Happy Monday, Razzball faithful!

The Fantasy Gods have blessed us with some pretty sweet and savory starts from the rookie class of 2025. 

Jacob Misiorowski? All he did was cause a country-wide uproar when he was named to the All-Star team. Chase Burns? Oh, he didn’t do much. Other than fire 101 MPH heaters by hitters for 8 starts (before his elbow tendon unravelled).

Jonah Tong? Yep. He’s a beauty. Payton Tolle? I’d Pay-A-Ton to see that guy at Fenway! High-Five!

But on September 2nd (AKA the long, slow, painful trek to school for the first day of the 2025/2026 session north of the border), there were some serious Return of the Mack vibes out at Citi Field when the Mets hosted Detroit in a battle of playoff contenders.

Another rookie sensation, Nolan McLean – 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 1.37, is doing his best Mark Morrison impression. And, judging by the overwhelming success and subsequent accolades, he’s been delivering the goods smoother than a mid-’90s R&B singer.

Over the span of just 4 starts, Nolan McLean has impressed fans, coaches, analysts, players, and broadcasters. His “career” line of 26.1 IP, 4 ER, 13 H, 7 BB, 28 Ks, 1.37 ERA, 0.759 WHIP reads like an MLB The Show statline on the Rookie setting.

You can see here that he’s got the confidence of his manager.

"Another impressive outing from him. That's what you call pitching. Understanding you have to make adjustments and find a way to go 5 or 6 innings"

Carlos Mendoza talks about Nolan McLean's outing vs. the Tigers pic.twitter.com/CgDvwRBBZX

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 3, 2025

And if that isn’t enough to convince you that this guy is the real deal, look how impressed the opposition is. Check this clip from the Tigers’ broadcast team after that last dominant start.

Nolan McLean left the Tigers broadcast crew in awe ?? #lgm pic.twitter.com/m5ncSns8ZL

— Master flip ?? (@Masterflip_) September 3, 2025

Look out, Boyz II Men. This kid is for real.

Last week, I ran a clip from Ralph (Geoff Pontes) who said he wouldn’t be surprised if the Mets gave Nolan McLean the ball for Game 1 of a playoff series. If he keeps posting starts like these, whoever draws the Mets in the playoff bracket is going to be in for a tough night.

But is Nolan McLean really for real? How far does the Return of the M(a)cLean jump up the rankings today from his already lofty SP36 perch from last week? 

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. 

Lastly, my apologies in advance. My kids wanted to go to the local semi-pro team’s Game 1 of the finals, so I omitted the games on Sunday. Here’s hoping no one does anything out of the ordinary.

