Happy Monday, Razzball faithful!

We’re a week away from Memorial Day ( I looked it up) but around here, the kids are off school for Victoria Day.

Or as my youngest so eloquently summed it up: “Wait, so an old English lady who was a queen or something died and we get a day off school to shoot fireworks? Cool.”

Yep. Cool, indeed.

Well, coincidentally, it was this same youngest Marmo’s bout with the chicken pox that changed last week’s plans for your favorite Roto-Dad. The bad news was I had to miss my own men’s league doubleheader last Wednesday night. The good news?

The good news is last week’s forecast featured sunny Weathers with a high of 98 MPH!

I’m sure there were more than a couple of fantasy managers eagerly awaiting the Ryan Weathers return from forearm injury. And with 5 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks on 72 pitches, we were not disappointed. 

So, viewing this start, did I catch any fun facts from the Marlins’ broadcast team?

They did relay that Weathers had a miniscule 1.69 ERA in 3 rehab starts. That’s kind of an eye popper.

As if that wasn’t impressive enough, they also reported that the big lefty was on a strict carnivore diet this offseason, which included drinking salt water in order to cut weight.

That one made me do a double take…until they added that this is what Weathers’ claimed helped him lose 20 lbs. and, subsequently, boost his stamina through the roof.

Marlins pitching coach Daniel Moskos came on for a brief interview and gave a glowing review of his ace. “<Weathers is> as good as exists for a left handed starter in Major League Baseball…high octane stuff. Run it up to 98. Good shape to the fastball. Really good changeup. Couple good breaking balls. Ya, really excited to have him back.”

Moskos added that Weathers needs to learn how to pitch with this “new body type”, but that the “ball is popping”. That’s bad news for opposing hitters, but excellent for those of us who roster him in our fantasy leagues.

The obvious caveat here is to approach with caution. Ryan Weathers didn’t have anything surgically corrected so it might only be a matter of time before one of these 98 MPH fastballs brings back the haIL storm, but let’s enjoy this sunny weather while it lasts.

Is it too early to push Ryan Weathers up into the Top 50 Starting Pitchers?

Well, before we get to the goods, I need to remind you to lock in your Razzball Fantasy Baseball Subscription. This should be your go-to reference for the entire season. The Streamonator is also a helpful resource when making lineup decisions. Rudy’s tools are well worth the price of admission. 

