Happy Monday, Razzball faithful!

And a happy first Monday of summer vacation to all the kiddos living north of a certain imaginary line where students attend school until the end of June and don’t go back until the first week of September.

Speaking of kids (sick segue), if your patience level or league size is much greater than MarmosDad’s, kudos to you. That means you got a stellar start from a certain youthful arm that throws out of Wisconsin!

Brandon Sproat opened up the can of potential last Tuesday night and released the sparkles and gemstones with a 6-inning thing of beauty. 6 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, and…are you ready for it? 

TEN STRIKEOUTS!

Oh, baby! Now that’s what I’m talking about.

Before we get too excited, the ERA is still sitting at the old “space shuttle takeoff” mark of 5.43. The WHIP is also a not-so-starry 1.35.

But some of the other numbers are at least a bit more encouraging. 

Sproat’s K/9 is sitting at a career-best 9.43 after last week’s gem. His BB/9 is still pretty rough (4.13), but the K-BB% is sitting at an acceptable 13.9%

To give us a bit of perspective, that 13.9 K-BB% would have him ranked among the league’s Top 40 Starting Pitchers.

Please. Don’t get too excited by my red box arrow addition here. It’s a skill not all folks possess.

So, here we are. Once again, I’m ready to go back to the Sproat garden. And once again, I’m feeling the exuberant optimism of youth.

Or maybe that’s just the excitement of the start of summer vacation.

Either way, this likely begs a couple of questions from our dear readers.

• MarmosDad, I thought you dropped this guy and swore to avoid re-adding him in FAAB at all costs, no?

Uh…well…um…It was only $2 in last weekend’s FAAB run. And I was dropping an equally frustrating Ryan Walker, so cut me some slack. I’m not saying Sproat is a “must-have” (and please, don’t go look at the StatCast page if you’re looking for red ink).

• Does that mean you’re back in on “The Two-Fisted Slopper” and that we can expect to see him rise from the SP97 ashes today?

Well, firstly, who in the heck feeds Google these nicknames? I mean, come on. Two-fisted slopper? Are they trying to get this article a PG-13 rating? Jeez.

But to answer the first part of the above question, an old Sith lord can tell you exactly what I think of adding Brandon Sproat to our deeper-league rosters once again, in the hope that he can keep this up.

Well, before we spoil the surprise with Brandon Sproat’s new ranking, let’s not forget about the Razzball tools. 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.

