Happy Monday, Razzball faithful!

‘Tis the season for overreactions!

Yes, the sample size for ALL of our statistics is tinier than Jose Altuve’s shower cap. But does that mean we should ignore everything from the opening weekend of MLB games? 

Maybe not. But let’s remember that you drafted your pitching staff for a reason. There was a thought process behind why you selected (or bid on) each arm in your draft, so, unless you went into it with the strategy of dropping one or two players right away to stream or to add free agents from the wire, the best course of action is to stay the…er…course.

Does that mean we should ignore the information from games this week? From the next few weeks? Of course, not. But it does mean that Aaron Ashby’s 20.25 K/BB rate isn’t likely to hold up over the next 160-ish games.

As for today, all of you resistant-to-change fans can rejoice, because it’s also the season for a return to the old Top 100 Starting Pitchers format (with a couple of exceptions).

I’m replacing the Grey rankings with our NOTES section today, and wiping out the R$ column. If you didn’t draft your squad last weekend, you likely did yesterday, so those R$ numbers are officially a thing of the past (as far as draft day information is concerned).

I also eliminated the UP/DOWN arrows from last year. I felt like it was a bit redundant with the Jumpers and Dumpers section, and to be honest, I often forgot to go back in and add the arrows in my edits anyway!

So, yes, that means we’re back to the full list of Top 100 Starting Pitchers, along with the Jumpers, Dumpers, Stumpers, and Bumpers lists, complete with write-ups (where necessary).

For most teams, we’re only four games in, but there’s news worth following and sharing, and your dear, ‘youthfully challenged’, MarmosDad is here to bring you the goods.

I’ll outline the movement within last week’s list and share as many updates and upcoming matchups as possible. 

As always, it’s a bit of business first, though. The Razzball subscriptions are well worth the price of admission. This should be your go-to reference for the entire season. That resource that the other “experts” from other sites use as often as they look at Statcast or Fangraphs data? This is it.

For what it’s worth, some of this week’s notes are borrowed from my Friday night round-up that you may have already read here – Gausman Brings The Gas, Man.

Let’s get to it!

