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.
Trey Gibson (BAL) vs TOR (W) – 6.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 92 pitches.
One start is all it takes to change a pitcher’s narrative. Trey Gibson started his career with eight underwhelming outings, rarely showcasing the stuff or results that force us to double-take.
Hosting the Blue Jays on Wednesday, Gibson finally gave us a reason to pay attention. Not only did he turn in the best start of his career with 6.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BB, 7 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 92 pitches (W), but he did so with a career-high 71% overall strikes while improving his arsenal across the board. No velocity increases, but every pitch had improved movement profiles.
Some of it can be blamed on pitching in the domed Rogers Centre, which can inflate iVB marks, but not to the degree Gibson displayed. His 95 mph four-seamer added nearly three inches of iVB up 17″ with four more inches of cut, making it a more traditional version of the pitch. Willing to fill up the zone, the pitch avoided damage with ease, returning 72% strikes and 34% CSW.
It didn’t stop there. His cutter traded 1-2 mph of velocity for 1-2 inches of depth and 2-3 inches of cut. Sliders added horizontal movement, curveballs added drop, and sinkers added rise. He didn’t command his pitches particularly well, as they produced a shotgun blast of a strike zone plot, but every pitch was both improved and better controlled, with every pitch eclipsing 67% strikes.
Without a scheduled start on the horizon, we turn our attention to 2027 to determine if Gibson will be someone we keep our eyes on in the Spring. His fine-tuned arsenal can certainly be dreamed upon, and at just 24 years old, there’s enough reason to believe he could take steps forward in the command department to maximize his stuff and find more whiffs.
I won’t be putting him on my list of potential breakouts, but this outing removed him from my permanent Do Not Start list. I’ll want to see the improved movement show up in the Spring and will need to see him continue to grow as a pitcher, especially in the command department, but I now see the vision that made him Baltimore’s #17 prospect according to MLB Pipeline. (View Game Card)
Let’s see how every other SP did Wednesday:
Mason Adams (COL) vs ARI (L) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 41% CSW, 80 pitches.
A rocky (pun-intended) first frame in which four unearned runs scored didn’t stop Adams from turning in the best performance of his career. The passive snakes stayed coiled as Adams stole 18 called strikes, then caught them lunging with curveballs below the zone, inducing seven whiffs. Yep, that’s a King Cole for a Rockies pitcher inside of Coors, and yet, other than a willingness to fill up the zone and throw some decent 82 mph curveballs, he didn’t display the stuff nor the command to impress me enough to overlook his circumstances. At least Adams gets to enter the offseason brandishing his Gold Star. (View Game Card)
Sonny Gray (BOS) vs CLE (W) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BB, 3 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 77 pitches.
Gray will enter the postseason Sonny side up after another excellent outing amid an excellent campaign. In 22 of his 29 starts this year, Gray completed at least six frames, and while his 22% season-long strikeout rate is more in the Toby territory than we’d like, the 2.72 ERA across 169 innings pitched is elite. With a mutual option for 2027 (they never get picked up), Gray is headed for free agency and should earn himself a multi-year deal despite entering his age-37 campaign. (View Game Card)
Brad Lord (WSN) @ DET (ND) – 3.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hit, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 49 pitches.
Richard Lovelady opened for Lord, who has been the most versatile pitcher in baseball this year–well, maybe other than new Marlins “closer”, Sandy Alcantara. Lord has opened, closed, pitched in high-leverage, and pitched in bulk relief, but throughout it, he’s been reliable and flexible for a Nationals staff still searching for its identity. Lord is unlikely to enter the rotation next year, but if they fully stretch him out, his sinker with a bonkers 21″ of armside run should induce plenty of ground balls. (View Game Card)
Erick Fedde (CHW) @ KCR (ND) – 2.2 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 64 pitches.
Fedde followed Bryan Hudson and did his usual Dancing With The Disco to moderate effect. A scoreless outing is cool, but he didn’t give us anything else to be happy about. He pitched in 33 games this year, averaging 73 pitches per start, and just once induced double-digit whiffs (10 on June 19th). That should tell you all you need to know about Fedde’s 2027 outlook. Don’t trust the Feddes. However, if he pitches in bulk relief against Rockie Road on Sunday, he could vulture you a cheap win. (View Game Card)
Antwone Kelly (PIT) vs STL (ND) – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hit, 1 BB, 3 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 33 pitches.
