Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Rankings: Top 100 starting pitchers

Starting pitchers are defined by their high failure and attrition rates, but they're as essential as ever.

Starting pitcher has become arguably the most pivotal position in Fantasy Baseball over the past couple years, but that doesn't mean it's any more predictable.

That's especially true when assessing it for the long haul. If you wade into the prospect pool, you'll notice like half the names there are pitchers. The attrition and failure rates at the position are so high that teams need to develop more than they'll seemingly need, because even then, it may not be enough.

Of course, from a Dynasty perspective, it means the position presents a greater chance of misfire. That's especially true within the prospect ranks, but any pitcher with a limited track record of success — which turns out to be the vast majority because of that high attrition resent -- may turn out to be just a short-term play. As a result, you'll notice a precipitous drop in "confidence rating" as you scroll through these rankings.

It's one of the three factors I considered when putting them together:

1. Present value: What a player is expected to be in 2020
   
2. Future value: What his peak looks like and how much peak he has left
   
3. Confidence rating: How confident I am in him meeting his immediate and long-term value
   

Each factor is measured on a 1-to-5 score, with five being the best, and a player's ranking is primarily determined by adding the scores. Ties typically go to the younger player, but personal preference plays a role as well. The distinctions become less evident further down the list, so at some point subjectivity has to reign.

We discussed my starting pitcher Dynasty rankings on the Fantasy Baseball Today Podcast Wednesday along with ADP combos. Keep up with everything baseball and subscribe here.

Top 100 dynasty starting pitchers

Rank	Player	Age (on 7/1)	Present	Future	Confidence
1	Gerrit Cole NYY SP	29	5	4	5
2	Walker Buehler LAD SP	25	5	5	4
3	Shane Bieber CLE SP	25	5	5	3
4	Jack Flaherty STL SP	24	4	5	4
5	Jacob deGrom NYM SP	32	5	3	5
6	Mike Clevinger CLE SP	29	5	3	4
7	Lucas Giolito CHW SP	25	4	5	3
8	Luis Castillo CIN SP	27	4	5	3
9	Aaron Nola PHI SP	27	4	5	3
10	Chris Paddack SD SP	24	4	5	3
11	Blake Snell TB SP	27	4	5	3
12	Stephen Strasburg WAS SP	31	4	3	4
13	Patrick Corbin WAS SP	30	4	3	4
14	Tyler Glasnow TB SP	26	4	5	2
15	Mike Soroka ATL SP	22	4	4	3
16	Jose Berrios MIN SP	26	4	4	3
17	Shohei Ohtani LAA DH	25	3	5	3
18	Jesus Luzardo OAK RP	22	3	5	3
19	MacKenzie Gore SD RP	21	1	5	4
20	Zac Gallen ARI SP	24	3	4	3
21	Justin Verlander HOU SP	37	5	1	4
22	Max Scherzer WAS SP	35	5	1	4
23	Julio Urias LAD RP	23	3	4	3
24	Brandon Woodruff MIL SP	27	4	4	2
25	Frankie Montas OAK SP	27	4	4	2
26	Clayton Kershaw LAD SP	32	4	2	4
27	Nate Pearson TOR RP	23	2	5	2
28	Trevor Bauer CIN SP	29	3	4	2
29	Sonny Gray CIN SP	30	4	3	2
30	James Paxton NYY SP	31	4	3	2
31	Luis Severino NYY SP	26	1	5	3
32	Max Fried ATL SP	26	3	4	2
33	Lance McCullers HOU SP	26	3	4	2
34	Casey Mize DET SP	23	1	5	3
35	Michael Kopech CHW SP	24	2	5	2
36	Zack Greinke HOU SP	36	4	1	4
37	Charlie Morton TB SP	36	4	1	4
38	Yu Darvish CHC SP	33	4	2	3
39	Zack Wheeler PHI SP	30	3	3	3
40	Dustin May LAD RP	22	2	4	3
41	A.J. Puk OAK RP	25	2	5	2
42	Matthew Boyd DET SP	29	3	4	2
43	Eduardo Rodriguez BOS SP	27	3	3	3
44	Carlos Martinez STL RP	28	3	4	2
45	Brendan McKay TB SP	24	2	4	3
46	Kyle Hendricks CHC SP	30	3	3	3
47	Noah Syndergaard NYM SP	27	1	4	3
48	Chris Sale BOS SP	31	1	4	3
49	Forrest Whitley HOU SP	22	1	5	2
50	Mitch Keller PIT SP	24	2	4	2
51	Spencer Howard PHI RP	23	2	4	2
52	Luke Weaver ARI SP	26	3	4	1
53	Dinelson Lamet SD SP	27	3	4	1
54	German Marquez COL SP	25	2	4	2
55	Dylan Cease CHW SP	24	2	4	2
56	Robbie Ray ARI SP	28	3	3	2
57	Marcus Stroman NYM SP	29	3	3	2
58	Matt Manning DET SP	22	1	4	2
59	Ian Anderson ATL SP	22	1	4	2
60	Sixto Sanchez MIA RP	21	1	4	2
61	Luis Patino SD SP	20	1	4	2
62	Tarik Skubal DET SP	23	1	4	2
63	Carlos Carrasco CLE SP	33	3	2	2
64	Hyun-Jin Ryu TOR SP	33	3	2	2
65	Lance Lynn TEX SP	33	3	2	2
66	Madison Bumgarner ARI SP	30	3	3	1
67	Corey Kluber TEX SP	34	3	2	2
68	Kenta Maeda MIN SP	32	3	2	2
69	Logan Gilbert SEA RP	23	1	4	2
70	Grayson Rodriguez BAL SP	20	1	5	1
71	Matthew Liberatore STL SP	20	1	4	2
72	Sean Manaea OAK SP	28	3	3	1
73	Mike Foltynewicz ATL SP	28	3	3	1
74	Jon Gray COL SP	28	2	3	2
75	Andrew Heaney LAA SP	29	2	3	2
76	Masahiro Tanaka NYY SP	31	2	3	2
77	Jameson Taillon PIT SP	28	1	4	2
78	Jose Urquidy HOU SP	25	2	3	2
79	Josh James HOU RP	27	2	4	1
80	Griffin Canning LAA SP	24	2	4	1
81	Domingo German NYY SP	27	1	4	2
82	Dylan Bundy LAA SP	27	2	4	1
83	Corbin Burnes MIL RP	25	2	4	1
84	Adrian Houser MIL SP	27	2	3	2
85	Joe Musgrove PIT SP	27	2	3	2
86	Mike Minor TEX SP	32	3	2	1
87	David Price LAD SP	34	3	1	2
88	Jake Odorizzi MIN SP	30	3	2	1
89	Edward Cabrera MIA RP	22	1	4	1
90	Kyle Wright ATL SP	24	1	4	1
91	Justus Sheffield SEA SP	24	1	3	2
92	Deivi Garcia NYY RP	21	1	4	1
93	Shane Baz TB RP	21	1	4	1
94	Hunter Greene CIN SP	20	1	4	1
95	Nick Lodolo CIN SP	22	1	3	2
96	Michael Pineda MIN SP	31	1	3	2
97	Jordan Montgomery NYY RP	27	2	3	1
98	Carlos Rodon CHW SP	27	1	3	2
99	Aaron Civale CLE SP	25	2	3	1
100	Sandy Alcantara MIA SP	24	2	3	1

Dynasty Rankings: SP | RP | OF | SS | 1B | 3B | 2B | C