We often hear that pitchers have ‘nasty stuff’ as a phrase for high praise. Though, what does ‘stuff’ really mean? Well, according to Eno Saris and Max Bay’s proprietary Stuff+ model, we can now measure a pitcher’s stuff. According to the model description, this measures the physical characteristics of a pitch, like the movement, spin rate, and velocity. While Stuff+ is actually one of three metrics, along with Location+ and Pitching+, which we covered in more detail in the pre-season article, it’s often viewed as the most important model for pitcher assessment. This is especially true for small sample sizes early in the season to gauge sustained success. That’s why I factor in this model’s data for several emerging starting pitchers to best project the start confidence rating in the weekly starting pitcher rankings.
What?! Your fantasy baseball league wasn’t hosted on Fantrax last season? Preposterous! Check out what the Fantrax MLB Commissioner has to offer. We think you’ll be singing a different tune for the 2025 MLB season.
Starting Pitcher Rankings for Week 5 (4/21 – 4/27)
| Rank | Pitcher | Team | Opponent | Start Confidence Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Garrett Crochet | BOS | SEA | 10 |
| 2 | Logan Gilbert | SEA | MIA | 9 |
| 3 | Cole Ragans | KCR | COL | 8 |
| 4 | Corbin Burnes | ARI | TBR | 8 |
| 5 | Zac Gallen | ARI | ATL | 8 |
| 6 | Hunter Greene | CIN | @COL | 8 |
| 7 | Tarik Skubal | DET | BAL | 8 |
| 8 | Framber Valdez | HOU | @KCR | 8 |
| 9 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | LAD | PIT | 8 |
| 10 | Pablo Lopez | MIN | CWS | 8 |
| 11 | Paul Skenes | PIT | @LAD | 8 |
| 12 | Michael King | SDP | TBR | 8 |
| 13 | Spencer Schwellenbach | ATL | STL/ @ARI | 7 (both matchups) |
| 14 | Spencer Strider | ATL | STL | 7 |
| 15 | Shota Imanaga | CHC | LAD | 7 |
| 16 | Hunter Brown | HOU | TOR | 7 |
| 17 | Bailey Ober | MIN | CWS | 7 |
| 18 | Joe Ryan | MIN | LAA | 7 |
| 19 | Kodai Senga | NYM | @WSH | 7 |
| 20 | Clay Holmes | NYM | @WSH | 7 |
| 21 | Carlos Rodon | NYY | @CLE | 7 |
| 22 | Cristopher Sanchez | PHI | @NYM | 7 |
| 23 | Zack Wheeler | PHI | @NYM | 7 |
| 24 | Sonny Gray | STL | MIL | 7 |
| 25 | Nick Pivetta | SDP | @DET | 7 |
| 26 | Dylan Cease | SDP | TBR | 7 |
| 27 | Logan Webb | SFG | MIL | 7 |
| 28 | Luis Castillo | SEA | MIA/ @SDP | 7 (MIA=8 & @SDP=6) |
| 29 | Eduardo Rodriguez | ARI | TBR | 6 |
| 30 | Merrill Kelly | ARI | ATL | 6 |
| 31 | Tomoyuki Sugano | BAL | @WSH | 6 |
| 32 | Brady Singer | CIN | @MIA | 6 |
| 33 | Andrew Abbott | CIN | @MIA | 6 |
| 34 | Nick Lodolo | CIN | @COL | 6 |
| 35 | Jack Flaherty | DET | SDP | 6 |
| 36 | Hayden Wesneski | HOU | @KCR | 6 |
| 37 | Jose Soriano | LAA | PIT/ @MIN | 6 (both matchups) |
| 38 | Yusei Kikuchi | LAA | @MIN | 6 |
