This is my first time doing this and I’m still trying to figure out the best way to compose these rankings so bear with me as I try to figure this out. My goal is to try to give you enough information to help set your starting pitcher lineups. I breakdown all the pitchers into various categories: Must Starts, Spot Starts, Sits and Snake Eyes. Snake Eyes are rolls of the dice; these pitchers can help you immensely or burn your team to the ground.

Overall Pitcher Notes:
Jose Fernandez, 20, of the Marlins will surprisingly begin the year in the Majors. This probably due to a blend of skill level, maturity and injuries to Nathan Eovaldi and Henderson Alvarez beginning the year on the DL. Fernandez was rated the 5th best prospect by Baseball America and 6th by Baseball Prospectus. The call up is surprising because he has yet to pitch above High-A. If you’re in a dynasty league you want to roster him immediately. In one year leagues, you have to temper expectations; he pitches for one of the worst teams in baseball and he’ll have growing pains as he adjusts to Major League hitters. His first start is scheduled for April 7 against the Mets (at New York).

Must Starts
Jake Peavy (CWS) – Wed KC
Anibal Sanchez (DET) – Wed @MIN
Max Scherzer (DET) – Th @MIN
Doug Fister (DET) – Fri NYY
Jeremy Hellickson (TB) – Wed BAL
Matt Moore (TB) – Fri CLE
Brandon Morrow (TOR) – Wed CLE
Mat Latos (CIN) – Wed LAA
Matt Harvey (NYM) – Wed SD
Cliff Lee (PHI) – Th @ATL
Shelby Miller (STL) – Sat @SF
Madison Bumgarner (SF) – Tue @LAD
Gio Gonzalez (WSH) – Wed MIA
Jason Hammel (BAL) – Sun MIN, Tue @TB
Chris Sale (CWS) – Sun SEA, Mon KC
Justin Verlander (DET) – Sun NYY, Mon @MIN
James Shields (KC) – Sun @PHI, Mon @CWS
Jered Weaver (LAA) – Sun @TEX, Mon @CIN
CC Sabathia (NYY) – Sun @DET, Mon BOS
Brett Anderson (OAK) – Mon SEA, Sat @HOU
Jarrod Parker (OAK) – Tue SEA, Sun @HOU
Felix Hernandez (SEA) – Mon @OAK, Sat @CWS
Matt Harrison (TEX) – Mon @HOU, Sat LAA
Yu Darvish (TEX) – Tue @HOU, Sun LAA
R.A. Dickey (TOR) – Sun BOS, Tue CLE
Ian Kennedy (ARI) – Sun @MIL, Mon STL
Tim Hudson (ATL) – Sun CHC, Mon PHI
Jeff Samardzija (CHC) – Sun @ATL, Mon @PIT
Johnny Cueto (CIN) – Sun WSH, Mon LAA
Clayton Kershaw (LAD) – Mon SF, Sat PIT
Yovani Gallardo (MIL) – Sun ARI, Mon COL
Cole Hamels (PHI) – Sun KC, Mon @ATL
A.J. Burnett (PIT) – Sat @LAD, Mon CHC
Adam Wainwright (STL) – Sun @SF, Mon @ARI
Matt Cain (SF) – Sun STL, Mon @LAD
Stephen Strasburg (WSH) – Sun @CIN, Mon MIA

Spot Starts
Chris Tilllman (BAL) – Sat MIN
Gavin Floyd (CWS) – Th KC
C.J. Wilson (LAA) – Wed @CIN
Hiroki Kuroda (NYY) – Wed BOS
Brandon Maurer (SEA) – Th @OAK
Alex Cobb (TB) – Sat CLE
Alexi Ogando (TEX) – Wed @HOU
Derek Holland (TEX) – Fri LAA
Josh Johnson (TOR) – Fri BOS
Trevor Cahill (ARI) – Tue STL
Brandon McCarthy (ARI) – Wed STL
Wade Miley (ARI) – Fri @MIL
Paul Maholm (ATL) – Wed PHI
Kris Medlen (ATL) – Th PHI
Mike Minor (ATL) – Fri CHC
Edwin Jackson (CHC) – Wed @PIT
Homer Bailey (CIN) – Fri WSH
Josh Beckett (LAD) – Wed SF
Marco Estrada (MIL) – Tue COL
Wily Peralta (MIL) – Wed COL
Kyle Lohse (MIL) – Sat ARI
James McDonald (PIT) – Th CHC
Lance Lynn (STL) – Wed @ARI
Ryan Vogelsong (SF) – Sat STL
Ross Detwiler (WSH) – Sat @CIN
Hisashi Iwakuma (SEA) – Tue @OAK, Sun @CWS
Jon Niese (NYM) – Sat MIA, Mon SD

Notes:
On the surface Ross Detwiler has a bad matchup, but he’s a groundball pitcher so the effects of Great American Ball Park will be minimized. Chris Tilllman is currently on the DL, but is expected to start on Saturday. I have my doubts how much he will able to repeat 2012, but he has a great matchup against the Twins. Wily Peralta has a great combination; he can miss a ton of bats and he generates a lot of ground balls. However, his command can be very loose, making him prone to blowup starts. If he wasn’t pitching against the Rockies I would’ve put him in the Snake Eyes category. Similar to Peralta, Brandon Maurer is here because of his ability to miss bats and the team he’s facing. The A’s strikeout a lot and Mauer could provide 7 or more.

