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SP RANK Name Team UP/DOWN

(ALLSTAR)

Notes 1 Tarik Skubal DET 5.0 IP, 4 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. Somehow he managed to avoid being victimized by the Duke of Dumpertown, but those late Cal Raleigh homers just added to the debacle (12-3 Tigers loss). Half of the earned runs came on a 2-out 2-run bomb to Julio Rodriguez, so that line looks worse than it was. Skubal’s still the best in baseball, and the AL’s All-Star Game starter. 2 Garrett Crochet BOS (Replaced by Casey Mize). 9 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 9 Ks, his FIRST career complete game shutout, and his 10th win. No word if John Henry sent a thank-you basket to the White Sox for managing Crochet’s innings as well as they did last year.  3 Zack Wheeler PHI (Replaced by Adrian Morejon). 6 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks, and the no-decision. Wheels got tagged for 2 HR by former zombie Jackson Merrill (his first homers in 35 games), but didn’t roll over many more bumps than that. 4 Max Fried NYY (Replaced by Carlos Rodon). 3 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 2 Ks, and one blister. Fried left with a bubbly left index finger. I assume it was the same one he was using to point out all the duck snort hits the Cubs managed to squeeze out in the first few innings. 5 Paul Skenes PIT More below. 6 Yoshinobu Yamamoto LAD He pitched Sunday, so that meant the ASG was a no-go. EDIT: Yoshi and Robbie Ray both pitched great games on Sunday. 7 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 Ks, and the no-decision. 7 Jacob deGrom TEX (Replaced by Carlos Estevez). 6 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 8 Ks. The only annoying part of DeGrom and Framber not getting the win after two excellent starts is that they’re making it even more difficult to sort out the Top 10 SPs each week. (Honestly, people could argue at least 15-20 names who deserve a spot.) 8 Bryan Woo SEA More below. 9 Hunter Brown  HOU

6 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 2.21 after Start #1 last week. Sunday’s game vs Nathan Eovaldi? 5 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 8 Ks. He was named an All-Star last week, but will be replaced by Joe Ryan. Hunter needs the rest. 10 Framber Valdez HOU 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 10 Ks, and the no-decision. Framber bested Jacob DeGrom in Saturday’s start, but neither guy ended up with the win. 11 Robbie Ray SFG (Replaced by David Peterson). 5 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 2.63. The good news is he’s easily been a Top 25 SP all year. The bad news is we won’t get to see him at the All-Star game (opted out). EDIT: Ray and Yoshi both pitched great games on Sunday. 6 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB. 6 Ks, and the no-decision. 12 Freddy Peralta MLW (Replaced by Trevor Megill). More below. 13 Kris Bubic KC 5 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 8 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.48. Bubic could be a bargain ace, or could be a reason why our prospect writer scratches his chest. We may never know for sure, but we do know that KC will be asking a lot for him in trade talks this month (the pitcher, not the writer). 14 Joe Ryan MIN (Replaces Hunter Brown). 5.0 IP, 5 hits, ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 9th win as he peacocks his way into the All-Star break with every contending team paying close attention and jotting notes on their trade boards. 15 Cristopher Sanchez PHI More below. 16 Carlos Rodon NYY (Replaces Max Fried) 8 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, BB, 8 K, 10th win, ERA at 3.08. Another deserving All-Star selection. 17 Logan Webb SF

