Starting Pitcher and Closer Rankings for 2013

Hey all,

On today’s podcast, we unveiled our preliminary top-15 starting pitcher and top-10 relief pitcher rankings heading into next season along with a plethora of honorable mentions. We encourage each and every one of you to comment on these and we’ll share your thoughts on our next podcast which comes on Wednesday. Next up are our 2012 All-Surprise and All-Disappointment teams. But first things first, here are our pitcher rankings:

STARTING PITCHER

1. Justin Verlander

2. Felix Hernandez

3. Jered Weaver

4. David Price

5. Clayton Kershaw

6. Cole Hamels

7. Stephen Strasburg

8. Matt Cain

9. Madison Bumgarner

10. CC Sabathia

11. Johnny Cueto

12. Gio Gonzalez

13. Zack Greinke

14. Jordan Zimmermann

15. R.A. Dickey

Honorable Mentions: Hiroki Kuroda, Jake Peavy, Roy Halladay, Chris Sale, Yovani Gallardo, Cliff Lee, Max Scherzer (MLB strikeout leader), Yu Darvish, Tim Lincecum, Adam Wainwright, Matt Moore, Mat Latos, James Shields

RELIEF PITCHER

1. Craig Kimbrel

2. Aroldis Chapman

3. Kenley Jansen

4. Joel Hanrahan

5. Jason Motte

6. Jonathan Papelbon

7. Joe Nathan

8. Huston Street

9. Fernando Rodney

10. J.J. Putz

Honorable Mentions: Ernesto Frieri, Rafael Betancourt, Tyler Clippard, Chris Perez, Rafael Soriano, Jim Johnson, Tom Wilhelmsen

***ALSO NOTE INJURED CLOSERS: Mariano Rivera, Brian Wilson, Drew Storen, Joakim Soria, Sergio Santos

Posted on September 14, 2012 at 1:31 PM
Permalink
6 Comments
Filed in: Uncategorized

6 Comments

ummmm maybe a guy by the name of kris medlen….just saying

By Travis Lemke on October 2, 2012 12:31 AM - Reply

Travis,

Yeah, Medlen probably deserves an honorable mention but I’m not about to rank him ahead of any of the top-15 guys and even most of the other HMs based on 12 starts. Also, remember that we’re ranking for 2013, so these aren’t 2012 value rankings.

Zach

By mlbtstufantasy411 on October 2, 2012 11:08 AM - Reply

Dickey at 15 is a bit harsh, Sale not in top 15 is a crime.

By John Borger on October 2, 2012 2:46 PM - Reply

John,

So who of the top 15 would you drop out to make room for Sale? It was a numbers game and Sale fell just a bit short.

Zach

By mlbtstufantasy411 on October 2, 2012 3:50 PM - Reply

Stras could be 5th on the list. Kershaws hip could be a lingering issue. Hamels at 6 is arguable

By Alex on October 5, 2012 7:48 PM - Reply

I would move Dickey and Gio up a bit. Also, I think that Matt Harvey should be considered for the honorable mentions. Admittedly, 10 games started is a small sample size, but he had a 2.73 ERA, a .200 average against, a 10.6 K/9 ratio, and a 141 ERA+. Those five numbers top everyone on the honorable mentions list except Max Scherzer (who had a higher K/9 ratio) and Chris Sale (who had a higher ERA+ by one point). Shouldn’t Matt Harvey be at least an honorable mention?

By joshmets56 on November 1, 2012 8:59 AM - Reply