Welcome to the SP Roundup, my daily fantasy baseball article reviewing every starting pitcher’s performance from every Monday 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.
Max Scherzer (TOR) vs NYY (ND) – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 34% CSW, 71 pitches.
Let’s be honest. You forgot about Max Scherzer or likely hand-waved him as an unlikely fantasy baseball arm to consider this year. Well, you may want to change that after tonight’s 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 34% CSW, 71 pitches (ND) performance against the Yankees. He gets a Gold Star and while I’m not saying he’s back, there is something to this.
The 2 ER were a painful moment in this one. After a phenomenal battle against Judge that concluded on a dotted 95 mph down-and-away fastball at 3-2, Scherzer threw a 0-0 slider over the middle that Jazz “Duke Silver” Chisholm Jr. launched over the right-field fence for both runs. You work so hard for success, only for it to slip away when you let your guard down.
Outside of that moment, Scherzer killed it. His heater sat 93/94 mph and returned plenty of outs on mostly weak contact. The curve helped as a reliable strike pitch, and the cutter + slider were far better than what we saw in his first outing. We saw 5/18 whiffs between the pair, as these pitches were used as consistent strike offerings (and, as mentioned, maybe a little too much) and strong putaway pitches akin to his glory days. We even saw a few effective changeups in the mix, too.
It’s all good enough to work and I’m sure he’ll get stretched out some more moving forward. He’s not a “must-add,” as the only path to a higher upside is a bit more precision on the cutter and slider with more than 25% usage, which I don’t see happening in the near future. You may want to hold off against the Angels + a date in Sacré Verde, though he’s well capable of pulling off production against both squads.
Let’s see how every other SP did Monday:
Zack Wheeler (PHI) vs SDP (W) – 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 10 Ks – 19 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 107 pitches.
Aces gonna ace for a Gallows Pole and utter brilliance. I swear, he better win the Cy Young. He’s never won it and he’s just so good.
Andrew Heaney (PIT) vs STL (W) – 6.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 95 pitches.
Heaney, you rascal. I thought Pittsburgh was the team to stream against, but it’s clearly time to bring back the Cardinal Sin. Fun seeing the changeup and four-seamer work in tandem here. Don’t get too tempted to try this @TEA next, but there are worse options out there.
Ryne Nelson (ARI) vs SFG (ND) – 6.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 88 pitches.
That four-seamer was dope and makes me feel dope. We’re talking 71% usage with 13/62 whiffs as it steered him through this one, with a Careful, Icarus as he left with two runners on in the seventh and both runners came around to score. 95/96 mph, 19″+ vert, seven feet extension, and it was awesome. The slider showed up for 82% strikes and a pair of strikeouts (one shocked Devers up, another a perfect down-and-away for a whiff to Fitz), while the cutter and curve had their moments, too. Really, this fastball is fantastic and it carved up the questionable Giants offense, nearly for a full seven frames. Yes, we keep this going against the Royals and hope he can keep finding the feel for the slider and cutter while the four-seamer does its thing upstairs. So many fantastic heaters upstairs…
George Kirby (SEA) vs KCR (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 36% CSW, 85 pitches.
He’s doing it. The BSB looks like it’s here to stay, fueling a King Cole as he went heaters up and sliders down to both LHB and RHB + some low curveballs to LHB for fun. It works, y’all. IT WORKS. It’s about dang time Kirby figured this one out, and it’s even sweeter seeing the normally 60% zone rate four-seamer return a 50% clip here. He’s beginning to believe.
Michael Wacha (KCR) @ SEA (L) – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 94 pitches.
Oh no. A trio of singles followed by a sac fly and a three-run blast in the fifth ruined Wacha’s night, which wasn’t a sparkling affair in the first place. He didn’t spot his changeup well, and his sinker, cutter, and four-seamer were clobbered over the plate. I’ve been considering that I’ve overrated Wacha a bit this year, considering his WHIP north of 1.20, though I generally feel his changeup is legit and he’s better at earning strikes over the plate than what he showed in games like this. However, the risk may not be worth it in the end. With the Sneks and Mets on the horizon, it may be time to move on.
Logan Webb (SFG) @ ARI (L) – 6.1 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 104 pitches.
Aces gonna Careful, Icarus with a tough seventh frame as the dub fell through his fingers. Whatareyagonnado. We still love ya, Webb.