The Top 100 Starting Pitchers for 2025

SP RANK	Name	Team	UP / DOWN	Notes
1	Tarik Skubal	DET		Two starts from the King of the Hill this week. The Streamonator has him at the top too, ($60.8), and it’s not particularly close.
2	Garrett Crochet	BOS		7 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 8 K. Third loss of the year. If you look at Crochet’s numbers, you’d be hard pressed to explain how he’s not sitting pretty with a much better record than 4-3. He’s allowed 2 or fewer earned runs in 9/10 starts. I had a sentence about how shocking it’s been that with all of the SP injuries it’s kind of amazing that Crochet isn’t one of the guys who has had a setback yet, but I decided to leave it out…kind of.
3	Paul Skenes	PIT		Complete game one hitter yesterday at PHI with 9 Ks and 1 ER…and a loss. Either the Pirates offense failed him yet again, or Mick Abel is on the cusp of breaking out. (I think we know which is more likely, but keep an eye on Abel if you’re…well, you know).
4	Zack Wheeler	PHI		I got some flak for ranking Wheels 7th last week, but let’s remember it’s tough to fit 12 players in the Top 5. That said, he’s battling MacKenzie Gore for the league lead in strikeouts and threw his second shutout in two starts on Friday night.
5	Hunter Brown	HOU		Last week I said I went against my Top 5 instinct. This week? I didn’t. More below.
6	Max Fried	NYY		Back-to-back no decisions broke his 6-game win streak, but this is as good as it gets. He’s in COL this week, but we’re not sitting him anywhere.
7	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD		Even with a couple of average starts, the ratios are still pristine. He gets ARI at home this week.
8	Jacob deGrom	TEX		8 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks, ERA at 2.29. 4th straight win as he outdueled fellow Top 10 SP, Hunter Brown. His most recent 6 starts have been downright dirty. 36.1 IP, 26 H, 5 BB, 40 Ks.
9	Joe Ryan	MIN		6 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 9 K. Dan Pants pointed this one out in his Saturday round-up but it deserves a repeat. Joey Ryan’s strikeouts to walks ratio is 63:6 (in 52 innings). Yes, please.
10	Michael King	SD		5.1 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 8 Ks yesterday against Bryan Woo and SEA in SD. He’s one who makes you wonder why he’s ranked so highly until you look at his numbers.
11	Pablo Lopez	MIN		Rolled into MLW on Saturday night and threw 6 innings of 2-hit shutout ball with 6 Ks.
12	Bryan Woo	SEA		6.1 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.84. I watched this one and oh boy. Woo went toe-to-toe with Max Fried. My guy is on one right now. EDIT: I watched his second start of the week – the Padres game – yesterday and the M’s broadcast crew flashed a graphic that Woo’s average of 6.33 IP this year is good for 2nd in MLB. Woo stranded guys on 2nd and 3rd in the second inning when he sawed off Elias Diaz’s bat on a 97 MPH inside FB. 7 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 5 K. He’s 5-1.
13	Logan Webb	SF		8 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 K. It’s pretty fitting that this guy is named Webb, because he’s swinging like Spiderman between wins and losses every week. He’s 3-4 in his last 7 GS and beat ATH last Friday night. Can he break the pattern Wednesday vs KC?
14	Hunter Greene	CIN		In fairness to the others here, I should have removed him last week. But he’s throwing bullpens and I’m optimistic that he comes back when eligible (this Saturday).
15	Shota Imanaga	CHC		He’s already throwing and is due to return May 27th. There hasn’t been an official announcement yet, but the signs are pointing in the right direction.
16	MacKenzie Gore	WSH		3.2 IP, 2 ER, 10 H, 2 BB, 9 K. He needed 102 pitches to get 17 outs. The hits are a bit scary, but he still struck out a bunch. This, my internet friends, is our 2025 MLB Strikeout leader (84).
17	Bailey Ober	MIN		4.2 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 3 Ks. ERA at 3.72. I didn’t want to use too many quotes from Grey this week, but this one was too accurate to ignore. “He will have an ERA under 4, but it’ll never get too low in the 3’s. He’ll keep floating it towards 4.00, only to about face when he gets very close. His promise to you is for you to feel like dropping him, but never making it make sense to drop him. The Ober Promise.”
18	Dylan Cease	SD		Two road starts this week at TOR then at ATL. 19 Ks in his last 13.1 IP.
19	Jesus Luzardo	PHI		More below.
20	Kodai Senga	NYM		5.2 IP, 0 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 7 Ks, ERA at 1.02. The WHIP is just as impressive (1.17). He starts at Fenway today, but this guy is a must-start until he shows that he isn’t.
21	Freddy Peralta	MLW		5 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks. A modest outing against MIN, but good enough for his 5th win. The 9.24 K/9 is a career low.
22	Framber Valdez	HOU		8 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.54. As good as Kris Bubic was in this one, Framber was better. Both ended up with no-decisions. Framber will be pushed back this week and start May 24th.
23	Sonny Gray	STL		3.2 IP, 7 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 3 HR allowed. ERA at 4.50. Not all weather was sunny and clean last week. It was foot-to-the-face starts for some guys, that’s for sure. Oh boy.
24	Nick Pivetta	SD		3 baserunners in 6 innings Saturday night was a nice bounceback from the Colorado chaos from his previous start. He heads to ATL this week.
