2016 Fantasy Baseball: Top 15 Starting Pitchers

15. Adam Wainwright - St. Louis Cardinals

Projected 2016 Stats: 14-8, 3.25 ERA, and 158 strikeouts. Wainwright is coming off a torn Achilles, which he returned from in the playoffs last season. However, he missed almost the entire 2015 season, which could make him a little rusty. On the other hand, he could be very fresh. He won't have the best season of his career, but Cardinals fans should be able to depend on him for another very good year.

14. Shelby Miller - Arizona Diamondbacks

Projected 2016 Stats: 15-9, 2.89 ERA, and 160 strikeouts. Miller really became a star last year, even while losing a league-high 17 games in 2015. He was playing for a Braves team that gave him no run support, but he's in Arizona where the team's offense is well above average. That will translate into more wins, fewer losses, and another great season from Miller.

13. Felix Hernandez - Seattle Mariners

Projected 2016 Stats: 16-7, 3.11 ERA, and 204 strikeouts. For the past decade or so, King Felix has shown the ability to strike out opposing batters with the best of them. At age 29, there's no reason to think he will drop off at all this season. With an improved lineup, he could see more personal success, which will translate into more fantasy success for his owners.

12. Sonny Gray - Oakland Athletics

Projected 2016 Stats: 11-9, 2.88 ERA, and 174 strikeouts. Gray isn't a flashy pitcher, but he gets the job done. His ERA is likely to be around or below 3.00, but in Oakland, that might not translate to many wins. Since he has little run support, there are better fantasy options. In terms of pure pitchers, though, he has the ability to jump into the top five in the league in the near future.

11. Madison Bumgarner - San Francisco Giants

Projected 2016 Stats: 19-9, 2.95 ERA, and 201 strikeouts. MadBum would be much higher on this list if it weren't for the fact he's already facing a foot injury in spring training. It doesn't seem like anything to be nervous about yet, but you can never be too careful in fantasy baseball. If healthy, he will be a top 10 option. However, his injury should make you reach for some guys higher on this list.

10. Chris Archer - Tampa Bay Rays

Projected 2016 Stats: 14-10, 2.98 ERA, and 225 strikeouts. Archer put forth his first superstar season a year ago and it doesn't look like he's ready to go anywhere anytime soon. He's the ace of the Rays' rotation now and it looks like he's ready to enter his prime. With really dominant stuff, he's nearly a sure thing to strike out more than 200 batters this season.

9. Jacob deGrom - New York Mets

Projected 2016 Stats: 17-7, 2.71 ERA, and 214 strikeouts. DeGrom is sometimes forgotten because of Matt Harvey, but he's the most consistently good pitcher in the Mets' loaded rotation. He's going to be a 200-strikeout guy for a long time and should have an ERA hovering around 3.00. That's a recipe for fantasy baseball success.

8. Chris Sale - Chicago White Sox

Projected 2016 Stats: 15-10, 3.27 ERA, and 258 strikeouts. Sale could potentially break out this season, and you don't want to miss out on him if he does. He's always been a great strikeout pitcher, but last year he showed he could be more than that. He could easily push 250 strikeouts as he did last year, and could contend for the American League Cy Young award in 2016.

7. Matt Harvey - New York Mets

Projected 2016 Stats: 16-9, 2.88 ERA, and 197 strikeouts. It's hard to believe, but Harvey is just now entering his prime. After a solid 2015 season, he should be fresh entering this year. Given his injury history, he's always a risk in fantasy baseball, but with great risk comes great reward. Harvey could definitely reward you in fantasy baseball this season.

6. Jake Arrieta - Chicago Cubs

Projected 2016 Stats: 19-8, 2.74 ERA, and 231 strikeouts. Coming off the best second half in MLB history from a pitcher, Arrieta enters 2016 with plenty of momentum. He's never going to duplicate his performance from a year ago, but he has proven he's a bona fide ace. If you have the chance to grab him, there are very few starting pitchers better than the bearded No. 1 starter for the Cubs.

5. Zack Greinke - Arizona Diamondbacks

Projected 2016 Stats: 18-7, 2.53 ERA, and 187 strikeouts. Greinke put together what was potentially the best pitching season ever by a starter who didn't win the Cy Young award last year. He's not going to have his insane 1.66 ERA again, but he might be able to rack up more wins with a solid Arizona lineup. He's not a great strikeout guy, but he will fill up the fantasy stat sheet pretty well.

4. Dallas Keuchel - Houston Astros

Projected 2016 Stats: 19-10, 2.87 ERA, and 213 strikeouts. Keuchel won the 2015 American League Cy Young award last year behind an incredibly strong season, especially at home, where he was undefeated. His arc seems to be going up and with a very good Astros lineup behind him, he's set to duplicate his 2015 campaign. That's scary unless you're an Astros fan or have him on your fantasy roster.

3. Max Scherzer - Washington Nationals

Projected 2016 Stats: 18-6, 2.91 ERA, and 238 strikeouts. At times last year, Scherzer was the most dominant pitcher in baseball. By the time it was all said and done, he ended up with two no hitters, which is pretty incredible for one season. Behind a stronger Nationals team this year, he should put forth another great season, especially in terms of fantasy results.

2. David Price - Boston Red Sox

Projected 2016 Stats: 17-10, 2.43 ERA, and 241 strikeouts. Price heads to Boston with extremely high expectations, but he can largely live up to them. He's the new lefty ace of a very solid Red Sox team and he's going to put up great numbers again. He's definitely among the top pitchers available in fantasy baseball this season.

1. Clayton Kershaw - Los Angeles Dodgers

Projected 2016 Stats: 19-5, 2.41 ERA, 303 strikeouts. Get ready for Kershaw to put together an historic 2016 season. He was overshadowed by Jake Arrieta and Zack Greinke in 2015, but he's primed for his best season yet. Really, he's the only pitcher worthy of a first-round selection, and that's saying a lot. As a starter, he can anchor most fantasy teams.