Happy Monday, Razzball faithful!

I’m going to cut right to the chase today.

I should have done this one last week and saved the RazzSlam recap for today. Chalk it up to poor planning on my part and not realizing how close we were to opening day.

Alas, here we are. I hope that pruning the Top 100 list based on current information and news is enough to help you prepare your drafts this week (or this coming weekend).

As a bonus, you can choose which image to run with. A beautiful AI-generated Marmo-prunefingers one, courtesy of Copilot…

Or, if you prefer, you can save the O.G. throwback one that highlights my “skills” with Paint.

I’m writing this up on Sunday night, after a 7-hour AL-Only marathon auction. That league has been running since 1991 (no, seriously), and anyone who has participated in an “Only auction” knows how much of a mind melt it is when you finish the active roster and 17-player reserve list selections.

The calm before the storm.

This is my way of apologizing in advance for any mistakes or typos in today’s write-ups.

Today is also the day we return to the old format with Jumpers and Dumpers. If you’re looking for the rankings comparisons, you can access last week’s Top 100 list here.

I am going to update Grey’s rankings here today, though, before changing to our “NOTES” column once the regular season starts. The R$ is also updated as of yesterday’s Preseason Player Rater upload.

For what it’s worth, I analyzed each section in groups of 20, and made small modifications to the list before pruning the trimmables in the bottom 25 (or so).

As always, it’s a bit of business first, though. 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. I’ll throw a teaser out there for Rudy, too, and say additions are coming to the tools that y’all are not going to want to miss out on.

Let’s get to it!

The Top 100 Starting Pitchers for 2026

MARMO RANK	Name	Team	R$	GREY’S RANKING
1	Tarik Skubal	DET	39.3	1
2	Paul Skenes	PIT	35.2	2
3	Garrett Crochet	BOS	31.8	3
4	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD	20.9	4
5	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	22.6	7
6	Bryan Woo	SEA	22.3	6
7	Logan Webb	SF	19.9	9
8	Logan Gilbert	SEA	22.0	8
9	Hunter Brown	HOU	20.1	5
10	Cole Ragans	KC	20.3	20
11	Jacob deGrom	TEX	23.3	14
12	Max Fried	NYY	17.7	16
13	George Kirby	SEA	19.3	12
14	Kyle Bradish	BAL	11.6	10
15	Chris Sale	ATL	23.3	15
16	Shohei Ohtani	LAD	12.4	11
17	Dylan Cease	TOR	16.7	19
18	Joe Ryan	MIN	20.1	13
19	Framber Valdez	DET	18.8	22
20	Freddy Peralta	NYM	17.5	17
21	Jesus Luzardo	PHI	20.3	21
22	Tyler Glasnow	LAD	14.2	33
23	Kevin Gausman	TOR	13.6	23
24	Eury Perez	MIA	9.4	29
25	Sonny Gray	BOS	12.4	36
26	Nolan McLean	NYM	7.0	30
27	Zack Wheeler	PHI	16.3	59
28	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	14.0	25
29	Emmet Sheehan	LAD	8.9	27
30	Cam Schlittler	NYY	0.8	28
31	Nick Lodolo	CIN	10.4	26
32	Brandon Woodruff	MLW	13.4	24
33	Spencer Strider	ATL	16.8	32
34	Blake Snell	LAD	9.0	34
35	Jacob Misiorowski	MLW	-2.0	31
36	Nick Pivetta	SD	15.5	35
37	Robbie Ray	SF	8.0	39
38	Michael King	SD	12.1	37
39	Trevor Rogers	BAL	-1.7	43
40	Ryan Pepiot	TB	8.9	40
41	Shota Imanaga	CHC	13.4	58
42	Ranger Suarez	BOS	8.4	42
43	Trey Yesavage	TOR	0.0	57
44	Gavin Williams	CLE	3.3	61
45	Edward Cabrera	CHC	3.7	44
46	Tatsuya Imai	HOU	-0.6	49
47	Drew Rasmussen	TB	5.6	41
48	Matthew Boyd	CHC	6.3	46
49	Luis Castillo	SEA	13.6	45
50	Jack Flaherty	DET	10.0	53
51	Tanner Bibee	CLE	7.9	62
52	Andrew Abbott	CIN	3.9	48
53	Shane McClanahan	TB	10.0	80
54	Zac Gallen	ARI	6.9	54
55	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	2.9	54
56	Mackenzie Gore	TEX	11.4	63
57	Carlos Rodon	NYY	5.9	55
58	Shane Baz	BAL	5.1	47
59	Chase Burns	CIN	3.8	73
60	Merrill Kelly	ARI	-0.1	60
61	Kris Bubic	KC	2.3	74
62	Bubba Chandler	PIT	-5.5	76
63	Hunter Greene	CIN	7.6	56
64	Joey Cantillo	CLE	-8.1	66
65	Shane Smith	CWS	-2.0	64
66	Noah Cameron	KC	0.4	72
67	Cody Ponce	TOR	0.9	71
68	Jack Leiter	TEX	-2.2	70
69	Ryan Weathers	NYY	2.7	85
70	Logan Henderson	MLW	-4.3	72
71	David Peterson	NYM	5.3	65
72	Cade Horton	CHC	-4.9	79
73	Ryne Nelson	ARI	0.0	68
74	Clay Holmes	NYM	-1.9	67
75	Seth Lugo	KC	-0.5	87
76	Will Warren	NYY	-4.6	81
77	Mike Burrows	HOU	-3.8	83
78	Mick Abel	MIN	-16.2	N/R
79	Braxton Ashcraft	PIT	-3.0	113
80	Parker Messick	CLE	-7.0	78
81	Brandon Sproat	MLW	-14.9	75
82	Roki Sasaki	LAD	-5.9	77
83	Casey Mize	DET	3.2	82
84	Aaron Nola	PHI	8.6	95
85	Grayson Rodriguez	LAA	1.3	103
86	Mitch Keller	PIT	4.0	100
87	Sean Manaea	NYM	2.8	89
88	Andrew Painter	PHI	-16.7	116
89	Brayan Bello	BOS	0.1	86
90	Kodai Senga	NYM	-5.1	98
91	Gerrit Cole	NYY	1.7	84
92	Connelly Early	BOS	-13.8	109
93	Payton Tolle	BOS	-10.4	119
94	Michael Wacha	KC	2.4	92
95	Bailey Ober	MIN	5.3	94
96	Reid Detmers	ANA	-2.3	101
97	Max Meyer	MIA	-6.7	117
98	Chad Patrick	MLW	-6.7	93
99	Taj Bradley	MIN	2.2	126
100	Yusei Kikuchi	LAA	5.8	90