| 39 | Roki Sasaki | LAD | PIT | 6 |
| 40 | Max Meyer | MIA | CIN/ @SEA | 6 (CIN=5 & @SEA=7) |
| 41 | Freddy Peralta | MIL | @SFG | 6 |
| 42 | David Festa | MIN | CWS | 6 |
| 43 | Max Fried | NYY | TOR | 6 |
| 44 | Jeffrey Springs | ATH | CWS | 6 |
| 45 | Jesus Luzardo | PHI | @CHC | 6 |
| 46 | Andrew Heaney | PIT | @LAA | 6 |
| 47 | Mitch Keller | PIT | @LAD | 6 |
| 48 | Bryce Miller | SEA | @BOS/ MIA | 6 (@BOS=5 & MIA=7) |
| 49 | Jacob deGrom | TEX | @SFG | 6 |
| 50 | Nathan Eovaldi | TEX | @SFG | 6 |
| 51 | Tyler Mahle | TEX | @SFG | 6 |
| 52 | Chris Bassitt | TOR | @HOU | 6 |
| 53 | Brandon Pfaadt | ARI | TBR/ ATL | 5 (TBR=6 & ATL=4) |
| 54 | Chris Sale | ATL | @ARI | 5 |
| 55 | Grant Holmes | ATL | @ARI | 5 |
| 56 | Dean Kremer | BAL | @WSH/ @DET | 5 (@WSH=6 & @DET=4) |
| 57 | Cade Povich | BAL | @WSH | 5 |
| 58 | Tanner Houck | BOS | @CLE | 5 |
| 59 | Jameson Taillon | CHC | PHI | 5 |
| 60 | Martin Perez | CWS | @MIN | 5 |
| 61 | Shane Smith | CWS | @MIN | 5 |
| 62 | Nick Martinez | CIN | @MIA/ @COL | 5 (@MIA=6 & @COL=4) |
| 63 | Chase Dollander | COL | @KCR | 5 |
| 64 | Reese Olson | DET | SDP | 5 |
| 65 | Ronel Blanco | HOU | TOR | 5 |
| 66 | Kris Bubic | KCR | COL/ HOU | 5 (COL=6 & HOU=4) |
| 67 | Tyler Anderson | LAA | PIT | 5 |
| 68 | Dustin May | LAD | @CHC | 5 |
| 69 | Tony Gonsolin | LAD | PIT | 5 |
| 70 | Sandy Alcantara | MIA | CIN | 5 |
| 71 | Quinn Priester | MIL | @SFG/ @STL | 5 (both matchups) |
| 72 | Jose Quintana | MIL | @SFG/ @STL | 5 (both matchups) |
| 73 | Chris Paddack | MIN | LAA | 5 |
| 74 | Simeon Woods Richardson | MIN | LAA | 5 |
| 75 | Tylor Megill | NYM | PHI/ @WSH | 5 (PHI=4 & @WSH=6) |
| 76 | David Peterson | NYM | PHI | 5 |
| 77 | JP Sears | ATH | TEX | 5 |
| 78 | J.T. Ginn | ATH | TEX | 5 |
| 79 | Luis Severino | ATH | CWS | 5 |
| 80 | Aaron Nola | PHI | @NYM/ @CHC | 5 (both matchups) |
| 81 | Carmen Mlodzinski | PIT | @LAA | 5 |
| 82 | Robbie Ray | SFG | MIL/ TEX | 5 (MIL=6 & TEX=4) |
| 83 | Landen Roupp | SFG | MIL | 5 |
| 84 | Bryan Woo | SEA | @BOS | 5 |
| 85 | Drew Rasmussen | TBR | @ARI | 5 |
| 86 | Ryan Pepiot | TBR | @SDP | 5 |
| 87 | Kumar Rocker | TEX | @ATH | 5 |
| 88 | Kevin Gausman | TOR | @HOU/ @NYY | 5 (both matchups) |
| 89 | Bowden Francis | TOR | @HOU | 5 |
| 90 | MacKenzie Gore | WSH | BAL | 5 |
| 91 | Bryce Elder | ATL | STL | 4 |
| 92 | Walker Buehler | BOS | CWS/ @CLE | 4 (CWS=5 & @CLE=3) |
| 93 | Brayan Bello | BOS | SEA/ @CLE | 4 (both matchups) |
| 94 | Matthew Boyd | CHC | LAD | 4 |
| 95 | Ben Brown | CHC | PHI | 4 |
| 96 | Tanner Bibee | CLE | NYY | 4 |
| 97 | Kyle Freeland | COL | CIN | 4 |
| 98 | Keider Montero | DET | SDP | 4 |
| 99 | Jackson Jobe | DET | BAL | 4 |
| 100 | Casey Mize | DET | BAL | 4 |
| 101 | Michael Lorenzen | KCR | COL | 4 |
