2011 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: STARTING PITCHERS

Leave it to Killboy to disagree who the No. 1 Starting Pitcher should be in drafts this year. While all of us were picking Roy Halladay, Killboy chose Tim Lincecum. I am not sure many of us here condone the use of a first round pick on a pitcher, but if you’re going to take one; Halladay is your guy. Doc recorded 21 wins in his first year with the Phillies to go along with a 2.44 ERA, a 1.04 WHIP and 219 K. A beautiful Cy Young season.

“The Year (after) the Pitcher” still shows a lot of high quality arms available pretty deep into the draft. I have been burned many times by pitching, so loading up in more shallow positions before grabbing a pitcher is my recommendation for 2011. Of course, if any of these studs fall – pounce!

Onto the Rankings…

RANK	PLAYER	Brian	Mike	Killboy	Jesse	Eric	COMP
1	Roy Halladay – PHI	1	1	2	1	1	1.2
2	Felix Hernandez – SEA	3	2	3	2	2	2.4
3	Tim Lincecum – SF	2	4	1	4	3	2.8
4	Cliff Lee – PHI	4	3	4	3	4	3.6
5	Jon Lester – BOS	6	8	5	12	5	7.2
6	Josh Johnson – FLA	8	9	11	7	6	8.2
7	Clayton Kershaw – LAD	9	5	6	17	7	8.8
8	CC Sabathia – NYY	7	12	9	6	11	9
9	Cole Hamels – PHI	13	10	7	5	14	9.8
10	Zack Greinke – MIL	5	11	16	8	10	10
11	Justin Verlander – DET	12	7	10	15	12	11.2
12	Ubaldo Jimenez – COL	10	15	14	14	8	12.2
13	Jered Weaver – LAA	17	13	8	10	16	12.8
14	David Price – TB	11	6	19	21	9	13.2
15	Mat Latos – SD	15	14	13	11	13	13.2
16	Tommy Hanson – ATL	21	16	18	19	15	17.8
17	Roy Oswalt – HOU	20	19	20	13	17	17.8
18	Francisco Liriano – MIN	16	18	12	26	19	18.2
19	Dan Haren – LAA	18	17	17	18	22	18.4
20	Matt Cain – SF	19	20	23	16	18	19.2
21	Chris Carpenter – STL	24	22	24	9	21	20
22	Max Scherzer – DET	22	23	21	25	20	22.2
23	Shaun Marcum – MIL	26	25	26	20	26	24.6
24	Yovani Gallardo – MIL	14	39	15	34	23	25
25	Brett Anderson – OAK	25	21	29	39	24	27.6
26	Ted Lilly – LAD	35	24	37	22	30	29.6
27	Daniel Hudson – ARI	34	26	30	24	35	29.8
28	Clay Buchholz – BOS	28	32	44	32	25	32.2
29	Tim Hudson – ATL	39	31	41	23	29	32.6
30	Hiroki Kuroda – LAD	37	34	25	29	38	32.6
31	Chad Billingsley – LAD	23	45	27	31	37	32.6
32	Wandy Rodriguez – HOU	27	42	32	28	48	35.4
33	Jonathan Sanchez – SF	40	38	34	35	31	35.6
34	Ryan Dempster – CHC	31	43	28	33	44	35.8
35	Ricky Nolasco – FLA	33	29	33	37	49	36.2
36	Colby Lewis – TEX	46	37	39	27	34	36.6
37	Madison Bumgarner – SF	36	33	42	40	41	38.4
38	John Danks – CHW	41	46	51	30	32	40
39	Brandon Morrow – TOR	29	40	35	59	40	40.6
40	Gio Gonzalez – OAK	30	30	38	78	28	40.8
41	Jeremy Hellickson – TB	43	27	40	57	51	43.6
42	Jhoulys Chacin – COL	47	41	49	44	39	44
43	Phil Hughes – NYY	42	54	47	36	42	44.2
44	Josh Beckett – BOS	38	50	22	71	43	44.8
45	Trevor Cahill – OAK	59	36	59	45	27	45.2
46	Jaime Garcia – STL	52	35	65	42	33	45.4
47	Edinson Volquez – CIN	44	28	55	56	52	47
48	Ricky Romero – TOR	32	69	43	54	47	49
49	Brett Myers – HOU	55	48	54	55	36	49.6
50	Matt Garza – CHC	49	62	52	41	46	50
51	C.J. Wilson – TEX	63	44	66	38	45	51.2
52	Ian Kennedy – ARI	54	51	56	43	53	51.4
53	Gavin Floyd – CHW	61	63	31	52	56	52.6
54	Scott Baker – MIN	64	59	57	46	54	56
55	Jorge De La Rosa – COL	45	74	45	68	59	58.2
56	Edwin Jackson – CHW	67	49	63	50	65	58.8
57	Jake Peavy – CHW	76	68	36	49	76	61
58	Johnny Cueto – CIN	60	67	58	64	57	61.2
59	Ervin Santana – LAA	56	57	72	73	50	61.6
60	James Shields – TB	57	60	48	62	–	61.6
61	Jordan Zimmermann – WAS	51	66	53	75	63	61.6
62	Carlos Zambrano – CHC	50	55	71	77	58	62.2
63	Jair Jurrjens – ATL	65	56	79	51	64	63
64	Travis Wood – CIN	–	47	–	47	62	63.6
65	Anibal Sanchez – FLA	73	53	70	70	55	64.2
66	Brian Matusz – BAL	48	61	50	–	–	64.2
67	Javier Vazquez – FLA	53	–	46	74	73	65.4
68	Bronson Arroyo – CIN	71	79	69	53	61	66.6
69	John Lackey – BOS	75	64	64	65	71	67.8
70	Carl Pavano – MIN	66	80	67	61	69	68.6
71	A.J. Burnett – NYY	58	65	60	–	–	69
72	Derek Holland – TEX	70	58	62	–	75	69.2
73	Dallas Braden – OAK	–	77	–	48	67	70.8
74	Brett Cecil – TOR	69	–	76	–	60	73.4
75	Johan Santana – NYM	78	–	–	60	72	74.4
76	Erik Bedard – SEA	–	52	–	–	–	75.2
77	Clayton Richard – SD	79	71	78	–	68	75.4
78	Brandon Webb – TEX	77	–	61	79	–	75.8
79	Jonathon Niese – NYM	68	–	80	–	70	76
80	Joel Pineiro – LAA	–	–	–	58	–	76.4

