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These are the National League starting pitcher fantasy rankings for 2011. Check out our previous first base, second base, third base, shortstop, catcher, left fielder, center fielder, right fielder, closer, and AL starting pitcher installments.

Get your combined outfielder rankings list through the Player Forecast Managercheck this link for details.

Like last year, the fantasy rankings are broken into tiers. Generally speaking, five-star players should be worthwhile in five categories and have an auction dollar value of $30 or more in your standard, mixed leagues. Four-star players should be worth at least $20 and useful in four categories, three-stars $10 and up, two-stars are more of your single-digit buys that you hope fill a hole or return some bargain value, and one-star players are, most likely, roster filler in the deepest leagues that you hope can be worth the buck you throw down on them.

This year we are listing stats like we have in the past (innings pitched, wins, strikeouts, ERA, WHIP, and saves projections from PECOTA) but are also including dollar value estimates produced by the Player Forecast Manager. In order to make these columns fit into the tables, I had to shorten them: "2L-$" is for mixed leagues, and "1L-$" is for AL- or NL-only leagues, depending on the player. The dollar values may not match up perfectly with the tiers, but those are just cases of PECOTA and I disagreeing on a player.

For reference, the dollar values were created with the PFM using standard 5×5 roto scoring, 23-player rosters—broken down as C (2) 1B (1) 2B (1) 3B (1) SS (1) CI (1) MI (1) OF (5) Util (1) P (9)—and $180 of the $260 budget allocated for hitters and $1 minimum salaries. A minimum of 20 games needed to be played at a position in the previous season to qualify (though I snuck a few brand-new players likely to qualify in). If your league uses different settings, be sure to plug them into the PFM to see what kind of differences in dollar value we are talking about—I set these to be as close to standard roster construction as possible.

Five Stars

Player

TEAM

IP

W

SO

ERA

WHIP

2L-$

1L-$

Roy Halladay

PHI

229

15

175

3.00

1.11

$27

$26

Halladay is valued for $27 with just 15 wins projected. There's a good chance, given his durability and the number of innings he pitches, that he will end up with more wins (and more value) than that. He’s one of just two five-star starting pitchers (out of 140 that I’ve ranked), which should tell you about all you need to know about the right-hander.

Four Stars

Player

TEAM

IP

W

SO

ERA

WHIP

2L-$

1L-$

Tim Lincecum

SFN

201

15

215

2.66

1.17

$25

$25

Cliff Lee

PHI

219

14

166

3.11

1.14

$22

$23

Mat Latos

SDN

190

14

180

2.94

1.19

$19

$20

Josh Johnson

FLO

198

14

192

3.19

1.26

$15

$18

Clayton Kershaw

LAN

200

14

198

3.19

1.31

$13

$17

Roy Oswalt

PHI

200

13

149

3.38

1.18

$15

$18

Zack Greinke

MIL

204

14

189

3.44

1.22

$15

$19

Except for a short stretch of 2010 when Lincecum appeared to be a mere mortal on the mound, he was his typical untouchable self. In a down year, he struck out 9.8 per nine and posted an ERA of 3.43. Cliff Lee is back in the National League, which worked out pretty well last time around (8.4 K/9, 1.1 BB/9, 3.39 ERA). Mat Latos whiffed 9.2 per nine last year and posted an ERA of 2.92—it’s not often PECOTA will project a pitcher to have a sub-three ERA for a weighted-mean forecast, but it doesn’t usually get the chance to pair an ace with a park that makes your average hurlers look as great as Petco does. The lone worry with Josh Johnson, as always, is his health. When he's healthy, there are few pitchers I would rather have, both in real life and in fantasy baseball.

I’m a little surprised at Kershaw’s WHIP projection, which is part of the reason he’s in this tier rather than in the three-star one where his dollar value suggests he should be. Oswalt saw his strikeout rate jump back up in 2010, as he posted the second-loftiest K/9 of his career. Add a K/BB rate (3.5) that fits right in with his career rate (3.6), and it’s tough to knock him down as far as PECOTA is suggesting here. My guess would be that his 70th percentile forecast has what I’m looking for. Zack Greinke won’t get any help from the Brewers’ defense—some things never change, Zack—but at least the lineup supporting him will actually, you know, support him. That alone should fix the wins issue that kept his roto value down in the past, never mind the switch to the least-challenging division in all the land.

