Happy Monday, Razzball faithful!

I have a bit of a lyrical zap for y’all this afternoon.

 

“It’s been a mystery

But still they try to see

Why something good can hurt so bad.”

 

Oh, Steve Perry. You don’t know the half of it.

It’s been quite the Journey with Bryan Woo over the past couple of years. 

18 starts in 2023 gave us a final line of 87.2 IP, 41 ER, 75 H, 31 BB, and a  4-5 record. The  4.21 ERA was nothing to write home about, even if the 1.21 WHIP was acceptable.

The 2024 follow-up was marred by forearm tightness and right elbow inflammation, but the improved walk rate and ERA gave us a buying opportunity.

In 2025, he was a MarmosDad darling and my top target in preseason drafts. Lots of folks were hesitant to draft him because of the injury history, and while I acknowledged that, I was still willing to pay the price in every one of my drafts.

And, boy, did he deliver.

186.2 IP, 61 ER, 137 H, 36 BB, and 198 Ks was even more than we could have hoped for, and the 15-7 record was boosted by some stellar ratios (2.94 ERA, and 0.93 WHIP). 

In a keeper league, he was gold. In redraft leagues for 2026, you had to be ready to pounce with one of your first three picks, or he’d be long gone.

But with 13 ER, 6 HR allowed, 16 H, and just 3 Ks in his last 9 innings? Woo’s crying now.

It was worth a repeat from last week’s post

The thinnest silver lining here is he’s still limiting his walks (zero BBs in those last two starts). But, as Dan Pants said in his Saturday round-up, we’re at the point where Bryan Woo might actually benefit from throwing more pitches out of the zone. 

45 of his 84 pitches in Saturday’s start against KC were in the strike zone, and hitters swung at 45 of his pitches (overall).

It sounds counterproductive to think a starting pitcher should throw outside the zone to try to get more hitters to chase. But here we are.

As Dan said, 96 MPH in the strike zone can get hit a really long way if a hitter can get around on it. And Woo’s 6 HR allowed in his most recent two starts aren’t quite as bad as Zack Littel’s league-leading 13, or Cole Ragans’ 10, but it’s not exactly encouraging.

Do I think the Woo-bot is in trouble? No.

Should he slide a bit down the rankings today because of the recent rough patch? Yes.

Am I holding out some new hope that all of us Bryan Woo fans can cross our fingers and watch our favorite arm bounce back? Of course.

Do I find all of the naysayers’ lack of faith disturbing? Yep.

Here’s hoping this week’s home start vs ATL brings us some different results.

And May the 4th be with Woo.

But just how far does our golden arm slip today?

