Happy Monday, Razzball faithful!

Wait a minute. Is it Canada Day tomorrow? That means it’s Independence Day on Friday the Fourth? Talk about an international Tag Team! 

I mean, that’s almost as good as the reigning Tag Team Champions: BBQ and baseball!

And for the Party People, Tag Team is in full effect. Back again. Check it, wreck it, let’s begin.

Wave your hands in the air, shake the derrière. Three words mean you’re getting busy (looking for a solid SP to stream).

Roupp! There It Is!

So, just a few words here to clear up any confusion. 

1. Maybe Landen Roupp isn’t the best SP in our Top 100 Starting Pitchers list, but he’s worthy of some attention this week.
2. I know school is out for summer, but by my count, ‘Roupp! There It Is!’ is not three words.
3. There is no C.
4. Wtf is a ‘Whoomp’, anyway?

All I know for sure is that with the yo-yo’ing between wins and losses from San Francisco’s rookie starter, it’s only natural to get excited about two consecutive strong starts.

Over his last two, Roupp checks in with an 11.1 IP, 0 ER, 10 H, 5 BB, 11 K line. 

Dominant? No. Enough to post back-to-back wins and push his record above .500 to a respectable 6-5? Yes.

With all the Roupps and downs this year, it’s looking like Landen is coming into his own as a reliable starter. The 8.19 K/9 isn’t otherworldly, but the potential to improve is there. Roupp recorded a 12.75 K/9 over 107 innings in the 2022 season while he rocketed through A, A+, and AA ball.

His Statcast page isn’t the kind that makes fans reach for their sunglasses to shield their eyes from the bright red beams, but Roupp’s hard-hit rate checks in at the 82nd percentile. His GB% is a respectable 47%. Just for reference sake, that slots him in as the 17th best in baseball – right between Garrett Crochet and Spencer Schwellenbach, but a far cry from last week’s lede, Jose Soriano’s 65% (more on him later).

Does Landen Roupp have the potential to improve? Absolutely. Has he shown us some current production to get excited about? Yep.

But just how far Roupp does this push Landen in our Top 100 Starting Pitchers list today?

