Happy Monday, Razzball faithful!

Last week, I gave you a breakdown of our TGFBI league’s draft with a write-up on the starters that both The Lineup Builder and I chose from our respective draft slots. That was a pretty extensive breakdown of arms, and I hope it helped you gather up some information about certain starting pitchers you might want to draft (or avoid) in your drafts last week.

A few of you told me you liked the setup and wanted to see how my RazzSlam squad shaped up. Thus, your old pal MarmosDad, always committed to putting the work in for our excellent Razzball faithful, was more than happy to oblige (and, apparently, refer to himself in the third person in the process).

There is one big caveat in this round-up, though. TGFBI is a classic rotisserie-style league with 5X5 scoring categories (R, RBI, AVG, SB, HR, W, SV, WHIP, ERA, Ks), and bi-weekly moves with FAAB runs every Sunday night. There are 15 managers in each league competing against one another for the league title, but also trying to amass enough category points to put them in the running for the overall top spot.

That format means loading up on good starting pitching AND at least one or two solid closers early-ish. Having a good pitching base is essential if you don’t want to finish in the basement.

RazzSlam is an entirely different animal. 

RazzSlam is a league based purely on Points accumulation. It’s a Best Ball format, (lineups are automatically generated each week based on which players performed best in the week), with just TWO FAAB runs throughout the entire year.

It’s important to put this information out there ahead of my write-up so that you all know that a strategy I decided to try out in this year’s RazzSlam is one that I would not try in a rotisserie league. Here’s the basic idea…

• Punt pitching early. Don’t draft more than 1 or 2 pitchers in the first 20 rounds.
• While other teams are loading up on their SP4-5 or second closer, draft a solid half dozen bench bats, some with upside.
• Make a short list of deep value picks who might sneak into a closing gig or a back end of the rotation assignment out of Spring.
• Don’t worry about missing out on arms or taking a risk. (FAAB 1 is April 8th – we can trim the fat or failure then).

Following this format was my goal and I think I kept my focus for the most part. I’ll fill in the notes section to let you know who (and why) I took in each spot. I did not take a lot of starting pitchers to fill out my roster because of what Rudy’s War Room had projected for pitcher points totals.

Speaking of Rudy’s War Room…(nailed that segue way!),  The Razzball Fantasy Baseball Subscription 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. If you subscribe early enough, you’ll also get access to the War Room. Rudy’s tools are well worth the price of admission. If you’re serious about improving throughout the season, check the link, yo.

Also! Hopefully, you had a chance to sign up for our Razzball Commenter Leagues. Our Perts League draft is TONIGHT at 9:00 EST. Here’s the link to the draft board if you want to follow along. I draft my final RCL (#30) tomorrow night too, so I hope to see a few of you there with me!

For reference, I ended up with the 1.01 pick in this year’s RazzSlam. I knew who I had to take. Two years ago, I took Shohei Ohtani as my 1.01 and finished 7th overall in points (albeit on the consolation side after missing the championship cutline a month before the end of that season). Remembering that I had double picks each round might help rationalize my picks here.

