Happy Monday, Razzball faithful!

Can you hear that rustling in the bushes? 

Yep. Those bushes. Right over there.

If you look closely, you can see the shining, beady eyes of MLB GMs crouched and waiting to pounce on unsuspecting sellers as they shop their pending free agents and “non-bargain-priced” talent.

Well, it might be a poor analogy, but no matter what, the action is ramping up and the trade deadline hot stove is approaching its boiling point!

This weekend, we saw the first big deal of the pre-deadline week with Connolly Early shipping off from Boston to Washington for Curtis Mead. To be honest, it took all that I had in me to not run with the lede: “Washington Nationals Trade Magic Beans to Beantown”.

Nothing says summertime like a cold breakfast beer…or an Early/Mead.

Starting pitchers on the move? Of course! But I can guarantee you all there’s one name who IS NOT going to be pictured in that trade deadline special this year!

Yep. He’s a starting pitcher who took a no-hitter deep into two of his last three starts, and, on Saturday night at Fenway, he came, he saw, and he conquered.

Oh, no. The July-est Cease-er wasn’t content with going 15 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 20 Ks in his last two road starts, so he upped the ante against a scorching-hot Red Sox team that was not prepared for this Roman-esque battle.

Just how rare a feat was going 8+ innings in back-to-back road starts, allowing just one hit, and striking out 10+ hitters? Uh…let’s just say he has some pretty good company in the record book.

And the last Blue Jays starter to throw a CG SO at Fenway Park? Well, that name is a bit of a household one, as well.

Honestly, I had Cam Schlittler’s Friday start all queued up to run as our lede (and he’s been amazing, too), but you know what they say. Sometimes Schlitt happens.

MarmosDad? You already have Dylan Cease ranked in the Top 10. There’s no way you’re boosting him up into the Top 5…are you? 

