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SP RANK Name Team UP / DOWN Notes 1 Tarik Skubal DET Two starts from the King of the Hill this week. The Streamonator has him at the top too, ($60.8), and it’s not particularly close. 2 Garrett Crochet BOS 7 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 8 K. Third loss of the year. If you look at Crochet’s numbers, you’d be hard pressed to explain how he’s not sitting pretty with a much better record than 4-3. He’s allowed 2 or fewer earned runs in 9/10 starts. I had a sentence about how shocking it’s been that with all of the SP injuries it’s kind of amazing that Crochet isn’t one of the guys who has had a setback yet, but I decided to leave it out…kind of. 3 Paul Skenes PIT Complete game one hitter yesterday at PHI with 9 Ks and 1 ER…and a loss. Either the Pirates offense failed him yet again, or Mick Abel is on the cusp of breaking out. (I think we know which is more likely, but keep an eye on Abel if you’re…well, you know). 4 Zack Wheeler PHI I got some flak for ranking Wheels 7th last week, but let’s remember it’s tough to fit 12 players in the Top 5. That said, he’s battling MacKenzie Gore for the league lead in strikeouts and threw his second shutout in two starts on Friday night. 5 Hunter Brown  HOU Last week I said I went against my Top 5 instinct. This week? I didn’t. More below. 6 Max Fried NYY Back-to-back no decisions broke his 6-game win streak, but this is as good as it gets. He’s in COL this week, but we’re not sitting him anywhere.  7 Yoshinobu Yamamoto LAD Even with a couple of average starts, the ratios are still pristine. He gets ARI at home this week. 8 Jacob deGrom TEX 8 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks, ERA at 2.29. 4th straight win as he outdueled fellow Top 10 SP, Hunter Brown. His most recent 6 starts have been downright dirty. 36.1 IP, 26 H, 5 BB, 40 Ks.  9 Joe Ryan MIN 6 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 9 K. Dan Pants pointed this one out in his Saturday round-up but it deserves a repeat. Joey Ryan’s strikeouts to walks ratio is 63:6 (in 52 innings). Yes, please. 10 Michael King SD 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 8 Ks yesterday against Bryan Woo and SEA in SD. He’s one who makes you wonder why he’s ranked so highly until you look at his numbers. 11 Pablo Lopez MIN Rolled into MLW on Saturday night and threw 6 innings of 2-hit shutout ball with 6 Ks.  12 Bryan Woo SEA 6.1 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.84. I watched this one and oh boy. Woo went toe-to-toe with Max Fried. My guy is on one right now. EDIT: I watched his second start of the week – the Padres game – yesterday and the M’s broadcast crew flashed a graphic that Woo’s average of 6.33 IP this year is good for 2nd in MLB. Woo stranded guys on 2nd and 3rd in the second inning when he sawed off Elias Diaz’s bat on a 97 MPH inside FB. 7 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 5 K. He’s 5-1. 13 Logan Webb SF 8 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 K. It’s pretty fitting that this guy is named Webb, because he’s swinging like Spiderman between wins and losses every week. He’s 3-4 in his last 7 GS and beat ATH last Friday night. Can he break the pattern Wednesday vs KC?  14 Hunter Greene CIN In fairness to the others here, I should have removed him last week. But he’s throwing bullpens and I’m optimistic that he comes back when eligible (this Saturday). 15 Shota Imanaga CHC He’s already throwing and is due to return May 27th. There hasn’t been an official announcement yet, but the signs are pointing in the right direction. 16 MacKenzie Gore WSH 3.2 IP, 2 ER, 10 H, 2 BB, 9 K. He needed 102 pitches to get 17 outs. The hits are a bit scary, but he still struck out a bunch. This, my internet friends, is our 2025 MLB Strikeout leader (84). 17 Bailey Ober MIN 4.2 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 3 Ks. ERA at 3.72. I didn’t want to use too many quotes from Grey this week, but this one was too accurate to ignore. “He will have an ERA under 4, but it’ll never get too low in the 3’s. He’ll keep floating it towards 4.00, only to about face when he gets very close. His promise to you is for you to feel like dropping him, but never making it make sense to drop him. The Ober Promise.” 