To tier a position means to group players with a similar projected outcome, creating an alternate form of rankings that will better serve you on Draft Day. Tiers make it immediately apparent during the heat of the draft where the drop-off is coming next so that you'll know which position to target with each and every pick.
Tiers 3.0: Catcher | First base | Second base | Third base | Shortstop | Outfield | Relief pitcher
Below are the starting pitcher tiers for 2021, depicting an incomparably large position that's mostly devoid of a middle class.
The Super Elite: Shane Bieber, Jacob deGrom, Gerrit Cole
The Elite: Trevor Bauer, Yu Darvish, Aaron Nola, Lucas Giolito, Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Luis Castillo, Jack Flaherty, Walker Buehler, Kenta Maeda, Zac Gallen, Carlos Carrasco, Brandon Woodruff
The Near-Elite: Lance Lynn, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Stephen Strasburg, Zach Plesac, Corbin Burnes, Dinelson Lamet, Zack Greinke, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Kyle Hendricks
The Next-Best Things: Max Fried, Zack Wheeler, Sonny Gray, Dylan Bundy, Jose Berrios, Chris Paddack
The Fallback Options: Ian Anderson, Sixto Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo, Lance McCullers, Patrick Corbin, Charlie Morton, Sandy Alcantara, Kevin Gausman, Joe Musgrove, Corey Kluber, Frankie Montas
The Last Resorts: German Marquez, Triston McKenzie, Julio Urias, Mike Soroka, Pablo Lopez, Tyler Mahle, Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Civale, John Means, Jameson Taillon, Marco Gonzales, James Paxton, David Price, Framber Valdez, Michael Pineda, Jose Urquidy, Dallas Keuchel, Marcus Stroman
The Deep-Leaguers: Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Griffin Canning, Cristian Javier, Brady Singer, Dane Dunning, Nate Pearson, Drew Smyly, Zach Eflin, Eduardo Rodriguez, Andrew Heaney, Elieser Hernandez, Jordan Montgomery, Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Kopech, Chris Bassitt, Luis Severino, MacKenzie Gore, Zach Davies, Chris Sale, Noah Syndergaard, Tarik Skubal, Ryan Yarbrough, Brad Keller, Justus Sheffield, Sean Manaea, Mitch Keller, Adbert Alzolay, Yusei Kikuchi, Matthew Boyd
The Leftovers: Domingo German, Adam Wainwright, Kris Bubic, Deivi Garcia, Spencer Howard, Rich Hill, Carlos Martinez, Kwang Hyun Kim, A.J. Puk*, Casey Mize, Chris Archer, Miles Mikolas, Taijuan Walker, Michael Lorenzen*, Jose Quintana*, Nick Pivetta*, Matt Moore, Matt Manning, Forrest Whitley, Brendan McKay, Luke Weaver, Ross Stripling, Caleb Smith, Robbie Ray, Merrill Kelly, Dylan Cease, J.A. Happ, Madison Bumgarner, Jake Odorizzi, Matt Shoemaker, Danny Duffy, Tanner Houck, Dean Kremer, Kyle Wright, Mike Minor, Kohei Arihara, Jon Gray, Steven Matz, Trevor Rogers, Garrett Richards, Anthony DeSclafani
* RP-eligible
