Welcome to the SP Roundup, my daily fantasy baseball article reviewing every starting pitcher’s performance from every Friday 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.
Tommy Henry (ARI) @ LAA (W) – 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 95 pitches.
We have a fun one today with Tommy Henry, who took down the Angels for 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 95 pitches, nearly going six shutout if it weren’t for some Ohtani guy being one of the most ridiculous humans on the planet.
Why am I talking about Henry? Because he’s been slider heavy over his last three starts, featuring the breaker 24% of the time with a 34% CSW. It has catalyzed a small run of two Wins and just 4 ER, and it could point to more after featuring sliders roughly 10% of the time prior.
I don’t see Tommy as a sudden must-add or anything close to it, but keep an eye on him for middling matchups or worse. Armed with that slider, Henry has a decent four-pitch mix including two whiff pitches in his slider and changeup. That makes for a decent Toby any day of the week.
Let’s see how every other SP did Friday:
James Paxton (BOS) @ TOR (W) – 7.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 110 pitches.
Hey, I think his knee is fine. When Paxton starts, you start him. It’s that simple.
Justin Steele (CHC) vs CLE (W) – 6.1 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 96 pitches.
The Steele show is still on air, even with his fastball dropping a little over a tick to 90.8 mph. I personally want to call the pitch a cutter and it messed up batters plenty with 30% CSW and fantastic precision along the edges. Meanwhile, he did a great job of getting the slider down in a way I haven’t seen often from Steele this season. This is the fun stuff.
Seth Lugo (SD) @ CIN (ND) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 94 pitches.
The curve was far better in this one at two ticks harder, while he spotted sinkers and four-seamers stupid well. This is peak Lugo, y’all, and there’s a part of me that feels fine starting him against the Mets. I know it’s just one start, but to see Lugo lock into a rhythm here makes me think he can hold onto it.
Graham Ashcraft (CIN) vs SD (ND) – 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks – 18 Whiffs, 35% CSW, 94 pitches.
Ummmm, that’s a Gold Star if I’ve ever seen one. His cutter command is still all kinds of whack, but the slider was stupid, returning 13/44 whiffs and a whopping 55% CSW. WHAT. I know. We can’t trust it in the slightest, especially with the cutter still being a wild horse, but at least we’ve seen a glimpse of how Ashcraft could actually be something.
Cristopher Sánchez (PHI) vs WSH (L) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 36% CSW, 87 pitches.
Wait, 7/22 changeup whiffs?! Whaaaat. The sinker got the called strikes at 35% CSW and the slider helped as well, but a 41% changeup CSW is stupid good and made his sinker that much better. So, he’s worth a pickup? Ehhhh, we add him to the “okay, maybe we can stream him” list and ignore him with the Rays as his final start before the break.
Josiah Gray (WSH) @ PHI (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks – 19 Whiffs, 38% CSW, 99 pitches.
Whoaaaa look at this! His sweeper and slider were as good as we’ve seen, returning 11/38 whiffs between them, as once again the sinker was able to avoid a ton of damage. Maybe that is the key after all…? Nah, having the best breakers we’ve seen from him arguably all season was the biggest catalyst here. I don’t think you should chase that.
Pablo López (MIN) @ BAL (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 100 pitches.
I wouldn’t say this was the best command from López inside or outside the zone, but he was able to do enough with his heater and curve to get through a decent Baltimore crew. The path to ERA redemption continues marching forward as he’s now down to a 4.24 mark. He’ll get there.
Luis Medina (OAK) vs CWS (W) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 5 BBs, 4 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 100 pitches.
Ehhhh that’s a Dusty Donut with just four strikeouts and five walks in the books. Medina reminds me of Frankie Montas without a splitter. That doesn’t seem great. Sure isn’t, but it does mean 5+ frames with a chance of a decent ERA is always present.
Austin Gomber (COL) vs DET (W) – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 40% CSW, 84 pitches.
Hot dang, look at you! Sure, it’s the Tigers, but it was Coors and a King Cole with a glorious line, which is something special. I wouldn’t say it was the greatest command I’ve ever seen, but Gomber generally was near what he wanted to do with all four of his pitches and things went his way. In other words, it was a Birthday Party and not the breakout game we’ll reflect on later. Look at all the sentences I just wrote about Gomber just to tell y’all that you should obviously not read into this. The things I do for you.
Carlos Carrasco (NYM) vs SF (ND) – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks – 18 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 92 pitches.
Whoa, a start where Carrasco ticked all three boxes in one: 93 mph heaters, high CSW slider (36%), and solid whiff changeup (21% SwStr rate). But it still came with a terrible WHIP! Yeah, that’s how I’d see this too. Even when he has the trifecta, it’s still only decent. That’s just the way the Carrasco crumbles.
Alex Cobb (SF) @ NYM (ND) – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 79 pitches.
He returned from the IL and was…fine. Surprisingly fine, actually, given the 1/27 whiffs on his splitter as it relied heavily on the out in play. The real interesting part of this one was 15% sliders, the magical pitch I gave up on in April. We saw 7/12 strikes as he did earn a few whiffs on it out of the zone. I’m very curious to see how that plays out as it could be a major asset inside a repertoire that needs one more weapon.
Bryce Miller (SEA) vs TB (ND) – 3.1 IP, 2 ER, 1 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 19 Whiffs, 46% CSW, 61 pitches.
Miller left this start with a “concerning” blister on his middle finger and is likely to miss his next start. Both he and McShane endured injuries in this game, but Bryce had 19 whiffs in 61 pitches. A 31% overall SwStr and that is SO DUMB. He did that with 89% fastballs and this is all kinds of frustrating. Can you imagine what he’d be like with a legit #2 pitch? Yeah, he’d be Spencer Strider. Well…yeah, he’d be Strider.
