Happy Monday, Razzball faithful!

It’s your favorite Fantasy Baseball Dad back with another tweak to the Top 100 Starting Pitchers list, complete with updated ADP rankings and additional news and notes to help you during this draft season.

Last week’s “For Whom The ‘On The Clock’ Bell Tolls” outlined the first 20 rounds in my TGFBI draft, and which starting pitchers were selected in each round. Some of you might have missed it after “The Great Server Scramble” last weekend, so click on that one for a full rundown (or say you clicked it to make me feel better about how long it took me to put together).

This week, I’ll review the first 36 rounds (!) of my RazzSlam draft, compare the two formats, and provide some blurbs about my pitching staff.

ALSO, Latch-Key put together a pretty sweet Points League piece yesterday that you should check out as well.

Before we get to the goods, though, as always, it’s a bit of business first. The Razzball subscriptions are well worth the price of admission. This should be your go-to reference for the entire season. That resource that the other “experts” from other sites use as often as they look at Statcast or Fangraphs data? This is it.

And, finally, the RCL leagues are open. Click the link to Grey’s article here to sign up for one of our 2026 Razzball Commenter Leagues!

Grey’s rankings were updated last week, and the R$ is mostly unchanged over the last 7-days. That will stay the same, but I’ll update changes to the NFBC and Fantrax rankings.

Let’s get to it!

The Top 100 Starting Pitchers for 2026

Sorted by 12-team (RCL) rankings for Fantrax & 15-team default for NFBC

MARMO RANK	Name	Team	R$	GREY’S RANKING	NFBC RANKING	FANTRAX RANKING
1	Tarik Skubal	DET	41.2	1	1	1
2	Paul Skenes	PIT	36.7	2	2	2
3	Garrett Crochet	BOS	32.9	3	3	3
4	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD	21.2	4	4	4
5	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	23.0	7	5	5
6	Bryan Woo	SEA	22.5	6	7	7
7	Logan Webb	SF	20.0	9	13	10
8	Logan Gilbert	SEA	22.4	8	8	8
9	Hunter Brown	HOU	20.1	5	6	6
10	Cole Ragans	KC	20.6	20	11	12
11	Jacob deGrom	TEX	23.6	14	12	13
12	Max Fried	NYY	17.5	16	10	11
13	George Kirby	SEA	19.5	12	15	17
14	Kyle Bradish	BAL	11.5	10	18	20
15	Chris Sale	ATL	23.8	15	9	9
16	Dylan Cease	TOR	16.7	19	16	16
17	Joe Ryan	MIN	20.3	13	19	22
18	Framber Valdez	DET	19.1	22	20	18
19	Freddy Peralta	NYM	17.4	17	14	14
20	Shohei Ohtani	LAD	12.4	11	1 (UT)	1 (UT)
21	Jesus Luzardo	PHI	20.4	21	17	15
22	Tyler Glasnow	LAD	13.9	35	29	29
23	Kevin Gausman	TOR	13.6	23	26	23
24	Eury Perez	MIA	8.8	30	21	24
25	Sonny Gray	BOS	12.0	38	34	26
26	Nolan McLean	NYM	6.4	31	22	28
27	Chase Burns	CIN	8.7	27	24	27
28	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	13.8	25	39	42
29	Emmet Sheehan	LAD	8.4	28	31	39
30	Trey Yesavage	TOR	5.9	33	45	35
31	Nick Lodolo	CIN	10.0	26	30	37
32	Hunter Greene	CIN	7.6	39	33	58
33	Brandon Woodruff	MLW	13.3	24	37	34
34	Zack Wheeler	PHI	16.3	59	28	45
35	Blake Snell	LAD	8.4	36	38	53
36	Jacob Misiorowski	MLW	-3.2	32	27	25
37	Nick Pivetta	SD	15.5	37	23	21
38	Spencer Strider	ATL	16.7	34	25	19
39	Robbie Ray	SF	7.5	42	48	44
40	Michael King	SD	11.7	40	35	40
41	Cam Schlittler	NYY	-0.6	29	36	36
42	Trevor Rogers	BAL	-3.1	46	43	38
43	Ryan Pepiot	TB	8.2	43	32	32
44	Shota Imanaga	CHC	13.0	58	49	50
45	Bubba Chandler	PIT	-7.2	77	44	48
46	Gavin Williams	CLE	2.3	61	42	31
47	Ranger Suarez	BOS	7.7	45	51	46
48	Tatsyua Imai	HOU	-2.0	52	47	49
49	Drew Rasmussen	TB	4.8	44	40	43
50	Matthew Boyd	CHC	5.6	49	63	61
51	Edward Cabrera	CHC	2.7	47	52	56
52	Luis Castillo	SEA	13.3	48	46	30
53	Jack Flaherty	DET	9.4	55	60	55
54	Tanner Bibee	CLE	7.4	62	53	47
55	Andrew Abbott	CIN	3.1	51	62	59
56	Merrill Kelly	ARI	-2.1	60	69	62
57	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	1.9	56	41	33
58	Mackenzie Gore	TEX	10.9	63	50	41
59	Carlos Rodon	NYY	5.0	57	57	67
60	Shane Baz	BAL	4.2	50	55	57
61	Logan Henderson	MLW	-5.9	72	82	80
62	Joe Musgrove	SD	5.8	69	64	65
63	Kris Bubic	KC	1.3	75	56	60
64	Quinn Priester	MLW	-8.4	70	94	68
65	Zac Gallen	ARI	3.1	54	61	52
66	Joey Cantillo	CLE	-8.1	66	81	94
67	Shane Smith	CWS	-3.1	64	68	75
68	Noah Cameron	KC	-0.7	74	76	63
69	Roki Sasaki	LAD	-7.6	78	74	79
70	Jack Leiter	TEX	-3.6	71	65	64
71	Grayson Rodriguez	LAA	0.1	76	75	83
72	Ryan Weathers	NYY	1.5	87	66	92
73	David Peterson	NYM	4.4	65	106	88
74	Cody Ponce	TOR	-2.0	73	78	84
75	Ryne Nelson	ARI	-1.2	68	72	74
76	Cade Horton	CHC	-6.6	80	54	51
77	Clay Holmes	NYM	-3.4	67	97	81
78	Shane McClanahan	TB	9.5	81	59	69
79	Will Warren	NYY	-6.3	83	92	99
80	Seth Lugo	KC	-1.7	89	108	89
81	Gerrit Cole	NYY	0.6	86	67	91
82	Casey Mize	DET	2.2	84	77	71
83	Brayan Bello	BOS	-1.3	88	104	77
84	Kodai Senga	NYM	-6.6	99	70	82
85	Mike Burrows	HOU	-5.4	85	79	102
86	Mitch Keller	PIT	2.9	101	107	70
87	Sean Manaea	NYM	1.9	91	83	93
88	Aaron Nola	PHI	7.9	98	58	54
89	Connelly Early	BOS	-16.0	109	80	73
90	Zebby Matthews	MIN	-4.7	100	85	95
91	Jonah Tong	NYM	-22.7	107	120	104
92	Andrew Painter	PHI	-19.2	116	84	108
93	Payton Tolle	BOS	-12.4	119	134	150+
94	Braxton Ashcraft	PIT	-11.4	113	71	108
95	Michael Wacha	KC	1.3	94	114	86
96	Parker Messick	CLE	-8.7	79	87	101
97	Bailey Ober	MIN	4.3	97	88	76
98	Robby Snelling	MIA	-20.0	N/R	95	110
99	Reid Detmers	ANA	-3.3	102	96	111
100	Mick Abel	MIN	-21.1	N/R	111	125