The Top 100 Starting Pitchers for 2026

MARMO RANK	Name	Team	Notes
1	Tarik Skubal	DET	6 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 6 Ks, and the win. I don’t want to upset too many Tigers fans ever, let alone in Week 1, but are you taking the over or under on Skubal starts in a Detroit jersey at 21.5?
2	Paul Skenes	PIT	0.2 IP, 5 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 1 K at NYM. I KNEW IT! HE SUCKS! – That’s a quote from the crusty Yankees fan who is angry that the Pirates wouldn’t trade Skenes for Paul Blackburn, Will Warren, and Ryan McMahon.
3	Garrett Crochet	BOS	6 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 8 Ks at CIN. A nearly identical line to Skubal’s. Despite the Skenes implosion, these three guys are way ahead of anyone else.
4	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD	6 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 6 Ks, and the win vs ARI. I don’t necessarily think Yamamoto is going to be bad this year, I just have my doubts about him not entirely losing steam in the middle of summer and ending up shelved for a majority of August to “rest up” before playoffs.
5	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	6 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 10 Ks, and the win vs TEX. That’s a good start from my NL Cy Young winner in the Razzball Staff Picks for 2026!
6	Bryan Woo	SEA	I mentioned it in my Friday night round-up comments, but I managed to stay awake for a few innings of this one before, inevitably, losing the battle to the sleep fairy. 6 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 9 Ks, and fastballs that touched 97 MPH is what I count as a good start!
7	Logan Gilbert	SEA	86 pitches in 5.1 innings isn’t ideal, but I get it. There’s no need to push these guys this early in the season just so they can get you a quality start. Gilbert’s 3 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 7 Ks vs CLE wasn’t as bad as the line looks.
8	Hunter Brown	HOU	4.2 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 9 Ks. So, I just said pushing a starter this early just to get a quality start isn’t a great idea. Can you guess how many pitches HOU was ok with Brown throwing? If you guessed 102, you were bang on.
9	Logan Webb	SF	I was criticized for ranking Webb this high, and if his first start is any indication, I might be in trouble. 5 IP, 6 ER, 9 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks against NYY isn’t great (especially at home), but the strikeout number is encouraging.
10	Cole Ragans	KC	“4 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 5 Ks, and his first loss. Ragans gave up three homers in this one. The strikeout will be there, but there are more than a few analysts out there who think this guy is a sucker bet. Hopefully, this is just early-season jitters.”
11	Jacob deGrom	TEX	His season debut was pushed back due to an injury. WAIT! Don’t Tommen out the window just yet! The official “injury” is a stiff neck. deGrom is set to start at BAL tomorrow, then at home vs SEA next Monday (if he’s feeling better).
12	Max Fried	NYY	6.1 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks, and the win at SF. Fried is lined up to start tomorrow at SEA, but gets the A’s at home early next week after that.
13	George Kirby	SEA	“6 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks, and the win. He’s my ace in TGFBI, and I mentioned in the AL East preview pod with Mike and Jeremy that I wanted as many shares of the control freaks as I could get. If it wasn’t George Kirby, it was Bryan Woo. And if I had gotten neither of these guys, it would’ve been a tough WHIP storm to weather right out of the gate.”
14	Chris Sale	ATL	“6 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks, and his first win! ERA at 0.00. WHIP at 1.00. 88 pitches. The 36-year-old is no stranger to opening day starts or 3-hit shutouts, and Braves fans have to be overjoyed with this kind of start from Sale. It’s a bit of a cliché to mention, but it’s worth noting. If Sale can avoid the injury bug, he’s going to be a Top 10 pitcher this year.”
15	Dylan Cease	TOR	More below!
16	Kyle Bradish	BAL	A loss to Minnesota isn’t an ideal way to start the year, but it could have been much worse. 4.2 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 4 Ks on 83 pitches isn’t great, but I’d rather Baltimore conserve this guy’s arm early on than pump him up over 100 pitches in March and April and watch him disintegrate by July 1st.
17	Shohei Ohtani	LAD	He gets his first start tomorrow at home vs CLE. As a bit of a Streamonator teaser, he’s ranked 5th on SON with a $23 projection in that one.
18	Joe Ryan	MIN	5 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 1 hit, 2 walks, 7 Ks. A solid season debut from the War Room’s favorite son.
19	Framber Valdez	DET	“6 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks, and the no-decision. I said to a buddy when Valdez signed in Detroit that it felt like the kind of signing that would be convenient if they ended up trading Skubal. “Well, we have an ace in Valdez, so we can afford to move Tarik Skubal” is a narrative that would go over like a lead-filled balloon in Motown.”
20	Freddy Peralta	NYM	5 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 7 Ks. He was on the Marmo-fade list this preseason, not because I don’t like him, but because I don’t like where he landed and his price tag. Hopefully, this is just a blip.
