Top 75 Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitchers For Week 1

This season I wanted to try out something different from our normal look at two-start pitchers every week.  Please let me know what you think of these rankings as well as which you prefer.

The 2010 season kicks off this evening, so the time has come to start setting your line - up.  Who should start?  Whose matchup is a little bit too risky?  Let’s take a look at how I rank the starting pitcher for the upcoming week:

1. Roy Halladay  -  Philadelphia Phillies  -  @ Was, @ Hou
2. Tim Lincecum  -  San Francisco Giants  -  @ Hou, vs. Ari
3. Dan Haren  -  Arizona Diamondbacks  -  vs. SD, vs. Pit
4. Felix Hernandez - Seattle Mariners - @ Oak, @ Tex
5. Johan Santana - New York Mets - vs. Fla, vs. Was
6. Zack Greinke - Kansas City Royals - vs. Det, vs. Bos
7. Justin Verlander - Detroit Tigers - @ KC, vs. Cle
8. Yovani Gallardo - Milwaukee Brewers - vs. Col, vs. Stl
9. Ubaldo Jimenez - Colorado Rockies - @ Mil, vs. SD
10. CC Sabathia - New York Yankees  - @ Bos, @ TB
11. Chris Carpenter - St. Louis Cardinals - @ Cin, @ Mil
12. Josh Beckett - Boston Red Sox - vs. NYY, @ KC
13. Scott Baker - Minnesota Twins - @ LAA, @ CWS
14. Josh Johnson - Florida Marlins - @ NYM, vs. LAD
15. Jered Weaver - Los Angeles Angels - vs. Min, vs. Oak
16. Clayton Kershaw - Los Angeles Dodgers - @ Pit
17. Cole Hamels - Philadelphia Phillies - @ Was
18. Adam Wainwright - St. Louis Cardinals - @ Cin
19. Chad Billingsley - Los Angeles Dodgers - @ Pit
20. Ricky Nolasco - Florida Marlins - @ NYM
21. James Shields - Tampa Bay Rays - vs. Bal, vs. NYY
22. Jake Peavy - Chicago White Sox - vs. Cle
23. Jon Lester - Boston Red Sox - vs. NYY
24. Matt Garza - Tampa Bay Rays - vs. Bal
25. Tommy Hanson - Atlanta Braves - vs. CHC
26. Wandy Rodriguez - Houston Astros - vs. SF
27. A.J. Burnett - New York Yankees  - @ Bos, @ TB
28. Carlos Zambrano - Chicago Cubs - @ Atl. @ Cin
29. Edwin Jackson - Arizona Diamondbacks - vs. SD, vs. Pit
30. Matt Cain - San Francisco Giants - @ Hou
31. Javier Vazquez - New York Yankees  - @ TB
32. Jorge De La Rosa - Colorado Rockies - vs. SD
33. Mark Buehrle - Chicago White Sox - vs. Cle, vs. Min
34. John Lackey - Boston Red Sox - vs. NYY
35. Brett Anderson - Oakland Athletics - vs. Sea
36. Clay Buchholz - Boston Red Sox - @ KC
37. John Danks - Chicago White Sox - vs. Min
38. Aaron Harang - Cincinnati Reds - vs. StL, vs. CHC
39. Randy Wolf - Milwaukee Brewers - vs. Col, vs. Stl
40. Tim Hudson - Atlanta Braves - @ SF
41. Gavin Floyd - Chicago White Sox - vs. Cle
42. Roy Oswalt - Houston Astros - vs. SF, vs. Phi
43. Rick Porcello - Detroit Tigers - vs. Cle
44. Rich Harden - Texas Rangers - vs. Tor
45. Jair Jurrjens - Atlanta Braves - vs. CHC
46. Max Scherzer - Detroit Tigers - @ KC
47. Vicente Padilla - Los Angeles Dodgers - @ Pit, @ Fla
48. Kevin Millwood - Baltimore Orioles - @ TB, vs. Tor
49. Ryan Dempster - Chicago Cubs - @ Atl
50. Scott Feldman - Texas Rangers - vs. Tor, vs. Sea
51. Derek Lowe - Atlanta Braves - vs. CHC, @ SF
52. Zach Duke - Pittsburgh Pirates - vs. LAD, @ Ari
53. Nick Blackburn - Minnesota Twins - @ LAA, @ CWS
54. Hiroki Kuroda - Los Angeles Dodgers - @ Fla
55. Mike Pelfrey - New York Mets - vs. Was
56. Jeff Niemann - Tampa Bay Rays - vs. Bal
57. Johnny Cueto - Cincinnati Reds - vs. Stl
58. Jon Garland - San Diego Padres - @ Ari, @ Col
59. Joe Saunders - Los Angeles Angels - vs. Min, vs. Oak
60. Mat Latos - San Diego Padres - @ Col
61. Ervin Santana - Los Angeles Angels - vs. Min
62. Kevin Slowey - Minnesota Twins - @ LAA
63. Paul Maholm - Pittsburgh Pirates - vs. LAD
64. Ben Sheets - Oakland Athletics - vs. Sea, @ LAA
65. Shaun Marcum - Toronto Blue Jays - @ Tex, @ Bal
66. Jake Westbrook - Cleveland Indians - @ CWS, @ Det
67. Joel Pineiro - Los Angeles Angels - vs. Min
68. Brett Myers - Houston Astros - vs. SF
69. David Price - Tampa Bay Rays - vs. NYY
70. Ian Kennedy - Arizona Diamondbacks - vs. SD
71. Chris Young - San Diego Padres - @ Ari
72. Ian Snell - Seattle Mariners - @ Oak, @ Tex
73. Dallas Braden - Oakland Athletics - vs. Sea, @ LAA
74. John Lannan - Washington Nationals - vs. Phi, @ NYM
75. Fausto Carmona - Chicago White Sox - @ CWS

