Happy Monday, Razzball faithful!

Before we get to the goods, it’s time to shed one tiny, salty tear for the 2026 fantasy season.

WAY BACK in February, when we were seeking warmth, green grass, and the optimism that comes with spring birds chirping their fantasy baseball song, this week felt like a thousand months away.

And now, as we head into the final week of the season, after dedicating countless hours of preparation and analysis to get us in the best position to win our fantasy leagues, the Fantasy Gods give us this…

Audible sigh.

Well, at least we tried. 

I had to stifle a giggle when I sent this screenshot to the Writers’ Discord group on Saturday night because it perfectly encapsulated the “predictability” of Starting Pitcher performance.

Instead of getting into Brayan Bello’s excellent flex, which he likely spun from your league’s free agent list, let’s get to another example.

Zebby Matthews – This Grey quote is so good it deserves its own spot in the lede: “6 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 4.74. Another lesson we can learn here in the final week-plus is that after a team clinches like the Yanks, they might be less motivated to, well, fill-in the verb. Play? Care? Swing a bat?” 

When I saw Grey’s Zebby note, I copied it out and added my own reminder: “Work into the lede – Zebby final week quote from Grey and WTF to do with this week.”

It’s been a few weeks of the old, “Hang on to your hat, clutch the metal hand rail, brace yourselves, and cross your fingers (if you’ve got more than two hands)”.

When it comes to predicting which pitchers will be worth starting for our fantasy rosters, it was a lesson in patience and Magic 8-Ball gazing ahead of this final week of preparations before the inevitable chaos ensues.

Three points to consider as we make our final week roster moves

(1) It’s that time of year where we have maybe a half dozen games to go. Some teams have clinched a playoff spot, so they’ll be sitting star hitters to keep them rested and injury-free for the second season.

That means good, young SPs are more likely to face a backup lineup, increasing the chances of carving those C-tier dudes to shreds. Could a guy like Brayan Bello come out of nowhere and have the best game of his freaking life?! Yep. That’s a possibility too.

(2) In the same vein, some of those same playoff teams are less likely to run their top arms out for anything more than what matches up as a “bullpen game”. If you’re managing a team like the Yankees, sure you want to let Cam Schlittler go for as long as he can in this week’s start so he can pad the Cy Young resume (although I don’t think he needs to do anything more than he already has – it should be his for the taking).

Kevin Gausman starts tomorrow? Then, if the Cubs clinch a wild-card spot before the weekend, is he really getting that second start on the last day of the season at Fenway? Ehhhh…

If you have guys like Gerrit Cole and Max Fried, who aren’t pushing for individual accolades or league-leading stats, why would a team already headed to the fall dance risk injury by airing these two pitchers out in the final week? 

Ironically, and after slamming the idea of piggybacking starters all year, I’d be tempted to tell those two guys that they’re getting 2-3 innings in the same game, just to stay fresh, then turning things over to a kid call-up or some long relievers who need to get some work in.

(3) But what about the teams that are “just running out the pitch clock”?

Well, for our Miamis, Colorados, and Kansas City-types, it presents a different kind of problem.

Will these teams have their regular starters play out the season and do their best this week, or will we see younger players get a chance to pitch innings as an audition for next year?

This doesn’t mean I think we’ll see kids like 18-year-old Kendry Chourio get promoted today to start for the Royals over someone like Michael Wacha, but some teams might be more inclined to give the ball to a guy they want to assess instead of pitching someone who’s been around for a while. 

Do we know what Noah Cameron can give us this week? Sure.

But would it be a better exercise to give those innings to Nate Pearson or Anthony Gose, just to see what they can do without the worry about performance in a game that means nothing in the standings? 

Crazier things have happened.

Because this is a real possibility, I added extra names to check in on at the end of the list today (just as I did last week). These are names who didn’t make the Top 100 ranking, but might get enough innings this week to be a worthwhile stream on your active rosters and hold more value than our bottom 20-ish guys do (at least for one week).

Listen, the bottom line is it was tough to predict last week’s starters, and this week is even tougher. Teams might change plans multiple times today, let alone mid-week, so our best reference is current news. I’ll try my best to include all of the newest…er, news…in this week’s write-up so we can make an informed decision before our roster locks.

If you’re in a daily moves league, check the news each morning in case things change, and you need to make some quick moves.

Above all else, try to enjoy the final week of regular season baseball and fantasy stat-collection. Whether I squeak out a title in my mixed league or come up short, I know I’ll miss the box score analysis before the second week of October rolls around, no matter how my leagues shake out.

