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Fantasy baseball 2020 tiered starting pitcher rankings

By Bill Pivetz

TAMPA, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 24: Gerrit Cole #45 of the New York Yankees delivers a pitch in the first inning during the spring training game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Steinbrenner Field on February 24, 2020 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 24: Gerrit Cole #45 of the New York Yankees delivers a pitch in the first inning during the spring training game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Steinbrenner Field on February 24, 2020 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

These four pitchers are the best in the league and any fantasy owner would love to have them.

Max Scherzer, WSH

Scherzer struggled for the first month, finishing April with a 4.12 ERA. He turned things around and ended the season with a 2.92 ERA, 1.027 WHIP and 243 strikeouts. Scherzer suffered a back injury that limited him to just four combined starts in July and August. He will be turning 36 in the middle of the season, so there is concern that there will be some regression. But, as a top-20 pick, there aren’t many better. Scherzer has a great offense behind him and will still have a sub-3.00 ERA with 250 strikeouts.

Justin Verlander, HOU

In his age-36 season, Verlander was posting career highs in a lot of stats. He made another 34 starts, pitching in 223.0 innings and struck out 300 batters (career-high) with a 2.58 ERA and 0.803 WHIP. The Angels and Rangers got better and the A’s can put up some runs. There has to be a drop off at some point, right? We just haven’t seen it. He’s as reliable as they come and could be the first pitcher drafted. An ERA under 3.00 with another 210 strikeouts is a lock.

Gerrit Cole, NYY

Moving from the AL West to the AL East may affect some pitchers, but not Cole. Making half your starts in a very hitter-friendly park may not be ideal for fantasy baseball. He had a 1.2 HR/9 last season but his BB/9 dropped to 2.0. He’ll have a great offense behind him (as long as they’re all healthy). It helps that the Red Sox shipped away their best hitter and two of the other three teams in the division aren’t as consistent. Cole is a lock as a first-round pick.

Jacob deGrom, NYM

When you won the Cy Young award in the last two seasons, you become the No. 1 starting pitcher in baseball. While his ERA increased from 2018 to 2019, it was still under 2.50 and his WHIP was under 1.00 for both seasons. He can provide at least 250 strikeouts. If you use wins as a pitching category, deGrom isn’t going to help you. He has 21 combined in the last two years. But if you use quality starts, he won’t hurt you. Either way, deGrom won’t be making it out of the first round in drafts.

Fantasy baseball 2020 tiered outfielder rankings. dark. Next

The final position ranking is up next, relief pitchers. The delay to the MLB season will affect my rankings some and things could change between when they post and Opening Day. It will feature the top-60 relievers in the league. Just because there’s a delay, doesn’t mean you have to stop mocking.

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