The Top 100 Starting Pitchers for 2025

*updated as of Sunday morning (September 7)*

SP RANK	Name	Team	UP / DOWN	Notes
1	Tarik Skubal	DET		7 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks, and his 13th win over Martin Perez and the CWS. ERA at 2.10. If you placed a bet on Martin Perez in this one, just send me the money next time instead. It’ll be a better outcome for all of us.
2	Paul Skenes	PIT		6 IP, 0 ER, 3 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 1.98. With Wheeler on the shelf, no one is going to challenge the Allegheny Ace for the Cy Young Award (sorry, Cris Sanchez).
3	Garrett Crochet	BOS		6 IP, 7 ER, ERA at 2.67. We saw the double stinkers Skubal posted a few weeks ago, and maybe Garrett wanted to make him feel better about it. What a good dude. The Red Sox rallied late and still won the game. They look like one of those scary Red Sox teams now that could do some serious damage if they sneak into the playoffs. 7 ER is enough to push Skenes above him this week just for S’s and G’s.
4	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD		8.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 10 Ks, and the no decision!?!?! Yoshi was cruising and on his way to no-hitter history until Jackson Holliday hit a bomb with one out to go. Even worse, the O’s rallied off of Blake Treinen and Tanner Scott and stole Yamamoto’s W. A game like this reminds me how close he is to the triumvirate of greatness above him.
5	Freddy Peralta	MLW		5 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 2.50. 25 consecutive scoreless innings. The guy is a Top 10 starter, easily, and likely wasn’t drafted as one in your league. We can call him Wal-Mart because that’s Great Value. I’ll get some flak for ranking him above the next few guys, but he’s been unbelievable.
6	Hunter Brown	HOU		6 IP, 0 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 8 Ks, and his 11th win. ERA at 2.25. This one was at TEX vs Jacob deGrom. I know one thing. I don’t want to see my favorite team facing this dude in the first game of a playoff series.
7	Bryan Woo	SEA		25 straight 6-inning starts, then two back-to-back where he throws 5(ish)? It’s not a big deal because he didn’t get rocked, but his 3 Ks tied a season low. When you set the bar as high as this guy did, anything below that is disappointing.
8	Jacob deGrom	TEX		5.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 8 Ks, and his 7th loss. ERA at 2.78. Not a bad outing by deGrom, and the 97 pitches were reassuring after not throwing more than 90 in his last four starts.
9	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI		One from Dan Pants to sum up C-San today: “7.0 IP, 6 hits, ER, BB, 5 K, 12th win, ERA at 2.60. Since June 1, Cris ranks first in the majors in almost all the pitching categories that matter: ERA, innings, and fWAR. Just a reminder, this guy did not make the All-Star team.”
10	Blake Snell	LAD		5 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 3.19. Speaking of the Allegheny, this start against the Pirates was worse than pulling a half-dead fish out of the river, putting it in a bag, and forgetting it’s in the back of the truck. Snelly.
11	Joe Ryan	MIN		2 IP, 5 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 2 Ks, and his 8th win. “You can’t record a win, or a quality start when you only last 2 innings as a starter, kids. Try to limit your walks, and stay in school.” That’s G.I. Joe Ryan’s public service announcement. Because he knows. And knowing is half the battle.
12	Logan Gilbert	SEA		6.0 IP, 5 hits, ER, BB, 7 K. Six innings and seven strikeouts? Siiiiixxxx Seeeeveeeennnn. (If you’re around any kid between the ages of 9 and 19, don’t say that one out loud.)
13	Logan Webb	SF		5 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 7 Ks, and his 13th win. He’s won 3 of his last 4 starts and gets ARI at home this week.
14	Trevor Rogers	BAL		5.1 IP, 2 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks, and a 1.51 ERA. As great as he’s been, I would have understood if any of you sat him against The Avengers on Saturday night. When your opponent has allowed 0 H through 8.2 IP, it’s tough to steal a win, no matter how well you’re throwing.