18 Dylan Cease SD Two road starts this week at TOR then at ATL. 19 Ks in his last 13.1 IP. 19 Jesus Luzardo PHI More below. 20 Kodai Senga NYM 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 7 Ks, ERA at 1.02. The WHIP is just as impressive (1.17). He starts at Fenway today, but this guy is a must-start until he shows that he isn’t. 21 Freddy Peralta MLW 5 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks. A modest outing against MIN, but good enough for his 5th win. The 9.24 K/9 is a career low. 22 Framber Valdez HOU 8 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.54. As good as Kris Bubic was in this one, Framber was better. Both ended up with no-decisions. Framber will be pushed back this week and start May 24th. 23 Sonny Gray STL 3.2 IP, 7 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 3 HR allowed. ERA at 4.50. Not all weather was sunny and clean last week. It was foot-to-the-face starts for some guys, that’s for sure. Oh boy. 24 Nick Pivetta SD 3 baserunners in 6 innings Saturday night was a nice bounceback from the Colorado chaos from his previous start. He heads to ATL this week. 25 Spencer Schwellenbach ATL Start #1 last week was 7 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.31. Start #2 was yesterday at Fenway. He got pushed around a bit more in that one (7 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 Ks) but gets SD at home this week. 26 Robbie Ray SFG 6 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.04. A quick peek into my brain here (caution). I saw the 9 Ks and thought, Ray must be Top 20 in strikeouts. He’s tied for 27th in the league…with Chris Bassitt. 27 Carlos Rodon NYY 5 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 5 K. Rodon won his 5th of the year and his first in three games after two no-decisions his last couple of times out. I may never be his biggest fan because the walks drive me crazy, but as long as he’s limiting homers and hits he’ll give you what you’re looking for. 28 Cristopher Sanchez PHI 6 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 8 Ks vs STL breaks his win streak at two. The good news is he has two starts this week. The bad news is he’s at COL and ATH. Barf emoji X2 and enough to push him down to 16th on the Streamonator this week ($21.1). 29 Chris Sale ATL 7 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 8 K. His first win since April 25th, but his starts in between haven’t been bad. He keeps shaving off the sides of that bloated ERA and WHIP. 30 Logan Gilbert SEA He threw his second bullpen yesterday, so the hope is alive here. Like Hunter Greene above, I should probably remove him but I’m optimistic he doesn’t need much more time than his May 27th activation date. 31 Nathan Eovaldi TEX 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 5 K. The co-captain of Team Underrated (with Sonny Gray…usually). This is a guy whose draft day cost will yield you one of the biggest ROI of the season. He still feels too low here. 32 Corbin Burnes ARI 6 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 10 K. Man, this Corbin is almost as good as Patrick! (said no one ever). 33 Kris Bubic KC More below. 34 Tyler Mahle TEX At what point do we acknowledge that luck has turned into skill? Mahle has won two straight, has allowed just 9 ER in 55 IP, and sports a 1.47 ERA and 0.982 WHIP. If you took him as your most valuable fantasy pitcher this year, I’ve got good news for you. The time machine works. 35 Drew Rasmussen TB A 6-inning, 4-hit shutout with 0 BB and 5 Ks. It looks like someone got offended when I made fun of the absence of quality starts last week. 36 Casey Mize DET He’s on the 15 day IL, but the team is calling it a ‘mild’ hamstring strain. We’ll see if he returns when eligible (this week – May 24th). 37 Luis Castillo SEA 6 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks in a tough luck no-decision vs NYY last week. He’s at CWS today, though, so get him into your daily lineups. His second start this week is at HOU. 38 Brady Singer CIN Back in the win column after 4 tough starts. 5 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 4 Ks. He gets the punchless Pirates this week in Pittsburgh. 