Well, before we get to the list, 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		6 IP, 4 ER, 7 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 2.29. Even the “stinkers” aren’t all that bad. The next one was the ‘late’ game last night vs MIN. EDIT: Ho Hum, just another absolutely dominant one last night. 7 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 13 Ks. I’d link Grey’s round-up from this morning, where he was Grey’s lede, but if you’re reading this, you’ve already read that!
2	Garrett Crochet	BOS		7 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 10 Ks, ERA at 2.06. I watched this one against Tyler Anderson and the Angels, and holy hell does this dude ever make some hitters look like they’re bad at their jobs. I’m also glad he didn’t start against the Jays yesterday, or it would’ve been much of the same.
3	Zack Wheeler	PHI		So let’s check his last two starts. 11 IP, 0 ER, 7 H, 6 BB, 16 Ks, ZERO wins and one loss. Uh, OK?
4	Hunter Brown	HOU		7 IP, 0 ER, 3 hits, zero walks, 9 Ks, ERA at 1.74. I just saw a stat that listed off the lowest ERAs after the first 16 starts of a season in Astros history. Brown’s was 4th. See if you can guess the other three (drop them in the comments). He was one of the leaders on “Magical Thursday” last week. (More on that later).
5	Max Fried	NYY		He got hosed out of his league-leading 10th win two weeks ago, but picked it up last Wednesday at CIN. 7 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks. This is a Top 5 line from a Top 5 starter.
6	Paul Skenes	PIT		4 IP, 4 ER, ERA at 2.12. 78 pitches. Skenes got twisted up by the Brewers and the Miz. 4 H, 4 Ks. At least it wasn’t 4 walks too? (2 BB). That’s called polishing a turd, kids.
7	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD		Last Wednesday’s 5-inning, one-hit shutout with 6 Ks was pretty sweet. I’m undecided if throwing it at COL is still an impressive feat or if the talent from the Rockies has balanced that out.
8	Jacob deGrom	TEX		As much as I mention “Magic Thursday” from last week in the notes here, Wednesday had its fair share of stellar starts, too. deGrom took Yoshi’s one-hitter and gave us two more innings and one more strikeout.
9	Bryan Woo	SEA		A two-start guy last week, and both starts were nearly identical. 6 IP, 9 Ks in both. 6 H, 1 BB in his first game, then 5 H, 2 BB in his second. He gave up zero ER on Saturday after allowing 2 ER in his first game. Bottom line? I love him more than Ric Flair loves to yell his name.
10	Logan Webb	SF		6 straight quality starts now, and as solid as it gets. On the road for his next tw,o and he needs to keep it up because the next 5-10 SPs are making his Spidey-senses tingle.
11	Framber Valdez	HOU		The King of Quality Starts had two last week (I had to wait for his last out of the 6th inning before typing this). 13 IP, 0 ER, 7 H, 5 BB, 9 Ks. Do we want fewer walks and more strikeouts? Sure. But this guy is an ace no matter what.
12	Spencer Schwellenbach	ATL		What a two-start week from Mr. Bach! 14 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 16 Ks. Just a symphony of beauty here. Magnificat! (Yes, that’s a Classical Music pun for the three people who will appreciate it!)
13	Carlos Rodon	NYY		6 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 2.92. I’ll go with a quote from Grey from last week because he hammered the nail right on the head with Rodon, “This might drop him a little because of a no-decision, but, before this game, he was in the top 20 on the Player Rater. Not for starters, the top 20 overall.”
14	Joe Ryan	MIN		Yet another beauty start from last Wednesday. Ryan shut out the Mariners over 6 innings of 3-hit ball with 8 Ks. He’s a must-start in MIA this week.
15	Freddy Peralta	MLW		He’s won three in a row, and he’s slated for a two-start week this week (at NYM and MIA).
16	Robbie Ray	SFG		6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks. A start like this against the White Sox, and he ends up with a loss? Oh, baseball, you’re so silly.
17	Kris Bubic	KC		6 IP, 2 ER, 8 hits, zero walks, 8 Ks, ERA at 2.18 after Game 1 last week. Yesterday’s second start was 3 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 1 K against the Avengers at LAD. EDIT: He finished with 5 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks. Not bad for a trip into the Lions’ Den.
18	MacKenzie Gore	WSH		This is our 2nd-highest strikeout starter in the league, just 6 Ks behind Garrett Crochet’s 135. Can you guess what Gore’s win-loss record is? If you guessed 3-8, then you beat my first guess.