21	Tyler Glasnow	LAD	6 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks, and the no-decision vs ARI. Sure, the low ER total and decent K total are nice, but the most important parts of this one are the six innings and the 90 pitches thrown. Oh, and the fact that there isn’t a little red flag by his name after the start, too.
22	Kevin Gausman	TOR	“If anyone was looking for a solid start from the 35-year-old ace, they got it. And then some. Kevin Gausman, 6 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 11 Ks, and the win, was nearly perfect Friday night (with the only exception being a Shea Langeliers solo home run). I was already higher than some others, so SP23 works for now.”
23	Eury Perez	MIA	7 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 8 Ks, and the no-decision vs COL. I swear to the Fantasy Baseball Gods, no starting pitcher with a stronger or more rabid cheering section than this guy. So let’s just say this was a solid start, and I look forward to hoping he doesn’t get pushed around at Yankee Stadium this Friday.
24	Sonny Gray	BOS	4 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks, and the no-decision at CIN. Sonny has worn two uniforms since the Reds’ one, so this wasn’t exactly a “homecoming” game, but either way, 80 pitches to get 12 outs isn’t exactly ideal. His next two starts are at home (SD and MIL).
25	Nolan McLean	NYM	5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 8 Ks vs PIT is a solid start. More impressive is that he’s a pitcher who threw in the WBC who hasn’t unravelled and hit the IL yet. He gets the Giants (in SF) Friday.
26	Zack Wheeler	PHI	More below!
27	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	4 2/3 IP, 5 ER. Excellent. This should suppress his auction price in that home mixed league auction (last night).
28	Emmet Sheehan	LAD	“3.1 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks. I watched a bit of this one on the MLB Extra Innings game-surfing channel, and Sheehan didn’t look terrible. A couple of hard-hit doubles and the HR to Ketel Marte were enough to chase him, though, despite the half dozen strikeouts.”
29	Cam Schlittler	NYY	“5.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 8 Ks, and his first win. I said it a few times in the Top 100 write-ups, but I was concerned about the reports of back soreness with Schlittler in early spring. In most leagues, I went with Nick Lodolo, Trey Yesavage, or Emmett Sheehan in that pocket of promising young arms. That is, all except for our Perts League draft last Monday night. YES!”
30	Jesus Luzardo	PHI	More below!
31	Nick Lodolo	CIN	A left index finger blister stifled his chances for an opening week start. He’s supposed to be back on April 7th, but if he has another setback, I’m going to be extending a different finger out into the universe, and it won’t be the index one.
32	Brandon Woodruff	MLW	The lat setback (not a band name) pushed his first start to tomorrow. He’ll get Tampa at home.
33	Spencer Strider	ATL	The official diagnosis is an oblique injury, and I’ve already pushed Strider down a couple of times. He’s due back next week, but monitor the news here. If you’ve read any of Keelin’s articles, you know just how tricksy obliques can be.
34	Blake Snell	LAD	The return timeline is late-May “at the earliest”. If he has any setbacks at all, I’ll remove him. That he’s still this high now is a testament to the talent.
35	Jacob Misiorowski	MLW	5 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 11 Ks. Ok, so yes, it was against CWS in MLW, but still, make no Miz-take, this kid is worth it. If you didn’t roster him, I’d try to think of a trade offer that works before he rips off too many more of these.
36	Nick Pivetta	SD	3 IP, 6 ER. There are a few arms that I just don’t trust, and this is one of them. His ranking in a lot of other places is way higher than this, so I wasn’t likely drafting him anywhere anyway. But this kind of start isn’t encouraging for those of us who did.
37	Robbie Ray	SF	“5.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 4 Ks, and the loss. The good news is that his entire team only had one more hit than Ray did last night. The bad news is that it’s pretty difficult to beat a team when your squad only manages to get one hit.”
38	Michael King	SD	“5 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 4 BB, 6 Ks, and the no-decision. Both starters were solid in this one, even if King was generous with the base-on-balls.”
39	Trevor Rogers	BAL	7 IP, 0 ER, 3 hits, 4 BBs, 5 Ks. This guy is like the opposite of what I said about Nick Pivetta. I’m higher on Rogers than a lot of other folks, and I’m ok with that. The insane run that he went on last summer is likely unsustainable, but even if he regresses a bit, you’re still going to profit from this investment in any league.
40	Shota Imanaga	CHC	5 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 7 Ks, and the loss vs WSH. The only easy pickings here are the 7 strikeouts. Everything else is not-so-good. His next start is at CLE on Saturday.
41	Ranger Suarez	BOS	Nothing to report yet, as the Red Sox went with Connelly Early yesterday instead of Ranger. He gets the ball at HOU today.