The Top 100 Starting Pitchers for 2026

MARMO RANK	Name	Team	Notes
1	Jacob Misiorowski	MLW	6.0 IP, 2 hits, ER, 4 BB, 8 K, 9th win. “OH YA?! PAUL SKENES ONLY WALKED TWO GUYS ON FRIDAY! TAKE THAT!” OK, so who taught the parrot to type AND showed him where the CAPS LOCK button was on the laptop? Also, I’m going to try adding a link in the notes here today. Check out this side-by-side of Miz and DeGrom (from Rob Friedman). It’s pretty sick.
2	Cam Schlittler	NYY	5 IP, 0 ER, 7 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 1.62. Don’t tell Truss, but I have too many SPs in Perts, and I need to move one or two out before I get too far ahead of the pace for our innings cap. He needs wins and strikeouts, and could probably afford to move a hitter or two in a deal that will help my squad move up. But I don’t want to move Schlittler because this is my only share. I can’t trade Bryan Woo ‘cause he’s my Boo. So that means Sheehan, Messick, Tolle, Yesavage, or Cease need to get flipped out. Sigh. (And, yes, I did say don’t tell the guy who is editing this post before it launches). I got silly and moved The Schlitt up to SP2 today because the other two SPs below him had tough weeks. At the very worst, he doesn’t look out of place in this Top 4.
3	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	5 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 2.13. We cursed him last week when we jumped him over Skenes. Maybe sliding him back down to the bronze spot will help him this week. Down.
4	Paul Skenes	PIT	5.0 IP, 6 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. One day, he’ll be as good as Jacob Misiorowski. (I’m kidding! Please don’t come after me, Pirates fans!)
5	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD	6 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks, and his 5th win in his last 6 starts. He has 12 quality starts in 15 GS.
6	Jacob deGrom	TEX	6 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.55. Wow. This guy his almost as steady as Sonny Gray. (You can judge whether or not that’s sarcastic or genuine).
7	Zack Wheeler	PHI	7.0 IP, 4 hits, ER, BB, 5 K, 8th win, ERA at 2.03. Wheels cruising to another QS and another W. He’s about as automatic as it gets.
8	Chris Sale	ATL	6 IP, 1 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 10 Ks, and a LOSS? Sale ran into Robbie Ray’s buzz saw, and I refuse to make a tight pants joke here. You can visualize to whatever level of inappropriateness you like.
9	Shohei Ohtani	LAD	The first of many Jumpers this week. More below.
10	Drew Rasmussen	TB	Game 1: 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 2.62. Game 2: 6 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks. That’s six quality starts in his last seven games. I’m going to upset some Chase Burns fans today, but guess who deserves a Top 10 spot this week. Rah-rah Rasmussen!
11	Chase Burns	CIN	If you’re just looking for the feel-good, let’s point out that he threw 6 innings and struck out 10! (And ignore the 5 ER, 9 H, and 1 HR allowed). Down a bit, but not much.
12	Joe Ryan	MIN	6 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 9 Ks, and his 4th loss. I’d like to think this one was akin to the nerdy guy going to ask a girl to dance at the prom, but tripping over his shoelaces and breaking his nose about three steps before he gets to her table. Maybe the Dodgers didn’t notice, though, and they’ll still want to dance with Joe Ryan at the trade deadline.
13	Logan Webb	SF	7 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks, and his 5th win. After a shortened first game back on May 29th, it’s been Webb gem after Webb gem with this guy. In his last 5 starts, he’s allowed a total of 3 earned runs over 38 innings and given us a respectable 29 strikeouts. Up!
14	Max Meyer	MIA	7.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 9th win. I mentioned toying with a “see if you can add these guys for the second half” idea during the break, but if people are still sleeping on Max Meyer in your league, you may want to stick a mirror under their noses. I wouldn’t be trading this kid for much less than a big-time bat or Top 10 pitcher right about now. It’s an aggressive jump today, and I’m going to get my oven mitts ready to defend against anyone who wants to come after me for it!
15	Carlos Rodon	NYY	5 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 4 BB, 6 Ks. Ha! One hit in 5 innings?! Sonny Gray did that in 7.1 innings! All jokes aside, it’s tough to pull in a win at Fenway when your opponent is throwing a no-hitter into the 8th inning and riding the high that comes from recording his 2000th career strikeout. As far as Rodon is concerned, he hasn’t thrown 6 innings in any of his 9 starts this year, but he also hasn’t allowed more than 3 ER in any of them, either.
16	Logan Gilbert	SEA	7 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 7 Ks, and his 5th loss. The Mariners couldn’t get anything going against Slade Cecconi, so the lack of run support hurt Gilbert on Saturday. Still a solid K total with zero walks, though.
17	Tarik Skubal	DET	6 IP, 4 ER, 4 hits, zero walks, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.32. I watched a Jomboy breakdown of Skubal getting into a verbal jousting match with Mike Vasil last week and thought, “Huh. Lots of fire in that belly. Maybe start channeling it back into the left arm.” He’ll be fine. But he’s not moving up much more until he puts together some of those vintage Skubal starts. Down a bit today.
18	Bryan Woo	SEA	4 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 4.26. In an effort to skirt around my sadness here, I will announce, in my best evangelist voice: “Do you have a moment to speak with me about our Fantasy Baseball lord and savior, Braxton Ashcraft?!” Down. But just a bit.
19	Sonny Gray	BOS	Jumper! More below!
20	Hunter Brown	HOU	So Hunter comes back, and Ben heads to the IL, hey? It sounds like the hunter claimed another victim in the “This List Ain’t Big Enough For Two Browns” challenge. I had his first start written up as a “hopefully he’s just getting warmed up” because it was a 3-inning jobber. If we combine it with yesterday’s 6 innings, his week looks like a solid complete game: 9 IP, 3 ER, 9 H, 4 BB, 8 Ks, and the no-decision(s).
21	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	7.0 IP, 5 hits, 0 ER, BB, 9 K, 8th win, ERA at 3.95. The only thing I dislike about this guy is that when he’s on, he’s a stud, and I never end up rostering him anywhere because I worry about the health risks. Up.
22	Dylan Cease	TOR	He had a week similar to Gerrit Cole’s. Some earned runs and a bunch of strikeouts. 10.1 IP, 6 ER, 7 H, 9 BBs, 18 Ks. No wins, though, because the Blue Jays don’t know how to do that anymore.
23	Braxton Ashcraft	PIT	Guess what. He’s a Jumper. And we have a bunch today. More below.
24	Brandon Woodruff	MLW	Welcome back! To the list, AND to the Jumpers! (More below).
25	Gerrit Cole	NYY	Dumper. More below.
26	Bryce Miller	SEA	5 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 5 hits, zero walks, 11 Ks, ERA at 1.97. Oh, baby. We haven’t had a B. Miller groove this good since that bass line from the old 80s cop show’s theme song. Boom. Nailed it!. So much for that piggyback plan! UP!
27	Kyle Harrison	MLW	5 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 9 Ks. He’s been great. (Let’s get that out of the way first). But he’s also thrown 77 innings now. His previous totals from 2023-2025? 34.2, 124.1, 35.2, respectively. Maybe the Brewers let him go at it through the second half, but I assume it’ll be the dreaded “innings management” sooner rather than later. Just be ready if you roster him.
28	Payton Tolle	BOS	I wrote this up and thought, “Oh, I guess I had a week where I didn’t put Tolle down as a Jumper”. Then I checked my notes again. Oops. More below!
29	Nolan McLean	NYM	6 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 4.03. Oh. Oh No. Oh No-lan. If he has many more of these starts in New York, we’re going to have to start calling him “Doc Not Good-en”. For the record, this was his first rotten one since May 25th (4 good starts in between). Down a bit.
30	Jesus Luzardo	PHI	Game 1: 6 2/3 IP, 5 ER, 9 baserunners, 13 Ks, ERA at 4.39. Game 2: 5 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks. It’s so frustrating. That arm is so nasty and alive. If you roster him, you’d better have someone who can clean up the ratio damage when he falters, though. But the good news is that K rate is through the roof (10.73 K/9). UP again today.
31	George Kirby	SEA	6 IP, 1 ER, 10 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.94. I don’t get where some of the Kirby hate is coming from. I get that he’s allowed his fair share of hits and earned runs lately, but last week, someone apologized and said they discarded my whole list because Kirby was ranked as a Top 30 guy. Cool story, bro. (And no apology needed!)
