Pitchers and catchers have reported. A lot has happened in these last four-plus months, but none of what happened was baseball! I think I figured out the problem, you guys.

Anyway, we’ve covered the position players in our ongoing February rankings update, so it’s time to move on to the mound. Today’s focus is the 2017 starting pitcher fantasy baseball rankings (part one). We’ll be looking at the top six tiers of starting pitchers. Harris Yudin will have his thoughts on the best of the rest tomorrow.

As a reminder, this round of rankings features input from Bill Dubiel, Brad Johnson, Jeff Kahtnroff, and Nick Mariano, in addition to Harris and yours truly.

Editor's note: Be sure to also check out our 2017 fantasy baseball rankings dashboard. It's already loaded up with tons of great rankings articles and draft analysis. Aside from our tiered staff rankings for every position, we also go deep on MLB prospect rankings, impact rookies for 2017, and dynasty/keeper rankings as well. Bookmark the page, and win your drafts.

2017 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Starting Pitchers, Part One (February)

Starting Pitcher Rankings Analysis: The Tiers

Tier 1

The half-dozen players in this tier are all fantastic options for the ace of your fake baseball team. Let’s be real, though – there’s Kershaw, and then there’s everyone else. Great as Max Scherzer and company may be, nobody’s trying to make a case for taking any of them first overall. Last season’s back issues are certainly something to keep in mind, but assuming health, Kershaw is the only pitcher who’s a slam-dunk first-round pick. Scherzer’s renewed vulnerability to the longball is what maintains the gap between him and this generation’s answer to Sandy Koufax. Of course, even allowing 31 bombs didn’t prevent him from posting excellent ratios and a gaudy strikeout total in his third straight season with 220+ innings.

Chris Sale saw his K% drop by over six points, but he still finished fifth in baseball with 233 punchouts, so…y’know. Noah Syndergaard is incredible, even if it seems like only a matter of time before his arm explodes. That he only finished eighth in the Cy Young voting just speaks to the incredible pitching talent in the game right now. To wit: We haven’t even talked about Corey Kluber and Madison Bumgarner yet. Their metronome-like dominance and durability is even more valuable when you consider the volatile nature of pitching as a fantasy asset.

Tier 2

Full of guys who could make solid cases that they belong in the top tier. Yu Darvish returned from Tommy John surgery and didn’t miss a beat – in fact, he was arguably better than before. Justin Verlander returned to form after a couple of down years had many of us wondering if being a workhorse for so long had finally caught up to him. Stephen Strasburg was making a strong case for the Cy before his elbow crapped out. Jake Arrieta’s ERA nearly doubled from the previous year…to 3.10. He also won 18 games and posted a 1.08 WHIP despite some bouts of wildness. Teammate Jon Lester continued to be one of the most reliable arms in the game while enjoying fantastic defense behind him that made his numbers even better. The Giants’ even-year reign finally, mercifully came to an end, but not because of anything Johnny Cueto did. The veteran was fantastic in his first year in San Francisco and has now posted a 2.86 ERA this decade. That’s second to Kershaw among qualified starters during that time.

Tier 3

Here’s where we start getting into “RIGBY” territory. Carlos Carrasco has been a fantastic late bloomer, but he’s yet to pitch more than 185 innings in a season. He also gave up too many homers and allowed a lot of other hard contact last season. Chris Archer maintained the jump in his strikeout rate, but likewise had a homer problem that led to a 4.02 ERA and nearly made him the first 20-game loser since Mike Maroth. David Price’s first season in Boston was identical to his previous two in many areas, but he also saw a sharp increase in longballs. Jacob deGrom was his usual awesome self until his elbow flared up. He’s expected to be healthy this spring, but surgery naturally makes folks nervous.

Speaking of nervous, I’m less enamored of the other guys in this group than my colleagues. I loved Kyle Hendricks as a value pick last season, but his breakout wasn’t entirely real. His underlying numbers were eerily similar to 2015, he just benefited from a low BABIP and high strand rate. Now, some of that is attributable to his skill at inducing weak contact, and some is due to what should still be an excellent Cubs defense. But he’s got a Dallas Keuchel vibe to him. Similarly, Aaron Sanchez’s improvement last year still left him with uninspiring peripherals. He’s young and further improvement could certainly be in the cards, but paying an expectant price seems unwise. Lastly, Tanaka seems to have successfully pitched around the specter of Tommy John, but his strikeout rate has declined each of the last two seasons and 2016 was his first time pitching more than 154 innings.

Tier 4

I’m fully on board with rebounds for Gerrit Cole and Zack Greinke, as well as Danny Duffy’s breakout. Rich Hill can’t be counted on for a full season – then again, if he could, he’d be in the second tier at worst. Individual owners will have to decide if the brilliance is worth the likely injury headaches. Cole Hamels, Carlos Martinez, and Jose Quintana are this group’s Steady Eddies, though the fantasy community seems to be paying slightly expectant prices for CMart. Michael Fulmer won Rookie of the Year honors in the AL despite peripherals that were good rather than great. His minor league track record suggests further strikeout upside, which he’ll need to tap into to offset the likely rise in his ERA.

Tier 5

Kenta Maeda belongs in a higher tier than this, but Jeff hates him for some reason. Maeda proved the skeptics (myself included) wrong last season, striking out more than a batter per inning with solid ratios. None of us are totally buying Rick Porcello’s Cy Young season, which reflects the trepidation of the community at large. I’m the low man on Marcus Stroman, having fallen decidedly out of love after a lackluster showing last year. I haven’t stopped giving Julio Teheran a healthy dose of side-eye, either. The rest of this group is pretty high variance, whether due to injury issues (Matt Harvey, Danny Salazar), youth (Jon Gray, Julio Urias) or both (Lance McCullers).

Tier 6

Aaron Nola is being criminally overlooked in drafts this year. He was mid-breakout before arm trouble and a laughably low strand rate torpedoed his season. As a result, he’s being drafted in basically the same spot as last year. Steven Matz is similarly situated, but hasn’t been dinged as much by owners so far. John Lackey will be 39 in October, but he’s on a great team and has excellent ratios (3.35 ERA, 1.18 WHIP) over the last four years. I’m buying Sean Manaea’s second half performance more than James Paxton’s, though both lefties have had trouble staying healthy. J.A. Happ and Tanner Roark don’t have the strikeout upside to be true stars, but either is a fine mid-rotation option. Y’all can take your chances with former Cy winners Felix Hernandez and Dallas Keuchel; I don’t expect to come away with any shares.