Welcome to the SP Roundup, my daily fantasy baseball article reviewing every starting pitcher’s performance from every Wednesday 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.
Kyle Harrison (MIL) vs PIT (W) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 1 BBs, 10 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 45% CSW, 69 pitches.
We’ve waited patiently for the return of Kyle Harrison and his return to the bump against the Pirates was everything we could hope for: 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 1 BBs, 10 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 45% CSW, 69 pitches (W). Yes, that’s a King Cole, yes that’s absurdity under 70 pitches, yes you can be confident in Harrison again.
That’s all you truly need to know. His four-seamer and breaker combo was legit, and I even believe there’s a proper split between sweepers and curveballs, which I can get behind to provide a different look. The changeup was barely used and was effective but a bit wild, and I’m not really sure what else you want to know. You’re starting him indefinitely. Go have fun. Then why is he the focus today? Because this was a question mark that has been answered in full. It’s fun. LEAVE ME ALONE. (View Game Card)
Let’s see how every other SP did Wednesday:
Bryan Woo (SEA) vs DET (W) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 91 pitches.
Phew. It’s good to know we’re safe at home with Woo, and I also encourage you to take the shot @NYY and @HOU for his two-step next week. But the splits! Ehhh, he shifted his approach to go back to the ole 70%+ fastball lean and that’s how it should be. 17% SwStr with 74% four-seamer strikes is exactly what we’re used to. (View Game Card)
Mitch Bratt (ARI) vs SDP (ND) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 3 BBs, 9 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 92 pitches.
Hot dang, look at you! That’s a Gold Star for Bratt as he struck out more batters than recorded whiffs. That doesn’t seem sustainable. No, it doesn’t! It’s a cutter called a slider at 87 + a decent curveball trying to go backfoot to RHB, while separating it with his four-seamer upstairs at 90/91 mph, with the latter acting as the only pitch above a 60% strike rate at an extreme 74% clip. This isn’t going to last. (View Game Card)
Sonny Gray (BOS) vs CHW (W) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks – 17 Whiffs, 35% CSW, 83 pitches.
I was hoping his sweeper feel of late was going to continue creating Sonny skies and not only was it phenomenal at a 48% CSW, but the curveball came along for the ride with a 37% CSW and combined with the sweeper for 53% usage. It propelled his highest whiff total of the season and all we can hope for is more of the same. (View Game Card)
Nick Martinez (TBR) @ COL (W) – 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 16% CSW, 75 pitches.
After a horrific outing that may have signified to many the end of his Vargas Rule, it’s pretty dope to see Nick Mart return to his breakout season ways in Coors. It’s still a 14% strikeout rate, sure, but the 2.78 ERA is glistening. I sure hope it’s not a Dennis with @TOR, @PIT, SFG ahead, and I’m holding on. (View Game Card)
Cody Bradford (TEX) vs SFG (ND) – 4.1 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 40% CSW, 70 pitches.
We haven’t seen Bradford since 2024 and I’m happy to report his return from TJS gave us more of the same – 89/90 mph four-seamers with 7.1 feet extension and 17″ vert sitting upstairs and changeups underneath. You may scoff at the velo, but it returned a 21% SwStr rate and with a date against the Angels next and likely 75-80+ pitches on the leash, I think you’re okay giving it a shot. The changeup could be located better, too. (View Game Card)
Drew Anderson (DET) @ SEA (ND) – 3.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 0 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 42 pitches.
This is the longest we’ve seen Anderson go for a while after the Tigers announced they were going to give him a shot in the rotation. We’ve got a little ways to go until we can actually consider him, and if I ever did, it would be due to the split-change returning a massive CSW. I sure hope we get there. (View Game Card)
Noah Cameron (KCR) vs MIN (W) – 8.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks – 17 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 106 pitches.
Duuuuude. Cameron has returned 23 IP in just three games. He’s throwing 93/94 mph with more whiffs than before, and he’s going 80% breakers with fastballs acting as surprise pitches out of the zone, just like his premier moments last year. He also recently began calling his own pitches, too, and it’s a package I’d want to go for in my leagues. But he gets the Dodgers next. I’m doing it. It may not go well, but if the skills are still there, you’ll want him afterward on your roster and not your opponents’. (View Game Card)
Bryce Elder (ATL) vs MIA (W) – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 18% CSW, 84 pitches.
Is this really happening again? It’s 5 ER total with three wings in his last four games, and I don’t blame you for giving it a try against the Mets, Sneks, and Brewers. But hot dang, I can’t endorse this. Four whiffs, y’all. Koufax is cackling. (View Game Card)
Andre Pallante (STL) @ NYY (W) – 5.1 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 103 pitches.