15	Max Fried	NYY		7 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 2.98. Two big cats at it last week as Fried and the Jankees headed to HOU for a pitching duel with Framber. The only problem was that someone forgot to tell Framber it was a pitching duel, and he brought a wet noodle instead of a sword.
16	Nick Pivetta	SD		6.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 5 K, 5th L, ERA at 2.85. The Crazy Canuck Keeps Crusin’. (Forget the L)
17	Tyler Glasnow	LAD		Scratched from Friday’s start with “back tightness” but will start early this week. This could mean two starts! Or it could mean another trip to the IL! In other words, monitor closely before your roster move deadline.
18	George Kirby	SEA		2 IP, 7 ER, ERA at 4.47. Oh no. No tending the rabbits tonight, George.
19	Carlos Rodon	NYY		6 IP, 1 ER, 4 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.12. 109 pitches. I still don’t think he’s an ace, but if you managed to secure this guy as your SP2 or even SP3, and your arms ahead of him are still healthy? Congrats on at least still being in the hunt for that league title.
20	Hunter Greene	CIN		6 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks, and the no-decision. ERA at 2.70. Hunter put in some work on Labor Day. That’s the good news. The bad? He has just one win in his last 8 GS.
21	Chris Sale	ATL		6.2 IP, ER, 4 H, 9 K, ERA at 2.38. Yes, the guy is built like a paperclip, but his line since returning two weeks ago makes it look like he didn’t miss a step in 2.5 months on the IL: 12.2 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 18 Ks.
22	Framber Valdez	HOU		More below.
23	Brandon Woodruff	MLW		6 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 8 Ks, and his 6th win. ERA at 3.32. What a beauty of a bounce-back by Woody. His first QS in 5 starts and a nice way to clean up his streak of poor showings (3 GS, 14.1 IP, 13 ER). Up we go again.
24	Shota Imanaga	CHC		6 IP, 3 ER, 6 baserunners, 2 Ks, ERA at 3.15. 3:15? One shy of the stone cold? Let’s call him stone lukewarm.
25	Cade Horton	CHC		More below.
26	Ranger Suarez	PHI		6 IP, 0 ER, 8 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 2.89. Dynamite.
27	Sonny Gray	STL		Remember last week when I said navigating Gray’s starts is like a game of duck, duck, goose? And that last week wasn’t the goose? Last Monday? HONK and RUN!
28	Robbie Ray	SF		4.2 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 8 Ks, and the no-decision. The low walk total and solid strikeouts make this less of a gut punch, but it was at COL. And he’s given up 13 ER in his last three starts (14 IP).
29	Noah McLean	NYM		More above!
30	Drew Rasmussen	TB		5 IP, 3 ER, 4 hits, zero walks, 2 Ks, ERA at 2.74. Good job at shortening those outings, Tampa.
31	Kyle Bradish	BAL		I got too excited by the 10-strikeout return performance two weeks ago. 4 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks at SD (on 84 pitches) was more of what we should have expected anyway. Baltimore doesn’t have anything to make a run at, so easing Bradish back in slowly without the pressure of a playoff race is the right call.
32	Merrill Kelly	TEX		7.0 IP, 5 hits, ER, BB, 7 K, ERA at 3.16. Whether I’m a fan or not is irrelevant. He’s been a beast all year and even more so since the deadline.
33	Pablo Lopez	MIN	N/R	6.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, BB, 4 K, 4th L. The news here is a healthy start, and a quality one to boot. It’s a modest ranking after his first game back, but he’ll jump quickly with positive results.
34	Lucas Giolito	BOS		5 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 2 Ks, and his 3rd loss. ERA at 3.38. Gio was another tough luck loser on Saturday as the Sox ran into the Brandon Pfaadt buzzsaw (stop laughing, it’s true!). I said it with Hunter Brown, and it’s worth repeating with Giolito. I wouldn’t want my favorite team facing this guy in Game 1 of a playoff round either.
35	Quinn Priester	MLW		7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, BB, 6 K. And that’s a dozen Quinns, er, wins for Priester.
