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Top 100 Starting Pitchers: Rally Round The Giants With A Pocket Full Of Snell

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Happy Monday, Razzball faithful!

Well, How-Dee-Do! What an exciting trade deadline we had last week! 

There were a lot of different teams pulling in some reinforcements at different positions and there were certainly more than a couple of “Bulls on Parade” if you were looking for Starting Pitcher deals.

As Mike C outlined in his FAAB article on Saturday, a total of 59 trades were pulled off with 32 of those happening on Tuesday’s actual deadline day.

Some pitchers that we assumed would move did just that. Erick Fedde landed in St. Louis and Zach Eflin flew north to Baltimore.

Jack Flaherty? He ended up moving from the outhouse to the penthouse as he slipped out of Motown for the sunny Hollywood hills.

And we can’t forget Yusei Kikuchi. In a deal that was very reminiscent of a 2017 Houston/Toronto swap, the Jays landed a promising young outfielder for a left-handed starting pitcher who has struggled a bit lately.

The return of Joey Loperfido would have been a pretty great deal in itself, but the additions of Jake Bloss and Billy Wagner Jr (Will) are two new eggs that will fit snugly into Toronto’s nest of young bluebirds. 

Thanks again to Houston GM, Dana Brown. Your bottle of golden maple syrup is in the mail.

But what if I told you the best starting pitcher of the second half might just be someone who wasn’t really going anywhere, despite whispers to the contrary?

Should we be looking to add an SP who has had just one second half K/9 below 11.15 over 9 MLB seasons? One who has averaged a BB/9 rate just over 3.0? A guy with a second half career batting average against of .190?

Let’s rally around the cherry tree and pick some juicy numbers to further support our case.

2023 2nd half: 82 IP, 44 H, 14 ER, 50 BB (ugh), 102 Ks with a 1.54 ERA and 1.15 WHIP?

(Ok. We can pretend that we didn’t see that walk rate).

All while NOT EVEN PITCHING PAST THE 8TH INNING? EVER?

Ok. I assume the jig is up.

Yes, as Rage Against The Machine would probably agree, it’s time to tally round the Giants…with a pocket full of Snell.

Snellzilla’s second half from last year was enough to nab him his second Cy Young award.

This year? His 21 second half innings are a small sample size, but the results are there. The 12.86 K/9 is his best second half rate since 2019. Yes, that was the year before he picked up his first Cy Young in Tampa (2019).

Oh, and as we noted earlier, there’s this little tidbit from last week.

114 pitches for his first career no-hitter? Yep. I’d say it’s time to get back in on Blake Snell and make him a must start if you’re looking for someone to solidify your pitching numbers down the stretch.

But where does Blake Snell rank in our Top 100 Starting Pitchers list this week? Was that 114 pitch no-hitter enough to propel him into our Top 20?

As always. before we get to the list, I need to plug a couple of things for y’all first. If you want to check the spot I usually have open when flipping through my information on Sunday afternoons, you’re looking for that Player Rater leaderboard. This is always a great resource to use if you’re doing research. A bit of this, and a splash of that goes into the prep work for our weekly Top 100 Starting Pitchers list.

Of course, if you’re one of those doubting-your-own-gut-instinct fantasy managers, or simply want to use a great resource that will point you in the right direction every week, The Streamonator is here to help you answer those burning questions. 

If you haven’t signed up for it, this should be your go-to reference for the entire season. It will save you a lot of time researching and often includes those “Oh, I never thought about that” solutions. The Razzball subscriptions are well worth the price of admission. If you’re serious about improving throughout the season, check the link, yo.

 

 

RANK

(LAST WEEK)

