\Happy Monday, Razzball faithful!

Well, it’s a good thing that last week’s Top 100 Starting Pitchers article was titled, “Tis The Season For Overreactions”, because I’ve got a DOOZY as the lede this week!

But first, let’s set it up.

When Cody Ponce signed with the Jays this offseason for 3 years and $30 million, I was cautiously optimistic. I mean, what kind of ‘upside’ did a guy have if he played the last four years in the NPB/KBO after being let go by the Pirates…yes, he wasn’t good enough to stick with the PIRATES.

Then, after looking at all of last season’s eye-popping stats AND factoring in the 2-3 MPH velocity jump, I thought, “Hey, maybe this guy isn’t all that bad of a dice-roll to take as an end-of–the-draft flier.”

His preseason statistics were much the same as the KBO ones, but the biggest takeaways from March were his ability to maintain the velocity gains (96.3 MPH) and chuck a pretty filthy 89 MPH changeup.

“Ah, I know what this means,” your fearless MarmosDad exclaimed. “This calls for a Razzball Staff Picks Comeback Player of the Year Prediction!”

In fact, it was a taek so spicy that it rounded up the final section in Grey’s write-up…

Alas, the “Execute Order 66” announcement did not come from the electric fingertips of a Sith lord. A slow roller through the infield was the one to deal the death blow to a bad knee.

Hearing a manager say things like, “We’re hopeful that he can pitch for us before the end of this season,” isn’t exactly a vote of confidence, but it brings me back to my original point.

There is a lot of overreaction in the first few weeks of the MLB season when it comes to our fantasy game. When a pitcher you targeted in draft season gives up a half dozen runs, and a waiver wire arm pitches 6 innings of one-hit ball, it’s tempting to cut bait on the proven commodity for the shiny new toy.

Don’t.

Unless, of course, that overreaction is backed up by a close-to-season-ending injury. 

Where do you get such excellent information and injury guidance, Mister MarmosDad?

Well, if you want our resident injury expert’s analysis/lowdown of this particular ouchy, you can find Keelin’s write-up here.

Do I want to cut bait on Cody Ponce and euthanize a Comeback prediction that had exactly 6 days of “life”? No.

But it’s time to make some assessments with your squad and trim the fat just a bit. Long-term player injuries may take up valuable reserve roster space. If your bench isn’t deep, it’s time to surf that FAAB wave.

Does the hot-shot young arm you wanted to believe in now ride a minor league bus instead of a team jet? Then it’s time to gauge your level of patience and your measure of FOMO.

If your favorite starting pitcher “sleeper” now goes by the moniker “Ponce-De-Lean-On… a cane so he can walk to the fridge to get the orange juice for breakfast”…maybe it’s time to react accordingly (and time to shorten the new nickname).

Does this mean we need to shuffle up the entire list two weeks in? No. But we have some Jumpers, Dumpers, and a few new names in the Stumpers and Bumpers section to peep below, nonetheless.

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.

AND, all of you RazzSlammers, don’t forget to get your FAAB bids in. RazzSlam 7’s first (of two) FAAB runs is scheduled for Tuesday (April 7th) at 9:00 PM CST! There should be an email in your inbox (or your junk folder) from yours truly, sent yesterday!

For what it’s worth, some of this week’s notes are again borrowed from my most recent Friday night round-up that you may have already read – Riding The Gfirrin To The Top Of Hype Mountain. Also, no spoilers, but you might want to click it just see the photo of the bestest boy in L.A.

Let’s get to it!

The Top 100 Starting Pitchers for 2026

All news and notes were updated Sunday afternoon, while some games were still in progress. Some weeks, I’ll update throughout the evening, but the Easter Bunny crunch meant yesterday had to be an early edit. Apologies for any glaring omissions and/or missed injury news.

