Happy Monday, Razzball faithful!

And Happy Easter Monday! 

And…well…

I hope that the Easter bunny was good to everyone. I also hope anyone celebrating that other holiday yesterday got their fair share of green eggs with their Easter ham.

As a quick heads up, I’ve got the Top 100 Starting Pitchers for you today, AND I added a couple of new sections in the write-ups beneath the list. 

A couple of you said it would help to have a list of injured players or minor leaguers so we are aware of who might bump others out of the Top 100. Well, ask and you shall receive. I’ll update these sections every few weeks if you find it helpful.

Before we get too far into it, forgive me for the pun in the title. While my overflowing optimism expects a full season of Hunter Greene in 2025, the realist part of my multi-angled/addled brain mush says I’m hopeful that he’ll be good and healthy for twenty or more starts. 

Will he be excellent in every start? It sure looks like it! 

But how many starts will that be? 30? 35? Will he be great for twenty starts, then fall victim to the wonky elbow issues that he dealt with in the second half of last year?

No one can say for sure, but after I wrote this up in advance of his start Friday night at Camden Yards (or whatever they’re calling Baltimore’s park these days), the Hunter became the hunted…and gave up 5 ER on 6 H, 3 BB, and 3 HR allowed. His strikeout total was even stinkier – 4, which shows we cannot have nice things, even on Willie Nelson’s birthday weekend.

Because, of course, that’s what happened after a week when he was always on my mind. 

I guess he was on Dan O’Dowd’s mind, too.

That’s some pretty hefty praise. But can Hunter Greene crack the Top 10 Starting Pitchers this week? Top 15? And is Willie Nelson’s birthday actually this weekend?

There are a lot of questions to answer here, but, as always, before we get into it, don’t forget to lock in your Razzball Fantasy Baseball Subscription. This should be your go-to reference for the entire season. It will save you a lot of time researching and often includes solutions to those “Oh, I never thought about that” questions that arise throughout the year. The Streamonator is also a helpful resource when making lineup decisions. Rudy’s tools are well worth the price of admission. If you’re serious about improving throughout the season, check the link, yo.

