Welcome to the SP Roundup, my daily fantasy baseball article reviewing every starting pitcher’s performance from every Monday 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.
Reynaldo López (ATL) vs NYM (ND) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 80 pitches.
He might be doing it again. Despite the boring stuff that outlines mediocrity, Reynaldo López had an astonishing 2024 season, with his hopes of replicating it dashed by a shoulder injury after one game in 2025. He was moved to the pen after a collection of starts this year, and after a desolation of injuries, he’s picked up the pearl in the first for a few games, including Monday’s 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 80 pitches (ND) against the Mets, and it’s…good.
His four-seamer at 95 mph (not 93/94) features solid command upstairs and away when needed, while one of the slider and curve are stepping up to be a strike pitch as a proper complement. It’s not the most believable arsenal, but it’s good enough.
Atlanta wins a fair amount and ReyLó is looking like his 2024 self. You know, the guy we expected to regress heavily but never really did, like a better version of Bryce Elder, as he’s equipped with a good breaker or two and a solid four-seamer foundation. I’m not jumping to the wire to grab him, but if you’re hurting, I’d consider grabbing ReyLó for the Cardinals next. See how it goes and maybe it works out. (View Game Card)
Let’s see how every other SP did Monday:
Brandon Pfaadt (ARI) @ SDP (W) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 72 pitches.
Hot dang, look at you! That’s a Gold Star for Pfaadt with a phenomenal performance against the Friars. I didn’t see quite enough for me to get amped for the future – 1/38 fastball whiffs and 50% breaking ball strikes – but it looked like a standard Toby, which is miles better than the man we had before. You can hold off adding him, though. What, does he face the Dodgers next or something? He faces the Dodgers next.. OH COME ON. (View Game Card)
Dustin May (STL) vs MIL (ND) – 4.2 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 81 pitches.
Really? Couldn’t you let him get just one more out? Oh. They tried. I know the Cardinals were hoping to limit him to 60-70 pitches and with 71 pitches with two clean outs in the fifth, he allowed back-to-back singles on ten pitches, including a seven-pitch battle he lost. That’s on May, not the Cardinals. His stuff is great and I can’t believe I’m seeing a 100% strike rate on 12 sinkers, mostly featured on the inside edge to RHB. Zero whiffs on the sweeper isn’t great, but many strikes and just one mistake is fine with me. He’s pitching his best ball, and despite the possible limitation in his next outing, I imagine they’ll give him a rest until after the ASB as a compromise, possibly pushing him toward the back of the rotation. Keep holding the fella. (View Game Card)
Cam Schlittler (NYY) @ TBR (W) – 8.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 101 pitches.
Aces gonna ace for a Gallows Pole. Hard not to love a dude who has one bad game, sees all the hate, and proves everyone wrong. You really shouldn’t stop believing in Cam. (View Game Card)
Landen Roupp (SFG) vs TOR (W) – 8.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 104 pitches.
It was a victory lap on Rainbow Roupp for Landen, who bounced back after getting booed in his last start by his home crowd. He’s still a solid pitcher and his Rockie Road, @TEA, vs LAA schedule ahead should be the genesis of a second-half rebound. (View Game Card)
Shane Drohan (MIL) @ STL (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 22% CSW, 85 pitches.
I really love the four-seamer up-and-in to RHB, which can make up for the lack of whiffability that forces Koufax to show up. He rarely got to two strikes in the first place, and when he did, he didn’t have a putaway offering to make batters quiver. I’ve seen this tale before – low ERA, high WHIP, low HR/9, questionable whiff rate – and it generally outlines Vargas Rule more than “Next big thing”. The schedule works in his favor, though – the Pirates are worse against LHP, the Mets are the Mets, and Oracle Park is a pillow during a long season. I’m okay holding, I’m just skeptical. (View Game Card)
Noah Cameron (KCR) vs PHI (W) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 5 BBs, 7 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 105 pitches.
He didn’t have his changeup on point, and combined with his resistance to give it with his fastball, Cameron pitched around many and executed when needed. It doesn’t spark excitement moving forward, though, and I’m still waiting for a better outing to latch onto. (View Game Card)
Freddy Peralta (NYM) @ ATL (ND) – 4.2 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 22% CSW, 103 pitches.