42	Edward Cabrera	CHC	Copy and paste from above, here. EdCab hasn’t started yet, but he should go today at home vs LAA. Apparently, the Cubs asked him to throw his fastball more often to make the changeup more effective. We’ll see how that goes against Josh Lowe and Jo Adell…oh, and that Mike Trout guy, too.
43	Tatsuya Imai	HOU	2.2 IP, 4 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 4 Ks, and the no-decision vs LAA. It was a 74-pitch outing for the 27-year-old’s North American debut. Expect some growing pains as he gets acclimated to the MLB life, but I expect more good days than days like this.
44	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	More below!
45	Drew Rasmussen	TB	5 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 Ks. It’s the same old song and dance here. Is he talented? Yes. Is he going to get hosed out of wins and quality starts because he doesn’t get 6 IP each week? Also, yes.
46	Luis Castillo	SEA	His season debut is today vs NYY. To be honest, I don’t care which SEA starter I get. Any of them could give your squad a boost.
47	Trey Yesavage	TOR	More below!
48	Ryan Pepiot	TB	More below!
49	Gavin Williams	CLE	“5 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, 6 BB, 7 Ks, and the loss. I was all in on Williams last year, and I don’t blame folks for penning him in on their draft day target lists, but this guy falls on the Pepiot list for me now. Potential is there, but I don’t want to pay the price/risk the headaches. A half dozen walks is not the way to start the year, Gav!”
50	Tanner Bibee	CLE	5 IP, 3 ER, 6 baserunners, 7 Ks, and the no-decision at SEA. Removed with “right shoulder inflammation.” I’m sure that would be fine…if he were left-handed.
51	Andrew Abbott	CIN	6 IP, 0 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks. Sure, doubling the strikeouts would make it a better line, but this is a nice start from one of the lesser-sought-after Reds arms.
52	Shane McClanahan	TB	He had a sneaky good spring, and it felt like the news was a bit “under-the-radar”. We’ll find out tomorrow at MLW if he can translate the spring success to regular-season positivity.
53	Mackenzie Gore	TEX	5.1 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 7 Ks, and the win at PHI. That’s about as good a start to his Rangers’ career as we could have expected.
54	Jack Flaherty	DET	More below!
55	Carlos Rodon	NYY	The bone spurs have been removed from the left elbow, and he’s expected back on April 25th (barring any setbacks).
56	Shane Baz	BAL	Well, the good news is he signed a 5-year extension for $68 million. The not-so-good news is his stat line from Game 1: 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 4 K vs MIN.
57	Zac Gallen	ARI	More below!
58	Matthew Boyd	CHC	More below!
59	Chase Burns	CIN	The quickly evolving pitcher news in Cincy has been just that. Burns was supposed to be sent down to the minors, then he was slated to be part of a three-man rotation through the SP4 and SP5 spots, and now that Nick Lodolo is out with a blistered finger, Burns is set to take his regular turn in a 5-man rotation. He takes on PIT at home today.
60	Bubba Chandler	PIT	He throws his first of the year at CIN tomorrow, but the 5 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 8 K outing in his final spring training game was enough for me to believe he belongs up here.
61	Hunter Greene	CIN	60-day IL. I already stashed him in multiple leagues with an open IL spot, but don’t expect anything until July 1st at the earliest.
62	Joey Cantillo	CLE	He went toe-to-toe with Bryan Woo and looked just as good…until I fell asleep and missed the end of his outing. 3.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks, and the no-decision. Again, as I said above, I’m good with the youngsters shaking off the rust. Taking 91 pitches to get 11 outs is far from ideal, so his pitching coach is likely working on ways to sharpen his effectiveness.
63	Shane Smith	CWS	“1 2/3 IP, 3 ER. Nice final Spring Training tuneup!” And that’s me quoting Grey!
64	Noah Cameron	KC	He gets his first start of the year on April Fool’s Day (no kidding!), and I still have a bad feeling that this guy might be more pie-in-the-face than a breakout star (at least for this year).
65	Cody Ponce	TOR	Today is the day. And you can bet your Ewok Underoos that I’ll be watching this fellow Star Wars fan take it to the Rockies at home. Here’s hoping my “Comeback Player of the Year” call starts strong today.
66	Jack Leiter	TEX	His final spring start was 4 scoreless innings and a half a dozen strikeouts. Again, here’s hoping he can follow that right up with a solid outing today as well. (at BAL).
67	Kris Bubic	KC	He starts against MIN (at home) today. I need to see innings and high-ish pitch counts before I move him up any higher than he is here.
68	Ryan Weathers	NYY	He starts at SEA today, and CoolWhip and I are all in on the Weathers. Climate change be damned!
69	Logan Henderson	MLW	I know I’m being stubborn. I just can’t get away from thinking that something is going to happen in that Brewers’ rotation and he’ll be back up with the big club earlier than expected.
70	David Peterson	NYM	5.1 IP, 0 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks, and the no-decision vs PIT. What a David Peterson pitching line. Kind of clean, crisp, and without anything too impressive.