Well, first, as always, it’s a bit of business. 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	Tarik Skubal	DET	7 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 7 Ks should be enough for a win. That “should” is doing a lot of work there.
2	Paul Skenes	PIT	5 IP, 4 ER, 8 hits, zero walks, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.18. Ok, so UnSkenes-y got bopped at home by the Poison Cardinals, but at least he posted zero BBs and a healthy dose of Ks.
3	Chris Sale	ATL	7 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 11 Ks, and his league-leading 6th win. This one was at Colorado, as if that even matters anymore. I was sad when I moved him ahead of Bryan Woo last week, but Saturday’s results proved it was the right move.
4	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	6 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 2.90. METRIC CHECK! 11.16 K/9, 2.90 BB/9, 2.6 FIP. And a 25.2 K-BB%, which is good enough for 16th best in the league.
5	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD	5 IP, 3 ER, 9 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 2.87, and the Dodgers’ 6-man rotation means no two-start week for Yoshi. Sad emoji.
6	Shohei Ohtani	LAD	6 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 0.60. He’s not as high as Dan Plesac has him (more below), but this is still pretty awesome.
7	Jacob deGrom	TEX	6 IP, 1 ER, 3 hits, zero walks, 5 Ks, ERA at 2.01. He’s allowed just one (or fewer) earned runs in every start but his first one. Up.
8	Max Fried	NYY	Game 1: 6 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 2.09. Game 2: 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks. Not a bad two-start. Up.
9	Bryan Woo	SEA	6.0 IP, 7 hits, 6 ER, 0 BB, 2 K. More above. Down today.
10	Cam Schlittler	NYY	Jumper. Big time.
11	Zack Wheeler	PHI	6.0 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 8 K. I caught some heat for ranking Wheels in the Top 15 last week, but if he’s healthy, SP15 is going to look too low (if it isn’t already).
12	Tyler Glasnow	LAD	5.2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 6 BB, 9 Ks. Um…what? A half dozen walks? And a no-decision in a 3-2 loss to Miami? Ok, then.
13	Cole Ragans	KC	5.1 IP, 4 hits, 4 ER, 3 BB, 8 K. In the Battle of the Top Ten(ish) from Friday night, Ragans somehow outpitched Bryan Woo. And my computer keyboard is shorting out from my big, old salty tears. Down a bit.
14	Logan Gilbert	SEA	5 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 4.03. Not bad, but he’s winless in his last three starts and hasn’t finished 6+ innings since April 12th. Down a bit.
15	George Kirby	SEA	5 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 10 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.00. Kirby with some muted enthusiasm. And you can’t spell muted enthusiasm without “meh”.
16	Logan Webb	SF	7 IP, 1 ER, 9 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 4.30. There’s the Top 15 arm we know and love! (Or at least like more than some others do).
17	Nolan McLean	NYM	4 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks, and a no-decision. It was a season-low 78 pitches, but here’s hoping the early hook wasn’t injury-driven.
18	Dylan Cease	TOR	Game 1: 5 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 10 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 2.87. Game 2 was better. 7 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks. He was never going to land in the Top 10, but it’ll take a lot of crummy starts to push him past this 20-25 pocket. Game 2: 7 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, BB, 7 Ks. ERA at 3.05. WHIP at 1.33. The Jays heard a lot of snickers when they signed this guy to a 7-year, $210 million deal in the offseason, but he’s averaged 100 pitches over his first 7 GS, and has 56 Ks in 38.1 IP. Sure, the walks will always be there, but this is what they paid for, and they’re happy with the results (so far).
19	Freddy Peralta	NYM	6 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.52. Full disclosure, I kind of hoped guys like Freddy and Framber would get pumped this week so we could make some room for some Jumpers.
20	Jacob Misiorowski	MLW	Up a bit, but monitor the health report. Jumper.
21	Framber Valdez	DET	6 IP, 2 ER, 6 hits, zero walks, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.35. We can cancel the Framber Alert. He’s found the strike zone again. Up.
22	Robbie Ray	SF	6.1 IP, 4 hits, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. A 34-year-old starter isn’t supposed to have a 2.95 ERA and 1.059 WHIP after 7 starts, right? Up a bit.
23	Joe Ryan	MIN	Game 1: 6 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.76. Game 2: Uh oh. I watched his start yesterday vs TOR to see Yesavage, and didn’t expect the early exit. Ryan called out his manager after just two outs, so it doesn’t look too promising. The good news (maybe) is that at least he didn’t leave on a cart or holding a part of his arm. UPDATE: The official news was “right elbow soreness”.
24	Kevin Gausman	TOR	5.2 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 Ks, 2 HR allowed, and the loss at MIN. Deuces aren’t wild! Down a bit.
25	Jose Soriano	LAA	5 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 2 HR allowed, 6 Ks, and his first loss of the year. Not great, but he’s not going anywhere until he fully unravels.