Friends of the Top 100 Starting Pitchers list unite! The Jumpers, Dumpers, Stumpers, and Bumpers are BACK!

Each section has a short explanation to help first-time callers/listeners/readers.

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

Cam Schlittler – He’s up to SP28 from SP41. My original worry was the back tightness, and that he wouldn’t be ready to go. The 99.6 MPH fastball and ability to throw more than one inning in each spring appearance is good enough news for me to move him up to the pocket that he belongs in. 

Zack Wheeler – He’s slated to throw in a minor league game today, but will be limited to 40 pitches. If it goes well, the team says he could be back as early as late April. Time to move him up!

Shane McClanahan – The fastball is touching 97 MPH, and although it’s a small sample size, the sample is very encouraging. He’s way up today.

Cody Ponce – Ok. I’m not even hiding my homer-ism here. But the numbers this spring back it up, and we need some positivity in that Blue Jays rotation. No spoilers, but he may or may not show up in my Staff Picks this week for a certain category that rhymes with “BumSnack Player of the Year” (trademark pending).

Parker Messick – Another boost for a player with a rotation spot. Grey asked in Discord if anyone had heard news on the young Guardian, and while we hadn’t yet, the consensus was that Cleveland would include Messick in the rotation. Sure enough, the Guardians announced Messick’s successful bid for a spot on Saturday. I managed to yoink him for $0 in our AL-Only reserves, too. Boom emoji.

Mick Abel – So Mick was…uh…Abel to fend off Zebby Matthews in the battle for the final rotation spot in Minnesota. Kudos to the 24-year-old for his excellent spring. Get in on this one while you still can, because he’s still buried in the rankings if you’re doing an online draft.

Andrew Painter – It’s a modest “jump” for Painter today, mostly because the team announced that he’s secured the 5th spot in the rotation. Whether or not he keeps that spot after Zack Wheeler returns is the bigger question. For now, draft him, but have a backup plan to replace him in case he gets bumped out of a numbers game when everyone else is healthy.

