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.
Cole Ragans (KC) @ BOS (ND) – 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 11 Ks – 18 Whiffs, 34% CSW, 104 pitches.
There are times I watch a pitcher and I’m just filled with joy. Cole Ragans does that to me. After sitting 94 mph and change last time out, he faced the Red Sox Monday evening, pumping 96/97 mph heaters, even topping out at 98.5 mph as he befuddled the Red Sox constantly. His changeup was Hamels-esque as it went 9/25 whiffs. The curve delicately landed over the plate for a 35% called strike rate. His cutter and slider each hugged gloveside, earning five whiffs between them.
What does that all mean? It means you better be the one rostering Ragans as he went 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 11 Ks – 18 Whiffs, 34% CSW, 104 pitches. He. Hath. ARRIVED.
I can’t emphasize enough how confident I felt in Ragans with every pitch he threw. I saw 98 mph upstairs for strike three on terrible swings. I saw stunned walks back to the dugout after watching a curve fall perfectly over the plate. I watched with glee as Ragans tossed a 3-2 slider down-and-away to Rafael Devers for an out. He allowed one run on a sac-fly where the runner shouldn’t have been on third, and another from two hits on away fastballs that shouldn’t have been there. That’s. It.
Get Ragans yesterday. Hold on tight. The Royals have something very legit here and I can’t wait to watch more. Do it. NOW.
Let’s see how every other SP did Monday:
Gavin Williams (CLE) vs TOR (ND) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 1 BBs, 12 Ks – 17 Whiffs, 42% CSW, 90 pitches.
WELL OKAY THEN. I initially had him in Questionable Start, then lowered Williams to Do Not Start as he was facing the strong Jays offense and tallied just 14 IP across his last four starts. I didn’t have much faith in his slider locating down and I questioned if his four-seamer/curve were enough. Well, he got the dang slide piece down, alright. He actually painted it down-and-gloveside, allowing his decent-but-oddly-not-incredibly located four-seamers to look far better than usual, catalyzing a whopping 50% CSW and 12/52 whiffs. Simply unreal. I have been questioning if we’d see this ceiling from Williams in 2023 and I still have some concerns with his next start against the Rays (can he locate his slider like this again? His four-seamer won’t go 50% CSW a second time in a row…), but it doesn’t matter, does it. Y’all are gonna start him and all I can do is hope for the best. Dance Gavin, dance.
Pablo López (MIN) @ DET (W) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks – 17 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 96 pitches.
He’s so dang good. What do you say, one more game until the AGA label? Cool.
Dylan Cease (CWS) vs NYY (W) – 5.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 7 BBs, 6 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 104 pitches.
Wait, Edwin Jackson never pitched for the White Sox…This was a pretty ridiculous start from Cease as he didn’t know where anything was going, but neither did the Yankees and they couldn’t square anything up when they tried. Be careful holding onto Cease as he’s obviously not locked in.
Hyun Jin Ryu (TOR) @ CLE (ND) – 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 52 pitches.
I feel bad for Ryu as he had to leave this game early. He could have been a true champion but he took a comebacker to the knee and all I can do is feel for the guy after the long journey to return to the majors from TJS. Not to mention, he had his changeup of old cooking here for 45% CSW and a 78% O-Swing. I hope he’s okay.
Freddy Peralta (MIL) vs COL (W) – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 Hits, 0 BBs, 13 Ks – 31 Whiffs, 44% CSW, 94 pitches.
Yesssss, there he is. That’s a Golden Goal for Peralta as that fastball is gosh darn incredible – 17/49 whiffs with 43% CSW – while the slider and curve earned all the strikes as well. H*ck, 60% CSW on the curve and a 25% SwStr on the slider ain’t so bad, with a dash of 30% SwStr on the changeup. The man is COOKING…and yet. Say the words. I know, I know. Sigh. Blame it on the Rockies. He’ll do it again, you know.
Brayan Bello (BOS) vs KC (ND) – 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 21% CSW, 99 pitches.
He technically matched Ragans and we know he didn’t actually match Ragans. It’s still sinker/change without nearly the same excitement, but the man is steady, he absolutely is that. Keep rolling with Bello, even without the massive ceiling.
Brandon Williamson (CIN) vs MIA (W) – 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 9 Ks – 17 Whiffs, 39% CSW, 89 pitches.
Well ain’t this a night for young arms. Williamson gets the Gold Star of the lot as I certainly didn’t anticipate nine strikeouts and 17 whiffs coming from him. The changeup came out of nowhere to go 6/18 whiffs, while both the four-seamer and cutter returned 40%+ CSW marks and I’m still astounded by it all. This feels like a Blame it on the Marlins more than Williamson dominance – the command was good but not that good – but he does get the Pirates next. Might as well give that a try and hope this sticks.
Logan Webb (SF) @ LAA (ND) – 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 106 pitches.
