Gerrit Cole is on another level this year, he threw a CGSO yesterday with ten strikeouts. He’s faced 100 batters now with a 0.95 ERA, a 0.74 WHIP, a 32% K%, and an 8% BB%. Shout out to YOU if you went for him in the second (or even third?) round. The MLB league era is 4.38 right now so it’s been tough to find those really great ERA’s and Cole is set to give you one.
Luis Castillo is also another ace that has looked great this year. He has a 25% K-BB%, really bringing down those walks so far. He was another guy that tended to fall a bit in the draft - and he’s benefiting from escaping Cincinnati, it seems.
Garrett Whitlock had a great start against the Angels yesterday, making it through seven innings and giving up just one run. His slider is looking insanely good this year with a 31% SwStr%!
But it’s the classic instance of a guy with a disgusto-bargo slideboy that backs up a meh fastball. The sinker just isn’t going to get whiffs from Whitlock, and right now that’s his main pitch. I wonder if we’ll see that slider usage tick up a bit - it certainly couldn’t hurt - but things are looking good for Whitlock regardless so he should be added in a hurry.
Only six pitchers have thrown 40+ sliders/sweepers/slurves with a SwStr% above 30%:
Yes, they’re all sliders. Let’s check the overall pitch performance league-wide broken down by type:
Let’s check out pitching stats by league since we now have had more than a week of games at every level:
Paid subs have access to these dashboards that give you full minor league data (including Statcast data from AAA and the one A ball league that has the equipment). Everything I show here is typically from dashboards or google sheets that update daily that you paid subs can find yourselves.
Continuing on with the pitchers…
Reid Detmers pitched quite well again. Here is what his arsenal has looked like:
No pitch really stands out, but none of them have been bad either. The slider SwStr% is two points above the league average, and he has added velocity this year. I think he will be a good pitcher this year, but I’m not sure if we’ll see that alleged ceiling any time soon.
Kyle Wright pitched again yesterday and did okay, but he walked three more batters (that’s seven in 8.2 innings now). He has also come in with lower velocity on the fastball. We shouldn’t judge him too hard based on these two starts since he’s coming off of an injury, but it’s not a great sign so far. Not sure what you’re supposed to do with that information though, I doubt anybody is going to want to trade for him right now.
Something weird going on with Andrew Heaney who threw his four-seamer 74% of the time last night:
In his first start, he threw 32 sliders and 29 fastballs. Last night it was seven sliders and 65 four-seamers.
That’s weird, man!
Yu Darvish would probably bully the crap out of Heaney for having such a limited pitch mix. He threw seven different pitches more than ten times yesterday:
I’m playing in a wooden bat baseball league this summer so me and my guy James went to the batting cages on Friday. I haven’t played real baseball since little league and I think the number of times in my life I’ve swung a wooden bat would be less than 20 prior to that outing. Luckily for me, the pitching machine threw only fastballs (bout 55-60 mph, so maybe that’s a slowball). Shout out to me, I made contact at an Arraez-like rate, I’m sure I was above 90%. But the point is that I don’t understand how anybody can hit a guy that has seven different pitches to throw at you. But people do it… people do it.
Many more unwanted updates on the wood bat league to come. My plan was to model my game after David Fletcher, play decent infield defense and at the dish just slap the ball into play and hope somebody makes an error or something. But David Fletcher was optioned this weekend so that’s devastating for me. I guess I’ll have to transition to a more Kevin Newman-type profile.
Oh what’s up you wanna hear about Major League Baseball and not my own forrays into chasing the glory days of Little League (I made the all-star team one time you can even ask stupid ass Clint to back me up).
I’ve hidden all the good stuff in the notes today, so you hoi polloi can’t see things like
Nolan Gorman & Brent Rooker setting new max EVs
Luis Garcia (Nationals) improving his contact rate by 18 points so far this year as compared to last year
Cody Bellinger lowering his strikeout rate by 12 points so far this year
Brandon Marsh, Kyle Isbel, Patrick Wisdom, Ian Happ, and more joining the hot hitter tracker
Some more stats on those key names:
I’m most excited about Garcia, Gorman, and Marsh of those names. These hot starts/streaks are always a little bit more believable when they are coming from a young, formerly hyped player that struggled in his first time/few times in the Majors. That’s the case with those three, little bit of a post-hype breakout situation - I’d go get them if they’re available.
