Welcome to the SP Roundup, my daily fantasy baseball article reviewing every starting pitcher’s performance from every Thursday 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.
Walker Buehler (BOS) vs TOR (ND) – 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 89 pitches.
Will we ever see Walker Buehler excel as a starting pitcher again? We’ve been asking that since he fumbled in his return from TJS last season prior to an electric World Series outing, and his first two starts of the season suggest a long reclamation project on the horizon. However, his Thursday outing expressed potential in Fenway against the Blue Jays: 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 89 pitches (ND). Maybe it wasn’t such a long journey after all?
Nah, I’m not buying it. I really want to, I just can’t. Buehler is still sub 94 mph and even with excellent HAVAA and 18″ of vert, he still allows hard contact with just 2/25 whiffs (though 44% CSW is fantastic for the day!). It’s not a BSB and I’d feel more comfortable with Buehler’s intent coming with execution upstairs instead of relying on called strikes.
The secondaries are generally down against LHB, but with sub 20% CSW and 3/23 whiffs on curves and changeups, once again it’s so… mid. Watch him pitch, and it feels like he’s doing everything he can to get a good result on each pitch, but nothing is overwhelming or dominant, kinda like an artist drawing a picture that, yeah you can tell it’s a chair, but you don’t want to hang it up.
He’ll get the Rays next and that could be another productive outing with cutters and heaters working around the zone, sweepers down-and-away to RHB, and curves + changeups debilitating LHB. It just doesn’t seem put together nor demanding of our attention. I dunno, do what you want. I’m out.
Let’s see how every other SP did Thursday:
José Soriano (LAA) @ TBR (W) – 7.2 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 93 pitches.
Not only did he cruise for a Win, we saw the curve return in a big way, recording 48% CSW and 74% strikes. The slider was limited to just six thrown in total (11% vs. RHB) and the sinker was a bit more erratic than usual, but it’s the Rays. He did what he needed to do. It’ll be a little tougher against the Rangers and let’s hope the three-pitch mix is there.
Ryan Feltner (COL) vs MIL (ND) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 36% CSW, 86 pitches.
Jeeeeez Feltner, 16 called strikes on the four-seamer?! No wonder you earned the King Cole. He located them up against LHB and maybe the thin Coors air resisted so much vert that it turned into drop, executing a surprise Canibal McSanchez as the four-seamer held 9.2″ iVB. Meanwhile, the sweeper is still questionable so let’s just give him the Gold Star and go home.
Spencer Schwellenbach (ATL) vs PHI (ND) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 81 pitches.
Y’all may want me to give him AGA, though a 1.50 WHIP and just five strikeouts isn’t the GIVE HIM WHAT HE DESERVES kind of outing, you know? He also could have gone into the seventh if not for a rain delay, and what matters is 96 mph velocity with seven feet of extension and a flat attack angle merged with a legit slider, sinker, cutter, curve, and splitter. That’s a whole lot. Yeah, he’s kinda dope.
Jesús Luzardo (PHI) @ ATL (ND) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 98 pitches.
Yeah, you’re killing it Jesús and I’ll respect you on The List even more. That sweeper is a more reliable offering than I was giving it credit with a 36% CSW and 6/28 whiffs here while the changeup… Well that changeup needs to be a whole lot better. 39% strikes is an atrocity. Fortunately, the heater is around 96 mph and is spotted beautifully to RHB, leading to a man on a mission. We are so holding right now and hoping the stretch doesn’t end.
Bailey Ober (MIN) @ KCR (ND) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 73 pitches.
It was a rocky first frame with three hits and a sole run, crickets for four frames, then a small jam he worked out of in the sixth, before getting the early hook at 73 pitches. Ugh. He’s still a tick down (at least not two ticks!) and the slider was easily the weak point of his arsenal, but the changeup was better and I hope he throws more of them to RHB moving forward. That slider isn’t good enough to carry the load against RHB.
Chris Bassitt (TOR) @ BOS (ND) – 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 86 pitches.
We gave Buehler the attention, but Bassitt should be getting the love. A Gallows Pole here as he did his classic approach of the full kitchen sink while avoiding the heart of the plate. But he was two ticks down, 3-4 ticks down on the cutter! Okay, that’s fair. I still appreciate the man and will hold through Atlanta up next. He’s not the same Bassitt from 2024 and I’d wager the velocity comes back up.
Quinn Priester (MIL) @ COL (ND) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 72 pitches.
We got our first look at Priester in 2025 and not for the team we expected. This was a clear bench in Coors + the whole “Is Priester actually any good?” and I want to warn y’all from judging his secondaries in the Mile High City. At the very least, he’s 93/94 mph with what looks to be a mediocre sinker and I have low expectations for the four-seamer and secondaries moving forward. He gets the Tigers next and if you want to chase it, go ahead, but only in 15-teamers. You don’t want to leap for this ceiling in shallower formats.
Gavin Williams (CLE) vs CHW (W) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 94 pitches.
The sweeper was nice at times, but it was 56% strikes and I’m still searching for the 89+ mph pitch that is supposed to complement the 96 mph heater with elite extension. WHERE IS IT, GAVIN?! But fine, a co-share of the Gallows Pole as he took down the White Sox as he should. WHATEVER.
Michael Wacha (KCR) vs MIN (ND) – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 88 pitches.
If you watched with me during the spotlight today on Playback, you’d have seen Wacha get his outs as he always does: four-seamers around the edges, with cutters and curves mixed in, all to set up the glorious changeup. He’s a legit ‘Toby”.
Jonathan Cannon (CHW) @ CLE (L) – 5.1 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 22% CSW, 102 pitches.
Blegh. Then again, is it really a blegh if you take a bite of black licorice and get upset it’s black licorice? What, I like black licorice. Really?! People like that stuff?! I always thought that was a lie from Big Licorice.
Zack Littell (TBR) vs LAA (L) – 4.0 IP, 7 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 78 pitches.
Littell by Littell (no, that is not the name of his new cologne line), Zack was taken down by the Angels. He elected not to go Dancing With The Disco against RHB for some reason, and the sliders he did feature over the plate got blasted. Y’all shouldn’t be getting close enough to get a whiff of Littell.
Game of the Day
Jacob deGrom vs. Bryce Miller – IT’S IN SEATTLE.
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 Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter/X; @justinparadis.bsky.social on BlueSky)