But just because it’s the last week, let’s not forget to keep checking the Razzball Tools, too. Rudy keeps everything up to date with new information as much as he can, so it’s a valuable resource to reference right up to that final game of the year. 

Good luck this week and…Let’s get to it!

*For today, I’ve again removed the Stumpers and Bumpers from our list. Pitching schedules are so volatile right now that many of the guys in the Stumpers and Bumpers will be skipped or given a short leash in their games anyway. If you want to see the full list of those names so you can add some to your keeper league rosters before the end of the season, click here for September 7th’s Top 100 Starting Pitchers article.*

The Top 100 Starting Pitchers for 2026

MARMO RANK	Name	Team	Notes
1	Jacob Misiorowski	MLW	5 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 1.89. It feels like forever ago when I wrote this kid and Spencer Arrighetti up, saying they’re both great arms that need to iron out the control hiccups. Ok, Spence, now it’s your turn! EDIT: It was a late edit last night, but not late enough to get all of Misiorowski’s start in. Either way, I’d start this guy against the 1927 Yankees right about now. And I’d definitely start him this week at home against St. Louis.
2	Chris Sale	ATL	7 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks. He starts Wednesday vs CIN, and that should be enough time to rest him up before the first round of the playoffs. I wouldn’t bet on a complete game, but he shouldn’t be limited.
3	Tarik Skubal	LAD	5 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks. No need to sound the alarm bells, even though this was vs SF. If he goes this coming weekend, it’ll be a rematch (on the road). ***EDIT! Make sure to double-check, though! He was placed on the bereavement list yesterday!
4	Cam Schlittler	NYY	6 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks, and no decision. Unless you count the decision to award him the Cy Young.
5	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD	7 IP, 0 ER, 1 hit, 2 walks, 7 Ks, ERA at 2.51. The guy is a robot. And you know he’ll do something silly in the postseason like Jack Morris did and pitch 10+ innings in a 0-0 game. Beast. He’s supposed to get two starts this week, but I wouldn’t bet a dime that the Dodgers give him the start on the final day of the regular season instead of Game 1 of the playoffs. (Maybe just to get some work in).
6	Zack Wheeler	PHI	7 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 2.99. That’s four straight quality starts and just 3 ER in his last 26 IP. He’s “supposed to” get two starts, but I’d put him in that ‘believe it when I see it’ zone. Either way, he’s a must-start.
7	Dylan Cease	TOR	Dumper. More below.
8	Drew Rasmussen	TB	5 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 2.72. Oh look! Another 5-inning shutout! On 76 pitches! HA! What a surprise! Hashtag sarcasm. Also, this broke a 4-game quality start streak. Because Rays gonna Rays.
9	Logan Henderson	MLW	Jumper? Kind of? More below.
10	Jacob deGrom	TEX	Game 1: 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.79. Yep! Looks like one of those old-school Mets lines! Game 2: EDIT: 4.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 2 Ks, and his 10th loss. One game over .500? Yep. That’s our old Mets guy.
11	Blake Snell	LAD	Left game with groin tightness. There’s a joke here about either spotting a beauty in the third row behind home plate, or Snell sharing Robbie Ray’s tailor. You choose. But don’t choose to start him this week (or at least check for new information one minute before your lineup lock). Snell says he “should be good” to start Wednesday, FWIW.
12	Gavin Williams	CLE	Game 1: 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 7 Ks and his 8th loss. I thought the Guardians were keeping his innings in check here, but he threw 113 pitches, so…Game 2: EDIT: 7 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 9 Ks, and pure domination in his 14th win. How does he do it? Well, I’ll attach a clip here from Rob Friedman so you can see the filth that is Gavin Williams. Warning: Viewer discretion is advised.
13	Payton Tolle	BOS	Dumper?! But it’s not his fault! More below.
14	Logan Gilbert	SEA	6 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 7 Ks, and his 10th loss. He’s slated to get two starts – both at home – tomorrow vs. HOU, then on Sunday vs. LAA.
15	Gerrit Cole	NYY	6.0 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 6 K, ERA at 3.63. I doubt we see another 6-innings from him this week.
16	Tyler Glasnow	LAD	6.0 IP, 3 hits, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K, 5th win, ERA at 3.46. Right on time for the playoffs…or for a 2-inning, 6-strikeout game this week before he leaves with back tightness. He goes at SF, so it’s worth the gamble either way.