71	Cade Horton	CHC	6.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks, and the win vs WSH. This guy feels like he has some boosters and some doubters, kind of like Eury Perez does. I don’t know if I’d start him at CLE this Friday, though.
72	Clay Holmes	NYM	He’s at STL today. This whole pocket of the next five pitchers is full of question marks and ‘tough to trust’ arms, for me.
73	Merrill Kelly	ARI	More below!
74	Ryne Nelson	ARI	“4.2 IP, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 Ks, and the no-decision. The Mookie Betts and Alex Freeland home runs did not help his case.”
75	Seth Lugo	KC	6.1 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 3 Ks, and the win at ATL. See what I said about Peterson, above, and double down on it here.
76	Will Warren	NYY	4.1 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks, and the no-decision at SF. 83 pitches in this one. He gets MIA at home this week.
77	Mike Burrows	HOU	“5.2 IP, 5 ER, 9 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks, 2 HR allowed, and the loss. The one thing that sticks out in these first few days of games is that the majority of those “sleeper” pitchers coming into the season are getting punched in the figurative jaw. Burrows was a target of a lot of deep diving managers this spring, so hopefully this was just a blip on the radar of an SP easing into the gig in a new uniform.”
78	Mick Abel	MIN	I wrote him up a couple of times this preseason, so the 3.1 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 4 BB, 4 K outing is a tough pill to swallow. He lines up to face TB at home next weekend.
79	Braxton Ashcraft	PIT	At CIN today, and I honestly don’t know what to expect. If he can put in a solid effort in a hitter’s park like Great American Ballpark, it has to be considered a positive step forward.
80	Parker Messick	CLE	He gets The Avengers in LA today. RUN AWAY!
81	Connelly Early	BOS	More below!
82	Roki Sasaki	LAD	He was terrible in spring, and somehow still secured a rotation spot over River Ryan and the rest of the Dodgers stable of pitchers. Rusney Castillo called, and he’s ready to send you his “super-bust” belt.
83	Casey Mize	DET	I really do like Mize, I just can’t buy into thinking he’s a Top 50 pitcher. Or a Top 65 pitcher. Or…well, you get the idea. He’s at ARI tomorrow.
84	Aaron Nola	PHI	5 IP, 3 ER, 5 H,2 BB, 7 Ks, and the no-decision. Yes, Aaron Nola used to be a great pitcher. Yes, he’s not as old as some other veteran starters (32 years old). But, no, I don’t trust him to be anything but a streamer at this point, until he proves he’s closer to the guy we used to know (pre-2025).
85	Mitch Keller	PIT	6 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 3 Ks, and the no-decision at NYM. Forget the strikeout total; this is a personal win for Keller. Being able to record a quality start on just 77 pitches is a big checkmark. Here’s hoping he can build on it against BAL this week.
86	Taj Bradley	MIN	More below!
87	Kodai Senga	NYM	He’s at STL on Tuesday, and a lot of people will be watching for the control to be back. It’s a risky choice here, but I could see streaming him and seeing how it goes this week.
88	Andrew Painter	PHI	He’s at home vs WSH on Tuesday. I’m hoping for a solid start for two reasons. I have him on multiple teams, and the pun potential is off the charts.
89	Brayan Bello	BOS	Hey-o! It’s Bello! And I wouldn’t start him at HOU on Tuesday if I had better options!
90	Max Scherzer	TOR	The run support will be there, and he’s healthy (as of right now).
91	Gerrit Cole	NYY	Elbow injury. He’s not going to do anything until the end of May.
92	Brandon Sproat	MLW	More below? Maybe. But don’t look if you roster him.
93	Luis Severino	ATL	5 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 3 Ks, and the no-decision. It wasn’t a bad start by Severino, but he was in tough against the Gas Man right from the get-go.
94	Michael Wacha	KC	6 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks, and the no-decision at ATL. This guy was my 5th-round reserve pick in my AL-Only auction league. I wonder if he’s this underrated in Kansas City drafts, too.
95	Grayson Rodriguez	LAA	It was tempting to drop him altogether, but the shoulder inflammation sounds like it’s minor. He’s due back next Monday, but I already had him queued up for a drop in TGFBI in favor of Scherzer.
96	Bailey Ober	MIN	4 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 1 K, and the no-decision. He cruised through 3 innings until Tyler O’Neill hit a 3-run home run. Last year was horrific, but the talent is still there.
97	Reid Detmers	ANA	4.2 IP,3 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 9 Ks, and a no-decision. Speaking of talent, Detmers walking no one and striking out nine is a huge success. It took him 95 pitches to get 14 outs, but this is a positive step forward.
98	Max Meyer	MIA	5 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks, and the no-decision. What more do you want from our SP98?!
99	Chad Patrick	MLW	4.1 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks, and a no-decision. The removal after 74 pitches seemed more like protecting the arm than anything else.
100	Yusei Kikuchi	LAA	4.1 IP, 2 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks, 1 HR allowed. I’m fine with rostering Kikuchi in a deep league, but I’d take the bet that there are many more “Meh” starts like this one compared to stellar outings by the time we get to October.

