Fantasy Baseball SP Roundup: Missing the Olson Wins

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 Playback.tv weekday mornings from 10 am-12 pm ET.

Reese Olson (DET) vs MIA (ND) – 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 96 pitches.

Hey you. Go add Reese Olson to your teams already. He just went 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 96 pitches against the Marlins (I know, The Marlins) and was rostered in under 20% of leagues entering today. That’s ridiculous. It sure is and I’m sick of it, I tell ya. SICK OF IT.

I know why Olson has been sitting on wires. That dang 0-4 record. HE DOESN’T DESERVE IT. This was his sixth start of the year returning 1 ER or fewer and at least five frames. It’s dumb and the fact he didn’t earn his first win today despite boasting a dope slider, great changeups for outs, and well utilized heaters is baseball cruelty. YOU HEAR ME KOUFAX?! CRUELTY.

So do the man a solid and pick him up. He just needs the enthusiasm of the people to influence his fate. You got it dude. Thanks, now we just need a full house of fantasy managers to understand what they are missing. Get the fella while you still can.

 

Let’s see how every other SP did Tuesday:

 

Aaron Nola (PHI) @ NYM (W) – 9.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 109 pitches.

Aces gonna ace. I know it’s been a weird few years of Nola volatility, but hot dang, this is what’s up. That curve was doing all the right things and the Mets just couldn’t handle what Nola was putting down, bringing his ERA down to 3.10 with five Wins under his belt. Atta boy.

Ryan Weathers (MIA) @ DET (ND) – 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 19% CSW, 97 pitches.

Weathers, I’m super happy you were able to bring it in this one. H*ck, that’s a pretty swell “MS Score” and I’ll even give you the Gold Star for this one. But did you really have to have this absurd luck on a day when Olson deserved to get his first Win? Why did you have to make it happen today?! I dunno, I don’t even think I pitched that well. RIGHT?! The Tigers were served 96 mph heaters down the pipe and did nothing with them. Weathers, the storm of opportunity squandered. I wouldn’t gamble against the Brewers after this one.

Erick Fedde (CHW) vs WSN (W) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 99 pitches.

Huh. Fedde did this on just six whiffs, going all Canibal McSanchez on us out of nowhere. There were some nice sweepers and cutters, sure, but Fedde was not particularly sharp overall and it had a feeling of Blame it on the Nationals. Maybe he can pull it off against the aimless Jays, though I have to imagine there is a better streamer to chase. Like Olson? YES, LIKE OLSON.

Chris Sale (ATL) vs CHC (W) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 0 BBs, 9 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 92 pitches.

Aces gonna ace. Yeah, he’s got it cooking.

Ronel Blanco (HOU) vs OAK (ND) – 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 37% CSW, 54 pitches.

Soooo Blanco was ejected for sticky stuff while heading out in the fourth. I’m not going to point fingers about Blanco’s legitimacy or whatever, though I will say I find it weird that if this was the actual reason for his 2024 season, why would he be caught now and not at any point over the last month and change? Or maybe his hand was just sticky from a humid night. Sweat + rosin is sticky, that’s what the dang thing is there for on the mound. I dunno, it all sounds strange and inconsistent, especially with Blanco’s spin rates looking normal in this game and throughout the season. Anyway, expect Blanco to miss a few games because of this and it’s dumb.

Gavin Stone (LAD) @ SFG (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 90 pitches.

Not an awfully impressive outing from Stone, but he did enough to get through six frames. I know some are in on Stone, but I see limited upside and middling ratios with his major value coming from Win potential. Nothing wrong in that, just don’t over-hold Stone when he has a poor matchup ahead. Does that include the Sneks + Cin City up next? I think it does. There isn’t enough electricity here to hold throughout it, though it’s certainly possible he still produces like a Toby in that time.

Cal Quantrill (COL) @ SDP (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 91 pitches.

COL story, bro. Okay fine, The UnQuantrillfiable has now allowed 1 ER or fewer in five of his last six starts. Oh no, he’s on one of those dumb runs again. YUP. But he’s on the Rockies now! We can’t Vargas Rule this, can we? Uhhhh, that’s up to you. I don’t think I could possibly stomach this myself, but I know y’all do some wild things. At least he’s killing it with sinker command these days to give him the best shot at those sinkers finding gloves.

Michael Wacha (KCR) @ SEA (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 94 pitches.