17	Carlos Rodon	NYY	Jumper. More information (to attach to the lede today), and more below.
18	Sonny Gray	BOS	6 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 6 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.82. Bro, how are we supposed to get you to 20 wins when there’s only one start left? (vs CLE at Fenway).
19	Cade Cavalli	WSH	5.0 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, 6 K. He’s got 200 strikeouts in 169.1 innings pitched, and now he has a fatter bank account to show for it. (He signed a 4-year, $47 million extension last Friday).
20	Parker Messick	CLE	6 IP, 3 ER, 7 hits, zero walks, 8 Ks, ERA at 2.57. I don’t know who wins the Most Valuable Fantasy pitcher award if we run the computer software, but this guy should at least finish in the Top 3.
21	Hunter Brown	HOU	Jumper. (Even if he got rocked yesterday vs ATL). More below.
22	Bryan Woo	SEA	5.1 IP, 10 hits, 3 ER, BB, 4 K. “Woo is me!” That’s me complaining after the end of the week, seeing my AL Cy Young choice limp to a merely “decent” finish.
23	Jesus Luzardo	PHI	Dumper. Shut it down. More below.
24	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	6 1/3 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 2.93. Me, in 2075, to my great-grandchildren who somehow turned out to be Phillies fans: “…and that was the magical month of May for Christopher Sanchez before he faceplanted and was dragged through the mud to the end of the 2026 season.” Ok, maybe it wasn’t that bad, but he certainly didn’t challenge for the top spot anytime after June 1st.
25	Paul Skenes	PIT	6.0 IP, 6 hits, 5 ER, BB, 7 K, ERA at 3.91. It’s getting pretty tough to justify the bank-breaking $41 I bid on you during draft season. When I lose the ‘ship because of my ratio dip, I’m blaming you!
26	Reid Detmers	ANA	5 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 5 Ks, and no decision. This was the first time he allowed more than 3 ER in 10 starts…and he has just 3 wins to show for it (over that span).
27	Max Fried	NYY	7 IP, 1 ER, 6 hits, zero walks, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.63. Grey pointed out that this was the most pitches Fried has thrown in a month (88) and the deepest he’s gone in a game since April, and it reminded me to point out there’s a hitch in that “rest your guys if you clinched a playoff spot” mantra. Guys like Fried, and maybe a guy like Rodon, have missed so much time to injury that it actually makes more sense to push them a bit to get their arms used to the stress of a high pitch count before October. No one is expecting to see a pitcher piggyback plan in Game One of the ALCS.
28	Nolan McLean	NYM	6 IP, 1 ER, 10 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.18. 10 baserunners and just one earned run? Talk about sprinting through a minefield.
29	Nick Martinez	TB	5 IP, 2 ER, 5 hits, zero walks, 3 Ks, ERA at 2.94. Oh, and this was his FIFTEENTH WIN!
30	Jared Jones	PIT	Jumper. More below.
31	Trevor Rogers	BAL	8 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 10 Ks. WOW! That’s a guaranteed win, hey?! (It was not). He took his 11th loss of the year in a 1-0 squeaker vs. MLW.
32	Michael King	SD	6 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks, and his 4th straight win! Ok, now that that’s out of the way, I wouldn’t start him this week (at LAD).
33	Kevin Gausman	CHC	5 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 5 hits, zero walks, 6 Ks, ERA at 4.55. I just pray he doesn’t suck if he comes back to Toronto in December.
34	Eduardo Rodriguez	ARI	Dumper. More below.
35	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	1 IP and his 1st save. Yep, another solid outing from a great starting pitcher…WAIT, WHAT?! He started yesterday, and it looked like the first appearance last week was because Fairbanks is hurt and the Marlins needed to lock in a win. Not great for fantasy managers, but a great move for the real team.( And this was before I saw he’s at 206 IP!) Game 2: EDIT: 6 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks, and his 11th loss. Maybe he was still on “closer time”.
36	Ranger Suarez	BOS	5.2 IP, 3 hits, ER, 5 BB, 5 K, 8th win. A win’s a win, but 5 walks aren’t helping us out if we’re in a tight race for those WHIP category points.
37	Tyler Mahle	ATL	I copied a bit from Dan Pants’ Saturday afternoon piece here, where he had Mahle as his lede: “…has been a revelation for the Bravos since arriving, with seven quality starts in eight outings, he’s posted a 1.28 ERA, and 0.89 WHIP, along with a 44/7 K/BB.” He’s at home against CIN this week.