25	Spencer Schwellenbach	ATL		Start #1 last week was 7 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.31. Start #2 was yesterday at Fenway. He got pushed around a bit more in that one (7 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 Ks) but gets SD at home this week.
26	Robbie Ray	SFG		6 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.04. A quick peek into my brain here (caution). I saw the 9 Ks and thought, Ray must be Top 20 in strikeouts. He’s tied for 27th in the league…with Chris Bassitt.
27	Carlos Rodon	NYY		5 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 5 K. Rodon won his 5th of the year and his first in three games after two no-decisions his last couple of times out. I may never be his biggest fan because the walks drive me crazy, but as long as he’s limiting homers and hits he’ll give you what you’re looking for.
28	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI		6 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 8 Ks vs STL breaks his win streak at two. The good news is he has two starts this week. The bad news is he’s at COL and ATH. Barf emoji X2 and enough to push him down to 16th on the Streamonator this week ($21.1).
29	Chris Sale	ATL		7 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 8 K. His first win since April 25th, but his starts in between haven’t been bad. He keeps shaving off the sides of that bloated ERA and WHIP.
30	Logan Gilbert	SEA		He threw his second bullpen yesterday, so the hope is alive here. Like Hunter Greene above, I should probably remove him but I’m optimistic he doesn’t need much more time than his May 27th activation date.
31	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX		5.2 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 5 K. The co-captain of Team Underrated (with Sonny Gray…usually). This is a guy whose draft day cost will yield you one of the biggest ROI of the season. He still feels too low here.
32	Corbin Burnes	ARI		6 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 10 K. Man, this Corbin is almost as good as Patrick! (said no one ever).
33	Kris Bubic	KC		More below.
34	Tyler Mahle	TEX		At what point do we acknowledge that luck has turned into skill? Mahle has won two straight, has allowed just 9 ER in 55 IP, and sports a 1.47 ERA and 0.982 WHIP. If you took him as your most valuable fantasy pitcher this year, I’ve got good news for you. The time machine works.
35	Drew Rasmussen	TB		A 6-inning, 4-hit shutout with 0 BB and 5 Ks. It looks like someone got offended when I made fun of the absence of quality starts last week.
36	Casey Mize	DET		He’s on the 15 day IL, but the team is calling it a ‘mild’ hamstring strain. We’ll see if he returns when eligible (this week – May 24th).
37	Luis Castillo	SEA		6 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks in a tough luck no-decision vs NYY last week. He’s at CWS today, though, so get him into your daily lineups. His second start this week is at HOU.
38	Brady Singer	CIN		Back in the win column after 4 tough starts. 5 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 4 Ks. He gets the punchless Pirates this week in Pittsburgh.
39	Jack Flaherty	DET		5.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 K. When I saw Flaherty was matched up against Bowden Francis in Toronto on Saturday I joked in the writer Discord that people should be hammering the over. Flaherty fared better than Bowden did.
40	Brandon Pfaadt	ARI		4 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.73. The human win collector fell on his face a bit last week. Be careful this week too. He’s at LAD.
41	Nick Lodolo	CIN		More below.
42	Spencer Strider	ATL		He’s back! With AJSS and Sale penciled in for Wednesday and Thursday, Strider should start tomorrow in WSH. The 10 spot boost from last week has more to do with nearly every SP in the 40s (and some in the 50s) being DOWN this week.
43	Griffin Canning	NYM		5.1 IP, 2  ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks and, more importantly, not being nearly as terrible as those around him last week move Canning up into the 40s today.
44	Matthew Liberatore	STL		The Liberator took another tough luck no-decision yesterday when the Cards couldn’t muster more than one run against KC. He’s been a godsend for managers seeking ratio help.
45	Ranger Suarez	PHI		7 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 6 K. I said it last week but as long as Ranger is putting up quality starts, he’s pulling a Jefferson and moving on up. This was his second consecutive QS and W since his return. He gets a big boost here and helps to replace the cluster of mediocrity that was in this section last week.
46	Michael Wacha	KC		Well, would you look at that! Another 2-1 game and a no-decision for an SP who pitched the lights out. 5 IP, 1 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 6 Ks was the line in yesterday’s STL game. He’s likely boosted way too much here but I’m just happy I have someone to move up above the rest of the disappointing SPs from last week.
47	Jackson Jobe	DET		I ripped on him a bit last week for not stretching it out enough in each start. Last Monday he picked up his second win of the year in a 5.2 inning blowout of the Red Sox. Yesterday, he won again, this time in TOR. Sunday’s performance was good enough to bag him his second quality start of the year too. Bonus clip below.
