April 1st SP Roundup: Whitlocked In

Nick had too many jelly beans, so the graphic designer is going to be writing the article today. I make no apologies for the jokes written, or lack thereof. Any actual baseball analysis happened completely by accident. Have legitimate questions? I can’t help you. But you can ask Nick during his office hours on Playback.tv weekday mornings from 10 am-12 pm ET.  

Garrett Whitlock (BOS) @ SEA (W) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 81 pitches.

When spring training started there were many questions that surrounded Garrett Whitlock. Was he healthy? Did he have the endurance to be a starter? Was there even an opening in the rotation? Some of those questions were sorted out within Spring Training. Between Lucas Giolito’s season ending early due to injury and the Red Sox ownership failing to go even partial throttle in improving the rotation led to an open rotation spot for Whitlock. Health also seems to be cooperating for Whitlock.

What remains is the performance to evaluate. After today’s  5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 81 pitches, we may looking at the beginning of a beautiful end of rotation guy for the Red Sox.  But let’s be honest, it would be an April Fool’s errand that you should take seriously anything in this article.

 

Let’s see how every other SP did Sunday:

 

Brady Singer (KC) vs MIN (W) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 10 Ks – 19 Whiffs, 39% CSW, 98 pitches.

If you would have told me that Brady Singer would earn a King Cole in 2024 before Gerrit Cole, I would have told you that Gerrit Cole must have been injured to start the season. And that is exactly what happened.

But let’s all take a minute to appreciate what Brady was able to accomplish today. He also earned a Gallows Pole which combined with the King Cole is a textbook Golden Goal. If he had just thrown two more pitches, then he would have gotten a Long Holiday. If you combine the Gallows Pole, the Golden Goal, with the Long Holiday, he would have gotten a Platinum Halo.  So close yet so far. Still, that sinker / slider combo was making the Twins see double all afternoon.

Paul Blackburn (OAK) vs CLE (ND) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 88 pitches.

Ol’ Pitch to Contact Paul over here. It’s not sexy, but it works… sometimes.

Jack Flaherty (DET) @ CWS (ND) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 87 pitches.

Jack gave us his best, “What Year Is It?” performance as he scattered 4 hits across 6 innings while striking out 7 White Sox (including some of the good ones like Luis Robert!).  We will continue to monitor at velocity which averaged 93.5 mph today which really set up his slider that earned 40% CSW… ANALYSIS.

Brandon Pfaadt (AZ) vs COL (W) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 87 pitches.

As a 2000’s Paris Hilton might say, That’s Pfaadt. It appears that Brandon Pfaadt may have finally tried to incorporate the ancient pitching adage, “Don’t throw fastballs down the middle,” into his pitching strategy.

Reid Detmers (LAA) @ BAL (W) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks – 17 Whiffs, 34% CSW, 88 pitches.

Is this the year that Reid finally puts it all together? Is this the year that he reaches his full potential. Is it the year that he can finally emerge from the long shadow cast by the recently departed Shohei Ohtani? I don’t know, I’m asking you. Can he?

Colin Rea (MIL) @ NYM (W) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 20% CSW, 84 pitches.

Colin Meh? His velocity was down and wasn’t inducing a lot of missed contact.  I mean it worked, but should it have?

Kevin Gausman (TOR) @ TB (ND) – 4.1 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 36% CSW, 69 pitches.

A very nice outing for Kevin Gausman who, with 31 more pitches, would likely have won the afternoon. However, Gausman got a Doggie Bag instead. That’s when you decide to save some of your stuff for later.

Tylor Megill (NYM) vs MIL (L) – 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 78 pitches.

HALFTIME

Shawn Armstrong (TB) vs TOR (L) – 1.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 26 pitches.

What is this? An opener? We don’t have time for openers.

Chris Sale (ATL) @ PHI (ND) – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 83 pitches.

It was nice to see the stick man in a new uniform slinging sliders apparently healthy, APPARENTLY.  Chris Sale’s velocity improved throughout the game peaking at 97 mph in the 5th inning. THAT is what we call progress.  Now let’s just pad some walls, and keep the scissors locked up so we avoid any unplanned health scares.

Steven Matz (STL) @ LAD (ND) – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 81 pitches.

Hey, Steven Matz only gave up 2 earned runs to a team that has Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, and Freddie Freeman batting. In consecutive order.  We should just go ahead and give him the Cy Young today. Why wait till the season’s end?

Erick Fedde (CWS) vs DET (ND) – 4.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 96 pitches.