Ayyyy he’s back! Ish! Better overall command here and his cutter helped out with 32% CSW to give his changeup the support it needed. Well, that and Blame it on the Mariners. But hey! The Tigers are next! That should be fine.

Carlos Rodón (NYY) @ MIN (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 102 pitches.

He’s at 95 mph but more importantly, he’s earning a ton of slider strikes inside the zone and keeping that fastball up. And why not, 4/9 changeup whiffs because LET’S HAVE A PARTY. He’s in a good place right now – not like an ace, but like a Holly. We’ll take it all day.

JP Sears (OAK) @ HOU (ND) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 100 pitches.

Kinda weird to see Sears pull this off despite just two strikeouts. We’ve seen various approaches from Sears this year and this was another oddity with sliders and sweepers landing down and far gloveside + changeups going armside as all secondaries plodded into the bottom of the zone and beyond laterally. Four-seamers acted like a tourist getting onto a crowded train and didn’t know where they were supposed to be. And it worked. What a weird, weird year for Sears. Treat him like a Cherry Bomb if you want, I personally hate not having an idea of what we’ll get, especially when the peaks are like this and come with few punchouts.

Trevor Williams (WSN) @ CHW (ND) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 81 pitches.

#NeverTrevor. Come on Nick, you can’t just say that every time. We need real analysis! Fine. He throws four-seamers for strikes and they get crushed but still haven’t allowed a HR yet. The rest of his arsenal tests the waters out of the zone and often fails to earn enough relevant strikes (changeup and sweeper, y’all). However, his sinker is kinda ridiculous as it holds a 25% zone rate but 60%+ strike rate with a ton of chases out of the zone, creating a stupid low ICR rate (14%!) and literally 0/16 BABIP including this start. That won’t last. I also don’t like the guy and paired with the clear floor that is sure to appear any second + ceiling performances like these that don’t come with strikeouts or a Win make it pretty easy for me to just not focus. You do you, feel free to Vargas Rule or whatever. I’m gonna pass.

Hunter Greene (CIN) @ ARI (W) – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 101 pitches.

Velocity is back up to 97/98 and iVB is still down, but just one inch instead of two. Phew. DON’T SCARE ME LIKE THAT.

Nick Pivetta (BOS) vs TBR (ND) – 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 40% CSW, 81 pitches.

Phew. That’s the good stuff, Pivetta. You looked real rough against Atlanta (offensive strength aside) and to see your breaker command on point with high heaters is everything we could want. Well, that and a competent bullpen + one more out to stave off the Philly. I mean, he was at 81 pitches, you couldn’t let him finish the frame Cora? He allowed a bomb to Arozarena. SO WHAT. Let the dude finish the frame and don’t let that sour note be the aftertaste. H*ck, it was on the first pitch of the at-bat, clearly you were okay with him throwing more pitches. I dunno, he lost the win two batters later due to the pen and he deserves better. SO MANY PITCHERS DESERVE BETTER.

Joe Ross (MIL) vs PIT (W) – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 21 Whiffs, 36% CSW, 91 pitches.

Hot dang, look at you! That’s a Gallows Pole and I’m absolutely blown away that Ross was able to go full BSB with high four-seamers and low sliders. Changeups and high sinkers filled in the gaps and I may be into Ross now…? Absolutely WILD. Suitman whispers in my ear. AND HE GETS THE MARLINS NEXT?! Ross, let’s go make some happy accidents.

José Buttó (NYM) vs PHI (L) – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 1 Hits, 4 BBs, 4 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 97 pitches.

To Buttó’s credit here, he nibbled the zone effectively despite the four walks and two runs. The Phillies are hot n all and that pitch separation was solid. I’m still out, but the man found a way to keep the Mets in the game in a tough situation. That’s cool.

Jameson Taillon (CHC) @ ATL (L) – 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 22% CSW, 85 pitches.

He didn’t pitch that terribly, even if he allowed five unearned runs as well. Now that this start is behind him (and hey, 85 pitches!), let’s jump back in and snag Taillon for Pittsburgh + St. Louis up next. He’s got it.

Logan Gilbert (SEA) vs KCR (L) – 6.2 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks – 18 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 99 pitches.

Aces gonna absolutely dominate until a three-run shot with two outs in the seventh inning. Careful, Icarus. I know, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish, but hot dang, that was a painful one. Keep rolling with him and his…questionable fastball command without the cutter helping out a whole lot. That’s not fair! There were a ton of heaters right above the zone! Okay fair, and the other fastballs? …right down the middle. Ah.

