Tiers are a particular form of rankings that is less concerned with parsing individual players and more with denoting the biggest drop-offs. Players whose value is essentially the same are bundled together to help you prioritize which position to draft next. If the goal in a draft is to maximize the return of each pick, then a simple way to do so is to target a position that's nearing a drop-off and wait on a position that isn't. By crossing off names as you go, your path to victory should become clear.
Below are the starting pitcher tiers for 2024, which are named differently than at other positions. Specifically, I refer to "The Glob," a phenomenon that came to define starting pitcher amid last year's rule changes. Not only are there fewer standouts now, but volatility has been heightened throughout the pitching ranks, most especially for that globby middle. It makes distinctions within The Glob harder to make, but I've gone ahead and divided it into two tiers, Start of Glob and End of Glob, mostly on account of upside.
The First-Rounders: Spencer Strider
The Also-Elite: Corbin Burnes, Zack Wheeler, Luis Castillo, Zac Gallen, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Pablo Lopez, Logan Webb†
The Near-Elite: Tarik Skubal, Kevin Gausman, Tyler Glasnow, Freddy Peralta^, Aaron Nola†, Framber Valdez†, Cole Ragans*
The Next-Best Things: George Kirby, Max Fried, Justin Steele, Zach Eflin, Jesus Luzardo, Logan Gilbert
The Fallback Options: Bobby Miller, Grayson Rodriguez, Dylan Cease, Eury Perez, Blake Snell, Chris Sale, Joe Musgrove, Tanner Bibee, Chris Bassitt, Mitch Keller
The Start of Glob: Carlos Rodon, Michael King*, Joe Ryan, Merrill Kelly, Shane Bieber, Bailey Ober, Sonny Gray, Justin Verlander, Cristian Javier, Hunter Greene, Jose Berrios, Yu Darvish, Gerrit Cole, Gavin Williams, Walker Buehler, Kodai Senga, Jordan Montgomery, Nathan Eovaldi, Nick Pivetta*, Ryan Pepiot, Cristopher Sanchez, Shota Imanaga
The End of Glob: Hunter Brown, Kyle Harrison, Bryan Woo, Nestor Cortes, Charlie Morton, A.J. Puk*, Nick Lodolo, Eduardo Rodriguez, Erick Fedde, Kyle Bradish, Shane Baz, Luis Severino, Triston McKenzie, Kutter Crawford, Bryce Miller, Reid Detmers, Reese Olson, Brandon Pfaadt, Jon Gray, Kenta Maeda, James Paxton, Max Scherzer, Yusei Kikuchi, Aaron Civale, Chris Paddack*, Andrew Abbott, Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo, Mason Miller, Joe Boyle, Frankie Montas*, DL Hall*, Reynaldo Lopez*, Brayan Bello, Marcus Stroman, Braxton Garrett, Kyle Hendricks, MacKenzie Gore, Josiah Gray, Graham Ashcraft, Ryan Weathers, Emmet Sheehan, Edward Cabrera
The Leftovers: Lance Lynn, Dane Dunning, Chase Silseth, Logan Taylor Allen, Tyler Wells, Garrett Crochet*, Taj Bradley, Tylor Megill, Trevor Rogers, Griffin Canning, Gavin Stone, JP Sears, John Means, Ricky Tiedemann, Paul Skenes, Louie Varland, Tanner Houck, A.J. Smith-Shawver, Cole Irvin, Alek Manoah, Matt Manning, Jose Urquidy, Patrick Sandoval, Jose Quintana, Taijuan Walker, Jameson Taillon, Ranger Suarez, Bryce Elder, Jordan Wicks, Nick Martinez*, Clayton Kershaw, Lance McCullers, Dean Kremer, Sawyer Gipson-Long, J.P. France, Steven Matz, Sean Manaea*, Zack Littell*, Jack Flaherty, Kyle Gibson, Wade Miley, Miles Mikolas, Aaron Ashby, Jordan Hicks*, Brandon Williamson
^ one tier lower in points league
† one tier lower in categories leagues
* RP-eligible
