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SP RANK Name Team UP / DOWN Notes 1 Tarik Skubal DET 7 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 7 Ks and the no-decision. He gave up twice as many hits as Wacha did in this one…does that sound critical enough? 2 Garrett Crochet BOS 6.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 11 Ks, ERA at 2.04. Crochet got hungry and forgot to cook up a baker’s dozen. Shout out to CWS for managing his innings so well last year so that he could be a top-tier ace…for another club. EDIT: It was much of the same yesterday in ATL. 7 innings of one earned run and 12 strikeouts. Oh, baby. 3 Zack Wheeler PHI 5.1 IP, 6 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 6 Ks. ERA at 2.96. That’s it. Time to drop him for Taijuan Walker. 4 Max Fried NYY 5.0 IP, 6 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 3 Ks. That drops his record to 7-1! I don’t think it’s time to turn to Marcus Stroman just yet, though. 5 Paul Skenes PIT 6.2 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 7 Ks, ERA at 2.15 and his FIRST (and only) WIN IN MAY! I think we found the secret to Skenes’ lack of run support. We just need the Pirates to face Zac Gallen every 5 days! 6 Yoshinobu Yamamoto LAD Is he really that far behind Zack Wheeler for Cy Young votes? 6 IP, 2 ER, 5 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 1.97. 2nd game was the late one Sunday vs NYY. 7 Jacob deGrom TEX 6 innings against a solid Cards lineup yesterday. 1 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, ERA at 2.34, WHIP at 0.98. Sure, the four strikeouts aren’t like Crochet’s dozen, but he’s up to 5 wins. 8 Hunter Brown  HOU 6 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 8 Ks, ERA at 2.00. Downtown Hunter Brown just cooking. This one was against the A’s. EDIT: Gentlemen and five ladies? Your first MLB pitcher to 8 wins! Brown threw a 6-inning shutout yesterday vs TB. 9 Joe Ryan MIN More below. 10 Bryan Woo SEA 6.2 IP, 3 ER, (2 HR), 6 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks. I watched this one until I fell asleep. He looked great through 4! The movement on the 2-seamer in on RHH was impressive. He made Byron Buxton look silly in his first at-bat. 11 MacKenzie Gore WSH 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.16. MacKenzie 3:16 lays down yet another stunner. And that’s the bottom line, son. 12 Framber Valdez HOU 9.0 IP, ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 9 Ks. Oh man. That’s his 5th quality start in a row and an even more impressive than his 6-inning, 1 ER outing last week. Cutting the walks and boosting the strikeouts is about as perfect a recipe can get for starting pitcher success. We had to boost him after this one. 13 Chris Sale ATL 6 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.06. Guess which big former White Sox lefty is back on the Cy Young path? Garrett Crochet, you say? Well, yes. But guess who else. (And, no, it’s not Jose Quintana). A big boost today. 14 Pablo Lopez MIN 5 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks. 2 homers allowed. ERA at 2.75. He got pushed around a bit in Tampa, but that’s just one loss in his last 5 GS. 15 Bailey Ober MIN 4 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks. He faced a returning Bryce Miller Saturday night and needed 96 pitches to get 12 outs (compared to Miller’s 71 pitches). For the record, Ober’s changeup dazzled just as much as Miller’s did in his short outing. 16 Hunter Greene CIN He’s 0-1 with two no-decisions in his last three starts. And he pitched 12 innings (total) over those 3 GS. He slips a bit today, but not much, just because of the ace potential. 17 Freddy Peralta MLW 5 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.77. 18 Logan Webb SF 6 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 10 Ks, ERA at 2.82. THIS is the Logan you’re looking for! (Apologies again to the Henderson fan club). 19 Kodai Senga NYM 6 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 7 Ks. ERA at 1.60, WHIP at 1.18, and his 6th win. Sure, this one was at home vs the Colorado Suckies, but I’d be happy to take Senga off of anyone’s hands if they don’t want him on their roster anymore. He’s been pretty good. 20 Sonny Gray STL 7 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 10 Ks. Mr. Underrated hammers out a top-tier start in Texas. We’ll have to check with Vin, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this slots into the Top 30 of the season at the very least 21 Jesus Luzardo PHI Oh, Jesus. 