MARMO RANK	Name	Team	Notes
1	Tarik Skubal	DET	7 IP, 1 ER, 6 hits, zero walks, 3 Ks, ERA 0.69. The Tiger King.
2	Paul Skenes	PIT	5 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 9.53. Uh…at least it was better than the first start?
3	Garrett Crochet	BOS	5 IP, 4 ER, 6 hits, zero walks, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.27. What? Ya can’t win ’em all! (said like the guy at the back of the line at Dunkin’ Donuts).
4	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD	6 IP, 2 ER, 5 baserunners, 2 Ks, ERA at 3.00. A tough luck loss here makes Yamamoto the second-best Yoshi this week. And, yes, we’re going to see the new Mario movie on my 10-year-old’s birthday.
5	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	5 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners (4 BBs), 7 Ks, ERA at 0.79. If I don’t get a do-over for my Cody Ponce Comeback pick, can I at least get some goodwill points if this dude wins the Cy Young?
6	Bryan Woo	SEA	“7 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks. ERA at 1.38. WHIP at 0.0538. A one-hitter from the Woo-bot?! That’s an easy win, right? <insert Padme meme here> That’s an easy win…RIGHT?!”
7	Hunter Brown	HOU	6 IP, 1 ER, 3 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 0.84. This one was much more economical than his first start when he threw 102 pitches (78 pitches in this one). It’s BrownTown for a two-start week at COL and at SEA. EDIT: I cursed him. He was placed on the 15-day IL with a right shoulder strain while I was typing this up yesterday. He stays here for now, but won’t drop much next week if the news is promising.
8	Max Fried	NYY	13.1 scoreless innings across two starts, and pristine ratios mean the boost was overdue. As tough as it was to push some others down below him, it was justified. He threw at home vs MIA yesterday and gets TB this week.
9	Chris Sale	ATL	6 IP, 1 ER, 1 hit, zero walks, 3 Ks, ERA at 0.75. Ah, ‘75. What a year. Which one are you all in on? The release of Jaws, the end of the Vietnam War, or Chris Sale’s ERA? He got pushed back last week because of a nasty sickness floating around the clubhouse. The good news is he’s due back today and now has a two-start week. The 0.75 ERA and 0.583 push him ahead of others today.
10	Jacob deGrom	TEX	4 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 6 hits, zero walks, 7 Ks in his first start of the year. This one was pushed back because of neck soreness, so let’s give him a start or two to see if he’s fully healthy and worthy of a Top 12 spot.
11	Logan Gilbert	SEA	It’s been a rougher start for Gilbert than we’ve wanted to see. He gets TEX on the road, then HOU at home for a double dip this week. That’ll determine if he can crack back into the Top 10 here.
12	Logan Webb	SF	6 IP, 3 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 7.36. Shaving Webb. The story of Logan’s early-season ratio trouble. Not to be confused with the newest issue about Peter Parker’s manscaping phase. Webb hosted the Mets yesterday and heads to BAL this week.
13	Shohei Ohtani	LAD	6 IP, 0 ER, 1 hit, 3 BBs, 6 Ks. Congratulations to the three managers who started him as an SP last week. Or to the couple of hundred still rostering him as a split entity. More below.
14	Cole Ragans	KC	6 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.60. I don’t like this one bit. He had a really solid game, which is encouraging because I like the arm. But Grey hates this guy more than he hates accidentally drafting Bo Bichette, so it feels icky even if Ragans continues to throw well.
15	Kevin Gausman	TOR	6 IP, 0 ER, 2 hits, zero walks, 10 Ks, ERA at 0.75. It’s early! It’s still early! Let’s not give him the pitcher of the universe award yet! But I really want to give him the pitcher of the universe award right now.
16	Framber Valdez	DET	“6 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks, and his first win as a Tiger. ERA at 0.75. WHIP at 1.083. What a start for Detroit’s ace! (but, ya, they still have that other guy too). All jokes aside, Framber was dealing in this one.”
17	George Kirby	SEA	6 IP, 4 ER, 8 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.75. I don’t know what’s more surprising, the 4 ER or the 3 BBs.
18	Dylan Cease	TOR	“4.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks. ERA at 2.79. WHIP at 1.35. The whiffs were there (16), but it took him 93 pitches to get 13 outs. He gets the Avengers at home this week.”
19	Freddy Peralta	NYM	5 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 7 Ks. Thank goodness they didn’t let him stick around for another two outs and the win. SMH emoji.
20	Joe Ryan	MIN	4 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 4.82. There are some pitchers I wanted at least one share of this year, and had a bit of the FOMO when I realized I had zero shares. Cristopher Sanchez. Hunter Brown. Eury Perez. Um…ya, that’s kind of it. Eyes emoji. He drops today.
21	Kyle Bradish	BAL	“4 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks. Hey, man. Someone has to serve up the excitement when a top prospect comes up to the bigs. Bradish gets a pass for being the lone frowny face in a river of PNC smiles.” And the winner of the 2026 award for Most Likely To Be A Premature Drop is…
22	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	Way up today. More below.
23	Tyler Glasnow	LAD	12 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 15 Ks in his first two starts. ERA at 3.00. WHIP at 0.917. So why isn’t he ranked higher than this? Uh…well…is there any other pitcher you know of who has an office pool board of predictions for when his next injury will be?
