Welcome to the SP Roundup, my daily fantasy baseball article reviewing every starting pitcher’s performance from every Wednesday game. I apologize for the jokes written in my delirium in advance. Have questions? Ask me during my office hours on Twitch.tv weekday mornings from 10 am-12 pm ET.
Nathan Eovaldi (TEX) @ BAL (L) – 4.0 IP, 6 ER, 8 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 88 pitches.
Nathan Eovaldi posted a glorious 1.73 ERA across 130 frames last year, but after 5 ER on opening day and today’s disaster against the Orioles – 4.0 IP, 6 ER, 8 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 88 pitches (L) – there’s little hope he can replicate 2025’s glistening campaign. That’s 44% of all runs he allowed last year in just two games. I’m here to tell you that it’ll be okay. Probably.
The best news? The velocity isn’t gone. In fact, he’s sitting a tick up on nearly everything (but with a little dip in extension, oddly enough). Sadly, the overall command has been an issue, especially with his cutter, which was sub 60% strikes last time out and featured a paltry 40% clip here. He’s also allowing more hard contact on his other three main offerings – curve, splitter, four-seamer – as he’s leaving them too much over the plate, and simply put, is not locked in. It’s easy to forget that Eovaldi wasn’t always a command pitcher, and starts like these remind me of those poor seasons prior where he tried to muscle his way through games with a hittable high-velocity four-seamer, putting precision by the wayside.
I don’t think we’ll see that again from Eovaldi this year, and the two-click drop in extension shouldn’t be making this sort of impact (which could also disappear by his next start). I suggest we take a deep breath, accept that things haven’t gone well thus far, and bank on Eovaldi to make the right adjustments for his next start at home, hosting the Mariners. Yes, I am absolutely starting him there.
Let’s see how every other SP did Wednesday:
Sandy Alcantara (MIA) vs CHW (W) – 9.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 93 pitches.
HE’S BACK. The changeup killed at 30% usage, the slider went 47% CSW, four-seamers earned whiffs with an 83% strike rate, losing to his sinker’s 92% strike clip. I’ve missed you so much.
Gavin Williams (CLE) @ LAD (W) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 10 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 35% CSW, 85 pitches.
Yeah, I think he’s figured out his lower half mechanics. I’m stoked to see Gavin back to 7.2 feet of extension with 97+ mph heaters, especially with a 74% strike rate. The breakers earned whiff after whiff – 12/40 for the night – and I sure hope this is what we get regularly. Sub 30% four-seamers, too, showcasing how Gavin was able to utilize his full arsenal to take down an excellent offense. He should be an easy start against the Royals after this.
Cam Schlittler (NYY) @ SEA (W) – 6.1 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 34% CSW, 79 pitches.
What’s the rule, at least three starts before an AGA tag? I’ll make it two more starts for good measure. He’s just too good. But it was in Oracle Park and “@TEA.” That’s fair. He hosts the Athletics, then heads to the Trop. Not the hardest schedule, but that cutter is absurd at 93 mph + 48% CSW from his four-seamer and he’s embracing the sinker to RHB for outs. It’s so fun.
Kevin Gausman (TOR) vs COL (ND) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 0 BBs, 10 Ks – 19 Whiffs, 36% CSW, 89 pitches.
Rockie Road is such a beautiful thing. Enjoy the “King Cole.” You still had to execute the splitter down, after all.
Zac Gallen (ARI) vs DET (W) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 22% CSW, 88 pitches.
This matchup was the one respite in Gallen’s gauntlet of an early schedule (@NYM, @PHI, vs. TOR up next. Yeesh), and I’m happy with the results (Thanks Koufax!), though I’m surprised he leaned into sliders over curveballs against RHB. Wonder what that’s about. I’d be careful in those next outings.
Nick Pivetta (SDP) vs SFG (W) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 82 pitches.
Phew. That first start gave us the willies, and we should have no hesitation with what’s next: @PIT, Rockie Road, and @LAA. And yes, he did feature 21″ of vert in this one as he shoved 70% four-seamers upstairs (often too far upstairs). San Diego is known to produce some ridiculous movement numbers early in the year.
Cade Cavalli (WSN) @ PHI (ND) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 84 pitches.
Props to you, Cavalli! Not an easy matchup and the sinker was struggling to land in the zone, but the curveball stepped up for 47% CSW and the sweeper…was thrown more often with just 1/20 whiffs and a 50% strike rate?! You may be confused right now (Cavalli has a sweeper?!). Don’t fret, it’s essentially the same as his curveball, but a little further along the wheel toward the x-axis at a tick harder. Which is apparently much harder to command, so why not just throw the dang hook that’s oh-so-good? After surviving this one, I don’t have any issues rolling with Cavalli until he breaks, given the upcoming schedule of STL, @PIT, and SFG. I think there’s a floor we haven’t seen yet, but sure, give it a spin.
Matthew Liberatore (STL) vs NYM (ND) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 17% CSW, 76 pitches.
