Happy Monday, Razzball faithful!
Let’s get this out of the way first. Somehow, deeply rooted in my psyche, is that Britney Spears song. I did use it last year for a Ji-Hwan Bae post. But for reasons unknown, when I looked at the SP26-50 for this week, one obvious lede stood out.
Then, after the madness that was the increased population of the starting pitcher graveyard this weekend, I figured it was time to double down and commit.
I give you…“Hit me Bibee, one more time”…
Oh Tanner Bibee, how was I supposed to know?
That somethin’ wasn’t right there
The sticky stuff, they shouldn’t have let it go
And now guys sure aren’t right, yeah.
Shohei..no he won’t be, surely
Bieber, Eury, arms no good, the guys are…going down!
Manoah-mess…is killing me…(and I)
I must confess…I drafted Fried (drafted Fried!)
When I see I.L., I lose my mind
Give me a sign (but hopefully not that red one with the cross?)
Hit me Bibee, one more time!
So, the beautiful Utopia that was the ‘reliable’ starting pitcher meadow has been cluster-bombed by shoulder injuries and IL flooding this week. We lost Shane Bieber for the season, Spencer Strider is headed for an MRI, Eury Perez is on the Tommy John train, and so many others are dropping like bowling pins at a Mookie Betts birthday party.
I’ll add a link to Keelin’s Ambulance Chasers, here, if you want to read more about that injury madness.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Speaking of pitcher injuries, make sure you set your Razzslam FAAB that runs TUESDAY night, 4/9 at 10 PM ET.
And before I do a quick write-up on Bibee, I wanted to share a clip that I saw last night from Tyler Glasnow.
Tyler Glasnow made it very clear why pitchers were getting injured 2 years ago. It’s not the pitch clock
Nor even joking, this is all Trevor Bauer’s fault pic.twitter.com/Tr0XN8y4En
— Nate (@notNate99) April 7, 2024
A lot of buzz is swirling about laying the blame on the introduction of the pitch clock and its subsequent negative influence on the rotation stalwarts over the last couple of seasons. While I wouldn’t discount that as being a contributor, I like Glasnow’s take. The removal of all materials outside of rosin has created an even bigger problem for pitchers than the pitch clock itself.
MLBPA Chief, Tony Clark, will probably disagree, but it makes a lot of sense.
With all of that said, Is Tanner Bibee a ‘safe’ arm to pursue in the hellscape that is the season of the ‘dangle-arm’?
Bibee (SP33 in our list) was going off the board as the 43rd pitcher this spring, and the 29th SP overall (according to yesterday’s NFBC ADP data). I’ll admit that being slotted in the middle of the pocket of starters that went Ragans, Cease, Musgrove, BIBEE, Eury, Bassitt, Sale made it tough for me to pull the trigger on the Guardians budding ace. In that pocket, I found myself drafting a closer, (often Pete Fairbanks), or one of the other arms that I saw more positives with (Ragans, Cease, Bassitt).
That might have been a mistake. Hindsight and such.
After a short, rough start against Oakland on March 30, (4 IP, 6H, 3 ER, 5BB, 4K), Bibee looked great against Minnesota last Thursday. 5.1IP, 5H. 1ER, 0BB, 9K is certainly an improvement from his 2024 debut, and hopefully an indication of things to come as he ramps up through his first few starts.
If anything, now that Bieber is down and out, Guardians fans are hoping that Bibee can step up and ‘Gimme More’.
At this point, though, fantasy owners will just be happy if Bibee isn’t another victim of the pitch clock/rosin reaper singing “Oops…I did it again”.
I explained how I’d run through the Top 100 last week, and to keep things more focused I’ll just quickly explain that this week I’ll be focusing on the SP26-50 in our list as far as blurbs are concerned.
Before we get to the list, though, I need to link y’all to The Streamonator to help you answer those burning questions that we might not be readily available to help you with 24/7. I’m sure a lot of you know already, but Streamonator is more than a good resource for the entire season. It’s going to save you a lot of time researching on your own, and stop you from making those tough “Should I start…?” decisions. Check the link, yo.