Dylan Cease (SDP) vs COL (L) – 5.2 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks – 18 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 98 pitches.

Fun fact. Cease threw one cutter in this one – 0-0 on the inside edge to start the fourth. It landed in the seats. Welp, that was a fun dream, wasn’t it? Anyway, he’s looking like a proper stud these days and it’s getting hard to deny him an AGA tag. The slider is becoming much more reliable than we saw in 2023 and I feel like I need one more game to feel great about him again.

Mitchell Parker (WSN) @ CHW (L) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 82 pitches.

Soooo not great. Just three sliders and wonky fastball command plagued him here and I’m a little disappointed we didn’t get the full four-pitch mix I dreamt of. I still think Parker cutting back on heaters and looking more kitchen-sink is the way to go, but what do I know. Not the worse gamble ever against the Twins next, but that’s an easy pass to the wire in most formats.

Ben Lively (CLE) @ TEX (W) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 88 pitches.

You know, he pitched similarly in the other starts, just without as many low offerings and the lineup being way better. Maybe that means Lively is worth it for a start against the pedestrian Mets. Or maybe we should just forget about all of this. Yeah, probably the latter.

Aaron Civale (TBR) @ BOS (ND) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 2 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 76 pitches.

Sure, it’s better, but two whiffs? Seriously?! Nothing gets past me, Civale, I see everything. You can’t just rely on cutters returning enough outs every night. You need to get the band back together. Pocket Dogs? No no no, the band! The stretchy boys! The Breakers! Sweeper and curve actually earning whiffs n all. If that’s not Civale’s game, then there is no game. Wow. Such poetry.

Chris Flexen (CHW) vs WSN (ND) – 4.2 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 86 pitches.

Flexen was a tick down on everything and failed to replicate the magic of his last few weeks. Womp womp. No more beach for you. BUT I MUST FLEX. Then get those gloveside pitches back on track. 

Quinn Priester (PIT) @ MIL (L) – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 93 pitches.

Priester’s sole skill all spring was slider command down-and-gloveside. After one rough game, he decided to toss ole faithful to the wolves, and turn to everything else while featuring just nine sliders. This line doesn’t love that choice, but I do wonder if that’s what we’ll see moving forward. But you never liked Priester, does this matter? No, I guess not. I just want to see the Holiday Quinn, you know?

Reid Detmers (LAA) vs STL (ND) – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks – 17 Whiffs, 38% CSW, 95 pitches.

Even having his slider spotted like a dream and getting a start against the lowly Cardinals, Detmers was still beat constantly, including thrice on said well-spotted sliders in two-strike counts. I think a repeat with the same skills returns a better result, though it’s the Astros next and I can’t roll the die there. Womp womp.

Sonny Gray (STL) @ LAA (W) – 6.0 IP, 5 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 9 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 42% CSW, 89 pitches.

It sure is weird to see a King Cole at 42% CSW next to ten baserunners and 5 ER. Sonny deserved better. He sure did, and I can see managers scrambling as this came after an actual blunder last time out. I’d buy low everywhere – this was a stupid odd one with only four hard hit balls.

Chris Paddack (MIN) vs NYY (L) – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 12 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 95 pitches.

The Yankees seemingly had Paddack’s number and that’s just how the winds blow some days. Or he was tipping. Who knows, it doesn’t matter, this wasn’t a start to target Paddack and the Guardians are one to avoid as well.

Keaton Winn (SFG) vs LAD (L) – 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 78 pitches.

He left this one with a forearm injury. I wonder if it’s been hurting him for a bit as he’s been rough for a few starts now. Regardless, I feel for the guy and I hope he’s not out for long. You never want to see this.

Slade Cecconi (ARI) vs CIN (L) – 5.2 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 89 pitches.

Slade earned a ton of four-seamer called strikes and got pummeled on the others. OH NO. Get out of here Kool-Slade man. Now isn’t the time.

Jack Leiter (TEX) vs CLE (L) – 1.2 IP, 6 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 1 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 20% CSW, 64 pitches.

Yeah yeah yeah, he’s not ready n all that. Just forget about him until he has that start.

 

Game of the Day

 

Taj Bradley vs. Tanner Houck – Bradley was brilliant in his first start + Houck has been on a gorgeous run.

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

Have Questions? – Join my morning Playback.tv livestream! I answer all questions there for free: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm ET Monday through Friday.

Photo by Bailey Hillesheim/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter/X)