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 weekday mornings from 9 am-11 am ET.
Ian Anderson (ATL) @ PHI (L) – 2.0 IP, 7 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 54 pitches.
This may be the end of the road for Ian Anderson for a little bit after his ghastly 2.0 IP, 7 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 54 pitches performance against the Phillies. His command has been teetering all season long and Atlanta may turn to Kyle Muller moving forward as he’s been a strong arm in Triple-A.
And that’s the blurb. Seriously. I wanted to make it the feature as it’s important to shout how okay it is to drop Anderson if you’re still holding onto him for whatever reason. The man is too dang inconsistent and I’m annoyed I had him as high as I have on The List. Sure, there’s a lovely ceiling if the command comes together, but it’s just not there and I’m not sure when we’ll see it.
Let’s see how every other SP did Thursday:
Matt Wisler (TB) @ TOR (ND) – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 36% CSW, 14 pitches.
He opened for Ryan Yarbrough going 95 pitches of 5.1 frames and nine baserunners and 4 ER. Yeaaaaaaaah. No thanks.
Yusei Kikuchi (TOR) vs TB (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 80 pitches.
Whoa whoa whoa. Kikuchi, you’ve been in this spiral for about a month now, don’t give the people hope. Sure, your slider was solid as you feasted on the Rays, but the overall command was still kinda wack and your 94/95 mph heaters returned a 22% CSW. But it’s the Athletics next! Ugggggh FINE. But I worry.
Luis Garcia (HOU) vs NYY (W) – 5.1 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 101 pitches.
Awesome work Garcia, sitting nearly 95 mph with a fantastic cutter once again. Sure, I would love to see more from the slow ball and slider (just 16% usage combined), but hey, he’s cruising against solid teams and now gets some respite with the Royals. Sign. Me. UP.
Mitch White (LAD) vs SD (ND) – 4.2 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 80 pitches.
Expect more from White with Heaney on the IL, though I’m not sure I’m excited for it. He leaned nearly two-thirds heaters — pretty mediocre heaters at that — while his best asset, the slider, went just 3/21 whiffs. It could come around against Rockie Road in the near future, but the ceiling feels awfully capped at the moment.
Joe Musgrove (SD) @ LAD (L) – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 10 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 34% CSW, 98 pitches.
Aces gonna ace with some legit Careful, Icarus as he allowed two runs in the bottom of the seventh, but this was the Dodgers and all the fears we had of Musgrove being shaky in his first start back from COVID-IL should be quelled by this performance.
Chris Archer (MIN) @ CLE (ND) – 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 Hits, 6 BBs, 2 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 90 pitches.
The fella was able to go to 90 pitches, but because he walked six batters, he only made it through four frames. Let’s all stop chasing Archer, okay? Few quiver at the sight of him.
Luis Severino (NYY) @ HOU (L) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 87 pitches.
Aces gonna ace. Despite facing the Astros, Sevy still had a strong slider and solid heater, reinforcing his wonderful AGA badge. Now, enjoy a date with the Pirates. You’ve earned it.
Kyle Hendricks (CHC) vs CIN (W) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 36% CSW, 94 pitches.
It’s just the third game of his last seven with 2 ER or fewer as Hendricks is still a Cherry Bomb despite this success. Be careful, y’all.
Shane Bieber (CLE) vs MIN (ND) – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 35% CSW, 99 pitches.
Aces gonna mostly ace. Sure, it’s a PQS, but the rest is fine and hey, it’s the Twins. The slider is still beautiful (20% SwStr rate, 39% CSW) and that’s all that matters. Yes, I’ve kinda gotten over the 91 mph velocity thing. For now.
Adrian Houser (MIL) @ PIT (ND) – 2.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 0 Ks – 0 Whiffs, 17% CSW, 42 pitches.
Houser left this one early with an Elba injury as he was exiled to the IL. Good partings, I feel for you man. Elbow injuries are a terrifying thing. I feel like I’m missing something. Probably, this blurb was Dynamite.
Aaron Nola (PHI) vs ATL (W) – 7.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 37% CSW, 110 pitches.
Aces gonna almost ace. You just had to allow a solo shot in the seventh to ruin the quality start (Careful, Icarus), DIDN’T YA. Whatever, enjoy the Golden Goal, ya wonderful man.
JT Brubaker (PIT) vs MIL (W) – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 36% CSW, 94 pitches.
Coffee Cakes, you may have earned a share of the Gallows Pole, but those ratios are terrifying. Can you stop throwing over 45% fastballs and just toss curveballs and sliders moving forward? That may do the trick.
Logan Gilbert (SEA) vs OAK (W) – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 100 pitches.
Blegh. That’s a run more than a VPQS. Against Oakland. With three strikeouts. I’ll stop writing short sentences. Sorry. SORRY SORRY. His heater was great, but like it’s been all year, not much else was there to support it. It’s now July 1st and I’m a little sad to see Gilbert fail to take the step forward we’ve been hoping we’d see in his sophomore year. We know it’s in there Logan, you just gotta go and find it.
Adrian Martinez (OAK) @ SEA (L) – 4.2 IP, 7 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 1 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 83 pitches.
There isn’t much to latch onto here, especially when he earned just one whiff. I’m not sure I’ve seen a pitcher earn more strikeouts than whiffs in a start, but here are. Here. We. Are.
Graham Ashcraft (CIN) @ CHC (L) – 2.1 IP, 7 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 19% CSW, 68 pitches.
Oh dear. The cutter and slider constantly found the middle of the zone and the Cubs came out HOT. Seriously, Ashcraft commanded his cutter incredibly well last time out but elected to feature the heart of the zone over and over again. It would normally seem like Ashcraft is destined for the wire after this buuuuuuut it’s the Pirates next and we know he’s capable of better n all. I feel like that’s still worth it…right? Especially after your leaguemates picked him up, rage dropped him, and now he’s there for you to smile back. It’s all there, waiting for you.
Game of the Day
Lance Lynn vs. Alex Cobb – Lynn and Cobb should get better results than they’ve gotten, so why not both?
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 Ethan Kaplan
Giants fan here….There’s not a more overrated SP in baseball than Cobb. I’ve never in my life seen so many people base talent on “luck”. But here’s to hoping it truly is the game of the day, go Giants.
Doesn’t Ashcraft get NYM then TB next? I love the upside and all as he’s got some unique things going on but seems like maybe a time to leave on the wire for a couple starts and prove it?
With Logan Gilbert unable to develop his secondary pitches, do you see that as a Seattle issue, and should we then be a little worried with Kirby developing anything past his fastball?