36	Ryan Pepiot	TB		5 IP, 0 ER, 0 hits, 2 walks, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.59. This one feels like more of an enigma to me than it should. A solid start, but not 6 innings. Is he getting pushed way up draft lists like he was last preseason, or is he going to be a bargain buy in 2026? If that ERA doesn’t balloon a bit more the rest of the way, I assume it’s the former.
37	Jesus Luzardo	PHI		6 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 8 Ks, and his 13th win. ERA at 4.01. Luzardo’s ERA is only a tenth lower than Yusei Kikuchi’s, and I still know who I’d rather roster by a long shot.
38	Brayan Bello	BOS		5 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 4 Ks, (on 100 pitches) vs CLE. It wasn’t a quality start, but it was enough to snag him his third win in four starts.
39	Nick Lodolo	CIN		Scratched with an illness. What? He couldn’t schedule this sickness during his IL stint? Oof. Hold here for now.
40	Kevin Gausman	TOR		8.0 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 5 K, 9th win, ERA at 3.63. The goose is loose! He’s allowed 2 ER in his last two starts (15 IP), with 13 Ks, and has given up more than two earned just once in his last half a dozen starts. He’s looking like a guy who’s primed and ready to start a playoff series.
41	Eury Perez	MIA		4 IP, 7 ER, ERA at 4.66. One month ago in the comments: “Eury is way too low. Guy is a Cy Young-caliber pitcher. You’re crazy. What a joke.” Right now in the comments: “*crickets*”.
42	Dylan Cease	SD		My only note for Cease this week was: “FFS”. He’s completed 6 innings just twice in his last 10 GS.
43	Cam Schlittler	NYY		1.2 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 K, 3rd L. He rarely gives us a Schlitty start like this one, but this was by far his worst in 10 GS. He gets a free pass this week.
44	Jonah Tong	NYM		6 IP, 4 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 6 Ks, and his first loss. The 3 HR allowed certainly didn’t help matters. It was a rough weekend for the Tolle/Tong enthusiasts.
45	Jacob Misiorowski	MLW		4.1 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks on 73 pitches. This was the 6th straight start that he didn’t finish 6 innings, and I wonder if he gets “extra rest” soon before the Brewers head into the playoffs.
46	Ryan Bergert	KC		5 IP, 1 ER, 1 hit, 3 walks, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.61. Bergert Time responding nicely after he was our lede last Monday.
47	Shane Bieber	TOR		6 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 4.15. Uh…that’s not the Shane Bieber any of us were waiting for.
48	Matthew Boyd	CHC		7 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 3 Ks, and his 8th loss. ERA at 2.92. There were a bunch of tough luck losers Saturday night, and Boyd made that list of “unenviables”.
49	Shohei Ohtani	LAD		3.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, BB, 5 K on 70 pitches. Shohei topped out at … 101.5 MPH on Friday night? Um, what? I suppose that at this point, we shouldn’t be surprised anymore. If you’re wondering if he’s fully healthy, I don’t think you’ve to wonder anymore.
50	Will Warren	NYY		5 IP, 2 ER, 5 hits, zero walks, 4 Ks, ERA at 4.28. It feels like he lost some of the sheen that had people scrambling to pick him up two months ago.
51	Gavin Williams	CLE		7.0 IP, ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 3 K, 10th win. Sonofa! It’s a good thing I benched him last week, too. Smh.
52	Noah Cameron	KC		5 IP, 3 ER, 10 baserunners (5 BBs), 5 Ks, ERA at 3.03. I said two weeks ago that I hope he’s not hitting a wall. The line could have been worse, and the ER count is fine, especially if he’s giving up almost a half dozen walks, but it’s not like he’s the Kool-Aid Man still blasting through concrete like he was earlier in the season.
53	Max Scherzer	TOR		Last week’s 4 IP, 4 ER, 9 H, 0 BB, 1 K outing vs MIL was a tough one. 8 ER in his last 10 IP before yesterday’s series finale at NYY.
54	Casey Mize	DET		5 IP, 1 ER, 5 hits, zero walks, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.87. After the Mets humbled the Marlins’ starting rotation, I was gunshy about starting Mize. Sonofabench!