38	Shota Imanaga	CHC	Jumper. More below.
39	Griffin Jax	TB	Game 1: 5 IP, 0 ER, 2 hits, zero walks, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.80. Well, so much for assuming they’d throw this guy for two innings because the Rays clinched and they want to save his arm for the playoffs. If you want this kind of start, you’re still gambling in the last week of games, but they already proved it could work. Game 2: EDIT: 5 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks, and his 8th win. Yep. He’s more than OK. And he’s picking up wins while throwing fewer than 75 pitches (in each of his last 4 starts).
40	Joe Ryan	MIN	5 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks, and no decision. Well, at least he didn’t lose his 6th straight game! (Oof).
41	Foster Griffin	CLE	4 IP, 2 ER, ERA at 3.67. If your (real, not fantasy) team already clinched a playoff spot, the smart move is to throw your guy for fewer than 5 innings to make sure he gets some work but doesn’t push it to the point where he could injure himself. That’s this guy here.
42	Michael Wacha	KC	6 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks, and his 9th loss. Ouch. Game 2: EDIT: 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 5 Ks. The marshmallow tosser was a bit too sticky with his control.
43	Sean Burke	CWS	OF COURSE! I said last week that they should have shut him down already, so what does he do? He picks up TWO wins and throws a total of 11 innings, allowing just one earned run. Shrugs. I’d start him at home vs. COL this week.
44	Jackson Jobe	DET	6 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 9 Ks. I needed someone to slot into the Top 50 because I had a gap in our 40s. Here he is! He should get a long leash this week at home vs. PIT.
45	Walbert Urena	LAA	7 IP, 0 ER, 4 hits, zero walks, 9 Ks, ERA at 2.74. I see this line, and it reminds me of the old lady from Happy Gilmore when the air conditioner fell on her. But instead of saying “Get this thing off me, Mistah!”, Walbert is miming “Get me out of here, Mister!” to his agent. He’s at Bing Bong (ATH) this week, so be careful.
46	George Kirby	SEA	Dumper. More below. Sad-faced emoji.
47	Kyle Harrison	MLW	Dumper. More below.
48	Ian Seymour	TB	5.0 IP, 7 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 7th L. I have no idea here. He’s supposed to go at NYY this week, and I think I’d be sitting him because it feels like a trap for earned runs or 3-innings pitched. Or both.
49	Jake Bennett	BOS	4 2/3 IP, 3 ER, ERA at 3.78. The good news is he’s slated to make two starts this week. The better news is I can see the Sox giving him the ball on both days. But I don’t know if we’ll get much more than 8 (total) innings from him, so take that for what it’s worth.
50	Freddy Peralta	TB	5.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks. It took him four starts in Tampa to iron things out, then he went on to win 4 straight starts. This one was a no-decision to break the streak. I don’t know if I’m starting him at NYY this week, either.
51	Taj Bradley	MIN	7 IP, 3 ER, 7 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.81. For this guy to post a stellar start like this one against an equally talented kid starter (Walbert Urena), it points to one point: let the kids throw. Sure, Minnesota was still pushing for a playoff spot, but if this guy finished with 178 innings instead of 171, would it really matter? Now that the Twins are pretty much finished, Taj is a streamer this week at SF. Hey, at least we know he won’t have to face Rafael Devers.
52	Mackenzie Gore	TEX	4 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 0 Ks and a not-so-encouraging “He should be back for Tuesday’s start after his back/shoulder spasms subside”. He’s up just a bit today because he’s slated to throw twice, but don’t be surprised if Texas skips the first start to give him time to rest up some more.
53	Troy Melton	DET	Game 1: 2.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 3 Ks, and no decision. I wouldn’t have started him last week or next week. Game 2: EDIT: 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 4 Ks. Just let him ice that arm for the final week, PLEASE!
54	Noah Cameron	KC	6 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks. If that ER total was just one number lower, I’d be fine slotting him in our Top 50. But…it wasn’t. And he hasn’t won a game since August 27th.
55	Jose Soriano	TOR	5 IP, 5 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 8 Ks. Wow. All that chatter about the Jays sneaking in and making some noise in the playoffs was nice while it lasted, eh?
56	Nick Pivetta	SD	5 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks, and his 3rd win. I’d say this is a prime streaming candidate…if his final start wasn’t at Dodger Stadium.
