Here is everyone’s favorite fantasy baseball drafting tool. Yes, you are part of everyone. Did you ever think we’d reach the end of the 2026 fantasy baseball rankings? You did that? Wow, you had more confidence than me. Somewhere around the top 60 fantasy baseball outfielders of 2026, I thought we should wrap it up and start ranking something else, like the top 20 reasons why we didn’t finish the 2026 Fantasy Baseball rankings. 1. Lazy. Then a new level for 2. Winning the lottery. 3. There was no 3. Never the hoo! Here we are now! So the 2026 fantasy baseball rankings, especially the starter rankings, create a need for this post: the 2026 fantasy baseball pitcher linking tool. This is where it gets interesting! And by ‘interesting’ I mean extremely confusing. If what you’re about to read was found in a notebook, the FBI would be watching me. If a serial killer stood up and read this at the next Meet N’ Greet in prison, no one would blink an eye. Because, well, his company would probably all be murderers too, you know? To proceed!
For these pitcher combinations, I’m going to use our (my) 2026 fantasy baseball rankings. Specifically, the top 20 for 2026 fantasy baseball, the top 20 starters for 2026 fantasy baseball, top 40 starters for 2026, top 60 starters for 2026, the top 80 starters for 2026, and top 100 starters. You can also get Rudy’s downloadable War Room just by signing up for the subscriptions. Okay, the formalities are over. *roll up sleeves, make farting noises with hand under armpit, roll up sleeve* Let’s get started!
What is a pitcher’s pair? Your plan is to build a fantasy pitching staff. A course of action of course, out of acourage of course. If you have an A pitcher, which B, C, D, E and F pitcher will go with it? That’s different from “F this pitcher,” which is what you say in late April after one of your starters gives up five earned runs in two-thirds of an inning. You should have six starters. The sixth starter, I think, is Logan Henderson. Or Jack Leiter. Noah Cameron also comes to mind. Kris Bubic anyone? I’m assuming you’re in a team of 12, 5×5 and some variation of 9 pitcher leagues, such as the Razzball Commenter Leagues, which are now filling up. Put on your pants and look presentable! Anyway, here are the pitcher combinations for pitching staffs for 2026 fantasy baseball drafts:
If your first thrower is from the levels: Frito’s feetAnd Hanging out with Neil, Patrick, Harris.
These levels run from Tarik Skubal to Yamamoto. If you draft anyone from these levels you will probably lose your competition or get lucky with your hitters. If you’re designing one, I wouldn’t take another pitcher until the levels of “Bon variäge” and “Get ready for a tuxedo shirt now.” Take a pitcher from one of those two levels and then take another starter from one of those two levels or: “Side bosom.” Then grab a starter from ‘Sideways Boezem’, ‘Boezemvrienden’ or ‘Dorf on Golf Presents: Fore!’ or “Broken emergency anchor glass.” Then an appetizer from Anchor Glass or “I use the milkrowave.” Finally, pull a starter from the milkrowave. So you would have a rotation like Paul Skenes, Nick Lodolo, Chase Burns, Robbie Ray, Logan Henderson and Kris Bubic. Or you could have Tarik Skubal, Kevin Gausman, Emmet Sheehan, Ryan Pepiot, Jack Leiter and Cody Ponce. Each of these bars will likely earn you 13 points in each pitching category in a 12-team league.
If your first thrower is from the levels: Fill my holes with dry rice to reduce moisture.
