Happy Monday, Razzball faithful!

Well, I wanted to go in a different direction this week after running with two old music references in the last couple of weeks.

But, alas, things lined up a bit too perfectly for this one.

Is it too late to say sorry?

Maybe.

“Yeah, is it too late now to say sorry?

‘Cause I’m missing more than just your strike zone

Oh, is it too late now to say sorry?

Yeah, I know that I let you down

Is it too late to say I’m sorry now?”

Jose Soriano, probably, to all of us fantasy managers who had him active last week

Oh boy. So I watched this one on Saturday night because I was looking for a game after the kids fell asleep, and I was excited to see the matchup of flamethrower (Jose Soriano) versus marshmallow-tosser (Justin Wrobleski).

It was supposed to be the ultimate test for Jose Soriano as he and the Angels hosted the Avengers (LAD). 

I should have known that screenshotting these two bits of information was enough to curse our breakout starting pitcher on a lovely Saturday evening,

Leads the AL in wins AND is 3rd in ERA? Yes! Look out, Doyers! It’s time to pay the piper!

I mean, come on. How can you look at a graphic like this one and NOT think Soriano was going to turn the NL All-Star team…er, the Dodgers…into his own personal Lackeys.

In fairness, Soriano didn’t look bad at all. After a walk to Shohei Ohtani and a Mookie Betts hit in the top of the 1st inning, Jose Soriano settled in, allowing just 1 ER and 1 more BB to Ohtani through 5 innings. 

Ok, so what happened in the top of the 6th inning?

(Rosterers of Jose Soriano, you might want to shield your eyes for this one)

Ugh. If you were tallying those up on your own, you likely don’t need my help. But for those who weren’t, this was Soriano’s final line after Chase Silseth relieved him, promptly drilled the first dude he saw, and allowed three of those inherited runners to score: 5.1 IP, 6 ER, 1 H, 6 BB, 6 Ks.

That 1.66 ERA coming into the night, which was good enough to slot Soriano in as the third-best starter in the AL? It got beefed up to a less impressive 2.41 mark by the end of his night.

The 1.06 WHIP is still excellent, though, and the sinker/splitter combination was working for Soriano for most of the night…until it wasn’t.

We’ve discussed it before, and it feels a bit like an ‘I told you so’ moment for some folks to seize, but the truth of the matter is, Jose Soriano was known for two things before this season. A top-tier fastball (sitting 98-100+ MPH), and a not-so-top-tier command of the pitches he throws so hard (3.92 BB/9).

Do I think he’s cooked? No. Should you hope that whichever player in your league rosters him has been shaken by Soriano’s parade-esque 6th inning from Saturday night? Yes.

I’d be putting together a decent trade offer for the 27-year-old breakout pitcher if I didn’t roster him in my leagues. The walk trouble can’t be something that he can’t shake off, right?

If not…is it too late to say sorry?

Exactly how far down the Top 100 Starting Pitchers list does last week’s SP26 drop?

First, as always, it’s a bit of business. The Razzball subscriptions are well worth the price of admission. This should be your go-to reference for the entire season. That resource that the other “experts” from other sites use as often as they look at Statcast or Fangraphs data? This is it.

