The Unconventional Top 5: Nick Pollack’s 2026 Pitcher Rankings That Will Shock Your Fantasy League

As of December 2025, the fantasy baseball landscape for starting pitchers is undergoing a radical shift, and nobody is driving that conversation more than Nick Pollack and his team at Pitcher List. Known for his daily "SP Roundup" and his influential weekly "The List," Pollack recently dropped his highly-anticipated "Top 200 Starting Pitchers for 2026," which immediately sparked debate among the fantasy community. This isn't your grandfather's ranking; it’s a forward-thinking, analytical deep dive that prioritizes pitch quality and underlying skills over past results, making it essential reading for any serious manager.

The core of Pollack's philosophy revolves around his proprietary metric, Pitch Level Value (PLV), which dissects every single pitch thrown, grading it on characteristics like velocity, movement, location, and count. This methodology allows him to identify true skill and potential breakout candidates before traditional stats catch up, leading to some truly unconventional—and highly profitable—rankings.

Nick Pollack: The Architect of Pitcher List and PLV

Nick Pollack is a prominent figure in the fantasy baseball world, primarily known as the founder of the popular website and analytical hub, Pitcher List. His approach is characterized by a deep, pitch-by-pitch analysis, moving beyond simple box-score metrics to evaluate a pitcher's true talent.

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• Role: Founder and Lead Analyst at Pitcher List.
• Signature Content: "The List" (weekly Top 100 SP rankings), "SP Roundup" (daily review of every starting pitcher performance), and the "Plus Pitch Podcast."
• Key Metric: Pitch Level Value (PLV), a pitch quality metric developed by the Pitcher List team (with key contributions from Kyle Bland and others) that quantifies the quality of every pitch thrown.
• Philosophy: Focuses on "Pitching is Dope," emphasizing the aesthetic and analytical beauty of pitching, often highlighting pitchers with elite stuff regardless of recent ERA.
• Recent Highlights: His annual "100 Pitchers In 50 Minutes" presentation at PitchCon is a staple for preseason preparation.
• Latest Work: The "Top 200 Starting Pitchers 2026" released in October 2025, setting the stage for the next draft season.

Pollack’s work is not just about rankings; it's a comprehensive, daily resource for staying ahead of the curve, especially when it comes to streaming and identifying emerging talent. The "SP Roundup," for instance, provides a quick, personality-driven review of every starter's performance from the previous day.

The PLV Revolution: Understanding Pollack's Core Methodology

To truly grasp why Pollack's rankings differ from consensus lists, one must understand the power of Pitch Level Value (PLV). PLV is a cornerstone of the Pitcher List analysis and a major driver of "The List."

What is Pitch Level Value (PLV)?

PLV is a pitch quantifier that aims to analyze the *input* of a pitch rather than just the *output* (the result). It grades every pitch on a scale, assessing how effective it was based on its characteristics—velocity, movement, location, and the current count.

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For example, a pitcher might throw a perfect fastball on the corner for a strike, but the batter fouls it off. A traditional box score sees a foul ball. PLV recognizes that the pitcher threw a high-quality pitch that *should* have resulted in a better outcome (like a swing-and-miss or weak contact), thus giving the pitcher credit for the skill demonstrated.

PLV’s Impact on Rankings

Because PLV strips away "hit luck" and focuses purely on the pitcher's skill, it often elevates pitchers who have elite *stuff* but may have suffered from poor defense, bad luck on balls in play, or an unfortunate schedule. This is why Pollack's rankings often feature "The List Curse" candidates—pitchers he ranks highly who then struggle, only to rebound later as their true skill (measured by PLV) eventually normalizes their results.

The metric translates into other key components like PLA (Pitch Level Average), which is PLV translated to an ERA scale, and ICR% (Ideal Contact Rate), which measures how often a batter makes "good" contact. These metrics provide a much clearer picture of a pitcher's underlying talent than FIP or xERA alone.

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The Shocking Top 5: Key Takeaways from the 2026 Rankings

The "Top 200 Starting Pitchers 2026" list, released in late 2025, features several controversial placements that highlight Pollack's forward-looking, skill-based approach. The list is designed for 12-team, 5x5 fantasy baseball leagues and focuses on pure rest-of-season (ROS) value and long-term projection.

1. The Rise of Garrett Crochet

In a move that surprised many, Garrett Crochet was ranked as the consensus #1 starting pitcher. This ranking is a testament to the power of pure stuff and the belief in his transition to a full-time starter. After a season where he demonstrated elite velocity and a devastating slider, Pollack's ranking suggests he has the highest combination of skill and upside for the 2026 season, despite any lingering workload concerns.

2. The Young Ace Duo: Skenes and Skubal

Rounding out the top three are Paul Skenes at #2 and Tarik Skubal at #3. Skenes’ placement is a clear vote of confidence in his "kitchen sink arm with insane stuff," positioning him ahead of many established aces based on his elite metrics and high-octane arsenal. Skubal, a perennial Pollack favorite, is rewarded for his consistent performance and strong underlying skills, with Pollack noting that Skubal "lapped both" Crochet and Skenes in terms of 2025 value.

3. The Veteran Anchor: Max Fried

While many lists might push a veteran like Max Fried down due to a lack of elite strikeout numbers, Pollack keeps him firmly in the top tier (often around #6 in in-season updates). Fried is a clear example of a pitcher whose elite command and ground-ball tendencies translate to consistent, low-WHIP production, which is highly valued in the 5x5 format.

4. The PLV Darlings and High-Upside Picks

The list is littered with pitchers who are "PLV Darlings"—those whose pitch quality metrics suggest a massive breakout is imminent. Bryan Woo and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are two such names consistently ranked highly. Woo is praised for his fastball-heavy approach and developing secondary offerings, while Yamamoto is still considered "just as legit" despite some minor hiccups in his first season, demonstrating Pollack's long-term faith in elite international talent. Hunter Greene is another high-upside arm who benefits from this skill-first approach, with his pure velocity keeping him in the top ten discussion.

5. The Injury Complicators

Pollack’s analysis also provides nuanced takes on injury-prone pitchers. He famously stated that Jacob deGrom is "the perfect example of why we need to reconsider what 'injury prone' really means," suggesting that while deGrom is a health risk, his performance when on the mound is so dominant that he still warrants a high ranking based on his unparalleled skill. This demonstrates a willingness to take on risk for elite upside, a hallmark of sharp fantasy analysis.

Ultimately, Nick Pollack's pitcher rankings are more than just a list; they are a manifesto for a new era of fantasy baseball analysis. By prioritizing the granular data of PLV and the eye test of the "SP Roundup," Pollack forces managers to look past the surface stats and invest in true, demonstrable pitching talent. Ignoring these rankings means ignoring the future of pitching evaluation.