5.1 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, BB, 6 K, 9th win. It’s a pretty sweet start…if we take out those 6 ER. Homers to Michael Conforto and Shohei Ohtani didn’t help, but facing a pitcher who’s flaming out faster than his red hair (Dustin May) certainly did. 18 MacKenzie Gore WSH 6 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.02. Return of the Mack! 19 Logan Gilbert SEA Two starts last week! 5 1/3 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 3.88. Aaaaaaaand guess who left the game with a sore arm! He was pitching a one-hitter into the 4th inning when they got dinged with a rain delay and…unravel. EDIT: That sore arm business was all for naught. 5.1 IP, 0 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 9 Ks, and a pretty good bet to cruise to a solid second half if his arm is back to normal. 20 Spencer Strider ATL 6 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 8 baserunners, 11 Ks, ERA at 3.94. The moustachioed man of mystery is just sneaking up on the Top 15. If he stays healthy, it’s going to be a filthy second half. (And, yes, that IF is doing some heavy lifting there). 21 George Kirby SEA 5 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks. Riley Greene did try his best to bail out Mize on Saturday afternoon (3-run HR), but Kirby managed to cruise to his 4th win after Seattle scored 9 ER off of Mize and Montero. 22 Sonny Gray STL 5 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.51 in his first start of the week. Sunday was his second. EDIT: He got chased by the rain. 3 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 5 Ks. Can the Cards please trade him back to Cincinnati so my brain can stop trying to figure out why he’s not there? And, yes, my memory bank somehow erased his two years in Minnesota, too. 23 Ranger Suarez PHI 6.2 IP, 6 H, ER, 3 BB, 5 K, ERA at 1.94. This is the second most ruffled feather in Philadelphia after Phillies players openly ripped the league for not naming Cristopher Sanchez or Ranger Suarez to the All-Star team over Jacob Misiorowski. I love all three pitchers, but from a performance standpoint, it’s hard to argue excluding any of them, TBH. 24 Shota Imanaga CHC Every week, it’s like every pitcher gets two starts. Imanaga was on that list last week. 6 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 1 K was his first game. EDIT: On Sunday, he found the strikeout pitch again. 7 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks at Yankee Stadium. 25 Tyler Glasnow LAD N/R 5 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.52. He’s back! I can’t wait for the awesome 25 innings he’ll throw in the second half before his next injury! 26 Jacob Misiorowski MLW (Replaces Matt Boyd). More above! 27 Andrew Abbott CIN (Replaces Yoshinobu Yamamoto). 7 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 2.07. “I’m Andrew Abbott, and it’s been 4 months since I solved the mystery of the aggressive regression fairies”. That’s him in last week’s A.A. meeting. He’s 8-1. 28 Nathan Eovaldi TEX He had two starts last week that were nearly identical. Game 1: 6 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 6 Ks, ERA at 1.62. Game 2: 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks. The bottom line? He’s back, and he’s going to be a big factor in the second half of fantasy leagues. A big boost today into the 20s. 29 Ryan Pepiot TB 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.32. I’ve mentioned it a few times, but I didn’t dislike Pepiot way back in draft season. I just didn’t like where the helium had floated him in the ADP rankings. The good news is Spring draft position is irrelevant now. 30 Nick Pivetta SD 5 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.07. Is he a Top 30 guy? The first half line looks like this – 102.2 IP, 114 Ks, 3.07 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 9-2 record – and that makes it hard to argue that he’s not. EDIT: Sunday’s start was very similar to his first start last week, if not even better. 