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 Twitch.tv weekday mornings from 10 am-12 pm ET.
Chris Bassitt (BAL) vs HOU (W) – 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 36% CSW, 94 pitches.
I’ve adamantly avoided Chris Bassitt this season and I wish I hadn’t on Thursday against the Astros, where he earned a King Cole via 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 36% CSW, 94 pitches (W) in game one of the doubleheader. You know the name and when you saw this line, I know what went into your head. Oh right, he’s always had a way to make it work, why did I overlook this? The answer is easy: This was his first actually good start of the year. And I have some bad news: I’m not sure when he’ll have his next one.
Sure, Bassitt gets the Marlins up next and how could you resist after this line? Maybe telling you about the unsustainable 35% putaway rate that propelled those strikeouts? Or the still meh WHIP that came along with the success? Or how his formerly signature cutter has been reduced to 9% usage with far worse break than it used to be? Wait, does that mean…Here’s the real reason: He got to face a ton of RHB for the first time. Bassitt’s sinker and curveball + a sprinkle of sweepers can manage in that context. Throw a lineup with more than a few LHB and he’ll have to use the worse cutter more often and use a sinker that performs far worse to opposite-handed batters. Not to mention, his command to LHB has been dramatically worse than to RHB this season.
It all came together in this one to create his best start of that season and it still came with a 1.20 WHIP. Be careful trusting Bassitt moving forward, and make sure you don’t leave the Birthday Party still wearing the hat. I’ve done that before, it’s embarrassing. Of course you have.
Let’s see how every other SP did Thursday:
Brandon Woodruff (MIL) vs ARI (ND) – 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 38% CSW, 21 pitches.
Woodruff was sitting seven ticks down and I’m honestly surprised it took until one out into the second frame for him to finally get removed. He’s going to miss time, we don’t know how much yet, but hot dang, seven ticks?! SEVEN?!
Logan Webb (SFG) @ PHI (ND) – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 92 pitches.
The WHIP is still a little annoying, but we’ll take it all day. It’s nice to have a seven-inning darling from Webb again, isn’t it? You’re wise to forget about his first month of the season. He’s fine.
Bailey Ober (MIN) vs TOR (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 88 pitches.
Don’t look now, but that’s 3 ER in three starts for Ober. And five strikeouts in his last twelve innings. Shhhh. Why? You don’t actually want to tell people this is real, do you? Yeah, you’re right. He’s still 88 mph and the Jays simply didn’t take advantage of what they got. Don’t you dare fall for it.
Bryce Elder (ATL) vs DET (ND) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 90 pitches.
IT. DON’T. STOP. Was this a start of Elder avoiding the heart of the plate? Absolutely not. Did he avoid hard contact? Nope. Efficiently get to two strikes and put batters away? Nah. It was some finagling and poorly timed hits until the sixth, where they finally put up a run against Elder for a Careful, Icarus. Look, you know this isn’t meant to last. It’s a textbook Vargas Rule as we hold on to his 1.17 ERA and 1.00 WHIP for as long it can go. Good luck.
Freddy Peralta (NYM) vs WSN (ND) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 90 pitches.
He, and all of Queens, saw the Win get snatched from him in the eighth and I only have the deepest of sympathy for the Mets. These are humans who are living a constant nightmare of doing whatever they can to succeed and coming up short. Baseball is life. It sure is sometimes. Oooof. As for Peralta himself, well, he’s doing fine. Nice to see the curve and change work well in this one + the four-seamer live upstairs consistently. It’s Coors next and I’m still going to let him fly, maybe just because I still remember his incredible MLB debut in Coors years ago.
Trevor Richards (PHI) vs SFG (L) – 2.1 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 20% CSW, 45 pitches.
It was a bullpen game for the Phillies in Game 2 of the doubleheader. Carry on.
Cristopher Sánchez (PHI) vs SFG (ND) – 6.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 85 pitches.
Aces gonna ace. One game at a time to chip away at his 1.51 WHIP catalyzed by allowing 23 hits in just two starts. No, nothing is “wrong” with Sánchez. It’s the same fella.
Andrew Abbott (CIN) vs COL (W) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 22% CSW, 86 pitches.
FINALLY. Nick, it was Rockie Road. And I take nothing for granted. He also wriggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth to keep it at two ER (a walk –> HR bamboozlin’ in the first) and he matched his season high strikeout total. Tell them. Tell them what. Tell them the full truth. What are you, Beckham in that meme? TELL THEM. His season high strikeout total is five. Thank you. We’re not out of the woods, y’all. He’s still missing a lot with the four-seamer, the fastball isn’t getting upstairs enough, and the sweeper went 1/17 whiffs to LHB. And this was Rockie Road! Now with the Cubs next, I’m out.
Framber Valdez (DET) @ ATL (ND) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks – 21 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 99 pitches.
You see a Gallows Pole from Valdez and I wonder if you’re like me, expecting a phenomenal curveball. Welp, just 47% strikes on the pitch…but 7/32 whiffs. Not the real catalyst (that would be 10/32 whiffs on the slowball), but when he did execute the curveball, it was obviously stellar. It wasn’t even his best located changeups, too, against one of the premier offenses. Sometimes that’s just how it goes.
Peter Lambert (HOU) @ BAL (L) – 4.1 IP, 2 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 91 pitches.
He tossed four frames of one-run ball, earned an out, allowed a double, and got the hook, with his final baserunner coming around to score. How did he throw so many pitches so quickly? Simple, really. Lambert got to two strikes absurdly well, but featured a horrible 9% putaway rate. The curveball, fastball change, the command at large was just not what we saw in his first two outings. It makes it easy for us to push Lambert back to the wire for the Dodgers and hope he shows more of the old command to pick him up for the Mariners and Rangers after.
