Fantasy Baseball SP Roundup – Passing The Griff Test

Welcome to the SP Roundup, my daily fantasy baseball article reviewing every starting pitcher’s performance from every Tuesday game. I apologize for the jokes written in my delirium in advance. Have questions? Ask me during my office hours on Twitch weekday mornings from 10 am-12 pm ET.  

Griffin Canning (LAA) vs OAK (W) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 34% CSW, 88 pitches.

Is it 2019? Because I’m falling for Griffin Canning again. He was the streaming pick of the day and (mostly) came through via 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 34% CSW, 88 pitches against the Athletics, allowing his third earned by staying in for an extra batter in the sixth. Foolish Angels.

Regardless, I’m digging what Canning is doing across the board. He’s going two-thirds secondaries, mostly leaning on a 31% CSW slider and mixing in both changeups and curveballs. The former looked excellent tonight (50% CSW!) while the hook did a solid job keeping batters off balance.

The whole package works when Canning doesn’t face an elite offense and he should be on your list of options when perusing the wire. That said, it’s a bit risky in the short term with @STL, HOU, @BAL up next (womp womp), but knowing about Canning before the gauntlet may help you swoop him up if things go his way across the next week or two. He’s a sneaky deep add.

 

Let’s see how every other SP did Tuesday:

 

José Berríos (TOR) vs CWS (W) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 37% CSW, 103 pitches.

Ohhhh snap, Is Berríos back?! Well, can Berríos always pitch against a struggling White Sox offense that allows him to have nine strikeouts despite returning just 3/23 whiffs on his best pitch? Said curveball returned just 11/23 strikes (horrendous) as Berríos relied on nineteen called strikes across his sinker and four-seamer to get to the finish line. Sure, his changeup stepped up with 7/25 whiffs, but it was those fastballs not getting crushed in the zone that was the difference maker. It’s always been the difference maker. I’m not ready to jump back in – he’s called The Great Undulater for a reason y’all – even if his CSW is the highest of his career (small sample of five starts, of course).

Martín Pérez (TEX) @ CIN (ND) – 6.1 IP, 0 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 92 pitches.

Pérez played his game of working the edges once again and came out on top like a proper Toby. I still hate chasing it, but I recognize the decent shot of outings like these and kept him on The List. Who knows, maybe it’s yet another Vargas Rule as he’s 4-for-5 returning 2 ER or fewer thus far in 2023.

Luis Garcia (HOU) @ TB (W) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 97 pitches.

So the cutter wasn’t the miracle pitch it was last time – just 7 whiffs, not 19 – but he did spot them similarly and he replicated his sub 25% fastballs approach. I LOVE THAT. His slider stepped up for 42% CSW and opened the door for his fastball to nibble the edges instead of give into batters. It’s how you take down a team like Tampa Bay. He’ll be climbing a little further up The List next week with SFG on the horizon. I’m so glad this stuck.

Josiah Gray (WSH) @ NYM (W) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks – 20 Whiffs, 37% CSW, 91 pitches.

Duuuuuude. That’s a Golden Goal for Gray and what you’re gonna expect me to say is “hey, just 25% fastballs! Nope, 45% and it was its best self with 39% CSW and 7/41 whiffs. It avoided the longball while the slider cooked at 9/21 whiffs, the curveball earned a 60% strike rate, and his cutter did work as well. I’m not sure I buy the fastball being this effective with regularity, but now that he’s past the rough schedule and gets PIT (wait, are they a good offense now?!), @ARI, @SFG, it may be the time to take the chance. I’m not running to wire because of my concerns about the fastball, but there are worse fliers to chase.

Ryan Feltner (COL) @ CLE (W) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 82 pitches.

Nick, that’s back-to-back 0 ER games from Feltner with six strikeouts and a Win. Nope. Nope nope nope. You tried to do this to me with Freeland AND YOU WON’T DO IT AGAIN HERE. But he’s throwing harder! What?! HE’S DOWN TWO TICKS! Oh. Well that seems bad. BECAUSE IT IS BAD.

Justin Steele (CHC) vs SD (W) – 5.1 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 98 pitches.

…I really need to raise Steele in the rankings. Well, to be fair, his slider wasn’t impressive for the second straight start, but he’s doing such a good job getting that heater inside to right-handers that allows him to get outs. And now he gets the Marlins twice?! Yeeeesh that should be a fun Sunday start. Please blow us away so I can give you a proper rise in the ranks next Monday.

John Brebbia (SF) vs STL (ND) – 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 50% CSW, 24 pitches.