3.1 IP, 12 ER, 12 H, 3 BB, 4 Ks. Whoops. Um…I guess it’s confession time. 22 Nick Pivetta SD 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 8 Ks. Friday was his 11th game, and the west coast Canadian keeps racking up quality starts and wins (7 and 6 respectively). 23 Carlos Rodon NYY 7 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 10 Ks, ERA at 2.60, and nearly the lede this week. Carlos played the role of Satan against the Angels, but there was no fall from grace last Tuesday night. 24 Robbie Ray SFG 7 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 9 Ks, and his first loss of the year to…EDWARD CABRERA and the Marlins?! Ha! No, seriously. Stop joking. Ray lost a tight one. There was no room for error…or for his keys in his pants pocket. 25 Spencer Schwellenbach ATL More below. 26 Cristopher Sanchez PHI 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.32. Sanchez has been dirty all year. 27 Drew Rasmussen TB More below. 28 Corbin Burnes ARI 7 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.72. Corbin burns through another lineup. That’s 6 QS in his last 7 starts. EDIT: He looked good through 4.1 IP yesterday…until he called for the trainer and left with elbow discomfort. Monitor this for now, but I have a feeling…he gone. 29 Dylan Cease SD The good news is he won his first game of the year in his second start on April 2nd. The bad news? He’s started 12 games this year and has a 1-4 record. Ouch. 30 Kris Bubic KC I would take any of these SPs from #20-30 and be very happy about it. Bubic lost a heartbreaker to DET yesterday. 7 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 9 Ks.  31 Michael King SD Word is The King is slated to return this weekend for the Dads series in MLW. He may be two weeks out still, though. Monitor. 32 Shota Imanaga CHC Threw a bullpen last Saturday and is waiting to hear if he’ll be sent out on a rehab assignment. Monitor. 33 George Kirby SEA 5 IP, 6 ER, (2 HR), 7 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks. ERA at 11.42. Apparently, I need to rethink my assessment of last week and how he looked good but was just full of adrenaline. The two walks were just an extra twist of the trident to the ribs. Streamonator loves him this week, though ($35.5 for the two-starts). 34 Luis Castillo SEA He ended up with the no-decision yesterday in a pitching duel with Chris Paddack. (Yes, that Chris Paddack).  35 Jack Flaherty DET 6 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.94. Ya, it’s been (BNL) three solid starts in a row now and 20 Ks in his last 18.1 innings. Time to buy in and ride the Flaherty wave until it hits the shore. 36 Logan Gilbert SEA His rehab start was good (96.8 MPH on the FB and 45 pitches). The activation date is this Sunday, but keep an eye on the second rehab start just in case. 37 Tyler Mahle TEX 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks, ERA at 1.64. It’s getting pretty silly. Mahle magic is alive and well. 38 Matthew Liberatore STL He was on a streak of 8 GS with 2 ER or fewer before laying an egg last week at TEX. Just a hiccup. He gets KC at home this week. It almost feels silly having him this high. Almost. 39 Ranger Suarez PHI 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 8 Ks, ERA at 2.97. Best Ranger since Aragorn. Or maybe Mark Messier. EDIT: 6IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 2 Ks.  40 Brady Singer CIN 7 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks, ERA at 4.60. I left him off the list at the beginning of the year because I overreacted to the launchpad that was his new home park. This is just a reminder that there’s a difference between serviceable and great. Singer falls somewhere in between. 41 Andrew Abbott CIN 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 8 Ks. Friday night’s starters were on fire last week, and Abbott was no exception. This shutout pushed his record to 5-0 and was the 6th consecutive start that he’s allowed one or fewer earned runs. The 1.51 ERA and 1.028 WHIP are giving you one of the bargain buys of the year, whether you rostered him in your draft or picked him up from the wire. He’s proven he’s healthy. Now he gets a big boost today. 42 Nick Lodolo CIN Outduelled by Ben Brown. 