6.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 8 Ks, and the no-decision. 31 Seth Lugo KC He hasn’t lost in 8 starts. That’s the good news. He has 3 wins since May 30th. That’s not good news. 7 ER in his last 41 innings is a pretty solid way to clean up your team ERA, though. 32 Nick Lodolo CIN More below. 33 Dylan Cease SD 6 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 4.88. Searching…Cease and destroy! (Your ratios). 34 Chase Burns CIN 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 3 BB, 10 K. With 15 whiffs on 63 called strikes. Talk about living up to his name. 35 Casey Mize DET (Replaces Garrett Crochet) 3 IP, 6 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks, and his 3rd loss (9-3). A 3-run bomb to Luke Raley in the third inning was half the problem Saturday afternoon. 36 Jesus Luzardo PHI 7 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 4.14. Resurrection! Now we just have to wait 40 days to see if the ascension is real. 37 Clay Holmes NYM 5 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 3.29 was Start #1. His second start was Sunday at KC (and Noah Cameron). EDIT: 5 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks, and the no-decision. He was upstaged by his reliever, Sean Manaea (3.1 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 7 Ks). 38 Luis Castillo SEA He rolled into Motown last week and won his second straight start. 5 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks wasn’t as clean as his previous 2 GS (13 IP, 1 ER, 12 Ks total), but he’s bounced back nicely after a rough June. Still, he has work to do to get back up where he was a few months ago.  39 Matthew Boyd CHC (Replaced by Jacob Misiorowski). 8 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 6 Ks, and his 10th win?! So the Cubs saunter into Yankee Stadium to face Max Fried at home, and Matty B. shows the league that they made the right decision naming him to the All-Star team. In the words of noted U.S. poet/historian, William Drayton Jr…Yeah, Boyd! 40 Noah Cameron KC Two starts last week! His first was 7 IP, 2 ER, 4 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 2.56. Represent. He’s a shoo-in for the All-Star team. What? The “Two First Names” All-Star team. That was obvious, no? EDIT: His second was Sunday afternoon, and it was even better than the first. 6.2 IP, 0 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 8 Ks, and the no-decision. Too bad the Royals couldn’t score more than two runs off of Clay Holmes. A big boost up to SP40 today. 41 Shane Baz TB Two starts last week!  6 IP, 3 ER, 9 baserunners, 7 Ks in Game 1, then  6.1 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks, and a tough loss to bring his record down to 8-5 in Game 2. Baz was overshadowed by an elite outing from Garrett Crochet, but for those keeping track, I don’t have to tell you that this was his 4th consecutive quality start. He has 30 Ks in his last 27.1 IP. 42 Jack Flaherty DET 6 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 8 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 4.70. If you take out the ERA there, it could look like one of his starts from last year’s charge to the Top 10 SP rankings. Unfortunately for Flaherty and Tigers fans, that’s not how it works.