26	Shota Imanaga	CHC	7 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, BB, 5 Ks, and his 3rd win. I said last week that we should give him a free pass because he got rocked by The Avengers (at LAD), and this makes it look even more like that was the right call. Up a bunch today.
27	Chase Burns	CIN	It was a two-start week for Burns: 13 IP, 2 ER, 10 H, 2 BB, 16 Ks, and a win. The ratios are great, too. (ERA – 2.12; WHIP – 1.02).
28	Jesus Luzardo	PHI	7 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 8 Ks, ERA at 5.50. Game 2: 6.1 IP, 2 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 10 Ks. Praise Jesus, he hath returned!! Up a bunch today.
29	Gavin Williams	CLE	Jumper. By a good bit. More below.
30	Emmet Sheehan	LAD	4.2 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 8 K. At first glance, the line looks kind of rough. But Dan pointed out that Sheehan led all pitchers on Friday with 19 whiffs (one more than Jacob Misiorowski). If someone is getting impatient with him, I’d see if I could buy low(ish).
31	Drew Rasmussen	TB	5 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.64. Ah! There he is! Mr “Quality Start Tease” is back! This one was a 91 pitch jobber and, to be honest, he got hosed with the loss in a 3-1 pitch fest at CLE. I boosted him a bit today, but the lack of QS is tough to swallow.
32	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	7 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 4.76. (*sung to the tune of Backstreet Boys – ‘Everybody’*) “Eo-val-di? Yeah, Yeah”. Up.
33	Michael King	SD	6 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks, and his second loss. The ratios are still solid, though. Down a bit.
34	Eury Perez	MIA	5.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 K. The 9.66 K/9 and 3.93 BB/9 are solid. I said it before, and I’ll say it again. I’d love it if all of these pitcher-crushes would throw a CG SO each time they go out, but some just don’t have the stamina. Eury will get there, but let’s not forget he’s just 23 years old with only 223 career innings.
35	Shane McClanahan	TB	6.0 IP, 5 hits, 0 ER, 5 K. Another QS for Shane-O Mac from the top of the steel cage. Up.
36	Emerson Hancock	SEA	Big Jumper today. More below.
37	Braxton Ashcraft	PIT	Game 1: 4 1/3 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 3.71. The World of Ashcraft got lit up with a Pyroblast spell mixed with a Wildfire Bomb. (And, yes, I had to Google World of Warcraft explosive spells). Game 2! 7.2 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks. I guess it’s a good thing I checked to see if he had a second start yesterday. What a way to turn it around. That’s the good news. The bad news is the Pirates lost 1-0, so he still didn’t get a win.
38	Kris Bubic	KC	Game 1: 5 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.74. Game 2: EDIT – Two solid starts and his game at SEA yesterday was a “Steely Dan”, aka “Takin’ it to Luis”. Up.
39	Will Warren	NYY	6.1 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, 9 K, 4th win, ERA at 2.39. I don’t know how many of you can relate, but I’m in so many leagues that I got excited when I saw this line because I thought I protected him in one of my home leagues. Then, when I checked, he wasn’t there. Where there isn’t a will, there isn’t a way? Isn’t a win? Isn’t a … ya, I don’t know. But the 10.99 K/9 and 1.91 BB/9 are remarkable. Up. A lot.
40	Parker Messick	CLE	Game 1: 5 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 1.73. Game 2 (yesterday at A’s): He had given up ONE homer in he last 6 starts. Allowing back-to-back bombs to Zack Gelof and Tyler Soderstrom in the top of the 5th was not part of the game plan. 4 ER in 5.1 IP is enough to make me … not feel so good. Down.
41	Mitch Keller	PIT	7.0 IP, ER, 3 H, BB 6 K. Mister Kuality start strikes again! I know he had some rough patches last year, but he’s flying under the radar in some leagues now. Check the wire and see if you can add him to replace one of your IL guys.
42	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	6 IP, 2 ER, 9 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 3.04. Sandy stans aren’t gonna stand for any more write-ups sans gushing praise. Ya. Like my wordplay: not great, but it’ll do.
43	Ryan Weathers	NYY	5 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks, and his 2nd win. A solo homer to Pete Alonso was the only run (earned) in this one. So good, so far.
44	Edward Cabrera	CHC	5 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 7 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.06. Grey says to sell, and I say I don’t want to … yet. Unfortunately, I have a bad feeling we already know which one of us is right. EdCub feels like a bit of a hot potato. Just don’t get caught holding the bag of/when it all falls apart. I took a lot of heat last week with this ranking, and he should be a bit lower, but he’s been good. (Down).
45	Seth Lugo	KC	6 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks, and the no-decision. Steady Seth with yet another yawnstipating start.
46	Kyle Bradish	BAL	Dumper. By a lot. More below.