NAME TEAM NOTES
1 (2) Tarik Skubal Tigers It could have been Wheeler here, but Skubal gave up fewer ER in his last start and holds the strikeout advantage.
2 (1)  Zack Wheeler Phillies What I said above holds true…except that during the late night edit I saw that Wheeler threw 8 scoreless innings last night and struck out 9. So much for the 7 run implosion against the NYY last week. It’s more 1 A&B here than anything else.
3 (4) Chris Sale Braves 9 straight starts with 2 or fewer earned runs allowed. 
4 (5) George Kirby Mariners More below.
5 (3) Corbin Burnes Orioles Another one that surprised post-edit. Gave up 4 ER yesterday at CLE. Come on, Roger Dorn. Figure it out. (Sick Burne-son!)
6 Paul Skenes Pirates True story alert: My 10 year old told his teammates at our weekend tourney that he could “pull Livvy Dunne” after he drilled a triple to right-centerfield (then hit a pretty impressive celly in front of this third base coach). Now all my kid needs is a billion dollar earning potential and he’ll be right in line with the Allegheny Ace.
7 (16) Dylan Cease Padres The only guy who’s been hotter than Snell the last couple of weeks has been Cease. One ER in his last 27.2 IP with 36 Ks.
8 (7) Grayson Rodriguez Orioles Whenever you need a hand. Whenever you need a win. Just call the Blue Jays and they’ll be there for you. (Yep, that could be a cheesy set of 80’s lyrics for sure.
Tyler Glasnow Dodgers 7 IP 6 H 3 ER 1 BB 8 K vs MLW. Keep on keepin’ on. 
10 Cole Ragans Royals He walked 4 batters on Friday night but still managed to strike out 6 Tigers and get his 8th win at DET.
11 (18) Jack Flaherty Dodgers Absolutely the BEST situation for him moving from DET to LAD. If the duct tape works and he can stay healthy, he could be one of the biggest stories of the second half too.
12 (13) Aaron Nola Phillies Decent game at home vs NYY keeps him here this week. (5.2 IP, 2 ER). A no-decision, but it could’ve been worse.
13 (8) Logan Gilbert Mariners 7 ER at Boston last week pushed him down this week. He was bouncing back nicely vs PHI at the time of writing yesterday, though.
14  Shoto Imanaga Cubs 7 ER (total) in the last two games isn’t great. Still over a strikeout per inning with just 17 BBs in 116.1 IP, though. 
15 (17) Luis Castillo Mariners 9th win: 6 IP 6 H 3 ER 1 BB 4 K at Fenway. Next start is vs DET.
16 (26) Blake Snell Giants Mr. Second Half is heating up. See above.
17 Pablo Lopez Twins 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 4.65
18 (19) Luis Gil Yankees Matched his (total) earned runs from his previous 3 GS last week, and walked 3, but still posted 8 Ks and picked up a win against a strong Philly offense.
19 (15) Tanner Houck Red Sox 13 ER in his last 16 IP isn’t encouraging so he slips a bit this week.
20 (12) Garrett Crochet White Sox He hasn’t pitched more than 4 innings in a start in any of his last 5 games. Workload management is in full force. That’s good for his arm, but bad for fantasy managers looking for wins.
21 (20) Gerrit Cole Yankees Another one who got to sip the sweet nectar of the Blue Jays’ anemic offense. Not enough to qualify for a win, and just 4 Ks in 5.2 IP, but he also gave up just 2 earned runs.
22 (21) Michael King Padres Calf injury but is supposed to start this week at PIT. The strikeout potential keeps him here until we get word otherwise.
23 (28) Freddy Peralta Brewers 6 IP, 3 H, 2 HR, 2 BB, 7 Ks against ATL moves him back up a few slots.
24 (25) Joe Ryan Twins A nearly identical line to Freddy KBB last week, but it was against the Shite Sux.
25 (27) Zac Gallen Diamondbacks Another solid outing for the Big Zac Attack. 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB. The 6 Ks bring his total almost in line with his innings pitched. (92:93.2)
26 (33) Sonny Gray Cardinals 7 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.72 A nice bounceback from a few rough outings.
27 (39) Hunter Greene Reds Give us those sweet strikeouts! 11 more Ks on Saturday aren’t even the most impressive stat. Mr. Greene has allowed just TWO earned runs in his last 6 starts…TOTAL! 
28 (24) Taj Bradley Rays 5 IP, 4 ER, 5 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.71. The Taj Mahal crumbled a bit around the edges last week but let’s see a few more before we drop him too much.
29 (23) Tanner Bibee Guardians Will have an MRI for “sore shoulder-itis”. Prayer circle members, unite!
30 Bailey Ober Twins “Breaker one-two: Bailey threw another 7 innings of 2-hit ball with 2 walks and 7 strikeouts. Ober and out.”
31 (35) Ronel Blanco Astros A nice bounceback game vs TB on Saturday for the leader on the last 8 week Player Rater for starting pitchers.
32 (38) Logan Webb Giants 9 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.49. A complete game shutout is a nice way to move yourself up this list.