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

Chase Burns – This one was a bit of a yank-the-chain around. First, the news was that he was being sent down to the minors. Then, Terry Francona announced that the trio of Rhett Lowder, Chase Burns, and Brandon Williamson was going to make the Reds’ opening day rotation. It sounds like a 6-man schedule to ‘manage innings’, though, so take that for what it’s worth. It’s likely good news if you have him in a dynasty league, but in redraft, you can knock him down a few spots.

Trey Yesavage – Keelin coined it perfectly when she said “Trey Nosavage” in Discord this week. When I saw the Trey news, my initial reaction matched the Darth Vader, “Noooooooooo”, gif.

The official word is “right shoulder impingement,” but I’m being stubborn and keeping him on the list, despite the IL assignment. I suspect that this is one of those “innings management” IL stints, as the team has said Yesavage will throw this week. I certainly hope that’s the case. Monitor news on this one, especially when/if he pitches on Wednesday.

Hunter Greene – The optimism from last week, when he was ranked in the 30s, was short-lived. Cincy said they expect Greene to be fine… sometime in July. Oof. The talent is sublime, so if you want to accept the risk, go ahead. Have a backup plan until he’s ready to return, and monitor the recovery.

Logan Henderson – I thought he was a front-runner for an open spot in the Brewers’ rotation, but now it looks like he’s been banished to the minor leagues. With Quinn Priester and Kyle Harrison battling injuries, I still have hope that Henderson is back sooner than later, but that’s not happening on Opening Day unless something goes terribly wrong for another starter. Stash if you can.

Bubba Chandler – I said it earlier this year. I originally ranked Bubba much too high. I was hoping he’d flash the 98 MPH fastball and show improved command. The good news is the heat is still there. The control? Still a work in progress. He dropped about 20 spots today and won’t climb back up until he shows he can limit the walks.

Grayson Rodriguez – Keelin wrote up Gray-Rod’s injury report in her Ambulance Chasers article this week (you can click it there). When your pitcher’s injury is described as “dead arm” before the season even starts? Uh…that’s not good news, kids. 

Bottom line – I would trust the Angels’ medical department about as much as I trust the Mets’ “rest and rehab” recommendation folks. In other words, I’m not drafting him anywhere from here on out.

Merrill Kelly – He’s slated to start on the IL with a back injury, but the team doesn’t think it’s serious enough for him to miss more than the minimum. He could be back in mid-April, so he only slides down a few spots today.

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

Jeffrey Springs

Luis Severino

Bryce Miller

Reynaldo Lopez

Tyler Mahle

Zach Eflin

Max Scherzer

Eric Lauer

Slade Cecconi

Justin Verlander

Jacob Lopez

Cade Cavalli

Matthew Liberatore

Grant Holmes

Brandon Pfaadt (4.2)

Jose Soriano (4.1)

Brady Singer (1.9)

Chris Bassitt (1.1)

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

Bryce Miller

Joe Musgrove

Justin Steele

Cristian Javier

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

Taj Bradley (2.2) – Another live arm with some serious spring numbers. Here’s hoping the headaches from last year’s BB/9 are a thing of the past.

Brandon Sproat – Rotation security = LFG!

Max Meyer – SON wrote this guy up in a beauty of a piece last week. Check out his “One Man’s Trash” write-up here.

Chad Patrick – Slated as Milwaukee’s SP2 means he should’ve been here from the get-go. 

Yusei Kikuchi – It was between “The Kuch” and Grant Holmes for the final spot this week, and I went with the veteran arm over the comeback kid. I wouldn’t fault you for spending a late-round pick on either player, though.

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

Jonah Tong – He’s the first of many youngsters to get the axe from MarmosDad this week. As I said in my first list way back in February, I added a few young pitchers to the bottom 20 names for draft season. The hope was that some would stick in their respective rotations. So far, not so good for these guys. Minor league demotions mean OOF! for this week.

Robby Snelling – Same as Tong. Re-assigned to minor league camp. Ah-Boooooo.

Zebby Matthews – Third verse, same as the first. And the second. Zebby was not Abel to stay with the big club. Badum Tss.

Joe Musgrove – He “experienced a setback in his recovery” after throwing 60 pitches last week and is expected to start the season on the 15-day IL. That’s enough to push him off the list in favor of someone with a rotation spot.

Quinn Priester – It’s the same story for Priester here. IL assignment and a “possible” activation in late-April to early-May means he’s out for a healthy body today.

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. If you’re bored and want to see the ‘Perts draft tonight, let me know, and I’ll ask Truss if we can get a public board up. We draft at 6:00 EST.

 

Have a great week!

 

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