24	Sonny Gray	BOS	“6 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 3 Ks, and the win. Mr Underrated with a nice bounceback from last week’s short outing in Cincy.”
25	Trevor Rogers	BAL	More below.
26	Nolan McLean	NYM	“5.1 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 4Ks, and his first win of the year. What’s that? Are you looking for a breakout pitcher? Oh, I Noah guy.” ALSO, More Below!
27	Cam Schlittler	NYY	6 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 2 hits, zero walks, 7 Ks, ERA at 0.00. Yay for Perts League pitching!
28	Eury Perez	MIA	“4 IP, 4 ER, 2 H, 6 BB, 4 Ks, and the loss. ERA at 5.73. WHIP at 1.273. A half a dozen walks? Oh boy. Don’t tell the Eury-heads about this one. They’ll have to cancel the Cy Young parade.”
29	Emmet Sheehan	LAD	“5.2 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 2 Ks. ERA at 8.00, WHIP at 1.89. Let’s remember that this time of year is similar to what you’d say to someone expecting Jesus to show up on Saturday: “It’s still early.”
30	Jesus Luzardo	PHI	He got rocked in his first start of the year (6 ER, 5 IP), but managed to right the ship in a 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 11 K effort at COL on Saturday, so he stays in the Top 30. He gets ARI at home this week.
31	Brandon Woodruff	MLW	5 IP, 2 ER, 4 hits, zero walks, 6 Ks. Outside of two homers allowed, Woodruff had a solid season debut vs TB. He’s lined up to be a two-start option this week at BOS and vs WSH.
32	Jacob Misiorowski	MLW	6 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 2.45. The Miz is coming for your fantasy squad. And he’s gonna do a <looks up the special move from the WWE Miz> “Skull Crushing Finale”. Yep. Nailed it.
33	Chase Burns	CIN	The initial worry about reassignment or being skipped in the rotation was all for naught. His first start was excellent (5 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 3 BB, 7 Ks), and he takes a big Jump today.
34	Robbie Ray	SF	5 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 7 Ks, 1 pair of XS pants. ERA at 3.38.
35	Nick Pivetta	SD	5 IP, 0 ER, 3 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 6.75. Grey said this week that he’s Pivetta’s biggest non-fan. If that’s the case, I’m at least the chauffeur who drives him and the rest of the gang to the Anti-Pivetta rallies. Just don’t tell anyone I’m slagging a fellow Canadian, or they might make me throw out all the maple syrup in my fridge.
36	Edward Cabrera	CHC	Game 1: 6 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks. I watched the first 6 innings of this one, and Ed-Cub just manhandled the Angels. His second start was yesterday at CLE. If he pushes in that one, he’ll move up next week. EDIT: He pushed. But he also walked 5 guys. And I’m not talking about how he got to the burger joint. Regardless, he’ll likely move up again next week.
37	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	4 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 11.42. First off, I like him. I really do. But I never seem to roster him because I like the other, flashier lights that often surround him in the draft room. Shrug.
38	Michael King	SD	“5.2 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, BB, 5 Ks, and the loss. ERA at 3.38. WHIP at 1.22.”
39	Drew Rasmussen	TB	5 IP, 1 ER, 3 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 1.80. Oh, would you look at that! A quality sta- oh wait, that says Drew Rasmussen. Nevermind. We don’t even need to check if he got to 6 innings.
40	Tatsuya Imai	HOU	Last week, I said that his first start of the season was likely rocky because of the anxiety of being in the big leagues. 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 9 Ks is much more like what we expected from him. The bonus is that he did it at Bing Bong Stadium. He’s at SEA this week.
41	Shota Imanaga	CHC	I left this one to the end just so I could see how he did at CLE on Sunday. 5 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks, and the no-decision was a lot better than his first start. Next step: get to 6 innings.
42	Ranger Suarez	BOS	4.1 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks at HOU for the first start last week. He had SD at home yesterday.
43	Gavin Williams	CLE	7 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 10 Ks, ERA at 2.25. He burned me just enough last year that I didn’t want to experience the headache again this year. And when that tiny voice in my head said, “But what if he breaks out and solves the control problems?” That louder voice piped up to drown it out with a “BUT CODY PONCE IS AWESOME! AND HE LIKES THE STAR WARS!” Sad, downtrodden face times a million.
44	Luis Castillo	SEA	Game 1: 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 7 Ks, and a tough no-decision vs NYY. He pitched yesterday at LAA. EDIT: 3.2 IP of meh on 84 pitches yesterday.
45	Mackenzie Gore	TEX	“6 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 9 Ks, and the no-decision. He got tagged for a two-run HR by Spencer Steer and that solo bomb from Elly, but other than that, the line was solid. “
46	Zac Gallen	ARI	6 IP, 0 ER, 4 hits, zero walks, 2 Ks, ERA at 3.60. Are we going to get this guy, or the one who gave up 4 ER on 4 IP at LAD in Week 1? It’s a two-start week for Gallen, and both are on the road (at NYM, at PHI), so…do ya feel lucky?
47	Bubba Chandler	PIT	More below.
48	Trey Yesavage	TOR	He’s throwing! I swear! More below.
49	Ryan Pepiot	TB	He’s getting the “hand-holding” treatment from TB with this hip inflammation IL stint. He was supposed to throw a bullpen on Friday, but I couldn’t find any news on it. He stays here for now, just know that he may not be activated when he’s eligible (today).