For some insane reason, Ke’Bryan Hayes is owned in around half the leagues, on Yahoo/ESPN at least. I know those sites aren’t the greatest to go for for ownership, but plenty of you probably play in shallow leagues there. I think Hayes is worthy of an add even regardless of what I’ll say after this comma, but he’s in Coors for three games this week so he should be added.
Alright that’s it for my typing, have a good Monday.
1. Luis Castillo (SEA): 19 Whiffs (91 Pitches)
2. Yu Darvish (SD): 19 Whiffs (100 Pitches)
3. Gerrit Cole (NYY): 18 Whiffs (109 Pitches)
4. Shane McClanahan (TB): 16 Whiffs (98 Pitches)
5. Sandy Alcantara (MIA): 16 Whiffs (82 Pitches)
6. Garrett Whitlock (BOS): 14 Whiffs (99 Pitches)
7. Framber Valdez (HOU): 14 Whiffs (95 Pitches)
8. Wade Miley (MIL): 14 Whiffs (89 Pitches)
9. Kyle Wright (ATL): 13 Whiffs (95 Pitches)
10. Aaron Nola (PHI): 13 Whiffs (98 Pitches)
1. Yu Darvish (SD): 19.0 SwStr%, 41.0 CSW%
2. Luis Castillo (SEA): 20.9 SwStr%, 38.5 CSW%
3. Sandy Alcantara (MIA): 19.5 SwStr%, 36.6 CSW%
4. Wade Miley (MIL): 15.7 SwStr%, 36.0 CSW%
5. Gerrit Cole (NYY): 16.5 SwStr%, 33.9 CSW%
6. Garrett Whitlock (BOS): 14.1 SwStr%, 33.3 CSW%
7. Julio Urias (LAD): 13.0 SwStr%, 33.0 CSW%
8. Grayson Rodriguez (BAL): 12.9 SwStr%, 32.3 CSW%
9. Shane McClanahan (TB): 16.3 SwStr%, 31.6 CSW%
10. Zac Gallen (ARI): 9.3 SwStr%, 29.9 CSW%
1. Luis Castillo - 7.0 IP - 90.25 JA Points
2. Yu Darvish - 7.0 IP - 76.5 JA Points
3. Gerrit Cole - 9.0 IP - 74.0 JA Points
4. Wade Miley - 7.0 IP - 61.25 JA Points
5. Garrett Whitlock - 7.0 IP - 56.0 JA Points
6. Sandy Alcantara - 5.67 IP - 52.25 JA Points
7. Reid Detmers - 6.33 IP - 51.75 JA Points
8. Shane McClanahan - 6.0 IP - 50.5 JA Points
9. Julio Urias - 5.33 IP - 48.0 JA Points
10. Grayson Rodriguez - 5.0 IP - 47.75 JA Points
1. Jacob deGrom (TEX) - 3.0 GS - 62.07 JA Points
2. Spencer Strider (ATL) - 3.0 GS - 61.48 JA Points
3. Nick Lodolo (CIN) - 3.0 GS - 60.79 JA Points
4. Jeffrey Springs (TB) - 3.0 GS - 60.16 JA Points
5. Domingo German (NYY) - 3.0 GS - 54.55 JA Points
6. Brandon Woodruff (MIL) - 2.0 GS - 52.61 JA Points
7. Luis Castillo (SEA) - 4.0 GS - 51.03 JA Points
8. Jesus Luzardo (MIA) - 3.0 GS - 50.87 JA Points
9. Joe Ryan (MIN) - 3.0 GS - 50.76 JA Points
10. Pablo Lopez (MIN) - 4.0 GS - 48.31 JA Points
Reid Detmers's SL velo (39 pitches) UP 3.9mph to 90.2
Yu Darvish's SL velo (11 pitches) UP 2.8mph to 85.2