Three Stars

Player

TEAM

IP

W

SO

ERA

WHIP

2L-$

1L-$

Matt Cain

SFN

205

14

160

3.26

1.23

$15

$18

Chris Carpenter

SLN

180

12

125

3.14

1.19

$13

$16

Cole Hamels

PHI

184

12

164

3.48

1.18

$13

$16

Tommy Hanson

ATL

180

13

169

3.32

1.22

$13

$16

Ted Lilly

LAN

180

12

146

3.45

1.18

$12

$15

Ubaldo Jimenez

COL

197

13

168

3.94

1.38

$3

$10

Yovani Gallardo

MIL

178

12

188

3.71

1.33

$6

$12

Hiroki Kuroda

LAN

170

12

116

3.42

1.25

$8

$12

Tim Hudson

ATL

178

12

104

3.66

1.29

$5

$10

As Bill Baer detailed the other day, you can pretty much ignore what the ERA estimators say about Matt Cain. Chris Carpenter, when he can stay on the mound, is an excellent pitcher, though his strikeout rates have fallen from their peak level. Cole Hamels might only be the fourth-best starter in Philadelphia, but he’s still one of the better pitchers in the NL. This Tommy Hanson forecast seems just right. He’s not a fantasy ace since he doesn’t strike out a batter per inning, but if he can keep his K/BB over three like he did in 2010, it’s tough to complain. Ted Lilly has long had a problem with homers, but Chavez Ravine is a great park to keep that from being as noticeable. Run support is the worry out there, but as you can see, if he can hit double digits in wins, he should be worth double digits in dollars.

Jimenez has struck out more batters than that each of the last three seasons, but his WHIP has been all over the place in that stretch as well. He’ll be worth far more than $3, but I’m not sure he’s an elite fantasy starter given his park and track record. The Brewers’ terrible defense prevents Yovani Gallardo from posting ERA and WHIP in the ranges he should, which keeps him from being as much of a fantasy asset as he could be in other environments. Kuroda has been in the majors for three years, and hasn’t hit 200 innings yet. He came pretty close last year, though, and I expect a better WHIP and far more strikeouts than this weighted-mean suggests. Tim Hudson was worth quite a bit last year thanks to throwing nearly 230 innings—it might be safe to say he’s feeling good after recovering from Tommy John surgery that ended his 2008 and stole away his 2009.

