Spring Training has arrived and as I’ve been writing daily notes for myself to recap all spring training starting pitchers, I realized I should publish them on the site for quick access.
I’ll be livestreaming every morning 10am-12pm ET at playback.tv/pitcherlist as I watch all of the starts with y’all and answer all your fantasy baseball questions.
Major SP News To Know
Bryan Woo will start the season on the IL with elbow inflammation. Good news: it’s just inflammation as the MRI showed no structural damage. Expect him to be back with the squad after missing two turns of the rotation.
Tyler Alexander will either be the bulk reliever for the Rays or start their fourth game of the season.
Expected Rotations By Team
Statcast Games – TV
TBR vs. PHI
TOR vs. PIT
MIN vs. ATL
NYM vs. NYY
BOS vs. TEX
LAA vs. LAD
CLE vs. ARI
SEA vs. SDP
SFG vs. OAK
Jacob Waguespack (TBR) – 2.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks. Whoa whoa whoa, he’s throwing 2-3 ticks harder?! It was just forty pitches. STILL. 43% CSW across the board, a 5/11 whiff changeup, and 4/12 whiffs on cutters + curves. That’s some fun stuff. That heater returned over 18 inches of iVB…huh. Welp, it’s T-Lex as the starter/main bulk arm and not Waguey so we move on, BUT I’M WATCHING YOU.
Kevin Gausman (TOR) – 3.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks. I think he’s alright, y’all. Personally, I think the Blue Jays should start him and just limit him to 60 pitches instead of chucking Mitch White or Paolo Espino out there, but hey, you do you Toronto. I wonder if he’s still going to come at a discount in your drafts with the injury tag. Let’s be honest, sometimes that red injury tag is such a blessing.
Marco Gonzales (PIT) – 3.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks. Ayyyy he’s at 90 mph! And has solid command around the zone! And gets Miami in his first start. That’s going to be at the very bottom of the Questionable Start tier. Don’t do it but at least it’s not a clear avoid, right?
Sean Manaea (NYM) – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks. Samulski has been trying to convince of Manaea and maybe I am overlooking a smooth routine for Manaea with a secure rotation spot (and not that ridiculousness in San Francisco last year), and if he can command consistently like he did in this one, I’ll absolutely sign up. This game was four-seamer/sweeper all the way through, with Manea precisely landing his sweeper down-and-gloveside, while his four-seamers stayed upstairs, which, honestly, may not be the best spot for them. What?! Well, he has an ultra step release angle, which suggests pitching down would work best. His elite extension does make that 93+ mph heater look like 95+, but he could get all the grounders with that pitch downstairs…Just a thought.
Clarke Schmidt (NYY) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. Your command is weird dude. He still hasn’t refined the LHB approach yet and I’m skeptical he can replicate this out of the gate. With the Astros first, we hold back on starting Schmidt.
Garrett Whitlock (BOS) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. It’s a new Whitlock! He’s suddenly Cutter/Change vs. LHB, Sinker/Sweeper (and some changeups) vs. RHB. And guess what, THAT’S GOOD. His command of that cutter still needs some work and he needs to get the sinker inside to RHB, but this legit works. Welp, guess I’m back in on the Whitlock train…
Reid Detmers (LAA) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. Slider is overperforming in my view and the other weapons are average if not worse. I can’t. I wish I could, but I can’t.
Gavin Stone (LAD) – 4.1 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks. Womp womp. I dig his new approach – cutters and changeups to LHB, sinkers and sliders to RHB (wait, like Whitlock!) but he didn’t have the best sinker and changeup command here. But at least the velocity is up to 95/96! Ummmm, not anymore. What. Yeah, it’s back to 94.5 mph, which isn’t the worst thing ever, and the new approach is still appealing. One step forward, one step back, you know?
Tyler Beede (CLE) – 3.1 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. Hey, he made the roster! It’s 93 mph these days (not 96) but with a splitter…? Yeah, this isn’t meant to be, is it.
Tommy Henry (ARI) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks. Technically a CGSO given the rain-shortened game and I guess this means Henry is the fifth starter officially. No, you don’t want this. It’s a blegh 90 mph heater and just 4/36 whiffs on secondaries.
