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.
Griffin Jax (TBR) @ TOR (ND) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 1 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 21% CSW, 66 pitches.
There’s a little bit of wonder when a reliever begins their journey of stretching out into a starting pitcher. Typically, they don’t make the transition if they don’t carry legitimate stuff and/or a wide enough arsenal to provide more value than a high-leverage reliever (or, in some cases, it’s Ben Brown or Jordan Hicks, BUT I DIGRESS). The latest arm making the shift is Griffin Jax, who initially came up as a starter for the Twins in 2021 and has now made four starts for the Rays and finally hit five frames against the Jays on Wednesday: 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 1 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 21% CSW, 66 pitches (ND). It wasn’t a pretty outing where the fella was clearly slacking in the K/BB department (four walks and a HAISTBMBWT?! is sure to make FIP acolytes ignore him completely), and yet, I think you should pay attention.
Let’s get this out of the way. Yes, he looked rough against RHB. The problem? 1/6 four-seamers for strikes and a sinker he’s still getting the feel for (5/10 strikes). However, the sweeper was filthy at 88 mph and 67% strikes with precision down-and-away. It reminded me of a Kirby sweeper at -13″ of sweep at such a good velocity along the x-axis. I’m also impressed that Jax held his velocity throughout the outing, even if there was a dip in the fifth around 55/60 pitches to 95 mph (not 96 mph).
I totally get this. The command was way off here and he’s lacking a major whiff pitch to LHB at the moment (his four-seamer/cutter combo looks awfully like Rasmussen’s, though), but now that he’s set up to go over 70 pitches with two starts against the Orioles on the horizon, I think it’s time to consider Jax. If you want to wait to see a super legit start, I don’t blame you. Four walks and one strikeout is not super convincing and I may be too optimistic that Jax can reverse the K/BB ratio. It’s up to you, and I think Jax profiles out as a weak-contact arm with a great 95+ mph four-seamer, elite sweeper, great 93 mph cutter, and developing sinker. Oh, and an 83/84 mph curve with absurd drop that may be a solution to putaway LHB (and maybe RHB here and there). I’m buying. (View Game Card)
Let’s see how every other SP did Wednesday:
Shohei Ohtani (LAD) vs SFG (W) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks – 17 Whiffs, 36% CSW, 105 pitches.
Aces gonna ace. That’s a 0.82 ERA with seven frames in back-to-back games. I still can’t believe he was drafted as the SP #20 in two-Ohtani leagues. (View Game Card)
Jacob Misiorowski (MIL) vs SDP (ND) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 10 Ks – 20 Whiffs, 45% CSW, 93 pitches.
Aces gonna ace. He’s on such a heater that he dealt with another cramp at the end of the game. A 45% CSW King Cole is one of the highest marks you’ll see all season, and to be honest, if he boasts a 60% zone rate every start, he’ll continue to flirt with beating his personal record. But he just earns strikeouts. And returned 80% weak contact. He’s every stuffist’s dream who has found the control he’s always needed. I really need to push him further up The List. (View Game Card)
Kyle Bradish (BAL) vs NYY (W) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 100 pitches.
OHHHH BAAAYYYBEEEE. Wait, I want to get ahead of this. Bradish went 0/14 slider whiffs. Wait, what. Yeah, strange, right? As the pitch featured nearly half the time to RHB it wasn’t bad, but the Yankees were able to foul it off plenty as Bradish didn’t quite get it down-and-away as he wanted to. At least he went pure sinker to them to go mostly up or inside + snuck one in to freeze Judge for a strikeout, while featuring two curveballs to pry on a vulnerable Volpe for a strikeout and popout. In short, it was a game of BSB to LHB with high four-seamers and low curveballs and I’m here for it. That’s the command and whiffability we saw last game against the Athletics and to repeat it a second time is huge (even if it was the curve and not the slider). Now he gets the Rays twice and you should be rubbing your hands with that sly grin. You know the one. (View Game Card)
J.T. Ginn (ATH) vs STL (W) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 95 pitches.
The fella got Singled Out, but he deserved to on some of these sinkers over the plate, and he wriggled out of it in Sacré Verde for the dub. The rest of his offerings were well spotted, from four-seamers and cutters up-and-in, to changeups away and sliders stealing 37% called strikes. It’s all fine. He could be a decent Toby against the Angels next, even if the floor is low with his hittability and few putaway pitches. (View Game Card)
Kumar Rocker (TEX) vs ARI (ND) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 4 BBs, 3 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 97 pitches.
He survived. Let’s all give a friendly nod to Koufax for this Birthday Party and forget it ever happened with Coors up next. (View Game Card)
Dylan Cease (TOR) vs TBR (ND) – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 9 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 36% CSW, 99 pitches.
Cease has allowed just one HR this year (fourth pitch of his start @MIN to Buxton) and it’s part of the reason he has a sparkling 2.41 ERA with a good-but-not-great 1.18 WHIP. It’s really easy to look at these nine starts and believe this is what he’ll be for the next 20. We’ve also seen Cease have many stretches like this in the past + this and his last start are swaying your feelings – it was a 3.05 ERA and 1.33 WHIP before his last two. Let’s hope the floor doesn’t show up soon and obviously we keep starting him. (View Game Card)
Sonny Gray (BOS) vs PHI (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 78 pitches.
