My Oh Mikolas

Welcome to the SP Roundup, my daily fantasy baseball article reviewing every starting pitcher’s performance from every Tuesday game. I apologize for the jokes written in my delirium in advance. Have questions? Ask me during my office hours on Twitch weekday mornings from 9 am-11 am ET.  

Miles Mikolas (STL) @ COL (L) – 2.2 IP, 10 ER, 14 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 22% CSW, 72 pitches.

Coors is a tough place to pitch and few know those words more than Miles Mikolas, who entered today with a 2.92 ERA and left with a 3.50 ERA after a disaster at the park via 2.2 IP, 10 ER, 14 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 22% CSW, 72 pitches. Yeah, fourteen hits. That’s essentially two hits per out and with a .684 BABIP that looks a whole lot different from his Khris Davis .247 clip. Sure, Coors, but we know there’s more to it.

Regression works in mysterious ways. Sure, we can go about the rest of the season acting like this start never happened, but it’s not like his previous outing against the Cubs was marvelous with nine baserunners in 6.1 innings, or his 6 ER and nine baserunners in five frames against the Reds on July 24th. He’s relied plenty on the Cardinal defense to get him through frames and while we can look at the 3.50 ERA now and say “yep, that’s who he actually is”, it’s not like he’s going to hold that line the rest of the year. In fact, I’d be a betting man to say Mikolas sits closer to a 4.00 by season’s end as that’s closer to his true nature.

Or maybe not. Maybe he’s now been knocked down proper and will surge forward across 10 weeks of redemption. At any rate, he’s okay to start against the Brewers this week and we can take it from there. I feel for all of you who took the chance here, though.

 

Let’s see how every other SP did Tuesday:

 

Luis Castillo (SEA) vs NYY (ND) – 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks – 20 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 110 pitches.

Aces gonna ace. What an insane matchup this was and I’m stoked to see Castillo earn his AGA label with a co-share of the Gallows Pole. The dude had 97+ mph heaters and fantastic sliders in this one, carving eight frames even without his changeup. Seriously, just a 33% strike rate on the pitch is an atrocity. It’ll get better as he feasts on the Angels next.

Gerrit Cole (NYY) @ SEA (ND) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 109 pitches.

Aces gonna ace. See y’all? Everything is fine. He earned just nine whiffs across 109 pitches. Okay, it was a bit weird for Cole to rely so much on four-seamers, but the pitch was working and he saved the breakers for when he needed them. It obviously worked, so let’s applaud him for it.

Shane Bieber (CLE) @ DET (W) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 91 pitches.

Aces gonna ace. As he should have – Detroit be Detroit n all. 91.4 mph velocity isn’t ideal, but it ain’t 90.5 mph either.

Shohei Ohtani (LAA) @ OAK (W) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 91 pitches.

Aces gonna ace and still kinda disappoint. It’s not bad at all, just not Shohei against the A’s, you know? Tell the splitter/fastball/cutter to wake up – the slider can’t be expected to do everything each start.

Jimmy Yacabonis (TB) @ MIL (ND) – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 1 BBs, 0 Ks – 0 Whiffs, 19% CSW, 21 pitches.

He opened for Ryan Yarbrough, who tossed 3.1 innings of 3 ER ball. Yeah, not fun. I suggest avoiding it unless you’re desperately chasing that cheap Win in the future.

Brady Singer (KC) vs CWS (W) – 7.1 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 99 pitches.

Singer got his revenge from last week’s disaster, but didn’t have nearly the same command as we saw against the Yanks – this was “here’s my sinker, please don’t hit it” mixed with some good sliders. I’m glad it worked for him, but there’s no way I’m starting him against the Dodgers.

Tommy Henry (ARI) vs PIT (W) – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 88 pitches.

Wow Henry, look at you taking full advantage of another start in the bigs, but sadly it’s a Blame it on the Pirates. Sure, the heater and slider were decent, but I don’t see anything elite here as I think the command isn’t polished yet. We may have a Toby in the future, though.

Joe Musgrove (SD) vs SF (ND) – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 95 pitches.

Aces gonna ace. See, much better from his disappointment last week…even if his slider + curve tallied just 5/28 whiffs here. Don’t worry about a thing, Miami is next. Plenty of opportunity to get those breakers back on track.

Julio Urías (LAD) vs MIN (W) – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 37% CSW, 90 pitches.

Aces gonna ace. The velocity was down to 93.6 mph on the heater, but I’m okay with that and not sub 93 mph levels – especially when the dang thing earned 12/46 whiffs. Yeah, he’s back to 2021 levels.

Zack Wheeler (PHI) vs MIA (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 8 Ks – 20 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 109 pitches.

Ace gonna earn a share of the Gallows Pole and I adore him for it. Three walks are a bit weird, though. Stop doing that.

Davis Martin (CWS) @ KC (W) – 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 83 pitches.

His slider is pretty lovely when he executes it, but boy is it inconsistent. The fastball is mediocre and the other stuff is…pretty non-existent. Don’t play this Davis trumpet.

Paolo Espino (WSH) @ CHC (ND) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 86 pitches.

HE’S UP TO 86 PITCHES. AND ALLOWED 1 ER. IT’S HAPPENING. Okay, you shouldn’t actually be excited, but at least now we can consider Espino for a deep stream when an opportunity arises against a weak team. The Friars are up for his next two, though, so it may be a while.