JUMPERS (Players who jumped up the list this week).

Dylan Cease – 5.1 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 12 Ks, and the no-decision vs ATH. Kevin Gausman struck out 11 A’s on Friday night, then Dylan Cease really went “Anything you can do, I can do better!” Gausman set an Opening Day record with those 11 strikeouts, and Cease’s follow-up was a two-game record for back-to-back Jays starters. Eric Lauer kept it going yesterday, but that’s for another blurb!

Zack Wheeler – I cheated a bit here in that Wheels isn’t really a Jumper, but I’m keeping him in the Top 30 SPs strictly based on the good news about his recovery and timeline. This is from a Ty Daubert at “Phillies Nation” (about Wheeler’s Saturday rehab start)…

“Wheeler threw 38 pitches across three scoreless innings in a minor-league rehab assignment for Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Saturday. Phillies manager Rob Thomson said that Wheeler will make his next rehab outing this upcoming Friday. He’ll look to go four innings and 50 to 55 pitches.”

Sandy Alcantara – “7 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks, and the win. I took a bit of heat for my ranking of Sandy (SP55). Grey is right there with me, too, but a lot of Alcantara fans think he should be about 30 spots higher. If he strings a few of these together without any hiccups, he’ll move up the board quickly.”

Connelly Early  – His SP92 ranking last week was more about the uncertainty of his landing spot than anything else. Of course, after he was told he’d start in the rotation, he was destined for the Jumpers section this week. I started writing this up on Sunday afternoon after the Sox/Reds game had already started. Early was looking good in the bottom of the 3rd, but was up to 55 pitches before recording 9 outs. The kid had a great spring, so let’s not overanalyze anything. Improving efficiency is a good goal for the young lefty. He turned over a 2-0 lead to the bullpen, who promptly allowed an inherited run to score, then gave up another two earned runs. Smh.

Taj Bradley – Uh oh. Taj struck out 9 in 4.1 innings and walked just 3 hitters. Is it a good start? Yes. Do I trust it? Uh, ya, about as much as I trust Lucy to hold that football in place for Charlie Brown again. It’s a step in the right direction, and we’ve seen flashes of this kind of dominance before. Improved control is more important than the strikeout numbers, but those Ks help cushion any uncertainty for sure.

DUMPERS (Players who dropped down the list this week).

Jesus Luzardo – 6 IP, 6 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks, and the no-decision vs TEX. He dropped a bit today, and this output is one reason why he was on my “Do Not Draft” list this preseason. The talent is there, but I knew that I’d have more than a few managers in each draft room who valued this arm much more highly than I did. The other factor (at least this week)? His next start is at COL. Woof.

Ryan Pepiot – You know who’s hip to be square? Not Grey’s wedding singer, that’s for sure. And not Ryan Pepiot, either. The official word is right hip inflammation, “…which was not previously disclosed.” Uh…that’s not good, kids. He’s supposed to return next Monday, but I’d be monitoring the news all week if I had him rostered anywhere.  

