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Fortunately, there’s no shortage of options. As strikeouts rise across the league, more pitchers will have value. Of course, homers are also rising, which means pitchers who can keep their ERAs down will be at a premium. That’s a tough stat to predict because of the aforementioned batted-ball luck, so looking at HR-rates, BB-rates, and ground-ball rates in addition to K-rates will take on added importance.
2019 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers:Catcher | First | Second | Third | Short | Outfield | Starter | Each team
The top of the rankings doesn’t feature many surprises. You can toss them up and put them in whatever order you’d like, but they should all be solid unless injuries strike. Chris Sale, Noah Syndergaard, and Clayton Kershaw are perhaps the biggest risks, but we all know arm problems can arise for anyone at any time, especially young starters.
2019 Fantasy Baseball Rankings Tiers, Draft StrategyCatcher | First | Second | Third | Short | Outfield | Starter | Closer
Perhaps the biggest question with SPs is not who to draft but when to draft them. It’s tough to spend a first-round pick on a guy who is inherently riskier than a position player and can only help four categories as opposed to five, but it’s likely at least one or two pitchers will come off the board in the first round of your draft. A few more will go in the second, and after that, it’s anything goes.
2019 Fantasy Baseball Rankings:Catcher | First | Second | Third | Short | Outfield | Reliever | Top 300
As with OF, you can almost always find a pitcher worth considering, so going with multiple pitchers in the first few rounds feels like an unnecessary risk, but you can make anything work as long as you’re willing to work the waiver wire once the season starts.
DOMINATE YOUR DRAFT: Ultimate 2019 cheat sheet
Fantasy Baseball Rankings: SP
These rankings are for standard 5x5, non-keeper leagues. Eligibility based on Yahoo default settings. * = Not eligible at SP on draft day but expected to be early in the season
