Judging starting pitchers is nasty business. Much of their performance is dependent on their teammates. The pitching numbers are greatly affected by the fielding that goes on around them and the won-loss record is affected by run support and bullpen performance. There is a movement afoot to remove the win from the baseball record books. Like most movements, it is small and determined. It could grow over time and maybe they will make some headway, but don’t ever see the win leave the sport completely and it certainly won’t leave the fantasy baseball landscape.

That being said, when judging pitchers from one season to the next, it is important to leave wins out of the equation. Some pitchers can put back to back huge win totals together, but those pitchers are becoming fewer and further between. As a fantasy player, it makes more sense to look at the other three categories before looking at wins. Bill James has his pitching runs like he has for runs created and we will use that metric to judge our pitchers.

From season to season, it is hard to predict which pitchers will remain strong. C.C. Sabathia and Tim Lincecum looked like guys that would live in the top forty, but they are standing outside that group for right now. David Price is pitching well and could rejoin the group before the season is over. Unfortunately, all three have suffered through either ineffectiveness or injury. In some cases it has been both. Other former stars went down this season as well. It makes drafting pitching early a dangerous proposition. Even with health, some don’t live up to the advanced billing (Justin Verlander). Some perform well, but never seem to get past the nagging injuries (Stephen Strasburg). It makes selecting position players a better percentage bet.