The Top 100 Starting Pitchers for 2025

SP RANK	NAME	TEAM	RAZZSLAM  SP RANKING	GREY’s RANKINGS	NOTES
1	Paul Skenes	PIT	2	1	The King was selected as the SP2?! Oh, the disrespect!
2	Tarik Skubal	DET	1	2	Skubal and Skenes went back-to-back at the end of Round 3.
3	Zack Wheeler	PHI	3	3
4	Logan Gilbert	SEA	5	4
5	Cole Ragans	KC	8	7	I’m a big fan, but this was early Round 6 – and I was still drafting hitters.
6	Garrett Crochet	BOS	4	12
7	Dylan Cease	SD	7	6	Cease and Burnes were the only two starters drafted in Round 5.
8	Corbin Burnes	ARI	6	20
9	Michael King	SD	15	11	I’ll skip the SP14 here because it was Gerrit Cole (RIP).
10	Framber Valdez	HOU	12	8
11	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD	16	15	I would’ve loved him as my SP1, but I had to stick to the plan!
12	Chris Sale	ATL	9	19
13	Tyler Glasnow	LAD	24	34	I wanted him at the end of Round 12. He went just before my pick so I had to pivot to…(check 10 spots below him here).
14	Shota Imanaga	CHC	22	13
15	Blake Snell	LAD	11	10
16	George Kirby	SEA	10	5	SP10 for this league. The injury news certainly pushed him down a bit. “Precautionary” IL placement on Friday (Mar. 21).
17	Pablo Lopez	MIN	13	22
18	Jacob deGrom	TEX	17	18
19	Roki Sasaki	LAD	19	17	This is almost 10 spots before he was selected in our TGFBI draft a week earlier (SP28).
20	Bailey Ober	MIN	20	23
21	Bryce Miller	SEA	23	14
22	Spencer Schwellenbach	ATL	21	16
23	Joe Ryan	MIN	25	41	The SP25 was my first pitcher of the draft! This was the end of Round 12. For reference, I had taken 11 hitters and filled out most of my starting lineup before double-tapping Joe Ryan.
24	Sonny Gray	STL	33	28
25	Freddy Peralta	MLW	31	32
26	Zac Gallen	ARI	37	25	It was between him and Woo for me. Gallen went two picks after I took Woo.
27	Hunter Greene	CIN	28	40	The strikeout potential is flashing brightly this Spring. If he stays healthy, he could challenge Paul Skenes and Zack Wheeler for the NL strikeout title.
28	Max Fried	NYY	26	39
29	Spencer Strider	ATL	35	59	SP35 and SP35 in this list last week. This was the end of Round 15. I assume his stock shoots up now that he’s shown good health.
30	Luis Castillo	SEA	30	38
31	Logan Webb	SF	18	24
32	Tanner Bibee	CLE	32	29
33	Aaron Nola	PHI	27	42
34	Bryan Woo	SEA	36	26	I didn’t want to take another pitcher this “early” but I couldn’t pass up Woo here. The obsession is strong. Please stay healthy. Round 15.
35	Kevin Gausman	TOR	39	57	He’s an easy name to fade, but he struck out 10 in 5 shutout innings on Saturday in his final Spring outing. That’s a pretty good sign.
36	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	38	61	Sandy moves up about 10 spots this week. A big checkpoint was getting through Spring Training healthy. Check.
37	Hunter Brown	HOU	29	30
38	Jack Flaherty	DET	41	31	McClanahan was SP40 (More below) and Flaherty went right after that.
39	Kodai Senga	NYM	48	58	I’m high here but someone else in the draft room is always higher than I am. I haven’t gotten any shares yet this draft season.
40	Yusei Kikuchi	LAA	51	63	Same as Senga. I like him, but always take Woo or Jones instead of guys in this pocket.
41	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	34	49
42	Carlos Rodon	NYY	49	35
43	Justin Steele	CHC	43	36	Another one that lines up right where I had him ranked. SP43 was the last pick before my double tap at the end of RD 16/beginning of RD 17.
44	Brandon Pfaadt	ARI	47	37
45	Robbie Ray	SFG	42	48
46	Reynaldo Lopez	ATL	50	44
47	Seth Lugo	KC	45	43
48	Shane Baz	TB	60	54
49	Taj Bradley	TB	55	55
50	Gavin Williams	CLE	59	83	I was disappointed when Williams and Baz both went on the way back up to my picks at the end of RD 20.
54	Nick Pivetta	S.D.	52	50
55	Zach Eflin	BAL	53	45
56	Ranger Suarez	PHI	84	47	I wondered why he was going so low in drafts, then saw that his back issues from late August had resurfaced and he was headed to the IL. Yikes.
57	Bowden Francis	TOR	74	56	Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. I wanted Jobe here, but after I took Jordan Walker in RD 23, Bowden was the sensible pick to start RD 24. There’s more info in my write-up from last week if you’re looking. He’s had a rough Spring, but I still believe he will take a big step forward in 2025.
