Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) -
"You got to give me one thing. I'm a scary judge of talent," said Al Pacino's character Walter Burke in the movie "The Recruit."
Three years ago I saw a short clip of Tim Lincecum while he was pitching in the minors, checked out his "out-of-this-world" statistics, and put him on my keeper league roster a month before he was brought up to the majors. Obviously, I've never regretted the move.
Lincecum won another National League Cy Young Award, his second in a row, and along with American League Cy Young winner Zack Grienke were the two best starting pitchers - both in the real world and the fantasy world.
Grienke was simply "unreal' at the beginning of the season, going four games (all wins) before yielding a single run. He was an amazing 8-1 on May 26th, just 46 games into the season, before the Royals' weak offense finally took its toll on Grienke's win total. His microscopic ERA (2.16) and top-five WHIP plus third-best strikeout total won him the top overall placement.
Lincecum just missed beating out Grienke, but was still a great anchor for any fantasy pitching staff. (Note to my keeper league competition - I'll be keeping Lincecum again next year along with my other starters: Felix Hernandez, Justin Verlander and C.C. Sabathia).
"King Felix" didn't see as much respect as in previous seasons after a less- than-stellar 9-11 2008 campaign. He came into the season as a eighth-round pick (ADP 86), but finished third overall. Had he struck out a-batter-an-inning, he likely would have edged out Lincecum for second due to his 19 wins. He'll be a fourth-or-fifth round pick next year.
Javier Vazquez got almost no press, playing in Atlanta for a non-competitive Braves team, but every one of his numbers shouts "monster season." Third-best WHIP, fourth in Ks and an ERA under 3.00 means you got much more than you expected to get from this 10th-round pick.
If Vazquez was a surprise, then Cardinals duo of Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter were absolutely shocking. Wainwright got less respect than Vazquez heading into the season even after an 11-3 2008 season where he lowered his ERA by half-a-run. Nineteen wins, 212 Ks in 233 innings and he lowered his ERA by more than half-a-run again won him a spot in the top-five.
We know Carpenter is a good pitcher when healthy, he just hadn't been right in over two years. So it was no surprise that he was a free agent or very late draft choice in most leagues. Those that took the chance were handsomely rewarded. Carpenter only lacks the strikeout ability to be a top-five fantasy guy.
Top-12 Starting Pitchers
| Player | Team | W | L | IP | K | ERA | WHIP | ADP |
| Zack Grienke | KC | 16 | 8 | 229.1 | 242 | 2.16 | 1.07 | 147 |
| Tim Lincecum | SF | 15 | 7 | 225.1 | 261 | 2.48 | 1.05 | 15 |
| Felix Hernandez | SEA | 19 | 5 | 238.2 | 217 | 2.49 | 1.14 | 86 |
| Javier Vazquez | ATL | 15 | 10 | 219.1 | 238 | 2.87 | 1.03 | 125 |
| Adam Wainwright | STL | 19 | 8 | 233.0 | 212 | 2.63 | 1.21 | 134 |
| Chris Carpenter | STL | 17 | 4 | 192.2 | 144 | 2.24 | 1.01 | 235 |
| Roy Halladay | TOR | 17 | 10 | 239.0 | 208 | 2.79 | 1.13 | 43 |
| Dan Haren | AZ | 14 | 10 | 229.1 | 223 | 3.14 | 1.00 | 59 |
| Justin Verlander | DET | 19 | 9 | 240.0 | 269 | 3.45 | 1.18 | 133 |
| C.C. Sabathia | NYY | 19 | 8 | 230.0 | 197 | 3.37 | 1.15 | 35 |
| Josh Johnson | FL | 15 | 5 | 209.0 | 191 | 3.23 | 1.16 | 155 |
| Matt Cain | SF | 14 | 8 | 217.2 | 171 | 2.89 | 1.18 | 123 |
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