TOMMY HANSON…Hanson stumbled last year with his ERA climbing from 2.89 in ’09 to 3.33 in ’10, but he  did improve his walks going from 3.24/9 in ’09 to an impressive 2.49/9 in ’10. If you focus on the 2nd half, he sizzled with a 2.51 ERA and 0.98 WHIP. At only 24 years old and with Hudson and Lowe around to keep the #1 starter pressure off of him, expect to see Hanson continue to blossom this year. 15-9/3.25/1.17/200

SHAUN MARCUM…The Marcum trade was probably the most under rated move of the entire off season.  Marcum doesn’t overpower hitters, but has great command and one of the best changeups in the game that he misses bats with it. His GB/FB/LD splits are as consistent as can be but he has been able to bring his HR/FB rate way down along with his BB/9.  Shaun might be the only guy Bill James isn’t bullish on this year but I love Marcum coming over to the NL and he is a steal with an ADP of 27 SP (103 overall).  13-8/3.60/1.15/158

JEREMY HELLICKSON…”Hellboy” is currently going off the board as the #41 SP, which is where he’s ranked in our composite. I can understand the reservations, but here is why you need to grab him before that: he dominated in the minors to the tune of a 2.71 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and 9.8 K/9 over 580 IP. He has MLB “stuff”, including two great breaking pitches, and he showcased that last season when he got four spot starts. As a matter of fact, the Rays dealt Matt Garza just so Hellickson would have a rotation spot in 2011. With the ability to keep the ball low in the zone and the great defense behind him, there is no reason he can’t keep his ERA and WHIP low with high K totals even if he is limited to about 180 innings this year. 14-10/3.40/1.15/185

SLEEPER: GIO GONZALEZ…In his first full season as a starter for the A’s, Gonzalez put ups some impressive stats; 15 wins, 3.23 ERA, and 171 K’s.  He especially turned it on after the All Star break when he shaved a point off his first pre-break ERA, lowered his WHIP, and increased his K/9.  The 25 year old could be in line for an excellent season with monster K’s (his minor league K/9 is 10.3 and he’s already struck out 10 batters in 5 innings of pre-season work). 16-8/3.30/1.26/200

BUST: TREVOR CAHILL…Cahill finished 2010 with 18 wins and a 2.97 ERA. He also sported a poor 5.4 K/9 and a ridiculous .236 BABIP. I’m not sure how the Baseball Gods missed this one. Expect regression. 12-10/3.96/1.24/129