The Top 100 Starting Pitchers for 2026

MARMO RANK	Name	Team	Notes
1	Paul Skenes	PIT	8 IP, 0 ER, 2 hits, zero walks, 10 Ks, ERA at 1.98. That’s more than a strikeout per inning in his last two starts (16 IP), and zero ER. The Allegheny Ace is on it. Game 2: 5 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks, and the loss. Uh…writing these up before the guy’s second start of the week…well, just read what I said about Wheeler below and flip it upside down for Skenes here. Chalk this one up to facing a tough-hitting Philly club.
2	Chris Sale	ATL	6 IP, 0 ER, 7 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 1.96. He knows he’s allowed to have a bad game, right? That said, he’s more than earned the SP2 spot.
3	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	9 IP, 0 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 13 Ks, and are you kidding me?! That’s three straight wins and 30 Ks in his last 24 IP. Wowzers.
4	Shohei Ohtani	LAD	7 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 0.82. He didn’t hit in this start either. Someone is looking to score his first Cy Young now, too.
5	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD	6 1/3 IP, 5 ER, 6 hits, zero walks, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.60. 360? Big deal! I saw Tony Hawk hit a 900!
6	Cam Schlittler	NYY	6.2 IP, 2 hits, ER, 2 BB, 9 K, and his 6th win of the year. Not much more to say here than WOW.
7	Bryan Woo	SEA	6 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.91. No wobbling for Woo. Hopefully, that two-game chaos burp from last month can be chalked up as an outlier.
8	Nolan McLean	NYM	7 IP, 3 ER, 9 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 2.92. I don’t want to curse anyone, but we started the year with Tarik Skubal, Paul Skenes, and Garrett Crochet in our Top 3. Is it crazy to think those three end up injured and we finish the year with Cam Schlittler, Nolan McLean, and Jacob Misiorowski as our September Top 3? Maybe. But not as crazy as it would have been if we said it in February.
9	Jacob Misiorowski	MLW	7 IP, 0 ER, 4 hits, zero walks, 10 Ks, ERA at 2.12. Both he and Schlittler should be in the Top 10 ranks everywhere by now. Up!
10	Dylan Cease	TOR	Jumper. More below.
11	Jacob deGrom	TEX	6 IP, 4 ER, 4 HR, 5 H, 0 BB, 4 Ks. Talk about a polar opposite of his start from the week before. Four solo homers feel like it could have been worse (at least they were one-shot jobbers), but he moves below a couple of jumpers today.
12	Zack Wheeler	PHI	Game 1: 7 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 6 hits, zero walks, 4 Ks, ERA at 2.55. I said he was likely too high last week, but aside from a meh strikeout total, are you really thinking he isn’t a Top 15 arm (not including currently IL’d pitchers)? Game 2: 7 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 8 Ks, and the win. Writing these up before a guy’s second start is usually a recipe for disaster, but this kind of week should tell you all you need to know about Wheels. He’s back.
13	Shota Imanaga	CHC	7 IP, 2 ER, 5 hits, zero walks, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.32. Last week, I shared a graphic listing him as the 5th-best WHIP/ERA guy in the last 4 years. He’s an ace, kids.
14	Chase Burns	CIN	6 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 1.87. Just torching all those starting pitchers I ranked ahead of him this March.
15	Max Fried	NYY	More below. Dumper.
16	George Kirby	SEA	5 IP, 1 ER, 9 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 2.84. Solid. Up a bit. EDIT: Game 2: 5.2 IP, 2 BB, 6 Ks, and his first loss in 4 GS. See, kids? That’s how we bury the bad news. Just don’t look up the 6 ER/2 HR allowed from last night. Oof.
17	Logan Gilbert	SEA	6.2 IP, 7 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 HR, 5 Ks. It’s been Jeckyll and Hyde with Gilbert most nights. When he’s good, he’s good. When he’s not…well, see above. Down.
18	Kevin Gausman	TOR	Game 1: 4 2/3 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 3.86. Ah…so much for that boost last week. We all know the most famous Johnny Cochrane line, but I bet you didn’t know he moonlighted as a pitching coach, too. “When the split doesn’t split, he’s gonna get hit.” Game 2: 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 5 Ks. Guess whose splitter was splitting yesterday.
19	Freddy Peralta	NYM	Game 1 was good! 6 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks, and his 3rd win. Game 2 (yesterday)? Not as good. 5 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, 6 BB, 4 Ks, and the no-decision. The walks could’ve led to a worse final line, but he slips a bit today regardless.
20	Cole Ragans	KC	Dumper. More below.
21	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	Scratched with side soreness. So he was sore, then scratched, or was he sore after he scratched his side? Inquiring minds. He was supposed to be day-to-day and start on Sunday, BUT…EDIT: 7 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 8 Ks, and his 3rd straight win. I’m going out on a limb and saying he’s just fine.UP!
22	Drew Rasmussen	TB	6 IP, 3 ER, 5 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.16. And OH MY GOD ANOTHER QUALITY START! This means he doesn’t have to give us another one until July 1st! Game 2: I watched this one until the Jays game started yesterday, and I thought we were in for another QS! But, of course, well, you can see for yourself…5.1 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 2 Ks. Up.
23	Shane McClanahan	TB	5 IP, 0 ER, 1 hit, 1 walk, 7 Ks, ERA at 2.27. He McClanahandled the Jays and is giving us what we were hoping for when we drafted him with some cautious optimism way back in March. Two starts this week, too! He’s up a bunch of spots today.