The Top 100 Starting Pitchers for 2025

SP RANK	Name	Team	UP / DOWN	Notes
1	Paul Skenes	PIT		This week was the closest I’ve come to rearranging our Top 5. Skenes served up a river bomb to Kyle Manzardo at PNC Saturday night, but I cut him some slack because his girlfriend just announced she’s done with her athletic career…at age 22.
2	Tarik Skubal	DET		I was going to sneak Wheeler in front of our top two today, but I couldn’t move Skubal after back-to-back shutouts. Two wins, 0 ER, and 15 Ks in 13 IP is tough to criticize.
3	Zack Wheeler	PHI		Wheels could be part of a relabelling of the 1A/B/C group. He leads the triumvirate here in strikeouts (41), and tallied 13 in his start against the Marlins.
4	Garrett Crochet	BOS		A 6-inning, 4-hit shutout of the White Sox on Saturday night? With 7 Ks? Sounds like an easy win…
5	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD		All rise for the #1 ranked SP on the Player Rater! (And it’s kind of not even close.)
6	Cole Ragans	KC		Put the pitchforks away! Yes, Ragans gave up 5 ER at DET and needed 96 pitches just to finish 4 innings. But he still struck out 8. Let’s chalk this up to a hiccup and keep an eye on his next one (vs COL).
7	Logan Gilbert	SEA		He hasn’t even done anything wrong, other than not being able to get through 6 innings in his last 4 starts. He slides a bit today, but that’s more about the other guys passing him than anything else.
8	Michael King	SD		He doesn’t feel as sexy as the next few names, but he’s 3-0 with impressive numbers across the board.
9	Spencer Strider	ATL		He’s baaaaaack!
10	Hunter Greene	CIN		More above!
11	Shota Imanaga	CHC		A nice bounce-back last week after a bit of a hiccup against TEX the week before.
12	Max Fried	NYY		More below.
13	Sonny Gray	STL		I wanted to boost one or two more just because others that dumped down opened up some space. Enter our 9th-ranked SP from the Player Rater. 3-0 with 23 Ks in 23 IP. Mr. Underrated.
14	Dylan Cease	SD		A bit of a drop here, but that 9 ER outing a couple of weeks ago at ATH still stings the ratios.
15	Tyler Glasnow	LAD		It’s a bit of a slide for Glasnow, who can be downright dominating when he’s on. So far, in three starts, the results haven’t been eye-popping.
16	Spencer Schwellenbach	ATL		I was all set to move Schwelly up this week, but he laid a rotten Easter egg in Toronto on Tuesday. We’ll call it a blip on the radar like we did with Ragans and watch his next start vs STL.
17	George Kirby	SEA		It’s become more about being stubborn than being right here. Am I more optimistic than the person who says an empty glass is full…of air? Perhaps. He’s eligible to return on May 2nd, and I am crossing my fingers for his health report.
18	Jacob deGrom	TEX		I mentioned it in the Saturday morning News & Notes, but it bears repeating. deGrom matched Yamamoto pitch for pitch and allowed just one earned run to home run superstar threat Tommy Edman. A step in the right direction.
19	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI		I had him ranked low a few weeks ago, moved him up a couple of times, then he went out and wiped out a dozen Giants last Wednesday night. And that, my internet friends, is how you break into the Top 20.
20	Hunter Brown	HOU		8th spot on the SP Player Rater!
21	Framber Valdez	HOU		Winless in his last three starts and 12 ER in his last 15 IP.
22	Chris Sale	ATL		I was going to leave Sale at the 15-spot, but then I saw his ratios. And the 0-2 record. Then I saw that he hasn’t gotten further than 5 complete innings in any of his starts this year. The strikeouts are still there, but…meh.
23	Freddy Peralta	MLW		All of the movement around him and Freddy somehow stays at the 23 spot. He’s just outside the Top 10 on the Player Rater.
24	Logan Webb	SF		More below.
25	Bryan Woo	SEA		I wrote up Woo in that Saturday roundup. He and Bowden Francis had a nice little pitching duel of their own on Friday night. Woo did everything but record the win.
26	Kodai Senga	NYM		I leaned on the Player Rater a bit this week to re-shuffle the list a bit. Senga has won three games in a row, hasn’t allowed an earned run in that span, and has ratios below 1.0. That’s pretty darned good.