It’s Always Sonny In Philadelphia. Really? Every time he starts? Dude, I don’t know, just let me say the bit. JEEEEEEEEZ. He had the sinker messing up RHB for a quartet of punchouts + LHB saw tantalizing breakers at their backfoot all game. This is the Sonny delight we love. (View Game Card)
Michael King (SDP) @ MIL (ND) – 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 99 pitches.
Not the very best of King, but he’s clearly in a groove now. All his pitches are earning strikes (save for the mediocre slider that I’ll just ignore for now) and I kinda want to start him against the Dodgers. (View Game Card)
Andrew Painter (PHI) @ BOS (ND) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 37% CSW, 62 pitches.
Hot dang, look at you! That’s a Gold Star for Painter, returning his first game under 3 ER in a whole month (since April 12th) – in Fenway, no less! He can thank his slider and sweeper focus, jumping to a combined 52% usage at an 81% strike rate and 50% CSW. That’s stupid good. Sure is. So good that I cannot endorse it quite yet. This was the best version of Painter and I need to see more before I buy in…then again, it’s the Reds Carpet up next. How could I not be tempted? (View Game Card)
JR Ritchie (ATL) vs CHC (ND) – 4.1 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 22% CSW, 87 pitches.
I kinda wish WordPress didn’t make the shrug emoji look off or I’d just post it and call it a day. [SHRUG.EMOJI]. If only that worked. The command was better against LHB, but the stuff is lacking. He’s not the youngin’ to chase. (View Game Card)
Shota Imanaga (CHC) @ ATL (L) – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 96 pitches.
IM AN AGA. Even in Hotlanta! However, this may be the time to sell for two reasons: His fastball was down to 91.2 mph again (we want 92 mph) + June/July is absolutely terrifying for pitchers. See if you can float Imanaga out there for that hitter upgrade or stud closer. (View Game Card)
Parker Messick (CLE) vs LAA (W) – 6.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 104 pitches.
It was a RHB-exclusive lineup and Messick went to work. I gotta say, it is rare to see a pitcher locate sinkers down-and-away with such precision. He’s a pitcher I think we throw away the notion of “command isn’t sticky”. He’s absurd. And yes, he spiked too many changeups in this one. 100%. He misses outs of the zone far more than in the zone and it’s how he has a 2.35 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, and 28% strikeout rate in nine games this year. He’s legit. (View Game Card)
Framber Valdez (DET) @ NYM (ND) – 6.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 37% CSW, 106 pitches.
All good here. Valdez suddenly leaned into his slider over his curveball to LHB and he’s still getting a feel for it (47% strikes), but I encourage it. He needs another breaker to match the curve given it volatility. (View Game Card)
Lance McCullers Jr. (HOU) vs SEA (ND) – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 90 pitches.
Ayyyy, he gave us a Dusty Donut! That’s success! So he threw a lot of strikes? Not really! 57% clip across everything isn’t good, but a 60% per-hitter PAR saved the day. Gotta strike em out before you walk em, eh? (View Game Card)
Bryce Miller (SEA) @ HOU (ND) – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 81 pitches.
This was an obvious Still ILL and this was awesome. He sat 97/98 mph without the largest dip from the first frame (where he hit 99.2 mph lol), falling to 96.4 mph in the sixth, which is still a full 1.5 ticks up from last year’s mark. However, his locations weren’t great, leading to few whiffs and an inability to put batters away. It’s such a good four-seamer that he just needs to elevate it and call it a day, kinda like Ryne, and hopefully the splitter can do a little more work in the future – high strike rate, 0/19 whiffs as he failed to get it down enough. It’s also a super good 84 mph sweeper at two-plane movement and almost 16″ of sweep, but again, he has to locate it a bit better. Get hyped for Bryce, y’all. The stuff is better and with good control out of the gate (68% strikes!), the only adjustments left are the little things to execute a touch better. The wait was worth it. (View Game Card)
Christian Scott (NYM) vs DET (ND) – 4.2 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 89 pitches.
Scott was…odd. He would look great for an at-bat, then lose the next guy, get worked deeper into counts than expected, but the stuff is there. He’s not getting the sweeper and cutter off the plate away to RHB to cut down his pitch count, and I’m totally fine seeing him a tick down at 95 mph if it means he’ll go 66% strikes moving forward. He’ll get the Nationals + Marlins x2 and I think we hold. By the time he’s done with the Marlins, I expect all of us to be pumping our fists. (View Game Card)
Jose Quintana (COL) @ PIT (ND) – 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 73 pitches.
Womp womp. I feel for all y’all in super deep NL-only formats. It’s the hope that kills you. (View Game Card)
Ryne Nelson (ARI) @ TEX (ND) – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks – 18 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 88 pitches.
