Pine A Grove

Welcome to the SP Roundup, my daily fantasy baseball article reviewing every starting pitcher’s performance from every Friday 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 9 am-11 am ET.  

Joe Musgrove (SD) @ MIL (W) – 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 114 pitches.

There are some days I just want to give praise to a pitcher who is being their best self and Joe Musgrove has been just that, taking a no-hitter nearly into the ninth yesterday via 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 114 pitches. To be completely Schwindel frank, I was happy he allowed that double as it meant Musgrove would be removed at 110 pitches (I don’t want him to be fatigued for next time)…and they didn’t have a pitcher warming up for whatever reason. Weird.

Anyway, yesterday wasn’t even the best start from Musgrove from a pitch perspective. He didn’t have the best slider, forcing him to toss more curveballs and cutters (which found gloves, thankfully), leading to just eight whiffs across 114 pitches. Weird. It makes his current season line a 1.86 ERA and 0.98 WHIP and while we all know those marks aren’t going to hold through the year, his slider is (usually) elite and his ability to adjust if that’s not working out makes him a steady SP #1 for all fantasy managers. You love to see it.

 

Let’s see how every other SP did Friday:

 

Zach Eflin (PHI) vs LAA (W) – 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 104 pitches.

Do we just call Eflin a Cherry Bomb now? I’m encouraged that this was the third straight start Eflin featured 20%+ curveballs, here returning 48% CSW on the pitch, while his sinker and cutter racked up the called strikes to allow him to plow through eight frames. It may be a bit easier against the Brewers next time and maybe this is truly the start of something legit. Or maybe he just blows up again and I throw up my hands in frustration. Either way, it’s great seeing that hook get the attention it deserves.

Max Fried (ATL) @ COL (ND) – 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 102 pitches.

Hey, it worked! Aces gonna ace. I know it was Coors, and you were probably stressed about whether you should start him, but it’s Fried. You start Fried and don’t think about it.

Gerrit Cole (NYY) vs DET (W) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 0 BBs, 9 Ks – 17 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 102 pitches.

Aces gonna ace. Cole is truly looking like the man we want him to be and it’s pretty dang fun to watch.

Nathan Eovaldi (BOS) @ OAK (W) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 93 pitches.

Eovaldi is flirting with AGA territory at the moment outside of that 5 HR effort, but for now, this was the Athletics and he did exactly what he was supposed to do. Good to see the splitter still helping out.

Chad Kuhl (COL) vs ATL (ND) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 98 pitches.

Oh sure, you can handle Atlanta in Coors but not the Pirates in PNC Park. Yep, totally get it. The Padres are rough against right-handers right now, so I can grasp Kuhl as a decent stream on the road next time out.

Tyler Anderson (LAD) vs NYM (W) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 81 pitches.

Man, Anderson just keeps cruising. It’s pretty wild to me, especially seeing his changeup return 10 whiffs once again. Unreal. I see it more of a Vargas Rule than I do a guy you’ll keep starting in August, so sell high if you like (I don’t expect many to be buying, though). He should be okay against the White Sox.

John Brebbia (SF) @ MIA (ND) – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 0 BBs, 1 Ks – 2 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 16 pitches.

Nothing like a bullpen game, right? Right? Right?!

Logan Gilbert (SEA) @ TEX (ND) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks – 19 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 102 pitches.

The fastball carried Gilbert against the Rangers, while the slider set it up constantly going 20/26 strikes + his curveball was solid with 6/9 strikes itself. When the breakers land in the zone, everything is fine. I think this is the life of Gilbert — a strong play against weak lineups, a decent play against competent bats — which is no problem to me. He’s just not SP #1/2 potential, sadly.

Josiah Gray (WSH) @ CIN (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 9 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 91 pitches.

Huh, it actually worked. I put him as a Questionable Start just in case you needed to chase strikeouts, and the breakers did just that with 12 whiffs between them, but I didn’t expect the ratios to be beneficial, too. He still allowed a longball because he’s Josiah, so that still makes his next start against Miami a bit of a risk.

Richard Bleier (MIA) vs SF (L) – 1.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 21% CSW, 24 pitches.

He opened for Elieser Hernandez, who was smoked for 4.1 IP, 8 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks. Yikes. It doesn’t seem like Elieser is going to get many more chances moving forward.

Shane Bieber (CLE) @ BAL (W) – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 11 Ks – 23 Whiffs, 41% CSW, 98 pitches.

Hot dang, look at you! Bieber returned a Golden Goal against the Orioles as his slider was as unreal as I’ve seen it in ages — 14/39 whiffs and 44% CSW — but his heater is still at 91 mph. It’s important not to lose sight of the susceptibility of his heater. It means Bieber will still have outings like this when the breakers are this good and the heater goes his way, but his floor is lower than it used to be: Every night is not going to be like this. This may make Bieber into a prime sell high at the moment, though I have to raise him in my ranks in some way as he’s displaying an SP #1 ceiling at the moment despite the velocity. I always need to weigh in the possibility I’m wrong, you know.

Dane Dunning (TEX) vs SEA (ND) – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 93 pitches.

The command was…kinda meh on his sinker, but the slider, changeup, and cutter did work. Sliders returned a whopping 8/20 whiffs, while the changeup was messing batters up and cutters helped gloveside. I’m cool streaming him against the Guardians next week as he’s had the command more often than not as of late.

Shane McClanahan (TB) vs CWS (W) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 92 pitches.

Aces gonna ace. How can you not love McShane?

Merrill Kelly (ARI) @ PIT (W) – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 4 BBs, 2 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 89 pitches.