24	Joe Ryan	MIN	6.0 IP, 4 hits, ER, BB, 7 K. A 3.20 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP must mean a healthy win total after 10 starts, right? (He has two).
25	Emmet Sheehan	LAD	6 IP, 2 ER, 4 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 4.54. I didn’t watch this one, but Grey mentioned on Friday morning that the two earned runs shouldn’t have counted and were scored on a Teoscar error. I kind of smiled, remembering how Teoscar looked like a bull moose with a glove in the Toronto outfield a few years back. Maybe the MLB front office can make another Shohei rule where the Dodgers get two DHs on days that Ohtani still wants to hit.
26	Robbie Ray	SF	4 2/3 IP, 3 ER, ERA at 3.04. Ah, of course. I moved him up into the Top 20ish, and he gives us this as a prize. Ugh.
27	Sonny Gray	BOS	6 IP, 1 ER, 3 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.18. Mr Underrated must’ve read last week’s write-up. The ERs are down, the Ks are up, and the skies are Sonny.
28	Framber Valdez	DET	6 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 4.32. Not a bad start after returning from the timeout corner.
29	Emerson Hancock	SEA	6.0 IP, 5 hits, ER, BB, 6 K. A tough loss to Randy Vasquez and the Padres. Hancock has been great and needs to keep getting the ball every 5 days. (More below in the Castillo Dumper blurb).
30	Parker Messick	CLE	6 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 2.35. Park yourself in front of the TV next start if you want to see a smooth lefty take care of business. Thank goodness I have a bunch of shares. Up a bit.
31	Gavin Williams	CLE	6 IP, 2 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 7 Ks, and his 6th win. Back on track. (Just don’t look at the previous two starts where he allowed a total of 10 ER and 18 hits). Up.
32	Jose Soriano	LAA	More above! Down today.
33	Michael King	SD	5 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 2.63. King for a day? He’s been King for a while now. At least for 6 out of his last 7 starts. (Well, technically for 30 years now, but who’s counting?).
34	Ryan Weathers	NYY	Jumper. More below.
35	Trey Yesavage	TOR	6.0 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. More below! Jumper! Again! Yay!
36	Jesus Luzardo	PHI	6 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 5.07. “The Jesus Lizard lays the trap for the unassuming fantasy manager to lure them back in. Watch, as the Jesus Lizard coils itself into a ball…ready to release 12 ER on its unsuspecting victim in its next start.” That’s from the new National Geographic / MLB Network crossover debuting next year during the work stoppage. Don’t be the next unsuspecting victim.
37	Braxton Ashcraft	PIT	6.2 IP, 7 hits, 4 ER, 5 K. Ah, I had a feeling the Phillies offense would give Ashcraft a rough night, but I still started him. Maybe he’s not an auto-start quite yet, though. I want to rank him above Luzardo, but it feels biased.
38	Will Warren	NYY	5 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 5 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.42. Heaven forbid he gets that final out for the QS!
39	Kyle Harrison	MLW	5 IP, 0 ER, 5 hits, zero walks, 7 Ks, ERA at 2.09. You think the Brewers GM giggles every time Kyle Harrison is on the mound and wonders if the Red Sox will trade them Roman Anthony for Luis Rengifo next?
40	Payton Tolle	BOS	8 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks, and his 2nd win, I needed someone to slot into that SP40 spot after moving some names around, and lo and behold, here he is.
41	Carlos Rodon	NYY	3.2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks, and his first loss. I’m not saying a healthy Rodon should be this low every week. I’m just saying he’s not heading into the Top 25 until he rips off a few of those dominant outings we’re used to seeing when he’s healthy and firing on all cylinders.
42	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	6 IP, 0 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 6 Ks. Two straight solid QS for Alcantara pushes him up a bit today.
43	Spencer Strider	ATL	5.1 IP, 3 hits, ER, 3 BB, 4 K. The walks aren’t great (10 BBs), but a 2.45 ERA and 1.22 WHIP after 3 starts with an 11.05 K/9 is a lot better than it could have been after his return at the beginning of the month. Up a bit.
44	Ranger Suarez	BOS	5 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 2.44. A nice thumb behind the teeth to his old Philly club.
45	Spencer Arrighetti	HOU	Had a no-hitter into the 8th inning against Texas, and was Dan Pants’ lede on Saturday morning here. Up!
46	Kyle Bradish	BAL	6 IP, 0 ER, 1 hit, 3 walks, 7 Ks, ERA at 4.21. I hope you didn’t drop him for a middle reliever because this was his second solid start in a row. Now I just need to have the stones to start him again in my AL-only league. Up a bit.
47	Mitch Keller	PIT	5 2/3 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 3.59. Mister Kwality Start with a bit of a krappy one. Ouch.
48	Logan Henderson	MLW	5 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks, and his first win. He hasn’t allowed more than 2 ER in any of his 4 starts. Now it’s just a matter of building up stamina.
49	Connelly Early	BOS	5.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 K. That’s just 2 ER in his last 12 IP with 14 Ks. A nice bounceback from the 4 IP, 5 ER debacle on May 2nd. Up.
50	Eury Perez	MIA	6 IP, 3 ER, 6 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 4.94. There’s that quality start! He’s fixed! He’s an ace! Eury-lly think so?
