Happy Monday, Razzball faithful!
I believe it was on this week’s pod that BDon razzed Grey about using references from the 80s, pointing out “That was forty years ago, Grey”.
Well, don’t worry my Bo-Bichette-bashing-buddy, I’ve managed to bring our readers way back to the future…with a music reference that I thought was at least from 1990.
Alas, the album I took these lyrics from was released in 1989, so I suppose we’re still stuck in the 80’s.
American poet laureate, Trent Reznor, gave us some words to live by in that one. And, if you’ve practiced good baseball etiquette throughout the 2024 season, I’m sure the baseball gods will ensure that “You’re going to get what you deserve”.
If you paid attention to my rankings last week, you might have jumped on the Bowden Francis train before it steamed through your waiver wire queue. And if you paid close enough attention, you got a nice little Pee Wee’s Big Adventure reference to boot.
It was just a week ago that Francis was named AL player of the week with a 7-day total of 14 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 15 Ks, 2 wins, 0.64 ERA.
For our Blue Jays starter, I took the liberty of rewording the chorus of Reznor’s opus…
“Bats in a Hole
Splitter takes toll
How ‘bout a guy
With elite control?”
Maybe “elite” is stretching it a bit, but come on. Please give me some creative leeway here.
Francis’s 2024 BB/9 is 2.39. That’s over 22 games played; 8 of which were starts.
2.39 isn’t quite an elite level. Heck, it’s not even that much above average when you rank the best of the best. (For the record, it would slot him squarely between JP Sears’ 2.33 and Yusei Kikuchi’s 2.41 if we looked at 2024 season numbers).
How impressive has his stuff looked?
This is an odd way to tell the media that your teammates suck, but let’s let him cook.
Ok, so it sounds like Taylor Ward isn’t a good one to ask about Bowden’s recent success.
But if we reach up and pick that nice juicy cherry, let’s run his most recent 5 starts since July 29th through the Starting Pitcher machine.
33 IP, 15 H, 7 ER, 5 BB, 36 Ks, 1.91 ERA?
Yes. That’s a readout from the machine that’s pretty tough to hate.
The BB/9 over those starts? 1.36.
For reference, if Francis had posted that 1.36 BB/9 through his entire season, it would slot him 3rd overall behind two elite control wizards in Zach Eflin (1.00 BB/9), and George Kirby (1.16 BB/9).
Before we get all giddy, let’s acknowledge that Bowden Francis isn’t winning a Cy Young anytime soon.
But he can be a good source of innings, ratio help, and even strikeouts if you’re looking to replace an injured starter on your roster. Keelin wrote him up a bit as such an option in her Ambulance Chasers piece this week.
If you ignored my words on him last week BUT listened to Keelin on Saturday…well, you were rewarded for your Razzball loyalty with this little piece of Blue Jays history…
“I feel all the love and support. It’s pretty special.”
Bowden Francis joins the broadcast and looks back on his 1-hit outing. pic.twitter.com/2gcDljsI9r
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 25, 2024
That’s pretty awesome. And the Chris Bassitt part is pretty awesome too. But, let’s just cut to the chase. What was your secret to success on Friday night, Bowden?
“Rolling with it, believing in my shit and letting it eat.”
-Bowden Francis pic.twitter.com/e6eIHPKKG6
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 24, 2024
Be careful with your noun and verb placement there, Shooter.
Like I said, Bowden Francis might not be a Top 40 starting pitcher on draft boards next spring, but for the rest of the year? You could do a lot worse than a guy who has struck out 34 batters in his last 27 IP.
Where does Bowden Francis slot in for this week’s Top 100 Starting Pitchers list? He can’t jump that far up from the 97th spot, can he?