He’s pitched better than his 5-9 record shows, but I’d be floating his name out in trade talks if you think anyone believes he’ll turn it on again in the second half. EDIT: It was two solo homers that did the damage for Flaherty on Sunday. 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 7 Ks, and the no-decision.

43 Kodai Senga NYM N/R 4.0 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. That line has more 420s than a Cheech and Chong movie. Senga’s first game back from the IL was encouraging, but we’ll need to see him get a few more innings per start before buying back in. 44 Yusei Kikuchi LAA (Replaced by Drew Rasmussen). 5.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks. Kikuchi’s biggest headaches of the night were two solo homers from Eugenio Suarez, who hit his 30th and 31st before our All-Star break. Yes, that’s the same guy who hit 30 last year…in 158 games. I’m sorry, juicedballssaywhat? 45 Lucas Giolito BOS More below. 46 Will Warren NYY 5 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 4.70. I started Warren in every league that I have him (3), and I’m happy to report that my magic 8-ball is working again, just without the $1.99 strikeout add-on. EDIT: 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 1 K, and the loss. He gave up a leadoff homer to Michael Busch.  47 Eury Perez MIA More below. 48 Kevin Gausman TOR 5 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 Ks, and the loss (6-7). On one hand, it’s impressive that he only allowed one home run at Bing Bong Stadium. On the other (empty) hand is the number of people who thought this was a good start. Optimistically, at least he gave Brent Rooker some practice before this week’s Home Run Derby. 49 David Peterson NYM (Replacing Robbie Ray) 7 IP, 1 ER, 5 hits, zero walks, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.06. When Peterson found out he was replacing Robbie Ray in the All-Star game, he immediately put his wet pants in the dryer on the HIGH/HOT setting. 50 Brandon Woodruff MLW More below. 51 Matthew Liberatore STL Atlanta came to Busch Stadium last week and gave Liberator a lesson in whatever I can call the opposite of liberation (without getting cancelled). 3 IP, 6 ER, 9 H, 1 BB, 0 Ks. Yes, that’s right. The liberator gave out just one free pass, along with zero strikeouts. 52 Merrill Kelly ARI Two starts last week! His first was 7 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 4 Ks, ERA at 3.41. EDIT: 5 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 4 BB, 6 Ks, and his 8th win at LAA on Sunday. I’ve got a somewhat serious question here – how many of his rotation mates will be with him after the trade deadline is over? 53 Tanner Bibee CLE More below. 54 Yu Darvish SD N/R 4.2 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 2 Ks on 83 pitches. So he threw 20 more pitches than he did in his first game back early last week (vs ARI), but Yu was in tough against Philly and Zack Wheeler on Saturday. The only thing that matters for fantasy managers right now is he’s building that stamina back up and should be good to go for the second half. 55 Grant Holmes ATL 3 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, K. Who you trying to get crazy with ése? Don’t you know I’m loco? (But for the record, I’d still be floating trade offers out to try to land him over the break.) 56 Landen Roupp SFG 5 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 3 Ks in Game 1 (vs PHI) then followed up with 6 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 8 Ks in a tough luck loss vs LAD. If you started him last week expecting two wins, then you’re officially the most optimistic person in fantasy baseball. The good news? Landen has allowed just four earned runs in his last five starts. (26.1 innings). Roupp we go again! 57 Trevor Rogers BAL I watched this one on Saturday afternoon, and oh, baby, was the 2017 first-rounder firing on all cylinders. 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 8 Ks. He came out of the gate with something to prove against his former team, as 6 of his first 11 outs were strikeouts.

