FanHouse positional rankings were compiled by averaging the individual rankings of each member of the Fantasy FanHouse staff. Ah, starting pitching. You fickle, fickle little cherub you. There are many schools of thought when approaching starting pitching in fantasy baseball, but regardless of your method, it's a certainty that there are very few consistently fantastic pitchers. Johan Santana is one of them, but his increase in innings pitched coupled with a decrease in strikeouts for the 2008 season may explain why Tim Lincecum claimed his rightful spot as "best pitcher in the world." Yes, there is injury risk, but, my God, he's good.
| Tim Lincecum | Giants |
| Johan Santana | Mets |
| CC Sabathia | Yankees |
| Brandon Webb | Diamondbacks |
| Cole Hamels | Phillies |
| Roy Halladay | Blue Jays |
| Jake Peavy | Padres |
| Dan Haren | Diamondbacks |
| Roy Oswalt | Astros |
| John Lackey | Angels |
| James Shields | Rays |
| Josh Beckett | Red Sox |
| Cliff Lee | Indians |
| Chad Billingsley | Dodgers |
| Ervin Santana | Angels |
| Scott Kazmir | Rays |
| Jon Lester | Red Sox |
| Felix Hernandez | Mariners |
| Daisuke Matsuzaka | Red Sox |
| Francisco Liriano | Twins |
| AJ Burnett | Yankees |
| Carlos Zambrano | Cubs |
| Yovani Gallardo | Brewers |
| Adam Wainwright | Cardinals |
| Edinson Volquez | Reds |
| Justin Verlander | Tigers |
| Javier Vazquez | Braves |
| Ryan Dempster | Cubs |
| Matt Cain | Giants |
| Zack Greinke | Royals |
| Ricky Nolasco | Marlins |
| Rich Harden | Cubs |
| Matt Garza | Rays |
| Derek Lowe | Braves |
| Erik Bedard | Mariners |
| John Danks | White Sox |
| Ted Lilly | Cubs |
| Brett Myers | Phillies |
| Joba Chamberlain | Yankees |
| Max Scherzer | Diamondbacks |
| Josh Johnson | Marlins |
| Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers |
| Aaron Harang | Reds |
| Chien-Ming Wang | Yankees |
| Chris Young | Padres |
| Brandon Morrow | Mariners |
| Scott Baker | Twins |
| David Price | Rays |
| Jered Weaver | Angels |
| Fausto Carmona | Indians |
| Jair Jurrjens | Braves |
| Mike Pelfrey | Mets |
| Oliver Perez | Mets |
| Gil Meche | Royals |
| Ubaldo Jimenez | Rockies |
| Johnny Cueto | Reds |
| Kevin Slowey | Twins |
| John Maine | Mets |
| Randy Johnson | Giants |
| Justin Duchscherer | Athletics |
| Paul Maholm | Pirates |
| Gavin Floyd | White Sox |
| Jeremy Guthrie | Orioles |
| Hiroki Kuroda | Dodgers |
| Chris Volstad | Marlins |
| Joe Saunders | Angels |
| Wandy Rodriguez | Astros |
| Armando Gallaraga | Tigers |
| Kyle Lohse | Cardinals |
| Todd Wellemeyer | Cardinals |
Some notes (whew):
• We freaking love Ricky Nolasco. He'll be good. And you should be able to get him later than you're thinking (he's popping up at an average draft position of 125 at Mock Draft Central, right in the same range as Yovani Gallardo. Steals.) Of course, they're in the same range as Rich Harden, who scares us all very, very much.
• Most people don't believe Cliff Lee is for real. (I believe I had him ranked highest at ninth. He might even exceed that.) He's still going in the sixth or seventh round. That, folks, is good value. He's a top-10 pitcher and you can lock him in as your SP2 fairly easily if you're willing to spend on pitching early.
• If Matt Garza's ranking seems inflated, it's because I'm obsessed with him. Sorry. Deal with it. You'll thank me later.