| 102 | Seth Lugo | KCR | HOU | 4 |
| 103 | Michael Wacha | KCR | HOU | 4 |
| 104 | Jack Kochanowicz | LAA | PIT | 4 |
| 105 | Kyle Hendricks | LAA | @MIN | 4 |
| 106 | Tobias Myers | MIL | @SFG | 4 |
| 107 | Griffin Canning | NYM | PHI | 4 |
| 108 | Clarke Schmidt | NYY | @CLE/ TOR | 4 (both matchups) |
| 109 | Will Warren | NYY | @CLE | 4 |
| 110 | Carlos Carrasco | NYY | TOR | 4 |
| 111 | Osvaldo Bido | ATH | TEX/ CWS | 4 (TEX=3 & CWS=5) |
| 112 | Erick Fedde | STL | @ATL | 4 |
| 113 | Steven Matz | STL | @ATL | 4 |
| 114 | Matthew Liberatore | STL | MIL | 4 |
| 115 | Randy Vasquez | SDP | @DET/ TBR | 4 (both matchups) |
| 116 | Jordan Hicks | SFG | MIL/ TEX | 4 (MIL=5 & TEX=3) |
| 117 | Taj Bradley | TBR | @ARI | 4 |
| 118 | Shane Baz | TBR | @SDP | 4 |
| 119 | Jose Berrios | TOR | @NYY | 4 |
| 120 | Easton Lucas | TOR | @NYY | 4 |
| 121 | Mitchell Parker | WSH | BAL/ NYM | 4 (both matchups) |
| 122 | Brandon Young | BAL | @DET | 3 |
| 123 | Colin Rea | CHC | PHI | 3 |
| 124 | Jonathan Cannon | CWS | @BOS/ @ATH | 3 (both matchups) |
| 125 | Gavin Williams | CLE | NYY/ BOS | 3 (both matchups) |
| 126 | Luis Ortiz | CLE | NYY | 3 |
| 127 | Ben Lively | CLE | BOS | 3 |
| 128 | German Marquez | COL | @KCR | 3 |
| 129 | Antonio Senzatela | COL | CIN | 3 |
| 130 | Ryan Gusto | HOU | TOR | 3 |
| 131 | Edward Cabrera | MIA | CIN | 3 |
| 132 | Taijuan Walker | PHI | @CHC | 3 |
| 133 | Andre Pallante | STL | @ATL | 3 |
| 134 | Kyle Hart | SDP | @DET | 3 |
| 135 | Justin Verlander | SFG | TEX | 3 |
| 136 | Emerson Hancock | SEA | @BOS | 3 |
| 137 | Zack Littell | TBR | @ARI | 3 |
| 138 | Trevor Williams | WSH | BAL | 3 |
| 139 | Charlie Morton | BAL | @DET | 2 |
| 140 | Hunter Dobbins | BOS | SEA | 2 |
| 141 | Sean Burke | CWS | @ATH | 2 |
| 142 | Logan Allen | CLE | BOS | 2 |
| 143 | Ryan Feltner | COL | @KCR/ CIN | 2 (both matchups) |
| 144 | Lance McCullers Jr. | HOU | @KCR | 2 |
| 145 | Cal Quantrill | MIA | @SEA | 2 |
| 146 | Chad Patrick | MIL | @STL | 2 |
| 147 | Bailey Falter | PIT | @LAA/ @LAD | 2 (@LAA=3 & @LAD=1) |
| 148 | Miles Mikolas | STL | MIL | 2 |
| 149 | Jack Leiter | TEX | @ATH | 2 |
| 150 | Brad Lord | WSH | NYM | 2 |
| 151 | Jake Irvin | WSH | NYM | 2 |
| 152 | Davis Martin | CWS | @MIN/ @ATH | 1 (both matchups) |
| 153 | Connor Gillispie | MIA | @SEA | 1 |
| 154 | Patrick Corbin | TEX | @ATH | 1 |
Fantrax is one of the fastest-growing fantasy sites in the fantasy sports industry. We are the most customizable, easy-to-use, and feature-rich platform in the industry. We offer the greatest fantasy experience for your dynasty, keeper, redraft, and best ball leagues. Fantasy sports don’t sleep, and neither does Fantrax. Take your fantasy leagues to the next level now at Fantrax.com!