Reid Detmers's CU velo (12 pitches) UP 2.7mph to 76.0
Sandy Alcantara's SL velo (20 pitches) UP 2.3mph to 92.3
Grayson Rodriguez's SL velo (22 pitches) UP 2.3mph to 84.0
Pablo Lopez's FF velo (36 pitches) UP 1.9mph to 95.6
Kyle Wright's CH velo (13 pitches) UP 1.7mph to 89.9
Zack Greinke's CU velo (24 pitches) UP 1.6mph to 73.8
Drew Smyly's CU velo (32 pitches) DOWN -1.5mph to 77.1
Aaron Nola's FF velo (38 pitches) DOWN -1.5mph to 91.2
Luis Castillo's FF velo (40 pitches) DOWN -1.6mph to 95.3
Shane McClanahan's CH velo (22 pitches) DOWN -1.8mph to 85.9
Luis Cessa's CH velo (30 pitches) DOWN -2.0mph to 85.7
Miles Mikolas's SL velo (13 pitches) DOWN -2.0mph to 85.6
Luis Cessa's SL velo (24 pitches) DOWN -2.0mph to 80.7
Dylan Cease's CU velo (15 pitches) DOWN -2.1mph to 78.9
Zac Gallen's FC velo (21 pitches) DOWN -2.1mph to 87.7
Luis Cessa's FF velo (18 pitches) DOWN -2.3mph to 90.9
Dylan Cease's FF velo (47 pitches) DOWN -2.3mph to 94.4
Dylan Cease's SL velo (48 pitches) DOWN -2.4mph to 84.9
Kyle Wright's FF velo (10 pitches) DOWN -2.5mph to 92.6
Luis Cessa's SI velo (16 pitches) DOWN -2.5mph to 91.0
Kyle Wright's SI velo (25 pitches) DOWN -2.5mph to 91.9
Patrick Corbin's SL velo (35 pitches) DOWN -2.6mph to 78.8
Garrett Whitlock's SL velo (31 pitches) DOWN -3.5mph to 79.5
Andrew Heaney's FF usage (73.9%) up 12.4 points
Andrew Heaney's CH usage (18.2%) up 12.2 points
Garrett Whitlock's SL usage (31.3%) up 12.6 points
Gerrit Cole's CU usage (22.0%) up 10.3 points
Grayson Rodriguez's CH usage (29.0%) up 11.4 points
JP Sears's ST usage (32.2%) up 27.8 points
Jose Butto's FF usage (62.1%) up 11.1 points
Jose Butto's CH usage (34.8%) up 17.5 points
Julio Urias's SV usage (29.0%) up 24.2 points
Kyle Wright's CU usage (49.5%) up 12.3 points
Luis Castillo's FF usage (44.0%) up 10.9 points
Luis Cessa's CH usage (34.1%) up 15.0 points
Miles Mikolas's SI usage (37.0%) up 14.8 points
Mitch Keller's FC usage (26.4%) up 23.4 points
Noah Davis's SI usage (50.0%) up 25.0 points
Pablo Lopez's ST usage (21.4%) up 19.3 points
Reid Detmers's SL usage (40.2%) up 14.3 points
Yu Darvish's ST usage (34.0%) up 32.5 points
Yu Darvish's FS usage (18.0%) up 10.6 points
Spencer Strider - 66 TBF, 37.9% CSW%
Nick Lodolo - 74 TBF, 35.6% CSW%
Jacob deGrom - 66 TBF, 35.0% CSW%
Jesus Luzardo - 74 TBF, 34.0% CSW%
Logan Webb - 70 TBF, 33.7% CSW%