A just question, italicized inquisitor. But before we get to that answer, 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	Dumper! No way! (Yes way. Kind of. More below).
2	Tarik Skubal	DET	7.1 IP, 4 hits, ER, 2 BB, 12 K, 7th win. This one was entitled: “I dare you to trade me”. No matter where he finishes the season, one would assume he already has a giant cube van scheduled for arrival at his house on January 1st so he can load up all the millions of dollars someone will be dropping off for him. Up!
3	Paul Skenes	PIT	WOW! 11 strikeouts! What a great start! (Ok, now that the Pirates fans have moved on, I can share the rest of the line with you all – 5.1 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 2 BB. If his name wasn’t Paul Skenes, he’d be around SP7 today.)
4	Zack Wheeler	PHI	7 IP, 2 ER, 5 hits, zero walks, 9 Ks, ERA at 2.16. So if he doesn’t deserve to be ahead of Miz, Skenes, and Skubal, there’s a spot at SP4 for him without a doubt, yes?
5	Chris Sale	ATL	6 IP, 3 ER, 6 baserunners, 11 Ks, ERA at 2.19. In 40 years, this dude is still going to be chucking 95 MPH. It’ll be him throwing buttered peas at his nursing home workers, but that’s not the point. He’s not slowing down.
6	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD	6 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks, and his 11th win. You know a guy is lights out good when he posts a line like this and the initial thought is, “Oh. That’s it?”
7	Dylan Cease	TOR	More above!
8	Cam Schlittler	NYY	Jumper! Kind of! More below!
9	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	5 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 7 hits, zero walks, 7 Ks, ERA at 2.71. Ya, let’s give him a youngster quality start for this one. Game 2: He had the late game against the Yankees last night, so I’ll have to edit after I get back from my boy’s umpire gig. EDIT: It was a big-boy quality start last night. 6 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks, and his 13th win.
10	Chase Burns	CIN	5 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.42. Cha-Ching! That’s the sound of the strikeout audio from the home media crew, AND the sound of the cash register opening up for him to jam in all of that $105 million extension.
11	Jacob deGrom	TEX	Game 1: 4 2/3 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 3.76. Someone must have slept wrong during that week off for the All-Star break. The bounceback is incoming. Game 2: 4 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 4 Ks at the time of writing. Curses aside, things are looking like they’re bouncing back already. EDIT: He finished with 5 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 4 Ks and the no-decision. Phew. Curse avoided.
12	Drew Rasmussen	TB	Game 1: 5 IP, 2 ER, 8 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.28. Of course, right after he rips off a string of quality starts, he takes a step backwards. He hasn’t thrown 6 innings in any of his last 3 GS. Game 2: I KNEW all I had to do was write a note about the innings and the fantasy baseball gods would hear my call to action. 7 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 9 Ks, and his first 7-inning jobber since June 16th. Even more impressive – he only needed 87 pitches in this one.
13	Gavin Williams	CLE	Jumper. More below.
14	Logan Gilbert	SEA	5.2 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks, and the no-decision. Down just a bit today.
15	Joe Ryan	MIN	Dumper. More below.
16	Logan Webb	SF	6.0 IP, 6 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. Speaking of this dude, guess who’s taking the Marmolets to see Spiderman this Thursday night?!
17	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	7 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 8 Ks, and his 10th win. AND me seeing this result against the Mariners thinking, “Can’t Woo just have this same outing for a change?”
18	Jesus Luzardo	PHI	7 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 9 Ks should be enough to cruise to an easy win, but not when you’re facing Cam Schlittler at the top of his game. This one was a tough-luck 5th loss for the Lizard King.
19	Sonny Gray	BOS	5 IP, 5 ER, 10 H, 0 BB, 3 Ks, and his 2nd loss? To the sad sack BLUE JAYS?! AT HOME?! Man, I don’t know what to say other than the obvious: Baseball is weird.
20	Hunter Brown	HOU	7 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 7 Ks, and his 2nd win as he rolled into Chicago and wiped out the South-siders. My AL-only team thanks you, kind sir.
21	Bryan Woo	SEA	5 IP, 5 ER, 9 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks, and his 7th loss. Please know that it brings me no joy to report this kind of result from our favorite Woo-son, especially because despite trading him in Perts a couple of weeks ago, I still roster him in almost every other league. Down.
22	Nolan McLean	NYM	6 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 7 Ks, and his 7th loss. Not a bad start when you realize it was against the Dodgers. He holds steady in the Top 25 today.
23	Justin Wrobleski	LAD	6 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 2.62. “Wrobble Wrobble!” That’s either the scoreboard operator after another Wrobleski strikeout OR the audio from an old Hamburglar Happy Meal toy. Either way, his last 5 starts have been quality ones, and that is delicious. Up.
24	Parker Messick	CLE	Game 1: 5 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 4 hits, zero walks, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.68. A youngster quality start with a handful of strikeouts? Yes, please. Park that shizz right there. Game 2: 7.2 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 6 Ks, and a LOSS?! Wow. Tough crowd.
25	Gerrit Cole	NYY	7 IP, 3 ER, 4 hits, zero walks, 11 Ks, ERA at 3.92. I mean, I get finishing one shy of a 12-pack here. That’s what happens when you can’t resist cracking a Cole one. Up.
26	Hunter Greene	CIN	5.1 IP, 6 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks, and his 2nd loss. It would be a lot nicer if we could just rearrange those numbers into the right categories, no? Down today.
