Fantasy Baseball SP Roundup – A Cool Mill

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 Twitch weekday mornings from 10 am-12 pm ET.  

Bryce Miller (SEA) @ OAK (ND) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 0 BBs, 10 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 38% CSW, 81 pitches.

If you didn’t watch Miller vs. Miller tonight in Oakland, you missed out. Bryce Miller made his MLB debut and tossed five perfect frames before a run in the sixth and was flat-out brilliant: 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 0 BBs, 10 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 38% CSW, 81 pitches. You can stop reading and pick him up now if you like. Kinda disrespectful, but I’m just text, written (likely) hours before you read this. I have no power here.

Anyway, Bryce was called up straight from Double-A and I didn’t know if he’d have good enough command to make this work after a bit of struggles in Double-A. His arsenal is pretty straight-forward: It’s a whole lot of fastballs with some cutters he struggles to control and the occasional slider. It’s not the prototypical build I go for – I normally want to see more out of the secondaries to believe he can cruise through outings and prevent walks – but that heater is really good. 40% CSW (I know, against the Athletics, but still!) and I dug his north-south approach. Rarely did Bryce miss too far inside-outside and while he wasn’t the most precise at nailing the top or bottom of the zone at will, I’m all for him missing up-or-down instead of in-and-out.

With that fantastic fastball and a solid Seattle crew behind him, there’s a lot of opportunity here for Bryce to provide every five days. I hope he can become a little more reliant on those secondaries as he faces better offenses and he’s going to get a challenge right away against the Astros next week. I’m going for it as I feel the heater is good enough, though it may take some time for us to see another King Cole and 10/0 K per BB game again.

 

Let’s see how every other SP did Tuesday:

 

Mason Miller (OAK) vs SEA (ND) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 Hits, 4 BBs, 6 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 100 pitches.

Everyone couldn’t get enough of Bryce that they ignored Mason not only tossing seven no-hit innings, but also being allowed to go 100 pitches. His seventh gave me all kinds of joy as he turned to the slider for strikes, a pitch that returned a phenomenal 46% CSW and what I believed to be his third best weapon entering today. If Mason can continue to get strikes with his slider while continuing to pump 97 mph ched and a filthy cutter, the man won’t be stopped. I should mention, his cutter left him hanging a bit here for 9/23 strikes…even if he got squeezed a decent amount. I’m thrilled the slider stepped up and I wouldn’t worry about the 13% CSW on the heater – it’s still a stupid good pitch at 97 mph.

Anthony DeSclafani (SF) @ HOU (W) – 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 20% CSW, 109 pitches.

I got a decent amount of flak for not keeping Tony Disco higher on The List as he headed into his gauntlet of tough opponents and maybe this line should make me reconsider. Or maybe, the man earned just six whiffs and a 20% CSW against an elite offense and somehow survived. Nah, he’s just dope Nick. GIVE THE MAN CREDIT. I absolutely will as I overestimated how long the rough patch would last as he gets the Nationals, Diamondbacks, and Marlins next, making him someone to roster now. He should be back around the 60s or so next week given the easier schedule, so yep. My bad…? My bad.

Bryce Elder (ATL) @ MIA (W) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 96 pitches.

This is awesome and now you have to do the thing you really don’t want to do – drop him. Boston + Texas + Dodgers are next and I don’t really care for any of it. Okay, maybe the Red Sox start if you don’t have the heart to drop him yet, but really, I don’t think he does anything exceptional with his 89/90 mph sinker and 4/40 whiff slider to demand a roster spot. He’s a Toby with a rough schedule ahead – don’t let emotions get in the way of the truth.

Joe Ryan (MIN) @ CWS (ND) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 87 pitches.

I’m tired of waiting to give him the AGA label, but I can’t on a day where he faced the lowly White Sox and only went 5/48 fastball whiffs. Glad to see the splitter earn a boatload of strikes, though.

Michael Wacha (SD) vs CIN (ND) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 100 pitches.

Props to Wacha here, I was wondering if I should have ranked him more favorably today and despite the few strikeouts and whiffs, he produced across six frames. That changeup was not the pitch we want it to be, though, and I can’t help but feel he got away with this one. Be careful.

Trevor Williams (WSH) vs CHC (ND) – 5.1 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 87 pitches.