That’s all kinds of boring but we’ll take it, Liberatore. Welcome to the land of the “Toby.” Why does it look like I’m stuck in an Xbox 360 FPS? The Nationals + Guardians are up next and that feels okay.
Matthew Boyd (CHC) vs LAA (W) – 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 10 Ks – 20 Whiffs, 35% CSW, 98 pitches.
BOYD BOIZ UNITE. For the second straight game, Boyd has returned twenty whiffs. That’s pretty dang fantastic, and he did so with elite pitch separation, executing the BSB with heaters up and changeups down, while the exclusive RHB lineup from the Angels forced Boyd to toss just two sliders on the evening. In fact, the 72 mph curve was flipped over the plate for 67% CSW on its own, with a pair of whiffs, too. Enjoy that “Gallows Pole.” I hope there are more.
Adrian Houser (SFG) @ SDP (L) – 5.1 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 86 pitches.
A Dusty Donut from Houser is worthwhile against the Padres. Not much to report here – it’s the same velocity as last season, and I’m going to blame San Diego for the extra 1-2″ of vert. With Philly up next, I’d be patient to pick a spot to grab Houser.
Cristopher Sánchez (PHI) vs WSN (ND) – 5.1 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 7 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 97 pitches.
Aces gonna lose feel of his changeup and return just 50% strikes on the signature pitch. His velocity also fell to 94+ mph (not 95/96), and it was a day of battling his command to get through the Nationals. He was sitting 95 mph in the first two frames, but it’s like that laborious second frame gassed him, leading to 92/93 mph sinkers in the fourth and fifth. I’m not going to worry about it for now and carry on.
Freddy Peralta (NYM) @ STL (ND) – 5.1 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 92 pitches.
Aces gonna ace. He’s no Senga. Alright Mets fans, let’s keep it together. Not the greatest command I’ve seen from Peralta here, but good enough with the fastball and changeup.
Kyle Freeland (COL) @ TOR (ND) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 88 pitches.
Wait, you’re telling me that I picked the wrong matchup? How could I be so foolish, targeting a matchup in Miami instead of TORONTO? It’s just so obvious! I have to note that Freeland is throwing over a tick harder and found a lot more ride on everything. I’d be a little interested if it weren’t for the whole “Coors” thing. Womp womp.
Drew Rasmussen (TBR) @ MIL (ND) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 36% CSW, 89 pitches.
For those upset Ras only went five frames, note he also tallied 89 pitches, unlike many of the sub-80 pitch-count outings of last season. Y’all should be stoked to see eight strikeouts from the fella, rooted in stellar locations down with his cutter and change to LHB (yes, changeup! He threw nine and returned four whiffs!), and boy do I hope he can put batters away this effectively in the future. It’s unlikely, but it’s at least something new. In the meantime, I’m sure he’ll continue collecting phenomenal ratio evenings with some King Cole awards along the way. You love to see it.
Noah Cameron (KCR) vs MIN (W) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 86 pitches.
He fell in drafts and I eventually pushed him down my ranks as Cameron looked around in surprise. What did I do?! Well, you certainly don’t impress with your velocity (91 mph here, but could easily be due to the terrible weather), and it’s traditionally tough to bank on command of a young arm, but hey! You kept your command! And you’re a young arm! He also faced the Twins. Yeaaaah, that certainly helped things, but the weather didn’t. He’ll get the Guardians + ChiSox up next, though, so all is well, yeah? Let the SWATCH tell us when it’s time.
Tarik Skubal (DET) @ ARI (L) – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 87 pitches.
Aces gonna ace. Three strikeouts is awfully strange, though. He’s getting more cut on the four-seamer, but far less fade on the changeup, and paired with a dip in extension, the Sneks made more contact than we usually see on Skub’s offerings.
Chris Sale (ATL) vs ATH (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 79 pitches.
Aces gonna ace. What’s up with these aces fanning few tonight? He was down 2-3 ticks in velocity. Ah, Sale has these ups-and-downs, and he actually sat around 95 mph in the sixth (not the 92 mph of the start). I’m not worried.
Paul Skenes (PIT) @ CIN (W) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 77 pitches.
Aces gonna ace…wait, you too? Not the velocity part, but why are y’all allergic to punchouts all of a sudden? A strikeout per inning is kinda what Skenes does these days. That’s the floor. THE FLOOR. Whatever, solid outing, fella.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LAD) vs CLE (L) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 87 pitches.
Aces go–WHAT IS GOING ON. Don’t make me bring back the whole Throw your four-seamer upstairs bit. I never stopped believing it, but you’ve been too good to push it. But two strikeouts…DON’T MAKE ME COME IN THERE.
Jacob Misiorowski (MIL) vs TBR (ND) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 94 pitches.
My suspicion that Jay Mis was pulling back his extension to better locate his heaters has been thrown out the window (back to 7.5 extension but his fastball wasn’t nearly as exclusive to the upper third of the zone), and yet, it clearly doesn’t matter. He’s dope and makes us feel dope. Don’t ruin this in Fenway. The small sample size of two games is doing its best to haze our memory of his volatility last season, and the floor is still there, you know. This isn’t some disintegrating building stuck in a dream as its maker awakens.
