Happy Monday, Razzball faithful!

I had a few ledes that I could have run with this week, but ultimately, I went with Hunter Brown because he’s been downright dirty.

I mean…I knew he was on a heater, but this is pretty ridiculous. 

After his 7 scoreless innings against the Blue Jays last week, Brown knocked his ERA down to a cool 1.16 to go with an equally impressive 0.76 WHIP.  

In his last three starts, he’s posted an unfathomable 19 IP, 0 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, with 16 Ks. 

Edit: After Brown’s start in KC yesterday (6 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 9 Ks), his ERA ‘ballooned’ to 1.22 and his WHIP ‘jumped’ to 0.84.

You know what they say: “If Hunter Brown can keep the sinker down…the opposition is in for a crappy day.”

I think that’s how it goes, no?

If you’re a fan of the beauty that is the statcast page, check out this one.

It’s like the Kool-Aid Man’s blood pressure reading.

The only thing hotter than that is Steve’s Lava Chicken.

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		Sauntered into LA and went all Hollywood on the Dodgers. 6.1 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 9 Ks.
2	Tarik Skubal	DET		A 6-inning, 4-hit shutout with 11 Ks as Skubal mowed down the Orioles in Motown. His last 4 GS: 24 IP, 2 ER, 19 H, 1 BB, 30 Ks. That, my friends, is an ace.
3	Garrett Crochet	BOS		5 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 5 BB, 9 Ks, ERA at 1.95. It says something when you can allow almost a dozen baserunners, give up four runs, and still have beautiful ratios. There’s nothing to be concerned about here.
4	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD		5.0 IP, ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 5 K. Four walks?! Against the Pirates?! Arrrrr ya sure?!
5	Cole Ragans	KC		3 IP, 4 ER, ERA at 4.40, but left the game with groin tightness. It’s fitting that he may be sidelined with a groin injury because if he’s out for any period, it’ll be a kick to the nuts for about 5 of my fantasy teams.
6	Max Fried	NYY		First to 5 wins in the league. 5-0 with some sweet ratios and strikeout totals means this guy cracks the Top 10 this week…and he’s still likely not high enough.
7	Michael King	SD		5.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, BB, 9 K. Sounds like an easy win, hey? Not so fast. King took the loss when he gave up an unearned run vs TB. Still elite strikeout potential.
8	Zack Wheeler	PHI		More below.
9	Hunter Greene	CIN		This Hunter was my lede last week (you can check that out here), and he followed that up with a respectable game in Colorado. 8 more Ks brings his total up to 43, which is still in the MLB’s Top 10.
10	Shota Imanaga	CHC		Took a bit of a Shota-kicking against LAD last week, the second time he’s allowed 5 ER in his last three starts. I’m not pulling any fire alarms just yet, but I’m making sure I know where the extinguisher is, just in case.
11	MacKenzie Gore	WSH		Gentlemen and five ladies…your MLB strikeout leader. He’s been so good, he was our lede two weeks ago, warranted another write-up last week, and was promptly forgotten in the actual list. Oops! 6 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.34. Wtf Baker’s Dozen?! Only 8 Ks?!
12	Logan Webb	SF		44 Ks in 36 IP and solid ratios. His bump-up was overdue.
13	Dylan Cease	SD		Winless in his last four starts. The good news is the walks haven’t been the biggest issue. The 36 hits and 19 earned runs in 29.1 IP? Ya, that’s like shining the ratios with the same cloth you used to clean your BBQ after Ribfest.
14	Hunter Brown	HOU		More above! (FWIW, I had him at 9 here, but moved him below a few others when I was editing last night).
15	Sonny Gray	STL		Back-to-back no-decisions after winning three of his first four starts. Still a solid SP without the flash.
16	Pablo Lopez	MIN		More below.
17	Jacob deGrom	TEX		5.1 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.33. The WHIP is barely above 1.0, too (1.07).
18	Logan Gilbert	SEA		3.0 IP, 3 K. Left with forearm tightness and will receive an MRI. No word yet if that stands for “Mandatory Redraft In-April”.
19	Tyler Glasnow	LAD		I was all ready to write up a nice blurb for Glasnow yesterday, then, when I was opening up the box scores, I thought, “Hopefully he didn’t get hurt today”. Well, guess what. Water is wet and ice is cold. (Removed after one inning with shoulder discomfort).
20	Spencer Schwellenbach	ATL		Last Tuesday, he bounced back after getting roughed up in Toronto. 8 H in 7 IP isn’t ideal, but the 0 ER and handful of Ks is nice to see. He started in ARI yesterday, and I’ll update before I submit. Edit: 6 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks. Still stuck at just one W.
21	Framber Valdez	HOU		Two solid starts in a row after getting crushed for 7 ER in St. Louis on April 14th.
22	Freddy Peralta	MLW		Just a meh start in SFG last week, but nothing to hurt the ratios too much. He gets a juicy matchup at CWS tomorrow.
23	Kodai Senga	NYM		I saw a graphic yesterday with a quote from Mark DeRosa re: Senga’s forkball. “It’s the most unhittable pitch in the game.” Regardless of whether you agree or not, the ratios have been solid, and he ripped off three straight starts with 0 ER before giving up two runs at WSH on Friday night.