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 | Tarik Skubal | Tigers | 5 innings, 3 ER, and his 15th win with another 8 Ks? Ya that’s good enough to keep him here. Just don’t bank on a lot more innings the rest of the way. DET sounds like they want to start capping his starts. |
| 2 | Zack Wheeler | Phillies | It’s late August, so there isn’t much movement among the Top 10 arms. Most of these guys are in that section of the Player Rater too. |
| 3 | Chris Sale | Braves | I almost moved him down below Cease this week, and the 4 Ks in 7 IP vs WSH didn’t help his case. Maybe next week. |
| 4 | Dylan Cease | Padres | 6.1 IP, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 Ks and still tagged with a loss vs NYM? The one walk is a nice bounce back from last week’s 5. |
| 5 | Paul Skenes | Pirates | 6 IP, 0 ER, 9 Ks, ERA at 2.16. Sure, his velocity is down. And he’s probably tiring. But I’m not moving him in redraft either way. And if you tell me you’d rather have the Player Rater’s #5 (Seth Lugo)… I mean, come onnnn. |
| 6 (9) | Jack Flaherty | Dodgers | Team? Check. Strikeouts? Check. Health? Check…so far. Keep running him out for those Ks and Ws. |
| 7 (6) | Cole Ragans | Royals | Same as above but with less run support. |
| 8 (12) | Blake Snell | Giants | The Player Rater hates him (#93) but I’m in for a strong second half. He’s given up 8 ERs (total) over 9 starts since his return on July 9th. |
| 9 (11) | George Kirby | Mariners | Player Rater loves wins. I love to see strikeouts and a low BB/9. That’s why he’s here and not 27th. |
| 10 (16) | Michael King | Padres | King took the loss Saturday but only gave up one earned run. Strikeout totals keep climbing. |
| 11 (13) | Shoto Imanaga | Cubs | I nearly moved him into the Top 10 based on solid stats alone but he got pushed out by King’s Ks. |
| 12 (13) | Gerrit Cole | Yankees | He’s motoring along, but the strikeouts need to return before he gets back to elite status and cracks the Top 10. |
| 13 (17) | Bailey Ober | Twins | He’s Top 10 on the Player Rater. |
| 14 (10) | Logan Gilbert | Mariners | It’s a Grey quote for this one: 4.2 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 3,21. “I’m filing this start away with his 2 2/3 IP, 7 ER start from earlier this year so I can point out in the offseason how his ERA was under-3 if you throw out two starts”. |
| 15 | Luis Castillo | Mariners | More strikeouts. More earned runs. Both he and the guy below him could slip out of the Top 20 if they don’t figure it out sooner rather than later. |
| 16 (6) | Corbin Burnes | Orioles | A few months ago we wouldn’t have dreamed of seeing him this low. A few weeks ago we wouldn’t have dreamed that he’d give up 20 ER in his last 4 starts either. |
| 17 (8) | Tyler Glasnow | Dodgers | It’s the same story as Flaherty…but without the health checkmark. It sounds like he “should” return in September. I wouldn’t want my fantasy team’s pitching stats hinging on a “should”. |
| 18 (23) | Pablo Lopez | Twins | 13-inning shutout streak over two starts? And he faces the Jays at home this week? Toronto hasn’t been as bad as last month, but I’d still start Lopez confidently. |
| 19 (30) | Ranger Suarez | Phillies | 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 B, 6 Ks. Solid return after a month on the IL. |
| 20 (25) | Framber Valdez | Astros | Player Rater loves him (#14) but I think that’s been hanging out with the pre-season War Room. Strikeout totals have pushed him back up the list over the last two months. |
| 21 (18) | Aaron Nola | Phillies | The strikeouts aren’t there (averaging 4.4 in his last 7 starts). The ratios are good, though. And pitching for a strong offense should help him sniff 15 wins before the end of the year. |