The 96 MPH FB was dotting the top and bottom of the zone all afternoon, and the off-speed mix-ins (80 MPH sweeper) were just enough to keep a hot Miami offense off balance. How off balance? How about no-hits through Rogers’ first 6 innings kind of off-balance? The big lefty is a sneaky add if you’re looking for a big potential breakout for the second half.

58 Cade Horton CHC 4 2/3 IP, 4 ER, ERA at 4.45. Two weeks ago was a nice bounce back. Last week? He tightened the slack rope yet again. Taillon and Hodge heading to the IL means there won’t be a roster crunch anytime soon, but he needs to clean it up. 59 Jacob Lopez ATH 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks, and his 3rd win. The line wasn’t much different than Gausman’s, and J-Lopez blew some taco-flavored kisses to Mason Miller for locking down the dub in the ninth inning. 60 Gavin Williams CLE 5.0 IP, 4 hits, 3 ER, 5 BB, 5 K. Sorry, Gavin. I’m not havin’ much more of this unless you figure out those walk issues. He drives me crazy, but I still think there’s something here. 61 Quinn Priester MLW 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 7th win, and still cemented as an arm I want to roster for the second half in a lot more places than I currently have him. 62 Shohei Ohtani LAD 3 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks on 36 pitches. Shohei cruising and firing 100 MPH bullets on the mound is a welcome sight for managers in leagues where he’s still split into two players. At this rate, he should be working into the 5th before the end of July. 63 Mitch Keller PIT More below. 64 Brayan Bello BOS Two starts last week! This one is another guy who met the “vs. Rockies requirements.” He went 9 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 10 Ks, ERA at 3.27 in his first start last week. The “in-your-face” numbers look pretty good, but as Grey mentioned, the “out-of-your face” numbers (6.9 K/9, 3.6 BB/9, 4.23 xFIP)? Not so much. Paraphrased, of course. EDIT: 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 5 Ks, his 6th win, and third dub in a row. 65 Edward Cabrera MIA More below. 66 Zack Littell TB 5 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 8 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 3.56. He’s a little bit Eflin and a little bit Rock and Roll. Except without the Rock and Roll. The walk rate is pretty sick, though. But the strikeout rate just leaves you sick. He’s like a younger, weaker Tomoyuki Sugano. I guess we can call him aspartame. 67 Reese Olson DET 5 IP, 2 ER, 8 baserunners, 1 K, ERA at 2.95. It’s unfair to criticize the Tigers when they’re sitting atop the AL Central with a 15-game lead at the break. But (here it comes) would it kill them to let Olson pitch 6 innings in ONE START?! 68 Jose Soriano LAA Game 1 last week was 4 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 4.00. Oh boy. It’s feast or famine with our Angel of Death (by ratios). He’s going to do just enough of this to keep his ADP sewered for 2026. We just have to hope his arm holds up for the second half. EDIT: 5 IP, 5 R, (1 ER), 3 BB, 3 Ks, and his 7th loss of the year. Not all Sunday starts were stellar, but the unearned runs are what sunk Soriano in this one. 69 Emmett Sheehan LAD N/R 4.1 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 3 Ks as he followed Ohtani and picked up his first win of the year. Just a mountain of riches when you can throw the best player in the world as a starter, then follow him with a kid who lives up to the hype. 70 Charlie Morton BAL 6 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 5.18. Charlie sees all the old guy hype surrounding Kershaw, Verlander, and Scherzer and just continues to fly under the radar with a 5-0 record, 10.51 K/9, and a 2.72 ERA in his last 10 games. If we compared veteran MLB pitchers to Sith Lords, Morton would be Jar Jar Binks. If you look down on the Baltimore GM’s office floor and see the pool of saliva, it’s from Mike Elias as he fields trade offers for their de facto ace. “Just like they drew it up in Spring Training!” (Said no one anywhere). He gets a boost today and will likely stick here until it all (inevitably) unravels. 71 Chris Paddack MIN 6 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 4.95. Fitting that his last name is Paddack because this one smelled like a field full of horse manure. 72 Chris Bassitt TOR I took some heat on the Reddits for having Bassitt ranked too highly last week. SP39 was too lofty a perch for this Blue Jay. The ratios took a beating a few weeks back, but at least he’s been a good source of wins (9). EDIT: He pitched one inning of scoreless relief Sunday after Berrios started the game, and is slated to open the second half vs SF. 73 Jose Berrios TOR Two starts last week! Game 1: “6 IP, 1 ER, 4 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 3.53. First start of the week (CWS) went just as planned. Second?” Game 2: EDIT: Another Sunday meh, this time from the Boo Jays. 3 IP, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, his 4th loss, and a barf emoji. 74 Michael Wacha KC 5 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks. He’d lost his last three starts, so coming away with a no-decision in this one was a bit of a plus. His next start lines up in MIA. 75 Jack Leiter TEX 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 6 Ks at Houston is enough to count as a positive, especially when he picked up his 5th win of the season. The 4 BBs aren’t going to shave anything off of that 1.36 WHIP, though. 76 Brady Singer CIN I thought this would be a pretty easy bench in weekly leagues, but he did fine vs MIA, and his home start against COL wasn’t much to be concerned about either. 11.1 IP, 5 ER, 14 H, 2 BB, 12 Ks total from his two-start week (he went 0-1). That’s not as bad as I expected it to be, but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s winless in his last 5 GS. 77 Brandon Walter HOU 6 IP, 2 ER, 2 hits, zero walks, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.98. Representing the two first names club! 78 Eric Lauer TOR 4 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks. Sure, his name might remind you of the one guy in your office who knows how to reset the router, but he’s got more strikeouts than innings pitched, some solid ratios, and is holding opponents to a .204 BAA. That’s better than a streamer in most leagues. 79 David Festa MIN 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks. He’s been on the balance beam for a month. One week, a win and a solid start. The next week, it’s an implosion and a loss. Last week was a win. He heads to COL after the break, so let’s see if he can…uh…break the cycle.  80 Clayton Kershaw LAD (‘Legend” All-Star appointment). 6 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.38. “Um, excuse me? That’s Three Thousand AND THREE strikeouts thank you very much!”

