Top 101 Starting Pitchers: Rest-Of-Season Rankings for Fantasy Baseball Week 16 (2025)

July 18, 2025

Nick Mariano's updated fantasy baseball starting pitcher rankings for Week 16 (2025). Baller Ranks is a weekly rankings list for the top-101 starting pitchers.

We hope you're catching your breath during the All-Star break, because it's about to be a downhill race to the finish line throughout the second half of our marathon. This week's piece will take the opportunity to check in on recently activated arms, as well as those facing potential workload concerns on the horizon. Let the latest edition of the FSWA-award-winning Best Baseball Series assist you in getting those bearings moving forward.

Readers will find my SP thoughts with tiered ranks (the tiers matter more than individual ranks), complemented by a rest-of-season auction value ($), their Previous Week's Value (PV), the trend between the two, and a (+/-) column denoting the rank shift compared to last week. There is also a prospect table at the end from our star evaluator, Eric Cross. This is written throughout Tuesday, but the ASB means I don't have to worry about late game performances shifting things!

As always, these ranks are geared toward traditional 5x5 roto leagues, and I typically exclude most injured SPs unless they're about to return. Hopefully, you're not dealing with too many of those. Without further ado, let's hop into my weekly Starting Pitcher Baller Ranks!

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Starting Pitcher Rankings Analysis for Week 16

-Tyler Glasnow looked enough like his usual self in the July 9 return to the bump. It had been roughly two and a half months since we’d seen him toe the rubber, with Glasnow throwing sliders and sinkers at a season-high rate (mostly at the expense of curveballs).

While his four-seamer saw a season-low 32.9% usage, it was blasting in at 96.8 mph (previous 2025 high was 95.7 on March 31). Everything should settle back towards his norms, but it’ll be interesting to see if he starts leaning on the sinker/slider more than the curve this summer.

Doing so could cap his K%, unless he saves the hammer for deep in the count. Thus far, the curve is responsible for 11 of his 28 Ks, so let’s hope it was a brief “feel” blip after time off.

There’s no dancing around that his small 23 IP sample comes with a 4.86 FIP and 4.16 SIERA, with the 9.4% swinging-strike rate well below last year’s 13.8% clip (16.4% in ‘23). And his 14.4% walk rate hasn’t been seen since the 2016-17 Pittsburgh days.

But it’s early for him! We saw Carlos Rodon post a 13.8% walk rate through his first five starts, and that’s been halved over his next 15 outings.

Really nice showing from Tyler Glasnow
When healthy, he's a top 20 SP. Fingers crossed he can stay healthy for the second half pic.twitter.com/6O4w7fuyIU

— Andy Smith (@A_Smith_FS) July 9, 2025

-Kodai Senga looked strong after missing a month and stopping for one rehab start after a right hamstring strain in mid-June. Throwing 67 pitches, Senga blanked the Royals over four innings with four strikeouts (all finished by the Ghost Fork).

If he can continue to limit hard contact and avoid walks stacking up, then he should have a second half to boast about. Can he go the entire season without allowing more than three earned runs in a game?

-Brandon Woodruff has lost about three ticks off of his fastball since the 2023 pre-injury days, but you wouldn’t guess it by scouring the box score. It sat at 93.2 mph in his first start on July 6 and fell to 92.4 in the July 12 tilt.

That said, batters are hitting .100 against it with 12 strikeouts to eight batted-ball events, which is wild. In his time rehabbing, Woodruff has added a cutter and sweeper to the arsenal (largely against right-handed bats).

This could help him set the lesser fastball up more effectively, but it’s more likely that his K% settles around 24-26% after being 29-31% before surgery. We’ve seen Milwaukee give arms like Quinn Priester new life through the cutter, so trust is earned.

-Cam Schlittler had a solid MLB debut against Seattle, touching 100 mph in the process to earn another MLB start, according to Aaron Boone. That said, Luis Gil’s impending return and a likely trade deadline addition could easily push the rookie from the rotation.

-Sean Manaea piggybacked Clay Holmes on Sunday, tossing 3 ⅓ innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts thanks to 10 whiffs on 22 swings with the four-seamer. He got another three on seven swings against the sweeper, working largely as a two-pitch arm (he sprinkled in one changeup and slider apiece).

The heat topped out at 94.4 mph and averaged 93 after averaging 92.2 last year, but first-apperance adrenaline mixed with a relief job could juke this. Further off is throwing his fastball two-thirds of the time after it held a 31.1% clip last year.

Again, he didn’t need to worry as much about facing batters a third time, but it’s worth monitoring in his first post-ASB tilt.

-Yu Darvish was up-and-down in his first 2025 start against Arizona (3 ⅔ IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, HBP, 5 K), giving us a decent whiff tally to hang our hats on. However, start No. 2 against the Philles saw everything take a step backwards (4 ⅔ IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, HBP, 2 K) with 46-of-83 pitches landing for strikes. I remain hopeful, but there isn’t that long for these injured arms to come around.

-Joe Boyle looks to be once again on the outside looking in as Kevin Cash announced that Drew Rasmussen would go back to five-inning workloads. Ras pitched the fifth inning in Tuesday’s All-Star Game.

Kevin Cash just confirmed the #Rays rotation coming out of the All-Star break: Taj Bradley, Zack Littell, Ryan Pepiot, Shane Baz and Drew Rasmussen, with Rass expected to return to a five-inning workload.