| 22 (19) | Zach Eflin | Rays | Just a bit of a slip as he landed on the 15-day IL on Tuesday with shoulder inflammation. If he can go, he’ll be back when eligible (Sept. 1). Baltimore wants to win that AL East pennant. |
| 23 (24) | Logan Webb | Giants | 8 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 Ks. Just cruising. |
| 24 (28) | Zac Gallen | Diamondbacks | Flip flops bad with good outings. Somehow, he got through 6 innings with just 2 hits allowed (0 ER) at Fenway after getting rocked in 5 at TB the previous start. |
| 25 (20) | Tanner Houck | Red Sox | I wanted to move him into the Top 20. ARI had other ideas. 6 IP, 6 ER, 4 BB, 2 Ks last night. |
| 26 (27) | Freddy Peralta | Brewers | 5 IP, 0 ER is lovely. The 2 Ks? Barf emoji. |
| 27 (34) | Reynaldo Lopez | Braves | Grey’s lede from Wednesday put up 10 Ks against PHI last week then struck out another 7 Nats last night. I wanted to move him up, but the Player Rater has him at 39 so this felt ok for now. |
| 28 (31) | Bryce Miller | Mariners | He needed 92 pitches to complete 4 innings at LAD but only gave up 2 ER. |
| 29 (21) | Grayson Rodriguez | Orioles | “Could return sometime in September”. Oh……Kay. |
| 30 (26) | Tanner Bibee | Guardians | Just OK on Friday against the Rangers (4 ER, 6 Ks in 5.1 IP). |
| 31 (29) | Ronel Blanco | Astros | He and Nick Pivetta exchanged 5 ER each in their last start. Ronel only needed 3.2 IP to do it compared to Pivetta’s 5. That’s the way it works, right? |
| 32 (22) | Luis Gil | Yankees | The back strain IL assignment last Wednesday raised some red flags. Boone said it’s not serious and Gil should return when he’s eligible on September 6th. Maybe they can have him work on his control issues while he’s out. Monitor for now. |
| 33 (41) | Max Fried | Braves | 7 innings and 4 strikeouts isn’t ideal but as long as he’s limiting the ER and getting a good shot at building on that win total… |
| 34 (35) | Justin Verlander | Astros | He’s back. Will he hammer out 5 double-digit strikeout games in a row? No. But can he give your fantasy team an above-average shot at wins and ratio help? I think so. He can stay here for now and move up or down accordingly over the next few weeks. |
| 35 (48) | Jose Berrios | Blue Jays | Three starts and three straight wins with 7 IPs in each game. The 4 total ERs in 3 GS are great. The 20 Ks in 21 IPs? Awesome. But what’s even more impressive than all of that? He gave up just 2 HR (total) in those three starts. |
| 36 (32) | Sonny Gray | Cardinals | The strikeouts are still very solid but he gave up another 5 ER Friday night and gets the Padres at home this week. Danger. |
| 37 (39) | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | He was roughed up for 5 ER against the Rays on Saturday, but I’d bet he throws more innings than the guy directly below him the rest of the way… |
| 38 | Garrett Crochet | White Sox | 9 Ks in 4 IP at HOU last week. 4 Ks in 4 IPs at SF on Wednesday. Any guesses what the date was for his last win? Hint: You need to go waaaaay back. |
| 39 (47) | Justin Steele | Cubs | Yes. With all this flip-flopping, it’s been a season of Cubs Steele in the hour of chaos. |
| 40 (43) | Bryan Woo | Mariners | More below. |
| 41 (37) | Kevin Gausman | Blue Jays | More below. |
| 42 (63) | Spencer Schwellenbach | Braves | More below. |
| 43 (40) | Nick Pivetta | Red Sox | He’s been an earned run machine lately but I’ll be watching the game today vs TOR…just to see the Danny Jansen mayhem. |
| 44 | Robbie Ray | Giants | A nice 9 strikeout outing last week but had to leave yesterday’s start after 3 innings with an ‘undisclosed’ injury. I know he didn’t “Belvedere” himself with those tight pants on, so at least we can rule that out. |
