Minor Victory

Mike Minor vs CWS (W) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks – 20 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 92 pitches.

It’s been an…interesting year for Mike Minor, who I adored as a late-round flier when he was throwing 92-94 mph in the spring, but once he sat 90/91 after, it’s been a rocky road. Well, it wasn’t so bad tonight via 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks – 20 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 92 pitches against the White Sox and, yeah, we need to talk.

The trends before this were staggering. We’re talking 23 ER across just four starts before allowing just one run in six frames against the Brewers, a result that came on the back of curveballs for strikes and a 91/92 mph heater. Here, it was a different story. His four-seamer allowed a lot of contact while his changeup, curve, and slider each did work missing bats and stealing strikes, good for 44% CSW across the trio. It’s wonderful seeing his secondaries come alive for once, but that’s the thing. Once. Given how poor he’s been through the year, it wouldn’t be smart to buy into this outing, especially with the Jays on the horizon. It was a small Birthday Party, nothing more.

 

Let’s see how every other SP did Monday:

 

Kyle Muller @ NYM (W) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 75 pitches.

It’s Muller season. Streaming Record: 64-46. Okay, fine, he wasn’t as impressive as we’ve seen with a meh slider and a heater hovering 93 mph instead of 94 mph,  but his curveball did a great job of staying low. It’s not as encouraging as I would like, though the Brewers aren’t enough for me to apply the brakes. I’d still hold and start him there.

Bryse Wilson @ NYM (ND) – 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 54 pitches.

Hey, three innings with a 1.67 WHIP isn’t so bad…right? There was a day I dug what Wilson brought for us, but now I just don’t know who he is anymore. It’s hard with that fence in the way.

Aaron Loup vs ATL (ND) – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 Hits, 0 BBs, 1 Ks – 2 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 11 pitches.

Ah yes, the good ole bullpen game. Hello Loup, how do you do. Oh hi, Nick. I’m just so happy to be included. Yeah yeah yeah we gotta move on. Well actually, now that you’re here I had some ide–I SAID WE HAVE TO MOVE ON.

Joe Ross @ PHI (ND) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 38% CSW, 72 pitches.

Ross, you mad man. This was a Still ILL yet you go ahead and earn yourself a King Cole as you pumped 16 sinkers for called strikes. You’re even tossing 94.5 mph heaters, a full tick above your pre-injured self. The slider didn’t miss a ton of bats, though — 3/21 whiffs — but that’s alright, you should still start him against the Cubs later this week. I’d likely have put him in the 60s or so if this start happened yesterday, FWIW.

Shohei Ohtani vs COL (W) – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 99 pitches.

At what point do we give Ohtani the AGA label? He sat 96 mph in this one and didn’t even have his best stuff with his slider nor splitter hitting the 30% CSW mark. Good pitchers find a way. He’s been on a roll since the start of June, and he’s so close to the finish line. Two more months, Ohtani, you gots this.

Marcus Stroman vs ATL (L) – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 65 pitches.

A Dusty Donut from Stroman with that WHIP as he didn’t have the super legit slider we saw last time out (3/12 slider whiffs here). The overall package was good, not great, and he’s looking like a glorified Toby once again. Sigh.

Michael Pineda vs DET (ND) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 85 pitches.

When the slider is on, good things happen and–wait a second. He only tossed the sweeper 14 times. Instead, he tossed 21 changeups?! For 48% CSW?! What is this world. I guess this worked, this one time, and now he gets to follow “The Cardinal Rule”, which may be a little harder these days with Paul Goldschmidt being all dope again. I think that’s okay.

Luis García @ SEA (ND) – 4.2 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 38% CSW, 87 pitches.

The strikeouts are excellent as the cutter and changeup were legit, but the Mariners ambushed him for five ER across the fourth and fifth frames, kicking García out of the game at 87 pitches. Ugh. His heater can be a liability, but with his excellent secondary stuff, I don’t see this happening much in the future. I can’t help but wonder when we start seeing the Astros limit his innings this year, but for now, let’s forget about that and keep starting García.

Thomas Hatch @ BOS (ND) – 3.2 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 73 pitches.

I can’t help but see Margaret when I see T.Hatch but maybe that’s me trying to change the subject from the line above. I mean, it was the Sawx and Hatch. It wasn’t destined to be.

Wade Miley @ CHC (ND) – 4.1 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 5 BBs, 2 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 18% CSW, 104 pitches.

Nooooo, is this because Fast and I called Miley one of the most underrated starters on our On the Corner podcast tonight? We had to be punished for our hubris. Simply put, Miley’s cutter wasn’t nearly as good as it’s been and it’s not a death sentence. I’d expect him to rebound against the Mets next time out.

Germán Márquez @ LAA (L) – 6.1 IP, 3 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 107 pitches.

It’s essentially a PQS with eight strikeouts and sure, that’s fine with me, Márquez. Those breakers are still oh-so-brilliant and all I want is for you to keep it up. Go take down San Diego next time out.

Nick Pivetta vs TOR (ND) – 4.2 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 92 pitches.

The Jays are legit, and Pivetta is a Cherry Bomb who didn’t do anything he was supposed to. If you started Pivetta, you did it for strikeouts and, well, three are not what you were looking for. It doesn’t change anything moving forward, though, and I guess the Rays are an okay start next time. I personally would rather have something else on my 12-teamers.

Matt Manning @ MIN (ND) – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 22% CSW, 74 pitches.

The man is a Toby and couldn’t handle a somewhat average Twins offense. Y’all shouldn’t be rostering Manning, even against the Orioles next. This isn’t a fort you should be…Manning.

Spencer Howard vs WSH (ND) – 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks – 2 Whiffs, 20% CSW, 45 pitches.

I still don’t understand what happened to the plan of letting Howard get stretched out in the minors. Now we’re getting these starts that don’t help anyone. Phillies, just trade for Tyler Anderson or something.

Dallas Keuchel @ KC (L) – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 96 pitches.

Awwww. Keuchel had been phenomenal in his last two outings and had a misstep here against the Royals, leaving so many pitches over the heart of the plate instead of producing the Neckbeard he had been shaving. It’s tempting to start him against the Guardians next and that’s a coin flip I’ll let you handle.

Kyle Hendricks vs CIN (ND) – 4.1 IP, 5 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 84 pitches.

Yikes. Hendricks had been producing six-inning starts left and right before this and even without Nick Castellanos, the Reds did a whole lot of damage. Hendricks has a super small margin of error and he wasn’t on top of his game, but the Nationals are trading away everything and will have the midnight shift of the local Applebee’s hitting around Juan Soto on Sunday. You’ll be safe there.

Darren McCaughan vs HOU (ND) – 4.0 IP, 7 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks – 1 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 86 pitches.

I’ll make this simple. You do not want to slide into this DM.

Game of the Day 

 

Jordan Montgomery vs Shane McClanahan – Two lefties with swing-and-miss stuff. I’m all for it.

But Nick?! Where are the streaming picks? – I’ve moved them to the daily SP Matchups & Streamer Rankings article.

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Photo by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)