So the Giants went full reliever here, including 1.1 frames of Sean Manaea. Wait, he’s not starting anymore?! I guess not, it’s why I had to remove him from The List this week despite sitting 94+ mph this season. IT MAKES NO SENSE. I hate it. Welp, that’s just the way it is and we move on, go get Bibee with that roster spot and see what happens.

Joe Ryan (MIN) vs NYY (W) – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 37% CSW, 91 pitches.

Mmmmmm that’s the good stuff. We’re really close on AGA territory, though I’m still not seeing a complete package with his slider getting utilized just 4 times in this one and the splitter was hung far more than it should have. Still that’s a co-share of the King Cole (yes, exactly the same 34/91!) and I may just give him the AGA without the secondaries clicking just because that four-seamer is so. Dang. GOOD.

Charlie Morton (ATL) vs MIA (W) – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 9 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 37% CSW, 108 pitches.

Hot dang, look at you! That’s two straight outings from Morton with an effective four-seamer, once again mostly being a curve/fastball arm and neglecting the cutter. I’m totally cool with that if he’s able to keep this curveball command, but I do worry a little against @NYM, BAL, @TOR up next. I think he’ll want that cutter along the way.

Brady Singer (KC) @ ARI (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 35% CSW, 92 pitches.

A Cherry Bomb has to be sweet often among the destruction, doesn’t he? Some fun stuff here – Singer could have been throwing two types of sliders based on horizontal movement readings – one more traditional and one more of a sweeper. We’ve seen better than 7/34 whiff nights from sliders before from Singer, but it does make me wonder if he’s making a tweak that will keep this success alive moving forward. Nick, he threw 11 changeups! Yeah, for 27% CSW and 45% strikes. Is that good? No, it’s why he normally doesn’t throw 11 changeups.

Corey Kluber (BOS) @ BAL (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 80 pitches.

Ayyyy Kluber had himself a productive game! Sure, just 4 whiffs on curves + cutters, but he got strikes and the Orioles found gloves instead of grass. I’m glad you enjoyed yourself, because the battle is coming in the morn – TOR, @ATL, SEA. Get ready for thunder.

Marco Gonzales (SEA) @ PHI (W) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 75 pitches.

Marco got the call as Gilbert was pushed back a day and he stepped up and did all the Toby things. His pitch separation wasn’t quite as good as we saw last week, but the spirit of it was still there with high heaters and low(er) secondary pitches. It’s an approach change, alright, and I hope to see it blossom in full against Oakland next week. I’m all for streaming there.

Jake Woodford (STL) @ SF (ND) – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 92 pitches.

The Amish Mustang is making it more frustrating as we wait for Matthew Liberatore to return to the bigs and while y’all know me – I want every pitcher to be dope – I still can’t help but roll my eyes. Come on Jake, it’s weird when we saw a 3.37 ERA with a near 1.20 WHIP and just four strikeouts is a “great” day. The people deserve better.

Blake Snell (SD) @ CHC (L) – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 5 BBs, 5 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 105 pitches.

Sooooo the breakers are still struggling to find strikes, but the four-seamer is still really good and the changeup helped once again. It’ll get there, I promise. The fact he didn’t completely fail here (just a bad WHIP) despite the lack of breakers for strikes should be encouraging…right? He’ll take that TIARA off soon enough.

José Butto (NYM) vs WSH (L) – 4.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 6 BBs, 1 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 93 pitches.

Butt-Oh, Spaghetto. I feel like I can end the blurb there. Yep, good job Nick. Where’s a good place for steak around here?

Spencer Turnbull (DET) @ MIL (ND) – 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 75 pitches.

I waited patiently to know my fate after I left my brethren. One of seven, I was the oldest and furthest from my green origins, snatched away and placed in a dark bag. I questioned my fate for what felt like an eternity until suddenly, I saw a small door open. A chilling breeze welcomed me as I nestled into my icy cave. One day, may I emerge from this gloomy cage…Dude, you’re just a Frozen Banana. You’ll live.

Bailey Falter (PHI) vs SEA (L) – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 98 pitches.

I elected to remove Falter from the end of The List today and this PQS doesn’t make me regret it. Sure, this was a Dusty Donut, but I don’t see a whole lot from Falter to suggest that WHIP and strikeout rate should be bankable. He’s squeezing out the most of his arsenal and this isn’t a peak I want to climb.

Nestor Cortes (NYY) @ MIN (L) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 98 pitches.

Ehhhh okay. I’m fine seeing this from Canning, but I expected more from Cortes. At least the heater was legit at 11/60 whiffs, I just wanna see the man soar.

Johan Oviedo (PIT) vs LAD (ND) – 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 94 pitches.

This wasn’t the start for Oviedo against the Dodgers as he still doesn’t have the command he needs to soar with his slider and curve. Against the Nationals on Sunday for a stream? Much better. Don’t get too attached, though.