32	Shane McClanahan	TB	6 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 3.30. I’m good with him as long as he’s giving us quality starts. None of this 3.2 IP, 2 ER, 3 K garbage, please! He’s been solid, but let’s not forget that he’s pushing 75 innings already this year. The last year he pitched was 2023, and he only threw 115 innings that season. Just have a backup plan if he starts to get those innings managed more carefully soon.
33	Parker Messick	CLE	7 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 4 baserunners, 10 Ks, ERA at 2.67. Our $1 Messick makes me feel better about dropping Cantillo in that AL-Only auction league. This kid has been nails. (Apologies to Lenny Dykstra). Up.
34	Kevin Gausman	TOR	6 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 4.36. When the earned run total for the last two starts is greater than the innings pitched total…I don’t know what to say, but I do know that’s not good Math. Down.
35	Gavin Williams	CLE	Game 1: 5 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.82. Yep. It’s good. As long as the walks are kept in check and he’s giving us 6+ innings, he’s good. Game 2: 5 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks. After I re-read what I said for Game 1, I looked to see how many 6+ inning outings he’s had in his most recent 10 starts. The good news is that it’s half of them. The not-so-good news is he hasn’t finished 6 innings in any of his last 5 GS.
36	Ranger Suarez	BOS	6 IP, 2 ER, 8 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 2.94. I’ve said it a couple of times already, but this guy was my Red Sox buy in the AL East preview pod with Mike and Jeremy. I was a bit worried at the beginning of the season, but he’s been making that call look a lot better lately. In four June starts, he’s posted a line of 24 IP, 4 ER, 20 H, 6 BB, 27 Ks, and a 1.50 ERA.
37	Robbie Ray	SF	Jumper. More below. And a dash of wtf. (That’s the nicest way of saying I don’t know if he’ll stick this high for very long, but let it ride for now!)
38	Ryan Weathers	NYY	6 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.95. More like Weather or not he’s pitching for his rotation spot! High five me now!
39	Will Warren	NYY	5.2 IP, 7 hits, 5 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 3rd L. And the next round of the Will Warren/Weathers Wrestling War goes to…Ryan. Someone check when Max Fried is due back so we can get some closure on this constant postulation.
40	Connelly Early	BOS	6 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.59. Quick! Cover up the name (and the ERA) and tell me it doesn’t look like a DeGrom line. Up.
41	Kyle Bradish	BAL	His first game was RAD-ish. 8 IP, 0 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 9 Ks. His second game? That was BAD-ish. 4 IP, 3 ER, 1 H, 5 BB, 2 Ks. Bottom line? I’d still keep running him out there in most leagues, but the 5 BBs yesterday weren’t helping anyone (other than the Nats). This jump today is brought to you by “Cautious Optimism”.
42	Freddy Peralta	NYM	5 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 4.53. He held his own against a tough Cubs lineup, so kudos to him, but I’m still not trusting him enough to auto-start. He’s a Streamonator, AKA check-in-for-value each week for me.
43	Trey Yesavage	TOR	5 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners (5 BBs), 5 Ks, ERA at 3.56. First off, I love him. (Platonically). Secondly, Grey said last week that it looks like his mechanics are off or that he’s hiding an injury, and I can’t argue that (because I think it’s true). It’s a reluctant DOWN today just because he was likely too high last week, and the walks aren’t good.
44	Emerson Hancock	SEA	5.2 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks, and the no-decision. It’s fine, but it’s also not launching him into the Top 25 anytime soon.
45	Jared Jones	PIT	4.2 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks on 81 pitches. He’s completed 5 innings just once in 6 starts. Ah, I get it now. The Pirates told him he could start, but they’re using him like a long reliever, so he doesn’t get mad about a bullpen assignment. Sneaky stuff!
46	Emmet Sheehan	LAD	5 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks, and his 4th win. He’s another one I’m tempted to put in a second-half list. If you’re trying to trade for him, make sure you mention how his last win before this one was on May 14th. Eek!
47	Reid Detmers	ANA	5.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 8 Ks, and the no-decision. If we’re picking nits, he’s 2-0 in his last 7 starts, so that isn’t great. Also, we’re getting to that dangerous pocket in the Top 100 where recent success is starting to outweigh the more popular names. Hold your breath; it’s going to be a bumpy ride!
48	Gage Jump	OAK	5 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 2.04. No one can Gage when the regression fairies will attack, but this kid is walking a tooth-floss-thin tightrope and making it look like he’s a 10-year veteran. At this point, he’s an auto-start for me, and I’ve come to accept the inevitable debacle that will come sometime. AKA The juice is worth the squeeze, even if you have to swallow a pit at some point. He “Jump”s 13 spots today and could go even higher if he starts giving us quality starts each week. Just be forewarned about the innings management at some point.
49	Framber Valdez	DET	Dumper. More below. He’s likely too low here, but I would rather roster any of the guys above him. Or, more accurately, all the guys above him here would make me tear my hair out less frequently.
50	Davis Martin	CWS	5.1 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks on 87 pitches. It looks like the White Sox tried to get him the 6 innings, but they didn’t want to push it.
51	Nick Martinez	TB	5.2 IP, 6 hits, ER, 3 K, 7th win. Nick Mart, the marshmallow king. On one hand, I wonder if the three strikeout victims are embarrassed that they got wiped out by a fastball that ranks in the 22nd percentile of “heaters”. On the other hand, I think they’re probably paid well enough not to have to worry too much about that kind of thing.
52	Troy Melton	DET	6 IP, 1 ER, 2 hits, zero walks, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.39. It was a nearly identical start to his QS last week.  Now that it’s Alice Cooper time in the school calendar, I’ve been thinking of spending a couple of mornings putting together an All-Star Break piece of potential arms to grab before the second half starts, and while some folks are still not taking certain names as seriously as they should. This guy, Sean Burke, and some others are on my short list. Top 100 stans, are we a yay or nay with that kind of thing? Oh, and this guy is up a bit today.
53	Jose Soriano	LAA	3 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 3.41. Uh. That’s not good. Sometimes I don’t have enough time to do much research on the fly, so I write quick notes. This one had “CHECK THE PITCH COUNT AND NEWS”. Well, he threw 69 pitches and got knocked around a bit, but I didn’t see any injury reports. Unless you count regression as an injury. He’s at SEA tomorrow, and the 14 spot drop still didn’t feel like it was far enough.
54	Shota Imanaga	CHC	5.1 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks. The real damage was from the 3 HR allowed. The funniest part? He won this game. If we were ranking on talent alone, he’d be higher, but we need results, folks!
55	Justin Wrobleski	LAD	7 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 2.71. Did anyone check to see if Wrobleski is the Polish word for dark witchcraft? Asking for a “przyjaciel”. Up one spot today.
56	Michael King	SD	I’m getting the message, baseball universe. When a guy had two starts last week, the first one was good, and the second was garbage. It’s funny, too. This was my note after the first start of the week: “Game 1: 7 IP, 0 ER, 6 hits, zero walks, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.33. If you have this guy rostered along with dudes like Framber Valdez and Freddy Peralta, it may be time to get some skull polish for that bald head. Because there’s no way you haven’t yanked all your hair out in frustration yet.” Oh! Game 2: 4.1 IP, 4 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 5 Ks, and the loss. The good news is the Marmo Crystal Ball is still working perfectly. He’s down 10 spots today.
57	Landen Roupp	SF	6 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 4.07. Grey said it on Friday, and I’ll echo it here. Roupp is a Streamonator call each week for now, and to be honest, there’s a bunch of guys I’d put with him on a “Better check the Streamonator first” list before each start (at least for now).
58	Nick Lodolo	CIN	4 IP, 0 ER, ERA at 5.59. Good News! He threw four scoreless innings … before he took a liner off the hand and left the game. The better news is his X-rays came back negative, and he’s expected to make his start today (at MLW). This one is like the Imanaga ranking. If the talent clicks consistently (and without injury setbacks), he’s 30-40 spots higher.
59	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	6 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 4.01. I still get him and Luzardo mixed up in my head.
60	Foster Griffin	WSH	Jumper. (There are a lot today). More? Yep, you guessed it. Below!
