Welcome to the SP Roundup, my daily fantasy baseball article reviewing every starting pitcher’s performance from every Saturday 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.
Cam Schlittler (NYY) vs BAL (W) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 97 pitches.
It’s hard not to fawn over what Cam Schlittler has done since arriving to the majors. After the standard handful of outings needed for him to get his footing, Cam went berserk starting on August 13th, capping an incredible nine-start run with Saturday’s 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 97 pitches (W) against the Orioles. Those outings returned a 2.23 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 31% strikeout rate, and 10% walk rate across 48.1 innings, all the while sitting 96 mph on his four-seamer consistently. It was bananas.
I was surprised to see him go so long on Saturday, even with the Yankees in contention to win the AL East. Across the minors and majors this season, this start Cam pushed his innings to 149.2 on the year, and that’s not including at least one start in the playoffs. Whoa, so he’s a massive injury risk for 2026, then, especially at his high velocity! Yes and no. Yes, we should have a general skepticism of high velocity with a large workload, but he did throw 120.2 IP the year before. 30-40 more innings should not sound alarm bells. (Kirby, Gilbert, Manoah, and McLanahan are recent examples of pitchers throwing 115-130 IP season, then throwing 180+ in the next. But Manoah became terrible and McShane had TJS! Very fair, the point stands that teams are okay with it and pitchers are capable of withstanding the extra workload.)
At any rate, it’s been lovely to watch Schlittler develop as a pitcher along the stretch. The four-seamer continues to live upstairs at 98 mph without a hitch, and found reliable secondaries in his cutter and curve to pair for strikes, mostly lower than we saw in his early starts. Even if the strikeout rate should come down a touch on his four-seamer (kinda empty velocity) and the walk rate still needs a bit of focus, he’s the real deal in a great situation.
Let’s see how every other SP did Saturday:
Michael Wacha (KCR) @ ATH (W) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 83 pitches.
You know, it’s not all about strikeouts. Sometimes, a pitcher comes along and acts like a decent Toby for 15-teamers, finishing with a 3.86 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, and ten Wins with a 17-18% strikeout rate. Thanks for being you, Wacha. He’ll be a Win/QS streamer in 12-teamers once again next year.
Mick Abel (MIN) @ PHI (W) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 37% CSW, 73 pitches.
Hot DANG, look at you! Abel has been on my list of young arms I’m excited about for 2026 and he put it all on full display against the Phillies. Changeups were fantastic away to LHB, the curve had a trio of strikeouts, and while I want a little more from the slider and sweeper, they still helped out. The real star of the show is his four-seamer, though, which sat 97-98 mph (!) and lived upstairs for 44% CSW and four strikeouts. That’s hot. It does look to be a bit of empty velocity (6.7 extension, 15″ vert, 1.2 HAVAA makes for a relative average set of attributes), but its location and velocity gets me all amped. If the Twins don’t put Abel in the rotation out of camp, I will be genuinely upset. This start raised his season total to just under 140 IP, prepping him for the next step in the majors. Get him in there. Now. Nine strikeouts and six frames IN 73 PITCHES.
Clay Holmes (NYM) @ MIA (W) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 78 pitches.
Ayyyy, that’s a lovely start from The Adobe, who has been such a hard nut to crack. Will they put in Manaea? Will they roll with Holmes for a while? Well, when you allow one hit and toss shutout frames efficiently, yeah, the Mets will leave you in. It even allowed them to save Manaea and start him on Sunday. Awesome job Holmes, I’m not touching you next year. I have no interest in your start-to-start volatility that produced a 1.30 WHIP. Blegh. Pretty cool to see him toss 165+ innings, though. I’m gonna save that as evidence for future conversations about RP –> SP inning workloads.
Trey Yesavage (TOR) vs TBR (W) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 94 pitches.
Yessssavage. This was BSB with heaters up, splitters down to LHB + sliders going Dancing With The Disco to RHB. Think of Yesavage as Gausman with a better (but not elite) slider, worse splitter command, and without the veteran guile. If Yesavage can wrangle the splitter to stay low like Gausman’s, I prefer him given the far better approach to RHB with the slider leading the fray, but that’s a big IF for me at the moment. If only Yesavage had someone to talk to on the team to help him get there. Like Gausman? Yeah, to be like Gausman. No, like talk to Gausman. OH. RIGHT. He should do that. Wow, so smart. Such analysis. Thanks!
