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 Playback.tv weekday mornings from 10 am-12 pm ET.
Brady Singer (KC) vs SEA (ND) – 7.1 IP, 2 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 106 pitches.
If you’ve been reading these roundups (hey, thanks! You rock), you already know what I’m going to say about Brady Singer after he went 7.1 IP, 2 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 106 pitches against the Mariners. The slider is still really good and he should be trusted until its precision disappears. Hey! Look at that! You don’t need me.
Seriously, you don’t, because this is incredibly simple. Singer is featuring the best stretch of slider command I’ve ever seen from him and as long as his strike zone plots look as glorious as this one does (just look at that gorgeous group of yellow vesicles at the bottom of the zone), the man demands to be rostered and started on your fantasy teams. It won’t last forever, and keep your head and hands inside the vehicle as you enjoy the ride.
Let’s see how every other SP did Monday:
Max Scherzer (TEX) vs LAA (W) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 1 BBs, 11 Ks – 20 Whiffs, 35% CSW, 100 pitches.
Aces gonna ace. I think this trade is working out pre-tay, pre-tay good for the Rangers so far.
Braxton Garrett (MIA) vs HOU (W) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 75 pitches.
Hot dang, look at you! It’s the clear Gold Star of the night as Garrett secured a Win against the mighty Astros with…just one strikeout. HAISTBMBWT?! I’m pretty floored this worked out given Garrett’s sinker and cutter are far from what they need to be, while the slider was horrific at just a 44% strike rate. How did this happen? Some days it’s better to be lucky than good. Please don’t use this outing as a crutch to justify starting Garrett against the Dodgers. That’s looking like a massive trap.
Ryan Walker (SF) vs TB (ND) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 39 pitches.
He opened for Tristan Beck, who sang Soy un perdedor as he allowed 5 ER across 10 hits in three frames. That may be slightly harsh as he obviously had an off night on the bump, but he’s not someone to consider for your 12-teamers.
Grayson Rodriguez (BAL) @ SD (W) – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 34% CSW, 95 pitches.
Yessssss. The heater sat nearly 99 mph as he hit 101 mph, featuring legit command upstairs on the pitch as changeups, sliders, and even some curveballs landed in the zone below. It wasn’t even the greatest BSB (generally we want more pitches under the zone) but hot dang I’ll take this all day if he can replicate it. This is what we wanted to see in the spring and it’s wonderful to see GrayRod locked in, giving us the prince that was promised in March.
Tyler Glasnow (TB) @ SF (ND) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 38% CSW, 87 pitches.
Aces gonna ace with a King Cole. Don’t leave us like that again. Seriously, we have just seven weeks left.
Max Fried (ATL) vs NYY (W) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 83 pitches.
Just two strikeouts?! I really feel like Fried should be getting the AGA tag in due time, but that’s two underwhelming starts in a row, showcasing mediocre command of the zone. You got this Fried, we all know it’s in there.
Merrill Kelly (ARI) @ COL (ND) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 11 Ks – 21 Whiffs, 37% CSW, 92 pitches.
Hahahaha, Coors Shmoors, you know? That’s a Gallows Pole as Kelly demolished the Rockies on their own turf with cutters, fastballs, changeups, sliders, YOU NAME IT. Sadly, his bullpen didn’t have the same swagger and coughed up four runs in the eighth to eliminate his well-deserved Win, but let’s not get greedy – you had the brass to start Merrill in Coors and the baseball Gods rewarded your good faith. Pretty dang cool.
Carlos Carrasco (NYM) vs PIT (ND) – 3.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 88 pitches.
Yeaaaaaah. 88 pitches for nine outs. That’s eight innings for Sandy. DANG RIGHT IT IS. Please stop considering Carrasco. Seriously.
Framber Valdez (HOU) @ MIA (L) – 7.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 95 pitches.
We had some Careful, Icarus here as Valdez allowed a pair of solo shots after getting two outs in the eighth, leading to a hook (which followed another solo shot to the next batter for an odd back-to-back-to-back jack stack) and a worse line for the former ace. The cutter is still on the shelf for whatever reason and I’d love to see Valdez’s curve do more than 2/19 whiffs, without relying on 15 balls in play or his sinker to go his way. That’s not the best recipe for success when the sinker holds a .354 xwoBACON on the year.
JP Sears (OAK) @ STL (ND) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 4 BBs, 6 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 97 pitches.
At least we saw more whiffs from the slider once again, but yeah, this ain’t it. I have a soft spot for Sears as I feel he has the tools to act like a better Justin Steele, but he’s not quite putting it all together, while pitching for one of the worst teams in the bigs. He’s an avoid against the Orioles.
Yu Darvish (SD) vs BAL (L) – 7.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 81 pitches.
He went back to the fastballs + sliders approach and save for a rough fifth frame, it worked for most of the night. It’s still a little weird for me, especially watching Darvish have inconsistent fastball command (some front-hip sinkers were gorgeous, while others leaked over the plate massively). We keep letting him fly obviously and hope for the best. That’s all you can say? Yeah, I know. But that’s just Darvish, not much more we can do about it. He is who he is and we deal with it.
Miles Mikolas (STL) vs OAK (ND) – 6.1 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 99 pitches.
But it was the Athletics! BUT IT WAS MIKOLAS. Okay, this was a Careful, Icarus as his final runs came in the seventh, but still. Mikolas just isn’t a guy you want to rely upon in your fantasy leagues.
Chris Flexen (COL) vs ARI (ND) – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 83 pitches.
It’s nearly Flexen at the beach and that’s a cool thing to see once again. The cutter was the pitch of old for a moment at 44% CSW and sadly as he continues to host teams in Coors (even if it is the White Sox), I can’t lean on Flexen. Maybe for a road start in a few.
Logan Gilbert (SEA) @ KC (ND) – 4.1 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 98 pitches.
Noooooooo. The slider wasn’t nearly as good – 4/27 whiffs, 26% CSW, and now listening to voicemails from yours truly – and the four-seamer, despite earning seven whiffs, was up, down, and all around. You’re so dang close, Gilbert. Just reach out and grab it. Suitman whispers in my ear. He doesn’t know what he’s grabbing?! IT’S OPPORTUNITY DANGIT.
Patrick Sandoval (LAA) @ TEX (L) – 2.2 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 6 BBs, 6 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 83 pitches.
The Irish Panda hasn’t had both the slider and changeup dominating since…I honestly don’t remember + this was the Rangers. I’m not sure why you’d expect anything different.
Quinn Priester (PIT) @ NYM (L) – 5.0 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 102 pitches.
The Priester needs a prayer to redeem his first pass at the majors. I hope we all look back at his 2023 with a chuckle as he takes the necessary steps to become impactful in 2024 and beyond.
Clarke Schmidt (NYY) @ ATL (L) – 2.1 IP, 8 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 68 pitches.
Atlanta is something else. Arguably the best offense we’ve ever seen and Schmidt didn’t have much of a shot. He gets the Red Sox next and that could be fine. Don’t judge the man for this one.
Game of the Day
Zack Wheeler vs. Yusei Kikuchi – Both pitchers are on fantastic runs and could go at least six each.
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 William Purnell/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)