47	Ranger Suarez	BOS	Game 1: 8 IP, 0 ER, 1 hit, 1 walk, 10 Ks, ERA at 3.09. Vin said this was the top start of the year, and all I could think of was “Leave it to the Jays to turn a mediocre starter into a one-night superstar”. Game 2: He was cruising (4 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks) but left early with hamstring tightness. Down a bit.
48	Trey Yesavage	TOR	Two starts last week! Game 1: 5 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 4 hits, zero walks, 3 Ks, and the win in last Tuesday’s Trey vs Tolle matchup. I’m biased, but I’d be buying no matter what. Game 2: One out, one hit, one walk led to one earned run on a Victor Caratini single to RF. Yesavage split balls and strikes 50/50 in the first inning and had a tough time with control early on. I had to go borrow my neighbour’s riding lawn mower in the Top of the 2nd, so the watch was short-lived. The 4 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks is a bit scary, but he was lifted after 82 pitches, so nothing to worry about.
49	Bubba Chandler	PIT	Down. Dumpers. More below.
50	Taj Bradley	MIN	7 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 2.85. This week was only 2 BBs, and if you had bet me that he wouldn’t have a 6 walk outing before May 1st, you wouldn’t have lost. He gets a good boost today because he bounced back well from the flop that was his previous start.
51	Noah Schultz	CWS	6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 2 K. I had a chance to trade Kyle Teel in the AL-Only league this offseason for Schultz, but I got scared off by the walks last year. Hindsight 20/20 and all that jazz, but if early returns are any indication, he’s jumped to another level. Up.
52	Kyle Harrison	MLW	6 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, BB, 5 Ks, and his 3rd win. ERA at 2.12. WHIP at 1.11. Maybe the Red Sox can trade Chad Durbin for this guy. Up.
53	Reid Detmers	ANA	6.1 IP, 3 ER, 9 H, 0 BB, 8 Ks. If we’re picking nits, the nine hits aren’t great, but it’s still a quality stat with no walks and a nice bunch of strikeouts. Up today.
54	Payton Tolle	BOS	4 2/3 IP, 3 ER, ERA at 3.38. Honestly, I love the player, and the upside is great, but boy did I ever take heat for ranking this guy “way too low” last week because he had 11 Ks in his first start. I get moving players around based on recent success (or failure), but experience and likelihood of future success come into play here, too. When a guy’s velocity is down, and he’s sitting at 95 MPH, I wouldn’t be all that worried. Up a bit (because I believe).
55	Spencer Arrighetti	HOU	5 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 5 BBs, 4 Ks, and his 4th win. Ah, the good old Arrighetti checklist. Strikeouts? Check. Walks? Check. Yet another Harry Houdini-esque escape with a victory? Check.
56	Shane Baz	BAL	5 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 4.50. He feels like Edward Cabrera. Decent enough results, but always that grey cloud floating overhead.
57	Landen Roupp	SF	4.1 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks, and his 2nd loss. So much for the Roupp Dogg fetching his 6th win of the year. Down a bit.
58	Connelly Early	BOS	4 IP, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 Ks. Great joke, boys. Now, someone go and tell Brayan Bello to give Early his jersey back. Down a bit.
59	Max Meyer	MIA	More below. Jumper.
60	Chase Dollander	COL	5.1 IP, 6 ER, 3 BB, 8 H, 3 Ks as he followed an opener. Again. Leave it to the Rockies to watch this kid put up a 7-inning, 5-hit shutout start two weeks ago, then still think it’s a good idea to have him follow an opener this week. SMH.
61	Spencer Strider	ATL	Come on now. He throws AT COLORADO in his first start back? 3.1 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 5 BB, 6 Ks on 87 pitches. It doesn’t get much easier this week. He’s at LAD on Saturday. For the record, this spot was a toss-up between him and Christian Scott.
62	Clay Holmes	NYM	6 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 1.75. I almost went with the ‘clay pigeon’ pun and put “Skeet!” in here, but let’s just say we don’t want to look that one up on the Urban Dictionary. Yikes.
63	Christian Scott	NYM	More below. Jumpers.
64	Connor Prielipp	MIN	Jumper. More below.
65	Justin Wrobleski	LAD	A two-start week and WHAT? 12 IP, 0 ER, 10 H, 5 BB, 6 Ks, and that sweet Dodgers run support to nab him two wins. That’s 5 straight wins in 5 straight starts. Pretty fitting for W-rob.
66	Davis Martin	CWS	5 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 1.95. Sammy Davis Dean Martin bringing that Rat Pack magic. I had him in the Stumpers this week, but he’s 4-1 with stellar ratios. That deserves a spot in the list. For the record, this feels too high, but the guys surrounding him were so much worse. Too many check marks to push him below some of the other chum down below.
67	Tanner Bibee	CLE	5 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks is encouraging, but he still doesn’t have a win yet (7 GS). Down.
68	JR Ritchie	ATL	5 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 9 baserunners (4 BBs), 4 Ks, ERA at 2.92. So who gets the axe when Strider returns from the Dead Marshes? JR Ritchie or the seemingly immortal Nazgûl, Martin Perez?
69	Mackenzie Gore	TEX	Dumper. More below.
70	Joey Cantillo	CLE	4 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 2 Ks, and three straight starts where he couldn’t get to 6 innings. Down.
