mike Minor | TEX | 66 | 63 | 64.5 | |
| Michael Pineda | MIN | 73 | 57 | 65 | |
| Julio Teheran | ATL | 55 | 78 | 66.5 | |
| Julio Urias | LAD | 67 | 68 | 67.5 | |
| Carlos Rodon | CWS | 57 | 79 | 68 | |
| Anibal Sanchez | WSH | 70 | 66 | 68 | |
| Matt Strahm | SD | 74 | 62 | 68 | |
| Jeff Samardzija | SF | 75 | 64 | 69.5 | |
| Kyle Gibson | MIN | 60 | 80 | 70 | |
| Derek Holland | SF | 76 | 65 | 70.5 | |
| Collin McHugh | HOU | 77 | 69 | 73 | |
| Jimmy Nelson | MIL | 78 | 70 | 74 | |
| Eric Lauer | SD | 79 | 73 | 76 | |
| Marcus Stroman | 80 | 74 | 77 |
Image credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