Snake Eyes
Wei-Yin Chen (BAL) – Wed @TB
Jake Arrieta (BAL) – Fri MIN
Clay Buchholz (BOS) – Wed @NYY
Ryan Dempster (BOS) – Th @NYY
Felix Doubront (BOS) – Fri @TOR
John Lackey (BOS) – Sat @TOR
Ubaldo Jimenez (CLE) – Wed @TOR
Brett Myers (CLE) – Th @TOR
Scott Kazmir (CLE) – Sat @TB
Rick Porcello (DET) – Sat NYY
Lucas Harrell (HOU) – Tue TEX
Brad Peacock (HOU) – Fri OAK
Erik Bedard (HOU) – Sat OAK
Jeremy Guthrie (KC) – Th @CWS
Wade Davis (KC) – Fri @PHI
Ivan Nova (NYY) – Fri @DET
Tommy Milone (OAK) – Wed SEA
A.J. Griffin (OAK) – Th SEA
Dan Straily (OAK) – Fri @HOU
Joe Saunders (SEA) – Wed @OAK
Julio Teheran (ATL) – Sat CHC
Juan Nicasio (COL) – Wed @MIL
Zack Greinke (LAD) – Fri PIT
Henderson Alvarez (MIA) – Fri @NYM
Shaun Marcum (NYM) – Sun MIA
Roy Halladay (PHI) – Wed @ATL
Wandy Rodriguez (PIT) – Wed CHC
Jonathan Sanchez (PIT) – Fri @LAD
Jake Westbrook (STL) – Fri @SF
Tim Lincecum (SF) – Wed @LAD
Dan Haren (WSH) – Fri @CIN
Jon Lester (BOS) – Sun @TOR, Mon @NYY
Justin Masterson (CLE) – Sun @TB, Tue @TOR
Bud Norris (HOU) – Sun OAK, Mon TEX
Vance Worley (MIN) – Sun @BAL, Mon DET
Hyun-Jin Ryu (LAD) – Tue SF,Jin Ryu (LAD)
Ricky Nolasco (MIA) – Sun @NYM, Mon @WSH
Edinson Volquez (SD) – Sun @COL, Mon @NYM
Jhoulys Chacin (COL) – Sun SD, Mon @MIL

Notes:
There were a couple of pitchers who were on the fringe of achieving the Spot Start designation: Ryan Dempster, Felix Doubront, Brad Peacock, Wade Davis and Dain Straily. Peacock may be the most unknown of the list, but he can miss bats with a mid-90s fastball and average secondary stuff. However, he’s extremely home run prone because his fastball is extremely straight. With a matchup against in the A’s I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes 6 innings and strikes out 8-9. I also wouldn’t be surprised if he goes four innings and gives up 4-5 runs.

Zack Greinke is on the list because I have no idea what to expect out of him. Odds are, if you own him, you’re starting him, but I would wait one week to see how his stuff looks. Roy Halladay, Tim Lincecum and Dan Haren have looked extremely bad in Spring Training. It’s worth waiting to see how they look before committing to them to your lineup; if you start any of these players you’re playing with fire.

Sits
Miguel Gonzalez (BAL) – Th @TB
Jose Quintana (CWS) – Fri SEA
Dylan Axelrod (CWS) – Sat SEA
Zach McAllister (CLE) – Fri @TB
Philip Humber (HOU) – Wed TEX
Ervin Santana (KC) – Wed @CWS
Luis Mendoza (KC) – Sat @PHI
Joe Blanton (LAA) – Th @CIN
Jason Vargas (LAA) – Fri @TEX
Tommy Hanson (LAA) – Sat @TEX
Kevin Correia (MIN) – Wed DET
Mike Pelfrey (MIN) – Th DET
Cole De Vries (MIN) – Fri @BAL
Liam Hendriks (MIN) – Sat @BAL
Andy Pettitte (NYY) – Th BOS
David Phelps (NYY) – Sat @DET
Blake Beavan (SEA) – Fri @CWS
Roberto Hernandez (TB) – Th BAL
Mark Buehrle (TOR) – Th CLE
J.A. Happ (TOR) – Sat BOS
Travis Wood (CHC) – Th @PIT
Scott Feldman (CHC) – Fri @ATL
Carlos Villanueva (CHC) – Sat @ATL
Bronson Arroyo (CIN) – Th LAA
Mike Leake (CIN) – Sat WSH
Jorge De La Rosa (COL) – Tue @MIL
Jeff Francis (COL) – Fri SD
Jon Garland (COL) – Sat SD
Wade LeBlanc (MIA) – Th @WSH
Kevin Slowey (MIA) – Sat @NYM
Chris Narveson (MIL) – Fri ARI
Dillon Gee (NYM) – Th SD
Jeremy Hefner (NYM) – Fri MIA
Kyle Kendrick (PHI) – Fri KC
John Lannan (PHI) – Sat KC
Jeff Locke (PIT) – Sun @LAD
Jaime Garcia (STL) – Tue @ARI
Clayton Richard (SD) – Wed @NYM
Eric Stults (SD) – Th @NYM
Jason Marquis (SD) – Fri @COL
Joseph Ross (SD) – Sat @COL
Barry Zito (SF) – Fri STL

Notes:
Andy Pettitte is the only pitcher I feel the least confident about because he looked so good last year, but he’s 40 years old and facing a Red Sox lineup that will mash left handed pitching. Johnny Gomes, Shane Victorino, Mike Napoli, Will Middlebrooks and David Ross all have great splits against left handed pitching.