Top 35 Fantasy Starting Pitchers for 2010: An Early Look

It’s time to wrap up our early 2010 rankings with the starting pitchers.  There’s an extremely fine line between many of these pitchers, so look for things to really move around as we get closer and closer to draft day.  With that said, let’s take a look at how things stack up so far:

1. Tim Lincecum - San Francisco Giants
2. Roy Halladay - Toronto Blue Jays
3. Felix Hernandez - Seattle Mariners
4. Zack Greinke - Kansas City Royals
5. CC Sabathia - New York Yankees
6. Johan Santana - New York Mets
7. Dan Haren - Arizona Cardinals
8. Justin Verlander - Detroit Tigers
9. Adam Wainwright - St. Louis Cardinals
10. Javier Vazquez - Atlanta Braves
11. Cliff Lee - Philadelphia Phillies
12. Chris Carpenter - St. Louis Cardinals
13. Jon Lester - Boston Red Sox
14. Josh Johnson - Florida Marlins
15. Yovani Gallardo - Milwaukee Brewers
16. Josh Beckett - Boston Red Sox
17. Ubaldo Jimenez - Colorado Rockies
18. Cole Hamels - Philadelphia Phillies
19. Clayton Kershaw - Los Angeles Dodgers
20. Matt Cain - San Francisco Giants
21. Tommy Hanson - Atlanta Braves
22. John Lackey - Los Angeles Angels
23. Wandy Rodriguez - Houston Astros
24. Roy Oswalt - Houston Astros
25. Matt Garza - Tampa Bay Rays
26. Chad Billingsley - Los Angeles Dodgers
27. Jair Jurrjens - Atlanta Braves
28. A.J. Burnett - New York Yankees
29. Jake Peavy - Chicago White Sox
30. James Shields - Tampa Bay Rays
31. John Danks - Chicago White Sox
32. Scott Baker - Minnesota Twins
33. Ricky Nolasco - Florida Marlins
34. Max Scherzer - Arizona Diamondbacks
35. Ted Lilly - Chicago Cubs

Thoughts

• Is there any question as to who the best pitcher in baseball is? Not too many pitchers bring with them an almost guarantee to strikeout 250 batters in a season, giving Lincecum a huge lead over the field. I’ve already said that I believe he is a first round pick this season, despite many people’s beliefs that starting pitchers should not be drafted early. He’s just too good to ignore.
• Who should be No. 3, Hernandez or Greinke? It is a hell of a decision to make, isn’t it? We’ll really dive into this soon enough, but it seems almost impossible for Greinke to repeat his miraculous 2009 campaign.
• For all the talk of avoiding AL pitchers, how amazing is it that four of the top five in this ranking call the American League home?
• Haren’s second half was certainly disappointing, posting a 4.62 ERA, but you can’t discount how good he’s been. Having posted at least 14 wins in each of the past five seasons and 200 Ks in each of his two seasons since joining the Diamondbacks, there aren’t too many better options available.
• How far does Johan Santana fall due to his injury? He certainly looked like the Santana of old in the early going, so assuming he can come back healthy he should once again return to being one of the best pitchers in the game. I just can’t discount him too far.
• Assuming Javier Vazquez remains with the Braves, he proved last season that he is a fantasy ace. If he gets traded, however, all bets are off.
• Many were expecting a huge regression from Cliff Lee, but boy did he show them wrong, huh? He has established himself as one of the best in the league at this point.
• Peavy may not have shown much during 2009, but his 2.25 ERA in two starts for the White Sox in September at least shows that he still has the ability to thrive in the major leagues. He’s a gamble, for sure, but one that is worth taking as a low-end No. 2 or high-end No. 3 starter.
• Ubaldo Jimenez has converted me into a believer. I’ll talk about him in much more detail soon to explain why.
• Beckett is a pitcher who seems to trade off between good and bad years. If that stays true, 2010 could be a long season for him. Still, is that really a valid reason to shy away from a pitcher who should get ample opportunities for victories? I would say no.
• I have John Lackey slated outside the Top 20 for now, but where he ultimately signs is going to play a huge role in his value. Also, the concern of him actually staying healthy for a full season takes away from his perceived value.
• Oswalt is coming off a season where he posted a career worst strand rate.  A rebound there back to his career norm would certainly go a long way in bringing him back to among the better pitchers in the league.

What are your thoughts on the early rankings?  Who is too high?  Who is too low?  Who was omitted that shouldn’t have been?

Previous Early Rankings:

• Catchers
• First Baseman
• Second Baseman
• Third Baseman
• Shortstops
• Outfielders
• Closers

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