Michael Soroka (ATL) vs MIA (W) – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 98 pitches.
He’s back in the rotation and likely for a good while now as he did his job against the Marlins for a PQS. The seven strikeouts were a nice surprise as the slider was much better this time around (41% CSW!), but the fastballs returned five of his strikeouts, freezing a pair and generating whiffs on the others. Like the 30th turn of Jenga, I wouldn’t expect that to keep up. He’ll get the Guardians before the All-Star Break and I’m all cool starting him there.
Bobby Miller (LAD) @ KC (W) – 5.2 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 92 pitches.
Okay, I’ll take it. You really should be able to do better against a team like the Royals, but that’s one ER off from a strong outing and keep moving forward with Miller. 3/22 slider whiffs and sub 25% CSW on four-seamers and sliders can’t be the life you live.
Freddy Peralta (MIL) @ PIT (ND) – 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 108 pitches.
I spent a moment on stream looking at Peralta this week and came to the conclusion that his heater wasn’t getting enough rise this year and that his slider movement was a bit off. WELL WHAT DO YOU KNOW. He added two inches of rise and reduced the horizontal break on the four-seamer (SWEET), while his slider was all kinds of different, becoming a tighter pitch that found the zone 60% of the time and I love it. Oh, and his curve went 4/9 whiffs because YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL. But he allowed 3 ER. Okay, you can have a lot of good things but not everything. This was a much better version of Peralta and those who want to say “Pfffft, the Pirates” are missing the skills for the results.
Ronel Blanco (HOU) @ TEX (W) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 2 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 88 pitches.
The slider usage dropped down to 39% as you could hear the loud internal arguments he had with the signature breaker. But I don’t WANT to land in the zone! It forced more heaters and generally worse at-bats and in the end, it was the Rangers and we can just move on. He gets Rockie Road next and I wouldn’t let this start prevent you from streaming him there.
José Berríos (TOR) vs BOS (L) – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 98 pitches.
Okay so he allowed three home runs BIG DEAL. Two were terrible changeups and the other was a meh sinker. Just like me shaking the parmesan cheese container without realizing the cap wasn’t sealed, it happens. We still have the ability to enjoy parmesan and embrace those little things.
Tanner Banks (CWS) @ OAK (L) – 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 66 pitches.
None of the cool kids use the glass anymore. It’s all swish this, swish that, and all the Banks are left in the past. Sometimes, the cool kids get it right.
Osvaldo Bido (PIT) vs MIL (ND) – 3.1 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 0 Ks – 1 Whiffs, 19% CSW, 73 pitches.
Womp womp. His only whiff was a 2-1 fastball, which means he went 0/33 slider whiffs in this one. Sigh. How. HOW am I supposed to butter? I can’t even lift the dang butterknife.
Shane McClanahan (TB) @ SEA (ND) – 3.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 1 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 66 pitches.
Annnnnd now he’s likely going on the IL with back trouble. Sigh. Injuries are the worst part of baseball.
Jon Gray (TEX) vs HOU (L) – 6.0 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 97 pitches.
Gray played more of an east-west game than I would like to see from him, but at least he was able to execute an approach, however mediocre it was. It does give me some encouragement that Gray can recover from his slump and perform well for the Red Sox next, especially with the slider earning eight whiffs here.
Griffin Canning (LAA) vs ARI (L) – 6.0 IP, 5 ER, 3 Hits, 4 BBs, 9 Ks – 20 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 112 pitches.
Last week, I mentioned it may be wise to leave Canning on the wire with the Diamondbacks + Dodgers up before the All-Star Break and while that ERA makes me look smart, the Gallows Pole and nine strikeouts may not. The 11/40 whiffs on his slider are a lovely sight, especially with his four-seamer coming alive to match its 38% CSW. This was the BSB and I really wish Canning had a better next matchup + wasn’t inside a six-man rotation. But alas, that’s the situation and I don’t think you’ll get much out of him until mid-July.
Michael Lorenzen (DET) @ COL (L) – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 95 pitches.
Coors is undefeated. Y’all know the drill.
Alec Marsh (KC) vs LAD (L) – 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 4 BBs, 5 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 95 pitches.
Alec Marsh tosses 93-97 mph heaters with a decent slider and changeup and if he were in an organization that didn’t rhyme with Plansas Pretty, then I may be a little more intrigued. Sadly, we just ignore him for now and move on.
Cal Quantrill (CLE) @ CHC (L) – 3.1 IP, 6 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 22% CSW, 74 pitches.
Welcome back Quantrill, I hope it’s not just for coffee.
Bryan Hoeing (MIA) @ ATL (L) – 3.2 IP, 7 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks – 2 Whiffs, 20% CSW, 60 pitches.
Womp womp. We didn’t expect a whole lot as we watched from afar, but just 1/26 slider whiffs and a HAISTBMBWT?! hurts even from a distance.
Dean Kremer (BAL) vs MIN (L) – 3.0 IP, 7 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 89 pitches.
Yikes. He had some excellent starts behind him, but in the end, the stuff isn’t that great. When it rains, it pours, and when it pours, it unriches. Don’t you mean enriches. No, no I don’t.
Game of the Day
Tyler Glasnow vs. George Kirby – Two vastly different skill sets and yet I love ’em both.
But Nick?! Where are the streaming picks? – I’ve moved them to the daily SP Matchups & Streamer Rankings article.
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Graphic adopted by Aaron Polcare (@bearydoesgfx on Twitter)
Nick just won’t give Josiah his due respect.