Happy Monday, Razzball faithful!
I had a couple of flashy ledes all set to go this week. Michael King’s 12-strikeout performance. Walker Buehler’s barf emoji after barf emoji of starts. Heck, even Kyle Bradish’s slow slide into IL oblivion was considered. But, then, I got hit with a big “WHOA!”
I realized that with a name like “MarmosDad”, I needed to do a write-up with a few allusions to the festivities of “Dad Day”.
Yesterday, by the time the kids had fired up a great breakfast of English muffins, black coffee, and Swedish Berries, it was time to go! We hit the local IBL league afternoon game, then promptly headed out to a neighboring city so I could coach the eldest’s travel baseball game. Needless to say, this dad was more gassed than a Brewers rookie pitcher.
So, I changed up the format for today similar to how I did it in the preseason. I’ll still list our Top 100 Starting Pitchers, but for this week I’ll break it into four sections of 25 each. I’ll try to include some blurbs about the major movers or newsworthy items instead of writing up each and every guy.
And, of course, no Dad post is complete without some hard-hitting jokes from one of the beautiful gifts that I got from my youngest. I can say that they certainly know me well.
“Did you hear the rumor about the butter? Well, I’m not gonna spread it!”
Oh yes. Yes. That’ll do.
Aces all around for these kiddos.
If you like it this way, let me know. If you prefer the way I’ve done it through the season (with short notes on each guy), feel free to post that in the comments below too.
But, before we get to the list, I need to plug a couple of things for y’all first. If you want to check the spot I usually have open when flipping through my information on Sunday afternoons, you’re looking for that Player Rater leaderboard. This is always a great resource to use if you’re doing research. A bit of this, and a splash of that goes into the prep work for our weekly Top 100 Starting Pitchers list.
Of course, if you’re one of those doubting-your-own-gut-instinct fantasy managers, or just want to use a great resource that will point you in the right direction every week, The Streamonator is here to help you answer those burning questions.
If you haven’t signed up for it, this should be your go-to reference for the entire season. It will save you a lot of time researching and often includes those “Oh, I never thought about that” solutions. The Razzball subscriptions are well worth the price of admission. If you’re serious about improving throughout the season, check the link, yo.
The Top Starting Pitchers for 2024
| RANK
(LAST WEEK) |
Name | TEAM | NOTES |
|---|
| 1 | Corbin Burnes | Orioles | |
| 2 | Zack Wheeler | Phillies | Shelled by Baltimore last week. This was his first time giving up 8 ER since 2018. It’ll take more slips like this to push him down, though. Not much more to say. |
| 3 | Tarik Skubal | Tigers | |
| 4 | Tyler Glasnow | Dodgers | |
| 5 (6) | Kevin Gausman | Blue Jays | |
| 6 (7) | Shoto Imanaga | Cubs | |
| 7 (8) | Grayson Rodriguez | Orioles | |
| 8 (9) | Luis Castillo | Mariners | |
| 9 (12) | Ranger Suarez | Phillies | |
| 10 (13) | Tanner Houck | Red Sox | |
| 11 (14) | Max Fried | Braves | |
| 12 (15) | George Kirby | Mariners | |
| 13 (16) | Chris Sale | Braves | |
| 14 (17) | Aaron Nola | Phillies | |
| 15 (18) | Cole Ragans | Royals | |
| 16 (19) | Dylan Cease | Padres | |
| 17 (10) | Pablo Lopez | Twins | Ugh. More below. |
| 18 (11) | Freddy Peralta | Brewers | Ugh, X2. More below. |
| 19 (23) | Luis Gil | Yankees | Should probably be above at least two others here. More below. |
| 20 | Seth Lugo | Royals | |
| 21 | Jared Jones | Pirates | |
| 22 | Logan Gilbert | Mariners | |
| 23 (24) | Garrett Crochet | White Sox | |
| 24 (25) | Jack Flaherty | Tigers | |
| 25 (5) | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | Dodgers | It’s the, “Oh no,” ape meme here. IL-stint. More below. |
SP 1 – 25 NOTES: “I finally got around to watching that documentary about clocks…It was about time”
Solid Dad joke. Solid arms. Except for some ‘buyer beware’ items to attend to here.
Pablo Lopez 17 (10) and Freddy Peralta 18 (11) – It feels like these two have been tethered together for a while now. They both moved up with some solid strikeout games, but now both are racing each other to the bottom of the Top 20. I wrote up Lopez last week, and his 2 ER in 5 IP isn’t exactly terrible, but he needs to put up a few QS before we can forget about those 6 and 7-run games from a few weeks ago.
As for Peralta, when his velocity dipped after a start a couple of weeks ago, Freddy said that he was “dialing it back’ to focus on command. OK. But giving up 10 H, 6 ER, 2 HR in just 5.1 IP against the Reds the next time out isn’t exactly giving us much faith. Freddy KBBad.