Luis Castillo - 88 TBF, 33.4% CSW%
Shane McClanahan - 92 TBF, 33.2% CSW%
Zac Gallen - 93 TBF, 33.2% CSW%
Yu Darvish - 75 TBF, 32.9% CSW%
Brady Singer - 69 TBF, 32.9% CSW%
Jacob deGrom - 66 TBF, 40.9% K%
Spencer Strider - 66 TBF, 40.9% K%
Nick Lodolo - 74 TBF, 36.5% K%
Joe Ryan - 69 TBF, 36.2% K%
Hunter Greene - 66 TBF, 34.8% K%
Pablo Lopez - 98 TBF, 33.7% K%
Gerrit Cole - 99 TBF, 32.3% K%
Shohei Ohtani - 75 TBF, 32.0% K%
Kevin Gausman - 79 TBF, 31.6% K%
Logan Webb - 70 TBF, 31.4% K%
Jacob deGrom - 66 TBF, 37.9% K-BB%
Joe Ryan - 69 TBF, 31.9% K-BB%
Nick Lodolo - 74 TBF, 29.7% K-BB%
Spencer Strider - 66 TBF, 28.8% K-BB%
Kevin Gausman - 79 TBF, 27.8% K-BB%
Pablo Lopez - 98 TBF, 27.6% K-BB%
Logan Webb - 70 TBF, 27.1% K-BB%
Hunter Greene - 66 TBF, 25.8% K-BB%
Gerrit Cole - 99 TBF, 25.3% K-BB%
Luis Castillo - 88 TBF, 25.0% K-BB%
Marcus Stroman - 71 TBF, 66.7% GB%
Taijuan Walker - 65 TBF, 65.9% GB%
Framber Valdez - 102 TBF, 65.7% GB%
Graham Ashcraft - 76 TBF, 60.8% GB%
Justin Steele - 72 TBF, 59.6% GB%
Alex Cobb - 63 TBF, 59.6% GB%
German Marquez - 63 TBF, 58.7% GB%
Seth Lugo - 70 TBF, 57.4% GB%
Corbin Burnes - 72 TBF, 56.9% GB%
Kyle Muller - 66 TBF, 56.2% GB%
Zac Gallen - +4.4% CSW%, -2.1 BB%
Luis Castillo - +4.1% CSW%, -3.4 BB%
Johan Oviedo - +3.8% CSW%, -5.0 BB%
Jesus Luzardo - +3.7% CSW%, -1.6 BB%
Nick Lodolo - +3.7% CSW%, -1.7 BB%
Justin Steele - +2.0% CSW%, -1.5 BB%
Noah Syndergaard - +4.5% CSW%, -2.2 BB%
Logan Webb - +2.7% CSW%, -1.8 BB%
Joe Ryan - +2.7% CSW%, -2.8 BB%
Kutter Crawford - +2.2% CSW%, -4.2 BB%
J.T. Realmuto (PHI) 6 PA, 15 Swings, 2 Barrels, 1 HR
Matt Chapman (TOR) 4 PA, 8 Swings, 2 Barrels, 0 HR
Nolan Gorman (STL) 5 PA, 8 Swings, 2 Barrels, 0 HR
Ozzie Albies (ATL) 4 PA, 4 Swings, 2 Barrels, 1 HR
Vinnie Pasquantino (KC) 4 PA, 8 Swings, 2 Barrels, 1 HR
Brent Rooker, Yesterday: 111.8 Previous High: 111.7
Nolan Gorman, Yesterday: 112.3 Previous High: 110.7
1. Marcus Semien - 5.0 PA - 72.0 JA Points
2. Jeimer Candelario - 5.0 PA - 65.0 JA Points
3. J.T. Realmuto - 6.0 PA - 56.0 JA Points
4. Vinnie Pasquantino - 4.0 PA - 54.0 JA Points
5. Jorge Mateo - 5.0 PA - 49.0 JA Points
6. Willson Contreras - 5.0 PA - 45.0 JA Points
7. Kyle Schwarber - 6.0 PA - 44.0 JA Points
8. Jonah Heim - 4.0 PA - 42.0 JA Points
9. Brandon Marsh - 6.0 PA - 41.0 JA Points
10. Francisco Lindor - 5.0 PA - 40.0 JA Points
1. Matt Chapman (TOR) - 64.0 PA - 209.38 JA Points