27	Nick Pivetta	SD		It’s not as big a jump as Rasmussen, but Pivetta has more strikeouts than innings pitched (24:23), and is the 3rd-ranked SP on the Player Rater.
28	Corbin Burnes	ARI		The Ks are there still, but the ratios aren’t great, and he’s still looking for his first win of the year.
29	Pablo Lopez	MIN		Rehabbing this past weekend. He’s due back on Thursday.
30	Bailey Ober	MIN		This pocket from SP27-31 is full of guys who should be better than they have been.
31	Joe Ryan	MIN		Of course, I didn’t move him much because I wrote this up before his game started yesterday afternoon. I’ll edit later on to see if it was the right move. EDIT: He stunk.
32	Bryce Miller	SEA		The potential is so high. Back-to-back strong starts mean he doesn’t drop too much, but he’s not ready to be back in the Top 25 yet.
33	Zac Gallen	ARI		But wasn’t it just four weeks ago that we were saying how great of a season he should have? Gallen sewered pretty hard after I made him our lede for that 13-strikeout game. Maybe headlining the Top 100 list is like the Madden curse.
34	Jesus Luzardo	PHI		Wait. So you’re telling me that the Phillies started Jesus on Easter Sunday? That stuff writes itself. Luzardo isn’t quite the son of God, but he’s been excellent, too.
35	Kevin Gausman	TOR		25.1 IP, 7 ER, 15 H, 3 BB (!), and 20 Ks. And he leads the league in WHIP (0.71). But someone will still say he’s ranked too high.
36	Drew Rasmussen	TB		More below.
37	Dustin May	LAD		I moved Rasmussen and May up because I felt they needed to be boosted, then dropped them a few spots to move others ahead of them. Old habits, I guess. Ha!
38	Jack Flaherty	DET		Flaherty gets a modest boost (+3) because of the strikeouts and ratio help. He’s another SP who hasn’t gotten through 6 innings yet, though.
39	Blake Snell	LAD		Said last night that he feels “Way better” after being shelved with shoulder inflammation in early April. He’s due back May 7th, and it sounds like that’s a reasonable expectation for his return.
40	Luis Castillo	SEA		Average output doesn’t equal Top 25 material. Now that I’ve said it, he’s likely to go out and dismantle the Blue Jays Sunday afternoon. EDIT: Castillo had a decent day (5 IP, 10 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 Ks)
41	Robbie Ray	SFG		5 BBs last start means his ratios burped a bit. The strikeouts still look good, though, and he’s 3-0.
42	Carlos Rodon	NYY		This is another correction. I watched some of the Rodon/Rasmussen tilt and have to admit these two are nasty when they’re on their game.
43	Bowden Francis	TOR		More below.
44	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX		Averaging a strikeout per inning, threw a complete game shutout on April 1st, and has some solid ratios. I said it before. He falls into that underrated category with guys like Sonny Gray.
45	Chris Bassitt	TOR		2-0, 23.1 IP, 2 ER, 20 H, 5 BB, 31 Ks. And the ratios are pristine. He’s been great.
46	Tanner Bibee	CLE		I said it before, but he’s been Jekyll and Hyde this year. One shutout start, one ER implosion. Rinse. Repeat.
47	Shane Baz	TB		I watched him Baz-slap the Red Sox in that 16-1 debacle last week and wondered how high I needed to push him up the list. Then he got zapped by the Yankees Saturday night. He stays here for now.
48	Roki Sasaki	LAD		More below.
49	Clay Holmes	NYM		Another guy who hasn’t gotten through 6 complete in any of his starts yet, but the calling card (strikeouts) is there. He pitched yesterday and was off to a good start when I wrote this. EDIT: Yep. This was the 6-inning start. That’s a good sign, and the 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 Ks was an even better sign.
50	Taj Bradley	TB		Look. I get it. The potential is off the charts. I just don’t think he gets there this year. I said it more than once in 2024. He needs to sharpen up the command before the strikeout totals can pop.
51	Casey Mize	DET		I can’t push him up as high as he is on the Player Rater (SP17), but Mize is 3-1 on the year with a respectable K total and some solid ratios.
52	Max Meyer	MIA		Someone said it this week, and it’s tough to disagree. Meyer is a guy you pick up as a streamer, then turns into a permanent rotation piece because you have a tough time dropping him.
