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 Playback.tv weekday mornings from 10 am-12 pm ET.
Dylan Cease (SDP) @ WSN (W) – 9.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 Hits, 3 BBs, 9 Ks – 19 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 114 pitches.
I know I have all these thoughts about Dylan Cease, but I know we’re all on the same page that when Cease is cooking, he is one of the best pitchers in baseball. Today? The man cooked up history with a no-hitter against the Nationals: 9.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 Hits, 3 BBs, 9 Ks – 19 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 114 pitches. H*ck yeah, that’s awesome.
It was four-seamers and sliders per usual, though a sub 60% strike rate on the slider made this more of a “Let me not give in too much” that was enabled by the questionable Nationals hitters. It was still a filthy slider, just not as much of the Dancing With The Disco that we’ve seen and enjoyed so much. I also didn’t love his heater’s precision in this one, but what do I know, as that clearly worked out well.
BUT WHERE’S THE CUTTER?! In all seriousness, that’s an interesting question, but now isn’t the time. The cutter development is all about the starts where he doesn’t have his arsenal working as it’s a backup option to raise his floor, not create a higher peak.
Anyway, I still worry about giving Dylan the AGA tag given his long track record of volatility, rooted in his shallow arsenal. I don’t think this start truly changes much about his ROS outlook, sadly, but each strong outing without disaster gets him one step closer to the AGA tag. He’s already making it near impossible to deny him the label. What a wonderful thing.
Let’s see how every other SP did Thursday:
Taj Bradley (TBR) @ TOR (W) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 34% CSW, 83 pitches.
I just want to give him the AGA tag and yet…I can’t. He just doesn’t command well enough and it bothers me. The splitter was erratic + the heater wasn’t along the edges as you’d want, and despite my dreams of Bradley sustaining this run through the end of the year, it’s highly unlikely that regression won’t hit. That doesn’t mean you do anything foolish, of course, just temper your expectations a little that Bradley won’t be able to keep this up. Location, location, location, after all.
Tyler Holton (DET) @ CLE (ND) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 42% CSW, 36 pitches.
Yay, more bullpens from the Tigers. So they’ve gotta be thinking of Jobe coming up soon then, right? Uhhhhhh, the report is he won’t be skipping Triple-A. I’m just as bummed as you are, but it still could mean he’s up by the end of the season.
Max Scherzer (TEX) vs CHW (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks – 20 Whiffs, 39% CSW, 85 pitches.
This was a pretty thing. Scherzer earned his Golden Goal with brilliant precision on all his offerings, from elevating heaters to spotting sliders (10/27 whiffs and 52% CSW!), keeping his changeup down, and avoiding the heart of the plate with anything. He went the extra mile against the White Sox and it showed. Chicago just does that to people. If he always had this command, Scherzer would earn the AGA label. I’d absolutely love for Scherzer to force our hand.
Chris Sale (ATL) @ NYM (ND) – 7.1 IP, 2 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 35% CSW, 94 pitches.
Aces gonna ace. He’s so dang good, y’all.
Jonathan Cannon (CHW) @ TEX (L) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 20% CSW, 95 pitches.
The man got Singled Out and returned a HAISTBMBWT?!, leaving very little for you to actually like about this start. We didn’t expect a whole lot better, though, and the ceiling here is a Toby. I don’t think he’s worth your time against the Royals. Sadly, that makes him Cannon fodder.
Luis Severino (NYM) vs ATL (ND) – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 95 pitches.
The Atlanta lineup is a bit weak and Sevy had success going heavy with the four-seamer at 96/97 mph + a bit of luck to stave off nine baserunners in five frames. I can buy more into Severino when his four-seamer does the heavy lifting, though there’s still more to be done with the rest of his arsenal for me to give him a ringing endorsement for the rest of 2024. HOWEVER, I am absolutely stoked his cutter returned and went 10/15 strikes. That pitch is legit and could be a large part of Severino’s second half.
Clayton Kershaw (LAD) vs SFG (ND) – 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 35% CSW, 72 pitches.
