Fantasy baseball 2020 tiered starting pitcher rankings

The pitchers in here could have been ranked higher but injuries have held them back.

Matthew Boyd, DET

Boyd’s 2019 season can be split into two halves. He posted a 3.87 ERA and 1.121 WHIP in 18 first-half starts and a 5.51 ERA and 1.379 WHIP in the second. Things could have been better if the defense behind him was a lot better. The front office made some improvements by bringing in Jonathan Schoop and CJ Cron. Boyd has the strikeouts but the ratios will be a problem.

David Price, LAD

Going from the AL East to the NL West is the best thing to happen to Price’s fantasy value. He will now face some poor offenses (sorry Giants fans) in some hitter-friendly ballparks. Price will also get to face a pitcher instead of a DH on occasion. While his velocity has dropped over the last couple of seasons, the offense will give him plenty of run support to rack up the wins. An ERA under 4.00 with 160 strikeouts makes him a decent SP5.

Kyle Hendricks, CHC

Hendricks doesn’t strike out a lot of batters, career high is 170, so he relies on batters to ground or fly out. He had a six-percent drop in his ground ball rate while his fly ball rate went up about three percent. I’m not sure if the juiced balls are to blame but an 87.3 MPH fastball won’t help. The ratios aren’t bad, sub-3.50 ERA and 1.15 WHIP, but the lack of strikeouts hurts his value, though.

Hyun-Jin Ryu, TOR

Take what I said about Price and apply the opposite to Ryu. Going to Toronto is going to have a negative impact on his fantasy value. He’ll have to face the Yankees (regardless of how hurt they are), the Mookie Betts-less Red Sox, Tampa Bay and the couple of power hitters in Baltimore. It also doesn’t help that Rogers Centre was No. 1 in home runs according to ESPN Park Factors. Ryu is still a good pitcher but he won’t repeat his 2019 performance.

Dinelson Lamet, SD

Lamet has been a popular pick of mine as a breakout candidate. He looked good in spurts in 2017, posting a 10.9 K/9 but the walks were a bit too much. After coming back from Tommy John surgery, he pitched in 73 innings last season with a 4.07 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 105 strikeouts. His ADP is a bit high compared to his small MLB sample size but his stuff makes him worth the risk.

Max Fried, ATL

Fried’s peripherals looked good but the end result was an average season. He finished with a 4.02 ERA and 1.334 WHIP. His 53.6 ground ball rate was fifth-best last season among qualified starting pitchers. Fried also recorded 17 wins in 33 games. With a good strikeout rate and low fly balls, his ratios should even out to make him a good SP4.

Madison Bumgarner, ARI

Bumgarner made more than 22 starts for the first time since 2016 but he posted a career-high 3.90 ERA. His fly ball and ground ball rates went in the wrong direction but he did have a velocity increase. The move from Oracle Park hurts him some but pitching with the humidor in Chase Field doesn’t make it that big of a downgrade. He does get to pitch some games against his former team, locking in a couple of wins. Bumgarner is not the Cy Young candidate he was six years ago, so if you temper expectations, he’ll be a nice draft pick.

Zac Gallen, ARI

In his first year in the majors, split between Miami and Arizona, Gallen pitched very well. In 15 combined starts, he posted a 2.81 ERA, 1.225 WHIP and 10.8 K/9. His ground ball and fly ball rates improved after being traded to Arizona. With a full season with the team coming up, I expect his ERA to rise to about 3.50 but he’ll have 160 strikeouts in the process.

Eduardo Rodriguez, BOS

With the trade of David Price and Chris Sale likely missing opening day, Rodriguez is slated as the team’s SP1. That doesn’t mean anything for fantasy baseball, though. Despite pitching a full season, he posted a 3.81 ERA, 1.328 WHIP and a 3.3 BB/9. The 19 wins were nice but he hurt owners in two important categories. There is some upside for improvements but the AL East is a tough division to pitch in. He has an SP3 ceiling.

Shohei Ohtani, LAA

Ohtani’s entrance to MLB made impactful changes to fantasy baseball. Sites had to figure out how he would be listed in the player pool. Some made him a pitcher only while others split him into two players, a pitcher and a hitter. The pitching side of Ohtani looked good in his first 10 starts but injury shortened his rookie season. He didn’t pitch in 2019 but was able to hit. He likely won’t pitch until about mid-May. If you can draft the Ohtani the pitcher, he’s a great stash for the final four months of the season with good control and strikeout potential.