57	Bubba Chandler	PIT	4 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks, and no decision to snap a modest personal two-game win streak. He’s averaged 90 pitches in his last half dozen starts, so I’d run him out at DET this week.
58	Kade Anderson	SEA	Game 1: 4.1 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 5 Ks. Game 2: EDIT: 7 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 7 Ks. Wow. So much for thinking the kid was going to get a short start. I’d be all over him for this week’s start at home vs. LAA.
59	Robbie Ray	SD	6 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks. When that walk total is down, good things happen. This was his 13th win. He’s supposed to get two starts this week, too.
60	Peter Lambert	HOU	5.1 IP, 6 hits, 2 ER, BB, 6 K, 10th L. If there’s a short list of “Hmm…maybe this needs some inspection under the hood” this offseason, he needs to be on it.
61	Nick Lodolo	CIN	7 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 1 K. Annnnnnd, he hasn’t won a game in 9 starts. He’s coming to Toronto on Friday, but it might be too late to care.
62	Joey Cantillo	CLE	6.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, BB, 5 K. Real question here: If a guy is going to throw 6-innings of shutout ball, why do you need to have an opener in front of him?
63	Ryan Johnson	LAA	Jumper. More below.
64	Aaron Nola	PHI	Jumper! More below. (He’s too high here, but he’s worth starting this week).
65	Eury Perez	MIA	4.2 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 4 Ks. Yep. That breakout is coming. Anytime now. (He gets ATL at home this week).
66	Matthew Boyd	CHC	5 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks, and his 9th win. I wouldn’t start him at BOS this week, but he could surprise us again.
67	Christian Scott	NYM	4.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 BB,. 7 Ks and no decision. I wouldn’t put it past the Mets to let this kid throw 120 pitches at WSH this week just because, you know, the Mets pitching coaches aren’t…uh…too intellectually gifted.
68	Clay Holmes	CHC	5.1 IP, 3 hits, 6 ER, 5 BB, 4 K, 8th L. He got pumped at CIN, but he hasn’t even thrown 100 innings yet. It’s your call, but if I didn’t have better options, I’d roll him out this week vs MIA (at Wrigley).
69	Emmet Sheehan	LAD	Recalled yesterday and should fill in for either Skubal or Snell this week. They play San Diego and San Francisco the rest of the way, so I’d start him this week no matter what.
70	Davis Martin	CWS	Jumper. More below.
71	Connor Prielipp	MIN	7.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 6th win. YES! This stream worked out. Let’s do it again vs TEX this week!
72	Zebby Matthews	MIN	6 IP, 0 OR, 2 H, 2 BB, 8 Ks. Which Zebby are we getting this week? The shutout guy or the punched-in-the-face guy? He’s at SF, so I’m starting him everywhere.
73	Corbin Burnes	ARI	Game 1: 4.2 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 4 Ks. Uh…at least he didn’t walk anyone? Game 2: EDIT: 2.2 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 3 HR allowed, 2 BB, 2 Ks. I had him about 10 spots higher before he got pumped yesterday and dropped him in the late edit.
74	Dustin May	MLW	2.1 IP, 6 hits, 3 ER, BB, 4 K. Nope! I know it’s tempting because he’s got STL at home this week, but NOPE!
75	Framber Valdez	DET	5 IP, 3 ER, 7 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 4.06. Fun fact: Framber is Latin for “never draft this stuff again no matter how much the draft cost slides”. Don’t look it up.
76	Landen Roupp	SF	4.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 4 Ks. We’re getting down to the section where limited damage is a plus. It’s not a ringing endorsement by any means, but he’s been better than a lot of the other sludge around here. And he’s supposed to go twice this week.
77	Andrew Painter	PHI	5.1 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks. If I had other options, I’d bench him. But at least he’s at home this week (vs. TB).
78	Brandon Young	BAL	Game 1: 5 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 5 BB, 6 Ks. The line looks pretty great until you notice the walks. Game 2: EDIT: As I said with Misiorowski, this one was too late to squeeze in. He did strikeout out the side in the first inning, though!
79	Andre Pallante	STL	5 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 3.70. I suppose we should’ve known it would happen at some point, but that it happened against SF in St. Louis still feels like a sick joke. He’s supposed to get two starts this week, and I could see it.
80	Tanner Bibee	CLE	4.2 IP, 6 ER, 12 H, 0 BB, 2 Ks. What a disaster.