71	Sean Burke	CWS	6 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 8 Ks, and his 2nd win. ERA at 2.72. WHIP at 1.01. Somewhere, Jack McDowell is smiling and nodding.
72	Michael Soroka	ARI	3 IP, 8 ER, ERA at 4.70. Soroka is trying to beat that other Michael show for the lowest Rotten Tomatoes rating of the week. Down.
73	Grant Holmes	ATL	5 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 4 Ks, and CAN SOMEONE IN THIS GROUP HAVE A DECENT START ALREADY?! (Sorry. It’s ugly down here).
74	Noah Cameron	KC	5 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 11 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 5.40. Uh…down.
75	Michael Wacha	KC	5 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 4 BB, 5 Ks, and I definitely cursed him two weeks ago when I ran him as our lede.
76	Matthew Boyd	CHC	Game 1: No, Boyd! (4 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 7.00). Game 2: Yeah, Boyd! (6 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks). In other words, good enough for a bottom 20 group here, but nothing more.
77	Nick Lodolo	CIN	Due back Friday! For reals!
78	Keider Montero	DET	6.2 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 Ks. He’s been solid filling in for Justin Verlander, and now that Casey Mize is out, he probably doesn’t have to worry about losing his rotation spot. The two Ks aren’t especially great, but it’s not like you’re counting on this guy to be your staff ace.
79	Randy Vasquez	SD	5 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 2.94. Randy BoBandy strikes again. He got the win somehow, but…Down.
80	Andrew Abbott	CIN	6 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 5.97. There are a few arms that I don’t trust and I probably should, and some others that I shouldn’t but do. You can likely guess which side of that argument Abbott lands on here. Up a bit.
81	Jack Leiter	TEX	Game 1: 6 IP, 4 ER, 9 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 5.17. Patient fantasy managers unite! We’ll be waiting for you over by the giant mountain of destroyed ratios. Game 2 was the late one last night and was blacked out thanks to stupid Peacock.
82	Luis Castillo	SEA	Game 1: 5 IP, 7 ER, ERA at 6.35. Nope. No way. Game 2: 6 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks. You know the first one is bad when the crummy second start makes you think “Oh well, it was better than the MIN start”. Down.
83	Andrew Painter	PHI	5 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 7 Ks, and a tough loss at MIA. I can see cutting him in shallower redraft leagues.
84	Steven Matz	TB	His two-start week last week was 13 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 3 Ks. And he only pulled in one win after the Rays needed 10 innings to beat SF yesterday. He’s 4-1, has a 3.86 ERA, and a 1.098 WHIP. For the record, that’s more wins and better ratios than Bryan Woo. Because baseball.
85	Foster Griffin	WSH	6 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 3 Ks, and an admittance that he should be higher than this if we just look at the two most recent games.
86	Brandon Sproat	MLW	4.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks. I cursed him last week with a FAAB bid in a home league and got outbid (I see you, Dr. West). Here’s hoping he rolls into St. Louis this week with a chip on his shoulder.
87	Cade Cavalli	WSH	More below. Jumpers.
88	Nick Martinez	TB	More below. Whee!
89	Bailey Ober	MIN	6 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 2 Ks, ERA at 3.55. The strikeouts are woof, but the underlying metrics aren’t as bad as people think they are. They’re not good, but they’re not terrible either. (6.87 K/9, 3.08 BB/9, 4.18 FIP). Up a tiny bit today.
90	Luis Severino	ATL	7 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 4.46. This one had more to do with the opponent (KC) than any shocking improvements. That said, back-to-back wins mean he’s up a bit today.
91	Chad Patrick	MLW	5 IP, 2 ER, 1 H, 5 BB, 5 Ks, and his first win of the year. Sure, it was fine, I guess. But the walks just muddy it up.
92	Ryne Nelson	ARI	5.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, BB, 4 Ks, and a tough luck loss to Shota Imanaga. Nelson needs a few more of these to get him back on track.
93	Zac Gallen	ARI	3.2 IP, 7 hits, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K. I gave him too much credit. Down.
94	Merrill Kelly	ARI	Down. Dumpers. More below. (To be fair, he dropped a lot more than I originally planned)
95	Rhett Lowder	CIN	Dumper. More below.
96	Roki Sasaki	LAD	6 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks, and a tough luck loss at STL. If we cover up the name, it looks like a decent quality start from an effective starting pitcher. If we don’t…we still see it’s Roki Sasaki.
97	Mike Burrows	HOU	6 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks. Hey, a quality start is a quality start.
98	Brady Singer	CIN	3.1 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 1 K. Ugh.
99	Aaron Nola	PHI	4.2 IP, 6 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 2 HR allowed, 6 Ks. At this point, he’s only here because of the name.
100	Jack Flaherty	DET	Dumper. More below. (For the record, I mistyped that as ‘Bore below’, and it still applies)

