Tiers are a simple but effective way of plotting out a draft strategy that assures you won't fall behind at any position while maximizing your return on every pick. They serve an alternate form of rankings that groups players by expected level of production, denoting the points in the rankings where the most significant drop-offs occur. In the heat of a draft, you'll know which position to target by observing which one is closest to having its current tier depleted.
Below are the starting pitcher tiers for 2020, depicting a position with depth to spare at the top levels that eventually runs out of usable options.
The Super Elite: Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom
The Elite: Chris Sale, Mike Clevinger, Shane Bieber, Jack Flaherty, Walker Buehler, Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin, Lucas Giolito, Luis Castillo
The Near-Elite: Clayton Kershaw, Aaron Nola, Blake Snell, Zack Greinke, Charlie Morton, Noah Syndergaard, Luis Severino, Tyler Glasnow, Chris Paddack, Yu Darvish
The Next-Best Things: Trevor Bauer, Brandon Woodruff, Sonny Gray, Mike Soroka, Jose Berrios, James Paxton, Corey Kluber, Shohei Ohtani, Frankie Montas, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Lance Lynn, Zack Wheeler, Madison Bumgarner, Carlos Carrasco*, Zac Gallen
The Fallback Options: Jesus Luzardo*, Julio Urias*, Max Fried, Eduardo Rodriguez, Matthew Boyd, Kyle Hendricks, Mike Minor, David Price, Luke Weaver, German Marquez, Dinelson Lamet, Robbie Ray, Marcus Stroman, Dallas Keuchel, Sean Manaea, Carlos Martinez*, Lance McCullers, Masahiro Tanaka, Mike Foltynewicz
The Last Resorts: Cole Hamels, Jake Odorizzi, Jon Gray, Miles Mikolas, Griffin Canning, Andrew Heaney, Mitch Keller, Michael Kopech, Kenta Maeda*, Anthony DeSclafani, Joe Musgrove
The Deep-Leaguers: Domingo German, Michael Pineda, Ryan Yarbrough*, Caleb Smith, Garrett Richards, Dylan Bundy, Brendan McKay, Forrest Whitley, Dakota Hudson, Sandy Alcantara, Yonny Chirinos, Kyle Gibson, Adrian Houser*, Chris Archer, Jose Quintana, Steven Matz, Jose Urquidy, Dylan Cease, Merrill Kelly, Brad Peacock, A.J. Puk*, Dustin May*, Matt Shoemaker, Joey Lucchesi, Brad Keller
The Leftovers: Tanner Roark, Homer Bailey, Johnny Cueto, Jordan Lyles, Jake Junis, Pablo Lopez, Wade Miley, MacKenzie Gore, Casey Mize, Tyler Beede, Jon Lester, Julio Teheran, Reynaldo Lopez, Justus Sheffield, Brusdar Graterol*, Ross Stripling*, Mike Fiers, Jeff Samardzija, Aaron Civale, Justin Dunn, Nathan Eovaldi*, Alex Wood, Jordan Montgomery, Ian Anderson, Matt Manning, Patrick Sandoval, Logan Webb, Rick Porcello, Jake Arrieta, Zach Eflin, Anibal Sanchez, J.A. Happ, Marco Gonzales, Chris Bassitt, John Means, Adam Wainwright, Eric Lauer, Jordan Yamamoto
*: RP-eligible