61	Connor Prielipp	MIN	6 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 10 Ks, and this is what we’re looking for from the kid. I’ll go back and watch this one on the MLB app just to see what I can catch, but he’s one on the short list for the 2nd half, too.
62	Bubba Chandler	PIT	5 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 4.42. Cool story, bro, but HOW MANY WALKS? (It was only three!)
63	Spencer Arrighetti	HOU	3.0 IP, 5 hits, 8 ER, 5 BB, 7 K, 4th L, 3 HR. Oh no. More like Spencer Argghhh-get-heem-out-of-my-lineup!
64	Eduardo Rodriguez	ARI	6 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 2.27. It’s getting ridiculous, and I’m feeling guilty each week for not slotting this dude even higher in the list. In these cases, I at least consult the Player Rater to see how crazy I am when I want to rank him higher. And you don’t want to see this, but the Player Rater’s win bias is alive and well. He’s slotted in at SP28. That means he gets a boost out of the 70s today (at least).
65	Sean Burke	CWS	6 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.71. I said it last week, and it bears repeating. This guy feels like he’s one or two minor tweaks from blasting off. I just need some more time to dive in a bit deeper. If only school were finished…oh wait! Yeehaw! UP!
66	Griffin Jax	TB	5 IP, 0 ER, 7 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.33. I’m in, even before he Jax those innings-per-start up. He’s on the short list of guys to keep an eye on for the second half, and up a bunch today.
67	Eury Perez	MIA	How can a guy be a Dumper if it’s his first week back from the IL? See below!
68	Mackenzie Gore	TEX	7 IP, 3 ER, 5 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 4.05. This one was at TOR and gave him his second straight quality start. I don’t know if I’m starting him at CLE on Wednesday, but I wouldn’t blame you for riding the hot hand. Up.
69	Tanner Bibee	CLE	6 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.78. I know I ripped on this guy for going 11 starts without a win, but putting up a line like this SHOULD be enough to secure a dub. (Spoiler: it wasn’t. Special thanks to Cade Smith).
70	Shane Bieber	TOR	Jumper. This is where he landed after a bunch of shuffling around him. More below.
71	Trevor Rogers	BAL	6.1 IP, 5 hits, ER, 7 K, 5th win. Both he and Kyle Bradish must have found the voodoo juice in the clubhouse and flushed it. I’m back in on both as long as they’re throwing like this.
72	Andrew Abbott	CIN	5.1 IP, 6 hits, 3 ER, BB, 6 K. Seattle and Cincy need to flip Luis back for Noelvi so we can have Abbott and Castillo together in a big league rotation. And don’t try to tell me that you’ve never heard a worse trade rationale than “excellent pun potential”.
73	Peter Lambert	HOU	4.2 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks, and the no-decision. He’s “nice”, but nice isn’t exciting. Down.
74	Taj Bradley	MIN	7.0 IP, 3 hits, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K. Taj-Mah-Headache if you’re rostering this dude and sitting him for starts like this. No pitcher is easy to predict, but some of these guys who could give up 7 earned runs one week, then give you 7 strikeouts the next. It drives me crazy.
75	Joey Cantillo	CLE	6.0 IP, 2 hits, ER, 2 BB, 9 K. Jeopardy time! The answer is: $13. The question? How much did Joey Cantillo go for in the mad AL-Only FAAB scramble after I dumped him two weeks ago?
76	Matthew Boyd	CHC	4 2/3 IP, 0 ER, ERA at 5.02. He passes the “monitor the first start back before activation” test. He gets SD at home tomorrow, and I’d start him. Welcome back, Boyyyyyyyyd!
77	Michael Wacha	KC	Jumper. More below.
78	Zebby Matthews	MIN	6 IP, 2 ER, 8 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 4.56. And two straight quality starts now. Ah, Zebby. Not just what your local German apiarist removes from the honeycomb before harvesting that liquid gold, anymore. He’s at HOU today, then at Yankee Stadium, so be careful.
7	Noah Cameron	KC	5 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks, and the loss. That’s 12 ER in his last 14.1 IP, and he’s looking a lot different than the guy people were scrambling to add a month ago.
80	Luis Castillo	SEA	6.0 IP, 4 hits, ER, BB, 4 K, 3rd win. Ok, hang on. Not only did Castillo start, but relievers handled the 7th and 8th innings before Andres Munoz locked down the 9th? What happened to the piggybacking plan? (Although I do recall reading Grey’s note about it possibly now being a rotating piggyback with different SPs each week).
81	Casey Mize	DET	5 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 9 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.95. We come to this week’s not-so-exciting episode of: “Could Be Better, Could Be Worse!”
82	Dustin May	STL	Last week’s lede ran both ends of the spectrum in 7-days. This week? It was a sore back that meant no starts. It still gives me the heebie-jeebies ranking him this high. He’s supposed to be good to go on Thursday at ATL.
83	Brandon Sproat	MLW	More ABOVE!
84	Walbert Urena	LAA	4.1 IP, 7 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks, and can you guess what Urena hit when he pitched against the ATH last week? Well…you know.
85	Tatsuya Imai	HOU	More below. In the WHEE! section!
86	Shane Baz	BAL	5 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 4.31. Is it a coincidence that we can sound his name out to “Be Azz”? Things that make you go, “Hmmm…” Down.
87	Brandon Young	BAL	5 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 8 Ks, and the no-decision. I mention it below, but Keelin had Young as her go-to option if you’re looking to replace an injured arm (like Michael Soroka), and I agree!
88	Roki Sasaki	LAD	Dumper. Like a super slide. It’s a lot. And that shouldn’t be surprising.
89	Michael McGreevy	STL	6 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks. McGroovy.
90	Javier Assad	CHC	5 IP, 3 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 4.04. I wouldn’t call him a sneaky add or anything, but he’s been better than just serviceable in four starts since his activation from the IL. 23 IP, 5 ER, 14 H, 4 BB, 16 Ks, and a three-game win streak.
91	Keider Montero	DET	7.0 IP, 5 hits, 0 ER, BB, 3 K, 4th win. I said it a week or two ago, but this dude feels like a solid gamble as long as we’re checking the Streamonator each week. Just make sure you have a backup plan because he’s likely to get bumped as soon as the Tigers have another arm return from the IL. With the late catch on Michael Soroka, I needed another add today and didn’t want to give it to Walker Buehler, so here we are!
92	Jake Bennett	BOS	If Game 1 had folks scrambling to the waiver wire, Game 2 yesterday had the late comers full- out sprinting. Game 1: 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 hits, zero walks, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.71. Game 2: 6 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks, and his 2nd win. Here’s my note after Game 1: Yes, his name sounds like someone calling names off a college fraternity beer run list, but he’s been a decent streamer. “Jake! Bennett! Go pick up the kegs! Dylan! Connor! Go find those beer funnels! Chad! Carter! Go dump out that old bong water! This Wednesday night isn’t gonna plan itself!”
93	Mitch Keller	PIT	6 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks, and his 6th win? And his second consecutive quality start? Are we back in business? Well, he’s won just two games since May 8th, so I wouldn’t be popping any champagne bottles just yet. Up a bit.
94	Cade Cavalli	WSH	6 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 4.00.
95	Robert Gasser	MLW	He’s had two solid starts in a row: 11.2 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 12 Ks. And he’s slated to throw against CIN at home today. I’m in.
96	J.T. Ginn	ATH	6.0 IP, 8 hits, 3 ER, BB, 5 K, 6th win, ERA at 3.15. You know what’s bad? Being so busy and mentally cluttered that you forget if you added this guy to the list last week, or if it was just a “maybe”.
97	Anthony Kay	CWS	Game 1: 6 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 4.24. I slag this guy in the Pallante blurb below, but he’s been solid in the right matchups. He’s not eking out Jacob Misiorowski for the top Player Rater spot anytime soon, but he’s been a serviceable back-end starter. Game 2: I guess the slag was warranted. 3.2 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks yesterday.
98	Kumar Rocker	TEX	6 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks, and I have a feeling this start pushed him out of my “affordable” zone for last night’s FAAB in TGFBI. EDIT: It didn’t! $4 add for the win! But not literally. (No-decision).
99	Randy Vasquez	SD	3.1 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 1 K, and almost an identical game to his start last week, but this time he followed an opener.  Vasquez is way down today and in danger of slipping right off the list next week if he doesn’t go back to starting games. DOWN.
100	Bryce Elder	ATL	Living on the edge…of the top 100 and should be on your bench until he shows signs of life.