58	Jose Berrios	TOR	62	71	It was time to take another pitcher at the beginning of RD 21. I had just taken Jo Adell as my third bench bat. I took Berrios and hoped that Jordan Walker would make it back to me in RD 22. I’m just glad I didn’t end up with Bassitt too.
59	MacKenzie Gore	SD	58	66
60	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	61	46
61	Tanner Houck	BOS	64	68
62	Jesus Luzardo	PHI	72	65
63	Ronel Blanco	HOU	70	64
64	Reese Olson	DET	67	67
65	Spencer Arrighetti	HOU	46	53	I’m low on Arrighetti here, and I just traded for him in a mixed keeper league, but I still don’t entirely trust the command. Strikeout potential is high.
66	Nick Lodolo	CIN	65	75
67	Ryan Pepiot	TB	56	52	I won’t have him anywhere, but he’s like Justin Steele for me. I have a feeling he’ll have a good year but it won’t be on any of my teams (because of my ranking vs. others).
68	Jackson Jobe	DET	73	73	I wanted to draft Jobe with my RD 23 pick, but he was taken just before my turn came up.
69	Jeffrey Springs	ATH	57	105
70	Dustin May	LAD	85	88	I don’t want to curse anyone, but I hoped to snag both May and Weathers in this draft.
71	Max Scherzer	TOR	92	122
72	Yu Darvish	SD	54	72	Darvish was selected in RD 18 between Zach Eflin and Taj Bradley. I would have guessed he’d be on the board for at least two more rounds.
73	Mitch Keller	PIT	78	79
74	Ryan Weathers	MIA	81	N/R	I was so pumped to take Weathers as my 6th pitcher. He had just touched 102 MPH in a Spring game and taking him in Round 24 was a steal…until the injury news. I’m keeping him here for now, but the potential that his timeline to return is 4-6 weeks means I’m likely being too stubborn by not removing him altogether right now.
75	Clay Holmes	NYM	63	95	His was the start of an SP run through Round 21. I took Berrios, then Holmes, Houck, and Lodolo went with the next three picks. I think Holmes will have a good year, but I’m concerned with how many innings he’ll pitch.
76	Nestor Cortes	MLW	77	107
77	Merrill Kelly	ARI	79	103
78	Brandon Woodruff	MLW	75	106
79	Brady Singer	CIN	103	91	An argument can be made that some names not on the list could/should take his place. At the very least, this is a streamer with strikeout potential away from home.
80	Clarke Schmidt	NYY	69	85
81	Michael Wacha	KC	66	69
82	Walker Buehler	BOS	71	104
83	Matthew Boyd	CHC	110	76
84	David Peterson	NYM	90	85
85	Tomoyuki Sugano	BAL	94	77	The strikeouts will not be there, but the ratio help should be.
86	Jose Soriano	LAA	91	101	He’s likely too high here, but that FB velocity is pretty sweet.
87	Drew Rasmussen	TB	104	87
88	Chris Bassitt	TOR	68	90	This was a bit of a reach as the SP68. I would have taken Bowden Francis ahead of Bassitt if given the choice.
89	Brayan Bello	BOS	105	78	I’m waiting to hear if his IL stint will be short or if he’ll need extensive time to build back up before returning to Fenway.
90	Tobias Myers	MLW	82	80	Same story as Bello above.
91	Jameson Taillon	CHC	96	91
92	Luis Gil	NYY	160	62	Gil is still a solid keeper league choice if you have a deep bench and/or can add a replacement by putting him in an IL spot.
93	Cody Bradford	TEX	108	74	Texas signing Patrick Corbin doesn’t make me confident that Bradford and/or Gray are coming back soon.
94	Luis Severino	ATH	89	97
95	Grant Holmes	ATL	76	111
96	Grayson Rodriguez	BAL	83	27	At least he’s throwing again. That’s the only positive to report here. This feels like Gerrit Cole all over again. I’m no doctor, but I don’t think cortisone shots in your elbow and resting a sore triceps muscle are good alternatives to fixing an injury with surgery.
97	Michael Soroka	WSH	97	N/R
98	Max Meyer	MIA	106	N/R	He hasn’t been officially named to the rotation yet but I think it’s coming soon. The Weathers injury gives him one less guy to leapfrog.
99	Bubba Chandler	PIT	84	N/R	Same as Meyer and Weathers but with him and Jared Jones. Bubba was reassigned to the minors a couple of weeks ago but there are whispers that he could head to Pittsburgh sooner than expected if Jones is cooked.
100	Jack Leiter	TEX	123	118	Texas adding Patrick Corbin likely means bad news for one of the Texas kids. I assume Leiter gets the first look over Kumar Rocker.