Tyler Alexander (DET) vs CLE (L) – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 84 pitches.

Hot dang, look at you! Y’all already know this isn’t real with just two strikeouts and four whiffs, but props to T-Lex for this Birthday Party. Fun times, aren’t they?

Carlos Carrasco (NYM) vs CIN (W) – 6.2 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks – 17 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 88 pitches.

Awesome work from Carrasco, mind allowing one fewer baserunner next time? K thx. That Cookie slider was cooking. 

Jonathan Heasley (KC) vs CWS (L) – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 93 pitches.

I didn’t see anything to latch onto here, sadly, and this decent ERA is far from what we need to add Heasley, especially without a clear indication of when he starts again – he was called upon just for the doubleheader.

Freddy Peralta (MIL) vs TB (W) – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 65 pitches.

Okay so the four-seamer location was better, but it came in a tick slower and the slider went 0/12 CSW (solid locations for strikes, though). I’d bench him against the Dodgers next, but he’ll be over 80 pitches after that to take down the Cubs. That sounds lovely to me.

Zach Thompson (PIT) @ ARI (L) – 4.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 22% CSW, 85 pitches.

Nope. Nope nope nope.

Kyle Bradish (BAL) vs TOR (ND) – 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 80 pitches.

Is this surviving against the Jays? I guess…? I dunno, I’m not starting Bradish at all right now so let’s move on.

Alek Manoah (TOR) @ BAL (ND) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 77 pitches.

Aces gonna…oh dear. His slider and fastballs were incredibly hittable and Manoah deserved that poor WHIP. I think I should have lowered Manoah below Cease this week (GASP! I know, February me would be mad), though I think it’s more of a blip than a real indication of future despair.

James Kaprielian (OAK) vs LAA (L) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 22% CSW, 97 pitches.

Ayyy it…failed. Womp womp. I don’t think Kap pitched poorly here, the Angels just performed better than we expected. It’s a coin flip next time against the Rangers, with me leaning avoid if you can – he has a weird history against the Rangers.

Alex Cobb (SF) @ SD (ND) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 36% CSW, 91 pitches.

Ah, so the Padres are waking up a bit. Thing is, the splitter and sinker did their jobs, for the most part – 12/45 splitter whiffs + 15/37 called strikes on the sinker. Said sinker just happened to also get pummeled a few too many times. He should be a solid play against the Sneks next armed with that splitter.

Braxton Garrett (MIA) @ PHI (L) – 4.2 IP, 3 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 82 pitches.

So the slider wasn’t nearly what we wanted – 3/23 whiffs – and it may have just been a “hey, Garrett faced some really poor lineups” after all. I really did like his changeup in this one, though. The Padres are next and I imagine they’ll have their offense clicking by then. I’d avoid it.

Lance Lynn (CWS) @ KC (L) – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 90 pitches.

Blegh. A bit of Careful, Icarus here as Lynn allowed the final two runs in the sixth and his cutter wasn’t nearly as good as we saw it last time. Velocity is still there though, and now he gets Detroit so at least he’s got that going for him. Yes, I’m upset too.

Mike Minor (CIN) @ NYM (L) – 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 21% CSW, 110 pitches.

I’m digging the four-seamer command up, but there has to be more than that from Minor. He’s a Frozen Banana at best.

Marcus Stroman (CHC) vs WSH (ND) – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 90 pitches.

Blegh. Stro, this was Natty Lite. You’re supposed to crush them, lean back and relax as you enjoy them. Anything but this. You’ll get a second chance next Monday and I expect that to be better.

Rich Hill (BOS) vs ATL (ND) – 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 0 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 68 pitches.

Ah, right. Hill is back in the Boston rotation and making me call him Poor Hill. Maybe he can whip up the ole man magic against the Pirates next? That’s a thing, right? I’m getting into my 30s now, I’m kinda banking on that being a thing.

Charlie Morton (ATL) @ BOS (ND) – 6.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 34% CSW, 96 pitches.

Ugggggh. Why can’t Morton go on a 4+ start stretch of success? The curve was excellent, the fastball got battered (three homeruns!) and life is pain. No hits allowed on that curveball, of course.

Ryan Feltner (COL) vs STL (W) – 5.2 IP, 5 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 90 pitches.

When you face a guy who allowed 10 ER before the third inning, you better get that Win. So good job for not being Mikolas, Feltner.

José Urquidy (HOU) vs TEX (W) – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 96 pitches.

Blegh. The four-seamer couldn’t carry this one and we needed more from the rest of the stuff. The slider wasn’t bad, for what it’s worth, but without the heater cooking, Urquidy wasn’t the same. He could get it back against the ChiSox next.

Joe Ryan (MIN) @ LAD (ND) – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 110 pitches.

Ryan still doesn’t have the dependable #2 pitch and it cost him against the Dodgers. He can succeed against the mediocre Royals next so don’t do anything silly, but I really wish that slider became something special. Or, honestly, just solid would work for me.

Martín Pérez (TEX) @ HOU (L) – 5.0 IP, 7 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 79 pitches.

Awwww, he couldn’t go 4-for-4 against the Astros as he pitched pretty much the same we’ve seen across the last three months. So in short, my review is ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and start him some more.

 

Game of the Day 

 

Sandy Alcantara vs. Noah Syndergaard – It’s Sandy + maybe Thor fits in with the Phillies this time.

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

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Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)