This was a bullpen game from the Pirates that started with Lake Bachar, went to Brandon Eisert, then to Khristian Curtis, who went 3.2 IP, 5 Hits, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K – 9 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 71 pitches (ND). The upside is obvious with Curtis, as he leads with a 95 mph four-seamer with 19″ of iVB, 6.9′ of extension, and 1.2 HAVAA, pairing it with a strike-recording 92 mph cutter and a trio fo supportive offspeed offerings. He continues to don a Riddler suit, with question marks clouding his 2027 role, command, and workload. As for Kelly, he’s very clearly a reliever with poor command and an unpolished arsenal, but his 100 mph four-seamer is dope. (View Game Card)
Foster Griffin (CLE) @ BOS (L) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 10 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 39% CSW, 83 pitches.
It’s easy to look at this start and think he was lucky to get away with just one run on 10 hits, but he got Singled Out like pitchers rarely do. He had to have given up an extra-base hit or a lot of hard contact. Wrong! 10 singles on 67% weak contact. That’s absolutely ridiculous, but luckily Koufax had his back enough to allow him to strand 90% of the batters who reached base. The Guardians’ playoff hopes are coming down to the wire, with just one game separating them from the White Sox, so Griffin’s scheduled start on Sunday @KCR is almost guaranteed to occur, so don’t drop him just yet! (View Game Card)
Chris Sale (ATL) vs CIN (ND) – 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 10 Ks – 23 Whiffs, 37% CSW, 97 pitches.
Aces gonna ace for a Gallows Pole. 10 strikeouts from 200 for the season, Sale was on a mission to finish the job. He fanned his final batter and was immediately pulled from the game, as the Braves look to get him rested for the playoffs. Sale will receive plenty of Cy Young votes after pitching to a 2.16 ERA with a 0.98 WHIP and a 31% strikeout rate. Bonkers numbers for the 37-year-old future Hall-of-Famer. (View Game Card)
Matthew Liberatore (STL) @ PIT (W) – 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 81 pitches.
Way to finish the season strong, Liberatore, but couldn’t you have gotten one more out at just 81 pitches to avoid this Philly? There will always be strikeout upside in this southpaw, but he will always drive us mad with poor ratios as he battles himself on the mound. Why haven’t we started calling him Mad Lib already? New nickname unlocked. (View Game Card)
Logan Henderson (MIL) @ PHI (W) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 21% CSW, 87 pitches.
Aces gonna ace. This was…one of the outings of the year for Henderson. Not the most spectacular way to cap off a breakout season, but the guy deserves a break after everything he’s done for us this year. After all, that’s a 2.47 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, and a 30% strikeout rate across 18 starts. His arsenal expansion and command improvements have been key to unlocking his ace upside. I’m pumped for a full season next year. (View Game Card)
Robbie Ray (SDP) @ LAD (ND) – 3.1 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 20% CSW, 84 pitches.
65% overall strikes and just one walk from Ray. That’s great! Why did he fail to complete four frames? Inefficiency. He pitched deep into at-bats often, as evidenced by his 65% two-strike rate, but he struggled to finish batters off, with an 18% per-plate appearance putaway rate, leading to the inflated pitch count in a short timeframe. Rarely can you blame a pitcher for struggling against the Dodgers, but maybe Ray shouldn’t have thrown so many dang sinkers! +30% usage to throw sinkers 44% of the time as his primary offering, and while they earned plenty of strikes (76%), he allowed five hits on the pitch as it held an 8% per-pitch putaway rate. Throw the four-seamer, please! (View Game Card)
Andrew Abbott (CIN) @ ATL (ND) – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BB, 6 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 100 pitches.
