Top 101 Starting Pitchers: Rest-Of-Season Rankings for Fantasy Baseball Week 7 (2025)

May 15, 2025

Nick Mariano's updated fantasy baseball starting pitcher rankings for Week 7 (2025). Baller Ranks is a weekly rankings list for the top-101 starting pitchers.

It's time for your quarter-season check-up! We're peeling back the layers on our starting rotations to dig into the latest FSWA-award-winning Best Baseball Series as we look to build superteams that drive us to the top. Let's toe the rubber of this week's edition of my weekly Starting Pitcher Baller Ranks!

Readers will find my SP thoughts with tiered ranks (the tiers are critical, please don't sacrifice blood pressure over ordinal slots within a tier), 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 via our star scout, Eric Cross.

As always, these ranks are geared toward traditional 5x5 roto leagues, and I typically exclude most injured SPs unless they're about to come back. Pitchers may not swing as much as you believe they should, but it is just mid-May, and hopefully, you at least agree with the trending directions. I also wrote this before Tuesday's games, but if appropriate, I will splice in brief thoughts on that as I go.

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Starting Pitcher Rankings Analysis for Week 7

-Tarik Skubal and Zack Wheeler get an exclusive top tier given the consistency, high strikeouts, low walks, and promising team environments. Yes, Skubal could be viewed as the No. 1 on an island given his torrid run after a couple of (relatively!) middling first outings. But Wheeler enters Tuesday leading MLB in innings (58), and that workhorse ability shouldn’t be ignored.

-Paul Skenes isn’t far from many of his 2024 numbers, with similar barrel rates, exit velocities, launch angles, and so forth. The 2.63 xERA is 10 points higher than last year’s 2.53 mark. But the biggest question revolves around the dip from a 33.1% K rate to 24.7% through nine starts, as well as a slip in control this May.

He’s yet to post a double-digit strikeout game, and after walking four total batters across his first six outings, the phenom walked four in each of his first two starts this month (and three in the most recent turn). That 14:11 K:BB in a three-start stretch is harrowing for those who spent big on Skenes.

His four-seamer and splitter usage is trending downward as more sweepers get woven in this month. (Batters have zero hits off the sweeper in May.) The Cubs got to his splitter, but otherwise, that pitch is faring well. But his four-seamer went from a .192 xBA and .320 xSLG in April to a .295/.523 split in May’s small sample, with the actual stats near the xStats.

Velocities are good, though spin rates are slightly down. His arm angle has risen over time, starting around 19 degrees in his first two starts before rising to about 24 degrees of late. As such, the vertical release point is up about two inches, and his horizontal release point has slid a bit. We'll keep an eye on it.

-Cole Ragans has more command in the tank, which means this isn’t even his final form. Let’s see if a midseason push can take him to the true Alpha tier.

-Max Fried looks incredible, and I won’t begrudge anyone for feeling like he should be higher. If the guy who struck out eight Padres or 11 Tigers shows up more consistently, with those 2-4 K outings few and far between, then he’ll get the jump.

-Chris Sale has struck out eight or more in three straight starts, posting a 28:4 K:BB in those 19 ⅓ IP. But he’s still absorbing a .378 BABIP in that span to keep the seasonal mark at a lofty .392 across 47 ⅔ IP.

While he is suffering a higher Meatball swing rate, that is to say that mistakes are being punished more frequently, the .281 average against is well above the .230 xBA. That 51-point gap is the second highest amongst 123 pitchers with at least 100 balls in play. The whiffs are coming, and the WHIP should calm down.

Sean Newcomb has the largest gap at 68 points. Let it be known that Landen Roupp’s 46 points is the third-largest gap! On the other side, you’d be correct in guessing that Tyler Mahle has the “luckiest” margin with a 65-point advantage in the .179 AVG against (.244 xBA).

-Dylan Cease naturally rights the ship against the Yankees in the hitter-friendly Bronx by taking a no-hit bid into the seventh inning before Cody Bellinger’s solo home run ended the party. He turned in a season-high nine strikeouts as he looks to find a rhythm in 2025, which has a great chance at picking up with a home start against the Angels on Tuesday.

-Griffin Canning was off my radar, thinking that good-not-great putaway stuff was going to catch up to him against Arizona and/or the Cubs. So naturally, he only walks one and gets dinged by a solo HR in each of those outings.

Now 5-1 with a 42:16 K:BB  and 2.36 ERA (3.49 FIP) in 42 IP, Canning may have staying power, throwing his slider more than his four-seamer while leaning on the changeup in clutch spots. The heater is also enjoying better command, as seen by comparing heat maps between 2024 and ‘25.