Kelly is a Toby who took advantage of the Pirates. The changeup went just 1/20 whiffs and the four-seamer was 91/92 mph (yuck), but yeah. The Pirates.

José Urquidy (HOU) @ KC (W) – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 91 pitches.

I mean, this isn’t bad, but you want a little more than a PQS against the Royals, you know? For a guy I was interested in because of his array of secondaries, he’s using them just 40% of the time and not getting a whole lot of them. He’s a tough decision against the Mariners in my book.

Chris Bassitt (NYM) @ LAD (L) – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 110 pitches.

Yeah, alright. This was a tough call for some given Bassitt’s turmoil over the last few weeks, but he gave you a decent WHIP and eight strikeouts despite the PQS. The slider and cutter aren’t missing bats like we want them to, but I still love their high usage and it propelled the punchouts. Hopefully the gauntlet is behind him now and he’ll soar against the Friars next.

Chi Chi González (MIN) @ TOR (ND) – 3.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 1 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 45 pitches.

Did you expect anything else from Chi Chi? Why why?

Davis Martin (CWS) @ TB (L) – 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 1 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 97 pitches.

I made a remark in a previous roundup that the ChiSox would be better off with Davis instead of Keuchel and I’m shocked they actually did it. Sadly it didn’t work out here (HAISTBMBWT?!) but the slider is still great and I think with some time you’ll see a decent arm to stream every so often.

James Kaprielian (OAK) vs BOS (L) – 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 21% CSW, 87 pitches.

Kap is a Toby and you don’t start Tobys against the Red Sox or you’ll get a HAISTBMBWT?! You deserve butter on that bread.

Miles Mikolas (STL) @ CHC (W) – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 107 pitches.

That’s 10 ER in his last two games and after starting the season with eight straight starts of 2 ER or fewer, he’s allowed more in each of his last three. Uh oh. Regression is the worst. I think you still roster Mikolas, but at least we all understand he’s a Toby and nothing more.

Yusei Kikuchi (TOR) vs MIN (L) – 4.2 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 67 pitches.

Blegh. I was worried about this start for Kikuchi and while his slider finally earned legit whiffs — 7/19! — his overall command was very poor, sitting far too often in the heart of the zone. Until I see some actual pitch separation — heaters up, sliders/changeups down — I’ll remain out on the Kikuchi resurgence. Alright, whatever Yusei…

Chase Silseth (LAA) @ PHI (L) – 1.2 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 21% CSW, 42 pitches.

I wonder if this is the last we see of Silseth as he’s failed to live the promise of 95/96 mph heaters with a whiff-heavy splitter. Just 2/15 whiffs on the splitty here and there’s no reason to chase Chase.

Bruce Zimmermann (BAL) vs CLE (L) – 5.2 IP, 5 ER, 10 Hits, 0 BBs, 1 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 87 pitches.

Jeeeeeez. This Frozen Banana make take a long time to thaw as he served a “HAISTBMBWT?”! and atrocious ratios against the Guardians. The changeup was poorly spotted and the four-seamer is still a rough pitch as I twiddle my thumbs wondering if the slider and slow ball can actually make him something solid down the road.

JT Brubaker (PIT) vs ARI (L) – 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 21% CSW, 73 pitches.

Womp womp. I was hoping we’d see the good side of Coffee Cakes, but the slider didn’t do enough as he had to rely on fastballs for 55% of his offerings and that’s never a fun time for Brubaker. It’s the Tigers next and this doesn’t change the fact that Brubaker could still pull off a good stream.

Mike Minor (CIN) vs WSH (L) – 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 60 pitches.

Minor finally made his first start of the 2022 season and it was kinda interesting? His secondaries returned 15/31 CSW, but his four-seamer was all kinds of poor at sub 91 mph. If the velocity goes up or he gets the feel to locate better, there could be something there as a Toby. 

Corbin Burnes (MIL) vs SD (L) – 3.2 IP, 5 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 95 pitches.

Aces gonna…faceplant. Some days it just doesn’t go your way. We live, we learn, then get luvs and keep a rational head.

Brady Singer (KC) vs HOU (L) – 5.0 IP, 7 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 35% CSW, 72 pitches.

Ouch. It’s still sinker/slider for the most part and with that lack of depth, Singer will have games like this a fair amount. He’s a Cherry Bomb, after all. And no, the changeup wasn’t a factor across the seven thrown. Sigh.

Marcus Stroman (CHC) vs STL (L) – 4.0 IP, 9 ER, 10 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 90 pitches.

Wooooooow. I don’t think something is innately wrong with Stroman, it really is one of those starts we’ll mention in the off-season “if we ignore that one day…” — we may even be changing the date window to after this start and argue how steady he is. And that’s what’s important here. We still want Stroman on our rosters for the future, even if the Yankees are next. He’ll help more than hurt the rest of the way.

Elvin Rodriguez (DET) @ NYY (L) – 4.1 IP, 10 ER, 11 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 88 pitches.

Apparently, Elvin was tipping his pitches with men on base in this one and the Yankees jumped on it. I don’t think his stuff is innately bad — 93/94 with a solid slider — but his arsenal isn’t particularly deep and he’s so clearly on a fragile floor. Poor fella.

 

Game of the Day 

MacKenzie Gore vs. Aaron Ashby – Find a TV. Somehow. Somewhere.

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

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Photos by Larry Placido/Icon Sportswire and Kilian Kremer/Unsplash | Adapted by Ethan Kaplan (@DJFreddie10 on Twitter and @EthanMKaplanImages on Instagram)