24	Bryan Woo	SEA		“Woo, baby baby, it’s a wide world.” The good news is the Ms pitcher you thought would break out is pitching great…if his name isn’t George Kirby, Bryce Miller, or Logan Gilbert.
25	Nick Pivetta	SD		7 IP, 0 ER, 2H, 2 BB, 6 Ks, ERA at 1.20. I was a bit worried that I’d pushed him way too far up, but I guess not. Confirmation bias is a hell of a drug.
26	Joe Ryan	MIN		A modest boost this week after he shut out the Angels for 7 innings yesterday. 4 H, 1 BB, and just shy of a dozen strikeouts (11 Ks).
27	Corbin Burnes	ARI		5.1 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 8 Ks! That’s good! Unfortunately, it wasn’t good enough to get through 6 innings and he’s still winless on the year.
28	Jesus Luzardo	PHI		Sweet Jesus! 36.1 IP, 41 Ks, and ratios that’ll make you pray for more. There’s an argument that even thi is too low for him.
29	Bailey Ober	MIN		6 IP, 1 ER, 8 H, BB, 6 Ks, ERA at 5.04. I found the prescription for crappy pitching – throw against the CWS. Works every time. Almost. Here’s hoping he can ride that wave for a bit longer today in CLE.
30	Jack Flaherty	DET		6 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 9 Ks, ERA at 2.63. He goes at HOU today. A little boost up today.
31	Shane Baz	TB		7 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, BB, 6 K, ERA at 2.45. I hooked a few horses up to the Baz comeback train this year. It’s tough to explain believing in some injury returns and having less faith in others, but this one has been firmly on the ‘so far so good’ side.
32	Drew Rasmussen	TB		These next three guys are moving up.
33	Robbie Ray	SFG		More below.
34	Carlos Rodon	NYY		More below.
35	Brady Singer	CIN		6 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.62. He’s one of three SPs with 4 wins and no losses (Jose Quintana and Max Fried). Singer gets another big boost this week!
36	Chris Sale	ATL		The NL Cy Young winner wins! (his first game of the year in his sixth start). He hasn’t pitched six innings in any of his games yet.
37	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI		More below.
38	Luis Castillo	SEA		Steamrolled through the Marlins last week. 6 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks.
39	Casey Mize	DET		4-1 with a 2.12 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. Just like we predicted in the off-season…said no one. But I sure am glad I snagged him for $1 in my AL-only keeper league.
40	Brandon Pfaadt	ARI		6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 5 Ks, last week. The Pfaadt boy is back…and you know he can never be whack. Edit: 6 IP, 2 ER, 9 H, 1 BB, 9 Ks and his 5th win yesterday. That’s good for a 20-spot jump.
41	Bryce Miller	SEA		More below.
42	Zac Gallen	ARI		5 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 K. Gallen went from being a trendy SP2/3 draft pick to a must-sit in certain matchups. The quickest 180 since Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. That said, he’s much better than his 1-4 record.
43	Kevin Gausman	TOR		More below.
44	Dustin May	LAD		5 IP, 7 ER, ERA at 3.68. MayDay! He should bounce back today at home vs MIA.
45	Max Meyer	MIA		Mad Max was nearly the lede this week. A 5-hit shutout with 14 Ks in 6 innings will open some eyes. If the person who rostered Meyer in your league still has their eyes closed, throw out a trade offer and get in before the breakout window slams shut. Edit: Well, I cursed him, too. 4 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 6 Ks yesterday in Seattle.
46	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX		6 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, BB, 7 K. ERA at 2.21. Another member of Team Underrated.
47	Nick Lodolo	CIN		7 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 9 Ks! In Colorado! There’s the strikeout guy we know! It’s tempting to push him way up here, but we should just be glad that (A) He’s healthy, (B) we got a nice strikeout game for the first time this year, and (C) …well, you know.
48	Bowden Francis	TOR		4.2 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, BB, 2 Ks. ERA at 3.58. They can’t all be perfect games, FRANCIS!
49	Tyler Mahle	CIN		He was tough to rank this week, but I settled on a 30-spot jump from last week. The regression fairies will come in a swarm at some point, but I wouldn’t fault you for riding this out for as long as it lasts. Mahle has been great. He’s ranked 2nd in ERA with a 1.16 (sandwiched between Yamamoto and Hunter Brown).
50	Seth Lugo	KC		8 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, BB, 8 K. A classic Lugo-rip through a strong lineup (vs HOU) last week. It was the first game he’d allowed zero earned runs all year.
51	Spencer Strider	ATL		More below.
52	Tylor Megill	NYM		A great strikeout game (10 Ks) and just one hit allowed, but 4 BB in 5.1 means he’s not quite the top-tier starter you’re looking for. That doesn’t matter, though, when he was likely drafted as your 6th or 7th SP, or a waiver wire pickup. He’s solid, but there will be bumps along the way. I’ll edit later with results from yesterday’s game. Edit: 6.1 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 9 Ks at WSH.
