Happy Monday, Razzball faithful!

Springtime brings us so many beautiful things. 

Longer, sunnier days. Brightly lit draft rooms, home to a multitude of fantasy baseball drafters. Drops of cool, fresh rain to wash away that slushy snow and sun-polished ice. 

Birds chirping from the treetops. Roto-Managers firing on all cylinders as they get into “the zone” for their fantasy drafts. Tiny flowers and plants awakening and breaking through the permafrost to reach into that crisp morning air.

Branches…snapping in the forest while you and your children trudge through the muck and cold slop on a walk with your dog. And then said dog runs headlong into a giant puddle/pond, rolls around in a mixture of swamp-like sludge and decomposing leaves, and births the newest conundrum of trying to figure out how you’re getting him back into your vehicle for the long ride back home without ruining the interior or…

Oh wait. Let’s refocus.

Blooming flowers…the pure joy-filled laughter of children as they start their Spring Break with a week off of school…

But let’s not forget the Spring Training games! 

How we love to watch an inning or two from our favorite Starting Pitchers as they begin to shake the rust off from a long winter rest.

But with great televised pretend baseball games, comes great disappointment. 

It is also the time that the starting pitcher reports about general soreness, (reporting for duty), shoulder tightness, oblique stresses, elbow pain, and any other beat writer blurb that causes full-blown panic and causes us to shout, “FIRE!” in our crowded draft rooms. 

“Why? Why did I take George Kirby in a draft literally minutes (an hour and a half) before word gets out that his right shoulder is inflamed and he’s headed for an MRI?”

Today, as a reaction to some recent pitcher news and early Spring performances, there is more movement among the gentlemen who graced the original Top 100 Starting Pitchers list way back in February.

I’ll also give you my regular format for the first time this year.

• Jumpers (players who have jumped up the rankings this week)

• Dumpers (players who have dumped down the rankings this week)

• Whee! (Players who are new to the list this week)

• Oof! (Players who fell off the list this week)

The injury bug has begun to chomp through Spring Training. The arms that have already been bitten will be in my ‘Dumpers’ or ‘Oof’ sections this week.

But before we get into it, we have a bit of business to take care of first. If you haven’t signed up for it, 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! Don’t forget to sign up for a Razzball Commenter League. The RCLs are some of the toughest competition in the business. So if you’re looking for a challenge, click that link and join us for a league or two.

The Top 100 Starting Pitchers for 2025

 