27	Max Fried	NYY	Way up today. Jumper. More below.
28	Shohei Ohtani	LAD	Apparently Grandpa Dave Roberts said that Ohtani “kicked the can” on a scheduled bullpen session because his knee is still not feeling great. Then, when reporters got upset, Roberts announced, “Heavens to Betsy! Don’t get your knickers in a twist!” and slipped outside with a handful of Werther’s Originals.
29	George Kirby	SEA	6 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.57. Contrary to popular Nintendo beliefs, Kirby did not, in fact, blow. He’s at TEX today.
30	Shane McClanahan	TB	5.0 IP, 2 hits, ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 9th win. I know he was injured and out for a long time, but it still drives me crazy that the Rays think this guy can’t McClana-handle a full workload.
31	Braxton Ashcraft	PIT	Game 1: 3 IP, 7 ER, ERA at 3.95. How’s it going? Well, I had Ryan Weathers and Braxton Ashcraft active in 4 of my leagues, so you tell me. Game 2: 6 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks, and his third straight start without a win. His next two are scheduled at CIN and at MLW, so I’d consider benching him if you have other options.
32	Bryce Miller	SEA	5.1 IP, 6 hits, 5 ER, BB, 0 K. Ouchy. Not much to say here but “Hit the reset button and try again next week”. Down.
33	Logan Henderson	MLW	5 IP, 2 ER, 5 hits, zero walks, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.05. Grey joked last week that the Brewers should see what they can do with Patrick Corbin, and I’m all in there. How about Patrick Corbin and George Springer for Logan Henderson? Hello? Hello? Why does it sound like a dial tone right after I make that proposal?
34	Kyle Bradish	BAL	6 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 3.49. I know I said I was in on both him and Trevor Rogers for the second half, but I just traded Bradish and Bellinger for Hunter Brown, Jack Wilson, and Trevor Story. True…uh…anecdote?
35	Eury Perez	MIA	7 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks, and his 8th loss. The 5-8 record doesn’t look great, but he hasn’t been anywhere near as bad as that looks. He’s allowed just 8 ER in his last 46.1 IP. Up a bit today.
36	Jared Jones	PIT	6.0 IP, 2 hits, ER, BB, 5 K. JJ acting like yet another ace on the Allegheny. With this guy throwing like he used to throw, and the Skenes/Ashcraft two-headed monster, I would LOVE to see these dudes take the hill for the Pirates in a short playoff series and knock out a juggernaut.
37	Ranger Suarez	BOS	4 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 6 Ks, and the no-decision on 64 pitches. Easing the Ranger back into the saddle after a 3-week absence was the right move, and he responded beautifully. He’s a bit low today, but if he has another start like this one, he’ll move back up into the Top 30 next week.
38	Payton Tolle	BOS	5 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 9 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.31. If that were 3 ER, he would’ve qualified for a youngster quality start. I’ll take the 9 Ks as a consolation prize, but I’m also sitting him at ATH today.
39	Foster Griffin	WSH	6.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks, and his 12th win. Don’t look now, but that’s 4 straight dubs for Foster the Griffin. I said don’t look now!
40	Emerson Hancock	SEA	Dumper. More below.
41	Ryan Weathers	NYY	Game 1: 4 2/3 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 4.40. Stormy Weathers and cloudy skies for the Internet crew of WWW (Weathers/Will Warren). Game 2: 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks, and his 4th win. So he gets pumped by PIT at home, then takes the Phillies to task on the road for his first win since June 24th. Oh…kay.
42	Kevin Gausman	TOR	Dumper. More below.
43	Nick Martinez	TB	Jumper. More below.
44	Troy Melton	DET	5 IP, 2 ER, 9 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 1.95. He has a 1.95 ERA and a 35.6 K% in 10 starts. If any Tiger haters were hoping he was a flash in the pan, I’ve got bad news for them.
45	Shota Imanaga	CHC	6 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks. Back-to-back wins and this one pushed his scoreless streak to 13 innings.
46	Sean Burke	CWS	6 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 10 Ks, and his 5th loss. A quality start with double-digit strikeouts only to be bested by Hunter Brown’s shutout? Single tearful sigh.
47	Jake Bennett	BOS	5 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 9 hits, zero walks, 4 Ks, ERA at 2.58. A youngster quality start! This kid has been on fire for like two months. What are you waiting for?! Up. EDIT – Apparently the Red Sox weren’t waiting for much. Bennett’s breakout likely had a part in their willingness to move Connolly Early to Washington.
48	Freddy Peralta	NYM	Game 1: 5 1/3 IP, 7 ER, ERA at 5.01. And my note after this one was: “To. The. Moon. Smh.” His Game 2 outcome didn’t do much to change that. 4 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks.
49	Reid Detmers	ANA	“5 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 4 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 4.05. Picked him up in my RCL for his last two starts (11 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 13 Ks), and, so far, that’s my first decent move all year in that league.” And that’s me quoting Grey!
50	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	7 IP, 5 ER, 9 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks. He gave up 3 homers to the Astros in Houston like they knew what was coming? Bang! Bang!
51	Cade Cavalli	WSH	Jumper. More below.
52	Eduardo Rodriguez	ARI	6.0 IP, 7 hits, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 9th win. Sure, it would look a lot better if the strikeout total were in double digits, but if you say you haven’t yet profited from your EdRod investment this year, you’re a fibber! He’s probably too high here because of the Player Rater ranking, so he gets pushed down a couple of spots today.
