The match ups and data you see below were pulled Friday morning. The data is for the 2015 season. Please be aware the match ups are subject to change. If you have any questions about the rankings hit me up Twitter @MattCommins
These are rankings for the entire week so I give the edge to a lot of fantasy pitchers who pitch twice. Also, the rankings are based on traditional 5×5 categories. I also provide write-ups for a few pitchers. My hope is after you read them you have a better understanding of why I ranked them.
Chris Tillman continues to look great. I wrote a few days ago Tillman is back to the pitcher he was the previous three seasons at Baseball Professor.
After watching Aaron Nola’s Major League debut I could not have been more impressed. He can throw all three pitches for strikes and he can also throw any of them out of the zone to generate swings and misses. The biggest worry about Nola is the fastball velocity declined dramatically after the fourth inning, going from 92-93 mph to 89-90. Its only one start so I’m not putting a lot of stock into that yet. From a fantasy perspective it’s going to be difficult to earn wins, but he’s going to be at least an average contributor in ERA, WHIP and strikeouts the rest of the year.
In eight starts this year Taylor Jungmann has only allowed more than two earned runs once … and that start was in Colorado. He doesn’t have overpowering stuff, but he has been really good at generating ground balls and a lot of weak contact. His hard hit rate is so low he ranks in the top 20 percent among qualified pitchers. With the trade of Aramis Ramirez it looks as though the Brewers have begun selling off some of their players, which will make it harder to earn victories. However, if you’re looking for quality starts Jungmann is your man.
Mike Bolsinger is very similar to Chris Heston in that they’re solid pitchers, but struggle against left handed hitters. The Angels’ best hitters are righties, which makes Bolsinger a sneaky stream option in formats as shallow as 10-team mixed leagues. Heston has a good matchup against the Brewers, but he finishes the week in Texas and I do not believe it’s going to go well. If you’re in a deeper mixed league you probably have to start him; if he gives up 3-4 earned runs I would be happy.
Jose Fernanez has pitched great so far and if you own him you’re going to continue to use him. What I will (continue to) say is pitchers in their first year back from a TJ are going to be unpredictable with their command and will be subject to blow up starts. Example, just look at Matt Harvey’s 2015 season.