It’s been a rough second half, but at least Abbott gave us one last solid outing. His changeup command was wonky, with just 56% strikes and most of them landing armside, but failing to get low. However, it worked out, as he kept the bases empty often enough to produce minimal damage on the two solo shots he served up. That’s what we call damage control! Abbott will surely confound starting pitcher rankers once again this offseason, and I really don’t see much more than a Toby at his peak, which isn’t worth chasing with the threats he made to our ratios this year. I’m gonna raise em! Please don’t! (View Game Card)
Nolan McLean (NYM) @ TEX (W) – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BB, 5 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 82 pitches.
There have been a lot of sinkers unleashed by McLean in recent weeks. Maybe too many sinkers. Yeah, it’s suspicious. Almost like he’s looking to produce contact to pitch more efficiently. It’s worked to accomplish both of those goals, as the sinker produced 10 batted balls and allowed him to complete seven frames on just 82 pitches. The Rangers batted .300 on the sinker, and it failed to induce a single whiff. I’d love to see him lean into his deep arsenal more. Curveballs were thrown just 14 times, but induced four whiffs for 43% CSW, but everything else either wasn’t commanded or wasn’t thrown more than five times. If he wants to maintain the 26% strikeout rate he recorded this year, we’ll need to see him lean into his bat-missing pitches more often. He doesn’t have the pristine command required to pull off a pitch-to-contact approach. (View Game Card)
Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LAD) vs SDP (L) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BB, 4 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 88 pitches.
Aces gonna ace. Despite making two fewer starts than he did last year, Yamamoto still pitched more than 11 additional innings this year. The ERA was nearly identical, rising four points to 2.53, and his strikeout rate fell nearly four points to 26%, but he made up for it with a 0.87 WHIP, the second-best mark in baseball. The record-setting $325M commitment the Dodgers made prior to his NPB departure doesn’t seem too crazy now, does it? (View Game Card)
Kevin Gausman (CHC) vs MIA (ND) – 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BB, 7 Ks – 21 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 101 pitches.
This was the best Gausman has looked since joining the Cubs, but of course he dealt with shoulder soreness and was pulled in the sixth to produce a Philly, because we can’t have nice things. This outing isn’t very impressive, and he was sitting a tick down across the board. Yeah, but 21 whiffs! It’s hard to believe, but 19 of them came on his splitter alone, as he shamelessly bounced them in the dirt and forced the Marlins to be aggressive with 82% strikes on his four-seamer. The fish were lost in the Gaus sauce. (View Game Card)
Gerrit Cole (NYY) vs TBR (W) – 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 8 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 105 pitches.
The battle between Cole and his slider waged on all game, as he struggled to wrangle it (52% strikes), leading to inefficiency and a Philly. The games in which Cole has dotted his breaker low and gloveside like he should have been sparse. He won’t return to his ace form until he does so consistently, but even still, he’ll be an elite Holly on the borderline of acedom thanks to his dope four-seamer and curveball and changeup that stick around after the party to help clean up. Those are the best types of people! Well, they’re not people, they’re pitches. (View Game Card)
Framber Valdez (DET) vs WSN (L) – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 87 pitches.
Valdez hasn’t had his curveball feel consistently all season, but recognizing it’s x-factor status, he’s attempted to force it to get the job done by making it his primary pitch in September. That’s not gonna work when it returns just 53% strikes. He was making up for it with a new wrinkle of high four-seamers to pick up the strike slack and put batters away, but he threw just five here. We’re going to need to see an evolution of Valdez next year to avoid rostering this destroyer of WHIPs. (View Game Card)
Ryan Gusto (MIA) @ CHC (ND) – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 83 pitches.
I’ve made Ratatouille jokes about Gusto all season, but after watching the movie on my flight back from Paris last weekend, I was reminded of the motto, “Anyone can cook”. But as Anton Ego learned, it’s not that everyone can cook. It’s that a cook can come in any form, even a rat in the case of the Pixar film. This doesn’t directly relate to Gusto, but I think in a baseball sense, anyone can cook on a given night when they have their best stuff and Koufax is on their side. That doesn’t mean they’re going to be Michelin-star chefs. Gusto has his moments, but his kitchen sink is full of dirty dishes that need attention. (View Game Card)
Merrill Kelly (ARI) @ COL (W) – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BB, 2 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 18% CSW, 78 pitches.
