Fantasy Baseball SP Roundup – Hunter Gatherers

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

Hunter Gaddis (CLE) @ OAK (ND) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 77 pitches.

With Triston McKenzie on the mend for roughly another two months, Hunder Gaddis is getting reps for the Guardians and he made the most of it tonight via 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 77 pitches against the Athletics. The Guardians find a way to make another stud pitcher! How do they do it?! Well…have they?!

There are only a handful of swinging strikes here – some high heaters, a pair of breakers, and a single low slider – and there were a bunch of hittable pitches that better teams would have capitalized on. I really don’t see an exceptional starter with his mix at the moment: four-seamers with cut, a decent slider and a curve/change that I really don’t care for. It’s…okay, and his next start against the Yankees is not a start I’d want Gaddis for. But hey, I’ll make a deal with you. If he happens to squeak by there, we can stream him against the Tigers and Marlins after, okay? Deal. Cool now let—Wait! What are you doing!? Whoops, my hand slipped. Why did you add Gaddis?! I’M THE HUNTER NOT THE HUNTED.

Let’s see how every other SP did Wednesday:

Bryce Elder (ATL) @ STL (W) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 79 pitches.

After failing to earn a roster spot out of camp, Atlanta needed Elder against the mighty Cardinals offense and he answered the call with a ton of sliders in the zone and cutters + sinkers dancing around the edges. It’s a solid breaker and when the command is there with the rest, he can make some magic happen like above. He’s now been rewarded with a date hosting the Reds and the Royals and that’s a pair of dream Toby streams. He could find himself with a 3-0 record by the end of next week.

Zack Greinke (KC) vs TOR (ND) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 77 pitches.

Huge props to Greinke for just 1 ER, but no Win, only four strikeouts, and a 1.33 WHIP is why you’re not rostering him and that’s a wise decision. Man, I do love the guy, though.

Alek Manoah (TOR) @ KC (ND) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 4 BBs, 5 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 98 pitches.

The velocity was down as much as 2.5 ticks on the four-seamer, the changeup wasn’t doing its normal things, the four-seamer command was hectic, and the sinker found the middle of the plate often. But hey, it’s the Royals and I’m just sipping my coffee in the middle of the burning room. Everything is fine. We may get another start of sneaking by against the Tigers, but if it’s more of…