48	Ryan Pepiot	TB		6 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.93. A quality start isn’t a bad outcome, plus he had more than a half dozen strikeouts. But his offense failed him again and he lost in Toronto to drop his record down to 2-5. A modest boost this week.
49	Matthew Boyd	CHC		He’s won two of his last three and posted 3 QS in a row. The ERA is below 3.00 (2.98) and the WHIP is respectable (1.23). Time for a big boost.
50	Andrew Abbott	CIN		5 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks. What!? An SP who didn’t get lit up? Abbott picked up his 3rd win in 7 starts yesterday and improved his already impressive ERA to 1.80. The WHIP is just as solid (1.11). Time to BOOST!
51	Merrill Kelly	ARI		More below.
52	AJ Smith-Shawver	ATL		6 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.33. He’s allowed 8 hits in his last 3 starts…total.
53	Ryan Weathers	MIA		More above!
54	Shane Baz	TB		More below.
55	Zac Gallen	ARI		5 IP, 6 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 4 HR allowed (!), 5 Ks. It’s almost understandable when you see this one was against COL but it was IN ARIZONA. Oh boy. I bet you can guess if he’s on the ERA graphic of shame (below) or not.
56	Tylor Megill	NYM		2.2 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 5 BB, 4 Ks and a bit of a spanking in 72 pitches at Yankee Stadium. He’s now winless in his last 4 GS with 15 ER in his last 17.2 IP. He heads to Fenway this week, so tread with caution.
57	Reese Olson	DET		It feels like I’ve written “tough luck loser” a bunch of times today, but that’s the best description of Olson’s game in Toronto last week. The Tigers lost 2-1 but Olson is giving us some solid ratio and strikeout numbers. 6-innings of 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks will do that for you.
58	David Peterson	NYM		He’s 2-2 but his results haven’t matched the output. He’s allowed more than 2 ER just once in his 8 GS. He pitched the late game yesterday, though, and I likely just cursed him. He gets LAD at home this week. EDIT: I did not curse him. 6 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 4 Ks should have been enough to net him the W, but the bullpen (and the defense) cost them the game.
59	Clay Holmes	NYM		6 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks, ERA at 3.14. A bit of a step back after three straight wins. His only other loss was his first of the year (9 GS total).
60	Max Meyer	MIA		5 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 7 K. There are a few different younger pitchers Taj I don’t have any patience for because I have a hard time believing Taj can work through Taj growing pains. Max Meyer is not one of them, (but I bet you can guess one that is).
61	Kevin Gausman	TOR		5.2 IP, 6 ER, 10 H, 0 BB, 3 HR. ERA at 4.59. Outside of that 6-inning shutout against CLE May 3rd, it hasn’t looked great.
62	Tanner Bibee	CLE		I wanted to move him up this week. I really did. But it looks like everyone in the 40s and early 50s from last week got rocked. 6 IP, 4 ER, 10 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks was his toughest start in his last 6.
63	Dustin May	LAD		5 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 8 K. His eight strikeouts was his most in any of his eight starts, but…he has lost three in a row and hasn’t pulled in a W since April 14th. Yuck.
64	Luis Severino	ATH		12 ER in his last 10 IP until Friday’s 6-inning shutout in SF. 4 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks and a modest $12.4 this week from Streamonator (vs LAA at home).
65	Jose Soriano	LAA		7 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.46. This one calls for a Grey quote: “He’s sitting on a 7.3 K/9 and a 4 BB/9, but it’s working because it’s coming with 62.1% GB. Bit of a Snoriano, but can’t get burned easily with that many ground balls.”
66	Chris Bassitt	TOR		5.2 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.16. He out dueled Pepiot but couldn’t pull in a W. His season line reads like an “I Think You Should Leave” skit. 51.1 IP, 55 hits, 55 strikeouts…only 10 apple pies, er walks, though.
67	Jack Leiter	TEX		6 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks, ERA at 4.34 —— this was the cookie start! Let’s see how he does in the second start (vs HOU on Sunday) EDIT: The Houston start wasn’t bad either. 7 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks. He had a no-hitter going through 6.
68	Taj Bradley	TB		4 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 6 K. Taj got tuned by the tuna. This kind of line vs MIA is … not encouraging. See Max Meyer’s blurb for more.
69	Tyler Anderson	LAA		Dogged at the Dodgers on Friday night for 2 HR and 4 ER over 5 IP. He walked no one but struck out just four.
70	Tony Gonsolin	LAD		Oh no. 5 BB in 4 IP and 4 ER with 2 HR allowed vs LAA. I always thought Angels flew and didn’t walk.
71	Clarke Schmidt	NYY		He has just one win in six starts. And he’s at COL this week. Eek.
72	Jose Berrios	TOR		He gave up 5 ER to Tampa last week, then threw a respectable 6 innings with 2 ER yesterday at home vs DET. Next week at TB could be a gem, or he could get lit up like a Christmas tree. Who knows. Sit him if you can.
73	Gavin Williams	CLE		5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks, ERA at 4.29. The strikeouts are solid (51 Ks in 42 IP) but the walk rate (5.14 BB/9) is a ratio killer.
74	Landen Roupp	SFG		6 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks. Landen go Roupp, Landen go down. FWIW this was his 3rd QS in 9 starts.