55	Spencer Strider	ATL		5 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 1 K, and the no-decision. ERA at 4.97. At least it wasn’t a loss? (He broke a personal 4-game losing skid). Ya, that’s not too convincing. That’s like breaking both legs and your non-dominant arm. “At least you can still sign your name?” Ugh.
56	Jack Flaherty	DET		4.1 IP, 6 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 Ks. ERA at 4.85. And a 7-13 record? Yuck.
57	Luis Castillo	SEA		His last 4 starts have been a minefield of hits, earned runs, and homers. He was scheduled to go at ATL yesterday, but I wouldn’t have started him.
58	Payton Tolle	BOS		3.0 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 2 K. Uh. For whom the bell tolles? It sounds cynical, but if he can put up 3 more of these the rest of the way, he’ll be dirt cheap next draft season and plant the seeds of a new Marmo Mancrush.
59	Mitch Keller	PIT		6.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 4 Ks, and his 17th (!) quality start. He lost again, of course (14th), and now has just one win in his last six games. He’s up too high today, but the next 10 SPs were worse, so here we are.
60	Yu Darvish	SD		4 IP, 3 ER, ERA at 5.75. Why didn’t Yu tell me not to stream him!?
61	Clayton Kershaw	LAD		5 IP, 4 ER, 8 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.28. He didn’t pitch all that poorly. A couple of bad luck hits and a duck snort single was most of the damage.
62	Luis Gil	NYY		6 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 K, and his 3rd win. ERA at 3.31. Can you guess how many walks? Must be a good number if he had this great a start and beat a guy who threw 5 innings with zero earned runs, right? Well, Gil walked four.
63	Brady Singer	CIN		6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 5 Ks, and his … guess how many wins? If I didn’t write this up every week, I wouldn’t even be close. He’s tied with eight starters for 5th place with 13 wins.
64	Ryne Nelson	ARI		6 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks, and the no-decision. ERA at 3.57. He has 7 wins in 19 starts, so that’s not exactly ideal, but if you’re looking for a hot hand to stream in a shallower league, Nelson has decent strikeout totals and three straight quality starts.
65	Luis Severino	ATH	N/R	5 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 4.65. You think Yankee fans are still rooting for this guy?
66	Luis Morales	ATH	N/R	More below.
67	Hurston Waldrep	ATL		More below.
68	Jack Leiter	TEX		6 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.74. That’s three beauties in a row. He gets a good boost today.
69	David Peterson	NYM		5.1 IP, 7 hits, 4 ER, BB, 4 K, 9th win. The win potential is still there, but the 25 ER in his last 30.1 IP isn’t something to pin your head-to-head playoff hopes on. I’d sit him at Philly this week.
70	Emmett Sheehan	LAD		4 2/3 IP, 2 ER, ERA at 3.59. His new name is Hokey Pokey because, as far as the rotation is concerned, one minute he’s in and the next minute he’s out.
71	Zac Gallen	ARI		6 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 4.77. You might not know it by looking at the ERA, but this was his 4th straight QS, and 6th in his last 7 games. It’s past time that he escapes the bottom 10 and heads into the 70s.
72	Justin Verlander	SF		6 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 6 Ks, and the no-decision. ERA at 4.09. Vintage Verlander vexed by the lack of run support.
73	Clay Holmes	NYM		4 2/3 IP, 2 ER, ERA at 3.61 on how many pitches? (It was 85).
74	Jose Berrios	TOR		Torched at CIN last week for 6 R in 2 IP. The positive is that only two were earned, but he wasn’t fooling anyone.
75	Jose Soriano	LAA		2.1 IP, 8 ER, 6 H, 5 BB, 4 K. So I say Jose last week, too. What’s the opposite of a sonofabench? Something like dodging a ratio landmine field? I hope you sat him in your H2H playoffs.
76	Yusei Kikuchi	LAA		2 IP, 7 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 1 K, ERA at 4.18. Yusei…I can’t even pitch well against the A’s if I want to.
77	Aaron Nola	PHI		5 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 6.78. Insert the GIF of Danny Devito shaking his head, “No”.
78	Sandy Alcantara	MIA		6 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks, and his 12th loss. ERA at 5.67. Sandy was shaving big points off those ratios over his last 5 GS. He was due for a face-plant kind of game.
