Welcome to the SP Roundup, my daily fantasy baseball article reviewing every starting pitcher’s performance from every Monday game. I apologize for the jokes written in my delirium in advance. Have questions? Ask me during my office hours on Playback.tv weekday mornings from 10 am-12 pm ET.
Ty Madden (DET) @ CHW (ND) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 20% CSW, 87 pitches.
There was a touch of hype for Ty Madden in the pre-season, excited to see if his four-seamer and slider combination was ready for the big leagues this season. After watching his debut against the CrySox on Monday, the hype is officially deflated. His decent 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 20% CSW, 87 pitches line deserves the Blame it on the White Sox as the skills just aren’t enough.
The four-seamer is pedestrian in shape at 93/94 mph – a velocity that is usually lifted a touch by the thrill of the moment. Oh no. At least he spotted it well upstairs, but without legit extension, vert, or attack angle to go with it, I don’t see Madden overpowering consistently.
The slider is certainly major league ready, though. It has solid bite and was spotted well in general, but I don’t classify it as an elite offering and as the premium offering of Madden’s arsenal, it has to do more.
Temptation is in the air with Madden’s potential schedule. Hosting the Red Sox, heading to Oakland, and greeting Rockie Road is a delectable future of opportunity, and with Madden’s fastball potentially coming with above-average command, I won’t rule out production in at least a few of those. However, the Shag Rug is obviously present and I wouldn’t favor Madden over other options.
Let’s see how every other SP did Monday:
Zack Kelly (BOS) vs TOR (ND) – 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 49 pitches.
We saw some Kelly, we saw some Keller, and we saw Yer a bored analyst annoyed at these fill-in games, waiting to get back to watching Berríos. Uhhhh, did you actually watch Kelly? OKAY HE WAS AWESOME. 97 mph heaters with over seven feet of extension?! And an elite HAVAA at 1.5?! But 1st percentile iVB and poor command limits it. Womp womp.
Nick Sandlin (CLE) vs KCR (ND) – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 22 pitches.
This was a bullpen game for the Guardians as part of their doubleheader with the Royals. We move on.
Bryce Miller (SEA) vs TBR (W) – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 0 BBs, 10 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 34% CSW, 91 pitches.
It was the Rays and Miller knew he could just go fastballs and steamroll them. We did see some nice curves in there, but not much else from the secondaries to get you excited for legitimacy moving forward.
Nestor Cortes (NYY) @ WSN (W) – 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 91 pitches.
He didn’t look great and got saved by some solid defense in the outfield as balls barely missed going over the wall. We’ll take it and we press forward, appreciative of Cortes’ fantastic schedule.
Davis Martin (CHW) vs DET (ND) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 88 pitches.
Hmmmmm. The changeup is the pitch I fall for and to see just 1/21 whiffs is deflating, forcing him to throw more sliders and cutters than I’d like. Nick, it was a better slider than before. Fair, still not the pitch that elevates Martin into consideration. The schedule gets tough now and I’d prefer to hold off on Martin until the end of the year when his schedule eases up again.
Max Fried (ATL) @ MIN (W) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 36% CSW, 73 pitches.
A King Cole as Fried survived a rain delay to make it a full five frames. You gotta love the man for sticking around for all of us and you should be expecting legit Fried moving forward. One more legit outing and the AGA tag returns.
Cole Ragans (KCR) @ CLE (ND) – 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 4 BBs, 4 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 20% CSW, 94 pitches.
Ragans left this one in the fifth inning with the trainer, inducing a panic. The good news? It was leg cramps. It would explain the drop in velocity and general inefficiency in this one and I think we should be thankful this wasn’t a massive clunker on a huge off day.
José Berríos (TOR) @ BOS (W) – 7.2 IP, 2 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 98 pitches.
Yesssss. This was the hardest matchup on the docket for Berríos and he passed with flying colors. Man, he’s really taking his last Roundup lede to heart and making me look dumb. I LOVE THAT. Once again, José has showcased that he is The Great Undulator. I should never have doubted it.
Nick Pivetta (BOS) vs TOR (ND) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 10 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 93 Pitches.
This wasn’t a proper start as Pivetta was in “relief” of the suspended June 26th game, entering the game in the middle of the second frame, but hot dang this was awesome. The slider – not sweeper! – made a huge return with a 58% CSW while he spotted four-seamers upstairs. This is a version of Pivetta that works – Four-seamer, sweeper, slider, with occasional curve and cutter – and I’m pumped for the Tigers and White Sox up next.
Randy Vásquez (SDP) @ STL (W) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 91 pitches.