Jeffrey Springs (ATH) vs KCR (ND) – 3.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 67 pitches.
Springs left this one early with a hip injury, dreaming of times with something bright and something arcing. A neon McDonald’s sign? Totally. He’s expected to make his next start, though I’m not interested, even away from Sacré Verde. The heater has lost its sparkle.
Lance McCullers Jr. (HOU) @ BAL (W) – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 2 Hits, 4 BBs, 9 Ks – 18 Whiffs, 35% CSW, 99 pitches.
A PQS with nine strikeouts?! Oh McCullers, you rascal. Not only did he feature 62%+ strikes on all three of his main pitches (curve, cutter, sweeper), he also returned a 44% SwStr rate on 25 curveballs. Why yes, that is bonkers. That was 10/18 on LHB alone with a 17% zone rate on the pitch. Some days, a man just wants to fish. We can call McCullers the prototypical Werewolf where he’ll have a start like this once a full moon. See y’all in a month.
Adrian Houser (SFG) @ PHI (ND) – 4.2 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 68 pitches.
I was secretly hoping he’d get pushed to tomorrow so he’d get the Rays instead, but alas, here’s 68 pitches of…that. Now Padres + Dodgers + Sacré Verde and you cannot, even if he threw one four-seamer at 97.5 mph. The velocity is there, JUST GIVE HIM THE SCHEDULE. Suitman whispers in my ear. Yes, I remember he didn’t come through against the Marlins, you don’t need to whisper that to me. Suitman whispers in my ear again. First day? What happened to Cole deRoy? I loved that guy. His suits felt so soft.
Hunter Dobbins (STL) @ PIT (ND) – 4.1 IP, 3 ER, 2 Hits, 5 BBs, 4 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 79 pitches.
We got our first look at Dobbins in a Cardinals uniform and post-ACL surgery and it was…pretty much the same Dobbins. It’s all fine at 95/96 mph with cut-action on the heater, some solid sweep on the 88 mph slider at the cost of more lift than you’d like, and a full arsenal of splitters, sweepers, sinkers, and curves in between. He’ll get the Brewers next week where he’ll likely not walk five of his final seven batters again (Still ILL n all). It’s best to wait for him to come through at least once before we jump in – there’s a small chance he doesn’t stick around, either, as the Cardinals are in a long stretch of games without an off-day, using a six-man to give their arms the typical five days of rest.
Miles Mikolas (WSN) @ NYM (ND) – 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 19% CSW, 79 pitches.
I speaks volumes that this looks like a good start from Mikolas. Shudders.
Kevin Gausman (TOR) @ MIN (L) – 5.2 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 94 pitches.
That sixth frame hit him hard (Careful, Icarus) where the only prior blemish was a walk and two-run shot, though this was a struggle-bus of a game as Gausman not only sat 1-2 ticks down, but he also featured a 28% strike rate splitter. Oh jeez. Yuuuup. That heater almost got him all the way through six, too. So close. It’s the Rays for two now, so even if you had some slight concerns, you push down those feelings for now.
Michael Lorenzen (COL) @ CIN (L) – 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 85 pitches.
I feel for these Rockies pitchers who finally get a road start and it happens to be Great American Small Park. You have a lot of sympathy tonight. Are you suggesting I don’t normally? What have I done. Yeah, not a good one bucko. I feel for you. THAT’S WHAT I MEAN.
Noah Cameron (KCR) @ ATH (L) – 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 93 pitches.
He got singled out in both the first and second inside Sacré Verde (including an unearned run) and settled down after, grinding it out to return ten outs and two singles before getting relieved. Now is when I tell you something you won’t believe. I’m down to pick up Cameron. He gets the Guardians up next and I believe the ERA/WHIP are misleading. He’s not an 11 Hits/9 arm, and his velocity has been far better as of late. I also totally get just leaving him on the wire until he puts together a string of starts before we can properly trust it again. Maybe for your deeper formats for now, alright?
Paul Skenes (PIT) vs STL (L) – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 9 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 102 pitches.
Aces gonna act like it’s opening day again, allowing 3 ER in the first off a pair of HRs. Then he rolled up his sleeves and became SKENES, but it wasn’t enough to earn his first career Win against the Cardinals. Wait, seriously? Yup. I blame the Pirates.
Brandon Young (BAL) vs HOU (L) – 4.0 IP, 7 ER, 10 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 18% CSW, 82 pitches.
Oh dear. Um. Yeah. Dude got Singled Out in the first, was far better in the next two frames, then began the carousel again in the fourth before finally getting a strikeout to end the frame. There may be some temptation for a start against the Marlins next week, though he’s never looked like a high ceiling arm, so why risk it?
Michael Soroka (ARI) @ MIL (L) – 3.0 IP, 8 ER, 10 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 79 pitches.
Here I was, giving all the praise to Soroka during the latest episodes of my The Craft and On The Corner podcasts, and this was difficult to watch. His dope curveball returned a 42% CSW (yay!) without a single whiff. Wait, what? Batters were able to attack fastballs effectively, resist the curve out of the zone, and jump on the hooks that landed over the plate. His changeup couldn’t help (2/9 strikes), and overall command to LHB was nothing like we’ve seen all year. So many pitches down the heart of the plate. The good news? He’ll get the Pirates + Arlington up next and he should rebound nicely there. Don’t let him go just yet.
Game of the Day
Zack Wheeler vs. Eury Pérez – What will we get from Wheeler’s second game back? What about Pérez is a home start that usually is far better than on the road?
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)