75	Andrew Heaney	PIT		He’s allowed a total of three earned runs in two starts. The walks haven’t been great (10 in his last 4 GS), but he’s been serviceable.
76	Tomoyuki Sugano	BAL		6.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.08. When a guy relies on command and soft contact without the gaudy strikeout numbers, he’s bound to give up earned runs sometimes.
77	Brayan Bello	BOS		None of the guys below the SP50 line are safe this week. Bello got killed in ATL to the tune of 4.1 IP, 7 ER, 10 H, 5 BB, 3 Ks. Oh man.
78	Yusei Kikuchi	LAA		Left yesterday’s game at LAD with an ankle injury. He was at 98 pitches through 5.2 innings, so he wasn’t going much more than he finished with, but monitor this for updates before you set your lineup for the week.
79	Bowden Francis	TOR		Two more homers from MLB’s leader in HR allowed. This time it was in Thursday night’s game vs DET, his 6th loss of the season.
80	Zach Eflin	BAL		5.1 IP, 8 ER, 10 H, 4 HR, 4 Ks yesterday vs WSH. Ok. It’s getting a bit ridiculous now. Yet another implosion from yesterday’s SPs. I guess the good news is we got what we expected in the BB column (zero).
81	Ronel Blanco	HOU		He walked more than two batters for the first time in 5 GS, and kept the hit total down (5). Despite the 1.18 WHIP, this isn’t an ideal play outside of using him as a streamer. For what it’s worth, Streamonator doesn’t even like his SEA start this week very much ($1.1).
82	Cade Horton	CHC		5 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 2 K. The line would’ve been even cleaner had he not allowed two homers. That’s the second big league win for Horton in two attempts. On the podcast last week, Grey and BDon discussed the likelihood of Horton sticking in the rotation after Shota returns in about 10 days, but for now…Ride the Wrigley Lightning.
83	Logan Henderson	MLW		More below.
84	Colin Rea	CHC		5.1  IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks…against CWS? Meh.
85	Justin Verlander	SFG		4 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 5 BB, 1 K? Ok. Very funny. Now put those numbers beside the correct category. Oh, wait.
86	Michael Lorenzen	KC		7.1 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.76. Oh would you look at that. A guy gets added to the Top 100 one week, gets a healthy boost for his initial ranking, then goes out and lays a rotten egg in his next start. Lovely. Let that be a warning to Logan Henderson and Clayton Kershaw this week.
87	Lucas Giolito	BOS		4 IP, 6 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 3 HR, 3 Ks. I saw him ranked in the 30s in another list and…I just can’t do it. The 7.01 ERA makes this spot easy to justify.
88	Jeffrey Springs	ATH		7 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks, ERA at 4.27. Guy posts this line AT LAD but gives up 7 runs at home against CWS two weeks ago. SMH.
89	Chris Paddack	MIN		7 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks, ERA at 4.05. This is one that I can’t understand at all. I had him in the Top 100 in the preseason. Then he got rocked and I corrected what I assumed was an overzealous assessment. Now he’s had two consecutive starts with 7+ IP, 3 H, 1 ER (total), 1 BB (total) and a handful of strikeouts. It feels like I’m holding a box from a looney tunes show here with a lit wick, but if you can handle the risk, there might be something here.
90	Zebby Matthews	MIN		I virtually sprinted to the waiver wire and managed to secure Zebby in every RCL league I’m in! So…thanks for the 3 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks. I guess the good news about being in last place in almost every RCL is that an outing like this doesn’t push me down any further in the standings.
91	Aaron Nola	PHI		3.2 IP, 9 ER, 12 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks. ERA at 6.16. “Now I’m not dumb but I can’t understand, why he throws like a pitcher in a garbage can, No More No-la. No no no no No-La.” Update: I wrote this up before the (unsurprising) news broke: Nola is headed to the IL with an ankle injury. More below (in a graphic).
92	Patrick Corbin	TEX		6 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.35. His second quality start in a row! He’s won half of his most recent (6) starts. Finally! There’s the Corbin you all drafted as your ace! (Wait, did I misread something?)
93	Lance McCullers	HOU		4 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, BB, 2 K. A much better start than his last one. He gets SEA at home this week.
94	Will Warren	NYY		5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 9 Ks, ERA at 4.61. This guy is like Jameson Taillon. Every time I think he’s due to slip off the list, he puts up another good start. Maybe we should start calling him Will “Hangs-on”. Or maybe not. He has two starts this week too – vs TEX and at COL. Danger.
95	Mitch Keller	PIT		He’s lost three in a row, but the last two were quality starts. Did someone say something about the pitiful Pittsburgh Pirates offense?
96	Erick Fedde	STL		5.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.44. Someone lost control of the wifi speaker and now all it’s playing is “Fedde walk walk walk walk walk”.
97	Clayton Kershaw	LAD		Hall of famer! (But he didn’t look like one last week).
98	Shane Smith	CWS		New to the list this week! The ratios and strikeouts are there. Unfortunately, for him, the cursive “Chicago” is also there (on the front of his jersey).
99	Ryan Gusto	HOU		It sounds like he’s headed to the bullpen. No Me Gusto.
100	Sandy Alcantara	MIA		More below.

