2013 Midseason Position Rankings: Starting Pitchers

In the final installment of our Mid-Season Rankings reactions, we're going to take a look at how the FakeTeams staff ranked the top fifty starting pitchers for the rest of the season. We had seven writers rank fifty pitchers each to come to a consensus top fifty with twenty more pitchers getting rankings. Pitcher rankings always seem to be volatile and it was no different with our group. Different people look for lots of different qualities in pitchers and it leads to large gaps in rankings. Since this article could on forever examining each of these differences in opinion and valuation, I will focus on a few pitchers that I ranked much differently from the group and few outliers from others as well.

Rank	Pitcher	Daniel	Ray	Kevin	Zack	Jason	Alex	Dan S.	Total	App
1	Clayton Kershaw	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	357	7
2	Adam Wainwright	5	3	2	4	5	3	2	340	7
3	Felix Hernandez	6	4	3	3	3	2	3	340	7
4	Cliff Lee	2	6	8	5	4	7	6	326	7
5	Max Scherzer	8	10	4	2	6	4	7	323	7
6	Yu Darvish	3	2	11	6	7	5	9	321	7
7	Stephen Strasburg	7	5	5	7	8	12	5	315	7
8	Matt Harvey	13	9	10	10	2	6	4	310	7
9	Justin Verlander	4	11	18	11	9	9	8	294	7
10	Madison Bumgarner	12	8	7	9	14	10	10	294	7
11	David Price	11	7	6	20	10	8	11	291	7
12	Chris Sale	9	17	9	8	15	11	12	283	7
13	Gio Gonzalez	18	12	13	19	11	17	15	259	7
14	Jordan Zimmermann	14	19	12	13	25	14	16	251	7
15	Mat Latos	16	22	14	14	18	15	18	247	7
16	Cole Hamels	10	18	19	17	34	18	17	231	7
17	Hisashi Iwakuma	15	23	31	12	17	13	31	222	7
18	James Shields	21	25	20	24	13	16	23	222	7
19	Anibal Sanchez	29	32	17	15	16	25	24	206	7
20	Zack Greinke	32	16	16	29	31	21	13	206	7
21	Shelby Miller	22	14	27	26	19	28	25	203	7
22	Mike Minor	20	13	25	22	38	23	22	201	7
23	CC Sabathia	28	30	24	16	21	29	27	189	7
24	Matt Moore	31	15	15	37	41	22	14	189	7
25	Hiroki Kuroda	26	24	23	50	26	24	21	170	7
26	Jeff Samardzija	30	33	37	25	12	33	30	164	7
27	Matt Cain	19	29	29	41	33	37	20	156	7
28	Patrick Corbin	25	47	34	36	24	26	26	146	7
29	Derek Holland	42	42	21	18	40	19	36	146	7
30	Jered Weaver	17	20	30		35	49	19	141	6
31	Matt Garza	46	36	26	33	23	27	32	141	7
32	Homer Bailey		38	28	21	22	31	33	138	6
33	A.J. Burnett	36	34	22	23	45	36	34	134	7
34	Doug Fister	23	46	42	38	32	35	28	120	7
35	Justin Masterson		21	38	39	20	40	44	109	6
36	Francisco Liriano		37	39	27	30	34	40	104	6
37	Lance Lynn			36	43	28	20	29	102	5
38	John Lackey	40	26		28	37	38		89	5
39	C.J. Wilson	45	28	40	35		42	35	86	6
40	Ervin Santana	24	31	47	30	50	46		83	6
41	Jake Peavy	33	45	35	42		32	41	83	6
42	Hyun-Jin Ryu	39	27	46	40	48	43	43	78	7
43	Jose Fernandez		41	41	47	27	44	39	72	6
44	Julio Teheran	48		33	34	44	47	37	68	6
45	Clay Buchholz	41		48		29	30	47	63	5
46	Jeremy Hellickson		40	45	32		45	48	48	5
47	Bartolo Colon		36	32		46	48	50	46	5
48	Kris Medlen	27			45	39			41	3
49	Johnny Cueto	44	35	43				46	37	4
50	Travis Wood	50				37	41		24	3

Max Scherzer and Yu Darvish

The first big discrepancy doesn't come between the group and me. Rather, Ray has two rankings that I find interesting. He was the highest on Yu Darvish, whom Kevin ranked eleventh, and the lowest on Max Scherzer who was my second ranked pitcher. Darvish and Scherzer were arguably the two best pitchers in the American League in the first half, so why the huge disparity?

In short, I don't know. The table below shows each pitcher's rank in strikeout rate and swinging strike percentage for the last two years. As you can see, Scherzer and Darvish have been two of the top strikeout pitchers in the game in 2012 and 2013. Scherzer has also been above average in terms of walk rate both years and, this year, Darvish's BB% is hovering right around league average at 8.5%. Scherzer pitches in a neutral park while Darvish pitches in one of the most hitter friendly ballparks but both induce ground balls at a decent rate and are able to limit hard contact as well as home runs. Both of these pitchers have xFIPs under 2.90 and I think they will both finish the year with ERAs under 3.00 and WHIPs around 1.00. I think that makes both pitchers top ten guys who are closer to the front of that than the back.