51	Davis Martin	CWS	He’s kind of like the anti-Rodon. We know Rodon is better than where he’s ranked in here, and I think we know that Davis Martin isn’t as good as where he’s ranked here. But I sure don’t want to doubt him. He was my lede last week (Who’s This Buddy Davis Guy?), and he followed up last week’s QS with another win on Saturday night. 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 7 Ks, and his 6th win. Join the rest of White Sox nation and ride this cloud of fantasy baseball catharsis for as long as you can!
52	Edward Cabrera	CHC	4.2 IP, 3 hits, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K. Uh…so he doesn’t finish 5 innings, AND he only strikes out two? Down.
53	Seth Lugo	KC	5 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 3.76. You go, we go. Lugo? No go. Down.
54	Connor Prielipp	MIN	6 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 8 Ks, and a win-loss record that does not reflect his pitching ability (1-2). He hasn’t allowed more than 2 ER in any of his 5 GS, and the K/9 is a fantastic 10.44. Up a bunch today.
55	Kris Bubic	KC	4 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 4.11. What’s the 411? Well, the Bub-itchers aren’t going to like it, but he’s down today. Again.
56	Michael Soroka	ARI	6 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.53. There’s a fine line between sneaky good and pending regression. That said, I’m comfortable thinking Soroka is closer to the former than he is the latter. Up. (And he still feels too low). EDIT: Game 2: 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 8 Ks, and his 2nd win of the week. See! No regression! (Please don’t curse him.)
57	Reid Detmers	ANA	5 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 8 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 4.38. One out away from a quality start, hey? H2Hers, Reid it and weep!
58	Max Meyer	MIA	5 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 9 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.21. The rest of my…er…mid-rotation starters aren’t this good.
59	Landen Roupp	SF	5 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 8 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.49. That’s 7 walks for the Roupp dog in his last 13.2 innings. Three straight losses, too. Ugh.
60	Foster Griffin	WSH	4 1/3 IP, 9 ER, ERA at 3.53. “All the other kids with their pumped up pitch, you better run, better run…faster than regression!” That’s from the old 2K band, Foster the Griffin. (Eagle head not included).
61	Justin Wrobleski	LAD	I said in the opening write-up that I watched his start, but mostly for the Jose Soriano factor. Well, Wrobleski was back at it again, being his usual boring yet effective self. 6 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks, and his 6th win! His strikeout rate is the only thing keeping him out of the Top 50 SPs.
62	Randy Vasquez	SD	6.0 IP, 4 hits, 3 K, 5th win, ERA at 2.68. Yeehaw! That’s a streaming success in the Perts league for MarmosDad! Now I have to get myself used to dropping these guys afterwards. Up.
63	Bryce Elder	ATL	8 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 3 Ks, and a tough luck loss at BOS. He has just one win in his last 5 GS, but the ratios are on point. He deserves a boost today.
64	Bryce Miller	SEA	5 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 9 baserunners, 3 Ks. There was talk that the Mariners would have Castillo and Miller split games, but, like Grey said last Thursday, Miller is a lot better than that. I wouldn’t rule out a phantom IL stint for Castillo to buy them some time in the rotation rather than going to a 6-man setup.
65	Noah Schultz	CWS	4 1/3 IP, 3 ER, ERA at 4.91. Another kid starter who didn’t finish 5 innings. Schultz, Christian Scott, JR Ritchie. You know what they say. They can’t all be as good as Alek Manoah. (No, they don’t really say that).
66	Tanner Bibee	CLE	6.2 IP, 7 hits, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K. What’s the word for a nice quality start and just two strikeouts? I mean, I know the emoji is a barf one, but it could have been worse.
67	Nick Lodolo	CIN	4 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 8.68. Numerologists rejoice! That’s one earned run for each blistered finger on his pitching hand! Let’s cut him some slack for now.
68	Bubba Chandler	PIT	3 IP, 4 ER, 4 BB, 2 Ks. Ok, ok, ok. I’ll stop trying to will it into existence. Down a bunch today.
69	Joey Cantillo	CLE	6 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 2.98. Cantillo with the QS, yo! Up!
70	Casey Mize	DET	6 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 4 Ks, and the no-decision vs TOR. A good first start back after a three-week IL stint. He’ll move up a lot next week if he throws another good one.
71	Merrill Kelly	ARI	Jumper. More below. (I moved him up another 15 spots after my initial boost).
72	Shane Baz	BAL	7.0 IP, 6 hits, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. That’s 5 losses so far, and it’s time to drop him even further. Woof times a hundred.
73	Michael Wacha	KC	6 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks broke a modest two-game win streak. He gets BOS at home this week.
74	JR Ritchie	ATL	4 1/3 IP, 1 ER, ERA at 3.32. Much better than his animated Springfield counterpart, JR Scratchy.
75	Brandon Sproat	MLW	5 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 8 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 5.75. Two more outs for a QS and a half dozen Ks? Alright, we’re listening.
76	Mackenzie Gore	TEX	8 IP, 1 ER, 4 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 4.50. A much less Gore-y start last week, but I’d still avoid the waiver frenzy to add MacKenzie after that one. We need way more than one good start to trust it’ll happen every time out. Up today.