39 Jack Flaherty DET 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 K. When I saw Flaherty was matched up against Bowden Francis in Toronto on Saturday I joked in the writer Discord that people should be hammering the over. Flaherty fared better than Bowden did. 40 Brandon Pfaadt ARI 4 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.73. The human win collector fell on his face a bit last week. Be careful this week too. He’s at LAD. 41 Nick Lodolo CIN More below. 42 Spencer Strider ATL He’s back! With AJSS and Sale penciled in for Wednesday and Thursday, Strider should start tomorrow in WSH. The 10 spot boost from last week has more to do with nearly every SP in the 40s (and some in the 50s) being DOWN this week. 43 Griffin Canning NYM 5.1 IP, 2  ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks and, more importantly, not being nearly as terrible as those around him last week move Canning up into the 40s today. 44 Matthew Liberatore STL The Liberator took another tough luck no-decision yesterday when the Cards couldn’t muster more than one run against KC. He’s been a godsend for managers seeking ratio help. 45 Ranger Suarez PHI 7 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 6 K. I said it last week but as long as Ranger is putting up quality starts, he’s pulling a Jefferson and moving on up. This was his second consecutive QS and W since his return. He gets a big boost here and helps to replace the cluster of mediocrity that was in this section last week. 46 Michael Wacha KC Well, would you look at that! Another 2-1 game and a no-decision for an SP who pitched the lights out. 5 IP, 1 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 6 Ks was the line in yesterday’s STL game. He’s likely boosted way too much here but I’m just happy I have someone to move up above the rest of the disappointing SPs from last week. 47 Jackson Jobe DET I ripped on him a bit last week for not stretching it out enough in each start. Last Monday he picked up his second win of the year in a 5.2 inning blowout of the Red Sox. Yesterday, he won again, this time in TOR. Sunday’s performance was good enough to bag him his second quality start of the year too. Bonus clip below. 48 Ryan Pepiot TB 6 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.93. A quality start isn’t a bad outcome, plus he had more than a half dozen strikeouts. But his offense failed him again and he lost in Toronto to drop his record down to 2-5. A modest boost this week. 49 Matthew Boyd CHC He’s won two of his last three and posted 3 QS in a row. The ERA is below 3.00 (2.98) and the WHIP is respectable (1.23). Time for a big boost. 50 Andrew Abbott CIN 5 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks. What!? An SP who didn’t get lit up? Abbott picked up his 3rd win in 7 starts yesterday and improved his already impressive ERA to 1.80. The WHIP is just as solid (1.11). Time to BOOST! 51 Merrill Kelly ARI More below. 52 AJ Smith-Shawver ATL 6 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.33. He’s allowed 8 hits in his last 3 starts…total. 53 Ryan Weathers MIA More above! 54 Shane Baz TB More below. 55 Zac Gallen ARI 5 IP, 6 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 4 HR allowed (!), 5 Ks. It’s almost understandable when you see this one was against COL but it was IN ARIZONA. Oh boy. I bet you can guess if he’s on the ERA graphic of shame (below) or not. 56 Tylor Megill NYM 2.2 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 5 BB, 4 Ks and a bit of a spanking in 72 pitches at Yankee Stadium. He’s now winless in his last 4 GS with 15 ER in his last 17.2 IP. He heads to Fenway this week, so tread with caution. 57 Reese Olson DET It feels like I’ve written “tough luck loser” a bunch of times today, but that’s the best description of Olson’s game in Toronto last week. The Tigers lost 2-1 but Olson is giving us some solid ratio and strikeout numbers. 6-innings of 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks will do that for you. 58 David Peterson NYM He’s 2-2 but his results haven’t matched the output. He’s allowed more than 2 ER just once in his 8 GS. He pitched the late game yesterday, though, and I likely just cursed him. He gets LAD at home this week. EDIT: I did not curse him. 6 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 4 Ks should have been enough to net him the W, but the bullpen (and the defense) cost them the game. 59 Clay Holmes NYM 6 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks, ERA at 3.14. A bit of a step back after three straight wins. His only other loss was his first of the year (9 GS total). 