| 45 (55) | Gavin Stone | Dodgers | He followed up a career-high 10-strikeout performance from last week (SEA) with an equally impressive 7 K start vs TB yesterday. Movin’ on up! |
| 46 | Jared Jones | Pirates | He struck out 10 in his Tuesday rehab start! Due back this Tuesday! Let’s Go! Exclamation point! |
| 47 (50) | Mitch Keller | Pirates | I honestly have no idea. He reminds me of MacKenzie Gore. Talent A+, consistency D-. Four starts ago he allowed zero earned runs. Then he gave up 15 in his next two starts combined. Last Tuesday? 7 shoutout innings with 9 strikeouts for his 11th win. *shrug emoji* |
| 48 (42) | Seth Lugo | Royals | 7 IP, 2 ER, 8 Ks last week was enough to keep him in his spot. Last night’s 11 H, 5 ER debacle in 5.1 IP? He looked a lot more like the guy who gave up 7 at Minnesota two weeks ago. Still a Top 5 Player Rater guy. Yikes. |
| 49 (33) | Taj Bradley | Rays | Tumblefish. More below. |
| 50 (36) | Hunter Greene | Reds | No UCL damage according to the MRI is good news. Coming back in late September is the bad news. He’s 8th on the Player Rater. *eyes emoji* |
| 51 (57) | Christopher Sanchez | Phillies | 6 IP, 3 ER, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.51. My note for this week? “Who knows”. I like that PHI offense though. |
| 52 (58) | Carlos Rodon | Yankees | A nice rebound victory shutout at home (COL) after needing 3.1 innings and 90 pitches at DET the week before. |
| 53 | Shane Baz | Rays | Misses his start this week because of the flu. I’d bet a fresh bottle of local maple syrup that this guy makes Grey’s shortlist for 2025 SP sleepers. |
| 54 (61) | Nestor Cortes | Yankees | There are a few guys that drive me crazy from week to week. This is one of them. 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 Ks. |
| 55 (79) | Spencer Arrighetti | Astros | More below. |
| 56 (51) | Nathan Eovaldi | Rangers | The arm is golden. The results just never seem to match the ability. |
| 57 (56) | Erick Fedde | Cardinals | Fedde wap. |
| 58 (68) | Sean Manaea | Mets | 7 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 9 Ks. The lede/focus from two weeks ago is still keeping pace with the big boys. |
| 59 | Yusei Kikuchi | Astros | 5.2 IP ,1 ER, 7 Ks last week. 5.2 IP, 3 ER, 4 Ks yesterday. This guy is the anti-quality start pitcher. He has more than 6 complete innings just once in his last 14 GS. |
| 60 | Brandon Pfaadt | Diamondbacks | 5.1 IP, 11 baserunners, 4 ER, 4 Ks? This is one of those ‘future growing pains’ outings I mentioned in last week’s article. |
| 61 (45) | Nick Lodolo | Reds | Remember when I was all excited that this guy was breaking out? Lodo-lol-o. |
| 62 (72) | Luis Severino | Mets | I almost put him in the 50s, but the 4 walks Thursday night curbed that plan. With last week’s CG SO, he’s given up just one earned in 14 IPs. |
| 63 (65) | Hunter Brown | Astros | Four straight starts with 2 or fewer ERs? More than a strikeout per inning? It’s time to get back in if you bailed out a month ago. |
| 64 | Gavin Williams | Guardians | Another start with fewer than 6 innings pitched. That’s not good if you need wins. |
| 65 (75) | Ryne Nelson | Arizona | Three solid starts in a row and 22 Ks in his last 19.2 IP. Still, some ugly ratios and a 7.48 K/9 keep him down here. |
| 66 | Brady Singer | Royals | The KC Singer took it on the chin last week but was up against the Phillies. Give him one more start before pushing him back down again. |
| 67 (76) | Colin Rea | Brewers | The strikeouts aren’t there but he won his 12th of the year on Saturday and his ratios are respectable. He’s 32nd on the Player Rater. |
| 68 (67) | Ryan Pepiot | Rays | 6 IP, 2 ER, 3 base runners, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.65. One point for every day of the year? That’s a category, right? |