Trey Yesavage – Ok, fine! As they say, “Turnabout is fair play”, so I’m dropping down Mr. “My Right Shoulder Has A Bit Of An Ouchy.” I still think the 15-day IL assignment had at least a bit to do with “innings management”, and it’s encouraging to hear that his velocity was back up after throwing in a minor league game last Wednesday. Hopefully, this means he’s cheaper in any drafts that haven’t happened yet!

Jack Flaherty – 4.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 2 Ks, and the loss at SD. It was the 5th inning that cost Flaherty the game. He walked three guys in a row on 15 pitches and was lucky that only one of them scored (after he was pulled). It wasn’t a terrible outing, but the control is a priority if he’s looking to improve on anything before his start vs STL this weekend.

Merrill Kelly – A “left intercostal nerve irritation” sounds a lot worse than it really is, but it still means Kelly won’t throw for another two weeks. He moves down today.

Matthew Boyd – 3 2/3 IP, 6 ER. Ugh. I’m sure there’s an evil doppleganger of Public Enemy in a parallel universe. And that doppleganger group must have an evil hype man. Let’s call him Flav Flavor. His catch phrase? “No, BoyyyyyyD”. And, yes, I added the D at the end.

Zac Gallen – 4 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 Ks at LAD. Before we point and laugh at everyone who called Gallen a good bounceback candidate, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt that this was (a) Game 1, (b) At LAD, and (c)  Well, I’m sure you know, there is no C.

Brandon Sproat – Oh, a start against the White Sox yesterday? That’ll be a good…OH MY GOD, NO! 3 IP, 7 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 3 Ks. The good news is I have him in RazzSlam, so he’ll be auto-benched for this one. The bad news is I also have him in a roto league. Ugh. If there’s any silver lining here, any more of these might mean we see Logan Henderson before May 1st.

STUMPERS (These names might stump you as to why they aren’t on the Top 100…yet. Some of these guys are close).

Jameson Taillon

Jeffrey Springs

Bryce Miller

Reynaldo Lopez

Tyler Mahle

Zach Eflin

Eric Lauer – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 9 Ks, and finally, a Blue Jays starter gets a win. It was tough not to go completely hometown-biased and remove someone from the bottom of the list here for Lauer, but as long as guys like Berrios, Bieber, and Yesavage are out of the picture, Eric Lauer is going to be a sneaky good pickup. He was a big part of the patchwork rotation during the season last year, and he more than earned a chance to show what he can do this season, taking the ball every five days. Add him if you can.

Slade Cecconi

Justin Verlander

Jacob Lopez

Cade Cavalli –  3 2/3 IP, 2 ER. Yeesh.

Matthew Liberatore –  5 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 2 Ks. He’s one that I left off the list strictly based on a gut feeling that he’s not ready to take that next step. Yes, he’s only 26 years old, and yes, the prospect pedigree is there. I just don’t see him clicking on all angles after a 4.21 ERA, 1.30 WHIP in a career high 151.2 IP (last year).

Grant Holmes

Brandon Pfaadt

Jose Soriano – 6 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners (4 BBs), 7 Ks. If he can corral those walks, I’m in. But it’s looking like he picked up right where he left off last year, and that’s not great.

Brady Singer

Chris Bassitt

BUMPERS (Injured starters or minor league guys who could or would bump others off the list if they were active on the big league roster).

Shane Bieber

Bryce Miller

Joe Musgrove

Justin Steele

Cristian Javier

WHEE! – These players vaulted onto the Top 100 list this week.

Luis Severino

Max Scherzer – It was between him and Lauer for the last open spot, and I went with the bulldog.

OOF! – These players fell off the Top 100 list this week.

Payton Tolle – If you’ve been following along, you know how much I wanted this guy to break camp with Boston. It’s discouraging for sure, but further development in the minor leagues should yield big-time results when they bring him back to Fenway. I’m guessing that happens well before June 1st.

Sean Manaea – His velocity is down, and the team has said he’ll be a piggyback arm behind an opener. Ugh.

 

That’s all for this week! I hope you enjoyed it! If you’re feeling extra fired up about some of the names I do (or don’t) have here, drop some comments in the chat. Have a great week!

 

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