That’s one way to survive Coors. Kelly put his faith in Koufax and watched as batted balls kept finding gloves. With just one more year on his contract, which expires after his age-38 campaign, and a clear step back in his performance in 2026 after years of steady production, I wouldn’t be surprised if next year is Kelly’s swan song. (View Game Card)
Cesar Perdomo (SFG) vs MIN (ND) – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 77 pitches.
Perdomo has SWATCH potential, but he needs to get that dang changeup downstairs to truly pull off the BSB. There’s another level for him to reach, as improved command would more effectively hide his underwhelming fastball, which sits 93 mph with just 5.8′ of extension. There’s a lot of pressure on that slowball and his improving breaker to do all of the work, but this group project requires three participants. I doubt Perdomo opens the season in the Giants’ rotation, but he could be a sneaky spot starter and may be worth drafting in deep NL-only leagues and draft-and-holds. (View Game Card)
Connor Prielipp (MIN) @ SFG (ND) – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 77 pitches.
Not as dominant as his last outing, and you can blame that on his unwillingness to throw more sliders. Yeah, curveballs were dope with 41% CSW and 70% strikes, sitting at an increased 85 mph as his primary offering, and his pair of fastballs combined for 71% strikes, but sliders were working equally as well with 42% CSW and 75% strikes. That’s his signature pitch, and if he pairs it with the curveball 60% of the time, he’s going to have a good time. It’s all about avoiding damage on those heaters, but still finding enough strikes to be able to toss the breakers out of the zone for chases and whiffs. Prielipp has gone through a lot of suffering this year, but he’s come out the other end as a more fully-developed arm, and I’m pumped for his 2027 campaign. This is a classic breakout arm to dream on. (View Game Card)
Chris Bassitt (BAL) vs TOR (W) – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BB, 2 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 20% CSW, 90 pitches.
I’d come around to the idea of Bassitt as a streamer thanks to increased velocity across his past few starts. He sat 93 here, which is what we’re looking for, but he struggled to command anything but sinkers and cutters, as his five other offerings combined for 51% strikes. That made him inefficient and put a lot of pressure on the fastballs to live in the zone where they avoided damage the best they could. It explains the lack of whiffs, but Bassitt actually had five shutout frames under his belt before being sent out for the sixth, walking a batter, allowing a single, and getting pulled, only to watch both inherited runners come around to score. Careful, Icarus. (View Game Card)
Cody Bradford (TEX) vs NYM (ND) – 4.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 1 K – 8 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 68 pitches.
Sitting at 89 mph with his “fast”ball, Bradford certainly isn’t going to overwhelm anyone with velocity. Nor is he going to overwhelm my bread with butter! HAISTBMBWT?! Fair, but it’s not like he failed to miss bats. A 9% putaway rate left Bradford with just one strikeout on the night, as he couldn’t get his changeup below the zone to finish batters off as he should. He should have some decent streams next year when the Rangers let him exceed 80 pitches with regularity. (View Game Card)
Jeffrey Springs (ATH) vs LAA (ND) – 4.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BB, 3 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 84 pitches.
The sunshine and rainbows didn’t grace the sky in Sacré Verde as Springs left too many heaters down the heart of the plate. It’s interesting to see him continue to incorporate a cutter over the slider he popularized early in the year, but I don’t think it’s going to be the difference maker he thinks it is. He throws plenty of strikes and has enough weapons to handle RHB already. What he needs is better command, and if he’s throwing the cutter for just 57% strikes, it’s not the solution. (View Game Card)
Ethan Pecko (HOU) @ SEA (ND) – 2.2 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks – 2 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 51 pitches.
It all fell apart for Pecko in the third as he walked a pair and allowed three hits with a pair of strikeouts mixed in, leading to an early hook. Pecko’s looking to hit the edges and keep batters on their toes with a deep arsenal, but that kitchen sink approach doesn’t work when you don’t command well. An 11% walk rate on the season indicates Pecko’s inability to put pitches where he wants to. This ain’t the guy to hang your hat on, and I’m feeling peckish just writing this blurb. (View Game Card)
Aaron Nola (PHI) vs MIL (L) – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BB, 8 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 88 pitches.