I’m glad he survived, but I’m not so sure I’m confident he will again. We also had a bit of a Careful, Icarus with his sole run coming in the sixth, though that’s not the point. It’s that he earned eight outs on nine balls in play off the four-seamer that routinely does worse. Maybe that’s fine hosting the Phillies next time. Up to you. I prefer not to go for low strikeout arms like this. (View Game Card)
Shota Imanaga (CHC) vs LAD (W) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 89 pitches.
Even against the Dodgers! That’s a 2.06 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 23% strikeout rate, and 5% BB rate with a 1.2 HR/9 across his last 56.2 IP in ten starts. He even sat 91/92 mph in this one, not the precarious 90+ mph velocity we feared. Don’t let yourself underrate him. Was that to me or to you? Yes. (View Game Card)
Dean Kremer (MIN) @ KCR (ND) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 17% CSW, 88 pitches.
Kremer gave his new squad a productive five frames, though I was far from impressed by it. When he’s cooking, it’s 15+ whiffs with cutters, four-seamers and splitters. When he’s not, Koufax generally brings the hammer. It’s a revenge game against the Orioles next time out, and do whatever you feel in those outings. For me, I’m treating him like the butter and passing. (View Game Card)
Andrew Painter (PHI) vs WSN (ND) – 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 63 pitches.
I was excited about Painter’s last outing after leaning on his breakers 70% of the time, and using them in the zone while surprising with his four-seamer along the edges and off the plate. So what’s do he do in his follow-up? Why, have a strained hamstring that he says won’t prevent him from starting again. Wait, yes, but not my point. What he also did was go roughly 40% four-seamers and poorly feature the secondaries. I DON’T GET IT. He’ll face the Cardinals in Busch Stadium next time out and that could go well if I trusted he’d have the right approach. Do you? No, rando. I do not. (View Game Card)
Rhett Lowder (CIN) vs ATH (W) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 20% CSW, 95 pitches.
He’s not that bad! Sliders didn’t return as many strikes as usual, but still got the job done, while the changeup and fastballs helped. Is the slider going to continue to get success to LHB like this? Probably not, but he’s giving you a shot at six-inning volume in deeper formats for the price of free. (View Game Card)
Trevor Rogers (BAL) vs LAA (W) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 9 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 93 pitches.
Yesssss. He’s back to 94/95 mph and executing the BSB. Did you realize that even including last week’s blowup, Rogers’ last eleven starts have been studly? It’s a 2.28 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 23% strikeout rate in that time while averaging six frames per start. That’s. What’s. UP. (View Game Card)
Jake Irvin (WSN) @ PHI (ND) – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 83 pitches.
He’s throwing a harder cutter and getting SwStr on his curve again. That’s cool! He’s also not putting away batters (23% overall putaway rate is terrible despite getting to two-strikes 65% of the time), and I wouldn’t suggest starting him against the Cubs. But hey, this may be the better half of Irvin, not the horrendous 2025 version. (View Game Card)
Jacob Lopez (ATH) @ CIN (ND) – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 87 pitches.
He’s cooking. I’d add him, y’all. That’s four starts of his classic approach and he’s been in rhythm, nailing cutters and four-seamers up-and-away to RHB with breakers underneath. It’s exactly what he had during his absurd 2025 summer run and it’s hard to deny a 2.29 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and 33% strikeout rate in four games, albeit without hitting six frames once. I’m still starting him at home in Sacré Verde against the Rays and Rangers up next if that approach sticks. (View Game Card)
Sean Burke (CHW) @ BOS (L) – 4.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 91 pitches.
Wait, what. It was an off day for Burke and his secondaries, who didn’t give much support for his four-seamer that couldn’t nail the top of the zone as it normally does. And yet, even on a bad day, it’s not so bad. Thanks, fella. Please prove to us all this was just a One Night Bland. (View Game Card)
Hunter Brown (HOU) vs TOR (ND) – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 34% CSW, 93 pitches.
His four-seamer vert is slightly above 2025 levels now, and I wish he wasn’t still struggling to find strikes with it (50% here), while it was strange to see him locate the sinker low so often to RHB, even if it worked. The best news? His curveball showed up for 62% strikes and 23% SwStr at 84 mph with legit 15″ of drop. If he could just do that every game, he doesn’t even need his four-seamer to be peak. (View Game Card)
Tanner Bibee (CLE) vs NYM (ND) – 5.2 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 10 Ks – 17 Whiffs, 34% CSW, 98 pitches.
It seems as though I’m getting more interested in Bibee with each start. This was a game of spotting changeups better than I’ve ever seen from him, sitting in the bottom half of the zone to LHB at will, returning a whopping 81% strikes with a 50% CSW and 44% SwStr rate. That’s HOT. I’m considering raising him to a probable start against the Tigers and Padres now… (View Game Card)
Will Warren (NYY) vs STL (L) – 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 91 pitches.