19	Drew Rasmussen	TB		Another two-start week guy, Rasmussen gets ATH, then is at MIN.
20	Spencer Strider	ATL		5 IP, 3 ER, 6 baserunners (4 BBs), 8 Ks, ERA at 4.07. Just two hits! And 8 Ks! And a win! Just ignore the walks and absence of a quality start. That’s what they call ‘cherry-picking’, folks. That was the first start-of-the-week note. Yesterday he threw two more innings (7 IP), gave up just two ER, 3 BB, struck out 4, and somehow took a loss.
21	Sonny Gray	STL		More below.
22	Logan Gilbert	SEA		5.1 IP, 5 hits 4 ER, BB, 7 K. The Ks are there, but this guy has more rust to shake off than the Tin Man in a monsoon. We could argue that he should be below the next 3 or 4 guys, too.
23	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI		6 IP, 1 ER, 5 hits, zero walks, 11 Ks, ERA at 2.79. Cris Sanchez was one of the lucky starters to pitch on “Magical Thursday” last week when almost every starter threw the game of the year. (More in the list)
24	Ranger Suarez	PHI		More below.
25	George Kirby	SEA		Lots of two-start weeks for this pocket of arms. Kirby gets KC and PIT at home. Streamonator loves it too – (I guessed that before checking. He’s 3rd at $38.5).
26	Shota Imanaga	CHC	N/R	5 IP, 0 ER, 1 hit, 1 walk, 3 Ks, ERA at 2.54. Shota through the heart! Let’s start him right around where he left the list and hope he moves up even higher. Another SP to get in on last Thursday’s pitching magic.
27	Andrew Abbott	CIN		He’s allowed just 3 ER in his last 4 GS (26.2 IP). That’s the good news. The bad news is he starts at PHI this week.
28	Dylan Cease	SD		You should scroll up and look at what Max Fried did in Cincinnati as a visiting pitcher. Now, flip it upside down, and that’s what Cease gave us last week.
29	Nick Lodolo	CIN		Another two-start guy from last week. 9.2 IP, 13 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 11 Ks. It wasn’t enough to build on his 5 wins, but it was enough to keep that sparkly WHIP in check.
30	Ryan Pepiot	TB		1.2 IP, 5 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, K. Not so peppy, yo!
31	Seth Lugo	KC		The 5 walks are kind of gross, but the rest of the line? 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 8 Ks. Was this against the Rockies? Nope. Vs LAD. Popping eyes emoji!
32	Luis Castillo	SEA		5 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 3.69. Someone needs to tell Castillo that Mariners pitchers aren’t supposed to be this bad. (And while they’re at it, can they fix Bryce Miller, too?) ***Well, this was the note after his first start of the week. Yesterday’s start? 6 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks and a no-decision. Apparently, he got the note before I even printed it.
33	Clay Holmes	NYM		It’s a home start tomorrow vs MLW for the 8-game winner, but the one we want to see is the next one when NYY comes to town. Fun fact: I saw “Holmes” in the pencil list I draw up each week and nearly put Grant in here instead. They might be back-to-back sooner rather than later!
34	Jesus Luzardo	PHI		Last week, he escaped ATL relatively unscathed (5 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 8 Ks). He gets Ciny at home this week, and SON doesn’t hate it ($7.9).
35	Casey Mize	DET		He won his 8th game on Saturday night. He hasn’t given up more than 3 ER in 8 starts. SON hates his next start at CLE ($-4.0). Come at me, Stupid robot, I’ll be in the pool. *blows electronic raspberry*
36	Will Warren	NYY		More below.
37	Jacob Misiorowski	MLW		5 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 1.13. We’re off to see the Miz-ard, the wonderful Miz-ard of…Milwaukee? He’s 3-0, and who cares if the song sounds dumb?
38	David Peterson	NYM		4.2 IP, 7 hits, 5 ER, 3 BB, 5 K. Uh oh. That’s 10 ER in his last 2 GS (8.2 IP total). Back-to-back losses and a handful of hits and walks might make a league-mate more likely to sell him low, though, if you believe this is just a rough patch. He gets MLW at home this week.
39	Nick Pivetta	SD		7 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 10 Ks and thisclose to the lede this week. Pivetta needed this kind of bounceback and victimized the Nationals pretty handily. He’s in PHI this week.
40	Jack Flaherty	DET		18 ER in his last 3 starts (13 IP). 12 BBs, too. And if that’s not bad enough, Latch-Key Kid has him (rightfully) listed in his “Do Not Start” Fortune Cookie tier for two-start pitchers this week.