Trevor Rogers (BAL) @ TEX (ND) – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 91 pitches.
So this was still good. Not incredible, but good. The four-seamer was more than good, it was unreal with 14/45 whiffs (you read that right) and 42% CSW, while the slowball failed to earn 60%+ strikes, but returned a ton of weak outs in play. I’m upset the slider and sinker were horrendous. We’re talking 30% strikes between the 23 of them combined. Oh dear. Maybe having to hit in this game messed him up? Naaaah. Anyway, I don’t love his next start against Atlanta, but I think I’m down to give it another spin against the Fish. I sadly don’t trust that four-seamer to succeed like this in the future.
Carlos Rodón (NYY) @ TOR (ND) – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 96 pitches.
Aces gonna blegh. It was a struggle finding strikes with his slider and changeup, and fortunately, the heater stepped up with the slider when needed to give you a Dusty Donut. I dig the use of his one-seamer sinker against LHB, too. It stayed down-and-away in its limited usage, but was efficient and looks like a major part of his LHB attack moving forward with the four-seamer up and slider away. I wonder how that plays out.
Patrick Corbin (TEX) vs BAL (ND) – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 110 pitches.
A VPQS from Corbin gets us back on the right path! Who cares if it took 110 pitches to get there, and standard leagues don’t like this statline at all. Be happy for Corbin dangit! He’s the last Corbin we’ve got.
Jacob Lopez (ATH) @ TBR (ND) – 3.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 50 pitches.
Bleeeegh. Remember the whole “If he has the command working, this is awesome!” bit? Yeah, he didn’t have the command working. Womp womp. Maybe he will next time? At least the Giants are ready to roll over. I’d still be okay taking a shot there.
Garrett Crochet (BOS) vs CIN (W) – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 89 pitches.
Aces gonna run into trouble for a few frames while he struggled to locate four-seamers. It’s truly odd to see Crochet feature a sub 60% strike rate on his heater, but here we are, with just 3/34 whiffs on the pitch for the night. And just a 17% CSW on his cutter?! Wild. Let’s all thank the sweeper for still holding its own and returning seven of those strikeouts while strolling down the Reds Carpet.
Matt Waldron (SDP) @ PHI (L) – 4.2 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 6 BBs, 3 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 21% CSW, 104 pitches.
Remember kids, Don’t Trust A Knuckleballer. You can cheer for them, though. Baseball is better when there’s a good knuckleballer afoot. Sadly, Waldron isn’t that. Yet. Probably never. We can hope…
Drew Rasmussen (TBR) vs ATH (ND) – 3.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 54 pitches.
54 pitches?! You may as well call up Boyle as Rasmussen pulls a Benjamin Button and tosses 40 pitches in two frames next time out. Sure, the cutter wasn’t as good as usual, and neither the curve nor sweeper are relevant, but come on, let the guy hurl some pearls, dangit! You’re in the playoff hunt and threatening to take the lead in the AL East. I can’t fathom why it’s so important to limit Rasmussen so dang much. Anyway, if he were pitching better, they’d likely let him go the normal 5+ and for that, you’re still holding while the ratios should be far better. Sorry for venting.
Chase Burns (CIN) @ BOS (L) – 0.1 IP, 5 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 0 Ks – 1 Whiffs, 18% CSW, 33 pitches.
Okay, so there was some talk about Burns tipping here as he got bamboozled by the Red Sox. Sure, two thigh-high sliders away to RHB were pummeled, including Story’s solo shot, but his heater was not nearly as bad as the line makes it seem. The Red Sox were able to slap the heater to left and jump out in front of the fastball while resisting the slider and I wouldn’t be shocked if the rook was making things a little too obvious. Whatever, I stand by the ranking of today for moving forward. Burns is a legit talent – 99 mph heaters on average! Filthy sliders at 90 mph underneath! – so don’t let this scare you.
Erick Fedde (STL) @ PIT (L) – 5.0 IP, 7 ER, 10 Hits, 3 BBs, 0 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 16% CSW, 82 pitches.
Oh jeez. The Cubs are next sooooo, don’t? His cutter and sinker were really poor in this one.
Game of the Day
Joe Ryan vs. Edward Cabrera – I would love to watch an ace and the true signs of a future ace. That would be dope.
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)