79	Chris Bassitt	TOR		5 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 3 Ks, and his 8th loss. ERA at 3.97. Some talk radio folks were floating the idea about moving Bassitt into the closer role for the playoffs. I assume the callers were Eric Lauer’s brother and grandmother.
80	Zebby Matthews	MIN		6 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 4.73. I have him nowhere, so the ups and downs have been fine by me, but the upside is great.
81	Jason Alexander	HOU		5 IP, 3 ER, 8 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 4.68. “Is anyone here a marine biologist?!”
82	Tanner Bibee	CLE		6.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks, and the no-decision. ERA at 4.69. Nope. I’m not falling for this football yank again.
83	Andrew Abbott	CIN		4.2 IP, 5 ER, 9 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks, and his 5th loss in his last 6 starts. Forget high school, it’s looking like it’s time to send Abbott back to Elementary.
84	Braxton Ashcraft	PIT		More below.
85	Zack Littell	CIN		4.1 IP, 5 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks against the Jays’ Juggernaut (The Jay-gernaut?) last week. His 4 HR allowed sunk him in this one, and he’s given up 7 big flies in his last 14.1 IP (3 GS).
86	Michael Wacha	KC		5.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks, and back in the win column (9th) after back-to-back hiccups to finish August.
87	Bryce Miller	SEA		5.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks. ERA at 5.53. It wasn’t a quality start, but it was CLOSE! Horseshoes, hand grenades, and a solid Bryce Miller start. What is: Close enough?
88	Brandon Pfaadt	ARI		More below.
89	Jeffrey Springs	ATH		His first quality start in 5 GS, and a tough no-decision at STL. 6 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks is a fine line, but he still hasn’t recorded a win since July 30th.
90	Sean Manaea	NYM		More below.
91	Jose Quintana	MLW		Snapped a 4-game personal winless streak with an acceptable start vs PHI last Wednesday. 6.1 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks. ERA at 3.72. He’s slated to throw at TEX today.
92	Shane Baz	TB	N/R	5 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 8 Ks. ERA at 4.94. I said to myself after posting last Monday that if Baz can escape both starts last week intact, I’d have to re-add him to the list. I was tempted to make it 120 deep this week just to be safe.
93	Michael McGreevy	STL		Two weeks ago, he threw a beauty at CIN. Then he took a step back again on Friday night vs SF. 4 IP, 6 ER, 9 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks on 75 pitches. He should pitch at SEA in the middle of this week.
94	Cade Cavalli	WSH		5 IP, 2 ER, 5 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 4.85. It doesn’t feel like a good one to rely on here, but if the league is super deep…and the matchup is ok…well, I’d probably still pass.
95	Adrian Houser	TB		7 IP, 4 ER, 5 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.01. This is the kind of start I expect every time out, but with fewer innings and strikeouts.
96	Parker Messick	CLE		Labor Day was a toughie for Parker at Fenway – 3.2 IP, 3 ER, 9 H, 2 BB, 2 Ks on 82 pitches. He was scheduled to go in Tampa yesterday.
97	Cristian Javier	HOU		4 1/3 IP, 4 ER, ERA at 4.43. Now cross your eyes and read that line again. This one had more 4s and 3s than that bargain dating app, “BrownBagger”.
98	Charlie Morton	DET		3.2 IP, 6 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 3 Ks last week vs NYM. The walks are back up. He’s allowed 13 ER in his last 3 GS (14.2 IP). Hopefully, for the sake of Tigers fans, he didn’t get pumped again yesterday. (at home vs CWS).
99	Bailey Ober	MIN		13 ER in his last 21 IP, and 4 GS since he last completed 6 innings. He missed all of July, so this stat is a bit misleading, but he hasn’t won a game since May 3rd. At least it was May 2025? Ya, that’s all I’ve got.
100	Shane Smith	CWS	N/R	He’s 20th on the last 30-day Player Rater, just ahead of Sandy Alcantara and some other eye-poppers (Webb, deGrom, Pivetta). That’s good enough to get him back on the list.