33 (21) Ranger Suarez Phillies He was slated to throw a bullpen either yesterday or today ahead of a possible Wednesday start. Double check the news before making a decision to activate him for this week.
34 (37) Max Fried Braves The good news is that he’s back after spending nearly a month on the IL. The bad news? He was rustier than the Tin Man caught in a west coast rainstorm. He gets the benefit of the doubt until we see his next start.
35 (29) Seth Lugo Royals Seth Lugo 6.1 IP 6 ER. Then, on Thursday he went 8 IP and allowed 1 ER. The only one question for his managers: Do Ya feel Lug-y punk? Well? Do ya?
36 (31) Kevin Gausman Blue Jays Following up a complete game with a 4.2 inning 2 strikeout stinker at NYY? Ya. That’s not good.
37 (36) Mitch Keller Pirates 4 innings in his last start doesn’t look great…until you see that he only threw 60 pitches and had to finish early due to a rain delay.
38 (48) Zach Eflin Rays No walks again! Trade to Baltimore is a boon. That, and his 6 IP 3 ER 7 K Oriole debut was good enough to move him up.
39 (46) Framber Valdez Astros 6 IP, 4 ER, 6 hits, zero walks, 10 Ks, ERA at 3.56. Not great with the earned runs but another double digit strikeout game moves him up a touch.
40 (44) Bryce Miller Mariners 4 ER against PHI last week broke his quality start streak at three games.
41 (40) Reynaldo Lopez Braves More below.
42 (51) Shane Baz Rays Steadily posting quality starts and building stamina. Baz has yet to surrender more than 3 ER in any start since returning from the IL.
43 (49) Robbie Ray Giants Last week’s 4.1 IP 7 H 4 ER 3 BB 4  wasn’t necessarily a terrible “sound the alarms” type of outing and the 9 Ks in 5 IP yesterday moves him up a bit.
44 Clayton Kershaw Dodgers 3 2/3 IP, 3 ER, ERA at 5.87. There’s a point where it goes from shaking off rust to worrying that the ER genie can’t be jammed back into the lamp. We’re not there yet with Kershaw.
45 (55) Nick Pivetta Red Sox QS with 10 Ks. A nice way to shake off the Colorado dust from last week.
46 (34) Nick Lodolo Reds 5 2/3 IP, 8 ER, ERA at 3.99. Oh my. NFG.
47 Justin Verlander Astros Topped out at 94 MPH in a simulated game yesterday. Eligible to return in two weeks.
48 (43) Jose Berrios Blue Jays Gave up another 3 HR (at NYY) in the race for the most bombs teed up in the league this year. Smh.
49 (22) Max Scherzer Rangers More below.
50 (45) Gavin Stone Dodgers I wanted to move him up this week but 4 ER at OAK snuffed that torch out pretty quickly.
51 (52) Nathan Eovaldi Rangers I got a bit worried that I ran out of space to move Eovaldi up…then I looked at his last four starts are realized there was no need to worry.
52 (53) Matt Waldron Padres 4 IP 5 H 5 ER 1 BB 6 K last week, then 5.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 Ks yesterday. Because of course. Yep, he’s a knuckleballer.
53 (61) Bryan Woo Mariners After all of the joking about the injury list and his lack of stamina, he goes out and throws 92 pitches in a 7-inning 5-hit shutout against the Phillies with 0 BB and 6 Ks.
54 (50) Jeffrey Springs Rays It was an acceptable return after a lengthy absence, but he’s going to have to up the stamina and at least qualify for wins if he’s going to be servicable the rest of the way. 3.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 Ks, (no decision).
55 (42) Justin Steele Cubs This one is borrowed from Grey (to keep the Steele wielders at bay) – “5 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 3.38. The Man of Steele goes from ace to turd faster than a speeding bullet”.
56 (60) Erick Fedde Cardinals Fedde is gonna get-ty a lot more run support in St. Louis than he got in Chicago.
57 (54) Kutter Crawford Red Sox Can you guess who’s in the running with Jose Berrios for most home runs allowed? I’ll give you a hint. His name rhymes with Sputter Slawford. Oh, and he’s given up 12 HR in his last 3 GS.
58 Jared Jones Pirates Please just come back when you’re eligible (August 21st). My mixed league team needs you!
59 Nestor Cortes Yankees 5 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 5 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 4.16. Meh. Not bad, and it could certainly have been worse, but…meh.
60 (62) Carlos Rodon Yankees Honestly, when I check the opponent of almost every single SP who has a good start it ends up being against the Blue Jays (or CWS).
61 (67) Gavin Williams Guardians First dub of the year! 5 IP 2 H 0 ER 1 BB 8 K.
62 (63) Brady Singer Royals 7 IP, 3 ER, 6 hits, zero walks, 4 Ks, ERA at 2.88 vs Shite Sux.
63 (64) Brayan Bello Red Sox 6 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 9 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 5.13. Keep shaving that ERA…please!
64 (56) Christopher Sanchez Phillies 5 2/3 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 3.36. Ewwwwww.