Thoughts:

• It’s the first week of the season, so I didn’t weigh a pitcher having two starts as heavily as I will as the year wears on.  Let’s be honest, how many owners are utilizing a pitch-and-ditch approach at this point?
• One of the hardest decisions was where to place A.J. Burnett on the rankings.  Yes, he’s a two-start pitcher, but those two starts come against two tough divisional opponents on the road.  That knocks him down a few slots below a couple of single-start options.
• I believe in Jon Lester as a Top 10 pitcher for 2010, but opening up against the Yankees may cause him to get off to a slow start.  This type of matchup is probably the only time all year that you’ll see Jake Peavy ranked above him.
• Ben Sheets has a ton of upside this season, but having missed all of 2009 I just couldn’t rank him too highly.  As the year goes on, he easily could find himself significantly higher on these lists.
• Cole Hamels and Chad Billingsley both need to get off to a quick start to help fantasy owners forget 2009.  With their matchups, they certainly have been given that chance.  As far as one-start pitchers go, they are two of my favorites for week one.
• Jorge De La Rosa may seem a bit high at No. 32, but I’m a big fan of his this season and he has a great matchup.  Given the way he pitched in the second half of 2009, you have to like his chance to get things off to an equally impressive start.
• Mike Pelfrey has struggled this spring, but he showed signs in his final spring outing, giving up just one unearned run over six innings.  Before you point to the lineup the Rays marched out, it had Crawford, Zobrist, Longoria and all their friends in it.  Getting to start the season against the Nationals surely puts him in a good place to get things started.
• Will this be the year Ian Snell rediscovers things?  Time will certainly tell…
• Will David Price put things together and live up to the hype?  He’s got a tall order in week one, taking on the Yankees.  If he pitches well, his standing in these rankings is going fly upwards.  For this week, however, he’s just not worth the gamble.

For more information on pitching rotations, check out our 2010 Rotation Tracker by clicking here .  For more information on the closer situations around the league, check out our 2010 Closer Tracker by clicking here .

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