Luis Gil (19) – I bet you can guess which two he should be above on our list. He’ll leapfrog a few if he keeps doing this. (Special shout out to Pitching Ninja for all of these clips that I saw this week. There are some beauties in here). 99 MPH on his 104th PITCH?! WHAT?!
Luis Gil, 99mph on his 104th pitch. pic.twitter.com/yTpO87IHSm
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 15, 2024
Yoshinobu Yamamoto 25 (5) – Yama-Oh-No! When I got back from the kiddo’s game last night, a buddy texted me that the Dodgers were losing Yamamoto and Betts to the IL. I asked, “How serious?”. When he responded with “fractured left hand” I kind of threw up in my mouth a little. Then he specified that was for Betts and that Yamamoto was “triceps inflammation”. Getting that news about either of those players is like responding to someone who asks if you want to be punched in the face or kicked in the groin. I’ll choose C: Neither!
| 26 | Logan Webb | Giants | |
| 27 | Jose Berrios | Blue Jays | |
| 28 | Paul Skenes | Pirates | Ace of the Allegheny. More below. |
| 29 | Justin Verlander | Astros | |
| 30 | Carlos Rodon | Yankees | |
| 31 | Joe Ryan | Twins | |
| 32 | Mitch Keller | Pirates | |
| 33 | Bryan Woo | Mariners | |
| 34 | Sonny Gray | Cardinals | |
| 35 | Nick Lodolo | Reds | |
| 36 | Zac Gallen | Diamondbacks | |
| 37 | Bobby Miller | Dodgers | |
| 38 | Hunter Greene | Reds | |
| 39 | Kyle Bradish | Orioles | IL. May be out for the year. More below. |
| 40 | Bryce Miller | Mariners | |
| 41 | Jesus Luzardo | Marlins | |
| 42 | Javier Assad | Cubs | |
| 43 | Nick Pivetta | Red Sox | |
| 44 | Zach Eflin | Rays | |
| 45 | Ronel Blanco | Astros | Viscosity…er, velocity…was up. More below. |
| 46 | Brady Singer | Royals | |
| 47 | Reynaldo Lopez | Braves | |
| 48 | Walker Buehler | Dodgers | Not the Walker Buehler that most were hoping to see coming back from injury. |
| 49 | Gavin Stone | Dodgers | Another Marmo-favorite. More below. |
| 50 | Framber Valdez | Astros |
SP 26-50 NOTES: “I could tell a joke about pizza, but…it’s a little cheesy.”
A solid Dad joke. Just like many in this SP 26-50 section.
Paul Skenes (28) – I don’t know what else there is to say about this guy. Other than the fact that I labeled this one as “JESUS” when I sent it to my email folder for this week.
Paul Skenes, 100mph Fastball and 84mph Curveball, Overlay. ? pic.twitter.com/b55quA8NDS
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 12, 2024
Kyle Bradish (39) – “Likely to miss more than the minimum 15 days on the IL” is an easy, sarcastic “What a surprise” kind of thing. The UCL injury did not miraculously heal, and he’s likely cooked. I’ll most likely be moving him back down or off the list when he’s officially shut down long-term.
Ronel Blanco (45) – Had a perfect game going yesterday. Threw 7 hitless innings (3 BBs) before being lifted because, of course, no one wants to see him throw another no-hitter. (There’s that sarcasm again).
Gavin Stone (49) – Had won three straight games before missing a fourth against KC on Friday. Another QS (7 IP, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K). Flipping him and Bradish around would have been easy, and I may do that next week!
| 51 | Michael King | Padres | If you haven’t seen the Pitching Ninja overlay from last week, well…more below. |
| 52 | Yusei Kikuchi | Blue Jays | |
| 53 | Ryan Pepiot | Rays | |
| 54 | MacKenzie Gore | Nationals | |
| 55 | Blake Snell | Giants | |
| 56 | Shane Baz | Rays | |
| 57 | Tanner Bibee | Guardians | |
| 58 | Bailey Ober | Twins | |
| 59 | Nathan Eovaldi | Rangers | |
| 60 | Joe Musgrove | Padres | |
| 61 | Gerrit Cole | Yankees | |
| 62 | Christopher Sanchez | Phillies | |
| 63 | Ben Lively | Guardians | |
| 64 | Brayan Bello | Red Sox | |
| 65 | Mitchell Parker | Nationals | |
| 66 | Chris Bassitt | Blue Jays | |
| 67 | Clarke Schmidt | Yankees | |
| 68 | Nestor Cortes | Yankees | |
| 69 | Jon Gray | Rangers | |
| 70 | Charlie Morton | Braves | |
| 71 | Kutter Crawford | Red Sox | Please be the start of something good. More below. |
| 72 | Reese Olson | Tigers | Insert the “I don’t believe you” gif. More below. |
| 73 | Matt Waldron | Padres |
Le Lanceur de Papillons. More below. |
| 74 | Jordan Hicks | Giants | |
| 75 | Hunter Brown | Astros |
SP 51-75 NOTES: “I have a fear of speed bumps. I’m slowly getting over them..”
