Tough Starting Pitcher Rankings for the Rest of 2025Eno and DVR wish FanGraphs a Happy 20th Birthday and discuss several tough rankings from Eno's final list for the 2025 season including Logan Webb, Dylan Cease, Shohei Ohtani, and Chase Burns, along with the surprising lefties -- Andrew Abbott, Jacob Lopez, and Trevor Rogers -- as the stretch run approaches. They also look at a few intriguing names on the waiver this weekend including the recently-promoted Owen Caissie, and Nolan McLean ahead of his MLB debut against the Mariners on Saturday.Plus, Niv Shah joins the show to discuss late-season ottoneu strategy with players unlikely to be kept and how to approach trading with loans versus dropping a player in hopes of a cascading effect that puts other interesting players onto waivers, and our Senior Hot Correspondent ranks the eight Taste of the Majors hot dogs from the season so far

($) Eno's Updated Starting Pitcher Rankings: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6549810

Rundown

4:12 Updates on Ronald Acuña Jr., Pablo López & Michael King

10:30 Padres-Dodgers & Great Weekend Series On Tap

21:09 Logan Webb: A Tough Rank Up Top?

25:22 Dylan Cease's Rebound & Cade Horton's Surge

31:50 Shohei Ohtani's Workload Increasing to Win Eligibility Levels

35:55 Chase Burns' Late-Season Limitations

40:40 Owen Caissie's Promotion & Playing Time Outlook

43:49 Nolan McLean Headed to the Mets' Rotation

48:18 Forrest Whitley is Pitching Well at Triple-A

53:07 LODEM Kings as Tough Rankings Too

55:02 Talking Keeper Trade/Drop Strategy w/Niv Shah

1:09:27 Taste of the Majors: Power Rankings in Mid-August

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Hosts: Derek VanRiper & Eno Sarris

Producer: Brian Smith

Guest: Niv Shah

Executive Producer: Derek VanRiper

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Eno, Trevor, and DVR discuss the battle atop the AL West before examining the Phillies' case for the 'Best Team in Baseball' crown thanks to excellent starting pitching at the continued improvement of Cristopher Sánchez and Kyle Schwarber putting up career-best numbers in his age-32 season. Plus, they look at four intriguing starting pitchers getting a late-season opportunity.

Rundown

1:12 A Look at the AL West as Josh Hader Gets a Second Opinion & Yordan Alvarez Inches Toward a Return

7:01 Dylan Crews is Back; Nathaniel Lowe DFA'd by the Nationals

11:38 The Phillies' Case for 'Best Team in Baseball'

16:43 Cristopher Sánchez's Rise to Ace-Level Performance

29:59 Kyle Schwarber's Career-Year at Age-32 (How I'd Pitch This Guy)

40:18 Injuries Keeping the Gap Between Teams Around the League Smaller?

50:14 Nerding Out: Four Starting Pitchers We're Intrigued By

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Hosts: Derek VanRiper & Eno Sarris

With: Trevor May

Producer: Brian Smith

Executive Producer: Derek VanRiper

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Eno, Jed, and DVR discuss the Red Sox's 'quiet' ascent to the second-place spot in the AL East on the strength of a lineup that is tied for fifth in wOBA and wonder if the pitching is deep enough to make the team dangerous if they reach the playoffs. Plus, they discuss how players change over the course of the season, and a round of injury news items including a follow-up on Astros closer Josh Hader.

Rundown

1:05 Assessing the Red Sox in mid-August

9:15 Is the Current Success of the Pitching Staff Successful?

12:53 An Improving Bullpen, Not Without Questions

15:55 Dustin May & The Importance of Fastball Mix

23:09 How Do They Stack Up Against the Blue Jays?

30:13 How Players Change Over the Course of the Season?

40:05 How Does Velocity Hold Up When Fatigue Sets In?

45:18 'First-Half' and 'Second-Half' Players

53:18 Other News & Notes: Adolis García, Félix Bautista, Zach Eflin & Miguel Vargas

1:00:43 The A's Young Pitching is Intriguing, Will It Work in Sacramento?

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Hosts: Derek VanRiper & Eno Sarris

With: Jed Lowrie

Producer: Brian Smith

Executive Producer: Derek VanRiper

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