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

Cam Schlittler –  6 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 1.51. I’ll be the first to admit that I am too conservative with moving the kids into the Top 20. That said, both this kid and Nolan McLean deserve to be in there ahead of some of the other names. Thanks to Garrett Crochet for opening up a spot. I’m not as high as Dan Plesac (holy hell), but I’m ready to admit he’s a Top 10 arm right now. It still feels crazy to have him above some of the others in the Top 20, but he’s been better than all of them.

Jacob Misiorowski – 5.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 BB, 8 K. It was a twitchy hamstring that cost The Miz a shot at a no-no, but he’s “normal and fine” according to the post-game interview. Tiny caution flag with a mild dose of monitor here. The graphic from Sarah Langs here was an eye-opener, though. 

most 100+ mph pitches in a game, pitch-tracking era (2008): Hunter Greene: 47,  9/17/22Hunter Greene: 44, 3/30/23Jacob Misiorowski: 43, 5/1/26Jacob Misiorowski: 39, 4/25/26Hunter Greene: 39, 4/16/22Hunter Greene: 38, 7/26/22Hunter Greene: 38, 7/9/22

— Sarah Langs (@slangsonsports.bsky.social) 2026-05-02T00:35:18.189Z

We can’t say he’s not throwing smoke!

Gavin Williams – 7 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 5 hits, zero walks, 9 Ks, ERA at 2.70. Oh boy, here we go. A great quality stay with a hefty strikeout total and zero walks means the Gavin Williams truthers will expect him to jump ahead of Paul Skenes and take over the SP2 slot today. All of that aside, he gets a healthy boost today and will keep moving up if he can keep the walks at bay.

Emerson Hancock – 7 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 14 strikeouts (!). Whoa. Hancock had 21 whiffs in this one, too. An easy road to victory, no? Well, yes, that’s a no. Special sarcastic thanks to the Seattle offense. 

Max Meyer – 7 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks, and his 2nd win. He’s allowed more than two ER just twice in 7 GS, but this is also just the second time he’s pitched past the 5th inning. Up.

Logan Henderson – OMG. I got so excited to add him when the Woodruff news broke a few days ago that I forgot to put him in the list. It was a smooth start yesterday, albeit at WSH. 6 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 8 Ks. He should’ve been somewhere in that pocket with the other kids (Prielipp and Scott).

Christian Scott – 5 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 8 Ks, and a much better result than his first 1.1 inning 5 BB debut. Dan Pants mentioned it on Saturday, and I wholeheartedly agree: this guy has to be worth a shot over David Peterson and Kodai Senga. And the fact that a Christian struck out 8 Angels? Chefs kiss. 

Cade Cavalli – 6 IP, 2 ER, 10 baserunners, 10 Ks, ERA at 3.82. In the Stumpers last week, I said that some guys are great “Only” league players and marginal mixed leaguers. Cavalli’s double-digit strikeouts mean he’s worthy of a spot in our bottom 10 today, and if you streamed him last week, you ended up with a beauty start.

Connor Prielipp – He’s a newbie on the list this week. And here’s the quote from Grey’s writeup last week after his first start: “5 IP, 2 ER, 1 hit, 3 walks, 5 Ks, ERA at 4.00. The final line doesn’t do his night complete justice. He was cruising for the better part of the game until some late traffic hurt him. His slider looked remarkable, and lacked a decent amount of command on his change. Can’t really justify it in shallower leagues, but in 15-team mixed and Streamonator.” And that’s me quoting Grey!

His start on Saturday was very similar to last week’s. 5 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks. The earned runs were two solo homers. Game 2: 5 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks, 2 HR allowed vs TOR. He took a no-decision after the Twins bullpen imploded, but a 3.86 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP after your first three MLB starts definitely play. His 91 pitches in this one signaled the Twins aren’t too worried about pitch count management either (he averaged 83 pitches in his first two starts). 

