It makes you wonder if Sale can be a better Rich Hillwith his lower velocity and stupid good breaker + the occasional changeup to mix things up. Sale is still dramatically down on his fastball – he topped out at 94 mph and sat 91.4 mph – but his slider made up for it with a 49% CSW, stealing called strikes armside and confounding batters gloveside for 10/37 whiffs. Chris Sale (BOS) TOR (ND) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 10 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 41% CSW, 81 pitches.

We still start him against the Mets and hope for the best. But what if he’s 1-2 ticks down on everything with three on his changeup? Okay that’s fair. When Suárez is in rhythm, you start the dang man.

Ranger Suárez (PHI) STL (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 5 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 106 pitches. We got some more Giants shenanigans and I really hope we don’t see this repeated next year. Scott Alexander (SF) COL (L) – 0.2 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 0 BBs, 0 Ks – 1 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 16 pitches. I imagine he’s going to be on this short leash for the rest of the year, which likely means he’s droppable if you’re in need of a larger impact. Sadly, Kershaw is still struggling with his velocity – 88/89 mph heaters and down three ticks on the slider – but he’s clearly effective enough to help the Dodgers in the postseason. So it didn’t hurt to toss him, but we need at least one more inning to feel good about it. Clayton Kershaw (LAD) SEA (ND) – 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 56 pitches. I’m not jazzed about the Mariners up next, even if I understand the changeup took centerstage over the slider due to a left-handed lineup. Well, it was a 1.80 WHIP without a Win. That’s actually…kinda fair. The cutter and changeup took over here, which is a bit surprising since I’ve attached Dunning’s success mostly to his slider, which was featured just seven times against the Guardians. Dane Dunning (TEX) CLE (ND) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 85 pitches. I’m awfully scared for Texas + Houston next.

Bryce still has elements to work on here and it’s going to be awfully tough to distinguish who among all these rookie pitchers will develop what they need to for 2024. Nothing like going 0/30 whiffs on secondaries with 10% CSW and still surviving against the Dodgers to earn a Gold Star. Bryce Miller (SEA) vs LAD (ND) – 5.1 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 19% CSW, 86 pitches. The heater dominated and carried him all eight frames, though with the same lack of change + curve + slider consistency, running this game back likely has a worse result. That said, I’m weirded out by his secondaries all hanging upstairs most of the time on Saturday. It’s hard to expect anything less than excellence at this point. Grayson Rodriguez (BAL) vs TB (W) – 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 95 pitches.Īcross his last ten games, Grayson now has a 2.21 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and 24% strikeout rate, facing tough offenses in seven of those starts. Let’s see how every other SP did Saturday: If he can limit the walks and not get lost trying to find the zone with his changeup and slider, he’ll continue to produce. Get him and let’s see how he finishes the year. But this arsenal works, especially against Oakland and Kansas City in his final two starts. I imagine we’ll have some nights where the changeup doesn’t earn the number of strikes we want to see from it (he didn’t hit all his spots here) and if the slider isn’t getting the same whiffs, he’ll labor. This was stupid fun to watch and it’s not completely uncalled for. His changeup and slider each returned 9+ whiffs, his sinker returned a 47% CSW without a single ball in play, and his four-seamer woke up for 43% CSW of its own (and allowed Sawyer’s only two hits to his now nemesis Nolan Schanuel). I even did a video about him, highlighting Sawyer as a solid option down the stretch with some great matchups as a mini- Logan Webb, though with some caution as he carries the obvious Shag Rugwith just one start in the books of his MLB career.Īnd what did we get against the Angels? 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 11 Ks – 23 Whiffs, 45% CSW, 82 pitches as he earned himself a Golden Goal. WHAT. He had a good looking changeup, a solid slider, and a sinker he could rely on for strikes that came with actual sink. Soooo Sawyer Gipson-Longpitched last weekend and I kinda dug what he did. Sawyer Gipson-Long (DET) LAA (ND) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 11 Ks – 23 Whiffs, 45% CSW, 82 pitches. Have questions? Ask me during my office hours on weekday mornings from 10 am-12 pm ET. I apologize for the jokes written in my delirium in advance. Welcome to the SP Roundup, my daily fantasy baseball article reviewing every starting pitcher’s performance from every Saturday game.

Captain obvious gif