Welcome to the SP Roundup, my daily fantasy baseball article reviewing every starting pitcher’s performance from every Thursday 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.]
Jared Jones (PIT) @ CHW (W) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks – 20 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 90 pitches.
Has the time come when we can trust Jared Jones again? After Thursday’s 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks – 20 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 90 pitches dominance against the White Sox that came fresh off six shutout frames of eight strikeouts against the Angels, it certainly appears so at first glance. On second glance…it’s still very promising with a word of caution.
Don’t forget the lead-up to these last two outings. Jones averaged just over four innings across his previous five outings, including an 8 ER disaster against the Mets, and only one game above 12 whiffs. I would be remiss not to mention that the Angels and the White Sox aren’t the strongest litmus test for a conclusive answer.
That said, I was excited last time out when Jones’ slider blossomed out of necessity to take advantage of a heavily RHB lineup, and the feel for the breaker continued against the White Sox, transferring the gloveside locations to LHB as well, propelling 12/33 whiffs on the pitch and inducing all the howls of adoration from this fella. His four-seamer was well spotted against a set of White Sox left-handers who struggled mightily against Bubba Chandler’s four-seamer the night before, though Jones still hasn’t figured out how to nail the top of the zone to RHB quite yet.
There isn’t much else to report. Jones had a few changeups and curveballs that don’t push the needle, and the haze surrounding Jones remains: Will he be able to locate both his slider and four-seamer regularly? It’s still an unknown, but hot dang has he looked great for two straight now, and we can’t ignore that. I’m personally letting him fly against the Brewers. Good luck, everyone. (View Game Card)
Let’s see how every other SP did Thursday:
Martín Pérez (ATL) vs TBR (ND) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 18% CSW, 90 pitches.
I could have sworn I saw Jason Vargas in the crowd, nodding with a grin as he watched Pérez and Nick Martinez battle. Pérez continued to threaten a sub-3.00 ERA with his latest rendition of painting the down-and-gloveside corner and with two starts to go, here’s to hoping he can shave off at least 8 points off the 3.08 ERA. And the 1.25 WHIP?! Sure. That can come too. You signed up for potential Wins and a shockingly good ERA. Don’t get greedy. (View Game Card)
Nick Martinez (TBR) @ ATL (ND) – 6.1 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 68 pitches.
If you wanted greed, then you should have gotten Martinez, who boasts a 14-4 record with a 2.92 ERA and 1.07 WHIP. He’s laughed in the face of 4.65 SIERA all year, which should be no surprise given the sub-15% strikeout rate. What is a surprise is that he’s actually made this work so long. Just a few more, okay Nick? For all of us. (View Game Card)
Jacob deGrom (TEX) @ SEA (ND) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 0 BBs, 12 Ks – 20 Whiffs, 34% CSW, 92 pitches.
Aces gonna ace. Please tell me you didn’t do anything silly after his 8 ER blowup. Please. This was peak deGrom with elite precision of four-seamers and sliders inside to LHB at will, matched to RHB with the rare surprise sinker inside. This is so fun, especially this late in the year. (View Game Card)
Zack Wheeler (PHI) vs HOU (ND) – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 9 Ks – 18 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 110 pitches.
THERE HE IS. Wheeler’s four-seamer has been off and it was ON in this one, sitting upstairs constantly, pairing it well with his sinker inside/sweeper away to RHB and cutters up (Canibal McSanchez) + splitters and curveballs down. Sigh. I’ve missed this. (View Game Card)
Cristian Javier (HOU) @ PHI (ND) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 79 pitches.
Ohhhhh BABY. The whiffs are still flowing for Javier and while he’s still not converting them into all the strikeouts, we’ll certainly take a line like this against the Phillies. I gotta say, a sub-30% zone rate four-seamer returning a 68% strike rate is pretty dang awesome, as well as a slowball at 76% strikes for support. The cutter is still present at 14% usage and…the sweeper needs work. There’s always going to be one offering that isn’t quite there and the breaker went 44% strikes and 0/7 in two-strike counts. The final piece. He’s going to get the Royals next and despite all the excitement and hope for Javier in that outing, I have to preach some caution. He’s been routinely given a short leash (pulled right at 80 pitches in his last three) and his previous five outings gave you exactly five innings twice, never more. The Royals messed up our friends in Miami recently and…ah go ahead. Live a little. (View Game Card)
Max Fried (NYY) vs COL (ND) – 3.1 IP, 1 ER, 1 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 80 pitches.
This wasn’t a game of Fried getting piggybacked or pulled too early. Nay, he did this to himself, needing 80 pitches to get through ten outs, including fourteen pitches in the fourth to return a walk and a strikeout before leaving the game. The command was all over the place (sinkers and curves = 50% strikes, sweeper recorded a poor 40% clip), and at least the ratios and strikeouts are still helpful. The good news? He’s stretched out now and could push 85+ next game, which typically equates to at least five frames from Fried. (View Game Card)
Erick Fedde (CHW) vs PIT (L) – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 22% CSW, 81 pitches.
Fedde was the follower after two frames of Hagen Smith (We’ll chat about him in the off-season), and it marks his fifth straight solid performance, where he’s allowed just 4 ER in that time. So we like him? Naaaah. He’s Dancing With The Disco with his sweeper, which has lost movement and held a low 61% strike rate for a pitch featured half the time. At least the cutter is getting up-and-in well to LHB and finding outs, but this HAISTBMBWT?! was all Koufax and a Blame it on the Pirates. It’s possible for deeper formats chasing a Win that he comes through against the Guardians, using that cutter effectively to their LHB, but I’d be scared that the sweeper’s effectiveness would be too much of a blow. (View Game Card)
Logan Gilbert (SEA) vs TEX (W) – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 11 Ks – 24 Whiffs, 35% CSW, 100 pitches.
Aces gonna Golden Goal with a lucky dub after his team scored four in the bottom of the seventh. A two-run HR from Joc in the third came off a decent 0-0 slider away and it’s unfair to ding Gilbert for the pitch, nor the four-seamer that Lopez hit to center at the top of the zone and slightly in. Gilbert deserved better on a day where he located his four-seamer and slider with actual pitch separation. It was rad. (View Game Card)
Ryan Feltner (COL) @ NYY (L) – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 83 pitches.
So, uh, you can go now. Have you checked out PL Pro yet? It’s free until midnight tonight, you know. No credit card or auto-renewal. I just want you to see what we’ve made. (View Game Card)
Game of the Day
Nolan McLean vs. Carlos Rodón – The Subway Series needs to be played on September 11th every year.
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 Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter/X)