6 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks. 43 Ryan Pepiot TB 6.2 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks. Similar to Ftamber Valdez, this was the young Ray’s 5th consecutive quality start. He’s looking pretty peppy, yo! Time to move up! 44 Ryan Weathers MIA 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks, ERA at 1.15. I boosted him 4 spots this week before yesterday’s toughie against the Giants. He gave up 4 ER in 6 IP, but still managed 7 Ks. 45 Michael Wacha KC 7 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks, and the no decision. In Saturday’s instalment of “Anything you can do, I can do better…” Wacha and Skubal were pitching so unbelievably that even the hitters just stood there and watched. 46 Bryce Miller SEA NR He’s back. Top 50 feels right. More below. 47 Matthew Boyd CHC 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.08. Yeah, Boy-d! 48 Casey Mize DET 3.1 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks. It took him a while to get through 10 outs vs KC but, similar to Jack Leiter, the good news is there was no post-injury setback to report. 49 Spencer Strider ATL More below. 50 David Peterson NYM 5.2 IP, ER, 5 H, BB, 5 Ks. Yet another sneaky play who likely started as a streamer or FAAB pickup for you and just stuck in the active rotation. 51 Seth Lugo KC NR 3.1 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 K. Hey, at least he went back to the mound instead of the IL. This one was a rust shaker. He should be in better shape for this week’s outing at STL. 52 Griffin Canning NYM 3 IP, 3 ER, but two more unearned, ERA at 3.23. Please tell me this was another start that was shortened due to rain. Or hail. Or a flying dinosaur attack. Because all three of those are more believable than an offensive explosion from the White Sox. 53 Tanner Bibee CLE 5 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.86. I’d almost put Bibee in that group of “they can’t all be the aces we want them to be,” but for some reason, I think he’s above the mediocre. Then, in the next breath, I say I’m glad I don’t roster him anywhere. 54 Max Meyer MIA 3.1 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 0 Ks, and two unearned runs. ERA at 4.53. This is a kid I really don’t want to see struggle. Is it because I expect a breakout? Maybe. Is it because I roster him in multiple leagues? Perhaps. 55 Merrill Kelly ARI 10 runs allowed in his last 11 innings (2 GS). He heads to ATL this week, and I’d look at giving him a rest if you haven’t already benched him. 56 Brandon Pfaadt ARI ERA went from 3.90 to 5.05 on Saturday night. A big drop. More below. 57 Jack Leiter TEX 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks. The dreaded 5.2 IP. Apologies to those with a QS category, but the good news is he hasn’t had any setbacks after the injury return. 58 Dustin May LAD 5 IP, 3 ER, 6 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 4.20. ERA at what? 69 baserunners/strikeouts. 420 ERA. What is this, a numerology graffiti wall for high schoolers? 59 Tylor Megill NYM More below. 60 Clay Holmes NYM It was a double-duty period for Clay last week. 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks, for the first one. His second vs COL yesterday was much of the same – 7 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 3 Ks. His 85 pitches yesterday were the first time he’s been below 90 in his last 6 games. 61 Kevin Gausman TOR 8 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.68. The goose is loose. And this cobra chicken has been hissing pretty loudly through his last two starts. EDIT: 4.2 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 7 Ks in the no-decision vs ATH yesterday. 62 Chris Bassitt TOR 5 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 6 K. A rough line, but the Jays’ bats are alive right now and helped Bassitt improve to 5-3 on Friday night.  63 Jose Berrios TOR 6 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.86. JoJo Berries are blooming in May – 36 IP, 14 ER, 30 H, 13 BB, 37 Ks. 9.25 K/9. 64 Luis Severino ATH 6 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks, ERA at 3.89, as he continues to be a Road Scholar, with a 0.87 ERA on the road. Streamonator has him going at home next time out, so meh. (And that’s me paraphrasing Grey). 65 Jose Soriano LAA 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 2 Ks. if we added another 4 strikeouts to his line, it would’ve been a stereotypical Soriano outing. The walks have always been a deterrent, but as long as he keeps recording wins and you can get ratio elsewhere, I’d still start him most of the time. 66 Landen Roupp SFG 4 IP, 1 ER, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.54. 