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Top 20 fantasy baseball starters for the 2023 season

By Michael Cahill

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - SEPTEMBER 30: Corbin Burnes #39 of the Milwaukee Brewers pitches against the Miami Marlins in the first inning at American Family Field on September 30, 2022 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - SEPTEMBER 30: Corbin Burnes #39 of the Milwaukee Brewers pitches against the Miami Marlins in the first inning at American Family Field on September 30, 2022 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /
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TORONTO, ON – JULY 27: Kevin Gausman #34 of the Toronto Blue Jays delivers a pitch in the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Rogers Centre on July 27, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images) /

Fantasy baseball season is here, and teams that haven’t drafted for the 2023 season yet will soon. We start our rankings with starting pitchers, which is an insanely deep position. Fantasy baseball starters is such a deep position that Shane Bieber — an ace in this game — didn’t even make the just missed section. Crazy.

This list is a ranking of the top 20 fantasy baseball starters you should target for your team.

First, let’s start with a few guys who just missed the list:

Giants ace Logan Webb had a nice 2022 season. In 32 starts, he pitched 192.1 innings, allowed just 174 hits, 62 earned runs, 49 walks, and struck out 163 batters. His ERA was 2.90, his FIP was 3.03, his WHIP was 1.159, and his ERA+ was 139. He got Cy Young votes for the first time in his career, and he’s looking to build off that in 2023.

Spencer Strider burst on the scene with an awesome rookie campaign. He made 20 starts and had 11 relief appearances. He pitched 131.2 innings and allowed just 86 hits, 39 earned runs, 45 walks, and struck out a crazy 202 batters. His ERA was 2.67, his FIP was 1.83, his WHIP was 1.00, and his ERA+ was 152. He missed the end of the regular season with an oblique injury, but he should be good to go to start 2023.

Clayton Kershaw just misses the list because of his injury tendencies. Last year, he made 22 starts and pitched 126.1 innings. He allowed 96 hits, 32 earned runs, 23 walks, and struck out 137 batters. His ERA was 2.28, his FIP was 2.57, his WHIP was 0.94, and his ERA+ was 184. Unfortunately we just can’t expect him to pitch a full season, since he’s made 22 starts or less in the last three seasons.

Julio Urias had a great 2022 season, but unfortunately he is due for some regression according to his metrics. He made 31 starts and pitched 175 innings last season, allowing just 127 hits, 42 earned runs, 41 walks, and striking out 166 batters. His ERA was 2.16, but his FIP was 3.71, so there was a hefty amount of luck in that National-League-leading ERA and ERA+ (194). He can still be really good this year, and he’s young, just don’t expect a repeat of 2022.

You should want all of these guys on your fantasy baseball team this year and beyond. With the honorable mentions out of the way, let’s look at the top 20 fantasy baseball starters you should target for your team in 2023.

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