Quick Hits from the Top 100

• NFBC names that could jump in next week: Chad Patrick, Jose Soriano, Reynaldo Lopez, Brady Singer, Cade Cavalli, Grant Holmes, Taj Bradley, Justin Steele, Johan Oviedo, 
• Fantrax movement was minimal, with most players staying put and others leapfrogging one or two spots at the most.
• The Top 100 Starting Pitchers list is almost ready for its first pruning. As we approach the end of Spring Training, we’ll get more information about who will likely break camp with the team and which arms will be sent to the minor leagues (if they haven’t already). Some will be removed for other names next week. Sorry, Jonah Tong and Payton Tolle.
• Remember that just because someone doesn’t start on the list, it doesn’t mean they won’t appear on the list sooner than later. The Top 100 is an ever-evolving mass of dynamic data and information. 

How Does The RazzSlam Work?

If you don’t know the lowdown about the RazzSlam, I’ll add the link here.

This is the cheat sheet.

I put together a list of “quick hits” while planning this week. It should give a bit of ‘method to the madness’ before we dive in.

• A 12-team league versus a 15-team league means quicker turnaround for picks. Having the first overall pick in TGFBI meant I had to wait 30 picks between my selections. Picking 9th in the Slam meant I’d only ever have to wait out half of that (16 picks).
• Because of this, overreaching ADP so I didn’t miss out on names I wanted was less worrisome.
• Roto vs Points means DON’T build for category stability like you would in a Rotisserie league. You don’t HAVE to lock in category-specific guys. 
• Playing time is often the driving factor. Just get dudes that will accrue points.
• Don’t take a lot of risks (especially rookies) unless you believe in the talent and/or the guy’s chance at securing a regular spot.
• Holds guys aren’t great – they won’t get saves, so that means the only ones that have value are the high strikeout rate guys or the ones that have an unstable closer in front of them.
• Speculate on younger arms who are pushed down the depth chart behind SPs with poor skill or high risk (injury/volatility).
• This Points format suppresses pitcher value. Hitters are the way to go on this draft – early and often. 