60 Max Meyer MIA 5 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 7 K. There are a few different younger pitchers Taj I don’t have any patience for because I have a hard time believing Taj can work through Taj growing pains. Max Meyer is not one of them, (but I bet you can guess one that is).  61 Kevin Gausman TOR 5.2 IP, 6 ER, 10 H, 0 BB, 3 HR. ERA at 4.59. Outside of that 6-inning shutout against CLE May 3rd, it hasn’t looked great. 62 Tanner Bibee CLE I wanted to move him up this week. I really did. But it looks like everyone in the 40s and early 50s from last week got rocked. 6 IP, 4 ER, 10 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks was his toughest start in his last 6. 63 Dustin May LAD 5 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 8 K. His eight strikeouts was his most in any of his eight starts, but…he has lost three in a row and hasn’t pulled in a W since April 14th. Yuck. 64 Luis Severino ATH 12 ER in his last 10 IP until Friday’s 6-inning shutout in SF. 4 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks and a modest $12.4 this week from Streamonator (vs LAA at home). 65 Jose Soriano LAA 7 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.46. This one calls for a Grey quote: “He’s sitting on a 7.3 K/9 and a 4 BB/9, but it’s working because it’s coming with 62.1% GB. Bit of a Snoriano, but can’t get burned easily with that many ground balls.” 66 Chris Bassitt TOR 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.16. He out dueled Pepiot but couldn’t pull in a W. His season line reads like an “I Think You Should Leave” skit. 51.1 IP, 55 hits, 55 strikeouts…only 10 apple pies, er walks, though. 67 Jack Leiter TEX 6 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks, ERA at 4.34 —— this was the cookie start! Let’s see how he does in the second start (vs HOU on Sunday) EDIT: The Houston start wasn’t bad either. 7 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks. He had a no-hitter going through 6. 68 Taj Bradley TB 4 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 6 K. Taj got tuned by the tuna. This kind of line vs MIA is … not encouraging. See Max Meyer’s blurb for more. 69 Tyler Anderson LAA Dogged at the Dodgers on Friday night for 2 HR and 4 ER over 5 IP. He walked no one but struck out just four.  70 Tony Gonsolin LAD Oh no. 5 BB in 4 IP and 4 ER with 2 HR allowed vs LAA. I always thought Angels flew and didn’t walk.  71 Clarke Schmidt NYY He has just one win in six starts. And he’s at COL this week. Eek. 72 Jose Berrios TOR He gave up 5 ER to Tampa last week, then threw a respectable 6 innings with 2 ER yesterday at home vs DET. Next week at TB could be a gem, or he could get lit up like a Christmas tree. Who knows. Sit him if you can. 73 Gavin Williams CLE 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks, ERA at 4.29. The strikeouts are solid (51 Ks in 42 IP) but the walk rate (5.14 BB/9) is a ratio killer. 74 Landen Roupp SFG 6 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks. Landen go Roupp, Landen go down. FWIW this was his 3rd QS in 9 starts. 75 Andrew Heaney PIT He’s allowed a total of three earned runs in two starts. The walks haven’t been great (10 in his last 4 GS), but he’s been serviceable. 76 Tomoyuki Sugano BAL 6.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.08. When a guy relies on command and soft contact without the gaudy strikeout numbers, he’s bound to give up earned runs sometimes. 77 Brayan Bello BOS None of the guys below the SP50 line are safe this week. Bello got killed in ATL to the tune of 4.1 IP, 7 ER, 10 H, 5 BB, 3 Ks. Oh man. 78 Yusei Kikuchi LAA Left yesterday’s game at LAD with an ankle injury. He was at 98 pitches through 5.2 innings, so he wasn’t going much more than he finished with, but monitor this for updates before you set your lineup for the week. 79 Bowden Francis TOR Two more homers from MLB’s leader in HR allowed. This time it was in Thursday night’s game vs DET, his 6th loss of the season.  80 Zach Eflin BAL 5.1 IP, 8 ER, 10 H, 4 HR, 4 Ks yesterday vs WSH. Ok. It’s getting a bit ridiculous now. Yet another implosion from yesterday’s SPs. I guess the good news is we got what we expected in the BB column (zero). 