Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher Rankings for Week 17 (2024)

Hello and welcome to a special midseason edition of our weekly rest-of-season series looking at my Top 101 SP Baller Ranks analysis. With few games to dive into, we’ll be discussing some injured arms and prospects that should make an impact in the second half of the season. Scroll on for the Week 17 edition of my weekly Starting Pitcher Baller Ranks!

Check out my SP thoughts with tiered ranks, supplemented with a rest of season auction value ($), their previous week value (PV), the trend between the two, and a (+/-) column showing the rank shift compared to last week. There’s not as much movement with a short week due to the All-Star break.

These ranks are geared toward traditional 5×5 roto leagues, and I typically exclude most injured SPs for fear that a return is imminent. There are several pitchers with ambiguous rehab plans coming out of the hiatus, so keep those fingers crossed. Take a breath and get ready for the second half of our marathon of more pitching banter!

Be sure to check out all of our fantasy baseball lineups and weekly lineups resources:

Mid-Season Starting Pitcher Rankings Analysis

NInjured impact arms available for the second half:

-Zack Wheeler missed his final start of the first half after back spasms cut short his previous outing. He played catch over the weekend and is scheduled to return against Minnesota on July 22 or 23, according to Matt Gelb of The Athletic. I hate back injuries like this, but it sure beats an arm injury! Same goes for Ranger Suarez and his stiff back. Everyone needs to find a heating pad ASAP.

Aaron Nola is scheduled to start the first game back in Pittsburgh. Zack Wheeler and Ranger Suarez will start in Minnesota (dates TBA).

According to Rob Thomson, JT Realmuto may be activated in Minnesota, not Pittsburgh.

— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) July 14, 2024

-Tyler Glasnow hit the IL with his own backache retroactive to July 6 and could return for Sunday’s series finale against the Red Sox. But the Dodgers could opt for additional rest depending on how other arms fare on the other side of the break. Anyone panicking about Glasnow or Wheeler will be a great trading partner if the All-Star break makes them impatient for exercise.

-Kleiton Kershaw threw three scoreless/hitless innings in Triple-A on Sunday, throwing 50 pitches between the game and the bullpen. If his next rehab outing on Friday goes well, Kersh’s next stop could be the majors as we await the 36-year-old’s MLB debut in 2024.

BREAKING: Clayton Kershaw will start for OKC on Friday. If all goes well, he is expected to be activated from the IL and return to the Los Angeles Dodgers rotation, according to Dave Roberts. photo.twitter.com/SQGk72knE9

— The Incline: Dodgers Podcast (@TheInclinePod) July 14, 2024

-Kodai Senga threw 67 pitches in his third rehab start and Carlos Mendoza said Senga’s next move is still “TBD.” Maybe it’s a big-league bump or maybe they want one last rehab attempt where he gets over 75 pitches. Either way, get your ghost forks ready to party!

-Jesus Luzardo could have been the best left-hander on the trade market after Garrett Crochet , but Craig Mish of the Miami Herald said Luzardo “won’t be traded until he’s fully healthy.” That seems a long way off, considering he’s out until at least mid-August and is doing bicycle workouts and forearm/shoulder strengthening in the latter case. Given his poor 5.00 ERA and career-low 21.2% strikeout rate, on top of the rust to shake off, Luzardo’s stashers should temper expectations.

-Jared Jones is scheduled to begin pitching after the All-Star break while he recovers from a Grade 2 lat injury. The hope is for him to return in mid-August, though the emergence of Paul Skenes has overshadowed Jones, who (outside of a tough Coors game) allowed five runs in a stretch of four starts prior to the injury.

-Yoshinobu Yamamoto playing catch out to 60 feet as of last weekend and is out until at least Aug. 15 after LAD moved him to the 60-day IL. He was originally diagnosed with triceps tightness, but that was quickly changed to a strained rotator cuff. With clear postseason aspirations, Yamamoto may not be back until closer to September for an October start.

*Others like Robbie Ray, Alex Cobb, Eduardo Rodriguez, Merrill Kelly, Clarke Schmidt, Jeffrey Springsand maybe even just maybe Jacob de Grom are also worth hiding. Everyone outside of deGrom has a good chance of returning in August.

