Happy Monday, Razzball faithful! I feel like an apology is in order. But, of course, it’s got a bit of a caveat. Let’s get this out of the way first. Yariel Rodriguez was NOT the answer to your starting pitcher streaming questions. The Cuban pitcher who shares the name with a certain fishy Disney princess, should, in fact, head back ‘under the sea’ of available free agents on your waiver wire. Oh, wait. Jail time or Jays 5th starter? Which whammy would you prefer? I’m sorry. I’ll wait for you to go wash out your eyeballs after that one. I SWEAR that I am an Alek Manoah fan. And I’ll although I was also fully prepared to edit this after he threw a great game against the Nationals yesterday…well, let’s just say I didn’t have to edit it too much. If you want to see that clip of me not trusting Manoah’s auto-appointment as a rotation piece, and Yariel as a potential replacement you can check out my AL East preview with Keelin here . Cool story, M.D., but where tee eff am I supposed to look if I want actual information and not just poorly photoshopped Disney memes? Wow. Straight for the jugular, eh? Ok, then. You’re looking for that Player Rater leaderboard . This is always a great resource to use if you’re doing your own research. A bit of this, and a splash of that goes into the prep-work for our weekly Top 100 Starting Pitchers list, too. The Streamonator is here to help you answer those burning questions that we might not be readily available to help you with 24/7. If you haven’t signed up for it yet, this should be your go-to reference for the entire season. It’s going to save you a lot of time researching on your own, and often includes those “Oh, I never thought about that” into the equation for you. Check the link, yo. So without further ado, I invite you to relax and pull up a chair as the dining room proudly presents: your dinner!
BIGGEST DUMPERS : With apologies to Cal Raleigh, these are some of the biggest dumpers (in value, not pants size).
Grayson Rodriguez 21 (6) – Grey’s son flew too close to the…uh…nevermind. The lofty expectations for Rodriguez were fine, and he was on his way to meeting them. He got roughed up at LAA two weeks ago, but could be ready to go when eligible. Zach Eflin 26 (18) – He seems to be coughing up earned runs in every other start. The two games preceding the last two were gems. These last couple of starts? 11.2 innings, 7 ER, 2 HR allowed. He did strike out 10 though. Aaron Nola 27 (16) – I’m not buying it. Full disclosure, I’ve never been much of a Nola fan. He hasn’t been terrible by any measure, but he’s not that top 10 Ace we used to see drafted as such. Reid Detmers 43 (33) – Detmers has given up at least four earned runs in each of his last three starts. Woof. Nathan Eovaldi 70 (59) – Sent to the 15-day IL with a groin strain. This might clear room for the return of Jack Leiter. Will he be better this time around? Al believe it when I see it. Merrill Kelly 80 (49) – Transferred to the 60-day IL. The D-Backs hope to have him back by July 1st, but he would have to have a clean bill of health with no setbacks for that to happen. I’m no expert in ‘teres major strain’ injuries, but it sounds like a tough road ahead for Kelly. BIGGEST JUMPERS : Who’s got hops? These are some of the biggest jumpers in value this week.
Shota Imanaga 11 (15) – I wrote him up in this space last week, and dang-nab-it, I’ll do it again! 5-0 now with a 0.78 ERA and a 0.750 WHIP? This guy could win the NL ROY and NY CY when it’s all said and done. Cole Ragans 14 (19) – I probably waited for too long to finally put Ragans into the Top 20. Now that I’ve said it, though, here’s hoping the wheels don’t fall off. He was removed from his start in Toronto with a leg cramp but was cruising through 6 innings (9 Ks) until then. Jose Berrios 17 (24) – The AL Pitcher of the Month. He certainly looks like the old Twins version that the Jays had hoped for when they dealt SWR and Austin Martin for him in 2021. he’s registering less than a strikeout per inning, so I get it if you keep your distance, but this is more about him outperforming his draft-day price. Jared Jones 20 (30) – 52 Ks in 41 IP with just 5 BB? If you’re somehow not a believer yet, check this little tidbit out. Kutter Crawford 33 (30) – ERA is at 1.56, WHIP is at 1.066, BAA is at .201. This spring sleeper list darling is well on his way to posting career highs in everything. Kyle Bradish 45 (87) – He was a top option on draft day, then dropped like a concrete surfboard in the ocean when the arm injury surfaced. If he can build on a good first start, he could launch up the list quickly. Just be careful to monitor the workload as the arm might not be strong enough to handle 150+ innings. Paul Skenes 69 (80) – It might be too late to stash him in your league, but I’d double-check the wire. It’s tough to recommend or to get hyped up about these rookie pitchers. But it looks like Skenes could hit the ground running and be the best arm they’ve had in Pittsburgh for a long time. OOF The following players dropped off the list this week. WHEE! The following players launched into the Top 100 this week.
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!
