Top 10 Fantasy Starting Pitchers to Draft; 2011 MLB Tips and Advice

#10. Chris Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals
It was great to see Carpenter have an injury free season and have solid results. Carpenter had 179 strikeouts and 16 wins with a 3.22 ERA. Carpenter caps off the top 10 and is a great pickup for your second or third fantasy pitcher unless you address your offense first (a good mix in the first couple rounds is always better than forgetting about pitching until later).

#9. Cliff Lee, Philadelphia Phillies
Lee makes the list due to his postseason performance and due to the fact that he is headed back to the National League. Lee had only 12 wins with a 3.18 ERA, but was nearly untouchable when October rolled around. He will be overrated by many fantasy owners this year, so you may want to sit back and watch as others draft him too high, but he is still one of the top 10 starting pitchers to draft.

#8. Josh Johnson, Florida Marlins
Only 11 wins isn't going to cut it, but the hype machine is still very high on Johnson who did end the season with a 2.30 ERA and over 180 strikeouts. Johnson missed the end of last season but is back to being healthy and should be ready for a strong 2011 campaign.

#7. Jon Lester, Boston Red Sox
Lester has worked himself up to be the ace of the Red Sox pitching staff and put together an All-Star quality year with 19 wins and 225 K's with a 3.25 ERA. I wouldn't expect his numbers to get any better than this, but they should stay constant for the next couple of seasons.

#6. Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners
Can somebody please get Felix Hernandez some run support? No starting pitcher should ever have only 13 wins with 34 starts and an ERA of 2.27! In 2009 Hernandez had exactly 34 starts with a 2.49 ERA but managed to have 19 wins because of better run support. Regardless of his support, you can count on strong numbers and high strikeouts for Hernandez, take before 7-10 on this list, you won't be disappointed.

#5. Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants
16 wins doesn't sound very impressive but with 231 strikeouts and only 76 walks, Lincecum is more than worth a solid draft pick and could contend for another Cy Young award. I expect better numbers out of Lincecum this season, expect 19 wins, 250 strikeouts, and around 75 walks.

#4. CC Sabathia, New York Yankees
21 Wins and a 3.18 ERA with 197 strikeouts in the new Yankee Stadium is very impressive. He tied his career high for home runs allowed, but with the right field wall so close it is expected. Playing in the toughest division in baseball can be bad for even the best of pitchers, but this doesn't seem to affect Sabathia's numbers. Sabathia would be a solid 3rd round pick, or fourth if he is still around.

#3. Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado Rockies
After 12 games of the 2010 season, Ubaldo had an untouchable .93 ERA and was 11-1. Ubaldo ended with a 2.88 ERA and a 19-11 record. The Rockies have signed all of their key free agents to come back and Ubaldo should get enough run support to earn a 20 win season next season.

#2. Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals
Wainwright is possibly the most quietly dominant pitcher ever. Wainwright gets little to no national attention but won 21 games with 213 strikeouts and a 2.42 ERA. By August 11th Wainwright had a 1.99 ERA, which decreased in his last 8 starts. Expect similar wins and strikeouts with a lower ERA. Wainwright deserves a Cy Young, but won't get one while the National League has so many dominant pitchers.

#1. Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies
It is hard to argue with the numbers; 21 wins, 2.44 ERA, 219 strikeouts to only 30 walks. Halladay is untouchable as the top fantasy baseball starting pitcher. Expect similar numbers in 2011.

Not too far behind: Yovani Gallardo, Clayton Kershaw, David Price, Zach Greinke, Justin Verlander