81 Ronel Blanco HOU He walked more than two batters for the first time in 5 GS, and kept the hit total down (5). Despite the 1.18 WHIP, this isn’t an ideal play outside of using him as a streamer. For what it’s worth, Streamonator doesn’t even like his SEA start this week very much ($1.1). 82 Cade Horton CHC 5 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 2 K. The line would’ve been even cleaner had he not allowed two homers. That’s the second big league win for Horton in two attempts. On the podcast last week, Grey and BDon discussed the likelihood of Horton sticking in the rotation after Shota returns in about 10 days, but for now…Ride the Wrigley Lightning. 83 Logan Henderson MLW More below. 84 Colin Rea CHC 5.1  IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks…against CWS? Meh. 85 Justin Verlander SFG 4 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 5 BB, 1 K? Ok. Very funny. Now put those numbers beside the correct category. Oh, wait. 86 Michael Lorenzen KC 7.1 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.76. Oh would you look at that. A guy gets added to the Top 100 one week, gets a healthy boost for his initial ranking, then goes out and lays a rotten egg in his next start. Lovely. Let that be a warning to Logan Henderson and Clayton Kershaw this week. 87 Lucas Giolito BOS 4 IP, 6 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 3 HR, 3 Ks. I saw him ranked in the 30s in another list and…I just can’t do it. The 7.01 ERA makes this spot easy to justify. 88 Jeffrey Springs ATH 7 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks, ERA at 4.27. Guy posts this line AT LAD but gives up 7 runs at home against CWS two weeks ago. SMH. 89 Chris Paddack MIN 7 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks, ERA at 4.05. This is one that I can’t understand at all. I had him in the Top 100 in the preseason. Then he got rocked and I corrected what I assumed was an overzealous assessment. Now he’s had two consecutive starts with 7+ IP, 3 H, 1 ER (total), 1 BB (total) and a handful of strikeouts. It feels like I’m holding a box from a looney tunes show here with a lit wick, but if you can handle the risk, there might be something here. 90 Zebby Matthews MIN I virtually sprinted to the waiver wire and managed to secure Zebby in every RCL league I’m in! So…thanks for the 3 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks. I guess the good news about being in last place in almost every RCL is that an outing like this doesn’t push me down any further in the standings. 91 Aaron Nola PHI 3.2 IP, 9 ER, 12 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks. ERA at 6.16. “Now I’m not dumb but I can’t understand, why he throws like a pitcher in a garbage can, No More No-la. No no no no No-La.” Update: I wrote this up before the (unsurprising) news broke: Nola is headed to the IL with an ankle injury. More below (in a graphic). 92 Patrick Corbin TEX 6 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.35. His second quality start in a row! He’s won half of his most recent (6) starts. Finally! There’s the Corbin you all drafted as your ace! (Wait, did I misread something?) 93 Lance McCullers HOU 4 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, BB, 2 K. A much better start than his last one. He gets SEA at home this week. 94 Will Warren NYY 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 9 Ks, ERA at 4.61. This guy is like Jameson Taillon. Every time I think he’s due to slip off the list, he puts up another good start. Maybe we should start calling him Will “Hangs-on”. Or maybe not. He has two starts this week too – vs TEX and at COL. Danger. 95 Mitch Keller PIT He’s lost three in a row, but the last two were quality starts. Did someone say something about the pitiful Pittsburgh Pirates offense? 96 Erick Fedde STL 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.44. Someone lost control of the wifi speaker and now all it’s playing is “Fedde walk walk walk walk walk”. 97 Clayton Kershaw LAD Hall of famer! (But he didn’t look like one last week). 98 Shane Smith CWS New to the list this week! The ratios and strikeouts are there. Unfortunately, for him, the cursive “Chicago” is also there (on the front of his jersey). 99 Ryan Gusto HOU It sounds like he’s headed to the bullpen. No Me Gusto. 100 Sandy Alcantara MIA More below.