50	Tanner Bibee	CLE	The shoulder injury scare during his first start of the year wasn’t enough to send him to the IL. Last week’s 4 IP, 1 ER, 4 K outing at LAD was encouraging. He’s only averaged 76 pitches in his two starts, so it looks like the Guardians are taking it slow. Something to watch this week for his two-start week (vs KC, at ATL).
51	Kris Bubic	KC	As I said with Shota above, I waited on Bubic’s start just to see if he could put up another 6 IP, 1 ER gem. He…could not. 5 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, and the loss on 96 pitches isn’t great, but the 8 strikeouts were a nice consolation. He gets CWS at home this week.
52	Shane McClanahan	TB	4 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 5 baserunners, 4 Ks. I truly have no idea what to think about this guy. He took a tough loss and only threw 79 pitches, but it may just be a bit of Tampa taking it slow with him, and McClanahan shaking off some rust before he fully rounds into that top-tier option. He gets CHC at home today.
53	Matthew Boyd	CHC	5 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 4 baserunners, 10 Ks, ERA at 6.75. Guess it’s time to drop Logan Gilbert for this guy. Eyeroll emoji?
54	Shane Baz	BAL	5.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks, and the no-decision. He actually outpitched Carmen Mlodzinski yesterday and deserved a better fate than he got. L:ike some of the others on this list, he was an out away from recording a QS (on 96 pitches).
55	Joey Cantillo	CLE	“5.1 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks. The earned run was more about that Bermuda triangle mishap than anything Cantillo did wrong.“
56	Noah Cameron	KC	5 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 5 Ks. Guess who streamed this guy?! Best 555 since we tried to call that phone number from that 1980s movie with the nerds and the jocks and the shy girl with the glasses who turned out to look like…wait, too much information.
57	Jack Leiter	TEX	Game 1: 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 8 Ks at BAL. Game 2 was yesterday vs CIN. I say it below with Roki, but starting Leiter in BAL is a tougher call than yesterday’s home start vs CIN.
58	Parker Messick	CLE	More below.
59	Casey Mize	DET	6 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 9 Ks. A nice start to his season with the dub at ARI. He gets two this week – at MIN and a home one vs MIA. Translation: start him everywhere.
60	Connelly Early	BOS	The stamina isn’t there yet, and the walks need a trimming, but he has a job locked down, and he’s showing that his 5-pitch mix is going to work. I kind of love watching these kids that don’t “just throw.” He knows how to pitch without a dominant FB velocity.
61	Zack Wheeler	PHI	Reading “Struggles in rehab start” and “Works to add velocity to fastball” aren’t two things that I wanted to see when I searched for Wheeler news. He slips down today.
62	Nick Lodolo	CIN	The blister nonsense pushes him way down today.
63	Andrew Abbott	CIN	5 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 8 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.09. It was a far cry from his first start (6 IP, 0 ER, 1 BB), but I have a bad feeling that we might have a flip-flopper here who alternates good and bad starts for a while. He drops a bit today, but is in line for two starts this week.
64	Clay Holmes	NYM	Two starts already from last week. 2 wins, 12.2 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 5 BB, 9 Ks. ERA at 1.42. WHIP at 0.947. He moves up a bit today, but he’ll keep going if he can give us 7 innings (like he did in his second start).
65	Jack Flaherty	DET	4 IP, 5 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 6 Ks. ERA at 7.56. WHIP at 1.80. “But it’s only two starts!” called out from the Tigers fan way back behind the dumpster.
66	Seth Lugo	KC	When I edited this up, this was the only guy I missed. And that seemed pretty poetic. The always-forgotten-about Lugo is doing what he does best: Pitching innings and limiting damage. 11.1 IP, 2 ER, 9 H, 2 BB, 11 Ks. ERA at 1.59. WHIP at 0.971. He needs a boost today.
67	Will Warren	NYY	“5.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 6 Ks, 2 HR allowed. Aside from the two homers, Warren looked solid in his first win of the year.”
68	Aaron Nola	PHI	“6.1 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, BB, 9 Ks. ERA at 3.18. WHIP at 1.15. I really don’t want to move him up in the Top 100, but this start is about as perfect as his managers were expecting. He could’ve been a lot worse and still registered the win.” He moves up today.
69	Mitch Keller	PIT	“6 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 4 Ks, and his first win. The King of the Quality Start is back at it again.”
70	Grant Holmes	ATL	“6 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 3 BB, 4 Ks, and the no-decision. ERA at 2.45. WHIP at 1.00. He retired 16 D-Backs before allowing a hit. This one is going to ruffle a bunch of fantasy feathers if I don’t add him to the Top 100 Starting Pitchers list on Monday. We may have to go to the hair for the tiebreaker.” Putting a guy who looks just like Kenny Powers in at SP69 just felt right.
71	Braxton Ashcraft	PIT	Game 1: 6 IP, 2 ER, 8 baserunners (4 BBs), 3 Ks at CIN is a pretty solid line (if we ignore the walks). Yesterday’s matchup was at home vs BAL. EDIT: He shoved yesterday at home vs BAL and I’m in. 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 8 Ks is as good as it gets.
72	Ryan Weathers	NYY	Game 1: 4.1 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 7 Ks. Stamina and pitch count are two big goals for the lefty to improve on, but the 98 MPH FB was still firing on all cylinders. Game 2: Saturday’s start was less encouraging. 88 pitches to get 11 outs, allow 3 ER, and strike out 3? Uh…