The WHIP is still up, but you’ll take this all day. He really has a beautiful changeup (50+ thrown again!).
Patrick Sandoval (LAA) vs SF (ND) – 6.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 99 pitches.
Ayyyyy, it’s The Irish Panda actually coming through for your fantasy team! And guess what, he didn’t have his slider. This was a day of four-seamer called strikes and brilliant changeups (12/34 whiffs), which is lovely n all, but we still have yet to see a game where he has both his slider and changeup on point. Pretty ridiculous how it still hasn’t happened yet. Nick, just enjoy the great outing. Sure sure sure, but y’all know this doesn’t mean he’s “fixed” or anything, right? And if you don’t agree, let me note that it’s Texas next. Oh, now you agree.
Ken Waldichuk (OAK) vs TEX (ND) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 92 pitches.
The hits keep coming as now Waldichuk did something incredible against the Rangers. His four-seamer sat upstairs, the sweeper went gloveside and the changeup hovered armside, with the latter two earning twelve whiffs and a near 40% CSW between them. I’m not sure I buy that Waldichuk figured something out and can keep this up, but at least he’s showcasing some upside for us to chase. Maybe it’s actually real…?
Kodai Senga (NYM) vs CHC (W) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 85 pitches.
I was a bit worried about facing the Cubs, and while he was one ER away from a VPQS, we’re thrilled he avoided it and snagged a Win. Keep starting Senga, especially with this recovery start with his cutter.
Dane Dunning (TEX) @ OAK (ND) – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 94 pitches.
I dug the matchup for Dunning, thinking he had a solid Win chance + his new affinity for sliders could spell strikeouts. Well, you got a near VPQS with a strikeout per inning and no Win. That doesn’t feel like a successful start. No, it does not. Why only 28% sliders + cutters? They are your best pitches! Because they were left-handed. WHO CARES. At least it’s the Giants next so we give it another shot.
Osvaldo Bido (PIT) vs ATL (ND) – 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 51 pitches.
There really isn’t anything to report here. It wasn’t a great outing and Bido isn’t allowed to go long in starts. Like me still thinking about my ex, please let me move on. PLEASE.
Gerrit Cole (NYY) @ CWS (L) – 7.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 21% CSW, 105 pitches.
Aces gonna Careful, Icarus as he allowed two more runs in the eighth inning, failing to keep the game close for the Yankees. This was a terrible night for our top two SP arms on The List and that’s just how it is sometimes. I’m still a little bitter about those final two earned runs, though…
Eury Pérez (MIA) @ CIN (L) – 4.2 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 78 pitches.
Womp womp. I was hesitant to start Pérez here due to GABP + Miami likely limiting him, and while the skills were clearly there (10/29 slider whiffs!), the park coughed up two home runs and the Marlins didn’t let him exceed 80 pitches. I wonder if the Marlins will continue to keep Pérez around 80 pitches through the end of the year as their way of keeping his mileage down. Regardless, we hold and keep starting him.
Peter Lambert (COL) @ MIL (L) – 3.2 IP, 5 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 81 pitches.
Ah, the story of my fantasy year. In like a Taillon, out like Lambert. Wait, I thought you were good at this. Mostly, when all I need to do is focus on starters. When I draft horrific hitting…ah. Just how it is.
Tony Gonsolin (LAD) @ SD (W) – 6.0 IP, 6 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 20% CSW, 84 pitches.
Gonsolin is a decent arm against poor offenses but doesn’t pack enough of a punch to deal with teams like the Padres. It’s time to move on if you haven’t yet.
Spencer Strider (ATL) @ PIT (L) – 2.2 IP, 6 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 35% CSW, 63 pitches.
What a weird day of games. His velocity isn’t down, he just didn’t locate as well as we normally see with the heater and the Pirates got to him a bit. That’s baseball, Suzyn. We move on.
Drew Smyly (CHC) @ NYM (L) – 5.0 IP, 7 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 34% CSW, 97 pitches.
Yuuuuup. He earned ten whiffs on curveballs, but also hung far too many of them. Until that dang pitch sits down (and ONLY down), we’re out.
Seth Lugo (SD) vs LAD (L) – 3.1 IP, 8 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 71 pitches.
Oh dear. This one got bad in a hurry. I still dig Lugo and I highly recommend ignoring this outing as the Dodgers are a truly elite offense. I recommend holding onto Lugo for his next start against the Diamondbacks, as he’s not as bad as the line suggests.
Joey Wentz (DET) vs MIN (L) – 3.0 IP, 8 ER, 10 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 71 pitches.
Go back from Wentz he came. But he’s already on the waiver wire. What if the commissioner just eliminated him from the pool. Gasp.
Game of the Day
Nick Martinez vs. Logan Gilbert – I’m happy to see Martinez starting again and I hope Gilbert has his new slider for another start.
But Nick?! Where are the streaming picks? – I’ve moved them to the daily SP Matchups & Streamer Rankings article.
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