53	Ryan Pepiot	TB		6 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks. There’s a beast lurking here, but it’s not ready to break through the wall just yet.
54	Tanner Bibee	CLE		The good news is that last week was a good week as Bibee alternates decent starts with debacles. 6 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks last Monday means tomorrow’s start vs MIN will be the next earned run explosion. Tread with caution.
55	David Peterson	NYM		5.1 IP, 2 ER, 8 H, BB, 2 Ks, ERA at 3.29. He’s still minimizing walks and keeping the earned runs down. He’s not an ace, but you didn’t draft him as one. I’d be glad with what I’ve gotten from him if I had him anywhere.
56	Kris Bubic	KC		Bam! 7 IP, 0 ER, 4 hits, 0 BB, 6 Ks, ERA at 1.45. Bubic. No longer just a by-product of a tightly fitting cotton shirt on a hot afternoon in July. Edit: For what it’s worth, Kris ran into Hunter Brown and the itchy Astro buzz-saw yesterday. 5 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 4 Ks. Bam.
57	Gavin Williams	CLE		6.1 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 8 Ks. It’s hyperbole to say no pitcher needed a bounceback more than Gavin did last week, but this was a step in the right direction. And it was against NYY, so it wasn’t a cookie lineup, either.
58	Jackson Jobe	DET		Back-to-back wins with just one earned run allowed in 11.2 IP. The strikeouts could use a bump up, and the walks aren’t great, but he’s been solid.
59	Aaron Nola	PHI		6.1 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks, and another 2 HR allowed last week dropped his record to 0-5. I thought Nola was where you went to get beads outside the Jazz club, not where you look for a giant barf emoji. EDIT
60	Reese Olson	DET		7.1 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.29. Olson shut down a white hot Padres lineup last week like it was full of minor leaguers. That’s two straight scoreless starts, too.
61	Landon Roupp	SFG		Two weeks ago, I pushed Cris Sanchez way up the list. There was some chatter about giving Roupp the same treatment this week, but a 3.2 IP, 5 R, 6 H, 3 BB, 2 K outing does not propel a young arm upwards like a lit bottle rocket. He didn’t allow any homers, and he didn’t look as bad as the line looks, but he’s not blasting through that Top 30 line until he puts up consistently impressive starts.
62	Clay Holmes	NYM		He’s won three of his last four starts. He also hasn’t pitched 6 innings more than once. Ride the K-train and the solid ratios until he gives us a reason to jump off.
63	Roki Sasaki	LAD		These next four guys are all about the potential. And to be clear, I mean the potential to be great, not the potential to send your ratios into a black hole that you’ll spend three months trying to climb out.
64	Taj Bradley	TB		6 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 3 B, 3 Ks, ERA at 5.08. It was a better start than his last one, but he’ll stumble through a couple of these, then put up a 14 K shutout in 7 innings. I need to see the consistency before I move him up much higher than this.
65	Hayden Wesneski	HOU		He’s been turning in solid outings after solid outings, limiting ER and BBs, and pitching in some healthy K totals (not including last week’s start). The 1-2 record doesn’t do him justice. He’s an add in almost every league.
66	Andrew Abbott	CIN		Roughed up for 4 ER in 4 IP at COL. The 5 BBs and 4 Ks make it even tougher. Chalk this up to the thin, mountain air and hope he does better this week at home vs STL.
67	Chris Bassitt	TOR		5.1 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks. His first hiccup of the year means his ERA balloons to 1.88. He was scheduled to throw Game 2 of the Jays’ doubleheader yesterday. Edit: 2 more homers allowed yesterday, and the hiccup has now become one step away from a Simpsons-esque belch. It’s a big dump.
68	Sandy Alcantara	MIA		Back-to-back losses. 9 ER in 8 IP. 4 BB, 5 Ks in those two starts. That’s a bit dirtier than it is Sandy. And it likely won’t get any better tomorrow at LAD.
69	Jose Quintana	MLW		Quintana is one of our first jumpers off the stumper list. After yesterday’s start, he’s officially at 4-0 with a lot of ones and fours. (ERA at 1.14, WHIP at 1.14). That warrants a pretty big leap into the Top 100.
70	Zach Eflin	BAL		He’s ramping up and should be back in about a week (May 6th).
71	Tyler Anderson	LAA		6 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 1 K, ERA at 2.60. Let’s turn to Grey for today’s note (from last week’s roundup). “Ks are overrated, but one K in six innings is a bit of cold soup on a warm day.” The cold soup analogy is fitting because Tyler Anderson makes me about as excited as potato and leeks do. Meh.
72	Jose Soriano	LAA		3.1 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 4.34. There’s that command bug bite we’ve been trying not to scratch. The strikeout potential is still sky high, but that command is a ticking time bomb.
73	Matthew Boyd	CHC		6 IP, 3 ER, 10 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks, ERA at 2.54. Yeah, Boyd! Or Nah, Boyd? If you have strikeouts covered elsewhere, I’m ok with rostering the NL version of Michael Wacha.