81 pitches to get 12 outs? I guess that sounds worse than it is. I’ll take the minimal runs allowed and a healthy strikeout total. 67 Noah Cameron KC 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 2 Ks, ERA at 1.05. Score one Marmo point for the add last week. I’m sure some would argue that there are a dozen SPs that should be up here in his place, but as long a he’s producing, he sticks around. Hopefully, the Royals feel the same way when both Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo are back. 68 Shane Baz TB More below. 69 Taj Bradley TB 7 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks, ERA at 4.38. Two solid starts in a row, and now he’s crewing his way back up the ladder. I’d bet that at least one rung above his head is slathered with grease. He certainly has more good starts than bad ones, the bad ones are pretty damaging to the ratios. That said, I wouldn’t fault you for hopping back in. EDIT: He pitched a great game yesterday and was a tough-luck loser. 7 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 10 Ks. This is exactly what I meant in the note. If he can show excellent control…look out.  70 Lucas Giolito BOS 4.2 IP, ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks. Gio is taking the right steps and building back to his old self. Pushing things to 6 or 7 innings should be the next step. 71 Clarke Schmidt NYY 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks, (99 pitches). ERA at 3.95. That’s 4 quality starts in his last 5. 72 Cade Horton CHC More below. 73 Gavin Williams CLE Oh boy. Gavin is still havin’ control issues. 4.2 P, 4 ER, 4 H, 6 BB, 3 Ks, ERA at 4.27. His 2nd start is Sunday vs LAA. EDIT: I was a bit worried that I didn’t drop him enough. Then he went out and cruised vs LAA yesterday for 6.2 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks. So much for those control issues. 74 Jameson Taillon CHC 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.86. The Streamonator HATES the Rockies on the road! 2nd v CIN yesterday. EDIT: I can almost hear the snickers for moving him up into the Top 75, but he did it again yesterday. 6.1 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks.  75 Jose Quintana MLW NR He’s back! I nearly put Nick Martinez in here instead of Jo-Qu, but the former had a tough start against CHC. Quintana? 4 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 3 Ks. He’s never going to single-handedly win the strikeout category for you, but the ratios are smooth. 76 Hayden Birdsong SF 4.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks ERA at 2.48. 2nd start yesterday at MIA. EDIT: We were getting to the spot in the list where I can’t justify moving some players up. Birdsong turned in a 5.1 inning, 1 ER gem with 5 H, and 0 BB yesterday, so he gets the modest boost. 77 Lance McCullers HOU More above! 78 Zac Gallen ARI I had him sliding to SP70 this week, then moved him down again. More below. 79 Chris Paddack MIN 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.92. Yesterday at SEA for the 2nd. EDIT: He wasn’t breaking the Top 80. Then I looked in on yesterday’s strong showing. 8 IP, 1 ER (solo HR to King Dumper Cal Raleigh), 4 H, 1 BB, 10 Ks. That’s 5 starts in a row with two or fewer ER. This is also a guy who’s officially OFF of my RazzSlam FAAB 2 drop list. 80 Yusei Kikuchi LAA It was a tough luck loss for the Kuch last week vs NYY. 5 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 5 BB, 4 Ks. The good news is he’s allowed just four earned runs (total) over his last 4 GS. The bad? He walked 15 over those starts, too. Ugh. 81 Tomoyuki Sugano BAL 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.23. Rostering him in a league where strikeouts aren’t a category would be ideal. But I’m going to guess that your Roto league isn’t using something like “curveballs below 84 MPH” as a category instead. 82 Zach Eflin BAL 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks. Back-to-back rough starts with a total of 7 HR allowed (in 10.1 innings) were nearly enough to push Eflin off the list this week. His performance keeps him here for now (even if it was against CWS). 83 Zack Littell TB 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 4 Ks, ERA at 3.97. The K/9 is putrid (3rd worst in the league?). His second start of the week (Saturday)? 