77	Christian Scott	NYM	4 2/3 IP, 2 ER, ERA at 3.45. Not 6 innings, but not bad if you don’t need wins from him. Hopefully, he can stretch out and get some QS action. Up just a bit.
78	Ryne Nelson	ARI	7 IP, 3 ER, 4 hits, zero walks, 8 Ks, ERA at 5.40. Some of the numbers don’t look bad at all – 5 ER in his last 19.1 IP – but he hasn’t won a game in 6 straight starts, and the 14 ER in 5.1 IP at the end of April make me less inclined to have faith in moving him up much more than he is here today.
79	Sean Burke	CWS	4.1 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks, and his second rough start in a row. He’s at SEA this week, and I’d consider sitting him.
80	Trevor Rogers	BAL	4 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 5.77. There’s an unwritten piece of comfort when a starting pitcher gets activated late, so you don’t have to worry about the temptation to activate him in weekly moves leagues. That was the case with Rogers last week for me. Phew.
81	Nick Martinez	TB	6 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks, and one big question mark. This guy is 4-1 and hasn’t allowed more than 2 ER in ANY of his NINE STARTS! Why is he our SP80, then? I could take the easy way out and say it’s the low strikeout total, but it’s also because the army of regression fairies keeps going down the list of “Martinezes” in the MLB player book and hasn’t reached Nick yet. (Seriously, there are like 200 of them.)
82	Peter Lambert	HOU	Jumper! More below!
83	Andrew Abbott	CIN	Two straight wins and just 3 ER in his last 22.2 innings (4 GS). He should probably be in the 70s today, but I didn’t want to bump anyone out of his way.
84	Bailey Ober	MIN	9 IP, 0 ER, 2 hits, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.46. WHOA! Guess who’s Ober-joyed that he started Bailey Ober in the TGFBI league last week! (I won’t ask if you can guess whose pitching rotation is so bad that he had to start Bailey Ober in the TGFBI league last week). No Ragrets! Until next week! Up! EDIT: It wasn’t until final edits that I saw he started yesterday, too. 5 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 1 K on 77 pitches and his 2nd win of the week. We’ll take it!
85	Zebby Matthews	MIN	Ah, shoot. He’s a Jumper today, but I forgot to add him until late. Had to re-jig the list just to put him somewhere relatively acceptable. Hopefully, he stays up. Jumper. More below.
86	Jack Leiter	TEX	7.0 IP, 3 hits, ER, 3 BB, 6 K. It’s been pretty ugly, and I’m nearly done in my mixed leagues. He’s at COL this week, so that’s a sit for me too.
87	Grant Holmes	ATL	6 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks, and a Sunday start means he doesn’t get moved up as high as he should? Time to re-organize the list AGAIN!
88	Noah Cameron	KC	6 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 4 Ks is good enough for a quality start, but not for a win.
89	Keider Montero	DET	4 2/3 IP, 4 ER, ERA at 3.65. Funny enough, 365 is also the number of days each year that Tigers fans (a) are wishing for an affordable Skubal extension, (b) are asking how long until Jackson Jobe comes back, and (c) there is no C.
90	Lucas Giolito	SD	He was called up to start last night’s “late” game at George Kirby and SEA. EDIT: 5 IP, 3 ER, 1 H, 3 BB, 3 Ks. Someone ring up Nick Pollack! ‘Cause Gio is BACK! (Jokes. Seriously. With love. Please don’t doxx me.)
91	Aaron Civale	ATH	It feels like a joke to even have this guy in the list, but we can’t argue with the results. He’s won three straight starts, has a 2.70 ERA, and a 1.39 WHIP. Oh, and he’s given us 5 wins so far, too. Up.
92	Luis Severino	ATL	6 IP, 5 ER, 10 H, 2 BB, 7 Ks, and one big ouch. So much for that 4-game streak of 2 ER or fewer. He’s at LAA this week. Down.
93	Luis Castillo	SEA	Dumper. More below.
94	Cade Cavalli	WSH	6.1 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 8 Ks, and his 2nd win. He likely deserves a boost of about 10 spots, but I want to see more of these before he jumps too much.
95	Robert Gasser	MLW	I say it below, in the WHEE section, but I needed another arm to add here, and this was the one that made me the most excited. I’d add him and Logan Henderson if/where I could (even if saying this means I have to spend extra FAAB cash next week when leaguemates read this). 4 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks.
96	Roki Sasaki	LAD	I know this is probably going to blow up in my face, but Roki is back this week after a solid start yesterday. I watched this one, and the commentators managed to convince me when they said that at least Roki has been talking with Shohei and Yamamoto about pitching improvements. I mean, how the heck isn’t he talking with two of the league’s best Japanese pitchers already anyway? Smh. 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 8 Ks.
97	Mike Burrows	HOU	5 2/3 IP, 7 ER, ERA at 5.72. I said a couple of weeks ago that I picked this guy up in an AL Only, and I don’t know what the word is for cutting a guy loose so you’re not tempted to start him because you know he’s gonna get smoked, but whatever THAT is, THIS is it. Down.
98	Brady Singer	CIN	Game 1: 3 2/3 IP, 3 ER, ERA at 5.79. Game 2: 4 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 3 HR allowed, 6 Ks. Ugh. Singer slinging sewage. Steadily slipping. Supporting Stumpers settlement. Soon.
99	Zac Gallen	ARI	4 2/3 IP, 7 ER, ERA at 5.65. More like GaLLLLen. How many more Ls do we need to see before he’s off the list?
100	Aaron Nola	PHI	3.2 IP, 6 hits, 6 ER, 3 BB, 2 K. It doesn’t take a crystal ball to know that this guy shouldn’t be active on your roster most nights. You can remove the words ‘active’ and ‘most nights’ from that sentence to make it work even better.