Nola had been cooking, entering this start with a 2.10 ERA and a 24% strikeout rate across his last 10 starts. His curveball continued to dominate, as he pulled off the BSB to great effect vs LHB, with four-seamers landing upstairs and changeups mixing with curveballs at the bottom of the zone. He bounced too many curveballs vs RHB and stuck to the outside edge with fastballs, but somehow all of the damage came against LHB. I feel more confident in Nola now that he showed there’s a ceiling to chase for 2027, but it’s super risky. He’ll be in the same boat as Framber Valdez–guys who have a track record of both volatility and success who are better options in deeper leagues. (View Game Card)
CJ Van Eyk (TOR) @ BAL (L) – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 84 pitches.
In his first career start (he made four relief appearances), Van Eyk’s fastball took a step back with the larger workload, sitting a couple ticks down at 93 mph. It was able to avoid damage and combined decently with cutters (down two ticks to 87) and curveballs that landed downstairs often. He was bamboozled for a trio of runs in the first, but settled in after that, and I can see how this could work in a bigger sample. I’d love to see four-seamers get upstairs more and would be thrilled if the velocity could climb back to 94-95 mph. A 28-year-old rookie, I doubt Van Eyk is a big part of the Blue Jays’ 2027 plans. (View Game Card)
Max Scherzer (TOR) @ BAL (L) – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 93 pitches.
That’s now 3550 strikeouts in the legendary career of Mad Max. He’s just four Ks shy of Justin Verlander on the all-time leaderboard and said he wants to make his final start on the last day of the season, but JV is set to start on Saturday, which could throw a wrench into Scherzer’s plan to surpass him. Expect him to leave everything on the field on Sunday against the Reds Carpet. (View Game Card)
George Kirby (SEA) vs HOU (ND) – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 96 pitches.
What a frustrating year it’s been for Kirby. Despite having some of the best control in baseball, he’s failed to lock down his command–or maybe it’s just a game plan issue. Either way, he never jammed RHB with sinkers and got them chasing sweepers away, nor did he ever find a reliable secondary to pair with high four-seamers to pull off the BSB against LHB. I won’t stop dreaming on him heading into 2027, given his great stuff, ability to throw strikes, and ideal home park, but I’ll have to keep my hype to a minimum about him finally achieving his potential. (View Game Card)
Seth Lugo (KCR) vs CHW (ND) – 3.1 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 72 pitches.
Lugo appears to be in the Merrill Kelly category, where his swift drop-off can only be attributed to the effects of age. His velo has fallen for years, and he hasn’t made up for it with improved command. He had a great run, but 2027 will likely be the last of his career, unless he has an unexpected resurgence that causes the Royals to exercise his 2028 club option. (View Game Card)
Walbert Ureña (LAA) @ ATH (L) – 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BB, 2 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 81 pitches.
Sacré Verde was too much for Ureña, who will leave fantasy managers with a sour taste in their mouths as we enter the cold winter ahead. It was very weird to see him throw a tick harder with -0.5′ of extension. To me, that screams some sort of injury, but I don’t want to sound the alarm bells just because he was weird for a start. There’s been a consistent decline in his extension all year, so maybe it’s just a result of fatigue settling in. Regardless, he had an exceptional breakout campaign and maintained his sub-3.00 ERA despite this blowup. (View Game Card)
Mason Englert (TBR) @ NYY (L) – 3.2 IP, 8 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 86 pitches.
Englert had some outings in June and July where it looked like there might be something to latch onto, but that was not the case on Wednesday when he got hit around by the Yankees. The bases were a carousel as four of the nine hits he allowed were long balls. He actually did a decent job of missing bats, but he made too many mistake pitches that the Yankees were all too keen to punish. The Rays may give him a chance to redeem himself on Sunday to keep the playoff-caliber starters rested, but that would come @PHI and wouldn’t be worth the risk in fantasy. (View Game Card)
Game of the Day
Nick Pivetta vs. Tyler Glasnow – Pivetta looks to find his rhythm ahead of the playoffs while Glasnow is always fun to watch.
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)