73	Reid Detmers	ANA	“6.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 4 Ks on 104 pitches. Detmers was just as good as Woo was last night, matching him pitch for pitch. He also matched him HBP for HBP, drilling Julio Rodriguez in the leg in the 4th inning as a considerate reciprocation for Woo’s Trout plunking.” He moves up today.
74	Max Scherzer	TOR	6 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 4 Ks. Crazy Max doesn’t want you to step on the field before he does. Crazy Max still has gas left in the tank. Crazy Max is coming to get you if you’re an opposing hitter. Watch out for Crazy Max. (Two starts this week!)
75	Mike Burrows	HOU	5 IP, 2 ER, 8 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 5.91. This one vs BOS was a better start than his season-opening game vs LAA. Take that for what it’s worth. I’d be sitting him this week, though, if I had better options (he’s at COL).
76	Taj Bradley	MIN	OK, FINE! 6 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 0.87. Is Taj the Hindu word for “banana in the tailpipe”? This one’s like Eury Perez-lite in that people are obsessed with wanting him to be good. I’d take Eury 11/10 times, of course, but the Taj Bradley 0.2 IP, 9 ER, 5 H, 7 BB outing is coming at some point, and I hope you have him on your bench when it happens. Putting him this high feels like a setup for disaster.
77	Merrill Kelly	ARI	This is a bit of a cheat as he’s on the IL and I didn’t remove him. He’s due back on April 8th, but there hasn’t been any definitive announcement made yet.
78	Kodai Senga	NYM	More below.
79	Mike Soroka	ARI	He’s 2-0! More in the “WHEE” section below.
80	Andrew Painter	PHI	5 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 8 Ks, and Grey’s Tuesday lede. He’s at SF tomorrow (Painter, not Grey).
81	Cade Horton	CHC	More below.
82	Ryne Nelson	ARI	4 2/3 IP, 2 ER, ERA at 5.79. Solid talent with not-so-solid results (so far). And he hasn’t finished 5 innings in either outing. He drops a bit today, but…Hold!
83	David Peterson	NYM	4 1/3 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 4.66. Um…I know we always preach patience in April, but some guys are closer to that drop line than others. And Peterson isn’t quite petering towards that line. He’s sprinting.
84	Kyle Harrison	MLW	The first start last week puts him on the list – 5 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 8 Ks. Yesterday’s start at KC will determine whether he moves up next week. Yesterday’s 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 6 Ks was much of the same. As much as it sucks not seeing Logan Henderson take the ball every fifth day, Brewers fans should be happy with Harrison.
85	Chad Patrick	MLW	He followed up a solid 4.1 inning season debut with 5 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 3 Ks, and his first win (at KC). He added a dozen pitches from his first start to his second (86 in start #2). Here’s hoping he can get through 6 innings this week at BOS.
86	Shane Smith	CWS	More below.
87	Logan Henderson	MLW	More below.
88	Eric Lauer	TOR	He was supposed to start Saturday, but got pushed back to yesterday because of the flu. Lauer did his best, but was clearly not OK. The fastball sat at 89 MPH (3 MPH slower than usual), and it didn’t take Pete Walker and John Schneider long to give him the early hook. I’m still in, and this could be a decent buying opportunity in FAAB if people see the short outing and assume he fell apart because of mechanics.
89	Jose Soriano	LAA	More below.
90	Roki Sasaki	LAD	Game 1: 4 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 4 Ks. Game 2 at WSH yesterday. If you had the guts to start him for the Cleveland game, the Nats can’t be that bad of an idea, right? EDIT: He sucked yesterday.
91	Brandon Sproat	MLW	11 ER on 6.2 IP is enough to make the majority of the fantasy baseball world turn against you, but, as Britney once said, “I still believe…(still believe)”
92	Luis Severino	ATL	3 1/3 IP, 4 ER, ERA at 6.48. I knew this kind of shizz was coming when I moved him into the cool kids club last week. This dude is likely going to ride the Taillon train all year (on the Top 100 one week, and off the next, then repeat).
93	Michael Wacha	KC	Fozzie Bear had a great first start, then got hit with the nasty flu that’s been hammering pitchers everywhere. Someone tell these guys not to eat the jalapenos in the communal tray right outside the bathrooms (there’s a true story in there).
94	Rhett Lowder	CIN	There were a bunch of names I could have gone with here (see SP100 below), but I went with Lowder mostly because he gets MIA this week, then SF at home next week. 11 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 9 Ks is tough to argue with, too.
95	Mick Abel	MIN	11.05 ERA and 2.864 WHIP. Uh…let’s say he’s just ironing things out. Down today.
96	Bailey Ober	MIN	“Another 4-inning drag on 82 pitches. And he gets the Tigers this Wednesday. Ugh.”
97	Max Meyer	MIA	9.2 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 5 BB, 11 Ks, and a 4.66 ERA is about as “SP97” as it gets. Onward and upward? Hope so.
98	Yusei Kikuchi	LAA	5.1 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 5 Ks. ERA at 6.52. You say Kikuchi and I say Kik-Ouchy.
99	Brayan Bello	BOS	More bello…er, below.
100	Emerson Hancock	SEA	I needed one more arm to add to the final open spot, and it was a short list of Randy Vasquez, Lance McCullers, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Jeffrey Springs. Can you guess who I went with? I’ll give you a hint: he’s 1-1, pitches for Seattle, and his last name sounds like what showed up in Reese McGuire’s last police report.