74	Andrew Heaney	PIT		6 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BBs, 9 Ks, ERA at 1.72. I’ll defer to a Grey quote for this one: “Why not just pick him up and ask questions later like, “Is he this good?” Just grab him and ride it out until he’s not.” And that’s me quoting the boss.
75	Jack Leiter	TEX		He’s baaaack! He pitched against SFG yesterday. Will edit with results, but I’ve already activated him in two leagues for his start vs SEA next week. Edit: 3.1 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 3 Ks. I watched this game. Leiter had a tough first inning, but settled down after. He threw 76 pitches, though, so the early hook was warranted.
76	Walker Buehler	BOS		4-1. 9 Ks and 3 walks on the Boston Marathon day? That’s wicked hot. Too bad the ratios aren’t. A modest jump this week.
77	Luis Severino	ATH		6 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 7 K. That’s three solid starts in a row. Same things as Buehler – a modest boost in the ranking this week.
78	Ronel Blanco	HOU		6.2 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks, ERA at 5.01. Blanco took care of the Jays pretty handily for his second win in three games. He gets DET at home today.
79	Jose Berrios	TOR		5.1 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 K. It’s always a ‘peek-through-the-fingers-covering-your-eyes’ kind of check-in when you miss a Berrios start and look up the boxscore afterwards. This one was OK.
80	Clarke Schmidt	NYY		Tagged for 5 ER, 7 H, 2 HR in 4 IP last week at CLE. Grey mentioned in that recap that it wasn’t as bad as his line looked – and he did have 8 Ks. It’s not great, but I wouldn’t do anything hasty yet. Sometimes Schmidt happens.
81	Mitch Keller	PIT		He hasn’t even been that bad since the 7-run spanking by the Yankees on April 4th. That said, this is about as underwhelming as it gets.
82	Michael Wacha	KC		I got excited for Wacha’s 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 K game and wondered how high it would boost him…until I saw that he was ranked in this exact spot last week, too.
83	Matthew Liberatore	STL		6 IP, ER, 5 H, 4 K. I remember when LaLiberte was a hot commodity in the prospect pool. Coullie wrote him up in his FAAB article on Saturday. Check it out here.
84	Griffin Canning	NYM		5 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, BB, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.12. Can you do the Can-Canning? He gets WSH on the road today.
85	Ryan Gusto	HOU		5.2 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.78. Grey wrote up Gusto last week in his Wednesday round-up and mentioned that I had recommended the HOU SP as a pickup, too. This rookie can throw 6 pitches and is at the very least worth adding to a watch list in every league.
86	Brayan Bello	BOS		5 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 3 Ks in his first start of the year. Nearly identical line yesterday in the blowout at CLE with one more IP and 3 ER. Two starts and two wins? That qualifies as good news.
87	Mitchell Parker	WSH		He was almost on the Stumper list this week, but I included him for the ratio help. The Ks aren’t impressive, and it’s kind of fitting that he replaced Ben Brown here (Brown has the Ks but dangerous ratios and command).
88	Justin Verlander	SFG		More below.
89	Jeffrey Springs	ATH		He got rocked. By the White Sox. At home. The only complaint you should have is that he’s too high here.
90	Yusei Kikuchi	LAA		He’s 0-fer the year, and the command disappeared after his first start. Something’s broken and he needs to fix it. Soon.
91	Colin Rea	CHC		5.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K, W, ERA at 0.96. Rea would have been cut off the list if I had noticed I missed ranking MacKenzie Gore. He responded to the unintentional slight pretty well.
92	Quinn Priester	MLW		5 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 2 Ks. Pope news gives The Priest some absolution in this one.
93	Grant Holmes	ATL		I was all set to push Grant Holmes up a bit this week, then he gave up 3 HRs to ARI in 52. IP with 5 H and 3 BBs. The 4 Ks aren’t helping anyone either.
94	Jameson Taillon	CHC		Taillon was going toe-to-toe with Aaron Nola last night when I edited this. That warrants a boost up a few spots. This guy is the ultimate survivor on the Top 100 List. We may have to call him Boston Rob.
95	Taijuan Walker	PHI		The walks are still there, and he has pitched more than five innings in just one start (5 GS). When you’re this close to the SP 100 spot, the slide is greasy, and you’d better produce if you want to stick on the list.
96	Tomoyuki Sugano	BAL		More below.
97	Will Warren	NYY		He hasn’t been terrible, and he has a strong offense to prop him up, but I don’t think we should expect him to give us much more than what we expect out of an SP4/5.
98	Tanner Houck	BOS		It’s. Been. So. Ugly. And I’m so glad that I managed to flip a $1 Houck for a $3 Bowden Francis in my AL-only keeper league before draft day. Whew.
99	Merrill Kelly	ARI		He’s got two wins in his last four starts and hasn’t given up more than two earned runs since a 9-run nuclear implosion at Yankee Stadium on April 3rd. That sounds like it’s good enough for SP99.
100	Eduardo Rodriguez	ARI		I had him written up in the “Stumpers” section below and said I was close to adding him. Then I had two open slots here at the end and, well, here he is.

