A few days ago, I suggested that quality starts may be a good replacement for wins in fantasy and roto leagues, as wins do not give the fantasy/roto owner the true performance of a starting pitcher. So let's see who the NL leaders are in quality starts in 2009:
| Player | INN | GS | QS | CG | W | L | K | BBI | HA | ERA | WHIP |
| Lincecum, Tim SP SF | 200 | 28 | 23 | 4 | 13 | 5 | 233 | 55 | 150 | 2.34 | 1.02 |
| Lee, Cliff SP PHI | 200 | 29 | 23 | 5 | 12 | 11 | 154 | 39 | 208 | 3.06 | 1.24 |
| Haren, Dan SP ARI | 194 | 28 | 22 | 3 | 13 | 8 | 188 | 30 | 154 | 2.78 | 0.95 |
| Johnson, Josh SP FLA | 183 | 28 | 22 | 2 | 14 | 4 | 158 | 47 | 156 | 3.04 | 1.11 |
| Wolf, Randy SP LA | 190 | 30 | 21 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 145 | 49 | 159 | 3.22 | 1.09 |
| Jimenez, Ubaldo SP COL | 189 | 28 | 21 | 1 | 13 | 10 | 162 | 70 | 158 | 3.28 | 1.2 |
| Wainwright, Adam SP STL | 198 | 29 | 20 | 1 | 17 | 7 | 169 | 59 | 184 | 2.68 | 1.23 |
| Jurrjens, Jair SP ATL | 178 | 29 | 20 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 126 | 64 | 159 | 2.93 | 1.25 |
| Billingsley, Chad SP LA | 173 | 28 | 20 | 0 | 12 | 9 | 155 | 72 | 150 | 3.86 | 1.29 |
| Davis, Doug SP ARI | 175 | 29 | 20 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 129 | 87 | 162 | 3.81 | 1.42 |
| Lowe, Derek SP ATL | 171 | 29 | 20 | 0 | 13 | 9 | 92 | 52 | 197 | 4.36 | 1.45 |
| Carpenter, Chris SP STL | 158 | 23 | 19 | 2 | 15 | 3 | 119 | 28 | 130 | 2.28 | 1 |
| Cain, Matt SP SF | 190 | 28 | 19 | 4 | 13 | 4 | 146 | 65 | 155 | 2.51 | 1.16 |
| Rodriguez, Wandy SP HOU | 176 | 28 | 19 | 1 | 13 | 9 | 162 | 57 | 158 | 2.82 | 1.22 |
| Pineiro, Joel SP STL | 184 | 27 | 19 | 3 | 14 | 9 | 87 | 20 | 184 | 3.28 | 1.11 |
| Blanton, Joe SP PHI | 166 | 26 | 19 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 136 | 43 | 168 | 3.8 | 1.27 |
| Marquis, Jason SP COL | 182 | 27 | 19 | 2 | 14 | 10 | 88 | 57 | 181 | 3.75 | 1.31 |
| Duke, Zach SP PIT | 182 | 27 | 19 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 87 | 41 | 196 | 3.71 | 1.3 |
| Garland, Jon SP LA | 175 | 28 | 19 | 1 | 9 | 11 | 89 | 53 | 193 | 4.23 | 1.41 |
| Lilly, Ted SP CHC | 150 | 23 | 18 | 0 | 10 | 8 | 123 | 29 | 133 | 3.17 | 1.08 |
A few of the more surprising pitchers on this list are the Dodgers Randy Wolf, the Diamondbacks Doug Davis, the Phillies Joe Blanton, the Pirates Zach Duke, and the Diamondbacks-Dodgers Jon Garland.
Garland probably wasn't drafted in many roto leagues in 2009, but has put up 19 quality starts in 28 outings. His ERA and WHIP probably still make him undraftable in all but the deepest of league formats. He would probably be drafted in 12-team NL only leagues.