That’s a direct quote from Clayton’s grandmother, Karen Kershaw.

81 Adrian Houser CWS 7 IP, 1 ER, 9 baserunners, 2 Ks, ERA at 1.56. Just firing pinpoint stuff in his glass Houser. I’ll be far away from those walls when it goes south (side), though. 82 Shane Smith CWS Smith managed to avoid his 5th straight loss last week…by only going 3 innings (2 solo HR, 0 BB, 5 Ks). Gentlemen and five ladies, your CWS All-Star! 83 Taj Bradley TB 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 4.60. This start was in Fenway, too, so I half expected a Homer fest. He’s not out of the woods yet, but this was encouraging. 84 Jeffrey Springs ATH Game 1: 6 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners, 2 Ks, ERA at 3.92. So there were 6 HR allowed in this start…and only one was given up by Springs. It’s kind of impressive to be honest. I assumed that he was going to be a launchpad at Big Bong Stadium, but he’s only allowed one more homer in 7 home starts (9) than he has in his 10 road ones (8).

EDIT: His second start of the week was Sunday vs TOR. 6.2 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 5 Ks, and his 8th win. Oh, and 2 more HRs allowed at home, so maybe there’s nothing there after all.

85 Janson Junk MIA N/R As I said in the Rogers notes, I watched this one on Saturday. Junk was anything but, with 7 innings of shutout ball (5 H, 0 BB, 2 Ks). As easy as it is to write this dude off as trash, he’s won two of his last three starts and has allowed just 2 ER in his last 20 IP. 86 Dustin May LAD More below. 87 Jose Quintana MLW 6 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 3.28. Quintana falls into that Littell/Sugano category, too. I wonder what kind of candied gummies we can think of that rhyme with Quintana. Maybe we should ask Mary Jane. 88 Ryne Nelson ARI I almost removed him and kept Soroka this week, but Nelson’s previous 5 GS were a lot more solid than the Washington starter’s were. Nelson got roughed up for 4 ER in 4 IP with just 4 Ks at LAA last week, but he sticks on the list today and even gets a bit of a bump from SP92 because the guys around him are…not good as well! 89 Richard Fitts BOS N/R 5 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 4.28. Vs Colorado. Yay! Who cares that it’s vs COL? Time to trade for him everywhere! And…he just got sent to Worcester. Womp womp. EDIT: What’s that? Hunter Dobbins is out for the year with a torn ACL? I’m not saying we should be happy with that kind of news, but if the shoe Fitts… 90 Justin Verlander SF 6 IP, 2 ER, 7 hits, zero walks, 7 Ks, ERA at 4.70. We’re getting to the point where it’s tough to rank him based on name vs output. This one was a beauty, though. Speaking of which, Mr Upton gets a boost this week. Boost. I typed boost. 91 Tomoyuki Sugano BAL 6 IP, 3 ER, 7 baserunners, 2 Ks, ERA at 4.44. No Sugano to stand beside me. No Sugano to run with me. 92 Max Scherzer TOR 6.0 IP, 5 hits, 3 ER, BB, 8 K. Maxamillion doesn’t just refer to his paychecks from 4 different MLB teams. It also references the number of prayers that Jays fans whisper before bedtime that Scherzer somehow stays healthy enough to be a big factor in a September playoff race. He was also a “Jumper” in last week’s list. 93 Lance McCullers HOU Captain Curveball got crushed by TEX last week. 3 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks. At least he’s healthy? Ya, that’s all I’ve got. 94 Slade Cecconi CLE 7 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.44. He and Spencer Arrighetti should open up a restaurant. Walk-ins only. (Their BB rates are pretty ugly.) 95 Zac Gallen ARI Two starts last week – “6 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 5.15. Gallen responded well to the modest boost last week. It’ll take a lot more of these for him to escape the bottom 75, though.” That was the note after his first start.

“5 IP, 6 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks, and his 10th loss. This is what happens when I throw a guy a bone and move him up a dozen spots. So much for those stellar two previous starts.” That was the one after Saturday’s debacle. Side Note: Who is giving up anything of value for this guy at the deadline?

96 Brandon Pfaadt ARI 8 IP, 2 ER, 4 hits, zero walks, 4 Ks, ERA at 5.16. Nearly a complete game with just 4 hits allowed? Brandon is laying out some Pfaadt bait before the break to reel some more suckers in. 97 Sandy Alcantara MIA 5 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 7.22. Dear Blue Jays: Please don’t trade for him. Please don’t trade for him. Please don’t trade for him. Pitching coach Pete Walker is good, but he’s not a necromancer. 98 Erick Fedde STL 4.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 1 K. Every week I look for names to drop off the list and replace them with new ones. And every week, Erick feeds us an acceptable start. Well, Erick also fed some fat meatballs to Ronald Acuna and Marcell Ozuna. That’s enough to at least push him down a bit today. 99 Andrew Heaney PIT “Hello, ? It’s Ben Cherington. I was just wondering what you’d like to give up for Andrew Heaney. Yes. There are just two conditions. (1) Don’t look at his last two starts, and (2) we can’t take on any contracts that cost more than a Primanti’s Pastrami and Cheese. 100 Luis Severino ATH I tried to watch this start on Saturday night, but it was blacked out on the MLB app. I listened to a couple of innings on the GameStream, and it sounded like Severino was throwing smoke, but having a tough time getting through innings. 4.2 IP, 5 R, 1 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 8 Ks, and his 5th consecutive loss (2-11) made a weird line make a bit more sense.