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