JUMPERS (Players who jumped up the list this week).

Dylan Cease – A second week in the Jumpers for Mr. Cease, and it’s even more warranted than last week’s appointment. 7 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 2.41. Ok, that’s enough. Hometown cooking be damned. He’s a Top 10 guy, and I don’t care what kind of bias I have to back it up with. “Oh, great. It’s another Blue Jays rah rah session with MarmosDad”. Yes, I suppose it is. But it’s not something we should ignore either, so here we are!

Ryan Weathers – 6 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 4 baserunners (3 BBs), 9 Ks, ERA at 3.00. Oh, those sweet, sweet strikeouts. It’s another clip-happy week in our Jumpers and Dumpers;  I have to admit that getting excited about all these videos and information tidbits throughout the week makes it pretty tough not to share with y’all every Monday.

Regular readers know that this guy is a preseason darling from CoolWhip and me. Regulars also know how much both of us were in on Weathers last year before the injury meltdown, and likely read a bit about us going back to the well in draft season 2026. 

If Rob Friedman’s clip of Weathers’ changeup mastery is any indication of whether or not it was a good call…I’d say it’s been ‘So far, so good’.

Trey Yesavage – Ok. Let’s get one thing out of the way first. This is not my burner account. That being said, you can’t fault me for sharing this data about the MarmoFavorite for 2026. I had him as my breakout for the year until he went to the IL, and Grey asked if I wanted to change it to Barger instead. (Yes, lateral IL movements for the win).

I mean…come on now. If you haven’t tried to lock this kid in yet, float out a trade offer and pray your competing managers haven’t seen this.

Peter Lambert – 7 IP, 3 ER, 7 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.76. Speaking of locking in kids…Who needs Verlander and Cole when you’ve got…Peter!

Zebby Matthews – 7 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 5 Ks. Taj Bradley’s Terry Crews pectoral impersonation backfired, and the team wanting to give Prielipp extra rest meant Zeb got a spot start. After an outing like this, how can they not at least consider giving him another one? VIN mentioned that Matthews’ start ranked #93 on the best 100 starts of the year, so that’s something to use for backup in favor of “Team Stay Up With The Big Club”.

That said, he’s still just the second-best Zeb we’ll see on screens this week.

Merrill Kelly – 9.0 IP, 4 hits, ER, 0 BB, 3 K. A complete game shutout with just 3 Ks is about as Merrill Kelly as it gets. He takes a big jump today to make up for the disrespect from last week.