Notable prospects for the second half:

-River Ryan is a 25-year-old prospect who is reportedly being called up by the Dodgers to debut after the break. Part of his late age/development curve is tied to his two-way player in college, and we saw what a pitching-focused Ryan could do in 2022 after a trade to LAD from San Diego went down. He has a fastball capable of 100 mph to lead a well-rounded five-pitch mix, and he recently got up to five innings in Triple-A. Very exciting!

The Dodgers’ pitching is in “desperate shape” and could need reinforcement.

That will likely include Dodgers pitching prospect River Ryan, who the club plans to call up after the All-Star break, sources tell The Athletic. Start day is TBD. https://t.co/IhqRzZtquu

— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) July 14, 2024

-Jackson Jobe has hit a high gear in Double-A, striking out 16 in his last 10 innings (with one run on five hits). The Tigers moved Kenta Maeda to the bullpen (where he has performed well!) and could trade Tarik Skubal and/or Jack Flaherty before the end of July. There should be room for both Jobe and Matt Manning to get an MLB start soon. Ty Madden has faltered in Triple-A, posting an 8.43 ERA/1.85 WHIP there, with 22 runs in his last 22 innings.

-Max Meyer hit a slump at Triple-A, but has allowed just one run with a 16:5 K:BB in his last three starts (14 ⅔ IP), bumping his average workload up to five innings from four. He also notably made a start on July 14 after pitching on July 9 after going 6-7 days between starts. Maybe they’re grooming him for another MLB run. There are certainly openings in their rotation.

-Jacob Misiorowski is a 6-foot-7 arm with 10 strikeouts against two walks in back-to-back Double-A outings. Walks were an early problem, with three or more free passes issued in eight of his first 10 starts this season. But he hasn’t reached that threshold in any of his previous seven outings, posting a 44:10 K:BB in 33 ⅓ IP since June began. Milwaukee has been aggressive with Carlos F. Rodriguez and others, so we could see the plus fastball/slider soon.

Jacob Misiorowski was absolutely dominant today.

6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 K

If he can limit the number of hits, he could become one of the best pitchers in the minor leagues.#ThisIsMyCrewphoto.twitter.com/GujLUHX0Yk

— Eric Cross (@EricCross04) July 13, 2024

-Zebby Matthews posted a 1.59 ERA/0.75 WHIP with a 33% strikeout rate in four High-A starts and has kept it going at Double-A (55 ⅓ IP, 30% K%, 1.95 ERA, 0.76 WHIP). Maybe David Festa’s big league flameout will chill people out, but I would caution that Festa’s big strikeouts came on the farm with a 1.36 WHIP, with a similarly lofty WHIP coming in 2023.

-Chayce McDermott Camden Jr. is closer to Festa than Matthews with his 128 strikeouts in 90 Triple-A IP thus far, as evidenced by a 3.70 ERA/1.40 WHIP. He hasn’t posted a walk rate below 12% in any pro season, but big whiffs mean there’s a fantasy ceiling there. Combine that with Camden’s generous size and a thin BAL rotation (prior to the deadline, at least) and there’s hope.

-Noah Schultz turns 21 on August 5 and will likely wait until 2025 to make his MLB debut. But he has responded well to his mid-May Double-A promotion, posting a 2.30 ERA/0.99 WHIP (2.69 FIP) with a 30.6% strikeout rate over 27 ⅓ IP. He’s been limited to four innings per start, though, so temper expectations even if a September call-up comes.

-Cade Horton pitching on the flat while rehabbing a subscapular (lat) strain suffered May 29. The original rehab timeline had him returning to Triple-A when August begins, so a September debut remains possible. Ben Brown is still symptomatic and is still in the “playing catch” phase as of July 11 (as is Jordan Wicks).

-Ricky Tiedemann is having another forearm problem and it feels like a lost season for Toronto’s top prospect.

-I miss Andrew Schilderthat’s all.

Top 101 Starting Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball – Week 17

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