Points Leagues: July SPaRP Ranks

We are back! The All-Star Break is over, the airlines finally managed to get me back home, the World Cup is on its way to Spain, and we can now turn our attention fully back to the greatest sport in the world.

Specifically this week, we shift our focus from the overall rankings from last time to that more specialized, niche subset of players: The SPaRP. Let’s get to it.

The Good

Braxton Ashcraft, PIT

Justin Wrobleski, LAD

Foster Griffin, WSH

• We start with three All Stars. I can’t say I saw any of them earning that designation prior to the season starting, much less all three. And if you try to tell me you did, I won’t believe you. Early on, Wrobleski and Griffin were getting good results in ways that weren’t entirely convincing. Over the past month or so, however, they’ve been bumping up those strikeout numbers. MarmosDad recently expressed his concerns about Griffin’s workload going forward, and Wrobleski is on the Dodgers, so those are things to keep an eye on. But if you’ve had any of these three on your roster this season, you’ve been happy.

The Good(ish)

Peyton Tolle, BOS

Troy Melton, DET

• Melton has been fantastic so far this season. In his nine starts, eight of them have come with 0 or 1 ER. And in his last four outings, he’s provided more than a strikeout per inning. Even allowing for a little regression on the earned runs front (because he’s good but not “1.80 ERA for the entire season good”) you could easily make the case that he deserves to be considered Good, straight-up. But then I look and see he threw 100 innings in 2024 and 75 in 2025, and remember that he opened the season on the 60-day IL with an elbow issue. None of those things make me expect him to break down or hit a wall in terms of performance, but it does make me just a teensy bit wary. So that’s why he’s here, even as I wish I’d been more aggressive in adding him when that was still possible.

Reid Detmers, LAA

• Last month I dropped my skepticism about Detmers and moved up into the top tier. How did he repay my show of trust? Three of his six starts since then have come with 5 ER. In two of the others, he gave up 2 ER. His record was 1-1 with 4 NDs. So, basically, he’s Reid Detmers. He can be very, very good. But he can also be very, very bad. And you have no idea which it’s going to be from one start to the next. In a roto league, you can ride the variability with some confidence it’ll balance out in the end. But on a week-to-week basis, it is an enormous headache.

Peter Lambert, HOU

Griffin Jax, TB

• If you play in a league that counts QS, Jax isn’t going to get you any. And if you only get .5 for a K, that lack of length is also a bit of a bummer. But, apart from his last start, he’s been a solid SPaRP option putting up decent strikeout totals on a team that puts him in line for a win more often than not.

Ian Seymour, TB

• His first few starts had me incredibly excited about what he might be able to do. Then, just before the break, he laid an egg with a 3 IP, 5 ER outing. Then, coming out of the break, it was another short, pretty ugly outing. I still want to believe, but he needs to give me a reason to next time out.

Nick Martinez, TB

• His ERA is 2.65, while his xERA sits at 4.71. His Whiff% and K% both sit in the 5th percentile. He has completed 6 innings once in his last five starts. So he doesn’t get you points for Ks, he’s not likely to give you points for a QS if you’re in a league that rewards those, and the regression fairies are looking suspiciously like Tony Soprano’s crew when it comes to his runs allowed. People better than me at analyzing and breaking down pitchers have him ranked higher than this. I just don’t trust it to continue. The good news, though, is that if and when the other shoe drops, the weekly nature of points leagues minimizes the extent of damage done to your squad. So go ahead and keep running him out there until then.

The Not So Good

Shane Drohan, MIL

• I could very well be too low on the not-as-young-as-I-thought Brewer lefty. It does feel a little wrong to label him with the Not-So Good label. Because he has, in fact, looked good! He’s put up a QS in each of his last three starts, and would seemingly have a rotation spot secured due to Brandon Woodruff succumbing to shoulder surgery. That said, Kyle Harrison sounds like he should be back sooner than later, and they did go trade for Lance McCullers Jr. I don’t know why they did that, but they did it. He’s currently working out of the bullpen, but the Brewers don’t always do what you expect them to do with their pitchers.

Reynaldo Lopez, ATL

• I don’t think we’re going to see a return of 2024 ReyLo, or he’d be higher than this. But I’m mildly intrigued and want to see how the next couple starts go.

Joey Cantillo, CLE

Anthony Kay, CHW

Kyle Leahy, STL

Eric Lauer, LAD

• I know, he’s actually pitched pretty well for the Dodgers since getting there. However, he strikes out hardly anyone, and he’s never going to have a two-start week because that’s just how life is with the Dodgers. Because of that, I’d have a hard time choosing to use him most weeks over a decent closer. And thus, he goes here.

The Bad

Brandon Pfaadt, ARI

• Four straight wins, all with 2 ER or fewer. That’s very good! I’m sorry, but I’m just not buying it. Not yet. I’m still trusting the career-long and even full-season track record more than I am one decent month.

Javier Assad, CHC

Sean Manaea, NYM

• He’d been teasing something before the last version of this column. But that seems to be all that it was, a tease. Don’t do this to your lineup.

Tyler Phillips, MIA

Mike Paredes, MIN