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.tv weekday mornings from 10 am-12 pm ET.
Hurston Waldrep (ATL) vs STL (ND) – 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 76 pitches.
Here we go again. Hurston Waldrep made his second appearance of the season Thursday night against the Cardinals, and it wasn’t bad at all – 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 76 pitches (ND). After one of the best months for a rookie in baseball history, Waldrep was a popular name in the preseason before elbow inflammation put him on the shelf until just a week ago. Wait, you liked him? Oh, uh, no. I was the weird one. And I still am, sadly.
It’s all just kinda meh. Waldrep features a 94/95 mph sinker with poor movement, a questionable 91 mph cutter with lift that has less of an impact without a good fastball to pair with it, an 81 mph curveball that can work downstairs at times, and a splitter that we all hope can get whiffs on a given night. That’s really it.
The best hope is for the sinker/cutter combo to take off in Milwaukee fashion and I hope it does. For now, don’t treat Waldrep like he’s a huge upside arm. With the Pirates up next, I’d push back on spec-adding as they have been incredible against RHP this season, and it’ll be a long time before a possible July 21st start against the Padres. You can do better. (View Game Card)
Let’s see how every other SP did Thursday:
Bryce Miller (SEA) vs LAA (W) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 90 pitches.
I don’t care. Aces gonna ace. This guy is just unreal. 89% strikes on his four-seamer at sub 40% usage. His splitter returned a ton of whiffs and cooked to both LHB and RHB. His sweper is landing beautifully on the outside edge constantly. He’s just so dang hard to hit with the best stuff he’s ever had. SIGN. ME. UP. (View Game Card)
Alan Rangel (PHI) vs PIT (ND) – 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 4 BBs, 4 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 90 pitches.
Whoa, four shutout frames?! That’s a Gold Star for you on a gaunt evening of quality outings, as the Pirates are one of the better teams against RHP. We saw some fun sliders and changeups missing bats, while the screwball continues to float over the plate against LHB and surprise them for called strikes. It’s too bad that I don’t trust his overall feel to execute his game plan, as I get a lot of enjoyment watching his changeup look like its moving through sand as batters are caught on their front foot. But then again, it’s @CIN and LAD up next – it’s not like I’d pick him up for those games anyway. (View Game Card)
Ian Seymour (TBR) @ KCR (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 34% CSW, 83 pitches.
Yooooo, that’s dope, and would be even better if you ignored the solo shot on his very first batter. Seymour was one of the many faces of the seasonal SWATCH magazine last fall, but the slowball let him down with a poor 47% strike rate, leading to a breakout evening for his sweeper. It became his most thrown pitch (31% usage to both LHB and RHB!) with an incredible 27% SwStr rate and 77% strike rate. That’s the good stuff. Now, I don’t think his command was all that great across everything, but the control was there with said breaker and his fastballs. I’m a little skeptical he can get away with this frequently, but why not, give it a spin against the cold Yankee offense. If the changeup clicks into place, you’ve got yourself a decent three-pitch SWATCH stew cookin’. (View Game Card)
Walbert Ureña (LAA) @ SEA (L) – 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 Hits, 4 BBs, 6 Ks – 17 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 107 pitches.
The changeup? Dope. The fastballs? Whatever the opposite of dope is. Sick. No, that’s also dope. Bad. Well, that could also be dope. Terrible. Yeah, that works. THEY WERE TERRIBLE. But Ureña is a wise man. He pushed his changeup usage up to 43% while whipping out the sweeper a fair amount for a whopping 47% CSW of its own, even without the best feel. We’ll take that all day. Now, imagine if Walbert could ever find the feel for his 98/97 mph fastballs…He’s a generally safe play in Arlington given his changeup’s stellar 41% CSW here. (View Game Card)
Jacob Misiorowski (MIL) vs CIN (L) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 10 Ks – 20 Whiffs, 41% CSW, 82 pitches.
Aces gonna earn a Golden Goal in a stupid fun matchup. He also allowed a three-run blast, but due to an error to lead off the fourth, all four runs evaporated from his ERA. Nah, just Sal Stewart’s choked-up HR on a 102+ mph four-seamer in the first goes in the books. It makes you wonder – is Misiorowski throwing too many fastballs? JUST A THOUGHT. Annnnnd it’s gone. He’s not. (View Game Card)
Jared Jones (PIT) @ PHI (ND) – 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 73 pitches.
Here’s the thing, Jared. On paper, it doesn’t make sense. You allowed just one baserunner per inning, how are you throwing 73 pitches in four frames? Then you realize his four-seamer held a 46% strike rate and the 24 curves + changeups went 54% strikes. Ohhhh, so he was effectively wild. Yup. The man isn’t efficient, but the stuff is that good he can crawl his way to two strikes, then put them away with general ease. That’s the final step in all of this – nailing down the fastball to set up the slider better. He used to have it, and like grunge, I wish it would come back. (View Game Card)
Chase Burns (CIN) @ MIL (W) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 89 pitches.