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

Pablo Lopez – 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 Ks. ERA at 2.08 (101 pitches). I watched this game because I have an unhealthy number of Angels and Twins in every league and wanted to see how Pablo bounced back from his injury (hamstring). It was good to see him hit the century mark in pitches, albeit it would have been nicer to see in 7 or 8 innings instead of five. The ER is a bit deceiving here too, as one of them was on a Jo Adell, “throw my bat at the ball on the outside of the plate and somehow pull it” RBI single to LF. I’m not a huge Pablo fan, but if you rostered him, his first game back should have made you happy.

Robbie Ray – Here’s a guy who elicits one of two responses. The first is “Meh. I guess I’ll take him.” The second? Those people are naming their first-born kid after him and buying said child a swaddle-onesie that is 4 sizes too small, particularly in the trunk. His start on Tuesday last week was fine (5 IP, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 Ks), but we want more of his Saturday night starts (7 IP, 2 ER, BB, 8 Ks) to move him up the list any further. If he can shave some points off that WHIP and ERA, he’s going to look like the Blue Jays’ Robbie Ray sooner rather than later.

Carlos Rodon – 7 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.50. That’s also 17 Ks in his last 13 IP. Yankee fans, rejoice! I know I said I would correct some biases a couple of weeks ago. I intentionally left Rodon where he was because I don’t trust him. Two straight starts with 0 ER and 0 HR move him up the list today.  When he isn’t serving up homers, and he is curbing the walks, he’s a solid SP for your rotation. When he’s not? Well, just look at the numbers from the three starts before his last two. 

Jose Quintana – Ratio help? Did someone need some ratio help? 2 ER in 18.1 IP? And he’s won all three starts since rolling into the land of beers? Wow. The 36-year-old Brewer is channeling some old magic that plays, even if the strikeouts aren’t there. Are we ok with an aging SP who gives us pristine ratios even though the whiffs aren’t there? Yep. I’d buy me some “Abuelo K-Low” if he’s on the waiver wire in any league, even if it’s just to ride this hot start. On a side note, maybe he can call Tomo Sugano and give him some tips.