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

My note for this week was “5 guys out with injury or ‘you suck’”, then I changed it to 6, then 7, then 8 as I went through the rest of the week’s starts. Bottom line? We’ve got plenty to choose from when it comes to Dumpers this week.

Justin Steele – I told someone last week that I’d be willing to eat my Jays bias and stash Steele over Justin Bieber if I had an empty IR spot. Well, now I’d just like to say “ABORT MISSION!”

Bubba Chandler – 5 IP, 3 ER, 7 baserunners (4 BBs), 6 Ks, ERA at 4.97. Yep. I gave him too much helium last week, and it turned out exactly as I figured. No QS, a half dozen Ks, and a handful of walks. I hate to say it, but you might be better off in a redraft if you can find someone higher than you are (ahem…me) and try to flip him for a more reliable arm or two. 

MacKenzie Gore –  3.2 IP, 4 hits, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K. 11 outs and the hook? Maybe he only threw 50 pitches then had to poop? Oh…94 pitches. And the 3 BBs bring his season total up to 18 in 34.2 innings (4.67 BB/9). As Tony the Tiger once said when he found a box of spoiled Frosted Flakes…”That’s not Gorrrrrr-eat!”

Kyle Bradish – 4 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 4 Ks, 2 HR allowed. I started to write his note for the week, and it autocorrected to “bearish”, which I thought was fitting since I’ve been stubborn about dumping him too much. Well, after Saturday’s junk-fest made it two straight losses, he slips a bunch today. 

Jack Flaherty – 3.2 IP, 5 hits, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. You know it’s bad when you don’t even want to waste time writing a guy up as a Dumper.

Merrill Kelly – Game 1: 5 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 9.20. Game 2: 4.1 IP, 6 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks. More like Merrill Smelly. Boom! 

Rhett Lowder – 1.1 IP, 8 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 1 K. I dropped like a rock this week in Perts after streaming Brandon Young (4 IP, 7 ER) and this guy. One more whoops, and Grey is gonna have me writing about The Great Canadian Dog Show next week. Woof. 

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

Jameson Taillon – 7 IP, 3 ER, 4 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 4.41. Sorry, Mr 100. There’s no room on the list for you this week either. 

Dean Kremer – IL

Jake Bennett – 5.0 IP, 5 hits, ER, 2 BB, 3 Ks, and his first win. A 6’6” Commando mashup (I thought his first name was John), with Matrix and his antagonist? “Let off some steam, Bennett!”

Tyler Mahle – To be honest, he’s more deserving of a spot than Aaron Nola.

Aaron Civale – Game 1: 5 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.23. Game 2: 5 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks (EDIT – and the win). We could make an argument that he needs a spot, but he has 7 GS and zero of them have seen him finish 6 innings.

Kyle Leahy – 5 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 9 hits, zero walks, 7 Ks, ERA at 5.52. Let’s put him on the Stumper list just for his buddy, Randy BoBandy Vasquez. 

Peter Lambert

Slade Cecconi

Jacob Lopez

Martin Perez – 5 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners (4 BBs), 5 Ks, ERA at 2.22. I don’t even want to list him as a Stumper, but he could stick in the rotation if the Braves choose to option Ritchie or Didier. I actually wrinkled my nose when I typed this up.

Lance McCullers Jr. – 6 IP, 3 ER, 6 baserunners (4 BBs), 9 Ks, ERA at 6.32. Been extremely unlucky, but also his walk rate is 4.9 BB/9, which is absurd. I left a Touch of Grey’s quote from last week in there just to show one start doesn’t magically bring a guy back from the Dead. No matter how Grateful we’d be if it did. 

Brandon Pfaadt 

Chris Bassitt – 6 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 5.46. It could be worse; his bar could be Chaz CodSquat. Oh, you thought I meant the pitching line? Ya, that could’ve been worse, too. 

Andre Pallante – 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 hits, zero walks, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.73. 

Bryce Elder – 6 IP, 1 ER, 9 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 1.88. It’s past time to add him in here, no matter how many of his future starts smell like elderberries. Someone is gonna complain that he doesn’t have a spot in the list yet. Don’t worry, it’s coming.

Michael McGreevy 

Eduardo Rodríguez – 4 2/3 IP, 2 ER, ERA at 3.03.  

Chris Paddack

Luis Gil – optioned to the minors. He’s off the Stumpers list next week.