53	David Peterson	NYM		He’s been unlucky in the win column, but the rest of his numbers have been solid.
54	Nick Lodolo	CIN		Ironically, the only thing missing is his calling card – the strikeouts. Everything else has been great. The Player Rater thinks so, too. (SP24). He’s due back from the second most popularized paternity leave (behind Ohtani’s) today.
55	Seth Lugo	KC		Yep, this was the 6th SP on last year’s Player Rater. For the entire season.
56	Andrew Abbott	CIN	N/R	He was originally in my “Stumpers” list this week as a ‘monitor’ because of his return from injury. The 11 Ks at Baltimore and his second win in two starts changed that. He’ll move up the list quickly if he keeps this up. He’s 20th on the Player Rater.
57	Jackson Jobe	DET		The strikeouts aren’t there yet, but the rest of the line has been solid. He’s been slowly building up to 90 pitches, and should hit that this week vs SD.
58	Aaron Nola	PHI		There’s a time when we must acknowledge that a formerly ace-level pitcher just doesn’t have “it” anymore. The Phillies’ former ace has lost all four starts this year. In Nola’s defense, the Phillies didn’t give him much run support for two of them.
59	Ryan Pepiot	TB		I turned on the NYY/TB game yesterday just as I got to his name in the list. Two seconds later, he gave up a leadoff home run to Trent Grisham on the third pitch of the game. I guess the Ks are still there, but the rest…Woof. EDIT: Despite coughing up 2 HR, Pepiot didn’t throw poorly. 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 Ks.
60	Brandon Pfaadt	ARI		I expected Pfaadt’s numbers to be worse than they are, but he’s been solid. A 3-1 record with respectable ratios and good-but-not-great strikeout totals plays.
61	Zach Eflin	BAL		It’s encouraging that Eflin and his camp think he’ll be back when eligible. He threw yesterday without pain and is scheduled to come off the IL on May 2nd.
62	Kris Bubic	KC		The only criticism is the WHIP. Everything else is much more than we could have asked for, and already paying off in a big way if you drafted him late in your drafts.
63	Tyler Anderson	LAA		I pointed it out on Saturday, but it bears repeating. Logan Webb pitched an absolute gem of a game on Friday night. And was beaten by Tyler Anderson. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop with the RHP, but it didn’t last year, and it hasn’t yet in 2025. It’s past time to add him to the list. Player Rater (SP31) agrees.
64	Brady Singer	CIN		Singer deserves a boost after winning three of his first four starts and posting some solid strikeout numbers.
65	Jose Soriano	LAA		If you can still get in on it, get in. The walks aren’t entirely sorted yet, but Soriano’s quietly breaking out.
66	Matthew Boyd	CHC		Solid ratios and respectable strikeout totals. I’d sit him this week, though (The Cubs host the Dodgers).
67	Gavin Williams	CLE		It came down to Gavin Williams or Yusei Kikuchi for the 60th spot today. It’s kind of like asking whether you’d rather have a slap in the cheek or a kick in the shins.
68	Sandy Alcantara	MIA		I had Alcantara ranked this low a couple of weeks ago, pushed him up based on chatter and doubting my own expectations, then brought him back down this week. 2 wins and 13 Ks in 17.1 IP? Ok. But those ratios are terrible.
69	Hayden Wesneski	HOU		It’s the stellar WHIP and stable rotation spot that boosts him up this week.
70	Jack Leiter	TEX		He’s scheduled to make a AAA rehab start and could be back by Sunday if nothing bubbles up…literally.
71	Reese Olson	DET		He’s been OK. Are you looking for OK?
72	Andrew Heaney	PIT		He’s allowed more than one earned run in just one start. The WHIP is pretty impressive, too. SP35 on the Player Rater.
73	Yusei Kikuchi	LAA		More below.
74	Ronel Blanco	HOU		16, 12, 10, 17. No matter what order you put these in, the innings, hits, earned runs, and strikeout totals are not encouraging.
75	Jeffrey Springs	ATH		He’s 3-1, so the wins are there so far, but the walks have been ugly. That means the ERA is likely too (5.40). He was getting roughed up yesterday while I wrote this up as well.