Rank Among SP	2012		2013
Pitcher	SwSt%	K%	SwSt%	K%
Max Scherzer	2	1	4	3
Yu Darvish	7	2	1	1

** Take a look at Matt Harvey as well. He could very easily fit into this group.

Justin Verlander

Oh how the mighty have fallen. In my opinion (or for all you tweeps, IMHO), Justin Verlander has been the best pitcher in the game for the last three years or so after taking the torch from Roy Halladay. From 2010 to 2012, Verlander led the league in wins and strikeouts, was second in innings pitched and third in ERA. After his latest start in which he gave up seven earned runs in six innings, Verlander's ERA sits at 3.99. He's striking out fewer batters on a percentage basis and walking more at the same time. I still think Verlander is one of the better pitchers in the league but I can't help but think he's going through a year of "dead arm". As I mentioned, Verlander was second in the league in innings pitched the past over the past three seasons, averaging 238 innings per year. His average fastball velocity has dropped almost two miles per hour since 2010 and batters are chasing fewer pitches while making more contact against him. Having said all of that, a somewhat depreciated Verlander is still better than a lot of other options.

David Price

I was wrong, ok? I know it. Go ahead.

Come after me! I'm a man! I'm 40. I'm not a kid.

I said David Price was the twentieth best pitcher going forward. That's not true! Get your facts straight (I said to myself). Price has gone at least seven innings in five starts since returning from the disabled list with three complete games with twenty six strikeouts against only one walk.

That's all I got to say. Makes me wanna puke.

Cole Hamels

Cole Hamels is my number one buy low starting pitcher for the rest of this season. Instead of constructing sentences, I'm just going to list why. Hey, Alex Rios doesn't run out ground balls. Why should I have to hustle?

1. Hamels' BB% is 6.4% - his career rate is 6.2%

2. Hamels' BABIP is .304 but his LD% is only .04% higher than it was last year

3. Hamels' SwSt% is 11.8% which is sixth in the league among qualified starters

4. Hamels' HR/FB is 10.6% and his HR/9 is 1.01 while his career numbers are 11.5% and 1.07, respectively

5. Hamels' LOB% is 69.9% - he's normally well above average but is currently below league average

6. Hamels' average fastball velocity is .2 mph lower than his career high and .6 higher than 2012

7. Hame's first pitch strike percentage is a career high

Yes, I know that's cherry picking statistics but I really don't see many metrics that point to his continued struggles. Hamels' xFIP is a half run lower than his current ERA and I expect him to pitch closer to a three and a half the rest of the season.

CC Sabathia

You can pencil Sabathia in for 200+ innings with somewhere between 7.5 to 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings. He doesn't walk many, generates a good number of ground balls and normally doesn't show drastic platoon splits. This year, CC is getting hit hard by right handed hitters but if he can find a way to get back to his old self against righties, we're looking at the same ol' reliable guy. I think sometimes, because of his size, Sabathia is pegged as a thrower but even as he loses velocity I believe CC will have continued success because he is much more than that.

Hiroki Kuroda

He's 38. He doesn't strike out enough batters. He throws 90 mph and pitches in Yankee Stadium. I'll take my chances somewhere else. It may be to my detriment but I think the decline is coming.

Jered Weaver

One of my bold predictions to start the year was that Weaver would finish with an ERA over 4.00 this year. His fastball velocity has dropped for the third straight year and is currently 86.9 mph. He's starting only 54.4% of hitters off with a strike and his batted ball profile doesn't look great. Weaver's xFIP is 4.13 and I just can't help but think that, at some point, it will catch up with him.

Justin Masterson

Justin Masterson is striking out more than a batter per inning and is only fourteen strikeouts away from tying his career high. Masterson has always issued his share of free passes but his increased strikeout rate has made them more palatable. He's an extreme ground ball pitcher with a GB% above 57% and he pitches in front of a very good defense. He's had success before and this looks to be the year that's been able to put it all together.

Francisco Liriano

I believe in him. What's it gonna take for you to believe? He moved from the AL to the "weaker league" and into a ballpark that is one of the toughest for right handers in terms of hitting home runs. That's important because over his career he's given up only six home runs to left handed batters while giving up eighty one to righties. His 25.2% strikeout rate is the highest it's been and opponents are making less contact than they have since his awesome 2006 season. His walk rate is the lowest it's been in four years and he's among the league leaders in swings and misses every year. I know there are a lot of jaded Liriano owners out there but I believe this is legit and if he's still available for some reason, you should go get him.

Jose Fernandez

Fernandez would be much higher on this list, I'm sure, if he wasn't on an innings limit and/or if he wasn't on a terrible team. Next year, he will be one of the top pitchers in the league.

<h4>More from Fake Teams:</h4>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.faketeams.com/2013/7/25/4557140/the-art-of-the-deal">The Art of the Deal</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.faketeams.com/2013/7/25/4557612/around-the-league-nl">Around the League - NL</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.faketeams.com/2013/7/25/4551120/2013-midseason-position-rankings-outfielders">2013 Midseason Position Rankings: Outfielders</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.faketeams.com/2013/7/24/4555156/streamer-report-thursdays-streamers">Streamer Report: Thursday's Streamers</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.faketeams.com/2013/7/24/4551536/three-possibly-true-outcomes-jorge-alfaro">Three (Possibly) True Outcomes: Jorge Alfaro</a></li>

</ul>