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Top 50 Starting Pitcher Rankings for 2016 v.2

Ray publishes his updated starting pitcher rankings for 2016, with some changes near the top of the ranking.

By Ray Guilfoyle

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Top 50 Starting Pitchers for 2016 v.2

I published my early 2016 starting pitcher rankings back on August 12th, and a lot has happened since I published those early rankings, including:

  • Jake Arrieta making a serious run for the National League Cy Young award
  • Max Scherzer turning into Justin Verlander circa 2014
  • Justin Verlander doing a complete 180 and pitching like the Verlander who was an ace for so many years
  • Dallas Keuchel showing that his 2014 breakout is for real, improving his strikeout rate, and becoming the favorite to win the American League Cy Young award
  • Clayton Kershaw pitching better than the 2014 Clayton Kershaw
  • Danny Salazar taking the next step to becoming an ace in 2016
  • Lance McCullers showing that he is one of the best young starters in the game
  • Carlos Rodon settling in and making the adjustments he needed to become a more consistent major league pitcher
  • Erasmo Ramirez overcoming early season struggles to put up a breakout season

Let's discuss who is ranked too high, too low, or someone I just whiffed on in the comments section below.

Rank

Name

W

L

IP

K/9

BB/9

GB%

ERA

FIP

xFIP

WAR

1

Clayton Kershaw

13

6

201

11.60

1.61

51.50%

2.15

2.08

2.10

7.3

2

Chris Sale

12

8

184.2

12.04

1.80

42.50%

3.31

2.50

2.53

6

3

Jake Arrieta

18

6

191

9.28

2.07

54.00%

2.03

2.46

2.73

5.8

4

Dallas Keuchel

17

6

200.2

8.30

1.97

62.20%

2.29

2.82

2.69

5.5

5

David Price

14

5

196.1

8.98

1.88

40.50%

2.43

2.88

3.32

5.4

6

Zack Greinke

16

3

192.2

8.13

1.49

45.80%

1.68

2.72

3.24

5.3

7

Jacob deGrom

12

7

169

9.32

1.81

43.90%

2.40

2.87

3.03

4.3

8

Jose Fernandez

4

0

43

11.09

2.09

40.00%

2.30

1.75

2.50

1.7

9

Gerrit Cole

16

8

180.2

8.72

2.09

49.00%

2.54

2.70

3.18

4.6

10

Madison Bumgarner

17

7

188.2

9.68

1.53

41.40%

3.05

2.78

2.94

4.8

11

Felix Hernandez

16

8

175

8.59

2.31

56.20%

3.65

3.56

3.21

2.7

12

Max Scherzer

11

11

190

10.66

1.23

35.30%

3.03

2.91

2.98

5

13

Chris Archer

12

11

187.1

10.95

2.35

46.00%

2.88

2.72

2.77

5

14

Corey Kluber

8

13

200.1

9.84

1.71

42.40%

3.41

2.88

3.00

5.2

15

Adam Wainwright

16

Cole Hamels

9

8

177.1

9.19

2.74

47.40%

3.76

3.36

3.37

3.8

17

Johnny Cueto

9

11

180.2

7.87

1.79

41.60%

3.24

3.28

3.65

4.1

18

Sonny Gray

13

7

193.2

7.25

2.28

53.90%

2.28

3.26

3.60

4

19

Matt Harvey

12

7

171.2

8.60

1.89

46.10%

2.88

3.30

3.36

3.5

20

Jon Lester

9

10

168

9.05

2.25

48.90%

3.59

3.07

3.15

3.8

21

Michael Wacha

15

5

161.1

7.59

2.40

45.10%

2.96

3.46

3.76

2.9

22

Lance Lynn

11

9

150

9.00

3.30

42.10%

3.12

3.38

3.84

2.8

23

Carlos Martinez

13

6

154.2

9.19

3.03

55.40%

3.08

3.25

3.21

2.9

24

Scott Kazmir

7

10

164.1

7.94

2.85

43.40%

2.63

3.53

3.87

2.8

25

Carlos Carrasco

12

10

160.2

9.97

1.96

50.40%

3.70

2.97

2.83

3.9

26

Noah Syndergaard

8

6

122.1

9.49

2.13

44.80%

3.31

3.39

3.18

2.4

27

Danny Salazar

12

8

155

10.05

2.50

44.40%

3.54

3.71

3.27

2.3

28

Jaime Garcia

8

4

100

6.57

1.89

63.50%

1.89

2.92

3.25

2.3

29

Masahiro Tanaka

11

6

136

8.27

1.72

46.50%

3.57

4.00

3.29

1.9

30

Lance McCullers

5

5

96.2

9.40

3.17

47.50%

3.07

2.91

3.46

2.6

31

Jordan Zimmermann

12

8

178.2

7.15

1.71

42.20%

3.32

3.61

3.83

2.9

32

John Lackey

11

9

186

6.73

2.23

44.90%

2.90

3.64

3.99

3

33

Jake Odorizzi

6

8

139.2

8.05

2.26

39.00%

3.35

3.38

3.89

2.7

34

Francisco Liriano

10

7

164.2

9.73

3.44

51.20%

3.28

3.25

3.26

3.1

35

Clay Buchholz

7

7

113.1

8.50

1.83

48.30%

3.26

2.69

3.30

3.1

36

Shelby Miller

5

13

176.1

7.71

3.11

48.90%

2.81

3.35

3.93

3.2

37

Collin McHugh

15

7

173

7.39

2.29

46.10%

3.75

3.61

3.93

3.2

38

Marcus Stroman

39

Yu Darvish

40

Alex Cobb

41

Tyson Ross

10

10

171

9.42

4.00

61.90%

3.21

2.90

3.26

3.9

42

Garrett Richards

13

10

167

7.06

2.96

54.30%

3.77

3.80

3.88

2.2

43

Yovani Gallardo

12

9

165

5.73

3.33

50.10%

3.16

3.94

4.35

2.4

44

Stephen Strasburg

8

6

91

9.69

2.08

43.10%

4.35

3.35

3.21

1.8

45

Carlos Rodon

7

6

119.1

9.58

4.60

47.50%

4.00

3.87

3.73

1.8

46

Justin Verlander

3

7

99.2

7.13

2.08

33.30%

3.43

3.75

4.33

1.7

47

Brett Anderson

9

8

158

5.92

2.51

66.70%

3.36

3.94

3.57

1.6

48

Joe Ross

5

5

73.2

8.31

2.44

49.50%

3.79

3.43

3.56

1.3

49

Trevor Bauer

11

11

165

8.73

3.98

39.00%

4.47

4.44

4.26

1.5

50

Erasmo Ramirez

10

5

124.1

7.02

2.46

46.50%

3.69

4.04

4.05

1.5

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