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

Shohei Ohtani – 6 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 1.58. I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY IN A RANT, BUT I FEAR I MAY POP A BLOOD VESSEL! First, Dalton Rushing is an idiot. (Apologies if he’s reading this). The video will do a better job of explaining it, but if you were Stephen Curry’s water boy, would you give him tips on how to shoot a three? Are you telling Connor McDavid how he should change his skating form? I know this is a case of apples-to-asparagus comparison here, but the point is – don’t question the unicorn.

EDIT: I will give Dalton Rushing credit here, though. He apologized after the game and said that he needs to do a better job. Maybe just follow Ohtani’s lead next time, hey?

Braxton Ashcraft – 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 hits, zero walks, 10 Ks, ERA at 3.07. I saw a tweet (or whatever it’s called) from another site’s writer saying he doesn’t know how he missed Braxton Ashcraft being “that guy” this preseason, and immediately thought, “I know how! You didn’t read my Top 100 articles way back in the preseason!” Boom. 

But also this. Oh my. Somebody go and grab that guy’s bat from the 7th row.

Make it 10 strikeouts on the night for Braxton Ashcraft 😮‍💨

— MLB (@mlbbot.bsky.social) 2026-06-25T00:24:39.000Z

Sonny Gray – A two-start week! And oh, mama, do we have some goodies for YOU!