81	Casey Mize	SD	3 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 5 BB, 2 Ks. Uh…not exactly the “555” we were looking for when you moved to California. The Hollywood phone number isn’t fooling anyone.
82	Grant Holmes	ATL	6 IP, 2 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 4 Ks, and his 10th win. He’s at MIA this week, and I’d start him.
83	Will Warren	NYY	5.2 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks, and no decision. Game 2: EDIT: 4.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 4 Ks. He’s probably too high here, but he should be ok this week vs. BAL.
84	Andrew Abbott	CIN	4 2/3 IP, 1 ER, ERA at 4.70. Oh, that’s not bad. *sees 5 walks with the 5 strikeouts*. Oh. That’s not good.
85	Keider Montero	DET	4 IP, 2 ER, ERA at 3.58. I can’t see him going much past this against WSH this week. I’d sit him.
86	Shane Drohan	MLW	1.2 Ip, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks. He’s moving to the bullpen to get ready for the playoffs. Will he still give us some good numbers? Sure. But it won’t come with a lot of innings this week.
87	Shane Baz	BAL	4 IP, 3 ER, ERA at 4.11. I just had an idea. When the calendar flips to September, can MLB change the requirements for a quality start to 4 innings so it feels like these SPs are doing something productive for our fantasy rosters? With Baz, he gets the Jays today and is supposed to get two starts this week. I wouldn’t even trust him in one.
88	Michael Soroka	ARI	5 IP, 1 ER, 3 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.45. I was ready to say this is a perfect example of a guy coming back from injury who wants to prove he’s good to go and will likely push for a complete game if he gets the ball. Well, his next is at COL, so there goes that bright idea.
89	Martin Perez	ATL	Game 1: 6 IP, 2 ER, 9 baserunners, 2 Ks, ERA at 3.07. It makes me gag a bit to say this, but guys like Perez are the ones we need to target this week. Boring veteran arms that have pitched well this year and who don’t have as much risk of being ranked after 3-4 innings. He’s on the road at MIA, so it’s not automatic. Game 2: EDIT: 4.1 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 2 Ks. That’s pretty much the story of his year.
90	Brandon Pfaadt	ARI	4.1 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks. Not a bad line at NYY. He’s at San Diego this week, and I’d start him if I had to do it.
91	Hayden Wesneski	HOU	5.1 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 3 Ks, and no decision. He’s at ATH this week, so I’d skip Bing Bong Stadium if you have other alternatives.
92	Bryce Miller	SEA	5.1 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks. Not bad, but I bet you can’t guess how long it’s been since his last win. If you guessed 12 starts, you cheated. Because there’s no way you had him on your active roster for that whole time.
93	Michael McGreevy	STL	4 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 1 K. He’s at MLW on Friday, and they’ve already locked down the division. Maybe he gets lucky, and the Brewers run out a B-squad lineup. If not, sit him in daily leagues.
94	Janson Junk	MIA	3 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks. It’s a two-start week for Junk. (at CHC, vs. ATL).
95	Erick Fedde	CWS	WHOA! Fedde-wap is BACK! Full disclosure, I had to remove two extra arms due to injury, so I went to the last 30-day Player Rater and picked the top two guys who weren’t on the list to add here. Nola was the highest, then Fedde was the SP29. I’d give him a shot at KC this week in deeper leagues.
96	Drew Anderson	DET	I almost went with the next highest-ranked SP on the last 30-day Player Rater for this one, but our next few names were pretty rough. Apologies to Chad Patrick, Aaron Civale, and DL Hall, but it was a better option to run with our highest-ranked Streamonator guy here. Welcome to the list, Drew Anderson! (Two starts and a $17.7 predicted value on SON makes him the 16th best SP on that list).
97	Patrick Sandoval	BOS	9.2 innings last week (unless the Red Sox let him go even longer yesterday), with 9 ER, 8 H, and 4 BBs isn’t the best way to tune up for the playoffs. As I said, it’s a race to the bottom this week.
98	Kyle Leahy	STL	3 IP, 6 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 1 K. He’s winless in his last 5 GS.
99	Jacob Lopez	ATH	2.2 IP, 10 ER, 10 H, 0 BB, 1 K. I swear to you that I read this line and yelled out loud, “OH MY GOD!” It’s a race to SP100 for a lot of these guys, kids.
100	Chase Burns	CIN	3.0 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. I know some of us have no choice but to start him, but if you’re in a redraft league and needed innings, you likely dropped him already. LATE EDIT: Aaaannnnddd…he’s on the 15-day IL. He’s done.