53	Trevor Rogers	BAL	7.0 IP, 6 hits, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K. I have this guy in an AL-only league, but his contract will likely price him out next year as a keeper for us (myself and PapaMarmos). No one wants him, though, so I’ll just keep rolling him out there and collecting the quality starts. Up.
54	Michael King	SD	6 IP, 1 ER, 9 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.24. I tried to trade him in one league and figured out pretty quickly that I value him way higher than a lot of other folks do. He’s allowed just 5 ER in his last 23 IP (4 GS). Up.
55	Emmet Sheehan	LAD	Game 1:  5 1/3 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 5.13. Ah, ffs. In Perts, I sent Grey a trade offer of my Sheehan for his AJ Ewing right around the end of the week. I was hoping Sheehan had a good start so it didn’t look like a crummy offer. Ugh. Back to the drawing board. Game 2: 5 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks, and the no-decision. I dropped him just before this start, so if you roster him, you’re welcome.
56	Robbie Ray	SF	6 IP, 0 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks, and his 9th win. When the walks are controlled, the results are still pretty solid. He’s allowed more than one earned run in just two of his last 10 GS.
57	Trey Yesavage	TOR	4.0 IP, 5 hits, 3 ER, BB, 9 K. I mean, it’s ok. He looked pretty good, but the outs weren’t there. At least he limited the walks, too.
58	Peter Lambert	HOU	6 IP, 2 ER, 8 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.03. He was our lede last week when I wrote up a bit of how I’d be shopping him in certain leagues as a sell high (In Like A Lambert, Out Like A Trade Dead-Lion). The Astros need him if they’re planning on making a playoff push, but if not, he’s likely packing his bags, too!
59	Jose Soriano	LAA	5 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks, and his 9th win. AND a bonus bit in the Walbert Jumper blurb below, too!
60	Taj Bradley	MIN	7 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.69. My first thought was, “Hey, he hasn’t been blown up in a while. Maybe, like 5-6 games?” Well, it wasn’t quite that long of a streak, but he’s allowed two or fewer earned runs in 6 of his last 7 GS. Averaging close to 6 IP per start and throwing 90+ pitches is as good as it gets, as long as the guy isn’t walking everyone or getting hammered. Start him, but be ready to swallow the inevitable pill of implosion at some point if you do. Either way, it’s a matter of whether or not you feel that the potential reward is worth the risk.
61	Griffin Jax	TB	6 IP, 1 ER, 4 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.89. And he allowed zero home runs in this start, too. Yep. That’s right. No Jacks from Jax.
62	Casey Mize	DET	6 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 3 Ks, and the no-decision. I know Tiger fans won’t want to hear this, but maybe the prophecy of “Casey Mize – Future Ace” instead of Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning comes true in a couple of weeks. And, yes, a barf emoji is a perfectly acceptable response to that note.
63	Matthew Boyd	CHC	7.0 IP, 7 hits, ER, 3 BB, 4 K. There’s a South Park clip we can add here for the “Yeah, Boyd! How we all feeling?” But I don’t want to get cancelled, so you can look that up on your own. As for how we’re all feeling…did you know that Matthew Boyd has 1100 career strikeouts? “Oh really?!” (Yes, he does. And thanks to Dan Pants’ Saturday round up for that gem of statistical excellence, too). Up.
64	Andrew Abbott	CIN	Game 1: 6 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.89. Andy Abbott with the number of the beast outing. Noice. Game 2: 5 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 3 Ks at the time of writing yesterday. So I guess there’s a chance for another start of consecutive 6s. EDIT: 6 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 4 Ks. He was close, but we’ll take the QS either way.
65	Ian Seymour	TB	6 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 4.64. It’s a good starting pitcher line…until you realize he finished this one off after an opener got the first 6 outs. Shrug. He’s still solid, but he slides down a bit today because of the opener business.
66	Brandon Young	BAL	6.1 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks, and come to think of it, I’ve never seen this guy and Jake Bennett in the same room. Ever. Hmm…
67	Shane Drohan	MLW	6.0 IP, 6 hits, 5 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 4th L, ERA at 3.51. At first I thought it was normal for the Rockies to score five runs against Drohan because they were in Colorado…but they weren’t, and this one was at American Family Field. I wonder if the Blue Jays could name their stadium American Family Field, too, because we’re all in North America, right? Maybe we should change our country’s name to the United Territories and Provinces of America while we’re at it? (On a much more important side note: just go back to calling it Miller Park already).
68	Gage Jump	OAK	Dumper. More below.
69	Davis Martin	CWS	5.0 IP, 6 hits, 4 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. It’s not lights out by any means, but I’d be considering floating an offer if someone else rosters him in a keeper league and you think you can pry him loose for a couple of expiring contracts. He’s been “just average enough” lately for the price tag to have dampened a bit.
70	Will Warren	NYY	3 IP, 6 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks, and are you taking the over or under on how many people ask Grey if they should drop him for <insert random pitcher’s name here> if the line is at, let’s say…15.5?
71	Joey Cantillo	CLE	3.2 IP, 8 hits, 5 ER, BB, 4 K. Yep. This was why I dropped him in one league. The upside is there in keeper leagues, but if you can’t afford to wait, I get it.
72	Framber Valdez	DET	Dumper. More below.