I like that he’s still using the changeup to LHB, but it wasn’t spectacular and everything else is so…meh. I’m okay starting him against the Mariners, but don’t feel like you need to hold onto Warren. You can swap him for that fun thing on the wire if you like. (View Game Card)
Christian Scott (NYM) @ CLE (ND) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 96 pitches.
I had concerns about Scott’s LHB approach entering a game where he was sure to face a ton of LHB, and what I got was a much better showing than expected. 72% strikes overall is a rare feat, and it came down to nailing cutters and four-seamers upstairs with a Canibal McSanchez approach, though if he was able to get breakers and splitters down, I think it would unlock the final gear. He’s routinely earning whiffs and strikeouts this season – 29% strikeout clip! – and the true issue all year has been control, which was more refined than usual here. It’s encouraging, but is it enough to start him against Atlanta? Maybe… (View Game Card)
Tomoyuki Sugano (COL) vs TBR (L) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 85 pitches.
Womp womp. I have a soft spot for Sugano and wanted him to earn his 12th Win of the year. So close. (View Game Card)
Paul Skenes (PIT) @ MIL (L) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 2 Hits, 4 BBs, 6 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 93 pitches.
Jeeeeez. I had to remove his AGA tag last time out and I can’t believe I just witnessed a start where Skenes had a sub-50% strike rate on four-seamers. Rough. I’m glad we saw him sit 97+ mph for just the second time since May 28th (also on July 7th), and I wonder if he should be throwing more splinkers under the four-seamer to keep batters more honest than the other secondaries. At any rate, he’s still missing bats and with the velocity no longer declining, it’s safe to assume he’s healthy. The TIARA will come off soon, I promise. (View Game Card)
Reid Detmers (LAA) @ BAL (L) – 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 81 pitches.
Yikes. Detmers’ slider command wasn’t nearly as good, but more importantly, he was down a full tick on everything. I sure hope it was just a One Night Bland and I’d act like this one never happened. Let him fly against the Rangers unless we hear news about this one. (View Game Card)
Jameson Taillon (TOR) @ HOU (ND) – 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 80 pitches.
I’m rooting for Taillon and suspect he was tipping his pitches here and there in Chicago after watching so many hits on competitive pitches. It’s cool to see him turn to his gyro slider around 86 mph and with the intro start out of the way, I’m so curious what the next two months bring. After all, 16 whiffs isn’t something a terrible starter would return. (View Game Card)
Eury Pérez (MIA) @ ATL (L) – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 9 Ks – 18 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 91 pitches.
Bleeeeegh. It was a Gallows Pole mixed with cruelty from Koufax, where his sinker went 2/8 scoring outs on balls in play. Wait, why is the sinker getting so much action? Because he’s trying to save the four-seamer for two-strike counts, which worked well, but it means he’s throwing far more sinkers than he should. There’s a balance to be had here and I imagine he’ll get there in time. Stud pitchers give us something to salvage on poor nights, and I appreciate nine strikeouts in the books on a day we were served horrific ratios. Like a lovely dessert after an overcooked burger. (View Game Card)
Carson Whisenhunt (SFG) @ TEX (L) – 3.1 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 70 pitches.
Yeaaaah, don’t start Whisenhunt until you see either an incredibly commanded BSB approach or 94/95 mph velocity on his heater. It’s too bad – his changeup is effective, but 92 mph with low four-seamers isn’t a good idea. (View Game Card)
Eric Lauer (LAD) @ CHC (L) – 4.0 IP, 6 ER, 11 Hits, 0 BBs, 1 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 20% CSW, 95 pitches.
It’s about time. Lauer’s regression hit hard in Wrigley, with two HRs from PCA in Lauer’s first game as a Dodger above 3 ER. He was otherwise Singled Out, but on many pitches down the heart of the plate, having us all shout HAISTBMBWT?! and nowhere near a cheap dub. It doesn’t mean he can’t get one against the Royals on Wednesday, but at least we know what the floor is now. (View Game Card)
Casey Mize (SDP) @ ARI (ND) – 3.1 IP, 8 ER, 9 Hits, 3 BBs, 1 Ks – 2 Whiffs, 13% CSW, 77 pitches.
Yikes. I was worried about Mize after his terrifying velocity drop in his last start, and after the Tigers scratched him last Friday, claiming it was due to the trade deadline, I wasn’t convinced it wasn’t an act to hide a possible injury. Good news: He was at 93.4 mph on the four-seamer and hitting roughly 95 mph in each frame. The bad news: His slider that has become such an important stabilizing pitch for him returned 48% strikes, leading to just 2 whiffs on the game. I see this as a weird one for the extra time off between starts + a debut for a new team, but I’ll hold my breath until I see him excel in his next start when he faces the Brewers on Monday. I think you’re fine there, but bench if you can. (View Game Card)
Game of the Day
Braxton Ashcraft vs. Dustin May – I’d love to see Golden Brax dominate like the old days + Dustin fit with the Brewers like a glove.
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 Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)