Game 1: 7 IP, 1 ER, 9 baserunners, 11 Ks, ERA at 2.95.Game 2: (Last night versus Carlos Rodon and the Yankees at Fenway) – 7 IP, 0 ER, AND I STOPPED TYPING HERE AND RACED TO THE TV WHEN I SAW THE REST OF THE LINE! (He gave up his first hit one out later and finished with 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 Ks).

As if the first start of the week wasn’t enough, this dude followed up an 11-strikeout game with 7.1 innings of no-hit ball last night against Carlos Rodon and the Yankees. Oh, and he recorded his 2000th career strikeout in that game too. No big deal, I guess. 

I know it’s tongue-in-cheek that I tease about this dude being Mr. Underrated, but if you cover up the name and look at the line there, tell me you wouldn’t guess he’s a Top 5 arm. Now look at his most recent 10 starts and do the same thing. 

60.2 IP, 14 ER, 47 H, 16 BB, 62 Ks, 7 wins, ZERO losses, and a sub-2.30 ERA. And I should’ve known not to add the 8th win there before the game ended. (The bullpen blew it for him, so I had to edit again).

I’m not saying I’d trade Bryan Woo, Jacob DeGrom, or Yoshi Yamamoto straight up for this guy. But I AM saying it wouldn’t be an unfair value if you did. And that in itself is less crazy than it sounds.  

Brandon Woodruff – Game 1: 6 IP, 0 ER, 1 hit, zero walks, 10 Ks, ERA at 3.00. Game 2: 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks. In the words of the famous American Poet, L.L. Cool J, “Don’t call it a comeback, (he’s) been here for years!” What a way to bring it back, too. Woodruff’s last start before this week was on April 22nd. And this week, the Brew Crew threw him right back into the fire. The only disappointment about throwing 11.2 innings of one-hit, scoreless ball is that his team didn’t manage to get him a win in either start. 16 Ks and 4 baserunners, though? Yep. That’ll play.

It’s tough to figure out where to slide these guys back into the list, especially after a solid return, but I’m thinking he doesn’t look out of place as our SP24 today, nestled between Braxton Ashcraft and Gerrit Cole.

Robbie Ray – It was a two-start week for this guy and…well…if you had him active, you know where this is going.

Game 1: 8 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.70. 

Game 2: 8 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks, ERA at 3.39.

Whoa. Where has this been for the last two months? I mean, the first start was at home against the A’s, but the second one was against the Braves. “Ray-se” a glass to Robbie for this week.

Shane Bieber – Game 1: 3 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 9 hits, zero walks, 2 Ks. Back-to-back-to-back jacks in this one, and hopefully you kept him on the bench. As with anyone returning from the IL, the main thing is that he got through the first start with no setbacks or injuries. Game 2: 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 4 Ks, and the no-decision. Better. And he increased his pitch total from 75 to 92.

Michael Wacha – It was a two-start week for Wacha last week, and here’s what I wrote after his first one: “7 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.48. He’s like so many other marshmallow tossers with good command. Every week I consider sitting them, and every week they put up a start like this. Well, every week except for Stephen Kolek’s week from our previous Top 100 write-up.” Then, after his start yesterday, my brain had a meltdown, and I couldn’t figure out if I was having some sort of skull explosion. Seriously, it took me a few seconds to realize I wasn’t just going cross-eyed here.

I know the “if we remove these three starts” is annoying to read sometimes, but if we could erase that 3-game speed bump from May 31st to June 11th, Wacha would have 7 consecutive quality starts. That he has 12 QS in just 17 games is good enough for me. Will he be great every time out? No. But I’m still running him out there in most matchups.

Brandon Sproat – From Dumper to Jumper?! Yep. Last week, Sproat appeared in our less-than-coveted Dumper section, so it was going to take one heck of a start to right the ship. Well, guess what. Have a peek up top (if you like to read from the bottom up).

Foster Griffin – I normally don’t add our lede to the Jumpers list, but I wanted to add Sproat because he was a Dumper last week, and also because it was between him and this guy for this week’s title focus. And it’s easy to argue. Game 1: 7 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 4 hits, zero walks, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.15. Game 2: 7 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 9 Ks. Needless to say, the eagle/lion adoption centre is once again open for business! If you can add him on the cheap, go float out an offer. (I put my mouse-clicking finger where my mouth is, too – it’s not as weird or literal as it sounds – and just sent an offer out for him in a mixed league).

Payton Tolle – 7.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 4th win. Please don’t tell anyone, because I’m supposed to be a loyal Blue Jays fan, but I absolutely love this guy. And how can you not get fired up after watching something like this?

Ricky Tiedemann – I know, it’s kind of a troll job to put him in here, but it’s also a sneaky deep league add if you’re looking for a name. He was supposed to throw a rehab game last week, then head to Buffalo, but he had a sore neck. If the Jays baby him and swaddle him with bubble wrap, you could get some second-half value for quite literally nothing off the waiver wire. 

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

Gerrit Cole – It was a two-start week for the Cole Train, and if you’ve been following along, you know it’s not a good thing when someone appears in the Dumpers section. Game 1: 4 1/3 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 3.62.Game 2: 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks. The 10 strikeouts in 9.2 innings are nice, but the rest? Not so good. Oh, and to add insult to ineffectiveness, the second start was at Fenway.

Framber Valdez – These two start weeks are always fun to write up. Hashtag sarcasm.

Here’s my note from his early-week game. “Game 1: 6 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.91. If you held him hoping for a good start that you could use to shop him around, this was it. Find the manager in your league who likes the new shiny toy, aka focuses only on the most recent news, and put together an offer.”

Oh, that’s promising! What about the note from his next game? “Game 2: 6 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 2 Ks. SLAM! That’s the trade window narrowly missing your outstretched fingers hanging over the sill, as you were waving over your league-mates to the negotiation table.” Isn’t this fun?