The Top Starting Pitchers for 2024
| RANK
(LAST WEEK) |
Name | TEAM | BUY? NOTES? ANYTHING!? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spencer Strider | Braves | Not moving down until/if MRI results come back with bad news. |
| 2 (3) | Corbin Burnes | Orioles | |
| 3 (2) | Kevin Gausman | Blue Jays | Rough outing @NYY, but hopefully that was weather-related. |
| 4 | Zack Wheeler | Phillies | |
| 5 | Luis Castillo | Mariners | |
| 6 | Freddy Peralta | Brewers | |
| 7 | Pablo Lopez | Twins | |
| 8 | George Kirby | Mariners | |
| 9 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | Dodgers | 5IP, 3H, 2BB, 8K – That’ll do! |
| 10 | Logan Gilbert | Mariners | |
| 11 | Framber Valdez | Astros | |
| 12 | Aaron Nola | Phillies | W, but velocity was down again. |
| 13 | Zac Gallen | Diamondbacks | |
| 14 | Tarik Skubal | Tigers | |
| 15 | Tyler Glasnow | Dodgers | |
| 16 | Grayson Rodriguez | Orioles | |
| 17 | Blake Snell | Giants | |
| 18 | Max Fried | Braves | 4.1IP, 10H, 7ER. Oof. Hopefully not re-injured. |
| 19 | Logan Webb | Giants | |
| 20 | Zach Eflin | Rays | |
| 21 | Jesus Luzardo | Marlins | |
| 22 | Bobby Miller | Dodgers | |
| 23 | Joe Ryan | Twins | |
| 24 | Chris Sale | Braves | |
| 25 (26) | Cole Ragans | Royals | Preseason darling now with 2 great starts. |
And now for our next blurb pocket…SP26-SP50…
| 26 (27) | Dylan Cease | Padres | |
| 27 (29) | Shoto Imanaga | Cubs | |
| 28 | Chris Bassitt | Blue Jays | |
| 29 (30) | Joe Musgrove | Padres | |
| 30 (31) | Hunter Brown | Astros | |
| 31 (32) | Jordan Montgomery | Diamondbacks | |
| 32 (33) | Tanner Bibee | Guardians | |
| 33 (34) | Mitch Keller | Pirates | |
| 34 (35) | Bryce Miller | Mariners | |
| 35 (36) | Hunter Greene | Reds | |
| 36 (37) | Justin Steele | Cubs | Is due back ‘sometime in May’. |
| 37 (38) | Merrill Kelly | Diamondbacks | |
| 38 (39) | Jose Berrios | Blue Jays | |
| 39 (46) | Reid Detmers | Angels | 2-0, 11IP, 2ER, 4BB, 19K. |
| 40 (41) | Justin Verlander | Astros | Could rejoin rotation on April 17th. |
| 41 (42) | Walker Buehler | Dodgers | Progressing well. At least one more rehab start. |
| 42 (43) | Charlie Morton | Braves | |
| 43 (44) | Sonny Gray | Cardinals | Will make Cards debut tomorrow. |
| 44 (40) | Bailey Ober | Twins | |
| 45 | Cristian Javier | Astros | |
| 46 (47) | Yusei Kikuchi | Blue Jays | |
| 47 (48) | Nestor Cortes | Yankees | |
| 48 (49) | Yu Darvish | Padres | |
| 50 (83) | Garrett Crochet | White Sox |
Dylan Cease (26) – Two starts, (and like everyone else, we know it’s all small sample sizes), but the 2BB per game is encouraging. Especially when that’s accompanied by more strikeouts than innings pitched (10.1 IP / 13 K’s).
Shoto Imanaga (27) – Only allowed two hits in each of his starts, but didn’t pitch into the 5th inning for the start yesterday. 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 0.40 WHIP qualifies as a pretty good start to an MLB career. 12K’s in 10 IP is encouraging too. I’d be sending out trade offers before he puts up any more of these gems.
Hunter Brown (30) – A rough outing Friday night, (3IP, 8H, 5ER, 4BB, 3K), so this spot is more about faith that he’ll be fine and a good arm to own than reading anything into the bad start. FWIW, his first game was 4IP with zero earned runs and 5 strikeouts.
Bryce Miller (34) – He’s kind of the reverse of Hunter Brown so far. Miller followed up a rough first outing with 7 innings of shutout ball. The single walk and 7 strikeouts are exactly what fantasy managers want to see more of from this 4th starter.
Reid Detmers (39) – Outdueled Garrett Whitlock on Saturday and notched his second W of the year. 6IP, 3H, 1ER, and a career-high 12 strikeouts helped to push him up our list here.
Justin Verlander (40) – Was expected to throw 75 pitches in a rehab start yesterday and is on track to pitch against the Braves on April 17th (barring any setbacks).
Bailey Ober (44) – “I will not overreact to one bad start…I will not Ober-react to one bad start…I will not…”
Yusei Kikuchi (46) – Yusei goodbye, and I say hello. And Kikuchi says shutting out the Yankees at home with 7 strikeouts is a nice bounceback from a ‘meh’ start in his first game.
Nathan Eovaldi (49) – I never know what to think with Eovaldi. Part of me has that old worry about the arm issues he had way back when he was in Boston and Tampa. Part of me thinks he’s a sneaky starter who can flash ace ability. The 2021 version is the one we all want – with the 195 K’s – but I think we get somewhere between the two. That qualifies as a serviceable SP2/3 for our fantasy teams.
Garrett Crochet (50) – Oh boy. Crochet was in line for his second win of the season yesterday before Deivi Gracia came in and promptly flubbed the game in the 7th inning. Regardless, I’m still in on the Croch Rocket (™).