Other names that were selected to keep an eye on in the late rounds of your drafts

If you need to add another arm for innings, strikeouts, or ratio help, and they didn’t make the Top 100 list, don’t worry. Some of these names have a chance to appear soon if injuries or poor performance knock others out of the list.

(Each name is listed in the order they were drafted as an SP in our 42-round RazzSlam draft. The bold ones were my selections).

Eduardo Rodriguez

Aaron Civale

Casey Mize

Tylor Megill

Kris Bubic

Nick Martinez

Justin Verlander

Kyle Harrison

Eury Perez
JP Sears

Will Warren

Richard Fitts

Kutter Crawford

Zack Littell

Hayden Birdsong

Jake Irvin

Andrew Abbott

Hayden Wesneski

Griffin Canning

Michael McGreevy

Reid Detmers

Sean Burke

Chris Paddack

AJ Smith-Shawver

Rhett Lowder

Landon Roupp

That’s it for our Starting Pitchers from our RazzSlam draft! I omitted about 30 more names just to keep the second list manageable here.

As I said above, I was OK with waiting for a while on pitching because I’ve read quite a bit of information about starters for the last three months and felt comfortable with my knowledge of the bottom part of the player pool. 

The ‘gambles/risk factors’ with certain players who might not have secured a job yet are easy to stomach because our first FAAB run for RazzSlam is scheduled for April 8th. Such an early free agent pickup date in a league with only two chances to pick up free agents might seem silly, but it allows a manager to take risks that they can correct less than two weeks into the season.

That, and the fact that it gives us a chance to replace those injured starters, makes this a league format that allows for some different thinking or planning when you enter that draft room.

To be fully transparent, Rudy’s War Room has established closers projected to earn high point totals compared to those mid-level rotation arms. Here’s my “yellow brick road” of pitching that I took to fill out my roster after I had my fill of hitting (except for the newly optioned Zac Veen…ugh).

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

Jack Leiter – I put Leiter in as our 100th SP this week because it seems like Texas will give him the first shot at the Rangers’ 5ht starter spot. Kumar Rocker could be our SP101 here, and you could go with either one if Texas decides to go with a 6-man rotation while Jon Gray and Cody Bradford are out with injuries.

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

Shohei Ohtani – Dave Roberts’s quote from March 6th was there’s “no clear timeline for when he’ll start to ramp up as a pitcher”. That’s enough information to be comfortable removing him from the pitching side of things until it’s clear he’s ready to start working on pitching.

Shane McClanahan (SP40) – Cutting players from the list is tough, especially when you hope they have a strong bounceback from an extended health issue. McClanahan’s officially down with a triceps injury and Ryan Pepiot will take over the Opening Day duty. I’ll attach the clip below, but it doesn’t look encouraging.

Shane McClanahan Injury

Jared Jones (SP44) – This one was a gut punch. With an iron fist. Dipped in concrete. I selected Joe Ryan as my SP1 in Round 12. I couldn’t pass up Bryan Woo in Round 14. By the time Round 17 rolled around, I had already filled out my entire hitting roster (Alejandro Kirk as my second catcher in RD 16). It would be nice to think Jared Jones was waving at me in the draft room, telling me he was poised for a huge season behind Paul Skenes. His health problems were behind him and he was ready to make a run at 200 Ks on the year!

Well, the reality bell rang hard last week when the Pirates announced that Jones’ elbow was bothering him and that they were seeking a second opinion after seeing imaging on his right elbow. I think it was Grey who said something along the lines of how “seeking out a second opinion rarely yields good news”. Paraphrasing, of course. The only silver lining here is it might give Bubba Chandler a shot at a call-up sooner than the team originally planned.

 

That’s all for this week! I hope you enjoyed it! Next week will likely be the first week I have just my Top 100 list with news and notes. That means I won’t combine a draft review and the list notes into one giant article. 

 

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. Best of luck if you’re drafting this week. I know I’m excited about the FIVE drafts I have before next Monday! Have a great week!

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