Jared Jones – Like Cease, he gets a repeat Jumper appointment this week. But…uh…for other reasons.

The good news is his rehab starts have gone well (4 GS, 16.2 IP, 16:3, K:BB). The not-so-good news (if you’re a PIT coach) is that this guy does not sound like someone who wants to “do what’s best for the team”. Maybe they should sign Eric Lauer to be an opener, too. Eek emoji. EDIT: Lauer was traded to the Dodgers last night for a crisp high five and future considerations.

DUMPERS (Players who dropped down the list this week).

Cole Ragans – Bits and pieces from news articles are saying things like, “he should avoid a lengthy stay on the IL”, and “should be activated shortly after eligible”. He’s not able to return until May 22nd, and Keelin wrote him up in the Starting Pitcher graveyard this weekend (check that out here).  At the very minimum, he’s a big old Dumper today. Insert sad emoji.

Max Fried – 3 IP, 3 ER, ERA at 3.21. Oh no. 

(The official report is a ‘deep bone bruise’ and that he’ll be shut down for a few weeks. Ugh.)

Blake Snell – If you blinked, you might have missed his activation anyway. Let’s pretend he was on the IL this whole time and ignore the 3 IP meltdown last week.

Clay Holmes – 4.1 IP, 7 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, and headed to the IL. I don’t know if it’s better or worse when a starting pitcher gets knocked out of the lineup with an injury unrelated to his arm strength or usage. Regardless, this clip is much less ugly-looking than the report turned out to be. 

Clay Holmes fractured his tibia after this 111 MPH liner hit him, per @NYPost_Mets

— Talkin’ Baseball (@talkinbaseballbot.bsky.social) 2026-05-16T02:32:11.000Z

It’s officially a “fractured fibula,” and he’s pretty much finished. The earliest he can be activated is September 1st, so stashing in keeper leagues is fine, but he’s already been cut in every one of my redraft leagues.

Luis Castillo – 5 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 7 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 6.34. They should probably go to a 6-man rotation now that Bryce Miller is back. But they won’t. Bottom line: trading Luis Castillo somewhere for something is better for your Emerson Hancock development time than trying to fool around with Castillo/Miller splitting games. And flipping him back to Cincy for Noelvi isn’t as crazy as it used to sound, no? Just my 2 cents. 

Robby Snelling – The pitching gods giveth, and the pitching gods taketh away. Hit the IL with a UCL sprain. Ya. The Snelling salts aren’t going to help here. What a boot to the gut…er, elbow. 

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

Jameson Taillon 

Dean Kremer 

Kyle Leahy 

Ben Brown – 4 IP, 0 ER, 1 hit, 1 walk, 7 Ks, ERA at 1.60. If the Cub is brown, DON’T flush him down…make him a starter again. 

Slade Cecconi

Jacob Lopez

Martin Perez 

Lance McCullers Jr. – 5 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 9 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 6.86. “No chance Lance” stays on the Stumper list for now. I’m doing it for your own good. 

Brandon Pfaadt 

Chris Bassitt 

Andre Pallante – 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 7 Ks. Looks like a pretty sweet line and an easy win, right? Nope. It was a 2-0 loss to KC. Oof.

Michael McGreevy – 6 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 2.10. Ain’t nothing skeevy ‘bout McGreevy! (Overheard in the nosebleeds at Busch Stadium…maybe) 

Trevor McDonald – 5 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 11 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 2.92. Stumper until Webb returns. 

Eduardo Rodríguez 

Dustin May – 6 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 3 Ks. We can argue that he should be on the list over Roki or Gasser, and that’s probably true. I’ve just been burned so many times that it’s tough to believe. He has 4 straight quality starts and 6 in his 9 (total) GS. Aaaaand…I think I just convinced myself, too. Lucy?! Get that football ready for my foot, because here I come! *running towards football, convinced that this is the time it’ll happen* (Next week!)

Tomoyuki Sugano

Janson Junk – 5.2 IP, 10 hits, 7 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. No worries. I know y’all listened to me when I said: “Don’t add this guy”. Right?

Carmen Mlodzinski

Anthony Kay

Kumar Rocker – 5 IP, 0 ER, 7 baserunners (4 BBs), 3 Ks, ERA at 4.34. If you think I’m going to recommend adding him, you’re off your…well, you know.

Erick Fedde

Elmer Rodriguez – 4.1 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 1 K. Uncle Elmer isn’t quite ready to throw down in the fantasy baseball ring just yet, but he’s worth a monocle. Overalls not included.