Two Stars

Player

TEAM

IP

W

SO

ERA

WHIP

2L-$

1L-$

Shaun Marcum

MIL

175

11

148

3.80

1.23

$7

$12

Javier Vazquez

FLO

202

13

197

3.73

1.25

$11

$16

Chad Billingsley

LAN

190

13

169

3.52

1.32

$8

$13

Ricky Nolasco

FLO

193

12

184

3.92

1.27

$7

$13

Wandy Rodriguez

HOU

194

13

165

3.81

1.29

$7

$13

Madison Bumgarner

SFN

176

12

122

3.76

1.30

$4

$10

Brett Myers

HOU

201

13

165

3.92

1.29

$6

$13

Dan Hudson

ARI

177

12

168

3.72

1.27

$8

$13

Jonathan Sanchez

SFN

180

12

181

3.73

1.34

$5

$12

James McDonald

PIT

190

11

165

4.24

1.42

-$1

$7

Ian Kennedy

ARI

170

11

151

3.87

1.31

$4

$10

Ryan Dempster

CHN

203

12

175

4.06

1.35

$3

$11

Matt Garza

CHN

182

12

147

4.06

1.32

$3

$10

Tim Stauffer

SDN

145

10

94

4.03

1.38

-$1

$5

Homer Bailey

CIN

158

10

126

4.54

1.47

-$6

$3

Jonathon Niese

NYN

175

11

128

4.59

1.46

-$6

$4

Anibal Sanchez

FLO

155

10

127

4.17

1.44

-$3

$5

Jaime Garcia

SLN

176

12

133

3.85

1.38

$2

$8

Shaun Marcum won’t miss the American League East, but he will miss having a non-terrible defense behind him. Another year removed from major arm surgery (and in the NL Central) Marcum should look pretty good regardless. Javier Vazquez is hoping that the shift back to the NL will bring him the same kind of success it did the last time he had to escape the American League. Chad Billingsley is a pretty good pitcher, but there are a lot of pitchers to choose from, and many of them have better offenses supporting them. Ricky Nolasco is an anti-Matt Cain of sorts. I like Wandy Rodriguez more than a two-star pitcher, but I can’t move him higher than that when he has that Astros’ lineup “supporting” him.

Madison Bumgarner was pretty good in his rookie season thanks to excellent control of his pitches and some help from his home park. He always had that control in the minors, and he’s still in San Francisco, so draft accordingly. Brett Myers, like teammate Wandy, loses points for being an Astro. Dan Hudson is a pitcher I like as well, but like is as far as I’ll go until I’ve seen him pitch in the majors some more—his reliance on the D’backs defensive unit doesn’t do him any favors, either. If Jonathan Sanchez could replicate his 2010 campaign in 2011, I would rate him a bit higher, but given his typical WHIP, he’s not a great fantasy option. I’ve talked about James McDonald quite a bit in the last six months or so, most recently here.  

Ian Kennedy is more interesting in real life than in fantasy, as I don’t see him crossing the $10 threshold that requires him to move a tier up. I get the sense I’ll like Ryan Dempster’s 70th percentile forecast more, though that shouldn’t be so different from his weighted-mean that it would move him out of this tier. I would still rather have him than new Cub Matt Garza. I have faith in Tim Stauffer turning into a pretty good starter, but he won’t be a good source of strikeouts, which hurts his fantasy value. I do think his rate stats will be better than those above, though, which is why he’s in this tier. I think Homer Bailey has the talent to hit the three-star tier, but he needs to last a full season before I can put him there. He’s a post-hype sleeper (again). I’ve talked about Jonathon Niese and why I like him more than his 2010 stats say I should. Anibal Sanchez and Jaime Garcia both had quality 2010 seasons, but neither of them has an extensive track record of success, which keeps them behind the other fine options in the league.