RANK	NAME	TEAM	AVERAGE SP RANK (OR ADP)	GREY’s RANKINGS	NOTES
1	Paul Skenes	PIT	2.25	1	4.50 ERA this Spring. Time to hang ‘em up, I guess.
2	Tarik Skubal	DET	2.25	2	Gave up one hit (single to Ernie Clement) in 3 innings last week. 3 Ks.
3	Zack Wheeler	PHI	3.5	3	Rough outing last week but his FB velocity was still up.
4	Logan Gilbert	SEA	5.5	4
5	Cole Ragans	KC	10.5	7	A nice bounceback from his first meltdown. 6 Ks in 3 IP last week.
6	Garrett Crochet	BOS	10	12	Hit 101 MPH on the gun and struck out 7 in 3 IP. Sox fans hope he can give them workhorse innings.
7	Dylan Cease	SD	9	6	Using his changeup more and generating more whiffs.
8	Corbin Burnes	ARI	10.25	20	Velocity is up and the cutter is back. It’s tough to fade him too much.
9	Michael King	SD	22.5	11	For some weird reason, the Player Rater hates him (SP39).
10	Framber Valdez	HOU	12	8
11	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD	21	15
12	Chris Sale	ATL	10.25	19
13	Tyler Glasnow	LAD	28	34	I’m higher than a lot of people (hey now) on Glasnow, which means I’ll likely roster him everywhere. The K potential is just too good to pass up. The injury risk? What? I can’t hear you!
14	Shota Imanaga	CHC	21.75	13	Opening Day starter! I thought my Top 20 ranking was biased because I like him. Even that was too low.
15	Blake Snell	LAD	13.75	10
16	George Kirby	SEA	14.5	5	More below
17	Pablo Lopez	MIN	14	22	More below.
18	Jacob deGrom	TEX	36.75	18
19	Roki Sasaki	LAD	34.25	17	Last Tuesday’s debut? 3 shutout innings, 5 Ks, FB at 98 MPH. Oh, baby.
20	Bailey Ober	MIN	24	23	Homers will always be an issue, but the rest of the package screams affordable ace.
21	Bryce Miller	SEA	26.75	14
22	Spencer Schwellenbach	ATL	39	16	People are starting to reach for the breakout in draft rooms.
23	Joe Ryan	MIN	24.75	41
24	Sonny Gray	STL	28.5	28
25	Freddy Peralta	MLW	28.75	32
26	Zac Gallen	ARI	31	25	More below.
27	Hunter Greene	CIN	27.75	40	Opening Day starter. 99.5 MPH FB. Ks aplenty this Spring. I moved him down just a smidge this week simply because I prefer others.
28	Max Fried	NYY	25.75	39	First start last week wasn’t eye-popping but the Yankees are just happy it wasn’t elbow-popping.
29	Luis Castillo	SEA	21.25	38
30	Logan Webb	SF	22.75	24
31	Tanner Bibee	CLE	33.25	29	A strong first start last week with nothing jumping off the page as far as velocity or Ks was concerned.
32	Aaron Nola	PHI	19	42
33	Bryan Woo	SEA	57.75	26	Please, Roto-Gods, sprinkle him with the bubble wrap blessings and give him 150+ healthy innings.
34	Kevin Gausman	TOR	32.75	57
35	Spencer Strider	ATL	55.75	59	Beat writers are whispering he might be back as early as late April.
36	Jack Flaherty	DET	46.5	31
37	Shohei Ohtani	LAD	2	9	More below.
38	Gerrit Cole	NYY	18.5	21	More below.
39	Shane McClanahan	TB	49.25	60
40	Yusei Kikuchi	LAA	47	63	I took some heat for this one, but he’s being drafted in the Top 150 (NFBC). Last year’s numbers might surprise you.
41	Hunter Brown	HOU	34.75	30
42	Jared Jones	PIT	44.25	33	Flashed a new 90 MPH sinker last week. This guy is the 1B beside Bryan Woo’s 1A in Marmo-darling rankings for 2025.
43	Kodai Senga	NYM	45.5	58	Give me five arms from this section in every draft, please.
44	Carlos Rodon	NYY	41.25	35
45	Grayson Rodriguez	BAL	31.75	27	More below.
46	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	74.25	61	More below.
47	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	47.5	49
48	Justin Steele	CHC	33.25	36	I’m not a big fan, but he’s been really good so far this Spring.
49	Brandon Pfaadt	ARI	48	37	He’s a sleeper Cy Young pick for some people and he seems to have the 5th starter spot locked down…for now.
50	Robbie Ray	SFG	64.75	48	So far so good. Added a changeup he learned from Tarik Skubal.
51	Reynaldo Lopez	ATL	49.25	44
52	Seth Lugo	KC	45	43
53	Shane Baz	TB	69	54	I prefer to focus on the 3 shutout IP and 100 MPH heater he threw on March 2 over the 8 runs and 4 BBs he gave up on Friday.