AJ Blubaugh (HOU) @ LAA (ND) – 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 4 BBs, 2 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 21% CSW, 70 pitches.
This was a laborious game with low strike rates across the board, especially the sweeper that went 0/14 whiffs with a paltry 29% strike rate. Fortunately, the changeup and four-seamer found enough outs to get through four without lick of damage, and the intent is clearly there to sit low with changeups and sweepers, merged with high heaters. That should work given good vert at 94 mph, but it’s from the right side. Wait, he’s not a southpaw? Right?! We may see him get more time next year and I’m not jumping out of my seat to get him when the time comes. He has some upside here, but it doesn’t seem overwhelming.
Tyler Glasnow (LAD) @ SEA (ND) – 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 2 Whiffs, 19% CSW, 36 pitches.
I gotta say, despite having a 3.19 ERA and 1.10 WHIP with a 29% strikeout rate in 90+ innings, I sure feel unimpressed with Glasnow’s season. He had a pair of mega strikeout games, though I didn’t see the peak Glasnow that got us amped. That would be the consistent slider, low curve, and four-seamer doing whatever it wanted. Yes, I’m in on the sinker getting added, but that slider has been off more often than on. It makes me wonder if he’ll get laced in the playoffs akin to the old days where guys are guessing heater/curve more often than they should. We’ll see and don’t be shocked if I’m lower than others on Glasnow next year. It’s pretty safe to say he won’t go 180 innings, let alone 150. But didn’t you argue last year that you want injured pitchers since the waiver wire is so deep? Huh, I did. That does make sense… if the pitcher’s quality-per-inning is leaps above other options who can do it for more frames. Ahhhh, makes sense.
Robert Gasser (MIL) vs CIN (L) – 2.2 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 57 pitches.
We got another look at Gasser and I see one major flaw: His changeup. It’s hard to envision a successful southpaw without a changeup unless they have blazing velocity or the greatest slider of all or a wide arsenal with absurd command. Gasser has none of those. It is a four-seamer that moves uncharacteristically at his arm-angle, though, and maybe there’s something about that if he can land the sweeper effectively. I hope the changeup is there in the spring. We also saw Jacob Misiorowski in relief for 2.2 innings and that went way worse that you’d think against the Reds Carpet. Weird. Welp, I’m drafting Jay Mis over Glasnow everywhere next year.
Michael King (SDP) vs ARI (ND) – 2.2 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 49 pitches.
Wait, just 2.2 innings?! Oh, right. He won’t get full rest until they need him on Wednesday. FINE. I’m excited for his redemption arc next year.
Tyler Gilbert (CHW) @ WSN (ND) – 1.2 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 0 BBs, 1 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 27 pitches.
Gilbert opened for Sean Burke, who did his routine September performance of domination that makes us wonder if he’s destined for more the following season: 4.1 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BB, 10 Ks – 19 Whiffs, 39% CSW, 80 pitches. Yes, the man technically earned a Gallows Pole, but since he didn’t start, he won’t get it. NOT FAIR. Trust me, I know. How did he get them? Why, curve did legit work to LHB down, setting up the 97 mph four-seamer upstairs, which returned overall marks of 9/30 whiffs and a 90% strike rate. Yeah, it was dope. It also helped having a solid changeup over the plate to LHB that masked the heater effectively for 4/13 whiffs on its own. That heater ate RHB as well for 5/9 whiffs (lol). It’s cool to watch a young arm air it out in his last start and show us what could be. Remember when he was sitting 94 mph at the beginning of the year? And it’s not just 97 mph, it’s also seven feet extension and two inches more vert than expected at 18.6″. Pretty dang dope.
Jameson Taillon (CHC) vs STL (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 37% CSW, 83 pitches.
This dude. Did you know he’s the only pitcher with six pitches that all return an above-average OUT%? It’s clear Taillon is focused on throwing strikes and hitting spots more than ripping the best pitch he can possibly throw and while it wasn’t absurdly spotted, his pitches found their lanes and the Cardinals rolled over, while missing far more heaters and changeups than usual. A 3.68 ERA & 1.06 WHIP with 11 Wins is pretty dang cool for just under 130 frames. Just forget about the 98 strikeouts (he was so close to 100…). Yes, he’ll be a solid late arm in 15-teamers again next year as he remains in Chicago, with consideration for 12-teamers as well.
Bubba Chandler (PIT) @ ATL (W) – 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 86 pitches.