65 (57) Hunter Brown Astros 7th loss: 5.2 IP 9 H 5 R 4 ER 2 BB 8 K. A rough one after throwing 3 QS in a row. Back to 66th this week!
66 (65) Brandon Pfaadt Diamondbacks A 5-inning no-decision with 3 Ks? Meh.
67 (68) Ryan Pepiot Rays Eligible to return Friday. Should throw a sim game this week.
68 (69)  Jake Irvin Nationals I mean…the WHIP is nice? 1.097 is pretty good, right? Ya, that’s all I got.
69 (70) MacKenzie Gore Nationals 5 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 9 baserunners, 1 K, ERA at 4.54. His last game was nearly identical to the Cortes start but with one K instead of 6. Ewwwwww.
70 (61) Chris Bassitt Blue Jays Rough stuff vs BAL. 4 IP 9 H 5 ER 1 BB 3 K
71 (85) Yusei Kikuchi Blue Jays I know I clowned on him a bit up top, but 11 Ks in his Houston debut is a pretty good start and should quell the rumblings from the Astros fans about what it cost them to bring him in. Could move way up if the trade gives him new life.
72 (75) Michael Wacha Royals 8th win: 7 IP 5 H 2 ER 2 BB 5 K (vs CWS).
73 (97) Spencer Schwellenbach Braves A big jump for the Braves’ kid. Double digit strikeouts in his last two starts and 29 Ks over his last 20 IP.
74 (NR) River Ryan Dodgers More below.
75 (76) Ben Lively Guardians Don’t call me Blake! And don’t call me a useless starter! Won his 10th game in his second straight QS. 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 Ks.
76 (87) Jose Soriano Angels More below.
77 (71) Yariel Rodriguez Blue Jays The 4.1 scoreless innings yesterday at NYY almost made us forget about the 0.2 IP .2 IP 3 ER 1 fastball off of James McCann’s face from his previous start…almost.
78 (74) Jameson Taillon Cubs 4.1 IP 6 ER v DET. I’m getting tired of defending the veterans instead of putting the hot rookie hands into the list. Saturday’s outing was better (6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 Ks) so he doesn’t drop much.
79 (98) Edward Cabrera Marlins True story: I almost dropped him in TGFBI last night, but the decent start last week (no decision & 7 Ks) against Jeffrey Springs bought him some more time. Then he put up another bunch of strikeouts (8) in 5 scoreless innings at ATL yesterday. 
80 (89) Colin Rea Brewers Rea was OK-a. 2 or fewer runs allowed in each of his last three starts.
81 (95) Sean Manaea Mets Huge game v MIN 7 IP 2 H 0 ER 1 BB 11 K.
82 (NR) Ryne Nelson Arizona 8th win: 7 IP 2 H 0 ER 2 BB 9 K. The ratios are ugly. The strikeouts aren’t really there. Despite that, this is likely too low. BUT, he has to start somewhere…I mean, other than in ARI.
83 (73) Luis Severino Mets 3 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 3.93. Oof. 
84 (90) Charlie Morton Braves Morton the Magician is back at it again! 6 IP, 0 ER, 7 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.94
85 (78) Andrew Abbott Reds Pitched into the 6th just once in his last 4 starts.
86 (79) Tyler Anderson Angels He’s a victim of boring numbers here despite impressive strikeout numbers in 3 of his last 4 starts (before this one).
87 (NR) Tyler Phillips Phillies 3-0, CG SO last outing, 2 BB in 25 IP. No runs allowed in his last 15 innings.
88 (NR) Hayden Birdsong Giants Scheduled to return from minors for a start early this week. Like Ryan and Phillips, this kid can throw and should be picked up off of the wire if he was dropped in your league when SFG sent him down.
89 (87) Javier Assad Cubs I’m ready to see some guys fall apart or get shut down already so we don’t have to do the song and dance waiting for the other shoe to drop. This is one of them. 6 IP 3 ER 5 Ks 81 pitches.
90 (81) Clarke Schmidt Yankees More below.
91 (80) James Paxton Red Sox A new Big Maple moves north…and east. He’s slipping based on ratios, but I’m interested to see what he can do in Boston for his next couple of starts.
92 (91) Marcus Stroman Yankees Not much to say here. Ironically, he’s the one SP that was punished by the Jays. 2.2 IP, 7 ER.
93 (92) Zack Littell Rays Just one earned run in his last 12.2 IP with 2 BB and 8 Ks keeps him on the list for now.
94 (93) Tobias Myers Brewers We’re running out of room!
95 (88) Jose Quintana Mets The lone survivor among him, Aaron Civale, and Dean Kremer.
96 (94)  Andrew Heaney Rangers Escaped the cut over Kyle Gibson this week.
97 (75) Yoshinobu Yamamoto Dodgers To tell you the truth, he was omitted this week, but I found a gap and had to move everyone else up a spot so he stays here on hope alone.
98 (NR) Bailey Falter Pirates Back on the list! 5th win: 5.1 IP 6 H 2 R 1 ER 0 BB 3 K.
99 (NR) DJ Herz Nationals It’s rave time once again in the Top 100 Starting Pitchers club. Time to bring back the DJ.
100 (NR) JP Sears Athletics Pre-season sleeper struck out a career high 9 batters in a 7 inning shutout at SFG for his 8th win.