| 69 (71) | Michael Wacha | Royals | A Fozzie Bear Wacha Wacha joke at #69 feels like an R-rated Muppets movie. |
| 70 (97) | Bowden Francis | Blue Jays | See the lede above. If he keeps this up, he’s jumping another 20 spots next week (at least). Big test coming up at BOS and vs PHI. |
| 71 (62) | Brayan Bello | Red Sox | More below. |
| 72 (74) | Tobias Myers | Brewers | The 6-5 record is nothing to write home about, but the ratios are pretty close to pristine and this kid hasn’t given up more than 2 ER in 6 straight starts. |
| 73 (83) | Eduardo Rodriguez | Diamondbacks | 5.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 Ks. Nice numbers here, but the most important one was the 100 pitches he threw. He seems stretched out and ready to roll the rest of the way. |
| 74 (52) | Jeffrey Springs | Rays | More below. |
| 75 (49) | Max Scherzer | Rangers | More below. |
| 76 (69) | Yariel Rodriguez | Blue Jays | 4.1 IP, 5 ER. Ouch. Back “Under the Sea” with this one. |
| 77 (88) | Joe Musgrove | Padres | 7 shutout innings with 9 strikeouts should move him up even higher, but let’s see one more outing like this where he can pitch deep in the game before moving him up near the Top 50. |
| 78 (70) | Kutter Crawford | Red Sox | It’s pretty fitting that I needed to find a spot to drop Kutter Crawford into and I had to scroll down another page before it felt right. |
| 79 (77) | Walker Buehler | Dodgers | 4 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1 K. 82 pitches. He’s not the ace he was for a few years there but he does pitch for an offensive juggernaut. I’d wait for more signs his health is improving and stream based on matchups for now. |
| 80 (93) | DJ Herz | Nationals | He deserves to move up even higher based on his 5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 8 Ks from last night. |
| 81 (78) | MacKenzie Gore | Nationals | I don’t even want to look at his numbers from last week. Spoiler: It was Friday at ATL. And it wasn’t that bad. |
| 82 (NR) | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | Dodgers | Yosi starts a rehab assignment on Wednesday. Due back mid-September. |
| 83 (81) | Ben Lively | Guardians | This guy is the Larry David “Meh” GIF. 6 innings and 2 ER one week gets him nothing but a loss. The next week? Yep. It’s a win. Strikeouts need to be higher to move him up. |
| 84 (86) | JP Sears | Athletics | Originally, I moved a bunch of guys down to slide JP up into the 70s. Then I saw that he gave up 7 runs to MLW on Friday night and struck out three. He can stay here for now. |
| 85 (89) | Andrew Heaney | Rangers | 5 IP, 0 ER, 8 Ks. Not bad at all. |
| 86 (84) | Charlie Morton | Braves | 5.2 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 Ks. You know what? Out of all the 40-something starting pitchers, Morton has given us 130+ innings with 133 strikeouts. That’s more than Verlander and Scherzer…combined. |
| 87 (94) | Jameson Taillon | Cubs | #66 on the Player Rater! |
| 88 (87) | Jose Soriano | Angels | I really like the arm here, and the strikeout potential is sky-high. But I would be surprised if the Angels activated him when eligible (Sept. 1). A bottom-feeding team like this needs to protect a pitcher already over his career high in IP. |
| 89 (82) | Jake Irvin | Nationals | More below. |
| 90 (80) | Chris Bassitt | Blue Jays | 14 ER in his last 15 IPs? With fewer strikeouts than innings pitched? As my oldest would say…“This guy is dog water”. |
| 91 | Edward Cabrera | Marlins | 6 IP, 3 ER, 3 Ks. At least his ERA is lower than 6.00? Ya, that’s all I’ve got. I should probably just drop him off of the list to save my sanity. |