Roki Sasaki – 4.0 IP, 3 hits, 3 ER, 5 BB, 2 K, 5th L. “Please wait until the ride has come to a complete stop before removing your harness and exiting to your left. We hope you enjoy the rest of your day at “Hope Mountain”. Feel free to add your Roki to the discard pile on your way out of the main gate.” He’s not entirely off the list today, but he slips a bunch.

Edward Cabrera – 5 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners (4 BBs), 4 Ks, ERA at 5.10. Annnnnd, he’s hurt again (off to the IL with a left hamstring strain). While we’re on this topic, can we all agree that while there are some fun things that AI can bring us, the absolute clusterfunk that it creates everywhere else is beyond annoying. (At least that’s what I assume this is all about).

So let me get this straight. He’s expected to return on July 17th and, at the same time, also has no return timeline. OK. Got it.

Eury Perez – 4 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 3 hits, zero walks, 1 K, ERA at 4.41. I don’t know why I don’t like him. Did he say he hates Star Wars? Probably not. Is he anti-Beastie Boys and/or 90s hip hop music in general? Unlikely. Is he full of promise and potential that a ton of people scream about because they love him, but he never really shows that full potential before falling apart and heading to the IL again and again? Maybe that’s it. 

Look, I get it. And I’d roster this dude over a bunch of other names that appear in this 9000-word opus each week, but I don’t trust that the juice is worth the squeeze. If you can add him on the cheap, though, go for it.

Lucas Giolito – Hit the IL with elbow inflammation. It’s shuffle time in The Land of the Top 100. This guy, EdCab, Ryne Nelson, Ben Brown. Is anyone else needing a two-week vacation to MRI-ville? 

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

Shane Drohan – 4 1/3 IP, 0 ER, ERA at 3.12. It’s solid, but there are too many returning arms this week. There’s no room for him now, but he’s on the MarMonocle list.

Kai-Wei Teng – I’ve been Wei-Teng for a breakout game. Maybe he’ll get it now that he’s been optioned back to Triple-A Sugar Land. Oof.

Kyle Leahy – Game 1:  6 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 4.24. Leahy with one strikeout for Julian, Ricky, and Bubbles. Now he just needs to ramp it up and add some more for the rest of the trailer park. Game 2: 5 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks. Good. That covers Randy, Barb, J-Roc, Corey, and Trevor.

Slade Cecconi – 6 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 4 Ks, and the no-decision.

Zac Gallen –  6.2 IP, 4 hits, 5 ER, 2 BB, 0 Ks. Yep. That’s FIVE earned and ZERO strikeouts. This guy is about to go from Stumper to a whole new category, “Steamer”, as in the Cleveland type, not the setting on the computerized ironing board type. Yuck.

Ian Seymour – 6 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 0 hits, 1 walk, 7 Ks, ERA at 4.32. So, half a season ago (seriously), I thought I’d roll the dice on this guy as a starter in a deep league. Then, after getting yanked around for a couple of months (both him and me), I dropped him for a guy with a more defined role. It’s a rookie mistake – assuming that ANY Tampa pitcher would have a defined role. Oh, and in very related news: last week he followed an opener. Then, as he built on a no-hitter into the 7th inning, the Rays promptly brought in Craig Kimbrel to finish it off. Can you guess if they ended up with a combined no-hitter? (Barf emoji).

Jacob Lopez

Martin Perez 

Chris Bassitt 

Christian Scott – 4.1 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks on 82 pitches. A nice return after a two-week injury hiatus. He’s a Stumper for now, though.

David Peterson – 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 2 Ks, and the win. Not a bad start for the newest Cub.

Rhett Lowder 

Andre Pallante – 6 IP, 1 ER, 6 hits, zero walks, 2 Ks, ERA at 3.59. There has to be a group of Pallante fans that get irked every time they check the kid and see guys like Stephen Kolek and Anthony Kay in there while their guy, Andre, is on the Stumper list. Well, to his 5 fans, I apologize. Game 2: 6.2 IP, 5 ER, 11 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks. So, about that apology…

Mike Burrows – 6 IP, 1 ER, 3 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 5.48. 

Tomoyuki Sugano – 5.0 IP, 8 hits, 7 ER, BB, 2 K, ERA at 4.80. Last week, he dismantled Paul Skenes and the Pirates in Colorado. This week, it was that line of filth at Minnesota. Because of course it was. 

Janson Junk 

Colin Rea – 5.0 IP, 5 hits, ER, 3 BB, 4 Ks. He’s not quite in Martin Perez territory for me, but it would take a lot for me to add him to the list, especially after the Cubs dealt for David Peterson. More options for starters means less security (at least that’s what makes sense in my head). 

Eric Lauer –  6 IP, 0 ER, 0 hits, 3 walks, 2 Ks, ERA at 4.87. So this guy is posting no-hit quality starts, and Emmet Sheehan is still spinning around in a bucket of slop each week? Make it make sense! Lauer goes at Bing Bong today, and I wouldn’t be starting him anywhere.

Jeffrey Springs – 5 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 5 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 5.52. If this guy isn’t the King of Meh Mountain, he’s definitely in its royal family. I guess he’s fine to roster in a deep league, but even then, I’d be constantly checking the waiver wire for an upgrade. 

Sean Manaea 

J.P. Sears – 5 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks. 

Hurston Waldrep

Jack Flaherty – 5 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 9 Ks on 94 pitches. Solid.

Walker Buehler – 5.1 IP, 3 hits, ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 5th win. Please don’t make me fall for the Walker trap again. I can’t do it. 

Tyler Mahle – 5 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 5.49. He’s active. The argument could be made that he deserves a spot over some of our bottom 20 here. Maybe next week, if all goes well in his next start. 

Sean Newcomb 

Jake Irvin

Matthew Liberatore 

Aaron Nola 

Brady Singer – Game 1:  7 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 4.81. Game 2: 4.1 IP, 5 ER, 9 H, 0 BB, 6 Ks. This is a perfect encapsulation of Brady Singer. One start makes us go, “Hmmm, maybe I can trim my roster down a bit to make room for him”, then the second start makes us realize what he was doing on the waiver wire in the first place. Pass.

