Fantasy Baseball SP Roundup – Not OK, Son

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

Grayson Rodriguez (BAL) vs OAK (ND) – 4.1 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 4 BBs, 6 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 99 pitches.

The MLB debut from Grayson Rodriguez can be brushed aside by jitters. Sure, it happens, we get it. Here was the second start, at home, and against the pedestrian Oakland lineup and…4.1 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 4 BBs, 6 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 99 pitches. Womp womp. Is it time for us to drop Grayson?

I’m not ready to do that yet. The four-seamer is clearly a stellar offering with 33% CSW and sitting 97 mph throughout the outing, and we saw some legit sliders along the way that showcased the ace we’ve heard so much about. But that changeup, oh boy that changeup needs to be sorted out. It was hung plenty in the first outing and barely touched the bottom third of the zone here, resulting in just 2/18 CSW and too many rolled eyes from yours truly. MAKE AN ADJUSTMENT.

The Orioles seem set on giving him at least one more turn in the rotation as he gets the White Sox and without Tim Anderson or Eloy Jiménez, I feel like we go for it. Grayson is not a 9.00+ ERA pitcher with a 2.00 WHIP. H*ck, even in this disaster, he still earned 15 whiffs. The talent is there, he just needs that one inning to make it all come together. One inning that forces him to stay in the majors forever.

Let’s see how every other SP did Tuesday:

Corbin Burnes (MIL) @ ARI (W) – 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 39% CSW, 89 pitches.

Aces gonna ace with a King Cole. First Gallen is fine, and now Burnes. DO SANDY NEXT. 

Shohei Ohtani (LAA) vs WSH (W) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 5 BBs, 6 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 92 pitches.

Aces gonna ace. You really didn’t need to walk five of them, Shohei. Seriously, they just wanted to get a closer look at you and had no intention of doing anything else. He’s up to 55% sweepers now, by the way, reducing his cutters to just 5% usage and upping the new sinker to 13%. Absolutely bonkers.

Alex Wood (SF) vs LAD (ND) – 4.2 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 75 pitches.

Seriously Kapler? You had to pull Wood with two outs in the fifth in a 2-0 ballgame? You have to enjoy the velocity up at 92/93 mph, though the lack of slider whiffs is concerning, especially when mixed with whatever the Giants are doing with their rotation. Fine, that’s not fair since Wood clearly has a spot, but 4.2 innings?! Whatever it’s the Marlins next and we hold for that.

Ryan Weathers (SD) @ NYM (W) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 89 pitches.

Oh, is this a thing now? The first start was good due to the changeup, here, the…