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.
Trey Yesavage (TOR) @ TBR (ND) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 9 Ks – 19 Whiffs, 46% CSW, 69 pitches.
Oh hey, it’s another ridiculously good MLB debut that I didn’t see coming and highly question. Who would that be? Don’t be so coy, you know it’s Trey Yesavage who pitched a game equivalent of a bouncing QR code of a superbowl ad with how much discussion came after it: 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 9 Ks – 19 Whiffs, 46% CSW, 69 pitches. Ohhhh dang! Yeah, I know. That’s why we’re here.
Yesavage is a super over-the-top arm with a four-seamer, splitter, and slider combination. The consistent arm action and 0.3 HAVAA on the four-seamer makes for a stupid steep -1.6 HAVAA for the splitter, allowing it to absolutely wreck batters for 11/19 whiffs. THAT’S A LOT OF WHIFFS!
The slider wasn’t terrible, either. Mixed with some floaters and bounced breakers, Trey recorded a trio of strikeouts with the pitch, while jamming a few LHB as well. It’s not a special offering, but mixed with the four-seamer, it makes for a solid bridge pitch for strikes that allows the splitter to stick as a whiff pitch.
The four-seamer is where I’m concerned. Its high 20″ of iVB doesn’t have the same impact as others with his extreme arm angle and as batters are more familiar with Yesavage outside of a debut, it’ll be an easier pitch to dial in on and lace constantly.
That said, why not take a chance and see what happens in Kauffman? He struck out a ton of batters in Triple-A and clearly has above-average feel for the splitter. One start may not be enough for the league to get used to Yesavage, making it a possible for the strikeouts to continue, even if it’s under 80 pitches.
Let’s see how every other SP did Monday:
Simeon Woods Richardson (MIN) vs NYY (W) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 11 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 37% CSW, 92 pitches.
Ummmm WHAT. I ranked SWR as the worst SP options for Monday’s games (whoops) and here’s eleven strikeouts, like the fury of a scorned Wooden. His splitter took down LHB, the slider RHB, and his four-seamer found enough of the edges to return foul balls instead of balls in play (ten foul balls vs. one in play is remarkable, to say the least). Sure makes you tempted to give it a shot against the LHB-focused Guardians up next, doesn’t it? Fine, I’ll upgrade SWR to Questionable for that as a Cherry Bomb type, though I can’t help but feel like this is a glorious firework that won’t last long.
Joe Boyle (TBR) vs TOR (ND) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 78 pitches.
Wait, Boyle too?! This was all about his slider boasting a 0% NC Rate and 90% strikes across 31 thrown (28/31 strikes is absolutely bananas), while the fastball went 50% strikes as its typically rebelious self, and the splinker showed promise and looked fine as a #3 pitch that doesn’t need to return above 60% strikes to be a welcome addition. Considering how the slider obviously won’t replicate those marks in concert with his four-seamer showcasing zero development, this comes across as a Birthday Party and not something to lean into. What a fun duel of young arms, eh?
Jameson Taillon (CHC) @ PIT (W) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 88 pitches.
Nothing special here from Taillon. Just the standard “throw decent strikes and let the Pirates do the rest.” Or maybe Koufax. I dunno, someone else deal with it. The schedule continues in Taillon’s favor, making this a very easy hold.
Kai-Wei Teng (SFG) @ ARI (ND) – 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 73 pitches.
No surprise that Teng’s sweeper was the leader here. I’ve compared him to Lance McCullers Jr. in his strikeout ability fused with feral command and I’m happy he was able to help your teams in this one, even if it was just four frames. If he gets regular starts the rest of the way, don’t overlook a date with Rockie Road during the final weekend. However, the Dodgers are next, so definitely don’t go for that.
Tyler Gilbert (CHW) vs BAL (ND) – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 Hits, 0 BBs, 1 Ks – 1 Whiffs, 40% CSW, 10 pitches.
Gilbert opened for Sean Burke’s 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 4 BBs, 4 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 21% CSW, 89 pitches (ND), and eventually three frames of Mike Vasil, neither of which pitching in a way that should make you lean forward in your seat. I love that Burke is able to execute the four-seamer upstairs properly, but the secondaries are not complementing it well enough for us to chase any of his streams moving forward. And you already know about Vasil. I do? Might as well call him Basil with the way he’s an afterthought to the main dish. Ah.
Spencer Strider (ATL) @ WSN (W) – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 96 pitches.
Phew. I was worried about the slider performing worse against a LHB-heavy lineup, and while it wasn’t spectacular, it was solid, especially with support from a curveball and Strider’s success dotting 95/96 mph four-seamers up-and-in. I wouldn’t bank on his four-seamer precision returning against the Tigers next, though the slider may perform better when facing more RHB. That’s a tough call.
Zac Gallen (ARI) vs SFG (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 96 pitches.
YES. After last week’s disappointment, Gallen adjusted and featured his best changeup we’ve seen all year to LHB. You should be shocked to hear his signature deathball was dealing with the flu, and did its best against RHB, but wasn’t the mega pitch we typically see from Gallen. This was pinned as the final start you’d consider for with PHI and @SDP ahead, though I know some of you are going to roll with him regardless. Not that he can’t succeed, but is that really your best option?
