I've decided Jose Quintana belongs in The Elite. He's always good for the innings, and the big jump in strikeout rate last year suggests he's a borderline ace. There's a chance the strikeouts regress, I suppose, but Robbie Ray and Chris Archer aren't perfect either. If nothing else, Quintana has fewer potential pitfalls than those in The Near-Elite.

And those two tiers are where I like to load up at starting pitcher, getting at least three and preferably four or five.The Next-Best Things aren't so bad for filling in gaps, but they have more question marks (Shohei Ohtani is part of that group after previously ranking higher). You could make a case to tier just about any of them with either The Near-Elite or The Fallback Options, so you're wading into uncertainty.

I've added another to their ranks. Madison Bumgarner's fractured hand has obviously dropped him a couple tiers. I expect him to miss the first third of the season, but it could be more.

The Super Elite: Clayton Kershaw, Corey Kluber, Max Scherzer, Chris Sale
The Elite: Justin Verlander, Luis Severino, Stephen Strasburg, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Greinke, Jacob deGrom, Carlos Carrasco, Yu Darvish, Robbie Ray, Chris Archer, Carlos Martinez, Dallas Keuchel†, Jose Quintana
The Near-Elite: James Paxton, Zack Godley, Aaron Nola, Gerrit Cole, Masahiro Tanaka, David Price, Alex Wood, Sonny Gray, Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester, Johnny Cueto, Luis Castillo, Lance McCullers, Luke Weaver, Rich Hill
The Next-Best Things: Madison Bumgarner, Marcus Stroman, Trevor Bauer, Jose Berrios, Kyle Hendricks, Charlie Morton, Blake Snell, Mike Clevinger, Chase Anderson, Jon Gray, Shohei Ohtani
The Fallback Options: Gio Gonzalez, Michael Fulmer, Aaron Sanchez, Danny Duffy, Garrett Richards, Dylan Bundy, Cole Hamels, Tanner Roark, Kevin Gausman, Lucas Giolito, Jake Faria, Dinelson Lamet
The Last Resorts: Patrick Corbin, Rick Porcello, Sean Manaea, Jameson Taillon, Taijuan Walker, Lance Lynn, J.A. Happ, Julio Teheran, Kenta Maeda, Jeff Samardzija, Jordan Montgomery, Matt Harvey, Marco Estrada, Miles Mikolas, Drew Pomeranz, Eduardo Rodriguez, Alex Cobb, Ervin Santana, Luiz Gohara, Tyler Glasnow, Steven Matz, Sean Newcomb, Brandon McCarthy, Tyler Chatwood
The Leftovers: Jimmy Nelson, Vince Velasquez, Danny Salazar, Mike Minor*, Brad Peacock*, Michael Wacha, Mike Leake, Jake Odorizzi, Jake Junis, German Marquez, Alex Reyes, Mike Foltynewicz, Jack Flaherty, Andrew Heaney, Zach Davies, Dan Straily, Collin McHugh, Joe Musgrove*, Brandon Woodruff, CC Sabathia, Jhoulys Chacin, Jason Vargas, Carlos Rodon, Reynaldo Lopez, Daniel Mengden, Zack Wheeler, Brandon Finnegan, Matt Moore, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Homer Bailey, Tyler Skaggs, Felix Hernandez, Anthony DeSclafani, Ivan Nova, Kendall Graveman, Tyler Anderson, Jaime Garcia, Trevor Williams, Chad Kuhl, Jose Urena, Andrew Cashner, Matthew Boyd, Josh Tomlin, Ian Kennedy, Mike Fiers, Adam Wainwright

*: RP-eligible
†: one tier lower in categories (or Rotisserie) leagues