He’s here! HE’S HERE! I’m a bit shocked he went 44% sliders with just 33% heaters and he didn’t have the sparkling command of old, but that signature slider was oh-so-filthy. He’s worth our time, y’all, even at just 90/91 mph on the heater. He has enough left in the tank.
Corbin Burnes (BAL) @ MIA (ND) – 7.1 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 17 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 96 pitches.
Aces gonna still have a questionable cutter and allow three runs against a poor offense. However, it was a Careful, Icarus with those final runs coming in the eighth across two singles, which is all kinds of silly. And yet, that cutter. It’s not terrible, just not the destroyer of worlds and we should be incredibly thankful for his curveball’s surge as of late, saving our necks. I can’t help but wonder when we’ll see Burnes consistently produce a strikeout per inning again in the future. He’ll need the old cutter for that and I’m not sure it’s coming back.
Patrick Corbin (WSN) vs SDP (L) – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 109 pitches.
It’s weird to give a pitcher a Gold Star in a Loss and 3 ER game, but Corbin deserves one for a 1.00 WHIP and seven strikeouts against the Padres. And you know what’s even weirder? Corbin allowed all three runs in the first and then cruised after. He went cutter-heavy for the second straight start (and it was dope) and I’d actually be leading with Corbin today instead of Cease if it weren’t for the whole “no-hitter” thing. Ugh. You HAD to do that, didn’t you Cease? I’ll take care of you next time, Corbin, if you can handle the Sneks with this same approach. So many others have ignored you completely, but I won’t be one of them.
Gavin Williams (CLE) vs DET (L) – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 9 Ks – 17 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 105 pitches.
Williams pitched great…except for one 2-1 cutter to Baez, who crushed the cement mixer over the fence for a three-run shot. Otherwise? His slider returned as his second-most-thrown pitch and was fantastic at 40% CSW; the curve got 9/19 CSW (that’s 47%!); and his heater is still dominating over the plate. With less emphasis on the changeup and roughly 45% breaking ball usage, count me in moving forward. It’s the right approach and the stuff is certainly good enough for your 12-teamers.
Chris Bassitt (TOR) vs TBR (L) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 97 pitches.
This is fine, but the real problems started after Bassitt left the game, with his next two relievers returning 8 ER between them. Yikes. As for Bassitt, he’s the same guy as ever. Carry on.
Logan Webb (SFG) @ LAD (ND) – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 9 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 89 pitches.
Decent changeups + too many sinkers and sweepers over the plate. The Dodgers will do that to you, sure, but he’s not as sharp as he was last year. It’s just a bit off. Welp, you’re still starting him essentially regardless of opponent, so whatareyagonnado.
Ross Stripling (OAK) @ LAA (ND) – 5.2 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 77 pitches.
Oh, you thought Stripling was the injured arm we were excited about today? Ah, I can see how you’d think that. You can? Sure. Totally. Definitely. Absolutely. Positively. Okay, I get it. Without a doubt. Obviously. I GET IT. Duh. Of course.
Roddery Muñoz (MIA) vs BAL (ND) – 5.0 IP, 6 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 91 pitches.
Against Baltimore? Yeah, that makes sense. He gets the Rays next and there’s a small chance that works, but the ceiling is far too low.
Kenny Rosenberg (LAA) vs OAK (ND) – 3.1 IP, 6 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 65 pitches.
Oh my gosh, they pummeled Kenny! I sincerely apologize, I needed to do it once. And now that that’s out of the way…oh right. Yeah this ain’t great, even if he had decent pitch separation and 17″+ iVB. That’s not enough and for those who resist adding Rosenberg, a Kenny saved is a Kenny earned. That doesn’t make sense. YOU DON’T MAKE SENSE.
Game of the Day
Kodai Senga vs. Atlanta – HE’S BACK! It’s four straight days of debuts, one rookie and three former aces returning from injury. Can’t wait.
But Nick?! Where are the streaming picks? – I’ve moved them to the daily SP Matchups & Streamer Rankings article.
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Photo by Bob Kupbens/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter/X)