Kyle Bradish (BAL) @ CHW (W) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 9 Ks – 17 Whiffs, 38% CSW, 88 pitches.
Bradish is still a little strange to me. The slider’s 39% CSW is obviously stellar, but the rest is an oddity. The curve has moments backdooring LHB, but isn’t featured a whole lot, leaving a pair of fastballs returning over 50% of Bradish’s attack, and I don’t love that. That four-seamer is awfully hittable if expected by hitters and over the plate, while the sinker… well, that sinker is interesting. It matched the slider with six whiffs alone, and tallied a phenomenal 44% CSW. But should it? It works against RHB, absolutely, though I’m not seeing a fantastic offering to silence LHB. It makes this closer to the Huascar Rule than I want to admit (don’t worry, still a clear level above it) and now with two starts ahead against the Yankees, I’m getting a little uneasy. I’m going to have him in Probably Start for the first one at least, which is a step down from the Auto-Start label he’s earned over the last month. Be conservative if you can.
Jason Alexander (HOU) vs TEX (ND) – 4.2 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 36% CSW, 83 pitches.
Alexander was cruising until the fifth, where he allowed a two-run shot to Jung and couldn’t find the last out of the frame before getting the hook with a trio of runs to his name. It’s really too bad – his sinker/change approach was doing everything right outside of the slowball to Jung, and he even had an effective sweeper here and there to RHB. It’s a tough play hosting the Mariners over the weekend, but don’t rule it out. At the very least, I’m down for the Angels in his final start.
Anthony Banda (LAD) vs PHI (ND) – 0.1 IP, 1 ER, 1 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks – 4 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 16 pitches.
Banda opened for Emmett Sheehan, who cleaned up this mess for 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 Hit, 3 BBs, 7 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 94 pitches. I’m still mad he just had to come back out for the seventh, collect an out and a baserunner, get the hook, and watch his lone baserunner score. Careful, Icarus. I watch Sheehan and see a great fastball that is just dying for a little more support from the slider and changeup. I’m yearning for clumps of purple and green from the pitches inside the strikezone plots, but instead they are simply good. Not exceptional, just good. And that’s fine for now with SFG and @SEA to close out the year (why not use Sheehan and give the playoff rotation proper rest?), it just makes me a little hesitant for next year. Slightly.
Carlos Rodón (NYY) @ MIN (L) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 95 pitches.
Aces gonna ace. A quiet one for Rodón as he was outdueled by SWR, if you can believe it. Nothing to worry about here, keep on keepin’ on with 2x starts against the Orioles to close out the year. Sidenote: You may only get one more proper start out of Rodón if the Yankees have everything wrapped up before the final weekend. No reason to push him too hard the Friday before, which may make it a limited 40-60 pitch outing. Take note of the possibility.
Matthew Liberatore (STL) vs CIN (ND) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 77 pitches.
Ayyy, way to look good on the Reds Carpet, Liberatore. It’s lovely seeing him at 94.7 mph (not 93 or below!), and the slider + curve were decently placed to RHB (3/10 strikes on the changeup, though. Blegh.). Maybe it’s good enough for the Brewers up next? Ehhhh, I’m not interested. Remember, this is a terrible offense.
Jack Leiter (TEX) @ HOU (L) – 6.2 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 20% CSW, 102 pitches.
Leiter slipped on the astroturf while throwing to first in the premier frame, leading to a rough start with a pair of runners already scoring, and then bore down to only have a few mistakes after, including a four-seamer demolished by Zach Cole for a pair of runs, and an inability to close the door on the seventh frame, adding another run to his name while watching from the dugout. To see a start of decent success come without a single four-seamer whiff (0/37!) should tell you the help he got from Koufax and the unreliability of his success. HOWEVER, he gets the Marlins next. Why didn’t you lead with that?! I don’t know! Suspense? Drama? My incessant hunger for self-indulgence? Doesn’t matter, you want Leiter for Miami, and possibly the Guardians as well over the final weekend.
Ranger Suárez (PHI) @ LAD (ND) – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 88 pitches.
Aces gonna VPQS against an elite offense. Given how the floor you imagined, you should be okay with this. Whatareyagonnado.
Braxton Ashcraft (PIT) vs CHC (L) – 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 70 pitches.
I’m kinda surprised he doesn’t throw the 93 mph slider more often, but then again, it did allow three hits and wasn’t located well to RHB. That pitch is the hope for those taking stabs at Ashcraft starts and without that cookin’, well, then what are we doing here? Move on, please.
Zack Littell (CIN) @ STL (ND) – 5.2 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 86 pitches.
This was the last start we’d consider Littell for. Oh. Yeaaaah, it’s been a ride, Littell. Can’t say I want to buy the ticket again, nor did I appreciate getting my card charged for this ticket. I wonder what random team you’re destined to find yourself on next season.
Mitchell Parker (WSN) vs ATL (L) – 5.0 IP, 6 ER, 10 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 17% CSW, 103 pitches.
The dream is dead. Okay, it was a dream I had during 8th grade English class and I can’t say I actually remembered it existing in the first place. Here’s to Parker looking like a new man in 2026. I wonder if he lands in a new city…
Game of the Day
Cristopher Sánchez vs. Shohei Ohtani – FUN.
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/X; @justinparadis.bsky.social on BlueSky)
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