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

Shohei Ohtani – I said it before, and I’ll likely say it a few more times. I didn’t rank Shohei in my Top 20 SPs to start the preseason for two reasons. 1. There was no knowing if he’d be ready for a full pitching workload to start the season, and 2. I don’t know how many managers would start him as an SP instead of in their UT spot as a hitter. Well, if his 6 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 3 BB, 6 K outing from last week is any indication of future production, his pitching stats are going to be just fine. If you play in a league that still has him as two players, he’s an easy start as a pitcher. Also, why does your league still have him as two players? That seems silly now.

Trevor Rogers – 6 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 1.38. If you’ve read since January, first, thank you. Second, you’ll know I’ve been higher than most others are on this dude. That stretch of near perfection last year was crazy, and most pundits dismissed it as unsustainable. But what if it wasn’t? What if his regression is still a low 2s ERA, with a near 9 K/9 and a 2.5 BB/9? And in more than 18 starts (that’s what he had last year). Are you betting against an increase in the 9 wins from last year? Because I sure aren’t? Isn’t? Am not? A mint? Amn’t?

Nolan McLean – It isn’t a big jump today, and I did write him up in Friday’s recap, but I wanted to share this clip from Rob Friedman that highlights just how much of a wizard this kid really is. If you were wondering why so many fantasy baseballers were high on Nolan McLean this spring, well, feast your eyes on this one.