— Ryan Bass (@Ry_Bass) July 12, 2025

**Inspired by a recent trade in one of my home leagues where Kris Bubic and Clay Holmes helped land Nick Kurtz, let’s check on potential workload concerns for the second half. This is not to say that you must sell these guys, but maybe you have a couple of them and are projected over your innings in a roto league like the aforementioned fellow? It's all just good to stay aware!

-Jacob deGrom (92 IP above ‘24) - He threw 21 ⅓ IP between the minors and majors last year and has blown past that with 112 ⅓ IP thus far. This is more than most had earmarked for the entire year, probably with a couple of IL stints baked in.

But he’s done well to manage his effort level and stay available for Texas and us. Will they shorten starts? Shut him down early in a non-competitive year?

-Robbie Ray (+59 IP) - Ray tossed 30 ⅔ IP down the stretch last year after 29 ⅓ IP on rehab in the minors. So he’s doubled that 60 IP mark thus far with lots to love.

-Jacob Misiorowski (-8 IP) - Milwaukee has already shown they’ll pull him earlier than a veteran starter as needed, with 74 and 72 pitches in his June 25 and July 2 starts, respectively. Of course, then he dazzled with 12 strikeouts over six innings (91 pitches) on July 8, so it isn’t rigid.

Between Triple-A and MLB, Miz sits at 89 IP after logging 97 ⅓ IP last year. Will they throttle him back until the ~150 IP mark? What if they want to save him for the postseason? Perhaps they will juggle Logan Henderson back into the mix soon.

-Spencer Strider (+65 IP) - Strider suffered his season-ending injury after just nine frames last year. We’ll track the velo, but he’s sat around 96 mph after a few starts around (or under) 95 had us scared. His final start of the first half did see a dip to 95.4, so we’ll see if he got ample rest over the break.

-Kodai Senga (+61 IP) - Senga got a breather on the IL, but surely the contending Mets will want him available for October. Perhaps they keep him from working too deep into games, but he should be able to find a groove throughout July and August.

-Kris Bubic (+43 IP) - The southpaw is maintaining most of his velocity, spin rate, and arm angle as he works deeper into the year as a starter. The team skipped his start in early June, which seemingly threw off his groove.

The six subsequent starts have yielded a 4.86 ERA with a 1.53 WHIP, but a 3.38 FIP/3.55 xFIP provides hope beyond the .367 BABIP. Just know that the numbers don’t scream “he’s fading,” though it may still cause K.C. to slow him down (he’s still been throwing 90 pitches per start).

-Jesus Luzardo (+33 IP) - Luzardo started the season on a heater before crashing into a two-start flop from hell, with 20 runs coming in just 5 ⅔ IP. Over half of his earned runs came in a four-start window between May 31 and June 17. But he finished on a high note by blanking the Giants over seven strong despite a slight velo dip. We’re still cruising.

-Eury Perez (+57 IP), Lucas Giolito (+90 IP), Sandy Alcantara (+91 IP), and Emmet Sheehan (+33 IP) are all working off of lost years. Perez and Sheehan should be okay after being slowly brought along, while Giolito and Alcantara could be pressing come September.

-Matthew Boyd (+50 IP) - Would you have guessed that Boyd’s final start before the break saw him post his highest average fastball velo (94.3 mph)? His workload management goes well beyond this year, as the southpaw hadn’t topped 80 MLB IP since 2019, yet here we are at 111 ⅔ IP. He’s been deemed in “good shape,” but don’t be surprised by a skipped start or two.

-Merrill Kelly (+38 IP) - I debated even including him since he’d thrown 177 ⅔ and 200 ⅓ IP in the previous two seasons. Some guys just have those rubber arms, and a team that trades for him surely won’t put him on the shelf after making the move.

-Cade Horton (+51 IP) - Horton has no specific innings limit, but the team will monitor the work according to Cubs general manager Carter Hawkins. He’s been hit around more lately, but the team needs him with Jameson Taillon out into August with a calf injury. This team needs to make an SP trade!

The Cubs won't have a specific innings limit for Cade Horton this season, but Carter Hawkins explains the thought process behind how they'll closely monitor his workload and look to get him extra rest at various times.

"It's a long, long season," Hawkins says. pic.twitter.com/2Wt4pEzO1K

— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) July 1, 2025

-Clay Holmes (+ 40 IP) - The converted reliever has innings and the role switch at work, yet his velocity has been creeping up! That power sinker was averaging 93.1 mph in May before going up to 93.7 in June and 94.3 in early July.

Perhaps it isn’t a coincidence that he hasn’t exceeded 90 pitches in any of the three July outings. Either way, it’s good to see him only walk one in back-to-back starts to close out the first half after walking at least four in three straight.

-Brandon Walter (+88 IP) - I won’t hold it against anyone for only learning about Walter this year. However, that means you don’t know he missed last year with a left shoulder strain after faltering out of the bullpen for Boston in ‘23. Houston may slow him down, especially if Luis Garcia and Cristian Javier look good through July on rehab.

Top 101 Starting Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball - Week 16

Top Starting Pitcher Stashes for Fantasy Baseball - Week 16

Here are the key SP stashes from our esteemed, industry-leading prospect analyst, Eric Cross. You can also read his full Top 25 Fantasy Baseball Prospects To Stash article, which is updated weekly!

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