The first rounds of each draft are often quite similar, so comparing/contrasting the top 3 rounds of TGFBI and the RazzSlam draft is too small a sample size to spot differences.

There were 42 starting pitchers selected in the first 10 rounds of the TGFBI draft. (150 picks).

In our RazzSlam draft, there were 29 starting pitchers selected in the first 12 rounds (144 picks).

MY RAZZSLAM PITCHING BUILD

I came into this draft knowing that I’d be “pitcher-less’ for at least the first half dozen picks, then likely without much more than 1-2 arms until the 10th round. At least that was the plan.

Then, after picking a couple of arms, I wanted to finish all of the active hitter spots while filling in a couple of pitcher spots here and there.

After making sure the entire active hitting roster was filled, it would be time to hammer pitching.

(Each round-draft slot is listed with my choices below)

Edwin Diaz (7-9) – It took me a long time to learn that RazzSlam’s point system did not prioritize pitching. It took me longer to realize that relievers often out-earn starters for total points. 

In Rudy’s War Room projections, there are two pitchers ranked in the Top 30 for points. Tarik Skubal (22 overall with 603 projected points ) and Paul Skenes (25th overall with 581 projected points). There’s just one other pitcher ranked with them in the Top 40. And it’s not Garrett Crochet. I’ll let you guess who is projected for 514 points.

Kyle Bradish (9-9) – Everywhere Blair might have taken an airplane to Japan this weekend, but before heading to the airport, he strapped on a jetpack and shot straight through my heart with his Bryan Woo RD 4 selection (48th overall). I knew that my beloved Woo-bot wasn’t in the cards this year, as I was bent on adding at least 6 hitters before I looked at the pitcher pool, and that even then I’d likely add a top reliever. My consolation prize for waiting until RD 9 (105th overall) was Kyle Bradish. The War Room wasn’t as high on him as I’d hoped (434 points), but I think that had more to do with his volume of work last year and not the potential for a solid comeback season.

Nick Lodolo (14-4) – I’m pretty sure that Truss will be right beside me with this one. He’s the only fantasy baseballer that I know who can relate all too well to this song, and likely thinks about it as much as I do when he sees this guy’s name on his draft board…or at least now he will.

Please, Nick. If you promise to give us 30+ starts and a 10.0+ K/9, I will promise to sing the backup harmonizing parts to Truss’s lead in this one at the next RazzBall staff karaoke night.

Emmet Sheehan (15-9) – Steamer has him with the highest innings projection of all the main prognostication systems. I’ll take the 153 IP and 171 strikeouts. The 18.5 K-BB% would put him above other “flashier” starters like Eury Perez (18.2), Hunter Brown (18.1), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (18.0), and just behind Jesus Luzardo (18.7), Sonny Gray (18.7), and Bryan Woo (18.9). 

With apologies to the Classic Rock fans in the room, that’s not Bad Company.

Trey Yesavage (16-4) – I said it more than once this offseason, so I had to put my draft finger where my mouth is (don’t worry, I washed it first). I wanted as many arms from Grey’s “Get Fitted For A Tuxedo Shirt Now” tier as I could get, and this was the zone where I was comfortable hammering those empty spots. Schlittler would have been nice, too, but I’ll take Lodolo, Sheehan, and Yesavage as a nice trio from this group.

The news that Jose Berrios left camp to head to Houston to see a doctor for his arm soreness this week wasn’t a bad thing for those of us hoping to see a full workload for Trey Yesavage. The Berrios and Max Scherzer depth meant it might be easier to ease last year’s World Series Blue Jay breakout into this Spring and skip starts in the regular season, or even have him throw out of the bullpen to manage his innings. Kevin Pillar was on a Toronto podcast this week and praised the Jays’ management for their handling of the young righty. Keeping Trey on a pitch count to help protect him is the best course of action and is also baked into this pick.

Ranger Suarez (18-4) – No, they didn’t move the Green Monster 50 feet out into the Massachusetts Turnpike. But this is the first of two Red Sox picks for MarmosDad. If you head way back to the Cards and Categories pod that I did with the guys for our AL East preview, you’ll hear my appreciation for Ranger Suarez.

This quote from former manager Rob Thompson was a nice bit of justification (for my pick) as well.

“He’s a throwback to the old guys when guys knew how to read swings and pitch,” Thomson said. “He’ll show you 93 and 94 at times. But don’t get concerned when he’s 88-89. He’s still going to get people out because he knows how to pitch. He commands his pitches, he changes speeds, and he knows how to keep hitters off-balance.”

Yep. I’ll take the veteran safety here, but especially after drafting three younger arms with more question marks.