I wonder where Chandler will land in drafts. It’s Jobe all over again. Is it? The four-seamer is a better pitch and commanded absurdly well, while the changeup and slider are the clear companions to pair against LHB/RHB. That said, the command on each was off here, returning just 3/35 whiffs between them (10/49 on the four-seamer lol) and is the clear area for improvement next year. Chandler also doesn’t have the poor extension of Jobe at 99 mph, but he is average under the hood, FWIW. Whatever, 99 mph is 99 mph and as long as nothing detracts it and he spots it, it’ll be dope. I just wish it wasn’t the Pirates offense supporting him.
Keider Montero (DET) @ BOS (ND) – 4.1 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 76 pitches.
Oh wow, I want to give him the Gold Star even at 4.1 IP as this was so much better than we could have ever expected. The slider is known as his best offering, but didn’t have a massive impact here and it was rooted in great four-seamer and sinker command that set up his away changeup to LHB decently well. This doesn’t seem like a big endorsement. That’s because it isn’t. Oh. Right.
Justin Verlander (SFG) vs COL (W) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks – 17 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 92 pitches.
Ayyyy look at that! Verlander not only got the start, but took advantage of it as you’d expect against Rockie Road for 92 pitches. No surprise at the Gallows Pole and I’m happy for him. Yes, be skeptical of 2026 if he is in fact returning. Surely it gets worse, right?
Joey Cantillo (CLE) vs TEX (ND) – 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 42% CSW, 77 pitches.
NOICE. I dig Cantillo a lot as a discount end-of-draft arm who can go 180 innings with good ratios and more than a 21% strikeout rate. The changeup is a whiff machine (9/24) and his elite extension makes the four-seamer a legit whiff pitch, too, especially with its 1.3 HAVAA as well. Command is still a bit of a battle, but that’ll get better in time. Sign me up.
Jacob Latz (TEX) @ CLE (ND) – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 81 pitches.
Here’s another deep 2026 sleeper, and I sure hope the Rangers give him job security in the rotation. He sat 94 mph with good vert from the left side, and despite not having the sharpest of command, the changeup went 7/18 whiffs (hot dang!), while the heater refused to allow a hit. The downside was 4/4 hits in play off the changeup, including a two-run shot in the first. There’s also work to be done on his slider and curve to be consistent companions to the traditional southpaw mix of heaters/slowballs, and I’m curious what he does over the off-season. If he can find another tick of velocity and polish the command or grasp a breaker effectively, he can be a reliable volume arm.
Logan Gilbert (SEA) vs LAD (ND) – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 75 pitches.
Aces gonna ace. Not the greatest performance, but pretty dang efficient and nearly five shutout if not for a two-run blast in his final frame. Just 1/27 whiffs on the four-seamer is a little annoying, though. How do we get back to that place where the heater missed bats endlessly?
Connelly Early (BOS) vs DET (L) – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 22% CSW, 86 pitches.
See? It was just George Steinbrenner Field messing with his command last time out in Tampa Bay. I really dig this rookie and him + Tolle make for a fun southpaw duo for the Sawx to pair off Crochet. There’s still some polish left to add, but his wide six-pitch mix with a good feel for curves and changeups + a decent four-seamer and sinker (19-20″ of run on that sinker!) gets me excited for 2026. Even with Fenway as his home, I’m down to draft him in the last round or two.
Luis Morales (ATH) vs KCR (L) – 4.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 101 pitches.
You can see the upside here at 97 mph with a massive two-plane sweeper (-18″ and -7″ vert), but the attack to LHB needs a bit of work. I’m not such a fan of the changeup and the four-seamer needs to be spotted upstairs more often (I’ll ignore the 5.9 feet of extension given his elite velocity). The home park alone makes it easy enough to avoid Morales for next year and I’m expecting a HIPSTER, not a de facto every-week starter.
Kyle Freeland (COL) @ SFG (L) – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 87 pitches.
You know, it worked. I’m not in a QS league. Then you got a lovely WHIP instead of a PQS. That’s legit for Freeland. I’ll continue to wonder what careers Colorado SPs would have if they weren’t stuck. I got you, Kyle.
Spencer Strider (ATL) vs PIT (L) – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 85 pitches.
He almost made it through six, but he surrendered two runs, turning it into a PQS in the sixth. Careful, Icarus. This season has been rough for managers taking the IL stash in drafts and I genuinely don’t recall a pitcher who was elite, got TJS/Brace, returned with a worse fastball, then regained his former fastball the following year. It sure feels like this is a new norm, right? Maybe a touch better, but not the Strider of old. Sigh. It was so fun. At least his slider had 10/30 whiffs here, right?
