Fantasy Baseall Starting Pitcher Rankings: Week 18, Aug. 10-16

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.

After making his Major League debut Luis Severino has become the flavor of the month. He has really good raw stuff, but with what I saw he’s still far away from being a consistent fantasy contributor. Since he’s still fairly raw he’s going to have really good outings and really bad outings. Odds are if you used a lot of FAAB to get him you’re probably going to start regardless.

The Nationals are making the right move putting Doug Fister in the bullpen and letting Joe Ross stay in the rotation. In hindsight it’s kind of laughable the Nationals even entertained the idea to send Ross back to the minors to keep Fister in the rotation. Like Severino, Ross is still fairly raw and susceptible to left handed batters, but he’s a ground ball machine and generate a lot of strikeouts.

I watched Henry Owens start and like the other rookies I’ve mentioned he has a lower ceiling, but I still like what I saw. Any time I see a lefty the first thing I look at is whether or not he can get righties out. What impressed me was the changeup and it’s more than good enough to get righties out consistently. The Mariners lead the majors in hard hit rate against righties so his upside is limited, but if he has better fastball command he could have a really nice start.

I love Aaron Brooks in his home starts because he’s a strike thrower and generates a lot of fly balls. That combination works great in Oakland’s stadium, but I would be very wary in his next start (at Toronto). I bet he allows 1-3 home runs.

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