Bryce Miller (SEA) – 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks. He’s not a command guy. His four-seamer was more elevated than usual (yay!) but misses East-West plenty with some terrible wasted pitches mixed in. His splitters, sweepers, and sliders – you know, the pitches we’re supposed to be excited about for Miller – went 0/24 whiffs. ZERO. I can’t do it’ Cap’n. I just can’t do it.
Dylan Cease (SDP) – 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. This was generally standard Cease with a little more high heater/low slider separation than usual. I dream of him throwing a cutter and if he were to do that, it wouldn’t really show up until May 1st or so. I sure hope he gets it.
Jordan Hicks (SFG) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 Hits, 1 BBs, 10 Ks. The sweeper is legit. He’s consistently showcased the ability to earn strikes with it during spring and he put on a masterclass of keeping the pitch down all game returning 57% CSW with a 67% strike rate and 9/21 whiffs. That’s the good stuff. The rest is worrisome. I’m still in the dark if I believe Hicks’ sinker at 95 mph can replicate its elite ICR marks from 2023 (a lively pitch at 100 mph is hard to hit, more at 11), while the splitter and four-seamer aren’t the reliable #3 pitch he needs. Is Hicks dependable as a sinker/sweeper guy? Isn’t that Pfaadt and Singer? Oh no. This start will have people giving him a shot and while I’m totally against it, I’m worried he’ll blow up as he gets two starts against the Padres. Up to you.
JP Sears (OAK) – 3.2 IP, 2 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. If only he could locate his changeup and sweeper low in the zone. He’s so close – the four-seamer can be ELITE if he allows it to be separate from his other pitches – and it’s hard to trust Sears right now, especially with the low Win chance Oakland brings to the table. Right now, batters have one eye level – up! – and until he showcases the ability to throw secondaries down, it’ll be all Cherry Bomb, all the time.
Statcast Games – No TV
NONE
No Statcast – TV
MIN vs. ATL
STL vs. CHC
Bailey Ober (MIN) – 4.1 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. Two longballs did him in (two non-heaters that were haaaaaangers from Riley and Ozuna), at least the strikeouts are still there. The scorebug said 92 mph constantly in this one, which isn’t 93+ sadly, but at least it isn’t 90/91, right?
Chris Sale (ATL) – 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. Yeah, he’s locked in. Sure, his injury history suggests a trip to the IL at some point, but who isn’t getting hurt these days? I think I’d be pushing him right around Justin Steele if I knew he had his changeup back, which we might learn as soon as his first start of the year. I wish we had Statcast data for every spring game. GET IT DONE, FAST.
Steven Matz (STL) – 4.1 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. Yeah, no. Sorry Steven, I miss the days when throwing a slider didn’t hurt your elbow.
Jordan Wicks (CHC) – 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. Is this good enough to start him against Rockie Road, a team that hasn’t played in Coors yet, thus isn’t affected enough by the change of altitude to be their worst selves on the road? That’s a terrible sentence. YOU’RE A TERRIBLE SENTENCE. I’m not doing it in 12-teamers, but there’s a chance here y’all.
No Statcast – No TV
COL vs. MIL
KCR (Minors) vs. KCR
Dakota Hudson (COL) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks. COL story, bro.
Colin Rea (MIL) – 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. You know, Rea has his moments and isn’t the worst arm out there. I don’t want to start him @NYM the opening week, but your deep NL-Only leagues may get some value from Rea this year, especially as he’s locked into a rotation spot for a while.
Brady Singer (KCR) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. Would you look at that. Singer has been a Cherry Bomb since his debut and you have to have the Cherry with the Bomb. But he has new pitches! The sweeper? The four-seamer? Which one is the nullifier to LHB? Uhhhh. And this was against the Royals’ minor league squad. Let’s not go wild here. Wow Nick, you’re so good at winning arguments against yourself. I try to stay humble.
What To Watch on TV Today
Spring SPs to watch on TV today #SpringSPnotes
Updates daily via Plus Pitch Podcast & SP Roundup article.
Jon Gray – More than just a Slider?
Shōta Imanaga – Be dope?
Kyle Gibson – Sup.
Aaron Ashby – Wait. WAIT.
Ryan Feltner – If he wasn't a Colorado SP, we'd love him
Michael…— Nick Pollack (@PitcherList) March 26, 2024
Picked up Whitllock before I read this to replace Woo. Always nice to see a little positive affirmation here!