54	Taj Bradley	TB	53.25	55
55	Mackenzie Gore	WSH	59.25	66
56	Zach Eflin	BAL	53.25	45	If you’re looking to shore up the WHIP category with a lower ranked arm, this is your guy.
57	Ranger Suarez	PHI	59.5	47
58	Bowden Francis	TOR	65.7	56	It might just be a good narrative in my head, but I’m excited to see what Francis can learn from Scherzer this year.
59	Jose Berrios	TOR	55	71
60	Nick Pivetta	SD	73.5	50	4 Ks in his first 2.2 IP.
61	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	66.5	46
62	Tanner Houck	BOS	54.75	68
63	Jesus Luzardo	PHI	86	65
64	Ronel Blanco	HOU	56	64
65	Reese Olson	DET	80	67
66	Gavin Williams	CLE	79	83	Marmo-darling makes a small jump from 69.
67	Nick Lodolo	CIN	79.25	75
68	Mitch Keller	PIT	59.5	79
69	Ryan Pepiot	TB	63.75	52	He’s going to be good. I just don’t want to mess with a flyball pitcher in that minor league park.
70	Spencer Arrighetti	HOU	70	53	Strikeouts have been there so far this Spring. Unfortunately, so have the walks.
71	Jeffrey Springs	ATH	81.5	105	Injury history AND traded AWAY by the Rays? To a team playing at an offensively boosted home park this year? No thanks.
72	Jackson Jobe	DET	79	73	I don’t want to move him too far up here until it’s announced that he’s secured a rotation spot…but he’s doing everything right and making a case for himself.
73	Max Scherzer	TOR	99.5	122	Outpitched the kid (Jobe) last week and racked up 6 Ks in 3.1 IP.
74	Yu Darvish	SD	87.25	72
75	Chris Bassitt	TOR	76.75	90	Easing into it. So far so good.
76	Kutter Crawford	BOS	79.5	70	The knee injury pushes him down a bit more. Unlikely to be ready at the start of the season.
77	Merrill Kelly	ARI	73.25	103
78	Brandon Woodruff	MLW	67.75	106
79	Brady Singer	CIN	68	91
80	Brayan Bello	BOS	72.25	78	“Still behind” the other Red Sox starters.
81	Clarke Schmidt	NYY	66	85	Aaron Boone called it a “cranky” back. That’s enough to put a little caution star by this one’s name on the draft sheet.
82	Michael Wacha	KC	74.75	69
83	Walker Buehler	BOS	73	104
84	Matthew Boyd	CHC	96.7	76	I keep thinking he’ll be a Wacha lite. But I assume that means he’d have to be ranked farther from Wacha for that to be the case.
85	David Peterson	NYM	130	85	More below.
86	Jose Soriano	LAA	105	101	That 98 MPH fastball is just too good to ignore. Just be careful to monitor the control this Spring.
87	Drew Rasmussen	TB	100.75	87	A good arm that I won’t be drafting anywhere because there will be someone who values him higher than I do in every draft room.
88	Tobias Myers	MLW	89	80	Eased into it on Saturday with one clean inning. He’s a sleepy sophomore for sure.
89	Jameson Taillon	CHC	125	91	More below.
90	Luis Gil	NYY	50.25	62	More below.
91	Dustin May	LAD	122	88	It’s likely between him and Tony Gonsolin for the Dodgers’ SP5.
92	Cody Bradford	TEX	94	74	I like him, but I have the feeling he’ll lose the rotation battle to a younger arm.
93	Tomoyuki Sugano	BAL	96	77	Japanese Greg Maddux is a fine source for late-round ratio help.
94	Luis Severino	ATH	82	97	FB sitting 96-97 MPH.
95	Grant Holmes	ATL	127	111	I’ve heard his name more than once as an answer to those “Who do you like as a deep sleeper?” questions on the podcasts. Monocle for sure.
96	Eduardo Rodriguez	ARI	113	131	Debuted last week and looked good enough to hold off Jordan ‘Skibidi’ Montgomery.
97	Justin Verlander	SFG	119	123	This old horse just keeps on clip-clopping along. 4 IP, 4 Ks last week in his Spring debut.
98	Charlie Morton	BAL	93.5	125	6 scoreless innings so far this Spring. That’s better than getting blown up, I guess.
99	Jose Quintana	MLW	450	122	Landing in Milwaukee is a good spot for him. He should move up the list with a successful Spring.
100	Andrew Heaney	PIT	350	97	Same as Quintana above, but with a bit more urgency to show his stuff. The Pirate kids are going to be coming for that rotation spot sooner or later.