76	Jose Berrios	TOR		I have to rank him ahead of Keller on principle alone. These two are the Jekyll and Hyde brothers, but Tanner Bibee is doing his best to prove he’s a second cousin.
77	Clarke Schmidt	NYY		Just a meh return from injury last week, but let’s give him a couple more starts, then reassess.
78	Mitch Keller	PIT		It might be too hyperbolic here, but he is frustratingly maddening.
79	Walker Buehler	BOS		The bad news is he started the season with two brutal outings. The good news is he was much more impressive in his last two.
80	Tyler Mahle	CIN	N/R	The Player Rater would scold me for having him this low (he’s ranked 5th there), but at least he’s on the list now, so I don’t expect it to yell too loudly. (Plus, it doesn’t have a mouth.)
81	Tanner Houck	BOS		I mentioned that Houck pulled off the anti-double-double last week with double digits in hits and earned runs at TB. The ERA is approaching 10, and I’m sure glad I managed to deal him in my AL-only keeper league for Bowden Francis before Opening Day.
82	Michael Wacha	KC		0-3 and a sad trombone of ratio disappointment. Wacha Wacha? More like Womp-a Womp-a.
83	Tylor Megill	NYM	N/R	I’m throwing some folks a bone with this one, as I don’t dislike Megill. I’ve just been burned more than once by him and don’t want to end up kicking through the football and ending up on my back yet again.
84	Luis Severino	ATH		The strikeouts are down, but Severino’s ratios are good, and he’s put together two straight solid starts. Saturday night was most impressive – 8 innings of 3-hit ball with just one earned run at Bing Bong Stadium.
85	Quinn Priester	MLW	N/R	I got through the whole list and had one open spot at the bottom, so I had to double back and check to see who I missed. It was Priester. Two solid starts with a few walks and a handful of strikeouts. This is more of a hunch ranking than anything else, but I think he’s as serviceable as anyone right now. (For full transparency, I almost added Logan Henderson too.)
86	Landon Roupp	SFG		More below.
87	Grant Holmes	ATL		Lord, Grant me the strength to roster a good Atlanta pitcher who stays healthy and doesn’t fall apart at the seams. SP77 on the Player Rater.
88	Griffin Canning	NYM		Two straight wins. But the real win here is Canning pitching 6 complete innings for the first time this year.
89	Taijuan Walker	PHI		“Removed as a precaution” was the official word after Taijuan reported shoulder soreness Saturday night. He’s been surprisingly good in his four starts, but we’ll see how that shoulder is in a few days before making any big move here.
90	Tomoyuki Sugano	BAL		If he’s not putting up pristine ratios, he’s not much use. The strikeout totals are going to be low.
91	Matthew Liberatore	STL	N/R	Liberatore has two QS in his last two starts with a handful of strikeouts and respectable ratios.
92	Ryan Gusto	HOU		Injuries to the Astros’ rotation give MC Gusto an opportunity.
93	Kumar Rocker	TEX		Both of these guys here are upside plays. I think they’ll be good, but there will be growing pains.
94	David Festa	MIN		See above.
95	Will Warren	NYY		I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I had Warren queued up for a drop in one league but he put up a decent start against the Giants so I held him. He was Yanked after getting just 5 outs on 55 pitches last week and I’m almost ready to move on.
96	Jameson Taillon	CHC		Taillon is like that creepy doll that gets thrown out in a horror movie but keeps showing back up without making a sound. One of these weeks he’ll fall off the list, but this one ain’t it!
97	Brayan Bello	BOS		After weeks and weeks of holding him here, I’m happy to announce that Bello will finally return this week and should get Seattle at home tomorrow.
98	Ben Brown	CHC		He’s been underwhelming, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him optioned when the Cubs get an SP back from injury.
99	Justin Verlander	SFG		More below.
100	Colin Rea	CHC	N/R	Yu Darvish isn’t expected back for at least a month, so I felt like I needed to replace SP100 with someone more valuable right now. Rea has started two games in a row since moving out of the ‘arm barn’. Not to sound like a broken record, but the strikeouts are there. Now it’s just a matter of building up stamina.