Justin Verlander – 6 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, BB, 5 K. Ya, ya, ya. I know I’m gonna get hate mail yet again from Kate Upton’s burner account this week, but hear me out. He’s winless on the year and has an ERA just under 5.0. The 1.40 WHIP is nothing to write home about. The good news is his K/9 is up from the last two years (8.22), and he’s had two QS in his last two starts. There. Are ya happy now, Kate?

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

Zack Wheeler – 6 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.62. I’ll admit that the ERA isn’t spectacular, but it kind of floored me when I saw this…

Pivetta at SP8? Did he get bonus points for being born in Canada?

Look. I get it. Ranking SPs is not an easy task, and it’s tempting to blow up the list every week and just reshuffle based on every start. I’ll also admit that maybe I jumped the gun a bit when I said I was considering him for the top spot in the Top 100 Starting Pitchers list, but come on. He’s not a Top 10 SP? There are a lot of deserving players in this list, and it’s easy to push Logan Gilbert out now that he’s hurt. I’m not calling the MLB Network a clown, but whoever made this one up might have oversized shoes and a red nose that honks when you squeeze it.

Spencer Strider – At least it’s a hamstring injury and not an arm problem. That’s the good news. The bad news is he’s out for at least two more weeks and might miss all of May. One start before June 1st is not what we, keeper league managers, were hoping to see here.

Blake Snell – Shut down with renewed shoulder discomfort. The good news is he’ll have more time to stream MLB The Show and Call of Duty on Twitch. The bad news? There’s no KDR category in your fantasy league. He would’ve been ranked again with any kind of encouraging news. Snell slides off the list this week and won’t be back until we get a timeline for a return. 

Cristopher Sanchez – 2 IP, 2 ER, ERA at 3.42, and left with forearm soreness – we cursed him. Is this how it goes down? Every SP I move up more than a half dozen spots, ends up with arm trouble or some sort of setback injury? I think we might be onto something. Time to go look at my opponents’ starters and move some guys into the 20s. New news (stutter!) is arm tightness, so I guess that’s better than seeking a second opinion. He said he felt fine after playing catch on Friday, but if you can’t see the potential danger here, it’s because your eyes are closed.

Kevin Gausman – If a guy gives up 6 ER on 3 hits and 5 BBs, and serves up zero home runs, can we still blame the torpedo bats? Gausman got goosed by the Yankees yesterday. It would be easy to blame it on getting rained out and not being mentally ready to go a day later in Game 1 of a double header, but that excuse doesn’t work for his 4 ER in 6 IP last week. Oof.

Bryce Miller – 4.2 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 4 Ks at Fenway. ERA at 4.21. Dammit. I wanted to keep him in the pocket he was in, but now he slides even further down the list. Who has been the most disappointing SP based on draft position vs in-season production? There have been more than a couple of SP disappointments in 2025, but I’d be surprised if this wasn’t the most common answer to that question.

Tomoyuki Sugano – 7 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 1 K, ERA at 3.54. AND a 2.9 K/9! Oh man. See Taijuan Walker and subtract more than a dozen strikeouts. If your calling card is impeccable command, and you don’t strike anyone out, you’d better be posting ratios that look like prime Greg Maddux lines, or you’re nothing more than waiver wire fodder in almost any league.

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

JT Ginn

Erick Fedde – He’s been floating around SP100 for a while now. 

Joe Boyle 

Jake Irvin

Sean Newcomb

Logan Henderson

Jordan Hicks – beat up a bit by the Rangers in the first inning yesterday before settling down.

Miles Mikolas

Zebby Matthews 

Nick Martinez

Edward Cabrera

Chris Paddack

Zack Littell

Tobias Myers – activated last week.

Shane Smith

Osvaldo Bido

Michael Lorenzen

Logan Allen – Got rocked yesterday

Luis L. Ortiz

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 – shut down from throwing program.

Ryan Weathers

Cody Bradford

Tony Gonsolin

Shohei Ohtani (SP)

Lucas Giolito

Richard Fitts

Nestor Cortes

Yu Darvish

Lance McCullers

Ranger Suarez

George Kirby

Bubba Chandler

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

Jose Quintana

Mitchell Parker

Merrill Kelly

Eduardo Rodriguez

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

Blake Snell (see above)

George Kirby – right after I submitted last week, the Mariners said they expect Kirby to be ready “in May or June”. Oh………kay. Boy, George, that’s not good news.

David Festa – optioned to AAA. The Festa-val of Sadness.

Kumar Rocker – Ouchy.

Ben Brown – The strikeouts are there, but those ratios are tough to justify rostering him.

 

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!

 

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