David Sandlin – 6.0 IP, 3 hits, ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 2nd win. Dan Pants said it best on Saturday, and paraphrasing here – Sandlin had a great first start, a very good start on Friday night, and is a live arm…but he has command issues. 

Griffin Canning 

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).

Joe Musgrove

Max Scherzer 

Justin Steele – The Cubs said he won’t start games this season. Ouch. Steele turned out to be melted plastic sprayed with grey paint. 

Robby Snelling 

Jonah Tong

Brandon Pfaadt

JR Ritchie – Optioned to the minors.

Spencer Strider – Transferred to the 60-day IL and will be shut down for at least 4 weeks.

Jack Kochanowicz 

Lance McCullers Jr.

Cristian Javier

Joe Boyle

Hunter Greene

Spencer Schwellenbach

Zach Eflin

Johan Oviedo

Cole Ragans – So I opened up the news and saw, “Headed for elbow surgery”. You know it’s bad when you let out an audible “Uggghhhhhh” upon reading a sentence like that.

Grayson Rodriguez 

Cody Ponce

Cade Horton

Shane Smith

Quinn Priester

Clarke Schmidt

River Ryan

Corbin Burnes 

Pablo Lopez

Kade Anderson

Nick Pivetta

Andrew Painter 

Thomas White

Ryan Pepiot

Jose Berrios 

Justin Verlander

Reese Olson

Mick Abel – His MRI on Monday revealed no structural damage. Cool, cool. Did it also reveal, I don’t know, maybe, WHEN HE’LL BE ABEL TO RETURN?! 

Didier Fuentes

Garrett Crochet

Tyler Glasnow

Steven Matz.

Kodai Senga – 3 2/3 IP, 7 ER, ERA at 10.08. I keep seeing him ranked elsewhere way higher than I’m comfortable with, and part of me feels a bit guilty…Until I see a start like this. Confirmation bias is a helluva drug. EDIT! The Mets announced Thursday that they were moving Senga to the bullpen. He’ll be off the Stumper list next week.

Brayan Bello

Braxton Garrett

Michael Soroka – I nearly missed his IL appointment because he was lifted last week and considered day-to-day. Thank goodness Keelin had a full rundown of his butt stuff in this week’s Ambulance Chasers: Pain In The Butt For Soroka. You can read it there, but I need a replacement for this dude in one league, and her Brandon Young recommendation is a good one. (But the BlueSky link she shared there is even better!).

Yusei Kikuchi

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

Brandon Woodruff

Shane Bieber

Matthew Boyd

Eury Perez

Robert Gasser – One of the only “WHEE!” guys who makes the list because of performance and not a return from injury. He could have cracked the Top 100 last week, but I wanted to give some guys a bit more time.

Tatsuya Imai – It’s a rare extended blurb in the “WHEE!” section this week because I needed to add a clip. Here’s the note I wrote: “6 IP, 0 ER, 2 baserunners, 1 walk, 10 Ks, ERA at 5.36. This is the guy we thought we were getting when Houston announced they had signed him this past winter. Maybe it just took a bit to acclimate to the change in culture and climate? The K/9 is filthy (11.11), and his last two starts have been eye-popping.” As for the clip, the pitch is great. (And so is the George Foreman reference).

Jake Bennett

Luis Castillo – I don’t know if he was a copy/paste victim (likely) or a rage chop, but he was nowhere to be found this week. He’s back in there today.

Keider Montero

Kumar Rocker

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

Michael Soroka – More above in the Bumpers section. It looks like a 4-week IL timeline. Ugh.

Ryne Nelson – I don’t even want to think of this right now because it’s a swear word in school circles this week. But. He’s due back. In. September.

Ben Brown – Hit the IL with a strained neck. Maybe that strange theory that there can never be two Browns active at the same time has some legs. Hunter is back, Ben is gone. And don’t even think of calling the Cancel Police on me again. The official update was “Stress reaction in his neck – IL for at least a month”. Woof.

Lucas Giolito

Edward Cabrera

Seth Lugo – This was my note for last week: “5 IP, 7 ER, ERA at 4.18. This is what happens when you leave the marshmallow (tosser) in the fire for too long.” It was time to start trimming up the bottom ten. Farewell to our sweet, soft-tossing prince.

Stephen Kolek – The 9-ER, 1.2 IP outing was enough to give him the boot, but now he’s “injured” and likely to miss his next start with a short trip to the paternity list. Fitting, seeing as he dropped a 9-pounder in his most recent start.

Trevor McDonald – You know the tune. No need for the pitch pipe. “Old McDonald’s kind of arse. He is, he is, GONE!” (In my defense, Trevor is 0-6 in his last 7 GS).

Merrill Kelly – 6 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 3 HR allowed, 3 Ks, and his 6th straight loss. Yikes.

Bryce Elder – Good news! With school finishing up, I put away the abacus this weekend, and lo and behold, I messed up the count. I was two starters heavy, so Elder gets the axe, and we go to 101! Why? Because I said so! Here’s the note I had written up for him anyway: “He and Grant Holmes each threw 4 innings on Saturday. Can you guess which one sucked and which one didn’t? I’ll give you a hint. The answer to that also made me think, “Maybe I removed the wrong Atlanta SP this week!” Down.

Grant Holmes – Game 1: Outside of Seth Lugo, Holmes is the only “OOF!” who slips off the list because of performance and not injury. Well, at least not an official injury. Needing 91 pitches for 14 outs is less than ideal. Ta-Ta-For-Now! Game 2: See: Elder, Bryce above. EDIT: Holmes was supposed to be the only guy out because of performance, but we had even more junk to clear out, so that note gets a tweak.

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!

 

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