| 92 (NR) | Zebby Matthews | Twins | One of our ‘players to consider’ last week. 5 ER in his first 15 IP with 13 Ks and just 2 BBs plays in most leagues. |
| 93 (NR) | Clarke Schmidt | Yankees | He’ll stretch out with at least 1-2 rehab starts. Eligible to return September 9th. Monitor for now or add him off the waiver wire if you have room. |
| 94 (NR) | Osvaldo Bido | Athletics | Another A’s pitcher? Really? Well, back-to-back shutouts and three wins in a row means Bido is worth a FAAB Bid-or-two. |
| 95 | Valente Bellozo | Marlins | 3 HR and 5 ER with 5 BB and 1 K means he gets one more week before Bellozo is banished back to the opera house. |
| 96 | Albert Suarez | Orioles | I should have added him last week. He’s here now and should be able to stick for a while while Grayson Rodriguez is on the shelf. |
| 97 (90) | David Festa | Twins | He needs to last longer in games. And give up fewer runs. And keep those ratios down. Other than that? He’s good. |
| 98 (NR) | Michael Lorenzen | Royals | Two solid starts last week put him back on the list. |
| 99 (73) | Tyler Mahle | Rangers | Placed on the 15-day IL with shoulder tightness? Come on, man. TJS last May. More than a month of rehab starts in June/July. Now back to the IL after 12.2 big league innings? Woof. |
| 100 (NR) | Jacob deGrom | Rangers | More below. |
BIGGEST JUMPERS: Who’s got hops? These are some of the biggest jumpers in value this week.
Bryan Woo 40 (43) – Woo baby! Yes, it’s me again, the leader of the Bryan Woo fan club. Don’t forget to show your club card at the door and pick up some Woo-punch on your way in. This guy was our lede a few weeks ago and the main concern for the rest of the season was the team’s announcement that he’d be subject to ‘inning management’. Because he had to adhere to a strict pitch count in each start, the Seattle righty struggled to get through 6 innings and wins were scarce. Well, the good news is he’s pitched into the 6th inning in each of his last 5 starts. The not-so-good news? Well, he only has two wins in those starts. But, that 88 average pitch count is about 20 higher than his totals from June and July.
Spencer Schwellenbach 42 (63) – To tell you the truth, I was thisclose to running out a Schwellenbach lede before Bowden popped off. He’s been on fire for the last 4 weeks and would’ve been a worthy top selection if not for Francis’s flirting with a no-hitter on Saturday night. When a guy has 53 strikeouts in his last 37.2 innings…it doesn’t really matter what other numbers he’s posting. The 6 HR allowed and 15 ER over those 6 starts aren’t “great”, but with that kind of K/9%, I don’t think anyone is complaining either way.
Spencer Arrighetti 55 (73) – If we go way back to March 25th, we can peek at my Next Next 100 article. That’s the one where I dug deep into the post-200 hellscape that was the preseason Player Rater. I wrote a few words about the 280th SP and targeted him as a name to sneak onto reserve lists in AL-only pools. “Another young arm that was a ‘buzzy’ kind of name during spring training. Arrighetti is Houston’s #3 (overall) prospect and their top pitching arm of the future. He has three years of minor league experience and posted an 11.0+ K% in each stop until he reached AAA at the end of the year (8.72 K% in 64 AAA innings to finish 2023). He’s a four-pitch starter that should get a shot at some point this summer.” And that’s me quoting me!
Fast forward to last week. What did he give us? A 6-inning shutout at BAL with 6 Ks and no walks? After a slew of double-digit strikeout outings? This one’s almost as good as Mom’s spaghetti. He nearly broke the Top 50 this week, but I played it conservatively. He’ll launch up again if he can post another one of those 12 K games.