Trevor Rogers (BAL) vs TEX (W) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 91 pitches.
He has to figure out the breaking ball, but the four-seamer is up and the changeup is down. He’s picking up where he left off (for the most part) and he deserves praise for that.
Mike Burrows (HOU) vs BOS (W) – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 84 pitches.
Whoa whoa whoa, what is this. I adored Burrows’ new slider last week, and among all the distress of the outing, it was a silver lining. So what does he do this time around? Why, throw it three times. He turned to the hook 22 times instead, which did return four punchouts, but carried a 50% strike rate in the process. I legit don’t understand. Not to mention, his best pitch has always been the changeup, which was his fourth offering here, throwing it just 14% of the time to LHB (16% to RHB!). I. Don’t. Understand. But he did well! Yeah, he did, save for the eight baserunners rooted in three walks. What a weird start to the year. Sadly, he gets Coors next, so I’d skip him there, but @TEA + STL after is lovely.
George Kirby (SEA) vs NYY (L) – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 20% CSW, 89 pitches.
He was cruising through five, then Goldschmidt, of all people, got a 96 mph heater down the pipe and launched it over the fence for a three-run blast. Careful, Icarus. The slider went 42% strikes with a 0% CSW and he barely went inside with his sinker. But I guess there’s a new changeup featured 19% of the time (2% last year…) that looks to be decent…? I guess that’s a good addition, but the fault is throwing a 96 mph deadzone fastball down the pipe. That should have been a sinker in or slider away. There’s. Yer. Problem.
Andrew Abbott (CIN) vs PIT (L) – 5.2 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 88 pitches.
He got bamboozled in the first via a three-run shot off Oneil’s bat via hanging 80 mph curve (why aren’t you throwing the sweeper instead?), and otherwise, he was solid. The changeup and four-seamer worked to RHB, and he even featured +4 clicks in extension to 6.7 feet vs. the 6.3 feet of 2025. I’m all here for that, just nail down the breakers against LHB, alright?
Garrett Crochet (BOS) @ HOU (L) – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 93 pitches.
Aces gonna finally give us some strikeouts but with a cost. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a Careful, Icarus three-run homer in the fifth. So many three-run HRs today… Anyway, everything checks out here and I wouldn’t worry about Crochet in the slightest.
Luis Severino (ATH) @ ATL (L) – 3.1 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 5 BBs, 7 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 91 pitches.
I was second-guessing my skepticism of Severino’s fantasy relevance, and to his credit, the velocity is still up 1-2 ticks for the second straight game. The problem? An inconsistent sweeper (massive movement range), an unreliable cutter (38% strikes, blegh), and a pull back on his four-seamer to just five thrown despite flexing improved vert in his last outing. Now he heads to the Bronx before a pair of dates in his home park and I’m not interested at all.
Yusei Kikuchi (LAA) @ CHC (L) – 5.1 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 4 BBs, 5 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 34% CSW, 91 pitches.
Not to say he was pitching at his peak, but Kikuchi had a frustrating third frame where all five runs scored and otherwise showcased a four-seamer with 19″ of vert. Yeah, that’s 3-4″ more than last year. Could be a product of the weather, could be something real. I can’t help but feel slightly tempted to start him at home against Atlanta next because of it. It’s foolish, I know.
Joe Ryan (MIN) @ KCR (L) – 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 9 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 77 pitches.
Aces gonna sit 94 mph initially before trailing down and down each inning, to as low as 89 mph. in the fourth. Uh oh. Yeaaaah, that’s not great. That said, it was a foggy, rainy, and disgusting day out there and I’m not going to do anything rash without any news of an injury. Whatareyagonnado.
Shane Smith (CHW) @ MIA (L) – 3.0 IP, 7 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 72 pitches.
Annnnnd another pitcher can’t take advantage of a great matchup. He’s sitting 96/97 mph with an improved slider and extra ride on the sinker, yet he couldn’t locate well at all, and I’m not sure why he heavily favored the sinker over his four-seamer, which suddenly carried three inches more vert (17″!). You should definitely throw that thing more. Good luck against the Orioles. It’s not out of the question that Smith rebounds there, especially if that fastball stays the same.
Game of the Day
Taj Bradley vs. Cole Ragans – Just four games on Thursday, but we’ve got PEW PEW PEW against a pitcher known to hit spots like a stormtrooper pew pewing rebel scum.
But Nick?! Where are the streaming picks? – I’ve moved them to the daily SP Matchups & Streamer Rankings article.
Have Questions? – Join my morning Twitch.tv livestream! I answer all questions there for free: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm ET Monday through Friday.
Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire | Featured image by Ethan Kaplan (@djfreddie10.bsky.social on Blue Sky and @EthanMKaplanImages on Instagram)
