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 weekday mornings from 9 am-11 am ET.
Corbin Burnes (MIL) vs PIT (ND) – 6.0 IP, 5 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 102 pitches.
Hey, I’m here to calm you down about Corbin Burnes. Yes, yes, I know he wasn’t able to stave off the Dodgers across his last two starts and now that you see 6.0 IP, 5 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 102 pitches against the Pirates, you’re frustrated. How dare he! What is going on?! The answer? Honestly, not a whole lot.
Don’t worry, he had one bad inning (stupid fifth frame) and soared otherwise. His cutter was still elite, the changeup was good, and the curve…well the curve was pretty bad tonight (7/19 strikes is atrocious) but that’s beside the point. Which is? That you shouldn’t expect Burnes to be anything less than an ace moving forward. I know your anger and it’s valid. These three starts are not the downfall of your SP1.
Let’s see how every other SP did Monday:
Javier Assad (CHC) @ TOR (ND) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 16% CSW, 80 pitches.
Ha! Across a night of lackluster SP performances, Assad, in his second MLB start in Toronto is the sole pitcher to allow fewer than 2 ER…while also producing a HAISTBMBWT?! It was that kind of night. I’m kinda digging his armside sinker + gloveside cutter, but it speaks more for a Toby at best instead of a league-winning pickup. Then again, he does host the Reds next… which may be worth your time.
Mike Clevinger (SD) @ SF (W) – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 19% CSW, 83 pitches.
This game had a few oddities that delayed Clevinger through the innings and it may have been why his stuff was off – zero whiffs across all breakers. Then again, he’s struggled with those pitches all season, so that’s not much of an excuse. Interpret it as you want, Clevinger is essentially a Toby these days and you don’t start Tobys against the Dodgers.
Pablo López (MIA) vs LAD (ND) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 99 pitches.
Yesssss, I’m proud of you PabLó. Sure, the WHIP ain’t great, but you survived your toughest challenge – now soar into the sunset of the 2022 season and end it on a high note. Then get dealt to a better team in the off-season. You deserve it.
José Suarez (LAA) vs NYY (W) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 87 pitches.
Huge props to Suarez here. His velocity was a tick up across the board, his slider was on with a 44% CSW, and he was able to mix in sinkers and four-seamers effectively. I can’t help but eye his next start in Detroit after looking like this and you may want to circle that one for next Monday.
Dylan Bundy (MIN) vs BOS (ND) – 4.2 IP, 2 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 86 pitches.
Oh look, a start where Bundy held a WHIP over 2.00 as he tossed fewer than 20% sliders. But hey, for his sake, that’s just two runs on the board on his watch, so yay…?
Michael Grove (LAD) @ MIA (ND) – 4.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 66 pitches.
We got another look at Grove and I don’t hate what he does with heaters up and sliders down. It’s not overpowering, but it ain’t terrible. I wonder if we’ll see more of it with Tony Gonsolin recovering or if this was a sudden replacement & Clayton Kershaw’s return will fold the six-man rotation into five. If Grove sticks, I wouldn’t start him against the Padres next, so don’t get caught up in this.
Ranger Suárez (PHI) @ ARI (ND) – 3.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 74 pitches.
Blegh. Ranger, you have this glorious schedule. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT. We want you to be the Ranger Suárez of 2021, not the Vladimir Gutierrez. You can’t go 0/8 CSW on changeups, fella.
Brayan Bello (BOS) @ MIN (L) – 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 84 pitches.
Womp womp. He tried, but the command ain’t there. It feels like his previous outing was the exception, not the start of a trend as we hoped. Bummer. Sure, he could peak again next time against the Rangers, but the odds feel a whole lot diminished now,
Bryse Wilson (PIT) @ MIL (ND) – 3.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 56 pitches.
Did you start Bryse? WHY?!
Frankie Montas (NYY) @ LAA (L) – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 91 pitches.
The splitter was back in action, blame the longball for ruining Montas’ night. I’m encouraged by the splitter’s 12 whiffs (it’s why he earned a Gallows Pole!), even if he still hasn’t figured out the slider & cutter. This was close to being a legit evening and I’m still riding him against the Rays.
José Berríos (TOR) vs CHC (ND) – 5.2 IP, 4 ER, 10 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 102 pitches.
Despite having his best curveball, Berríos couldn’t avoid constant trouble and there’s a good representation of his season. Sigh. What a Cherry Bomb.
Miles Mikolas (STL) @ CIN (ND) – 4.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 80 pitches.
Welp, it’s bound to happen here and there. Not a whole lot has changed, though he did toss a fair amount of hittable pitches. At the same time, he often throws a fair amount of hittable pitchers, so what does that even mean. He gets the Cubs next and there’s no way you’re pulling him back.
Carlos Rodón (SF) vs SD (L) – 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 2 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 22% CSW, 94 pitches.
This was an awfully weird one. We had delay after delay and Rodón wasn’t able to get his fastball revved up per usual. I really don’t think he pitched nearly as poor as the line suggests, some days are just weird.
Chase Anderson (CIN) vs STL (L) – 1.1 IP, 5 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 36 pitches.
It feels wrong to see veterans get a renewed chance at the bigs and to get pummeled like this. Poor guy, it just isn’t meant to be. It’s alright, Chase. I’ll never forget that 2017 summer of increased velocity. It was magical.
Madison Bumgarner (ARI) vs PHI (ND) – 3.2 IP, 7 ER, 11 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 79 pitches.
Yeeeeesh, this was rough to watch. Stay away from Bumgarner, the man is far too hittable. You already knew that but for real.
Game of the Day
Aaron Nola vs. Zac Gallen – Ummmm, don’t make me choose between my children.
But Nick?! Where are the streaming picks? – I’ve moved them to the daily SP Matchups & Streamer Rankings article.
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Featured Image by Ethan Kaplan (@DJFreddie10 on Twitter and @EthanMKaplanImages on Instagram)