It’s worth noting that his xwOBACON is nearly identical to last year, while the 48.3% hard-hit rate against is easily a career-worst mark. But barrels have dipped, with an average eight-degree launch angle against a career rate of 12.3 degrees. The 54% groundball rate is easily a career-best tally, and the 9.5% Pull AIR rate is near the league leaders.

Surging arms such as Canning, Matthew Liberatore, Tony Gonsolin, and Matthew Boyd provide a nice reminder that mid-May is our 25% seasonal checkpoint. We don’t need these SPs to maintain their current form throughout the year, but much of the gains seen are proving sticky. Don’t trap yourself in that “Oh, it’s still early” trap where you wave off what’s happening.

-Ryan Weathers got on radars with bumped velocity this spring, sniffing 100 mph, but suffered a left forearm strain. We were worried that the amped up firepower broke his body down, but he hit 99 mph during a rehab start, and so we’re back in. (But maybe we’ll let him face the Cubs first.)

Ryan Weathers Statcast Data!

Weathers has gotten a lot of buzz this spring about his revamped arsenal, and the hype was warranted! His velocity is up +2 MPH and his fastball is getting a lot more ride

The stuff looks incredible and I’m very excited for Weathers this season! pic.twitter.com/5ebqIfZ3k5

— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) March 11, 2025

-Logan Henderson may get Wednesday’s start with Brandon Woodruff back on the IL and Jose Quintana getting pushed back. The 23-year-old tossed a gem in his MLB debut (6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K) but rotation health pushed him back to the minors, where he’s since thrown three sharp games (16 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 16 K).

Hype calls for Jacob Misiorowski, and we await that call, but Mis isn’t on the 40-man roster, and Henderson rightfully gets first dibs.

-Jackson Jobe has battled hitting his spots and got eaten alive by Coors, but at least flashed some upside with a season-high seven strikeouts on Monday against the Red Sox. Unfortunately, it came with another high in five walks and only a .167 BABIP on the day. The talent is worth a stash for the long run, but thus far, his results and the expected stats line up.

-Cade Horton won his MLB debut with four solid frames against the Mets following an opener inning from Brad Keller. The rookie’s fastball has more movement than your typical four-seamer, which gives him a strong primary alongside a plus slider/sweeper and a sneaky curve.

Cade Horton made his debut yesterday for the Cubs, and his arsenal is quite unique. His FF is more of a Cutter with 70% spin efficiency, and what stands out even more is his curveball. He threw it 4 times against LHH, and the movement seems to be more of a gyro slider. pic.twitter.com/dlLMMZja5M

— sam ehrlich (@SamEhrlich) May 12, 2025

Horton and his Cubbie teammates are kicking off a delightful stretch of schedule this week. Many of you have undoubtedly streamed them for the home series against Miami.

Well, next comes the White Sox, then Miami rematches, followed by Cincinnati, Colorado (in Chicago), and then the Reds again. For those not in the know, Cincy’s last two weeks of offensive “output” have generated a league-worst 65 wRC+ figure and .199 team average. Whomp.

-Jack Leiter corrected things thanks to hosting a listless Rockies offense away from their precious altitude. We don’t love three walks with the five strikeouts, but only two hits fell otherwise across his 89 pitches for his first career quality start. He lines up for a home date against the Astros next.

-Jeffrey Springs tossed seven innings of one-run ball against the Dodgers in their house, which gives him three solid outings in a row after a sad five-start stretch. Hopes were high after an electrifying 2025 debut with nine Ks over six scoreless innings, but we’ve adjusted expectations here.

The ratios are stabilizing, but he’s now gone eight consecutive starts with four or fewer strikeouts since then. And that includes two tilts against the White Sox! Sigh. But he illustrates the point that this far down, you might as well gamble on the guy who has shown he is capable of that elite level, even if you know it is unlikely to prevail on any given day.

-Clayton Kershaw will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but you’re drafting the 37-year-old arm, toe, knee, back, and so on. Last year, we got a 4.50 ERA/1.50 WHIP/18% K rate over 30 IP. Through his five rehab starts, he’s rocking a 16:5 K:BB with six runs over 21 IP (2.57 ERA). You’ll hope for wins as a Dodger, but this is unlikely to move the needle.

**Roki Sasaki is now on the IL due to right shoulder impingement, which has apparently been ailing him for a few weeks and is similar to what cost him time last year in Japan. Dave Roberts said it’s likely they’ll go with a bullpen game for Sasaki’s Thursday slot, so perhaps we’ll get Ben Casparius back? He’d slot back in around the 60-70 range if so.

Top 101 Starting Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball - Week 7

Top Starting Pitcher Stashes for Fantasy Baseball - Week 7

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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