Hey, we’ll take this Dusty Donut. That’s a Win with a 3.00 ERA as the legend of Vásquez continues. He’s not a pitcher I trust, but when the good grace of Koufax creates an aura around a guy, you run with it. He could have just one start left depending on Darvish’s health and it feels like we’re streaming him against the Rays, and possibly the Giants after if Darvish isn’t available.
Ryan Pepiot (TBR) @ SEA (L) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 96 pitches.
Solid work from Pepiot, but not quite what we wanted with a 1.33 WHIP and lack of dub. And this was Seattle! Aren’t we supposed to see a 25% strikeout bump?! On the whole, he’s great and makes us feel dope.
Zack Wheeler (PHI) vs HOU (ND) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 97 pitches.
Aces gonna ace with a Bailey Special in honor of Ober who defintely wasn’t fit to serve it today. Honey, can you cover my shift at Aces and Jacks Diner? I’ve been laying on the bed with a hot water pouch on my forehead since 3:00 am.
Ronel Blanco (HOU) @ PHI (ND) – 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 91 pitches.
Serving a Philly against Philly is poetic and I’m a little weirded out by the lack of changeups in favor of curveballs. That slowball was the gamechanger for Blanco earlier in the season and I have a slight worry for the Royals and Sneks up next. I’m gonna roll with it, but I feel the anxiety.
Ryan Feltner (COL) vs MIA (ND) – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 15% CSW, 71 pitches.
This is on the higher end of Feltner starts. That speaks volumes. So many volumes it’s an encyclopedia.
Alec Marsh (KCR) @ CLE (ND) – 4.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 87 pitches.
Marsh got the pearl for the second game of the doubleheader and gave us nothing fun to work with. I have little faith he can be a trusted starter in the future if he gets any extra opportunities.
Mitchell Parker (WSN) vs NYY (L) – 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 83 pitches.
Not the worst given the circumstances and he has a pocket of matchups to consider moving forward. Seriously, if you aren’t using my ROS Expected Schedules edition of The List to plan your playoff SP pickup decisions, you’re doing it wrong.
Edward Cabrera (MIA) @ COL (L) – 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks – 18 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 102 pitches.
What is it about Coors that brings out the best Cabrera from Cabrera? Oddly enough, the changeup was thrown least of his four pitches – Changeup, Four-seamer, Curve, and…SLIDER. HE THREW 19% SLIDERS. Just 55% strikes, but it made the four-seamer better, which returns a 16% SwStr rate across about 50 thrown. In the end, we don’t know what version of Cabrera we’ll get tomorrow, but I’ll always be excited after the starts where it looks like he’s making the right adjustments. Or maybe he didn’t have feel for the slowball and went heater/slider instead. I dunno, it’s the Giants next and while that looks tempting, ECab will be ECab regardless of who he faces.
Mitch Keller (PIT) vs CHC (L) – 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 22% CSW, 97 pitches.
The man is a Cherry Bomb. Do what you want about that, he could certainly come through against the Cubs next time out in a redemption start…or do more of the same. Sorry I’m like a duck when you need an iPad. I’m not very helpful here. What happens when I tap this—OWW.
Jameson Taillon (CHC) @ PIT (W) – 6.2 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 22% CSW, 90 pitches.
Taillon threw a ton of pitches over the plate and generally got away with it. That’ll do when your team puts up an eight spot in the sixth, turning a 6 IP, 2 ER game into 4 ER (Careful, Icarus), but he doesn’t care about your fantasy teams. I think he’s okay for a QS stream against the Pirates in a repeat matchup.
Logan Allen (CLE) vs KCR (L) – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 8 Hits, 4 BBs, 1 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 16% CSW, 76 pitches.
Not to say we expected a HAISTBMBWT?! but we didn’t expect a Gold Star, either. More like a fallen star. That was a ridiculous run last year, wasn’t it?
Kyle Gibson (STL) vs SDP (L) – 4.1 IP, 7 ER, 5 Hits, 4 BBs, 2 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 90 pitches.
He’s a Toby against a tough opponent. You didn’t want this, nor the Yankees next. Seattle follows, though. You might want that one.
Bailey Ober (MIN) vs ATL (L) – 2.0 IP, 9 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 20% CSW, 55 pitches.
Oh wow. Home runs were the main problem with a touch of poor luck and Atlanta bamboozled him. It’s pretty remarkable how we’ve seen three terrible starts among a slew of absurd success – Eleven straight Quality Starts. Whatareyagonnado. You forget this and move on.
Game of the Day
Justin Steele vs. Jared Jones – HE’S BACK Y’ALL.
But Nick?! Where are the streaming picks? – I’ve moved them to the daily SP Matchups & Streamer Rankings article.
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