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

Hunter Brown – A SECOND consecutive Jumper write-up?! Yes. He’s that good. 8 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 9 Ks, ERA at 1.43. Grey mentioned last week that, including Hunter Brown, only 4 Astros starters have ever had a sub-1.50 ERA through their first 8 games in a season. Two of them are still active (one will likely retire much sooner than the other), and one is a former ace who signed with the Blue Jays just to stick it to his original team. Drop your guesses in the comments!

Kris Bubic – 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 9 Ks with his ERA at 1.66. Bubic got hosed out of his third straight win last week when KC could only score one run in a 2-1 game. He continues the breakout of the year in SF today.

Jesus Luzardo – 7 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.00. Don’t look now, (just close your eyes for like three seconds because here it comes), but Jesus has fewer hits and more strikeouts than innings pitched. And he’s allowed more than 2 ER just once in 9 starts. Oh, and if he had gotten just TWO MORE OUTS in three of his starts, he’d be sitting at 8 QS on the year. AND…just like the Christians will tell you, at 4-0, Jesus is undefeated.

Jackson Jobe – This one isn’t necessarily much of a Jumper. I just wanted to include this clip of filth and figured it would net some bonus karma because it features a frequent target of Razzball vitriol. Enjoy.

"Anybody have an Exorcist???""PitchingNinja just canceled his plans for the Afternoon"Jackson Jobe's EVIL Sinker.

— Rob Friedman (@pitchingninja.com) 2025-05-18T19:20:08.760Z

Merrill Kelly – Another strong start yesterday (7 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 3 BB, 11 Ks) moves him way up. To be honest, I missed him last week and should have boosted him way before this, but at least his success is a bit better reflected in this week’s ranking. It might not be as sexy as a Hunter Greene or MacKenzie Gore, but since his 9 ER debacle in early April, Kelly has posted 5 QS in his last 7 starts. And he was four outs (total) from making that a perfect 7/7.

Logan Henderson and Jacob Misiorowski – 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks, ERA at 2.45. He’s now won both of his starts. With Quintana heading to the IL, it looks like Henderson’s rotation spot is safe for now. Jacob Misiorowski is lighting AAA on fire to the tune of 49.1 IP, 59 Ks, 1.46 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, but the right move is to ride the hot hand in the big leagues for now…And go check your waiver wire for The Miz. FWIW, Henderson is a two start guy this week too.

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

I figured I could plug in a nice graphic from Thomas Nestico to lead off our DUMPERS section for this week…

So…Tanner Houck (8.04) and Sandy Alcantara (7.99) are so bad, they broke the ERA  graphic? (More on that below)

Cole Ragans – From Jumper last week to Dumper this week. Ugh. The optimism for Ragan’s groin was misplaced…as, apparently, were his groin muscles. He gone.

Seth Lugo – Off to the 15 day IL with “Right middle finger inflammation”. What a coincidence. That’s the same finger that I held up when I saw all of these pitching injuries this week.