Patrick Corbin

Colin Rea 

Jack Kochanowicz 

Jeffrey Springs – 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks, and the loss. It was a ticker shocker for Springs as the A’s lost 10-1 to San Francisco.

Griffin Jax – 5 IP, 0 ER, 8 baserunners, 1 K, ERA at 3.91. So let me get this straight. All of these kid starters who come up through the minors as starting pitchers can’t get through 5 innings, but a 31-year-old who’s started 4 out of 354 games (since 2022) can do it? Make it make sense!

Alek Manoah – 5 IP, 0 ER. Good news! That 2023 Cy Young call is just gonna be a bit late! I can’t believe I’m adding him here this week, but 5 IP 0 ER is a lot better than anyone expected him to pitch in High A, let alone on a major league mound again. But he did walk 5 guys. NO! I said walk 5 guys, not walk TO Five Guys (for a bag of burgers).

Jack Flaherty – Game 1: 3 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 9 baserunners, 2 Ks, ERA at 5.73. Oh, Jackson Jobe, where art thou?! Game 2: 6 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 4 Ks, and his 5th loss. 

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 Bieber

Joe Musgrove

Justin Steele

Cristian Javier

Joe Boyle

Hunter Brown

Hunter Greene

Spencer Schwellenbach

Zach Eflin

Johan Oviedo

Grayson Rodriguez – I was miffed with myself for forgetting that he started yesterday and for not making room for him at the bottom of the list. Then I saw his final line: 3.2 IP, 7 ER, 7 H, 4 BB, 4 Ks. Woof. Another one of those “It’s nice he’s back, but let’s let him cook for a bit before we activate him on our fantasy rosters” kind of things, I suppose.

Cody Ponce

Cade Horton

Shane Smith

Quinn Priester

Clarke Schmidt

River Ryan

Corbin Burnes

Gerrit Cole

Pablo Lopez

Tatsyua Imai – 4 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 9.24. I watched this one against SEA to see Bryan Woo, and as good as Woo looked, Imai did not look very comfortable. That said, if we omit the grand slam by Dominic Canzone, the line would look a lot better. And if you took away the 3 walks. Plus the 2 HR allowed. Oh, and gave him 8 innings instead of 4. And… 

Kade Anderson

Nick Pivetta

Andrew Painter – 5 IP, 1 ER, 4 hits, zero walks, 4 Ks, ERA at 6.21. You’re gonna have to put together a much prettier picture than this if you want us to trust you again in redraft leagues. 

Thomas White

Ryan Pepiot

Jose Berrios – “Undergoing surgery to repair fractured elbow”. Doneski for 2026.

Justin Verlander

Reese Olson

Mick Abel

Didier Fuentes

Garrett Crochet

Brandon Woodruff

Tarik Skubal

Tyler Glasnow – I left him in last week with the hope that he’d be ok after a doctor visit. Can you guess how that went? Dave Roberts’ official word was that Glasnow “won’t be ready to come off the IL when he’s eligible” on May 31st. What a surprise. Hashtag sarcasm.

Steven Matz 

Max Scherzer

Kodai Senga

Brayan Bello – 6 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 6.46. Following an opener again. Woof. Game 2: I got a tiny bit worried that maybe Bello figured it out last week. Nope! 5 IP, 7 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 1 K. ERA at 7.16.

Matthew Boyd

Logan Webb

Braxton Garrett – 1 1/3 IP, 5 ER. See? Even Robby Snelling’s teammates are sad about the elbow injury. He was slated to be added, but the rough debut pushes him to the Bumpers list for now. If he sticks in the rotation, he’ll move to Stumpers next week. 

Yusei Kikuchi

Griffin Canning – 1 2/3 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 10.64. Phew! Good thing I didn’t add him to the list last week! *checks notes while sweating nervously* Next! 

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

Casey Mize

Trevor Rogers

Bryce Miller

Zebby Matthews

Lucas Giolito

Robert Gasser – I needed two more names to add this week, so I went with Gasser and Sasaki.

Roki Sasaki

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

Blake Snell

Robby Snelling

Taj Bradley

Clay Holmes

Chase Dollander – 1 IP, 3 ER, and headed to the IL with that pesky “Sorry, Rockies pitchers aren’t supposed to be this good” disease that has plagued Colorado for decades. 

Tyler Glasnow

Rhett Lowder – Scratched with a shoulder injury.

And lastly, if you’re looking for the Bieber video to round things up, I couldn’t bring myself to add it in here because of the number of clicks I already uploaded to the rest of the piece.

If anyone is upset or disappointed, I guess I should say…

I apologize?

 

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

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