73	Shane Baz	BAL	6 IP, 2 ER, 7 hits, zero walks, 6 Ks, ERA at 4.13. A quality start with no walks and half a dozen strikeouts? I hope you didn’t drop him! Baz-inga! Game 2: It took him 90 pitches to get 13 outs, so the win wasn’t happening either way. The start was decent, though. 4.1 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 2 Ks.
74	Bubba Chandler	PIT	6 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 3 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 4.47. “HA! ONLY THREE BASERUNNERS! THAT MEANS HE COULDN’T HAVE WALKED MORE THAN A COUPLE! Wow. Okay, first, you don’t have to yell. And second, he only walked ONE! And third…there is no third.
75	Michael McGreevy	STL	6 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 10 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.07. He’s a serviceable #4 or 5, depending on your league and roster size.
76	Landen Roupp	SF	6 IP, 2 ER, 4 hits, zero walks, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.93. Roupp Dogg with a solid walk at the park. Nice. Up a bit today.
77	Michael Wacha	KC	Game 1: 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.66. All of these hot shot kids are getting lit up, and Wacha is just steadily chugging along the train tracks. Game 2: 7 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks. Choo-choo! Up.
78	Mackenzie Gore	TEX	5.0 IP, 7 hits, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. One more ER would’ve made this less of an acceptable outcome, but it’s still not Gor-eat.
79	Dustin May	STL	6.0 IP, 7 hits, ER, 8 K. He’s not quite to the Martin Perez zone for me, but he’s not that far from it. That just means I’m perfectly fine watching him have starts like this on someone else’s roster because I know there will be more 0.2 IP, 8 ER games that negate all that positivity. That said, he’s not moving down today.
80	Tanner Bibee	CLE	6 IP, 3 ER, 9 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks, and his 10th loss. It wasn’t a bad outing, but it wasn’t good enough to get past Nick Martinez and the Rays.
81	Connor Prielipp	MIN	Guess who’s back! 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks, and his 3rd win. And the youngster quality start! Yeehaw!
82	Walbert Urena	LAA	Jumper. More below!
83	Roki Sasaki	LAD	7.0 IP, 3 hits, ER, 2 BB, 9 K, 4th win. I said it above with Trevor Rogers, and the same goes for Roki. I’ve been shopping this dude around in one league, too, and no one is biting, so maybe I should just hold. The results have been good enough to take the risk (almost) each week.
84	Shane Bieber	TOR	7 IP, 1 ER, 3 hits, zero walks, 3 Ks, ERA at 4.70. Baby, baby, baby…OHHHHHH! Biebs is back! (To be honest, I wouldn’t auto-start him anytime soon, but I’d be willing to take a chance in the right matchup – aka NOT at WSH this week).
85	Robert Gasser	MLW	6 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 4 Ks, and you know what?! He’s back in today!
86	Luis Castillo	SEA	7 IP, 3 ER, 6 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 4.85. Solid, yes, but the Ks aren’t there, and he’ll need to give us a month of even better than these starts before he sniffs a sub-4.00 ERA. He’s holding here for now.
87	Zebby Matthews	MIN	6.0 IP, 3 hits, 2 ER, 3 BB, K. Come on, man! At least give us a half dozen strikeouts, too!
88	Janson Junk	MIA	4.2 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 6 Ks, and the no-decision. Against the Padres. At Miami. It could have been worse, but it should have been better. That said, he’s up.
89	Andre Pallante	STL	7 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 8 Ks, and his 11th win. I looked at Pallante’s numbers and was kind of embarrassed to have him at SP95. He gets a modest boost today, but let’s not assume he’ll post a line like this one every week. Up!
90	Noah Cameron	KC	7.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. He’s not quite in the Brandon Pfaadt zone yet, but I’m not trusting this one for a few reasons. A – it was against the Tigers, B – he was destroyed in 4 of his last 5 starts, and C…there is no C.
91	Brandon Sproat	MLW	4 2/3 IP, 2 ER, ERA at 5.09. Ugh. So much for that lede from a month ago. Sproat is not a goat. Down.
92	Noah Schultz	CWS	3.2 IP, 5 ER, 11 H, 0 BB, 2 Ks on 80 pitches, and wtf is going on here? Way down today.
93	Anthony Kay	CWS	5 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks, and his 7th win. It’s not flashy, and he’ll likely never give us double-digit strikeouts, but it’s a serviceable arm in a deeper league.
94	Merrill Kelly	ARI	5 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks, and his 8th win. Copy what I said above for Anthony Kay and paste it in here.
95	Spencer Arrighetti	HOU	1.0 IP, 2 hits, 3 ER, 2 BB. Out with nerve irritation. That sounds like the fantasy players who rostered him and watched him litter walks through each start. “Oh, the nerve!” announced with an overflowing of indignant irritation. EDIT: Placed on the IL with a pinched nerve. He’ll be removed next week.
96	Mitch Keller	PIT	5 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 4.90. It looks like someone doesn’t want to get traded to the Rockies at the deadline! Also, he threw 75 pitches in this start. That’s right. The Pirates wouldn’t give him 25 more so he could get through the 6th inning and notch a quality start. Smh.
97	Christian Scott	NYM	3.2 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks on 89 pitches. There’s that “too many pitches” bug rearing its ugly head again. He’s a growth stock in keeper leagues, but I’d tread carefully in redraft.
98	Jackson Jobe	DET	In 11.1 rehab innings, Jobe has 12 Ks and just 2 BBs. A 2.38 ERA and 0.88 WHIP in four minor league starts is about as encouraging as we need to see. Add him now if you can.
99	Clay Holmes	NYM	Jumper? More below?
100	Javier Assad	CHC	Two relief appearances in his most recent two games after two starts to begin the month. The good news is he recorded a 3-inning save Saturday. The bad news is he’s gone next week if it looks like he’s bullpen locked.