41	Matthew Boyd	CHC		Two starts this week! Both are at home, but they’re facing CLE and STL. Be careful!
42	Merrill Kelly	ARI		5 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 7 Ks. Yawn. Yep. He’s good.
43	Tanner Bibee	CLE		6 IP, 2 ER, 3 hits, zero walks, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.80. Another guy who managed to get in on the fairy dust from last Thursday night. Just chucking pellets…or maybe they were Bibees.
44	Chris Bassitt	TOR		Remember when I said Bassitt has been the Blue Jays’ best starter this year? Well, this guy sure didn’t. He got flattened at Fenway Saturday night for 8 ER in 2.2 IP. If you can stomach the NYY start this week, at least you get the CWS road start in a couple of weeks.
45	Clarke Schmidt	NYY		Clark loses his 3-game scoreless streak by giving up 4 ER in 6 innings to … The Athletics? Shrug. Sometimes Schmidt happens.
46	Kevin Gausman	TOR		8 IP, 0 ER, 2 hits, 1 walk, 6 Ks, ERA at 4.21. Gausman pitched on “Magical Thursday” last week when nearly every starter had one of their best outings of the season. Hopefully, we get more of these the rest of the way.
47	Matthew Liberatore	STL		7 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.96. And The Liberator only allowed one to go free (1 BB).
48	Michael Wacha	KC		This is one of the not-so-lucky guys from last Wednesday. 6 IP, 3 ER, 9 H, 1 BB, 9 Ks. Not a win and not a ratio killer. Gentlemen and five ladies? I give you Wacha, Michael.
49	Shane Baz	TB		Guess what night he pitched on last week. More below.
50	Yusei Kikuchi	LAA		7 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 12 Ks, ERA at 2.82 AND JUST ONE WALK! No more Kuch LaLoosh! Top 50, baby! Let’s go!!!
51	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	N/R	3.0 IP, 5 hits, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K. Ease him back in! On a side note, it felt so wrong putting him between Bailey Ober and Gavin Williams (before I shuffled the list). Like a high-end cut of prime rib in between two moldy, burnt pieces of bread. He’ll move way up when TEX deems him ready to shoulder a full workload. It should be soon.
52	Chris Paddack	MIN		5 IP, 4 ER, ERA at 4.64. “Thank you for riding the Paddack Express. Please double-check that you have your belongings before exiting the ride, and enjoy your afternoon at Regression Mountain!” EDIT: Yesterday at DET and Skubal was a scary one, but it didn’t go as badly as it could have. 4.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 3 Ks. I’m still selling if I can get a good return.
53	Landen Roupp	SFG		Does this guy get his nickname from the Expos’ mascot’s dog? Rouppi, there it is! (More above)
54	Grant Holmes	ATL		5 IP, 2 ER, 9 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.70. After watching this guy pitch a few times, I can see why people are excited. And, no, I’m not just referring to the best lettuce in the MLB garden. Kenny Powers Holmes, indeed. He jumps today. What’s the word for upward motion? Oh. That’s levitation, Holmes.
55	Gavin Williams	CLE		5 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 8 baserunners, 2 Ks, ERA at 3.68. The walk rate is still pretty disgusting, but I won’t be able to stay away if he keeps on chipping at it. Two BBs in his last start were a lot better than the half dozen from two weeks ago. Hashtag Math.
56	Chase Burns	CIN		More below.
57	Cade Horton	CHC		In all of my copying, cutting, and pasting, I somehow lost Horton here. He’s our SP57 this week, and I still like him, but that apparently wasn’t enough to keep track of him when shuffling rows in the list. Oops.
58	Lucas Giolito	BOS		Three wins in his last four starts and a dominant Blue Jay beatdown Saturday night (7 IP, 0 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks). If you’re still unsure, he goes to WSH next, then comes home to face COL. The talent is shining through the muck!
59	Jameson Taillon	CHC		More below. (I had him even lower to start before moving some things around).
60	Brady Singer	CIN		5 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 9 Ks at home vs NYY. If I were ever in (I wasn’t), right now would be the time I’m pulling the rip-cord (I’m not – see a few inches to the left and up).
61	Zack Littell	TB		Zack Littell and Zach Eflin are a black hole of baseball madness in my brain. Maybe it’s because Eflin used to pitch in Tampa. Maybe it’s the names. It might be that they’re very similar pitchers. No matter what, Zack with a K came out with the win in this one…and he had a half dozen Ks if you count the one in his first name. Zach with an H? Uh…check the OOF section below.