Which, of course, warranted a retweet from me with the following gif:

Sandy Alcantara – 9 IP, 0 ER, 3 hits, zero walks, 7 Ks, ERA at 0.00. Ok, so maybe I was wrong on Sandy. 16 innings of scoreless baseball with 7 H, 2 BB, and a dozen strikeouts does wonders for one’s ranking. He gets a big boost today, and I’d be starting him everywhere for his two-start week this week (vs CIN, at DET).

Parker Messick – Full disclosure, I wrote this up before the start yesterday against CHC, so if he gets blown up, you can blame me for the jinx. I sat the two-start Messick last week for the same reason a lot of you likely did, too. Throwing your first game of the year at Dodger Stadium usually ranks on the Scale of Enjoyability right above getting a prostate exam from Edward Scissorhands. So what did Messick do for the 3% of the managers who actually started him in weekly leagues? 6 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 5 Ks, and the win. On 76 pitches, too?! Wow. Here’s hoping he takes the mountain of confidence from that start and throws a perfect game against the Cubs. 

EDIT: It wasn’t a perfect game, but 5 IP, 1 ER (solo HR), 2 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks was almost as good as his first game. He’s looking like a beauty so far.

Trey Yesavage – Ok, so this isn’t so much a “Jumper” as it is a defense for keeping him where he’s ranked. Yesavage started in Dunedin Friday night and threw 2.2 innings, allowing one hit, one run, and one walk. He struck out three and threw 44 pitches. The “run” wasn’t exactly an earned one, either, as it came on an inside-the-park home run that ricocheted off the RF wall.

For those of you (us) who need to see numbers to be convinced, here’s the velocity from Friday compared to his 2025 averages.

Please, for the love of the Fantasy Baseball gods, let there be no setbacks.

Bubba Chandler – Someone with the name Bubba is not the kind of guy you want to see walking that thin of a tightrope…or maybe it is. I kind of hate that I like him as much as I do, because we all know that one of these half dozen walk games is going to boot him off the plank and into the whirlpool of bad ratios sooner or later. Don’t get me wrong. I still very much like the player. But I also know that he was more than lucky to escape last week’s start with his numbers intact. EDIT: I had him moved down, but convinced myself to move him back up into the 50s, then put him at SP47. I still believe that he can reign in the control and be something special. 

Kodai Senga – 6 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners (3 BBs), 9 Ks. He feels like an Amazon box that’s ticking on your front porch. You know you didn’t order an alarm clock, but you know you want to open it. So just do it already…but be careful!

Jose Soriano – Here’s what I had written up before a shuffle opened up an extra spot: “6 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 0.00. That’s two scoreless starts and two wins. I came so close to putting him on the list over Kyle Harrison, but I know the 6 BB, 7 ER game is coming at some point soon. If he wipes out ATL and CIN in his two-start week this week, this is my apology in advance, and I’ll make sure he’s in there next week.” Well, he’s in here now, so let’s hope he doesn’t implode and make all the Randy Vasquez fans scream “I told you so!”

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

Brayan Bello – 4 2/3 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 2 Ks. Hey, did you know that if you count the Ls, his entire name sounds like it has 7 vowels and just 4 consonants? And if someone counts the L they took when they drafted him, you get to choose if there’s 8 or not. He gets MLW at Fewnway today. Where do you stand on the Over/Under for total ER plus BBs at 8.5? Eek emoji.

Shane Smith – 3 IP, 7 ER, ERA at 19.29. That’s 10 ER in 4.2 (total) innings. But…but…but he was an All-Star last year!

Cade Horton – Ugh. “1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, and a lot of worried Cubs fans as he was lifted in the 2nd inning with “right forearm discomfort”. Horton hears a pop? No matter what Horton heard, this news is not good! He spoke with the media after the game, so the silver lining here is that at least he wasn’t immediately rushed to the hospital or kept in the trainer’s room.” He stays on the list for now until we hear about the results of the MRI.

Logan Henderson – Called up! (to pitch 2 innings and throw 35 pitches before getting sent back down). I’d say ignore the parenthetical there, but we both know we can’t. He drops down a bunch today. The only good news is that this should prove he’s the next man up. But, for what it’s worth, Robert Gasser has 11 strikeouts in 5.2 innings. If you have room to stash, there are worse bets to be made than nabbing both.