One Star

Player

TEAM

IP

W

SO

ERA

WHIP

2L-$

1L-$

Derek Lowe

ATL

203

13

127

4.09

1.37

$1

$9

Jordan Zimmermann

WAS

172

11

148

4.19

1.34

$1

$8

Bronson Arroyo

CIN

186

11

116

4.24

1.32

$1

$8

Johnny Cueto

CIN

180

11

142

4.35

1.34

$0

$7

Travis Wood

CIN

168

11

129

4.06

1.36

$1

$7

Clayton Richard

SDN

190

12

126

4.15

1.42

-$1

$7

Joe Blanton

PHI

195

10

127

4.39

1.36

-$1

$6

R.A. Dickey

NYN

185

12

95

4.16

1.39

-$1

$6

Jake Westbrook

SLN

186

11

105

4.19

1.39

-$2

$6

Jair Jurrjens

ATL

160

10

112

4.06

1.37

$0

$6

Jon Garland

LAN

194

12

102

4.30

1.40

-$2

$6

Nelson Figueroa

HOU

140

9

104

3.94

1.33

$0

$6

Edinson Volquez

CIN

134

9

131

3.94

1.37

$0

$6

Mike Minor

ATL

115

8

120

3.73

1.31

$1

$5

Randy Wolf

MIL

174

10

126

4.39

1.38

-$2

$5

Aaron Harang

SDN

152

9

125

4.27

1.35

-$1

$5

Jason Hammel

COL

175

9

123

5.06

1.48

-$11

$1

Barry Zito

SFN

170

11

115

4.22

1.42

-$3

$5

Carlos Zambrano

CHN

168

11

136

4.24

1.45

-$3

$5

Mike Pelfrey

NYN

190

12

103

4.29

1.44

-$4

$5

J.A. Happ

HOU

150

10

121

4.26

1.41

-$2

$5

Bud Norris

HOU

182

11

167

4.54

1.48

-$5

$4

Chris Capuano

NYN

122

9

88

4.11

1.33

-$1

$4

Chris Narveson

MIL

168

10

138

4.67

1.43

-$5

$4

Randy Wells

CHN

168

10

117

4.62

1.44

-$6

$3

Wade LeBlanc

SDN

116

7

91

4.13

1.35

-$2

$3

Kevin Correia

PIT

150

9

102

4.44

1.44

-$5

$3

Jhoulys Chacin

COL

185

10

139

4.84

1.49

-$9

$2

John Lannan

WAS

193

11

93

4.76

1.46

-$9

$2

Joe Saunders

ARI

182

10

106

4.89

1.44

-$9

$2

Ross Ohlendorf

PIT

160

9

102

4.76

1.43

-$7

$2

Tom Gorzelanny

WAS

135

7

104

4.34

1.44

-$5

$2

Kyle Lohse

SLN

157

10

90

4.68

1.45

-$7

$2

Paul Maholm

PIT

200

10

109

4.81

1.47

-$10

$2

Jason Marquis

WAS

174

10

88

4.74

1.46

-$9

$2

Jorge de la Rosa

COL

168

9

147

5.01

1.50

-$10

$1

Taylor Buchholz

NYN

88

4

60

3.94

1.32

-$4

$1

Chris Young

NYN

110

9

87

3.52

1.31

$1

$5

Chris Volstad

FLO

165

10

105

4.93

1.52

-$11

$1

Derek Lowe has had at least 32 starts a season since 2002, his first full season as a starting pitcher. He’s not going to help your ERA or strikeouts, but if you need nearly 200 innings of solid pitching in an NL-only league, Lowe can help with that. I like Jordan Zimmermann’s potential—he’s a good sleeper for 2011 given the time he missed with injury in 2010. PECOTA and I expect Bronson Arroyo to fall back a bit from his 2010 campaign, though he and his two teammates who follow him on this list are all useful in NL-only. Clayton Richard has Petco at his back, but his ERA will most likely be in the high three or low four range, and while he’ll strike out an above-average number of hitters, it won’t be enough to make him a fantasy asset.

I want R.A. Dickey to be excellent, but it’s tough to bet on a knuckler from year to year. Jake Westbrook is interesting thanks to pitching in Busch Stadium and in the NL Central. Jon Garland isn’t as intriguing in Los Angeles as he was in Petco, a park that was basically built for him. I don’t like Edinson Volquez as much as many others do; excepting the first half of his first full season, he has never done much of anything that merits attention. Randy Wolf rebounded in the second half of 2010 after some rough outings, but the defense behind him still won’t do him much good. Aaron Harang spent the winter working to regain his old mechanics, and the move from the Great American Ball Park to Petco should be one that keeps him productive for at least one more year.

Chris Young has two major question marks: health and production. He can’t answer the second until he proves he has the first under control. Barry Zito is a lot like Lowe in that he should approach 200 innings. Carlos Zambrano is someone I will be staying away from. Mike Pelfrey, despite his fans, is pretty overrated. Jhoulys Chacin is one guy I can see moving out of this tier, but PECOTA does not like him very much. Tom Gorzelanny should get to start all the time in Washington, which helps, but unless he gets his walks under control, he won’t be worth very much outside of NL-only leagues.

Thanks for reading this lengthy series—my hope is that you get the assist you want in your drafts. Remember, the Player Forecast Manager is another quality tool at draft time, and now you can use it in concert with my rankings. Good luck on draft day, and as always, feel free to contact me or any of the fantasy staff with your questions. 

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mgwiz22
2/28
I am in a std. 5x5 15 team league that uses all major league players. If I were to use the prices generated by these charts I think I would end up with all relievers( I certainly wouldn't get any of the top guys) and would not meet the innings requirement.