 

JUMPERS (These are some of the players who jumped up the rankings this week)

Max Fried – Cleaning up some biases this week and moving some SPs around based on their first four starts. Regardless of whether I think Fried stays healthy this year, he’s 3-0 with a healthy strikeout total and strong ratio support. He deserves the boost, has performed like the others have in the Top 20, and is a big reason why the Yankees are leading the AL East. Edit: Fried threw a no-hitter through 7 innings yesterday. 

Logan Webb – I wrote up the Friday roundup for Dan Pants this week and went with Webb as my lede. You can click here if you want to take a peek. I love filing in for the roundup because it means I have to focus on just one night of action instead of 100+ starting pitchers for a whole week, and this one was no exception. Webb struck out a dozen Angels on the road in six innings. He gave up just four hits and one earned run. 

MacKenzie Gore – Here’s your league leader in strikeouts. Um…whut? Do you remember when Gore was our lede on March 31st after he struck out 13 Phillies in a one-hit shutout? What if I told you he did it again on Saturday night…in Colorado…with just 1 HR allowed (2 ER). Gonna have to start calling Gore the “Baker’s Dozen”. 

Drew Rasmussen – Way up this week. And as Shakira’s lesser-known sister, who’s also a Mathematician, said, “The numbers don’t lie”. Rasmussen went pitch for pitch in a duel with Carlos Rodon Friday night. It’s time to accept that he should be Top 50 (at least) while he’s healthy and dealing. I said it with Fried above. It doesn’t matter if I don’t think some of these guys will stay healthy all year; we have to give them their due as long as they keep proving they can deliver. The wins aren’t there, and he hasn’t pitched 6 innings in a start yet, but the ratios are pristine and the strikeout totals look good.

Bowden Francis – He’s been quietly putting together solid start after solid start. 5 HR allowed in 4 GS isn’t ideal, but here’s what I had to say about his game against Bryan Woo in Saturday morning’s roundup.

“6 IP,  ER, 5 H, BB, 5 Ks. ERA at 3.13. It might not have been as impressive a pitching duel as the NYY/TB one, but the Jays and Ms played a similar version of small ball last night.”

DUMPERS (With apologies to Cal Raleigh, these are some of the big dumpers in the rankings this week)

Roki Sasaki – I admitted to a few commenters that I had Roki ranked as highly as I did because I had faith that he would produce right out of the gate. I wanted to pick him up where I could in March, and had him slotted in where I felt comfortable gambling on him in those drafts. He hasn’t been terrible in his first five MLB starts, but the warts are there. 16 strikeouts are great to see in 19.1 IP, but the 16 BBs that go along with it aren’t so good. He also couldn’t get through six innings until last week. Roki’s growing pains are tougher to watch than that time Mike Seaver freaked out at a college party when a girl asked him to go into the bathroom with her.

Yusei Kikuchi – You say…where the eff did the guy from last year go? He had an encouraging start last week, but he needs a lot more than “encouraging” to get us back on board.

Landen Roupp – Ah, the good old RouppDog. What’s RouppDog? Nothing much, what’s Roupp with you? (Yes, I added him here just so I could use that joke.) In all seriousness, he could move ahead of a few names above him. The hits allowed aren’t great, but the Ks are good. He’s not going to overpower anyone with the FB velocity, but that whiff rate is through the roof. Check it out.

Snoop Dogg and Roupp Dog? Wow.

Justin Verlander – Speaking of Statcast graphics…I’ll leave this here. And before you ask, no, it’s not Ben Verlander’s chart.

Logan Henderson – He’s not a dumper in the truest sense of the term here, but I wanted to mention yesterday’s debut of one of the Brewers’ top pitching prospects. Henderson isn’t quite Jacob Misiorowski as far as potential is concerned, but he posted a solid 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K line in Sunday’s start against the Athletics. 

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

JT Ginn

Joe Boyle – stash in AL (spot start last week)

Kyle Hart

Jake Irvin

Bobby Miller

Logan Henderson

Jose Quintana

Jake Irvin

Mitchell Parker

Jordan Hicks

Zebby Matthews 

JP Sears

Hunter Dobbins

Steven Matz

Andrew Pallante

Shane Smith

Osvaldo Bido

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 McClanahan

Jared Jones

Brandon Woodruff

George Kirby

Gerrit Cole

Luis Gil

Spencer Arrighetti

Justin Steele

John Means

Shane Bieber

Eury Perez

Blake Snell

Ryan Weathers

Cody Bradford

Tony Gonsolin

Shohei Ohtani (SP)

Lucas Giolito

Richard Fitts

Nestor Cortes

Yu Darvish

 

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

Andrew Abbott

Tyler Mahle

Tylor Megill

Quinn Priester

Matthew Liberatore

Ryan Gusto

Colin Rea

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

Zebby Matthews – Minnesota backpedaled on the 6-man rotation idea and announced Zebby will stay in AAA … for now.

Spencer Arrighetti – broken thumb won’t require surgery, but he’s not eligible for reinstatement until May 20th.

Justin Steele – Out for the year with arm surgery (internal brace or TJS).

Max Scherzer – Sorry, Maximilian, but you know the old saying, “One cortisone shot in the thumb, fool me once. Two cortisone shots in the thumb, drop for a streamer.”

Sean Burke – Yesterday’s start wasn’t even that bad, but I’m done with him until he puts it together consistently.

Yu Darvish – It was just a matter of time. And that time got extended by the lack of progress in his rehab.

 

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

 

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