Dangit Ryne, I know you’re working on the sinker, and yes, it was the right idea to go sinker over four-seamer to Burger with men on 1st and second in the fifth, but you gotta get that guy inside and not down the pipe. That three-run shot came after a single and HBP and was the only issue in this awesome outing. Still don’t believe in Ryne? Fine, you do you. At least embrace SFG + Rockie Road + @TEA. Try to tell me you don’t want him everywhere now that he’s fanned 15 in two games and has that schedule. (View Game Card)
Reid Detmers (LAA) @ CLE (L) – 5.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 102 pitches.
Blegh. He nearly had the PQS but couldn’t get the final out of the sixth. The slider is getting worse with just 2/25 whiffs here and consistent failure to back-foot to RHB. In addition, his change was close, but not quite there, leading to just 38% strikes and a larger focus on four-seamers than he’d like. He’s given you a poor ERA in each of his last five starts now and I can feel the anxiety. I feel it, y’all. It’s a decent schedule, ahead, and I think it’ll be alright, but the floor of that slider continuing to fail has me considering moving on from Detmers in favor of other interesting names. Not Jax quite yet, but you the rest. (View Game Card)
Robbie Ray (SFG) @ LAD (L) – 4.2 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 19% CSW, 95 pitches.
Ouch. I guess that’s why he’s not an ace? He went 41% changeups and just one slider to RHB, which I never thought I’d ever see, and I kinda hope he splits it up a little more. That slider still works, after all. (View Game Card)
Noah Schultz (CHW) vs KCR (ND) – 4.1 IP, 3 ER, 2 Hits, 5 BBs, 3 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 22% CSW, 76 pitches.
Yeaaaaah, you can move on if you like. @TEA and Oracle Park are enticing, but his command is atrocious right now. His sweeper returned a 53% strike rate – the highest of any pitch in his arsenal. Oh no. Yup. (View Game Card)
Max Fried (NYY) @ BAL (L) – 3.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 20% CSW, 61 pitches.
Fried left this one with a sore elbow and is off to get imaging done. Wat. Yup. Hold me. Metaphorically, any time you like. If he hits the IL, the Yankees will need two starts or so until Cole returns, which could mean Elmer, or it could be the Fratty Pirate going bulk. Either way, I wouldn’t focus on it vs the Jays. (View Game Card)
Max Meyer (MIA) @ MIN (W) – 5.2 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 9 Ks – 22 Whiffs, 36% CSW, 96 pitches.
That four-seamer is here to stay, y’all. And sadly, also are first pitch-HRs to Buxton, who launched two of them for solo shots – a high four-seamer, and down-and-in sinker – and I don’t understand why. WE KNOW HE DOES THIS. Anyway, that Gallows Pole is a lovely sight and if Meyer could just locate the four-seamer upstairs a little more often, he could replicate it each time out. Oh, and throw more of the 89 mph sweeper. Please. Especially to Buxton. I threw him three sliders and a changeup to strike him out in the fifth. WELL, GOOD. Good! GOOD! (View Game Card)
Matthew Liberatore (STL) @ ATH (L) – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 89 pitches.
He was skirting by with four shutout in Sacré Verde until Kurtz crushed a hanging 2-2 slider for a grand slam. Can’t let em on in the first place. Yeah yeah yeah. Libby is pitching better with more pitch separation than usual, and it could mean a Toby the rest of the way, including against the Pirates next time out. (View Game Card)
Seth Lugo (KCR) @ CHW (L) – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 92 pitches.
He’s not locked in, and the curveball velo is still down. But it was 50 degrees. Okay, fine. But still, he allowed 4 ER in his first four games and has matched or surpassed that total three of his last four starts. It’s not worth it. (View Game Card)
Nick Lodolo (CIN) vs WSN (ND) – 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 87 pitches.
Blegh. His curveball feel is off, with just a 48% strike rate, and the four-seamer had some terrible misses in and off the plate. At least the changeup is cooking as it should and he’s generally keeping the sinker inside to LHB (40% CSW!). He should come around and I’d hold. The velocity and whiffs are there. (View Game Card)
Jake Irvin (WSN) @ CIN (ND) – 3.0 IP, 5 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 4 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 86 pitches.
D.C. is not a place I think highly of right now and I sure wish it were. (View Game Card)
Mitch Keller (PIT) vs COL (L) – 5.2 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 20% CSW, 80 pitches.
Whoa whoa whoa. This was Rockie Road! Keller! I actually had faith in you! HOW COULD YOU. I was fine through four then got Singled Out with five straight hits, then allowed a three-run HR with two outs. That doesn’t make it better. Well, I thought it did. I guess he’s okay in 15-teamers @ STL next time, but y’all know how I feel. (View Game Card)
Simeon Woods Richardson (MIN) vs MIA (L) – 3.0 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 4 BBs, 1 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 88 pitches.
Is SWR the new Taijuan? The guy who manages to stick in the rotation for far longer than he has any right to? This makes him 0-6 with a 7.71 ERA and 1.86 WHIP on the year. (View Game Card)
Game of the Day
Braxton Garrett vs. Zebby Matthews – Two season debuts from pitchers who have been here before. I’m so curious how they both look.
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)