BIGGEST DUMPERS: With apologies to Cal Raleigh, these are some of the biggest dumpers (in lue, not pants size).

Max Scherzer – I really wanted him to come back and be the heterochromatic beast that we all know and love…but Father Time remains undefeated. After missing time with a back injury,.. Mad Max is headed back to the IL with shoulder fatigue. He was Keelin’s lede Saturday morning, too.

Reynaldo Lopez – They’ve said that ReyLo “might” avoid the IL. That’s usually what they say a week or two before they place a guy on the IL. In situations like this, when we look back after a month, the news feed reads like this… “<Player> should be ok with some rest”, “<Player> might need an IL stint, but is day-to-day”,  “<Player> will miss his next start and wait for results of his MRI”,  “<Player> is headed to the IL, return unknown.”

Clarke Schmidt – I keep this guy on our list (a) because he’s a good arm, (b) because I don’t want to be accused of fostering any active Yankee biases. The fact of the matter is that he was projected to miss 4-6 weeks…on May 30th. If you do that math, you know he’s not progressing according to expectations.

BIGGEST JUMPERS: Who’s got hops? These are some of the biggest jumpers in value this week.

George Kirby – He’s not exactly a huge jumper this week, but I wanted to work in this clip for its awesome factor. For those of you with no heart or soul, the numbers don’t lie – 15 BBs in 136 IP is good for tops in the league (0.99 BB/9). If you like a feel-good story, though. This is pretty cool.

Jose Soriano – When the sinker is running out at 98.0 MPH and the fastball is clocking in at 98.9 MPH, the strikeouts will follow. Just 2 BBs this week in 6 IP is a good sign too.

 

River Ryan – LAD – great arm and should be rostered already in Keeper leagues but you think the Dodgers aren’t loading up on experienced arms? Flaherty pickup fills a spot so that rotation looks set with 5 more experienced arms…but there’s been more than one report that LA might go with a 6-man rotation. It makes sense as long as Riv is throwing like he is so that (a) they can manage innings of all starters ahead of what they perceive will be a lengthy playoff run, (b) keep the guys returning from injury on a strict pitch count with extra rest, and (c) there is no C.

I was out of town writing this one Sunday morning before coaching a couple of little league tournament games and heading to the post-tourney evening activities, so I didn’t get to watch Ryan’s start yesterday against the A’ss.

At the very least, you should be adding him in all leagues if you can dump a player or someone you use as a streamer. 11 big league innings is the definition of a small sample size, and his minor league numbers this year are based on just 24.1 IP, but if he sticks in the rotation he’s gonna be good.

Anytime you can pick up a strong young arm who gives up fewer hits than innings pitched, with more strikeouts and a low walk rate…it’s worth an add.

OOF – Which players slipped out of our Top 100 this week?

Jon Gray (out for at least a month)

Dean Kremer

Aaron Civale

Kyle Gibson

Drew Thorpe (15-day IL)

Kodai Senga

WHEE! Which Players vaulted into our Top 100 this week?

River Ryan

Tyler Phillips

Hayden Birdsong

DJ Herz

Bailey Falter

JP Sears

That’s all for this week! I hope you enjoyed it! Next week, I’ll post the Top 100 Starting Pitchers with some write-ups on some of the arms that I think need a bit more attention than others

Then, I’ll try to keep cherry-picking names to highlight throughout the list as we progress through the season.

Drop some comments in the chat if you’re feeling extra fired up about some of the names I do (or don’t) have here. Have a great week!

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





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