I had Brayan Bello slotted for the final spot in this group, but I had to bump him for the mounting Garrett Crochet hype. This guy is rocketing up the list, fuelled by two very strong starts in which he gave up just 2 ER (total) and struck out 8 in each game. A history of arm trouble could scare some away, especially with the multitude of starters going down with injuries this week. The problem is if you don’t go grab him off the wire, one of your league mates likely will (or already has).
BUT WAIT…THERE’S MORE!!!
Here’s the rest of the list.
| 51 (55) | Brayan Bello | Red Sox | |
| 52 (53) | Nathan Eovaldi | Rangers | |
| 53 (50) | Carlos Rodon | Yankees | |
| 54 | Michael King | Padres | |
| 55 (52) | Eduardo Rodriguez | Diamondbacks | |
| 56 | Ryan Pepiot | Rays | |
| 57 | Aaron Civale | Rays | |
| 58 | Bryan Woo | Mariners | |
| 59 | Nick Lodolo | Reds | May face CWS this Friday. |
| 60 | Kenta Maeda | Tigers | |
| 61 (51) | Lance Lynn | Cardinals | |
| 62 | Triston McKenzie | Guardians | |
| 63 | Braxton Garrett | Marlins | AAA rehab start yesterday. |
| 64 (79) | Garrett Whitlock | Red Sox | 2GS, 9.1 IP, 1 ER, 12 K. |
| 65 | Jon Gray | Rangers | |
| 66 | Gavin Williams | Guardians | |
| 67 | Kutter Crawford | Red Sox | Great start to 2024. Excellent ratios. |
| 68 | Seth Lugo | Royals | |
| 69 | Gerrit Cole | Yankees | 60 day IL – out until at least early June. |
| 70 | Nick Pivetta | Red Sox | |
| 71 | Sean Manaea | Mets | |
| 72 | Max Scherzer | Rangers | Avoids 60-day IL and could return at the end of May. |
| 73 | Kyle Harrison | Giants | |
| 74 | Brandon Pfaadt | Diamondbacks | |
| 75 | Cristopher Sanchez | Phillies | |
| 76 | Luis Severino | Mets | |
| 77 (81) | Jared Jones | Pirates | 17K’s in 2GS. |
| 78 | Logan Allen | Guardians | |
| 79 (64) | Griffin Canning | Angels | Ratio killer (so far). |
| 80 | Tyler Wells | Orioles | |
| 81 (NR) | Tanner Houck | Red Sox | Great first start. Up 3-0 at time of writing. |
| 82 | Shane Baz | Rays | TJS recovery. 15-day IL. |
| 83 (94) | Luis Gil | Yankees | AVG 7 K’s/GS. Fewer than 5 IP in both starts though. |
| 84 | Paul Skenes | Pirates | |
| 85 | Gavin Stone | Dodgers | |
| 86 | Marcus Stroman | Yankees | |
| 87 | Dane Dunning | Rangers | |
| 88 | MacKenzie Gore | Nationals | |
| 89 (NR) | Ranger Suarez | Phillies | |
| 90 | Edward Cabrera | Marlins | Shoulder impingement. |
| 91 | Casey Mize | Tigers | |
| 92 | Jordan Wicks | Cubs | |
| 93 | Kyle Bradish | Orioles | 15-day IL. UCL sprain |
| 94 | AJ Puk | Marlins | No Puk’ing Good. |
| 95 | Erick Fedde | White Sox | |
| 96 | Dean Kremer | Orioles | |
| 97 | Ryan Weathers | Marlins | Meh. This may be another slide off the list if the next start doesn’t impress. |
| 98 | Reese Olson | Tigers | |
| 99 | Jack Flaherty | Tigers | |
| 100 | Kodai Senga | Mets | At least 6 weeks out from a throwing program. |
BIGGEST DUMPERS : With apologies to Cal Raleigh, these are some of the biggest dumpers (in value, not pants size).
Shane Bieber (TJS – out for the year), Eury Perez (samesies), Lance Lynn, Bailey Ober, Carlos Rodon, Griffin Canning,
BIGGEST JUMPERS : Who’s got hops? These are some of the biggest jumpers in value this week.
Garrett Crochet, Brayan Bello, Nathan Eovaldi, Shoto Imanaga, Garrett Whitlock, Eduardo Rodriguez, Jared Jones, Luis Gil
OOF! The following players dropped off the list this week.
Shane Bieber, Eury Perez
WHEE! The following players launched into the Top 100 this week.
Tanner Houck (81), Ranger Suarez (89)
And, of course, I can’t leave without a banger of an updated rendition of our title tune. Three cheers for the real Kung-Fu Panda. (Sorrey, Pablo Sandoval).
That’s all for this week! I hope you enjoyed it! Next week, I’ll post the Top 100 Starting Pitchers with more blurbs in that 51-75 ranked section.
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!
Follow me @marmosdad on Twitter/X and Bluesky @marmosdad.bsky.social