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 – “6 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks, and his first win of the season. ERA at 2.38. WHIP at 0.971. He’ll be in the Stumpers group on Monday with a chance to break onto the list if he puts up a couple more starts like this one.”

Reynaldo Lopez – 5 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 1.64. He’s a Stumper for now, but he’s in the queue to bump guys out of the bottom if he keeps putting up lines like this.

Tyler Mahle – “5 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks, 2 HR allowed, and the loss (0-2). ERA at 7.00. WHIP at 1.778. There was a time when I was worried that leaving Mahle off the Top 100 Starting Pitchers list was going to come back to haunt me. Let’s just say I don’t need Dan Ackroyd and Bill Murray to take care of that anymore.”

Zach Eflin

Slade Cecconi

Justin Verlander – 3 2/3 IP, 5 ER. And an IL visit to get his hip checked out. Oof.

Jacob Lopez

Cade Cavalli – 6 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 2.79, Best C&C since Cards and Categories, or the Music Factory.

Matthew Liberatore – 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 baserunners, 2 Ks, ERA at 1.64. Meh…be?

Lance McCullers Jr. – 7 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 9 Ks

Randy Vasquez – He was so close, and it’s likely an oversight to omit this week. Another solid outing this week means he cracks the list next Monday.

Brandon Pfaadt – 6 IP, 5 ER. Oh! Maybe he’ll bounce back this season. Pfffft. Pfaadt chance!

Brady Singer – 5 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, BB, 5 Ks, and the no-decision.

Chris Bassitt

Landen Roupp – He was almost ready to jump onto the list, but the 4.2 IP, 7 R, 7 H outing against the Mets on Saturday keeps him off for now. The 7 Ks were encouraging, though.

Bryce Elder – 6 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 5 Ks.

Miles Mikolas – Not really, but I wanted to share my quote from Friday’s roundup. “4.1 IP, 11 ER, 11 H, BB, 4 Ks, and the loss (2). ERA at 14.46. WHIP at 2.25. I’ll write this one up so I can hyperlink it when anyone asks why Mikolas isn’t on the Top 100 SP list. Apparently, someone forgot to let Mister Miles know that the best way to conserve a 3-0 lead in the 2nd inning was NOT to pretend that he was throwing in a home run derby. I don’t blame him, though. That lineup should be the same one that the NL sends out at the All-Star break.”

Michael McGreevy – “4.2 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 4 Ks, and the loss. McGreevy wasn’t so McGroovy in this one.”

Joe Boyle – “5.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 9 Ks. He got hosed when Carson Williams booted a tailor-made double play ball in the 4th inning, which, of course, led to the unearned run that cost Boyle a shot at the win.”

Eduardo Rodriguez – “7 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks, and the no-decision. ERA at 0.000000. WHIP at 0.917. Ok, kids. You can have Grant Holmes or Eduardo Rodriguez added to the Top 100 on Monday, but you can’t have both. It’ll spoil your dinner.”

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 – “3.2 IP, 6 ER, 6 H, 5 BB, 2 Ks. Well, at least I know there’s one guy that people won’t be clamoring for in the Top 100 on Monday. “

Hunter Greene

Blake Snell

Cody Ponce

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

Grant Holmes 

Mike Soroka – One of THREE Canadian pitchers to throw an immaculate inning, as he wiped out the Tigers last week (5 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 10 Ks). His second start against ATL was nearly the same, with two more walks and fewer strikeouts. Now he just needs to get through 6 innings to start adding some wins.

Taj Bradley – No. Seriously. He’s up there.

Kyle Harrison 

Eric Lauer

Rhett Lowder

Emerson Hancock

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

Spencer Strider – Oblique. Ugh.

Cody Ponce (Man – and five women – It made me tear up just typing this one)

Hunter Greene – It’s time to pare down the list and set aside the long-term IL guys.

Blake Snell – See above.

Carlos Rodon – See above.

Gerrit Cole – See above. And above. Now that draft season is over, and you remembered to draft him as a bench stash, he gives up his spot for an active body.

Grayson Rodriguez – Not due back until April 22nd (IL).

 

Oh, and one more quick shot for those of you who took my advice and used that late-round pick to lock in those 47 pitches from our fallen hero, Cody Ponce.

There’s nothing I can say that Lionel Ritchie doesn’t say a hundred times better.

“… Thanks for the times that you’ve given me

The memories are all in my mind

And now that we’ve come to the end of our rainbow

There’s something I must say out loud…”

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