A good Dad joke. It kind of creeps up on you. Just like some of these guys.
Michael King (51) – Some days it looks like he’s lost and can’t even cut it as an SP3. Then, some days he looks like this…
Michael King, 94mph Painted Two Seamer (22 inches of run) and 84mph Sweeper (14 inches of break), Individual Pitches + Overlay.
That's mean. ? pic.twitter.com/ttXpg0YUHA
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 12, 2024
FWIW, I labeled this one as “KING FILTH”. Because holy crap.
Kutter Crawford (71) – 6 IP, 2 ER, 6Ks, ERA at 2.93. Please be the start of a turnaround where you rifle off a few beauties in a row.
Reese Olson (72) – 5.1 IP 4 ER, ERA at 3.68. This one always felt like an imposter to me, and while he’s not fully melting into oblivion, this Reese is going a bit stale. Would I still eat a stale Reese’s cup? Probably. Would I continue to eat a box of them and like them as much as I would enjoy a fresh, flawless one? Probably not.
Matt Waldron (73) – This was my note for the week. “Waldron up! Sounds like an astronaut.” Needless to say, if he keeps this up he’ll be headed … um…in a positive direction? Go see if the butterfly thrower is still on your waiver wire.
| 76 | Jordan Montgomery | Diamondbacks | |
| 77 | Alec Marsh | Royals | |
| 78 | Brandon Pfaadt | Diamondbacks | I can’t quit the upside. More below. |
| 79 | Triston McKenzie | Guardians | Sticks and stones. More below. |
| 80 | Kyle Gibson | Cardinals | |
| 81 | Yu Darvish | Padres | |
| 82 | Justin Steele | Cubs | |
| 83 | Zack Littell | Rays | |
| 84 | Ben Brown | Cubs | Ouch. More below. |
| 85 | Braxton Garrett | Marlins | |
| 86 | Jose Soriano | Angels | |
| 87 | Luis Severino | Mets | |
| 88 | Robert Gasser | Brewers | |
| 89 | Marcus Stroman | Yankees | Oof. More Below. |
| 90 | Trevor Williams | Nationals | |
| 91 | Ryan Weathers | Marlins | |
| 92 | Taj Bradley | Rays | I really want him to be good. But I also would like to see him be more consistent. More below. |
| 93 | Erick Fedde | White Sox | |
| 94 | Dean Kremer | Orioles | |
| 95 | Bailey Falter | Pirates | |
| 96 | Albert Suarez | Orioles | |
| 97 | Frankie Montas | Reds | |
| 98 | Jameson Taillon | Cubs | |
| 99 | Andrew Abbott | Reds | |
| 100 | Dane Dunning | Rangers |
SP 76-100 NOTES: “Why did the golfer bring a second pair of pants to the golf course? In case he got a hole-in-one!”
Like this classic Dad joke, these players are either overdone or a source of forced smiles. The only way we’re giggling at these SPs is if they’re on someone else’s roster when they get blown up.
Brandon Pfaadt (78) – 6 IP, 1 ER, 9 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at…can you guess? It’s not all that exciting (4.38). This is another arm that I’ve been quietly mentioning because of upside and strikeout potential. He currently has registered a strikeout per inning. (84.1 IP, 84 Ks).
Triston McKenzie (79) – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 4.10. Twiggy wiggled out of biggie trouble more than a few times in this one.
Ben Brown (84) – Hit the IL with neck soreness. He was expected to be out a minimum of 15 days. Then, on Friday it was announced that he had a “stress reaction” in his neck and that this injury is a much more serious one. Either way, it looks like he’ll be out longer than the two weeks. I’ll wait for more information before moving him down/out.
Marcus Stroman (89) – 4.2 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 3.16. ‘Member when I said Stroman was still a good play because he could lean on that strong Yankee offense? Ya. Maybe not so much anymore.
Taj Bradley (92) – 7 IP, 0 ER, 11 Ks, ERA at 4.23. Oh, snap. Is this vintage David Price? I’d love to see more of these, and if it happens Taj moves up sooner rather than later.
That’s all for this week! I hope you enjoyed it!
As a final word for this day after Father’s Day, I hope you all got to spend some time with that special person in your life. Whether it’s a dad, son, daughter, brother, or friend, I hope that you had a most excellent day with loved ones filled with happiness. Cheers to many more!
Two mini-Marmos and Marmo Sr.
Next week, I’ll post the Top 100 Starting Pitchers with some write-ups on some of the arms that I think need a bit more attention than others. Then, I’ll try to keep cherry-picking names to highlight throughout the list as we progress through the season.
Drop some comments in the chat if you’re feeling extra fired up about some of the names I do (or don’t) have here. Have a great week!
Follow me @marmosdad on Twitter/X and Bluesky @marmosdad.bsky.social