9 IP, 3 ER, 10 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks. It looks like SOMEONE was happy to be added to the Top 100 Starting Pitchers list last week. 84 Tyler Anderson LAA 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.39. Some names get me excited to write up the Top 100 Starting Pitchers. This…is not one of them. It’s not quite the yo-yo’ing effect that Tanner Bibee had early in the year, but it sure feels like it. 85 Grant Holmes ATL NR More below. 86 Mitch Keller PIT Let’s play a game called FRUSTRATION. Mitch Keller has 12 starts. Can you guess how many of them are quality starts and how many wins he has this year? I’ll hint: He pitches for the same team that can’t give Paul Skenes run support. 87 Will Warren NYY 1.1 IP, 7 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 2 Ks. He ripped off a pretty sick line in his two-start week two weeks ago (17 Ks in 9.2 IP), so I dared him to prove he’s the real deal by starting him everywhere at LAD Saturday night. Have you ever won a bet and immediately realized you actually lost more than you won? That was this. 88 Zebby Matthews MIN NR 7.0 IP, 6 hits, 4 ER, BB, 7 K. “It was a rough first inning for the Zebbster where he gave up four runs, but calmed down after that to lead all Friday pitches in whiffs with 15, which led to 7 Ks.”  That’s me quoting Dan Pants from Saturday. I thought it over, and Matthews deserves a spot over a few others this week. If it comes down to starting a Bottom 10-12 SP with the risk of falling apart, I’d rather roster the guy with significant upside. 89 Bowden Francis TOR 5 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks, ERA at 5.04. I sat him last week, so you’re welcome. Honestly, the easiest way to sum this one up is to see a cookie matchup for him, preferably at home, OR if he’s solved the Gopheritis affliction. Either works for me. For now? Francis can go steal PeeWee’s bike again for all I care. (But he DID have zero homers allowed in this one). 90 Andrew Heaney PIT 5 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, ERA at 3.41. 2nd start yesterday at SD. Last week I complained that the Pirates finally gave him some run support to get him a win. Does anyone know of a good Chandler…er, handler that the Pirates can call on to deal with this kind of mess? EDIT: The good news is PIT finally gave him some run support. The bad news? The team wasted his strong start when the bullpen coughed up his win. Blame it on the (Tanner) Rainey (4 ER – 0.1 IP). 91 Brayan Bello BOS Hey-o! It’s an almost win from Bello! 4.2 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 Ks. ERA at 3.83. 92 Nick Martinez CIN NR This was my note after his Monday start: 7 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 2 Ks, ERA at 3.48. 2nd vat CHC. He’s on the radar! Honestly, he could be subbed in for a bottom-20 guy and not look out of place. I’m looking at you, Andrew Heaney! EDIT: I nearly put Jose Quintana in here instead, but Martinez  93 Clayton Kershaw LAD 5 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks, ERA at 4.91. He’s leading the “Big Three” grandpas in recent innings (with Scherzer and Verlander on the IL). 94 Patrick Corbin TEX It’s like we’re just waiting for the other show to drop. And it’s hanging from a piece of overcooked spaghetti used as a lace, teetering on the precipice of a high ledge…in a windstorm. 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks. 95 Erick Fedde STL 5 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.90. Yesterday at Tex 2nd. Before yesterday’s start he was fed for 7 ER in his last 10 IP. EDIT: 6 IP with 2 ER and 3 BB isn’t a bad start. But this makes 4 straight GS without a win. 96 Shane Smith CWS 3 IP, 3 ER, ERA at 2.68. He did his best to mirror his opponent (Griffin Canning).He needs to crank it up if he wants to hold off the two dozen SPs making a push to supplant him on the list. 97 Walker Buehler LAD 5.2 IP, 5 ER, 10 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks. I don’t even think I’d start him in an AL-only league right now until he shows us something a lot better than this. 98 Tony Gonsolin LAD I had him as a Dumper this week. Then I changed it. And I shouldn’t have. 13 ER in his last 15 IP. Woof. 99 Michael Lorenzen KC 5 IP, 6 ER, 11 H, 3 BB, ERA at 4.33. V DET yesterday for 2nd. 100 Jeffrey Springs ATH 2 IP, 6 ER, 6 H, 6 BB, 2 Ks. That 666 would’ve been a lot nicer if it was innings, strikeouts, and beer consumed before the 5th inning. As Dan Pants pointed out on Saturday, Springs’ 4.72 ERA is among the 5 worst in the league (among qualified starters). He’s on thin ice here. Not quite Sandy Alcantara thin ice, but it’s cracking.