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

Cam Schlittler – 7.1 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 12 Ks, and arguably his best start of the season. I don’t know where this one ranked (Vin?!), but I’d guess it’s in the Top 5-10 starts of the year.

The ERA is at 2.07, the WHIP is at 0.93, and, if he keeps this up, the Cy Young Award is going to be a dogfight between him and our lede today.

Max Fried – 5 IP, 0 ER, 1 hit, 1 walk, 7 Ks, ERA at 2.97. FRIED AT LAST! Not just what Tommy Chong says after returning home from a month on a dry island with no vegetation. Get this Max back in your lineups ASAP!

Gavin Williams – 7 IP, 0 ER, 2 hits, zero walks, 11 Ks, ERA at 3.78. We’ve had this discussion before, and, yes, it was one-sided. This guy is an ace…if he can show solid control and limit the walks. 

ZERO BBs? Yep, that’s the guy we want to see on our rosters. Will we get an occasional half-dozen free passes from time to time? Probably. But those games have been a lot fewer and farther between than they were last year, so this is an upwardly mobile arm. I said it before – if he has the walk rate “fixed”, he’s Drew Rasmussen (but consistently with 7+ inning outings).

When we need more confirmation, always defer to the boss. Here’s Grey’s quote: “His 11.1 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 2.98 xFIP and a 45.6% GB rate pops, daddy”.

I’m unsure if Grey means MarmosDaddy or just any paternal figure in general, but either way, Gavin Williams is making hitters look like children out there.

Cade Cavalli – 6 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.58. Yes, it was against the Rockies. No, I don’t care. Because, yes, he has been good. How good has he been?

I went all the way back to Jun 25th for this snip because it fit the narrative, and the previous start was just a 2.2-inning one. Regardless, these are the numbers of a breakout in progress. Earlier this season, I wasn’t convinced. Now, I am.

Nick Martinez – Game 1: 6 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners, 0 Ks, ERA at 2.59. Game 2: 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 5 Ks. He wasn’t supposed to be a Jumper today, but how can we not draw extra attention to back-to-back quality starts like these? Shop smart. Shop Nick-Mart. 

Walbert Urena – 6 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 2.78. I had our stock, “To the window! To the Walbert!” all ready to go for today, then JKJ messaged in our writers’ Discord to ask if this dude was for real, so I had a closer look at the Statcast page. 

At risk of going off on a tangent here – and regular readers who stick with me, please know your continued attention during such instances is both appreciated and valued – the easiest answer that I could give our bullpen writer was: “The strikeout potential is real, and if he can figure out the walks he’s going to be very good.”

Then, I wondered where we’ve heard that before.

Oh. Oh, dear. Ok. Let’s just say that April 13th (the date of this photo post) was a long time ago. 

7 quality starts in 16 games is a pretty solid stretch for a rookie pitcher. And, in those other starts, he didn’t miss the QS by much. Bottom line? He’s a sneaky add if you can pry him loose from a rival’s fantasy roster before your league’s trade deadline.

Clay Holmes – He’s coming back as soon as this week, and the Mets are putting the finishing touches on the prettiest formal wear they can find for him. He’ll have a lot of suitors at the trade deadline dance, but if a guy like Curtis Mead is getting you Connolly Early in a trade return, who knows what kind of overpay Clay Holmes is likely to net the Mets. He’s not really deserving of a spot today, but we needed a fill-in at the bottom, so here we are.

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

Jacob Misiorowski – OH MY EFFING GEE! THE MIZ CANNOT BE A DUMPER! Well, he is, but please don’t start throwing virtual pitchforks at me. Game 1: 4 IP, 0 ER, ERA at 1.57. Game 2: 5 IP, 1 ER, 1 H (solo HR), 1 BB, 12 Ks. 

The Brewers gave him the baby-gloves treatment and eased him back in after the break. I mean, I don’t like it, but if there’s anyone who needs to be protected out there, it’s the kid with the golden arm. This isn’t a traditional “Dumper” post, as it is more of a ‘be careful and aware’ kind of thing. I think Grey said it last week with BDon on the pod, and I’ll reiterate. 