62	Tomoyuki Sugano	BAL		5.0 IP, 9 hits, 7 ER, BB, 2 K, 6th win. He gave up 3 homers to push his total to 17 (8th in MLB), but the W is nice. Apologies to those in QS, K, ERA, and WHIP leagues! If he has many more of these, he’s gonna leave us with some cavities. Hashtag yikes.
63	Brandon Walter	HOU		6.0 IP, 5 hits, ER, 5 K, 1st win. Score another victory for Team Two First Names!
64	Jose Soriano	LAA		More below. (Is it too late to say, Soriano?)
65	Bailey Ober	MIN		More below.
66	Shane Smith	CWS		2 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 3.38. Oh. No. Maybe he read what I said about him being the Sean Burke we expected and misunderstood. That doesn’t mean he has to pitch like Burke now, too.
67	Jack Leiter	TEX		Solid quality start yesterday vs SEA, and a nice bounceback after three rough starts in a row.
68	Jose Berrios	TOR		7.0 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, BB, 8 K, 4th win, ERA at 3.26. I mentioned last week that Chris Bassitt has been the Jays’ starter, but the rest of the arms in that rotation have more than held their own…except for the ones who bowed down to gopheritis and the IL (Francis!).
69	Quinn Priester	MLW		He took the Rockies to the cleaners Saturday (7 IP, 1 H, 11 Ks) and was part of my 19.2 IP, 2 W, 25 K, 0.92 ERA, 0.814 WHIP night in the Perts League. YeeHaw for Streamers who deliver! He gets the coveted SP69 spot today, too. Noice!
70	Noah Cameron	KC		He’s winless in three, but last week’s LAD matchup wasn’t fair. Any young pitcher needs to face a juggernaut at some point, but I would’ve liked him to have avoided the Avengers for at least another month. He slips a bit today, but that’s more about moving up the guys around him than any big issues.
71	Mick Abel	PHI		He was supposed to throw on Friday, but the Phillies kept him out after they had to wait out the rain. Innings management for the win? But without the win part?
72	Eury Perez	MIA		4.1 IP, 2 hits, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K. I don’t know which one is a bigger tease, him or EdCab. And I’m fine with letting other managers roster both, so I don’t have to deal with the stress of waiting to figure that out. The EuryHeads are going to lose it, but it’s OK. They can keep him active and off my teams.
73	Edward Cabrera	MIA		Look above. Find Eury Perez. (He’s right there.) Copy his note. Paste it here. (That said, he hasn’t given up more than 3 ER in 9 GS). For the record, EdCab was in the late 70s before I pushed him up a bit just behind Eury.
74	Shohei Ohtani	LAD		2 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K Saturday. I wouldn’t be starting him as an SP anytime soon, but the fact that he threw a 101.7 MPH pitch in this one? Whoa, baby. Someone’s arm is feeling good! When the shackles come off and he’s throwing 5, 6, 7 innings, then he’ll jump way up.
75	David Festa	MIN		5.2 IP, 2 hits, 6 K, 2nd win. I swooped into the FAAB pool and scooped this guy a couple of weeks ago. I know a lot of starting pitcher success can be luck-based, but if you have other managers who have an itchy trigger finger when a player is dropped or sent to the minors, there should be at least one or two spots in your roster that you can churn to house guys like this. Upside plays in a 7-month league.
76	Dustin May	LAD		4.0 IP, 6 hits, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K. Can I get a better starting pitcher, please? Ahem. It’s “MAY I get a better starting pitcher, please?” (Teacher brain is tough to shake in early July).
77	Brayan Bello	BOS		6.0 IP, 8 hits, 3 ER, 3 BB, K. A quality start but lost to Berrios and the Blue Jays’ hit machine. Seriously. The Jays had 16 hits and 7 walks in this one and ZERO homers. I’ve poked some fun at Bello this year, but he’s been better than some expected him to be. He gets a modest boost today.
78	Hayden Birdsong	SF		4 IP, 7 ER, ERA at 4.13. Birdsong? More like a Turkey fart.
79	Taj Bradley	TB		6 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 2 hits, 1 BB, 4 Ks, ERA at 4.57. The overbearing dad would say, “Oh, ya? Well, what about the strikeouts?!” But this one was solid.  Well, that was the note for the first start last week. Yesterday’s start? 5.1 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks. If you’re in a 25-year keeper league, this guy is a must hold. That way, your grandkids can enjoy rostering him when he’s finally good.