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

Cade Horton –  5 IP, 0 ER, 0 hits, 1 walk, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.78! I appreciated the Tim Hortons nod by Grey last Thursday morning. That pesky Canadian culture is just creeping in everywhere these days. Speaking of Grey – he added this about the Cubs’ rookie starter: “Since the All-Star Break: 47 IP, 44 Ks, 0.77 ERA, and 0.81 WHIP.” The kid is proving the doubters wrong. Hopefully you got in while the gettin was good. Now pass me a maple dip donut and slide over that medium double-double.

Luis Morales – 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 1.59. I’m deferring to the boss on this one again (from last week): “As the world’s biggest and oldest A’s fan (officially crowned this year), Morales’s got my flutters fluttering. 98 MPH fastball that’s just nasty and a pretty incredible 88 MPH slider that falls off the table. Don’t love the home park, which might affect me writing a sleeper post for him for next year, but I’m absolutely intrigued.” And that’s me quoting Grey!

Hurston Waldrep – 5 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 5 BB, 5 Ks. ERA at 1.33. Hurston Waldrep can’t walk a half dozen guys. Heck, he probably doesn’t walk anywhere on his own, either. Someone with the name Hurston sounds like he has a butler to carry him to the mound. There is some serious garbage out there, so Hurston gets a big boost today based on his 30-day player rater ranking (8th).

Brandon Pfaadt – 6 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 7 Ks, and his 13th (!) win. 10 ER in his last 8 IP, then he turns in a start like this. Volatility? Thy name is Pfaadt.

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

Framber Valdez – 5 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 3.40. The grand slam to Trent Grisham did most of the damage in this one. Then Framber was so mad about the catcher calling the previous pitch that he crossed him up and drilled him in the chest. You know if I’m the catcher there, I’m going full Crash Davis.

You know, anything that travels that far oughtta have a damn stewardess on it, know what I mean? 

Seth Lugo –  Hit the IL with the “Hey, if you don’t like that, we can send you down like the Mets did with Senga”, which seems like an unnecessarily long IL label.

Kodai Senga – Optioned to AAA to “help him figure things out before the playoffs”. That’s filed on the other side of the LGM cabinet under NFG.

Grey called this one last week before it happened. I’m still hoping he can use that crystal ball to send me next week’s lotto numbers. 

Braxton Ashcraft – So this dude has started 5 games now. His first game? 3.1 innings. Ok. Ease him in. The next 3 games’ inning counts? 5, 5, 5.2. Now we’re cookin’. Build that stamina! Last Wednesday’s start? 3 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 4 Ks. On 71 pitches. Um…that’s not how progression works. There’s nothing to see here if he’s not going 5-6 innings every start.

Sean Manaea – 3.2 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks, and the no-decision (on 83 pitches). Someone gave me a lighthearted jab for ranking Manaea at SP56 last week, and they were absolutely right. I didn’t realize things had been this bad. He hasn’t thrown 6 innings since…2024. (And he owns a robust 5.60 ERA over 10 games this year.) Ouch. Hey, sometimes these things fall through the cracks and past my old eyeballs. He’s way down today.

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

Nestor Cortes

Dean Kremer

Cade Povich

Brandon Young

Jake Irvin

Joey Cantillo

Mick Abel

Eduardo Rodriguez

Jameson Taillon

Tyler Anderson

Brad Lord

Tomoyuki Sugano

Landen Roupp

Tyler Wells

Javier Assad

Taj Bradley – 5 IP, 4 ER, 9 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 4.92. Another one that warrants the Danny DeVito “Nope” gif.

Slade Cecconi – 5 1/3 IP, 7 ER, ERA at 4.78. Ugh. Cecconi the chooch. Buh bye.

Bubba Chandler 

Chris Paddack – Just in case anyone still believes – he got shelled in the bullpen last week.

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 

Spencer Schwellenbach

Shane McClanahan 

Jared Jones

Gerrit Cole

Justin Steele

John Means

Grant Holmes

Griffin Canning

Reese Olson

Grayson Rodriguez

Jackson Jobe

Andrew Painter

Tyler Mahle

Pablo Lopez

Tylor Megill

Ryan Weathers

Clarke Schmidt

Logan Henderson

Corbin Burnes

Max Meyer

Michael King 

Chase Burns 

Zack Wheeler 

Edward Cabrera

Kodai Senga

Spencer Arrighetti

Seth Lugo

WHEE (New arrivals to the list this week)

Pablo Lopez

Luis Morales

Luis Severino

Uh, Luis Polonia? (hee hee)

Shane Baz

Shane Smith

 

OOF (Stumbled or were replaced by others in the list this week)

Edward Cabrera

Seth Lugo

Kodai Senga

Spencer Arrighetti

 

And one more to finish it off!

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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