If you have The Miz in a redraft league, and your pitching is solid enough to entertain trading him away for offensive help, it’s not all that crazy to see if you could net a Top 10 hitter in return for the wunderkind. Will The Miz still give us a ton of strikeouts? Of course he will. But I would also be surprised if the Brewers leaned on him for much more than 50 innings the rest of the way. That total could be even less if Milwaukee increases their lead in the NL Central even more than the 6 games they’re at now, too, and MLW wants to rest him before their first playoff series.

Joe Ryan – 4 IP, 8 ER, 6 (!) HR allowed. ERA at 3.38. Joe versus the volcano…of hanging curveballs. He is slated to start at home vs KC on Wednesday, but we’ll see if the Twins want to risk injury before the deadline and still give him the ball. I assume they’ll want him to go out and throw a great start to help their trade partners forget about the homer-fest from last week.

Kevin Gausman – Can we get one thing out of the way here first, please? As a Blue Jays fan, I HATE seeing the unavoidable trade winds swirling around a guy who genuinely loves the city of Toronto. That said, I’m not so sure any of our dear readers could guess when the Canada Goose-man recorded his most recent win. July 1st? Nope. June 1st? Uh…no. He’s gone a whopping ELEVEN starts without a victory, and his ‘most recent’ dub was way back on May 22nd. Yikes. 

As a fan of the team, I’m hoping the Jays can net a decent return for Gausman. As a fan of the player, it sucks to see him potentially on his way out of town. 

This wasn’t the best clip to choose from, but it was the ‘newsy’ one. Trust me, if you’re looking for Gausman clips from the past 7-days where he talks about how much he’s appreciated his time in the T-Dot, there are plenty. Here’s hoping he sticks around, or at least comes back this winter.

Emerson Hancock – 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.16. 3:16?! Someone start the Stone Cold music! Hancock is back! ALSO, the Mariners have let teams know that Hancock is available if anyone wants to trade them some offense (thanks to MLB Trade Rumors for that one). Moving away from Seattle likely won’t do him any favors (hence the Dump today).  Hancock for Dalton Varsho? Write it up!

Framber Valdez – Game 1: 2/3 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 4.57. Ok, enough is enough. He’s way down today because any trade value that name carried is likely gone (and likely has been gone for a while now). Game 2: Well, it wasn’t going to be all that tough to post a better start than the first one from last week: 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 4 Ks.

Honestly, I’m unsure where to slot this guy in the list. When in doubt, resort to the Rest-Of-Season Player Rater! (sees ROS Player Rater has him at SP21). When in doubt, ignore the Player Rater! EDIT: The additional piece of information is that the Season-to-Date Player Rater has him at SP116. Adding them together and splitting the difference gives me a bit more confirmation bias. I had him at SP67 last week, and the average there is SP69. He’s a bit lower today, under a few others I’d rather roster.

Gage Jump –  4 2/3 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 4.42. Jump, Skip, Crawl, Hop, Walk, Run. Who cares how you get there, but I wouldn’t fault you for hustling to the waiver wire to drop this kid if you’re in a redraft league. In a keeper league, hold on tight, but if you’re in any other kind of league, it’s looking like the Stamina Monster has dug its claws in…and it ain’t letting go anytime soon.

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

Ronel Blanco  – He was THE hot waiver wire ticket last week, especially after striking out 8 Marlins in his first start since his lengthy absence (TJS recovery/elbow injury). He’s ok as an “add and monitor” if you have space, but I wouldn’t be dropping anything of substance for him right now.

Jameson Taillon – 11 ER and 5 HR allowed in his last 8.1 IP (two starts – total). Eek.

Ryan Johnson – I’ve been very transparent with my disdain for this fellow. And I’ll admit that some of it may stem from his sharing the same name with a certain Hollywood director. But at least this week, it’s warranted: 3.1 IP, 8 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks. Woof.

Bailey Ober 

Patrick Sandoval – 4.2 IP, 5 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. The TGFBI Sandoval Experiment was a success! (at least for one week). 

Kai-Wei Teng 

Kyle Leahy – 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 9 Ks, and the no-decision. AND if you don’t roster him, I bet you can’t guess how many earned runs he’s allowed in his last 6 GS! (It’s four).

Slade Cecconi 

Zac Gallen 

Jacob Lopez 

Martin Perez –  4 IP, 0 ER, ERA at 3.38. No.

Chris Bassitt 

David Peterson – 6 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 5.97. If you started him for this one, good for you. I get it if you’re in an NL-only league, but that’s the only format I’d even have him rostered in, let alone starting in. That said, his most recent two starts haven’t been terrible.

Rhett Lowder 

Tomoyuki Sugano – 5.1 IP, 6 hits, 2 ER, BB, 5 K, 10th win. Wow. If you would’ve asked most fans, they wouldn’t have thought twice about Sugano getting to double-digit wins…for his career. In one season? Ya, that’s the less likely bet. Good for him. Streamer.