80	Mitch Keller	PIT		5.1 IP, 5 hits, ER, BB, 4 K, and oh my god, he actually won another game! Regular readers will know how annoyed I’ve been with the Pirates and their lack of support for the starting rotation. Keller winning his second of the year – almost 4 months after winning his first – is more than a welcome sight for that small percentage who still roster him…in their 30-team NL-Only leagues.
81	Clayton Kershaw	LAD		6 IP, 1 ER, 3 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.03. That’s cool and all, but can we have a timed competition between him and Scherzer to see who can still bend over and tie their shoes the fastest? Justin Verlander can use an hourglass to time it.
82	Jose Quintana	MLW		5.2 IP, 7 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 6th win. So you wanna Quintana? Maybe not all the time, but you certainly wanna if he’s facing the Rockies!
83	Tyler Anderson	LAA		Tyler Anderson was removed just before the second time through the order. I didn’t understand it. The broadcasters didn’t understand it (I was watching because of Crochet). He looked good, but I guess 82 pitches to get through 4.2 innings made it easier to remove him, which isn’t great.
84	Luis Severino	ATH		It was not a nice homecoming for Severino. 3.2 IP, 6 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 3 Ks in The Bronx and his 9th L of the year.
85	Andrew Heaney	PIT		4 IP, 7 ER, ERA at 4.48. Jimmy Superfly Snuka versus Bailey Ober versus Andrew Heaney. Please rank in order of “launched from above and hurtling to the ground at an alarming rate with no chance of a positive outcome” speed. Oh, and that’s 14 ER in his last 8 IP.
86	Jeffrey Springs	ATH		5 IP, 3 ER, 7 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 4.30. Hope Springs eternal…but if anyone can claim they know when to cash in on that hope, they’re lying.
87	Chad Patrick	MLW	N/R	I nearly added him to the list two weeks ago. Yesterday I streamed him in Perts for his 5 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 8 K start vs COL. That was enough to make me look past his 13 ER in his last 15 IP (before yesterday).
88	Sawyer-Gipson Long	DET		Adding him for $2 from the FA list in the AL-Only, a week before he was activated, felt like a bit of a steal. I’m still waiting for the payoff. At least he got to start and pitched into the 6th inning last week.
89	Mike Soroka	WSH		6 innings of 2-hit, 1 ER ball at LAA Saturday night. It was a no-decision, but the strikeout potential is there, and he should have more than 3 wins in 11 starts.
90	Brandon Pfaadt	ARI		The positive is that he’s had two games with 7 Ks in each. The not-so-positive is he’s recorded just one win in his last 7 GS.
91	Zac Gallen	ARI		He’s averaged 5 ER over his last 4 starts. Last Wednesday’s 5 ER, 2 K loss at CWS feels like rock bottom. How has he not landed on the Ineffective List yet?
92	Justin Verlander	SF		ANOTHER Two-start guy from last week. He gave us two strong outings for a total of 11 IP, 4 ER, 10 H, 3 BB, 8 Ks. He goes to ATH on the 4th.
93	Erick Fedde	STL		Two-starter this week! At PIT and at CHC.
94	Max Scherzer	TOR	N/R	More below.
95	Nick Martinez	CIN		8.0 IP, 1 hit, ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 5th win. I almost pushed him out for a new arm, but he moved up instead.
96	Ryne Nelson	ARI		5 IP, 1 ER, 1 hit, 3 BBs, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.71. I was ready to bump him out for one of our returning pitchers, but he’s been too good to slide off the bottom this week.
97	Slade Cecconi	CLE		Saturday vs STL was the first time he didn’t finish 5+ innings in 5 GS. I thought he’d be an easy bump out, but he’s not done just yet. SON doesn’t like his matchup at DET Friday, though.
98	Charlie Morton	BAL		5 IP, 3 ER, 6 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 5.63. Can you feel that? The tension on the other end of that rope you’re holding? That’s Charlie Morton pulling you back in.
99	Sandy Alcantara	MIA		I didn’t want to bump him out today, and his previous FOUR starts were really good. But 6 IP, 7 ER, 10 H, 0 BB, 4 Ks at ARI Saturday night isn’t solidifying his place on the list, that’s for sure.
100	Eduardo Rodriguez	ARI		6 IP, 0 ER, 10 Ks. Smh. I guess he can sneak into the bottom 10. EdRod replaces Glasnow for now until the former implodes or the latter returns.