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

Before we get to the Jumpers today, I want to tell y’all that I had a tough time deciding on the format for today. I almost wiped out the notes section and replaced it with a column of projected starts – how many and where – just for this last week. In the end, I decided against it because we already have Andy_p’s excellent Two-Start Pitcher article each week as a solid reference point.

EDIT: For the record, I forgot that his final write-up was last week. I’ll try to include two-start plans here, but be forewarned that some will be skipped next Sunday.

I’ll try to mention that as much as I can in the notes above, but let me know if that’s something you’d like to see next year for our final couple of weeks. It felt like a better idea than listing off the bottom 20 names who might not get much time now, anyway.

Anywho! Here be the Jumpers…

Hunter Brown – Game 1: 5 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 10 Ks, ERA at 3.43. And one quick anecdote to share: My dad and I are way out of it in the 10-team AL-only league, so we traded a big package to snag a $1 Zach Gelof and a $6 Ryan Weathers as keeper possibilities for next year. One of the guys we dealt in that deal was a $22 Hunter Brown.

We could still win the wins and strikeouts categories (extra side cash if we do), but the guy we’re chasing in Ks is the guy we traded Brown to at the deadline.

TL/DR: Hunter Brown is good and you should always over-analyze your standings before making moves at the deadline.

Game 2: EDIT: 5 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 10 Ks! Again! See? He’s good!

Carlos Rodon –  6 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 2.95. I don’t want to just copy and paste Grey here all afternoon, but after I wrote up my lede, I went back through some of Grey’s posts from last week and found this Rodon blurb that sums up what I said perfectly. 

“Imma warn against expecting much from starters heading to the playoffs, but Rodon is a special case because he needs the innings since he’s missed so much of the year.”

Nothing is a sure thing, but these guys coming back from injury with juice left in their arms should be more of a sure bet to throw innings this week regardless of the team’s playoff race status.

Logan Henderson – 5 IP, 3 ER, 7 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 2.51. He’ll push for a Top 5 spot as early as May 2027 (if not before).

Jared Jones – 5 IP, 3 ER, 8 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 4.17. Every time I see a decent-but-not-great start from him down the stretch, I hear Montgomery Burns in my head reminding me that it should suppress his 2027 draft cost. “Excellent”. 

Seriously, though. This guy has “preseason sleeper post” written all over him. 

His September line: 3 GS, 18 IP, 3 ER, 12 H, 4 BB, 26 Ks. 

For an extremely cherry-picked comparison, this is Logan Henderson’s September line: 3 GS, 17 IP, 5 ER, 11 H, 2 BB, 21 Ks.

Shota Imanaga – 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 hits, zero walks, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.80. That’s three straight quality starts and just 4 ER in his last 18 IP, with 16 Ks.

Great starts are great (follow me for more cutting-edge analysis). But CONSISTENTLY good starts are better. 

Would I draft this guy again? Sure. But probably not anywhere near his ADP next spring. 

There’s a lot to be said here, but the bottom line is we want veteran arms we can count on, not ones that bounce between solid and sloppy every other week. If his stock drops far enough, I’m ok with taking a risk, but not at the price where I can get more reliability.

Ryan Johnson – 6 IP, 1 ER, 6 hits, zero walks, 7 Ks, ERA at 4.88. *puts on tinfoil hat* “So Ryan Johnson, the pitcher, started throwing great starts at the same time all of the Star Wars nerds got loud about rewriting Rian Johnson’s Star Wars movie and wiping the original from existence. This is not some random coincidence!”

First, please don’t get angry. I can call them Star Wars nerds without the risk of a nasty blowback because I am one and they are me.

Second, folks learned the hard way what we nerds have known for a long time – when Mark Hamill is mad about the writing, it’s for a good reason. They should’ve listened to him when he said Luke Skywalker would never have acted the way he did in that movie, and they should have listened to him and George Lucas about what fit the character.

Oh, and I almost forgot about the third. Ryan Johnson, the pitcher, has been excellent. In hindsight, it feels like that probably should’ve been the first point here. 

Game 2: (Hopefully this doesn’t backfire): EDIT: 4.2 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 6 Ks, and his 9th loss. Okay, okay. Not a total waste.

Start him (at SEA).

Davis Martin – Game 1: 5 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, zero Ks, ERA at 3.96. It felt good to see this line after I recommended him last week. It makes sense that teams pushing for a playoff berth would push their best arms a bit. It’s not a complete-game shutout, but a youngster-quality start plays (even if the strikeout total is a bagel). As a side note, what is the difference between a long/bulk reliever and a guy following an opener? CWS announced that he’d be used as a “bulk reliever” last Tuesday, then he followed a starter who got just two outs in the first inning. Semantics, I guess.