He’s trying, y’all. Peralta’s four-seamers were either down the pipe or well out of the zone, his curveball missed constantly, and it’s a struggle. At least he ended the outing with a punchout after hitting a batter…? Yeah, I don’t have much to say outside of “I really hope it turns around in a big way for you.” (View Game Card)
Eric Lauer (LAD) vs COL (ND) – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 19% CSW, 99 pitches.
I wanted a little better against Rockie Road than a near VPQS, and in standard leagues, it’s mostly a Wonka (Thanks Scott for a 3 ER ninth). Not the worst you’ve seen, but it should put away all thoughts that Lauer is worthwhile outside of great matchups, and even those (like this!) are not locked. (View Game Card)
Griffin Jax (TBR) vs NYY (L) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 1 Hits, 2 BBs, 10 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 40% CSW, 81 pitches.
Ohhhhh baby. A Golden Goal for Jax is a beautiful thing, and he was downright filthy. I wonder if he would have been able to go into the sixth if he didn’t allow back-to-back walks + a mistake changeup to Cabby for a three-run blast. At any rate, he’s back to featuring more four-seamers than sinkers, armed with that disgusting changeup (usually), an ungodly sweeper at 87 mph and 13″ of sweeper (it’s DOPE. It returned 70%+ strikes and 25% SwStr here as his most thrown pitch), and my love for the second half. Please tell me you held on. (View Game Card)
Kevin Gausman (TOR) @ SFG (L) – 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 5 BBs, 8 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 34% CSW, 92 pitches.
Whoa whoa whoa, we’re already back to the disappointing starts? He was over a tick down across the board (a little worrisome) to 92/93 mph and elected to feature 20 sliders with just a 50% strike rate for whatever reason. Not entirely sure why – the four-seamer still earned a boatload of called strikes – and unless the Jays say he’s injured, I’m still starting him indefinitely. It’s a bad stretch, not an indictment. (View Game Card)
Kyle Freeland (COL) @ LAD (ND) – 5.0 IP, 6 ER, 9 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 72 pitches.
Yeeeeeeeeah. You don’t need me. (View Game Card)
Miles Mikolas (WSN) vs HOU (W) – 6.0 IP, 7 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 21% CSW, 99 pitches.
Seriously, this quartet of arms may be the most expected end of the roundup you’ll see all year. (View Game Card)
Walker Buehler (SDP) vs ARI (L) – 5.0 IP, 7 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 93 pitches.
We all knew the low HR rate and sparkling ERA wasn’t meant to last. Two more longballs here did plenty of damage and you should know better. (View Game Card)
Mike Burrows (HOU) @ WSN (L) – 4.1 IP, 7 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 2 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 83 pitches.
He’s trying so hard to go BSB to LHB with four-seamers and changeups and it works sometimes, but his mistakes are getting laced. It’s kinda wild how Burrows was better on the Pirates than the Astros. (View Game Card)
Cristopher Sánchez (PHI) @ KCR (L) – 3.1 IP, 9 ER, 12 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 83 pitches.
Oh. So we’re back to the 12-hits floor, eh? This was a bamboozlin’ in the first with all the annoyances – Singled Out, a double-play that didn’t convert, a dribbler single, and capped by a three-run HR that just got over the wall. Of course, this is poor luck that could have been prevented if he struck out any of these batters, and Sánchez earned the punchout on just 1/20 pitches thrown in two-strike counts. Yikes. It’s now three disappointments in five (every other) and while you may be worried, it’s just the standard ebbs and flows of the regular season. I didn’t believe he was a 1.00 WHIP ultra stud, but I also don’t believe he’s a WHIP killer. He’s great, and that’s great. (View Game Card)
Game of the Day
Hurston Waldrep vs. Paul Skenes – Waldrep is whatever, I just want Skenes to throw a harder four-seamer and quiet everyone about his “decline”.
But Nick?! Where are the streaming picks? – I’ve moved them to the daily SP Matchups & Streamer Rankings article.
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Photo courtesy of Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Aaron Polcare (@abeardoesart on Bluesky and X)