Janson Junk 

Colin Rea 

Eric Lauer 

Dean Kremer 

Jeffrey Springs – removed from his start with “right hip discomfort”.

Sean Manaea – 6.0 IP, 6 hits, ER, 2 BB, 3 K. Streamy Stumper. 

J.P. Sears – Good news – he got the win. Bad news – he followed an opener and only pitched 3.1 innings. 

Walker Buehler – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 7 Ks. 

Tyler Mahle 

Cal Quantrill 

Matthew Liberatore 

Aaron Nola

Brady Singer 

Kendry Rojas – A solid spot start. Nothing more for now. 

David Sandlin 

Seth Lugo –  7 IP, 3 ER, 5 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 4.36. Finally, a nice start without destroying our ratios. Now let’s have another 5 or 6 of these before I trust you again. 

Cristian Javier 

Stephen Kolek 

Trevor McDonald 

Bryce Elder – 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 4.06. Nope! I don’t like it, and I refuse to reach into that dark hole with smoke and hornets pouring out of it just to see if I can find the “good” Elder. Game 2: 5 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 8 Ks. Meh. When it comes to Elder, keep scrolling. (That one was for the RPG fans).

Noah Schultz 

Griffin Canning –  2 2/3 IP, 4 ER, ERA at 6.97. He should be happy he’s still a Stumper.

Grant Holmes – 5.0 IP, 6 hits, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. He’s nothing more than a streamer for now, but he’s a good one.

Merrill Kelly 

Jack Perkins

Grayson Rodriguez 

Reynaldo Lopez – Game 1: 4 1/3 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 3.95. More like ReynalNO NOPEz! Game 2: It was a better showing than his first game last week: 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks. Take a chance if you want to gamble, but I’m avoiding the add for my teams.

Tatsuya Imai – 6 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 5.59. I’m, ah, not starting him unless/until he can string a bunch of these outings together. He’s at LAA today.

German Marquez 

Kumar Rocker – 6 IP, 0 ER, 3 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 4.13. I should have announced that I dropped him last week. That virtually guaranteed a quality start. 

Brayan Bello – 5 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 5.60. In my best Anthony Kiedis voice: “Bello…listen what I say, yo…is he an add? No…Unless you don’t need ratios. Oh.” Oh, and I added him in the AL-Only league, but only because that team has been a disaster, so he’ll fit right in.

Keider Montero – 5 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 3 hits, zero walks, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.14. He’s been so good. And the Tigers rotation is almost fully healthy, so he’s already starting to get jerked around (one start on his most recent six appearances). I want to add him to the list; I really do, but I think this guy is the one who moves aside when Jackson Jobe is ready to come back right after the trade deadline passes. Maybe Detroit trades a certain SP and makes room for him, though? 

Hunter Dobbins – 6 IP, 0 ER, 6 hits, zero walks, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.18. He’s still a Stumper for now.

Randy Dobnak – 5 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 1.42. Oh, and don’t forget to tip your UberEats driver.

Zac Thornton – 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 2 Ks, ERA at 1.93.

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).

Connolly Early 

Nick Lodolo

Kyle Harrison

Jordan Montgomery – No, seriously. Stop laughing. He has a 14:2 K: BB ratio over 19 innings of rehab. I thought that at least warranted a mention. And, no, I wouldn’t touch that FAAB button with a 20-foot pole, either.

Joe Musgrove

Max Scherzer 

Ben Brown

Ryne Nelson

Lucas Giolito

Michael Soroka

Edward Cabrera

Justin Steele 

Robby Snelling 

Jonah Tong

Brandon Pfaadt –  6 IP, 2 ER, 9 baserunners, 1 K, ERA at 4.43. I think Grey said it’ll have to be 7 straight solid starts before he gives the Pfaadt boy another serious look. Well, BP is 5-0 in his last 5 GS, and he’s pitched into the 6th inning in each start. If he were throwing a half dozen Ks a game, he’d be closer to the bottom of our list, but either way he’s on the radar.

JR Ritchie

Spencer Strider

Jack Kochanowicz 

Lance McCullers Jr.

Randy Vasquez

Joe Boyle

Spencer Schwellenbach

Zach Eflin

Johan Oviedo

Cole Ragans

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 

Didier Fuentes

Garrett Crochet

Tyler Glasnow

Steven Matz.

Kodai Senga 

Braxton Garrett

Yusei Kikuchi

Mike Burrows 

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

Ranger Suarez

Robert Gasser

Clay Holmes

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

Max Meyer

Jack Flaherty

J.T. Ginn

 

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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