Given that 9 pitchers determine half of the fantasy scoring what really is the best percentage of a budget that should be devoted to pitching? can this number be determined without reference to league tendencies?
yankeehater32
2/28
Well, the prices generated by these charts were for 12-team standard. You can get 15-team prices for all of these players using the Player Forecast Manager--just set the number of teams to 15, and the prices will adjust accordingly.

Personally, I try to spend somewhere between $80 and $90 on pitching at the draft. There is a lot to choose from, and there is almost always pitching available, whereas hitters are worth more in terms of categories and are harder to find.
yankeehater32
2/28
Sorry, $80-90 in a $260 league, so between 30-35 percent of the budget. And the Player Forecast Manager needs a link if I'm referring to it.
dandaman
2/28
Marc, love these rankings. Very helpful. Just wondering if there is any plan to adjust your rankings at all once the 70th and/or 90th percentiles come out as you often allude to them.
Also, is it me or does the pitching seem pretty deep this year? I just wouldn't mind having a bunch of 2 and 3 star guys on my staff and is making me think I might want to focus on other areas first. Thanks,
Dan
yankeehater32
2/28
Pitching is deep, and will result in my spending even more of my budget on hitters.

I'll mention any major changes, if things don't pan out the way I expect them to in the percentiles.

mgwiz22
2/28
I was just playing around with PFM and i found that by giving my team a few closers at what I consider realistic prices for my league that ( I do not project to keep any at this point) it then generated prices for the remaining pitchers which I would consider a great deal more realistic than the previous ones for starting pitching. This adjustment seemingly makes PFM of greater use to me.
rmnd3b
2/28
Just out of curiosity, where would Adam Wainwright have fallen on this list?
yankeehater32
2/28
Four stars, though as I mentioned in a chat back in January, I was a little nervous about the health of his arm, and would prefer some other elite arms over him because of it.
dscala
2/28
Great stuff, Marc, thanks.

Any chance one of you could do a column on "Holds"? My league counts saves + holds as one category.


yankeehater32
2/28
We can add it to the list of spring necessities, sure.
rweiler
2/28
FWIW, Madison Bumgarner pitched much, much better on the road than he did at home. At home, his WHIP/BAA was 1.53/.303 and on the road it was 1.15/.250. Much of the difference is due to one start against Cincinnati at home where he got shelled, but not all of it. One would expect that over the course of an entire season, the splits wouldn't be so extreme.
grandslam28
3/01
Also until the last month of the season he was losing his speed, but changed hi motion and started throwing much harder the last month of the season/playoffs. He is my pick to move up to be a 4 star pitcher.
saigonsam
3/01
Colby Lewis did not make the list? Because he's not a one-star pitcher or because there's a mistake?
buddha
3/01
Because the title of the article is "NL Starting Pitcher Rankings."
saigonsam
3/01
Peavy, Danks, Liriano, E. Santana, G. Gonzalez, Beckett, C.J. Wilson, B. Anderson, T. Cahill, D. Braden, J. Shields? That's just 2 minutes of research.

Are you saying Chris Capuano is more valuable than all of those guys or did you miss a tier?
saigonsam
3/01
sorry
davinhbrown
3/01
Seems like a bunch of the Rockies pitchers aren't highly rated here or elsehwere on this site. Is their park that much of a variable?

With rose-colored glasses on I can see.... Ubaldo tiring after throwing lots of pitches in the 1st half, DelaRosa taking a while to truely bounce back after his finger injury, Hammel is an annual 'sleeper', and Chacin had a good begining to his young career.

Or should I just wise-up and realize this is why I'm subscribed to this site and go with the numbers projected here?
ErikBFlom
3/01
Isn't Strasburg worth at least a star? He could drop two stars and play a third of a season and still be worth one star.
yankeehater32
3/03
He's supposed to be back in 2012. The Nats aren't going to rush him back to close out a pointless season.
pobothecat
3/01
yankeehater32
3/03
I don't think he'll be in the Reds rotation, and without major innings, he doesn't have a ton of value given his numbers.