Raisel Iglesias (20-4) – He sat there staring at me in the War Room for far too long, and I thought he’d be gone by the time I had my 20th round pick. I almost took him instead of Ranger in the 18th, but he was an easy choice when I saw him still hanging around here. Rudy has him projected for 395 points. I think he holds off any direct threat for saves from Robert Suarez, and the two form a lethal back-end-of-the-bullpen duo in Atlanta this year.

Ryan Weathers (21-9) – I’ll admit that there were a few relievers still on the board who would have been “smarter” picks here, but I needed at least a few more starters to write up today, and this one was one I wanted to shine a light on. Eno Sarris does a heck of a job writing this stuff up (pun relatively intended), so I won’t go too far on my own. Eno’s piece in The Athletic on Friday listed off the Top 10 Spring Training starters for Stuff+, and guess who was tied for 7th with Braxton Ashcraft and Clay Holmes (at 116)?

Griffin Jax (22-4) – Well, well, well. Here’s one of those relievers I wanted to grab instead of Weathers, and he was still there when things came back around to me. If you’re drafting in a league (or on a site) that is focused solely on last year’s numbers, you may have to dig deep to find Jax. JKJ has him slotted as Tampa’s closer this year, and is his favorite in the AL East for people drafting SVHD leagues. He’ll certainly outperform his draft day cost here, as well as in those SVHD leagues.

Logan Henderson (27-9) – I’ll fully admit that the Lodolo song could be CTL-C and CTL-V’ed for this guy, too. I was in on Logan Henderson last year, and the injury was disappointing. All news has been positive this Spring, but I mentioned in the comments under Latch-Key Kid’s article from yesterday that I’m likely far too high on Henderson and that he’ll be moved down the list next week. Because of the uncertainty with his rotation spot, I hedged this pick later on in the draft, too.

Jose Soriano (28-4) – Soriano’s electric fastball has always been an enticing part of his draft day allure. The War Room has him slated for 420 points in its points projection, a total that was well above anyone else remaining at this point in the draft. Clicky click, thank you very much.

Cade Cavalli (32-4) – Kyle Teel’s injury news made me more cautious about loading up solely on arms in these later rounds. I selected Harry Ford as a 4th catcher in the 29th round, then, after scooping two more outfielders, it was time to jump back into pitching. Washington had just announced Cavalli as its opening day starter, so I figured this was another bargain selection in Round 32. 

Johan Oviedo (33-9) – I felt like a traitor for this one. After hyping up Connolly Early and Payton Tolle this preseason, I drafted their roadblock to the Red Sox rotation. Ugh. If anything, this goes back to the bullet from above, “Playing time is often the driving factor. Just get dudes that will accrue points.” 

For what it’s worth, Oviedo has been solid this Spring and has the inside track. 

But, as Levar Burton once said, “You don’t have to take my word for it!”

Friend of RazzBall, Lance Brozdowski

Brandon Sproat (34-4) – Remember that Logan Henderson hedge? Here it is. I managed to catch some of Grey’s NL-Only Tout Wars draft yesterday morning, too, so I knew that I’d at least have the boss’s blessing on this pick after he took Sproat as one of the $1 pitchers to finish off his Tout squad.

Rhett Lowder (35-9) – This one is a bit of a zig to the Reds’ zag. When Hunter Greene went down with the elbow injury and the team announced he’d likely be out until July, it opened up a big-time opportunity for someone to swoop in and claim a rotation spot. Let’s not forget that Lowder was the Reds’ 2nd-ranked prospect in 2024 (behind Noelvi Marte), and again in 2025 (behind Chase Burns). Burns already has a rotation spot locked in, and Lowder’s good showing thus far in Spring games should give him the inside track for that last opening.

The clips of the golden arm are out there, but I liked this one just as much. When I see interviews with rookie pitchers, I want to see a younger player who is confident but willing to learn. That’s a worthwhile pick in my books. 

This kid sounds like he’s legit and not just regurgitating a script from a media coach. Call it playing too much from the gut and not enough with the calculator, if you will, but hearing a kid who’s willing to learn and eager to improve is a big piece of the successful starting pitcher puzzle.

While I admit drafting two Red Sox pitchers and two Cincinnati starters could lead to disaster (especially in home starts), I like the way this squad shakes out. We’ll have to see if it has enough juice to push me up the standings this summer, or if it’ll be a massive slash and burn ahead of FAAB #1.

 

That’s it for this week! Regular readers know the drill. If you have anything to share or comment on, feel free to drop it in the comments here, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!

Next week, it’s Spring Cleaning time! I’ll switch us over to the main Top 100 Starting Pitchers list with updates and some pruning of our original list based on injury reports, Spring performances (that I think merit movement of names), and any word we get on rotation battles.

See you next Monday!

Follow me @marmosdad on Twitter/X and Bluesky @marmosdad.bsky.social