Oh please. Trevor, we’ve done this song and dance so many times. Please don’t trick honest, good-hearted managers again, they deserve better. But he gets the Giants next! And he’s allowed 2 ER or fewer in four of his last five! LOOK WHAT YOU’VE DONE TREVOR.

Javy Guerra (TB) vs PIT (ND) – 0.2 IP, 0 ER, 0 Hits, 2 BBs, 0 Ks – 0 Whiffs, 16% CSW, 19 pitches.

Yay, a proper bullpen game with Josh Fleming tossing 3.1 innings of 1 ER ball after, getting pulled too early to get a Win. And no one rejoiced.

Michael Kopech (CWS) vs MIN (ND) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 Hits, 5 BBs, 7 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 89 pitches.

Hmmmmmm. Kopech pumped heaters for 10/63 whiffs and 32% CSW, but it wasn’t 97 mph as we hoped – we got 95.3 mph and 2/26 breaking ball whiffs. Nope, can’t do it. Caaaaaan’t do it.

Graham Ashcraft (CIN) @ SD (ND) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 95 pitches.

I’m glad he survived – truly, I have him in Tout Wars – but I can’t get over the fact that Ashcraft’s command is far from pristine. I just don’t trust him to hold on with this low of a strikeout rate, pitching for a team that gets few Wins and hosts plenty of home runs. I’m still selling high where I can.

Hayden Wesneski (CHC) @ WSH (ND) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 78 pitches.

Atta boy Wesneski, I’m proud of you for succeeding in a situation where you should have. He’s not debilitating batters with the breaker as we expected though (1/22 whiffs ain’t it), and if he’s not demanding batters to bend the knee with the pitch, I’m not sure what else there is to like. He gets one more start to prove himself as he gets the Marlins, but we very well may be sending him back to the wire after that.

Patrick Sandoval (LAA) @ STL (W) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 98 pitches.

The Cardinals are struggling and Sandoval had a solid changeup and slider. Not the best he’s bad, but solid. Definitely bench against the Astros next and likely the Orioles after as well. I don’t think The Irish Panda is doing enough to turn him away from his Cherry Bomb moniker.

Julio Urías (LAD) vs PHI (W) – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 Hits, 1 BBs, 10 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 38% CSW, 95 pitches.

I removed Urías’ AGA label this past week and he made sure to get it back with this outing as I feel like Joe Torre after getting yelled at by Mike Mussina. But you know what, IMMA GROW A SPINE. Give me another stellar start and I’ll hand it over. This was obviously incredible (64% CSW on the curve?!?!) and I’m happy the fastball sat 93/94 mph, but I need to see the consistency. You got this.

Freddy Peralta (MIL) @ COL (ND) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 10 Ks – 25 Whiffs, 35% CSW, 94 pitches.

Y’all want the AGA label as Peralta returned a Gallows Pole in Coors, earning more whiffs than anyone has any right to in Colorado…but that WHIP is rough and we need another start or two of dominance. Still really cool, though, and we keep starting the man because duh.

Gerrit Cole (NYY) vs CLE (ND) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 8 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 108 pitches.

Aces gonna ace. His pitch count ran hot in the first two frames and he settled down nicely to go six full. Fun fact: Cole has yet to earn a single SP Roundup award this season. I wonder how long that will last. Maybe until he finds his dang slider?! Seriously, 1/12 whiffs?! WHERE DID IT GO?!

Ryan Feltner (COL) vs MIL (ND) – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 74 pitches.

You know, Feltner has now allowed 2 ER total across his last three starts. You mean the last two were 0 ER each? Yeah, I guess I could have just said that. ANYWAY, I don’t buy it and it’s a terrible gamble to make for very little upside – no Win, a poor WHIP, three strikeouts BLEEEEGH – but at least you know I know things and that’s all that matters. ALL. THAT. MATTERS.

Tanner Bibee (CLE) @ NYY (ND) – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 92 pitches.