Andrew Abbott (CIN) @ MIL (W) – 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 85 pitches.
Yeah, we’ll take that. Abbott is the classic “He had a great year that doesn’t seem super sustainable, slowed down at the end, and managers will swing the pendulm too far the other direction.” That is a long way of saying I think Abbott is still a solid arm to draft next year if he’s going well outside the Top 150 overall picks. He’s a strong volume arm due to the heater and changeup command. Most of the time.
Eury Pérez (MIA) vs NYM (L) – 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 11 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 35% CSW, 100 pitches.
Eleven strikeouts eh? That’s hawt. Pérez’s fastball sat 99.3 mph with four inches more vert than expected. FOUR. That’s nearly half a baseball. So the heater did all the work? Well, kinda. It set up everything else as Eury struggled to get the dang thing upstairs (he also has 1.4 HAVAA!) and turned to sliders, curves, sweepers, and changeups to help with punchouts. In fact, all five pitches returned two strikeouts (three on the slider!), and that’s what I’ve been waiting from Eury all year – secondaries that work. Fun fact: Pérez went 2/8 strikes on his changeup, and both were strikeouts. Look what happens when you actually execute the slowball, eh? DRAFT HIM.
Michael McGreevy (STL) @ CHC (L) – 4.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 88 pitches.
Well yeah, this isn’t the start to target a pitch-to-contact arm. And of course it was Michael Busch ruining the night for the Cardinals’ pitcher, who exploded for a pair of HRs and all three RBI against McGreevy. Seriously check out Busch’s numbers against the Cards this year, it’s ridiculous. Is that 21 hits and 9 HRs in 11 games?! Sure is. Bonkers.
Ranger Suárez (PHI) vs MIN (L) – 4.1 IP, 3 ER, 9 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 84 pitches.
The man got Singled Out for the most part (two solo shots, too), and he was mostly the same guy we normally see. Here’s another arm whose ADP is going to be fascinating to see. Yes, he’s a solid SP #3/#4 for your teams. There are so many of them.
Jake Irvin (WSN) vs CHW (ND) – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 73 pitches.
Uh-Huh. Do I have to retire this bit next year? At the very least, Irvin did go BSB with high heaters and low(ish) changeups and curves to LHB, but then again, that heater and curve each allowed a two-run shot to a LHB, so I’m sure there’s a whole lot of hope, even with his 7.2 feet of extension. Maybe if he can find a way back to 94/95 mph…
Joe Boyle (TBR) @ TOR (L) – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 92 pitches.
Are you surprised at all? The slider was either spotted well down-and-away to RHB or backed up inside, while it sat well over the plate to LHB, doing everything it could as the four-seamer and splitter had a near 25% NC Rate between them. Oh jeez. Yeah. There’s little hope here. Make him a closer already.
Tomoyuki Sugano (BAL) @ NYY (L) – 4.1 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 73 pitches.
I mean, you knew this wasn’t the play to make. Both Judge and Stanton went yard in the first, and it was so infectious that Sugano allowed another solo tater to McMahon. Yeah, the guy the Yankees traded for to improve their defense. He’ll be a sneaky streamer in 2026 if he holds a rotation spot.
Caden Dana (LAA) vs HOU (L) – 7.0 IP, 5 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 93 pitches.
Dana was a desperate play if you needed volume and look at that! A sub 1.00 WHIP with five strikeouts in seven frames! Unfortunately, he also allow three HR and took the loss. Womp womp. His changeup was a bit better here, though, and I’ll note that for next year. It’s possible the four-seamer + slider + changeup mix is enough to be a decent volume arm at 95 mph. Caden does have above-average command, after all.
Eduardo Rodriguez (ARI) @ SDP (L) – 6.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 95 pitches.
Blegh. He got bamboozled in the first and second for all five runs via three longballs, and was kinda great otherwise. Weird to see so many LHB sent against him, who saw sinkers and curveballs used effectively to allow just three hits (no HRs). He is what he is a – a 15-team Toby to only consider as a streamer in 12-teamers next year.
Game of the Day
Reds / Mets / Jays / Yankees – These are the four games that matter for the playoffs today. I’ll be live-streaming at 3:00pm ET at playback.tv/pitcherlist – come through and enjoy the chaos with the PL community!
But Nick?! Where are the streaming picks? – I’ve moved them to the daily SP Matchups & Streamer Rankings article.
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