Ryne Nelson (ARI) vs KC (L) – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 11 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 83 pitches.

Hmmmmm, this ain’t great. He was sitting about a tick harder at least, but the secondaries are still failing him and it’s frustrating. Nelson could be somewhat legit if his slider or curveball were their best selves as the four-seamer is a legit offering. Sadly, he gets Texas next and I wouldn’t touch him there, but if those pitches have a semblance of their peaks in that one, I’d be inclined to chase MIA + SFG after.

Peyton Battenfield (CLE) vs COL (L) – 4.2 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 4 BBs, 4 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 97 pitches.

This was a popular streaming option – he was right behind Canning for me – and I’m as disappointed as you are. He had 22 cutter whiffs across his first two games and could only muster 4/34 against Rockie Road. Without that pitch cruising, it became a Battlefield for Peyton to endure. I don’t think we stream this any longer, the floor is too low and likely with just one good pitch in his cap.

Mason Miller (OAK) @ LAA (L) – 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 86 pitches.

The number of messages I got during this first inning after placing Mason at #43 on The List today…look, there’s a lot to say here. First, that first inning was stupid. He was getting squeezed, a single turned into a triple with some terrible defense, and it just wasn’t going his way. Then he settled down in the next three frames, taking velocity off his fastball to save it for deeper in counts. It worked. Still, Mason has things to develop like finding a feel for his slider and how to work through a full 5-6 innings, but the raw stuff is so dang good while the command isn’t as poor as it may seem. I stand by the #43 ranking as I still see a league-winning type arm here who may need a moment to get his footing but deserved the love above those in the tier below. After all, he did just return a 33% K rate and a 5.6% walk rate on a bad day. Just saying.

Bryan Hoeing (MIA) @ ATL (L) – 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 64 pitches.

We want Eury Perez and WE WANT IT NOW.

Eric Lauer (MIL) vs DET (L) – 3.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 20% CSW, 85 pitches.

Ahhhh so the 91 mph heater finally got taken advantage of, by the Tigers, no less. It had to come sooner or later. We didn’t actually Vargas Rule this one, right? I even refused to put him on The List today.

Drew Rasmussen (TB) vs HOU (L) – 4.2 IP, 5 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 94 pitches.

Noooooo, we need you Rasmussen! Fine, Houston is a strong offense and you can’t always succeed, but that’s 40% 5 ER starts now (even if the other three are 0 ER). Please don’t be a Cherry Bomb, you’re supposed to be more than that. Get that cutter command in order, please.

Luke Weaver (CIN) vs TEX (ND) – 5.2 IP, 6 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks – 19 Whiffs, 35% CSW, 99 pitches.

Hey, eight strikeouts are pretty dang cool as Weaver returned 12/52 whiffs on his four-seamer, but he featured too many hittable pitches and that’s that. At least we have a glimpse of the potential that we didn’t know he had before? Maybe?

Mike Clevinger (CWS) @ TOR (L) – 5.0 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 18% CSW, 100 pitches.

Sure, it’s the Jays, but it’s also a two-pitch pitcher who doesn’t have an elite pitch. Not ideal and not worth a roster spot, especially with Tampa Bay up next.

Noah Syndergaard (LAD) @ PIT (ND) – 4.0 IP, 7 ER, 9 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 80 pitches.

Soooooo the Pirates are kinda decent as an offense I guess? No, well maybe, but Thor isn’t good Nick. Yeah, okay. I can get behind that. Kinda unfortunate given the whole Dodgers situation n all, but yeah, there’s little reason to roster Syndergaard anymore. I look at this Thor score and seven years ago was when he was legit fantasy relevant. Sigh…

Kyle Bradish (BAL) vs BOS (L) – 2.1 IP, 7 ER, 8 Hits, 4 BBs, 1 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 21% CSW, 81 pitches.

Womp womp. Bradish’s success hinges on both his curve and slider to be at their best and while we saw good curveballs here, the slider wasn’t able to come through on its promise. That said, the Red Sox got a fair number of hits on secondaries out of the zone and that’ll do wonders for extending innings and making pitchers frazzled. I don’t think we automatically ignore @DET next, but at least we can all get on the same page about Bradish being a Cherry Bomb, yeah?

 

Game of the Day 

Tanner Bibee vs. Colorado Rockies – Another fun MLB debut from a hard-throwing top prospect. Can’t wait.

But Nick?! Where are the streaming picks? – I’ve moved them to the daily SP Matchups & Streamer Rankings article.

Have Questions? – Join my morning Twitch livestream! I answer all questions there for free: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm ET Monday through Friday.

Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)