I really dig Bibee, even if this start came against a struggling YAAAnkee club. After a start where we saw four secondary pitches showcase value, we saw his heater far more often at 52% usage and despite its success, he needs to elevate the pitch more. Good news: He knows this as well, so much so he has it written on his glove. Meanwhile, I still dig the slider & cutter (Savant calls it one pitch, I call it two) and I think we see more curves and changeups moving forward. He’s a complete pitcher with upside for more once the fastball clicks at 95+ mph. Hold on tightly and hope the Guardians don’t do something silly once their injured players return.

Hunter Brown (HOU) vs SF (L) – 4.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 5 BBs, 4 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 96 pitches.

Oh dear. I’ve been buying into what Brown has been doing with his limited four-seamer usage, but the slider and curve each failed to cross the 60% strike threshold, forcing more walks than we’d like as the fastball had to get more play. He’s better than this and don’t overthink this poor evening.

Zac Gallen (ARI) @ TEX (ND) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 94 pitches.

Aces gonna quickly end the suspense by allowing a run in the first frame. It’s alright, the Rangers are super good and his schedule is calm and soothing moving forward. Mmmm the Marlins flailing at curveballs…and the Giants electing to take fastballs in the zone…You want whale noises? WE GOT EM.

Sandy Alcantara (MIA) vs ATL (L) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 103 pitches.

Aces gonna get lowered on The List on Monday because this is getting dumb and frustrating now. The stuff is still so good, but he’s wasting a far too many pitches and not earning the quick outs he normally gets. He may be a buy low given things not going his way thus far, but it feels like we’re gonna have a lot of push-and-pull this season and it’s time I start the process of moving him slowly down The List until he fixes it. Sigh. I have no choice.

Tyler Wells (BAL) @ KC (W) – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 92 pitches.

My streaming pick of the day got you a Win and a 1.00 WHIP, but 4 ER ain’t pretty. At least we easily put him back on the wire for the Atlanta next and take it from there, yeah? Good. He’s just a Toby, y’all.

Jon Gray (TEX) vs ARI (ND) – 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 20% CSW, 90 pitches.

Yeaaaaah, if you’re passing on these prospects for Jon, I think you’ve made a huge mistake. I think Gray could be on the wire in many 12-teamers.

Roansy Contreras (PIT) @ TB (L) – 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 4 BBs, 3 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 99 pitches.

Contreras doesn’t have a good fastball and the Rays are one of the best offenses in town. And now he gets the Jays. For those who picked him up after last week, this is a prime Double Bubble.

Steven Matz (STL) vs LAA (L) – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 93 pitches.

Okay okay okay, but the Tigers are next! That’s gotta be the start Matz gets the results he deserves, yeah? His hard contact rate is comfortably over 30%, Nick. Okay that’s pretty bad. And his curve went just 1/11 CSW. Still think that could work. One last start…

Matt Strahm (PHI) @ LAD (L) – 3.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 73 pitches.

Strahm had that one eleven-strikeout game and it’s messing everything up. Just forget about it – he’s not allowed to toss a lot of pitches and he’s not the man I dreamt of back in 2018. He won’t replicate that outing and this floor is…rough.

Yusei Kikuchi (TOR) @ BOS (ND) – 4.1 IP, 5 ER, 9 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 93 pitches.

Annnnd there’s the reason why we didn’t actually roster Kikuchi on our squads. I will say, though, he did locate his slider in the same spot as before, he just tossed a ton of hittable fastballs and the Sawx jumped on it. It’s @PIT + ATL + BAL up next and I’d rather not take part in the Kikuchi ruse.

Ryan Yarbrough (KC) vs BAL (L) – 3.2 IP, 5 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 80 pitches.

The Fratty Pirate fanned the first five batters he faced and then turned back into his normal self. This is why you don’t make fantasy moves after the first inning, y’all.

Tanner Houck (BOS) vs TOR (ND) – 6.0 IP, 6 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 96 pitches.

Yeaaaaaah, this wasn’t set up to be a start you wanted to make. He’s a Frozen Banana as I wait for the slider to peak and something else to take shape as well.

 

Game of the Day 

 

ALL THE PROSPECTS – We’re lucky to have back-to-back-to-back games on Wednesday of Brandon Pfaadt at 2pm, Gavin Stone at 4pm, and Louie Varland at 7pm and you have to watch them all. Whoaaaa, make sure you stay away from people with that cough coming on.

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 livestream! I answer all questions there for free: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm ET Monday through Friday.

Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)