Game 2:  4.1 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks on 70 pitches. That’s about as good as we could have expected.

Aaron Nola – 7 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 4.49. He wasn’t supposed to be on the list, but he’s been pretty darn good for about two months now. He hasn’t been flashy, but he hasn’t been terrible (unless you look at the walks).

Maybe, after being ridiculed by certain fantasy baseball writers (psst, that means me), he’s just starting to hit his stride and will be lights out in the playoffs.

And maybe I’ll spike a $50 million lottery win too.

Maybe.

But he’s the SP13 on the last 30-day Player Rater, so that has to be worth something, right?

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

Dylan Cease – 2.2 IP, 3 hits, ER, 6 BB, 3 K. Talk about being anticlimactic. The Jays needed him to take control and push them closer to a wild card lock-in, and instead he gave them a wild yard walk-in. Ugh. Even the pun was bad. 

EDIT: I was heading out with the eldest Marmolet on a snack run yesterday afternoon when I saw this not-so-exciting tidbit of news, too. 

When facing adversity, we can always count on one backup announcement that never fails: “Hey, Schlitt happens.” 

Payton Tolle – NO! Please don’t tell him he’s on this side of the list. After leading our Jumpers for what seems like forever, how can this gem of a human end up in the Dumpers section?!

Well, I sure don’t speak for the trees, or the Red Sox, but there have been whispers that Tolle may have thrown his last regular-season pitch for 2026. The original plan was to have Tolle throw this past weekend, but his start was skipped, and the Sawx are lining him up to start the first game of the playoffs. 

If that’s the case, he’s a Dumper for this week only, but sign me up EVERYWHERE for 2027!

And sign me up twice if he pitches a playoff game in this new uniform.

These new City Connect Sox jerseys are fire!

Jesus Luzardo – IL with shoulder ouchies. Uh oh. Please, for the love of god (pun relatively intended), get the friggin X-ray this week and get whatever surgery you might need that same day. If there’s anything wrong, don’t wait until your birthday on December 25th to “maybe” start rehab instead of having a professional carve it open and rearrange the ouchies. 

George Kirby – 4 1/3 IP, 2 ER, ERA at 4.24. I’ll admit I was far too optimistic about this guy this year, along with being stubborn about accepting that he wasn’t an ace. 

Honestly, between him and Bryan Woo, I don’t know which ‘absence of ascension to ace status’ was worse. 

At least with George, I guess we can call it misplaced Kirby enthusiasm. *winks*

Kyle Harrison – 1 2/3 IP, 4 ER, ERA at 4.25. 

Is it a good idea to start him this week at PHI? No. Nope. Not a chance.

But should we be excited to draft him when the calendar flips to 2027? Yes. Yeppers. That’s an affirmative.

Eduardo Rodriguez – 5.1 IP, 5 hits, 7 ER, 4 BB, 5 K. Hey, cut the guy some slack. He’s 33 years old. That translates to 68 years old in baseball years.

He’s had a great season, but I’m going nowhere near his start this week (at COL).

Logan Webb – 5 IP, 6 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks, and a “straight to the IL with you” after last week’s start. There was talk of shutting him down anyway, so this makes it official. He’s out today.

Names to watch/consider this week in deep leagues

Cristian Javier, Max Scherzer, Jonah Tong, Zac Thornton, Trey Yesavage, Yusei Kikuchi, Anthony Kay, JR Ritchie.

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

Griffin Jax – I missed adding him last week, then thought it wouldn’t be all that bad because I assumed he’d throw limited innings. He was good. (More above).

Michael Soroka

Aaron Nola – (no, really).

Erick Fedde

Drew Anderson

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

Logan Webb

Cal Quantrill – 15-day IL. Bye!

Kyle Bradish – 15-day IL. Sports hernia. Bye!

Gage Jump – Shut it down! Oh, wait, they did. 15-day IL (left shoulder impingement).

Yusei Kikuchi – The walks are out of control. *rimshot*

 

Best of luck to everyone, and I’ll be back for one final week of recapping the Top 100 Starting Pitchers next week before I fully switch over to the writing that “ice-game” analysis for a few months!

 

Follow me @marmosdad on Twitter/X and Bluesky @marmosdad.bsky.social