Aces gonna ace. He couldn’t get his slider close enough to the plate to seal the deal and earn more than four strikeouts, but it’s kinda cool to see a true two-pitch stud stick around. Wait, there has to be another. Nope. Everyone has something else, but Burns? 61 four-seamers, 28 sliders, and nothing else. Pretty cool. But don’t you like deeper arsenals? Oh, absolutely. I just respect the fella for making it work. (View Game Card)
Davis Martin (CHW) @ CLE (ND) – 3.1 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 5 BBs, 0 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 14% CSW, 73 pitches.
Oh jeez, he got lucky to allow just two runs on eleven baserunners and fewer outs. Five walks without a strikeout (HAISTBMBWT?!) and he was not just lucky getting out of a horrendous third frame, but also getting bailed out in the fourth of a bases-loaded one-out jam by the pen. Chris Murphy, you legend. The good news? We can brush it off and consider hosting the Red Sox up next, who detest facing RHP. It’ll be an improvement, I’m sure, but how much? (View Game Card)
Nathan Eovaldi (TEX) vs DET (W) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks – 18 Whiffs, 38% CSW, 85 pitches.
Eovaldi didn’t allow a hit until the fifth, then allowed a pair of longballs out of nowhere to ruin his night, and that was before allowing a double in the sixth to act like Mr. Creosote and add just one little extra baserunner after a gluttonous prior frame. It’s just an aftermint! His arsenal was looking fantastic for most of it, though I am a little worried that Eovaldi is getting a little too afraid of the heater. For example, Keith launched a stupid high 89/90 mph 0-2 cutter over the fence and I wonder if the 95 mph four-seamer would have been a far better option and gotten the job done. Anyway, the ball has no drag and you really can’t blame Eovaldi for this 1.62 HR/9 thus far. It won’t stick. It can’t. (View Game Card)
Ryan Gusto (MIA) @ COL (ND) – 3.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 18% CSW, 51 pitches.
Gusto had donut command of pitching down the pipe or outside the zone and there is nothing else to report here in a start you absolutely didn’t lean on him for in Coors. Let’s move on. (View Game Card)
Stephen Kolek (KCR) vs TBR (L) – 2.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 0 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 51 pitches.
Kolek has had himself a week – his daughter was born premature and he left the team to go to the hospital earlier in the week, which explains the limited (and subpar) performance here. Cut him some slack, Jack. @NYM and SFG are up next, which should be much better. Not you need to add him to your teams NOW better, just, you know, not this. (View Game Card)
Michael Lorenzen (COL) vs MIA (ND) – 4.1 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 6 BBs, 1 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 21% CSW, 95 pitches.
Six walks and one strikeout, eh? I think the fella is hurt. He was down over a tick as well. Terrible control + less velocity = injuries most of the time. (View Game Card)
Randy Vásquez (SDP) @ LAD (ND) – 3.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 0 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 50 pitches.
I’m not surprised it went poorly, but three whiffs? Not even a single strikeout? HAISTBMBWT?! We did see the return of Germán Márquez as well, and it…existed. 3.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 1 Ks. At least he got a strikeout. Get out of here with that SPICE. (View Game Card)
Framber Valdez (DET) @ TEX (L) – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 17% CSW, 87 pitches.
He’s really struggling. That curve isn’t doing enough (still), and 22% changeups and sliders aren’t enough to foot the bill. He can’t just keep hurling sinkers over the plate, especially when he’s not getting away with as many low called strikes due to ABS. It’s July and we’re still waiting for one of his patented runs. It may be too little too late. (View Game Card)
Slade Cecconi (CLE) vs CHW (ND) – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 100 pitches.
Things were looking swell until the fifth and sixth ruined the day, though his fastballs weren’t spotted well at all, and the cutter + curve that we’ve seen perform so well at times went a combined 0/32 whiffs. Yikes. I’m not interested, and I think you shouldn’t be either. (View Game Card)
Dustin May (STL) @ ATL (ND) – 0.2 IP, 5 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 34 pitches.
I’m physically in pain after watching this outing. The dude was Singled Out while throwing some incredible pitches (and a few too many wasted ones, absolutely), including a flare to center to kick off the frame, dribblers for hits, a comebacker off his foot that cleared the bases, and I don’t want to think of it any longer. The good news? I think he’s still pitching great. You may not believe that after he allowed 6 ER in two frames and followed it up with an even worse line, but it’s what I believe. Koufax can be a cruel dude. I’m sure in some leagues you’ll find him on the wire after getting rage dropped, and yes, I’d pick him up. (View Game Card)
Roki Sasaki (LAD) vs SDP (ND) – 3.0 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 17% CSW, 88 pitches.
I look at this and ask myself, what’s different? His slider and splitter are still down for the most part, and the heater is at 98 mph with 17″ of vert and generally upstairs. The real issue is his hittability when he doesn’t locate on the edges. Seven hits allowed here, all thigh-high and over the plate, including the 1-0 slider away to Merrill that marked one of three HRs allowed on the evening. That’s four poor outings after four stellar performances and I really don’t like having HIPSTERs on my roster. But it’s Rockie Road up next! Uggggh FINE. One more. JUST ONE MORE. (View Game Card)
Game of the Day
Jake Bennett vs. Reid Detmers – Two fun southpaws are always a good time.
But Nick?! Where are the streaming picks? – I’ve moved them to the daily SP Matchups & Streamer Rankings article.
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