Do you ever look at a pitcher and think, “Well that guy is going to not be good today.” Then you go and look at his line and see he had 7 strikeouts and then think, “I didn’t know you could do that”?  Well, that was Erick Fedde pleasantly surprising all of us today.

Jordan Wicks (CHC) @ TEX (ND) – 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks – 19 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 85 pitches.

If Jordan Wicks doesn’t succeed at this pitching thing, then he has a future as the CEO of Jordan Wicks, candle wick manufacturer. Get a whiff of these wicks.

Michael King (SD) vs SF (ND) – 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 Hits, 7 BBs, 6 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 88 pitches.

After allowing 7 walks with 6 strikeouts, Michael King earned an Umpa Loompa – That’s when the pitcher throws too many walks, and little orange men come out of the bullpen and sing a song warning about the dangers of a high walk rate, and carry the pitcher off for an early shower. That was weird.

Tyler Wells (BAL) vs LAA (L) – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 37% CSW, 82 pitches.

WELLS WELLS WELLS

J.P. France (HOU) vs NYY (ND) – 5.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 94 pitches.

It’s not like France to surrender right before earning a quality start. Why would France throw the white flag like that? I guess all there is to do is grab a baguette, some stinky cheese, and lament how close France was to almost falling into a VPQS.

Clarke Schmidt (NYY) @ HOU (ND) – 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 75 pitches.

This performance seems perfectly adequate. Checks box score, sees Yankees win. Yep, perfectly adequate.

Ryan Feltner (COL) @ AZ (L) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 86 pitches.

This is as good as it’s gonna get Rox pitching fans!

Nick Martinez (CIN) vs WSH (ND) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 22% CSW, 90 pitches.

Oh my, there are still 10 more pitchers to go after this one…

Jake Irvin (WSH) @ CIN (ND) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 80 pitches.

Jake, the Snake, Swerving Irvin.  If that’s not his nickname, it should be.

Ranger Suárez (PHI) vs ATL (ND) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 83 pitches.

Ranger, you see this? All these Atlanta hitters? It’s not your fault.  Look at me Ranger, it’s not your fault… it’s not your fault…. no, no, no you don’t know. It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault.

Carlos Carrasco (CLE) @ OAK (ND) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 79 pitches.

Wait, Carlos Carrasco went back to Cleveland? This is the romantic return that we all didn’t know we needed.  Somebody wake up Corey Kluber and let’s get the band back together!

Gavin Stone (LAD) vs STL (ND) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 85 pitches.

I’m not sure if Gavin is going to be a great pitcher or not. But I do know that he missed his calling as a secret agent or private eye. I mean, who would you want more on your secret case? Gavin Stone is who you’d want. He leaves no stone unturned.

Trevor Rogers (MIA) vs PIT (ND) – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 4 BBs, 6 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 97 pitches.

I watched Trevor Rogers‘ start today while eating a ham sandwich. Not going to lie, but the ham sandwich had a better performance.

Bryce Miller (SEA) vs BOS (L) – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 91 pitches.

We are now at the peak moment in time for baseball players named Miller. This season bests the 1923 season featuring Miller Huggins and Lewis Miller and, of course, the 2013 season, which boasted the Andrew, Shelby, and Brad Miller trio.

Jon Gray (TEX) vs CHC (ND) – 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 18% CSW, 67 pitches.

Do you think he spells Jon without an H because he always gives up the hit?

Daulton Jefferies (SF) @ SD (L) – 2.0 IP, 5 ER, 9 Hits, 0 BBs, 1 Ks – 2 Whiffs, 16% CSW, 55 pitches.

I’ll just leave this here.

Bailey Falter (PIT) @ MIA (ND) – 4.0 IP, 6 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 67 pitches.

It’s never good when the starting pitcher has a 2/1 home run to strike out ratio. Bailey Faltered indeed.

Bailey Ober (MIN) @ KC (L) – 1.1 IP, 8 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks – 1 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 53 pitches.

Bailey Ober earns a King Candy. That’s when you think the pitcher is going to have a great outing, but he turns out to be an evil villain and ruins the game for everyone else.

Game of the Day

 

Marco Gonzales vs. MacKenzie Gore – Pitching probably won’t be good, but the offense should be fun.

But Justin?! Where are the streaming picks? – No idea! No wait, they’ve been moved to the daily SP Matchups & Streamer Rankings article.

Have Questions? – Join Nick’s morning Playback.tv livestream! Nick answer all questions there for free: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm ET Monday through Friday. You should go. It’s a better use of your time than whatever you just read. Happy April Fool’s Day!

Featured image by Nick Pollack (@PitcherList on Twitter)