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

Sonny Gray – 9.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 11 K, 8th win. Oh baby. JKJ shared this graphic in the Writers’ Discord, and I knew I had to include it today. What a gem from Mr. Underrated (Gray, not JKJ, or Grey, although those guys are pretty underrated too).

Ranger Suarez – I thought my glasses were on the fritz when I looked at the last three games. (He had a two-start week last week, too.) He’s pitched 7 innings, allowed 4 hits, 1 solo HR, and just one or two walks in each of his last three starts. What were his strikeout totals over those 3 GS? 8, 7, 8, respectively. Even more impressively, after getting shelled in his first game of the year (May 4th), he’s posted 10 straight quality starts and was poised to win his 7th game yesterday at the time of writing. I saw a ‘report’ that the Phillies were considering sending him to the bullpen when they promote Andrew Painter. Um…NO?!

Shane Baz – 8 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 4.37.

That’s me foretelling the future last Monday morning, locking in my AL-Only active starters for the week, and seeing Baz was at KC. No ragrets, Ma! NO RAGRETS!

Will Warren – 5.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, 5th win. You know, sometimes when you look back on your early-season fantasy baseball moves and wish you didn’t drop that one guy who ended up torching the league and making you feel stupid? That was almost like this guy for me. Thankfully, I got outbid on a FAAB add and ended up being “stuck with” Warren for another couple of weeks. Now he’s been close to a must-start every week. He’s not exactly a “Jumper” this week, but the blurb needed to be shared in here.

Nick Pollack had a pretty cool post about Warren and Warren’s repertoire last week. Check it out.

I'm all in on Will Warren pic.twitter.com/ZJmtEkNRlF

— Nick Pollack (@PitcherList) June 24, 2025

Chase Burns – 5 IP, 3 ER, 6 hits, zero walks, 8 Ks. How’s that for a debut start, Mr. Burns? “Excellent!” He should start today at Fenway and is in line for two starts this week. AND it seemed like every time I saw a podcast or article last week, it had this kid in the title. I had him in the 70s today, then bumped him way up when I put him beside some other names in a “Would You Rather?” kind of comparison. That, and the bias is growing. I nabbed him last night in TGFBI for $237 (next bid was $164).

Max Scherzer – 5 IP, 3 ER, 9 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 5.63. That’s 8 innings on the year. Only 82 more before he hits his predicted 90. Smh. When asked how his thumb was feeling, he flashed it in the air and announced, “Ehhhhhhh”. He must be drinking that Canadian water. (No word if he punched a jukebox to get it going again.)