Jacob deGrom 100 (NR) – Jacob deGrom “will make 3 more rehab starts before activation”. What’s the betting line that deGrom gets through these starts with a clean bill of health and is throwing for the Rangers in a month? At the end of each of these games, if deGrom’s arm is still attached, he should receive an MLB infinity stone that he can place in the “Is he actually going to start a game this year?” gauntlet. He threw 29 pitches in two innings last Thursday at Fresno, so I guess the first stone is set…for now.
BIGGEST DUMPERS: With apologies to Cal Raleigh, these are some of the biggest dumpers (in value, not pants size).
Kevin Gausman 41 (38) – The venom that some people spit about Gausman is kind of baffling. I know we expect double-digit strikeouts each time out, and I’ll be the first to admit that he’s far from that Top 10 ace we expected way back in March. But EVERY time I try to move him down, he posts a solid start. 7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 Ks. Yes, it was at home against the hapless Angels but it could’ve been much worse. Is he a Top 50 starting pitcher? Probably not. But I’d rather start a guy who can put up a start like last week’s than another guy in the bottom 50 with much less experience and who’s never shown the ability to dominate a team. Those dominant games may be fewer and farther between now, but I’d still run him out for most starts.
Taj Bradley 50 (33) – The breakout was here. We were fully bought in. And then? Taj started pitching…badly. (I’m sorry – and I know it should be ‘poorly’). Taj has averaged 4.6 earned runs over his last 5 starts and has been much more hittable than he was in June and July. He’s still a hold in keeper leagues, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some managers have already dropped him for streamers with good matchups (depending on the league size).
Brayan Bello 71 (62) – Two solid starts with just one earned run allowed in each? Then guess who went and gave up 5 ER on Friday night to ARI? Someone call Michael Keaton and tell him to put on the Beetlejuice makeup already. “Bay-O…Who’s bad? Bay-ay-ay-O! Bello pitches and me want to go home”.
Jeffrey Springs 73 (52) – 3.1 IP, 3 ER in last week’s start AT OAKLAND. Yes, he needed 82 pitches to record 10 outs against the A’s. Oakland isn’t exactly as bad as some would have us believe, but still. If a guy is throwing the same number of innings as a long reliever but is starting each of those games, what do we call him? A starting reliever? A long bullpen opener? A short starter? No, wait. That’s Marcus Stroman.
Max Scherzer 75 (49) – Let’s do a reading comprehension/news scanning exercise. See what kind of words pop out of the Associated Press blurb for our 40-year-old Rangers starting Pitcher. Ok? Let’s do it. Shelf. Fatigue. Nerve Injection. Suffered. Setback. Press. Pause. Timeline. Condition. Oh wow. Those are not good words when read in or out of context.
Jake Irvin 89 (80) – I always find myself wondering, “Why are there certain players that I dislike? Is it because they’re inherently bad people? That’s unlikely. Are they just really bad players (also unlikely…maybe)? Jake Irvin falls on that list for me. He’s right there with guys like Nestor Cortes, Tyler Anderson, and Marcus Stroman. So, to see if I could nail down why I do not like this guy, I had a peek at his Statcast page…
Uh…I now know that the reason why I dislike Jake Irvin isn’t because of his taste in music or his ‘clubhouse presence’. Woooooooof.
WHEE! – The following players zoomed on to the list this week!
Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Zebby Matthews
Clarke Schmidt
Albert Suarez
Osvaldo Bido
Michael Lorenzen
Jacob deGrom
OOF! – The following players dropped off the list this week!
Matt Waldron – fluttered right off the list after a 10 ER outing and a demotion.
Joe Ryan – (may be out for the year).
Andrew Abbott – IL
Zack Littell – shoulder fatigue (IL).
James Paxton
Nick Martinez
River Ryan
Oh, and before I sign off, I guess I should give you the tune from our up-top section too. Bowden Before The One You Serve, indeed. Enjoy!
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 or cherry-picking names to highlight as we progress through the last couple of months of 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