Bryce Miller – We joked a bit last week that I biffed in my Miller blurb and said that he was “back from the IL” when I meant to write that he avoided the IL after the back soreness scare. Well, I guess my crystal ball is polished up enough because Bryce didn’t get through the week without the IL announcement. The official word is ‘right elbow inflammation’, and he’s gotten the cortisone shot. Now we wait.

Nick Lodolo – 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks, ERA at 3.42. I got annoyed when I saw this line. Why can’t teams just let their guy finish 6 innings? This is what drove me nuts when we used Quality Starts as a category in one Roto-league. And for what it’s worth, I saw that Terry Francona removed Lodolo after he gave up a homer to Lenyn Sosa, so…I get it. But I still can’t shake thinking that Lodolo is a trap. I cut Dustin May from my Perts league team last week and Lodolo might be next.

Roki Sasaki – Here’s the (always-so-eloquent) notes of panic that I typed up when I heard that Roki was headed to the IL last week. “Ffs Roki. ADP. Warning signs? Metrics? Should we have expected this? When’s he coming back? Does he hold the SP100 spot for now or disappear entirely?”

Well, according to NFBC data, Roki was the 97th player off the board. Yes, that’s 97th OVERALL. “Who was being drafted directly above and below him way back in late winter?” Well, I’m glad you asked. That would be Max Fried (above) and Hunter Greene (below). The 4.72 ERA would slide him into the 7th spot on our ERA graphic above. The equally disastrous 1.49 WHIP ranks 4th overall on the stench-scale behind Aaron Nola’s 1.51 mark. He’s gone for now, and it’ll take a lot of improvement for him to come anywhere near that 100th spot in our list in the future.

Shane Baz – Even after last week’s 4.2 IP, 3 ER stinker, the writing was already on the wall. Baz had allowed 13 earned runs in his previous 9 innings and had an ERA sitting at 5.02. I watched his start in MIA yesterday. He gave up 8 hits and 3 walks in 5.1 innings, but surrendered his second homer of the game and finished his outing in the 6th inning with 5 ER (total). I wouldn’t be surprised to see an “ineffective list” stint in the near future.

Jose Quintana – Milwaukee is “seeking a second opinion on Quintana’s left shoulder impingement”. I know I’ve said this before, but does a second opinion ever come back with positive news? I don’t think I’ve ever heard a second group of doctors say, “Ya, I don’t know what that other group of physicians were looking at but everything is A-OK from what we can see”…

Sandy Alcantara – His sixth loss in a row. What does his line from those 6 starts look like? 26.1 IP, 29 ER, 34 H, 15 BB, 22 Ks. And the ERA from that ‘rough patch’ was 9.91. More like 911!

You know it’s bad when Sandy and Tanner Houck are such an afterthought that they don’t even make the worst ERA graphic.

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

Jake Irvin

Miles Mikolas

Zebby Matthews 

Nick Martinez

Zack Littell

Tobias Myers 

Shane Smith

Luis L. Ortiz

JP Sears

Hunter Dobbins

Landon Knack

Valente Bellozo

Ben Brown – he’s on the radar but he needs to impress enough to bump out a bottom 10 guy.

Dean Kremer

Keider Montero

Bubba Chandler

Logan Allen

Hayden Birdsong – replacing Jordan Hicks in the rotation.

Mick Abel – tied a Phillies rookie record with 9 Ks yesterday, so he gets a mention here.

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

Gerrit Cole

Luis Gil

Spencer Arrighetti

Justin Steele

John Means

Shane Bieber

Eury Perez

Blake Snell 

Cody Bradford

Shohei Ohtani (SP)

Richard Fitts

Nestor Cortes

Yu Darvish

George Kirby

Tyler Glasnow

Hayden Wesneski

Walker Buehler

Cole Ragans

Roki Sasaki

Bryce Miller

Seth Lugo

Jose Quintana

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

Clayton Kershaw

Logan Henderson

Chris Paddack

Zebby Matthews

Shane Smith

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

Cole Ragans – 15 Day IL – groin injury

Seth Lugo – 15 Day IL – finger injury

Bryce Miller – 15 Day IL – elbow inflammation

Roki Sasaki – “shut down from throwing for a while”

Jose Quintana – 15 Day IL – left shoulder impingement

Sean Burke

 

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