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

Jameson Taillon – 4 IP, 8 ER, ERA at 4.47. Like trying to put a tie on a fish. Not so successful. I want to believe he’s an asset, but the SP49 last week was far too optimistic. He dumps just above the 60s today.

Jose Soriano – 4.0 IP, 9 hits, 8 ER, 2 BB, 4 K.

So much for that headliner in last week’s Top 100 Starting Pitchers article.

Griffin Canning – Is it bad to use the same clip for two players in our Dumpers list? Oh, man. Speaking of, “Oh No!”, I let out an audible, “Oh no,” when I watched this on the replays the other night.

Griffin Canning exited his start in the third inning with what looks to be an achilles injury pic.twitter.com/rJRKjn4msq

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 27, 2025

Unfortunately, that “Oh no” was warranted. The Mets announced that he ruptured his Achilles tendon on this little ankle-buckler and will miss the remainder of the season. So much for one of the biggest waiver wire breakouts of the season (in most leagues). Ugh.

Bailey Ober – 7 IP, 7 ER in Game 1 last week. In his second start? 5.2 IP, 7 ER. This guy gave up 7 HR and 18 H in 12.2 IP (2 GS). In an AL-Only, where it is very difficult not to start what you’ve got every week, I’m about ready to strap Bailey to a rocket and send him directly into Ober-it. In the words of Aussie band, Crowded House, “Hey now, hey now, don’t dream (because it’s a nightmare), it’s Ober.”

STUMPERS (These names might stump you as to why they aren’t on the Top 100…yet. Some of these guys are close).

Emmett Sheehan 

Jake Irvin

Tobias Myers 

Luis L. Ortiz 

JP Sears

Dean Kremer

Keider Montero

Logan Allen

Richard Fitts – 4 IP, 2 ER, ERA at 4.68. Can we have the Royals (?) start Lovelady as an opener against Fitts next week? Maybe we can bill that as Duelling Dicks?

Stephen Kolek

Landon Knack

Ben Casparius

Andre Pallente

Ben Brown

Eric Lauer – 5 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA 2.21. He’s a Stumper until he proves he has Regression Fairy repellent.

Mitchell Parker

German Marquez

Michael McCreevey – 4 2/3 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 4.22. McGreevy is giving fantasy managers the McSkeevies.

Jacob Lopez

Janson Junk

Frankie Montas – I wanted to add him, but I don’t have any space…yet.

Trevor Rogers

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)

Cole Ragans 

Shane McClanahan

Jared Jones

Brandon Woodruff

Gerrit Cole

Luis Gil

Spencer Arrighetti

Justin Steele

John Means

Shane Bieber

Blake Snell 

Grayson Rodriguez

Nestor Cortes

Yu Darvish

Hayden Wesneski

Reese Olson

Aaron Nola

Bryce Miller

Hunter Greene

Michael King

Lance McCullers

Tyler Mahle

Kodai Senga

Pablo Lopez

Tylor Megill

Chris Sale 

Logan Henderson

Corbin Burnes

Max Meyer

Tyler Glasnow

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

Shota Imanaga

Nathan Eovaldi

Chase Burns

Max Scherzer

Chad Patrick

Eduardo Rodriguez

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

Griffin Canning

Zach Eflin – “trending toward an IL stint” according to the O’s manager.

Tyler Glasnow (not eligible until July 13 – but he’s headed in the right direction)

Bubba Chandler – his recent hiccups in the minors have slowed down any plans to promote him to the bigs.

Bailey Falter – It’s not fair to pull him from the list after his last start was shortened by a rain delay, but we had to make room for Chase Burns.

Michael Lorenzen – I had this all written up for Lorenzen at SP99 this week, then realized I ran out of room. “5.2 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 4 Ks vs TB. It feels like he shouldn’t be here. He can stay for now, but he’s next on the chopping block.” Sounds like a sunrise karate lesson here, AKA an early chop.

 

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