This level runs from Hunter Brown to Cristopher Sanchez. I’d pair one of them with someone in the same level or levels: “Eat Your Ideal Lover’s Weight in Cookie Dough,” “Bon Variäge,” and “Make Yourself a Tuxedo Shirt Now,” but it’s not mandatory to grab two in the first two levels. In other words, if I drafted Brown, I might see Hunter Greene or Logan Gilbert or someone from either of those levels, but I wouldn’t get to either. If you take two guys from the first two levels, go to “Bon variäge” and “Now make a tuxedo shirt,” and take one guy. It’s also fine if you take Brown or Sanchez and go straight to Bon Variäge or the tuxedo shirt. If you skip a 2nd starter in the “reducing moisture” and “cookie dough” levels, put two guys in the Bonvariäge and/or the tuxedo shirt. So you could have something like Brown, Framber and Lodolo or Cristopher Sanchez, Woodruff and Eovaldi. Anyway, you then go to Sideways Boezem, Boezemvrienden and a Dorf and get a man, and then to another Dorf, anchor glass or a milk wave. Finally a man from the milkrowave. So you have something like Brown, Framber Valdez, Nick Lodolo, Robbie Ray, Tatsuya Imai and Jack Leiter. Doesn’t matter if I do! Or you could have something like Cristopher Sanchez, Woodruff, Eovaldi, Ranger Suarez, Shane Baz and Logan Henderson. That’s a straight canyon. As in swollen.
If your first pitcher is of the level: Eat your ideal lover’s weight in cookie dough.
This level runs from Hunter Greene to Max Fried. This is probably the way I go in 12-team and shallower leagues. This would be ideal (and just as complicated. Anyone who actually reads AND understands this post deserves a gold star and a major exam. “You, sir, are fit for the looney bin.”) My first pitcher will be from Cookie Dough, then two starters from bonvariäge and becoming fitted for a tuxedo shirt, then a starter from side bosom, Bosom Buddies, a Dorf and a starter from a Dorf, anchor glass and milkrowave. Finally a milk wave. So you could have something like Hunter Greene, Chase Burns, Nolan McLean, Matthew Boyd, Andrew Abbott and Gerrit Cole. You just won your competition and the matches haven’t even started yet. Don’t mention it. Could this message get any more confusing? Short answer: no. Long answer: nooooooooo. But let’s try…
General thoughts
You can’t go wrong with many different sets of pitchers. You could probably do just fine drafting just 3 starters and 3 great relievers and streaming. (Razzball subscriptions are now open with the Streamonator.) If you stick with the pitchers I like, you can match them any way you want. Before unstints, I saw a lot of people saying that Emmet Sheehan will be drafted closer to a number four versus a number two or three, so can I wait for him? Certainly. If you only draft pitchers I like, then I have no problem with you waiting. Want to wait for Sheehan while you grab another prototypical tuxedo? That’s fine with me. Just know that you are increasing the risk of someone summoning Sheehan before you.
PROBLEM AREAS
WHIP Issues – For each pitcher projected over a 1.23 WHIP, take one below. The sooner you do this, the better off you will be. For unstints, if you take Jacob Misiorowski, who I projected at 1.27, you have to pair him with someone I projected under 1.23. Don’t link Misiorowski to Yesavage. Pair him with someone like Andrew Abbott. Remember: the further you go in the rankings, the harder it becomes to find lower WHIPs. Side note: WHIP can be helped by closers and MRs… or hurt by them.
What about those other starters you like in your top 100 starters?
You mean, what about the ‘Saying romance in a glass bottle and then throwing it into the sea’ level, or a starter from the top 100 starters that is in the levels not listed above. They are 7th starters or IL, minors or bullpen-bound. I wouldn’t count on any of them for anything. I love a Braxton Garrett or a bunch of those guys, but do you really start with one of them every April and risk a huge blow or they just aren’t in the rotation, which would lead to a crushing April that leaves you in your fantasy baseball cellar and a chance to start trading for goalies in May? You take a flyer on someone like Ian Seymour, hope he does well and if he doesn’t, decide whether to drop him in redraft competitions. He’s not your sixth starter.
Strikethrough problems – For drafters who follow my lead, this shouldn’t be a big problem. You’re aiming for about 150 strikeouts/starter.
General pitch problems – Almost everyone, including the undersigned, drops at least one of their starters before May 1. Obviously you want the best team to come out of the draft, but it’s a marathon and not a sprint. Starters always come out of nowhere with exemptions to become productive. Always. Even in deep leagues.
BONUS FEATURE
Since we both know that everything written above was the gibberish of a crazy mind, here’s an easy-to-use shortcut. Just click on the pitcher you’ve drafted and you’ll get a short list of the next pitcher you should draft. Frank Voila, snitches! Now, get started:
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