 

BIGGEST JUMPERS – Who’s Got Hops?! These are some of the ‘biggest jumpers’ in ranking this week.

Pablo Lopez – I’m not a big fan, but I likely should have had him in the Top 20 (at least) from the beginning. He’s given up some earned runs this Spring, but the Twins aren’t concerned and have named him their Open Day starter.

Zac Gallen – Unlike Pablo, I like Gallen, but similarly to Lopez I should have had him closer to the Top 20 than I had him to start the preseason. He’s still ranked lower in drafts, so if you’re looking for darkhorse Cy Young candidates, you’re in good shape gambling on him or anyone else in this SP20-26 ranking.

Sandy Alcantara – The report that he was throwing smoke last week was enough to make me take notice. The news that the Marlins’ manager said yesterday that Alcantara won’t have an innings limit this year PLUS the 99 MPH fastball means that I’m back in and was ready to move him way up from his 62nd spot last week.

DUMPERS – With apologies to Cal Raleigh, these are some of the biggest dumpers (in value, not pants size).

George Kirby – Boy, George, what did you do this offseason to receive this kind of Karma? (Sorry, I can’t figure out how to work in a Chameleon pun). 

Shohei Ohtani – Dave Roberts is now saying that Shohei “might be able to return sometime in May”. This is different than the “expected to return to the mound in early May” that we got last week. Maybe I‘m reading too much into the wording here, but if your league uses two different versions of the unicorn, I’d move the SP one down your draft list.

Gerrit Cole – One of Grey’s Schmohawks a few weeks ago, and a guy that a lot of us Razzball writers were fading already. I’ll paraphrase Grey here, but he said it best. Taking a victory lap when a guy gets hurt isn’t the point. The point is it’s crummy to see a highly ranked pitcher go down when you know you weren’t drafting him anyway, but others in your leagues likely were.

Grayson Rodriguez – The third in the triumvirate of ‘biggest dumpers’ this week. I was so in on Grayson this year and ready to draft him as an undervalued ace everywhere that I could. The elbow inflammation news and subsequent shutdown greased up this slide. Originally I had him in the late-20s but dropped him even further down the list because Brandon Hyde said that he’ll officially miss Opening Day and won’t be re-evaluated for at least 7-10 days.

Luis Gil – I poked a bit of fun at Gil in my “Twas The Night Before Razzmas” piece way back in December. Alas, we won’t get to see “A near 12 strikeout rate with 4 plus walks per nine!” for at least another three months. The high-lat strain means he’s draftable in keeper leagues if you have room to stash him but I wouldn’t touch him in redraft. Three months can turn into 4 or 5 months in a hurry.

WHEE! – These players zoomed on to the Top 100 list this week.

David Peterson – With some injuries to other starters, it looks like Peterson has a spot in the rotation. I wanted to add him today but wasn’t sure where to slot him. If anything, pitching in front of that juggernaut offense should get him a good chance at wins. I decided on SP85, then looked where Grey had him ranked so I could include that in the list and lo and behold, that’s where he had him too. Me and Grey. Finishing each other’s…sandwiches? Ya, probably not.

Jameson Taillon – I swear I’m not peeking. I needed to mix in some new arms here and delete some others, so I figured it was time to include Taillon. Despite the lack of strikeouts, he should provide decent ratios and the opportunity to record a few wins. I put him in at SP90 and Grey has him at SP91.

Grant Holmes – For what it’s worth, Roster Resource has him penciled in for the SP4 job in Atlanta. That’s good enough for me if I’m looking for an SP to round out my draft.

Jose Quintana

Andrew Heaney

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

Sean Manaea – To be honest, I went back through my list and caught a spot where I doubled up on rankings and needed to find someone to wipe out for this week. The strained oblique for Sean Manaea means I’d avoid him unless you have a deep bench and can replace him with a good arm to start the year.

Ryne Nelson – In keeper leagues, I’d still draft him and hold him. But if you’re in a redraft or looking for immediate production, it sounds like he’s on the do not draft list. The D-Backs have too many options in the rotation and Nelson has minor league…well…options available.

Bobby Miller – The comebacker off the head was scary stuff. I’m glad he’s ok, but if there’s ever a bad spot to take a comebacker (besides the head) it’s when you find yourself smack dab in the middle of a rotation battle with a bunch of other Dodgers. He should be back soon, but he likely won’t push anyone else out of the rotation yet.

DJ Herz – A rough Spring, and a strong start from Mike Soroka, might have punched Herz’s ticket back to AAA.

Kumar Rocker – 8 ER in 8 IP this month means he’s likely in line for more minor league seasoning, at least to start the year.

That’s all for this week! I hope you enjoyed it! Next week, I’ll likely include the Top 100 list again with a few updates in the notes section like I did this week. I assume, or at least hope, I’ll have some results to share with you from our TGFBI and/or RazzSlam drafts that started last week too!

 

Drop some comments in the chat if you’re feeling extra fired up about some of the names I do (or don’t) have here. Have a great week!

 

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