Dustin May – 6 IP, 2 ER, 9 baserunners, 2 Ks, ERA at 5.28. 

Tomoyuki Sugano – 5 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 7 baserunners, 2 Ks, ERA at 2.84. No Sugano tonight in my Top 100, no Sugano tonight in my tea. 

Janson Junk 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 3.00. If his name were Janson Awesome, maybe he’d get a spot. 

Carmen Mlodzinski – 5.2 IP, 5 ER is usually a recipe for disaster, but Pittsburgh bats gave M-lodz 17 runs to fuel that Pirate ship to the I-victory coast. A career high 10 Ks was a nice consolation bonus if you streamed him. 

Garrett Crochet

Casey Mize

Brayan Bello – 3 2/3 IP, 4 ER, ERA at 9.12. 

Kumar Rocker – 2 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 2 Ks. The zero walks are encouraging…no? 

Erick Fedde – 7 IP, 2 ER, 5 hits, zero walks, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.24. I can’t ignore it any longer. He’s at least a Stumper. 

Elmer Rodriguez

Patrick Corbin –  5.1 IP, 6 hits, 2 ER, BB 4 K. And I can’t believe I’m putting him in the Stumper list. Ugh. 

Colin Rea – 5.1 IP, 8 hits, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 4th win. There comes a time when Colin Rea becomes more than a Stumper. That time is not this week, but it’s close. 

Jack Kochanowicz – 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.09. Jack Coachella makes the Stumper list and should be a decent enough streamer in the right matchup.

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).

Shane Bieber

Bryce Miller

Joe Musgrove

Justin Steele

Cristian Javier

Joe Boyle

Hunter Brown

Hunter Greene – “Throwing from 110 feet”. I mean…no judgment, but why couldn’t he throw from the mound instead? 

Spencer Schwellenbach

Zach Eflin

Johan Oviedo

Grayson Rodriguez

Blake Snell

Cody Ponce

Cade Horton

Shane Smith

Robert Gasser

Quinn Priester

Carlos Rodon

Clarke Schmidt

Griffin Canning

River Ryan

Corbin Burnes

Jared Jones

Gerrit Cole

Pablo Lopez

Tatsyua Imai

Kade Anderson

Nick Pivetta

Robby Snelling

Thomas White

Ryan Pepiot – hip surgery. Out for the season.

Jose Berrios – rehabbing and expected to return May 8th.

Justin Verlander

Sonny Gray – To be honest, he was supposed to be in there. He’s due back this week.

Reese Olson

Mick Abel

Didier Fuentes – 3 IP, 4 ER, 8 baserunners (1 BB), 7 Ks. Kind of like Fat Mike says, “Whatever Didi wants, he’s gonna get it” (that is, if Didi wants to put up a 4-spot with a handful of strikeouts and a minor league option right afterwards) 

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

Spencer Strider 

Davis Martin

Keider Montero

Connor Prielipp  

Cade Cavalli 

JR Ritchie

Sean Burke

Nick Martinez – He was the best of the two-start pitchers last week. 15 IP, 1 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 10 Ks, and two wins. That’s more than enough to push him up and on the list.

Steven Matz – no, seriously

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

Garrett Crochet – 15-day IL means he’s out for at least a couple of weeks. Read his update and a bunch of these other busted-up guys in Keelin’s Ambulance Chasers from Saturday.

Brandon Woodruff – 1 1/3 IP, 0 ER, ERA at 3.60. I heard the announcers saying the velocity dip was almost 10 MPH, so there’s obviously something wrong. Brutal luck for a guy who hasn’t had any good luck for a long time. 

Max Scherzer – 

Kodai Senga – 

Casey Mize – 15-day IL (right abductor strain).

Trevor Rogers – IL’ed with “Hey, what happened to you? You were awesome for 18 starts last year. Now you kind of suck…itis”. It’s a technical term. 

Yusei Kikuchi – IL’ed with shoulder soreness. Yusei, goodbye, and I say hello…to Caden Dana? Yuck. 

Jeffrey Springs – “Mr. Family Circus” exited the game with hip soreness. Jeffy’s hip is ouchy? That’s not funzy! (Curse you, Bill Keane).

Reynaldo Lopez – demoted to the bullpen

Lucas Giolito – Still a few more minor league tune-up starts away from debuting in San Diego.

And one last bit for our “Woo’s Crying Now” fans. Don’t worry. I’m right there beside Woo…er, you.

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!

 

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