2. Kyle Tucker (HOU) - 68.0 PA - 180.0 JA Points
3. Brandon Lowe (TB) - 52.0 PA - 166.92 JA Points
4. Yandy Diaz (TB) - 63.0 PA - 161.9 JA Points
5. Corey Seager (TEX) - 49.0 PA - 161.63 JA Points
6. Will Smith (LAD) - 48.0 PA - 158.33 JA Points
7. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (TOR) - 74.0 PA - 155.68 JA Points
8. Vinnie Pasquantino (KC) - 62.0 PA - 154.19 JA Points
9. Ronald Acuna Jr. (ATL) - 77.0 PA - 153.77 JA Points
10. Adley Rutschman (BAL) - 75.0 PA - 151.47 JA Points
Willson Contreras (STL) - 115.1mph - double
Nolan Gorman (STL) - 112.3mph - double
Ronald Acuna Jr. (ATL) - 112.1mph - single
Brent Rooker (OAK) - 111.8mph - nan
Pete Alonso (NYM) - 111.7mph - home_run
Jorge Mateo (BAL) - 111.0mph - double
Josh Bell (CLE) - 110.5mph - single
Carlos Santana (PIT) - 110.5mph - single
Alek Thomas (ARI) - 110.3mph - single
Yordan Alvarez (HOU) - 110.3mph - nan
Matt Chapman - 64 PA, 45 BIP, 15 Brls, 33.3 Brl%
Sean Murphy - 56 PA, 29 BIP, 8 Brls, 27.6 Brl%
Max Muncy - 63 PA, 30 BIP, 8 Brls, 26.7 Brl%
Brandon Lowe - 52 PA, 31 BIP, 8 Brls, 25.8 Brl%
Jorge Soler - 57 PA, 40 BIP, 10 Brls, 25.0 Brl%
Joc Pederson - 40 PA, 21 BIP, 5 Brls, 23.8 Brl%
Matt Olson - 75 PA, 38 BIP, 9 Brls, 23.7 Brl%
Ryan Mountcastle - 74 PA, 51 BIP, 12 Brls, 23.5 Brl%
MJ Melendez - 62 PA, 30 BIP, 7 Brls, 23.3 Brl%
Aaron Judge - 67 PA, 35 BIP, 8 Brls, 22.9 Brl%
Matt Chapman - 64 PA, 0.527 xwOBA
Brandon Lowe - 52 PA, 0.503 xwOBA
Pete Alonso - 70 PA, 0.494 xwOBA
Jarred Kelenic - 52 PA, 0.493 xwOBA
Kyle Tucker - 68 PA, 0.472 xwOBA
Sean Murphy - 56 PA, 0.465 xwOBA
Bo Bichette - 75 PA, 0.46 xwOBA
Paul Goldschmidt - 73 PA, 0.447 xwOBA
Yandy Diaz - 63 PA, 0.446 xwOBA
Bryan Reynolds - 68 PA, 0.446 xwOBA
Luis Garcia - 42 PA, 74 Swings, 91.9 Cont%
Luis Arraez - 57 PA, 80 Swings, 91.2 Cont%
Nico Hoerner - 65 PA, 95 Swings, 90.5 Cont%
Mauricio Dubon - 52 PA, 102 Swings, 90.2 Cont%
Steven Kwan - 77 PA, 130 Swings, 90.0 Cont%
Alex Verdugo - 70 PA, 98 Swings, 88.8 Cont%
Will Smith - 48 PA, 79 Swings, 88.6 Cont%
Jose Ramirez - 71 PA, 134 Swings, 88.1 Cont%
Isaac Paredes - 52 PA, 108 Swings, 87.0 Cont%
Alec Bohm - 68 PA, 119 Swings, 86.6 Cont%
Jake Bauers (NYY): 3/3, 3R, 3HR, 8RBI, 0SB, 52FPts
Dustin Harris (TEX): 3/5, 3R, 1HR, 4RBI, 1SB, 39FPts
Robbie Glendinning (KC): 3/5, 2R, 2HR, 4RBI, 0SB, 37FPts
Dominic Canzone (ARI): 3/4, 3R, 2HR, 3RBI, 0SB, 37FPts
Shay Whitcomb (HOU): 3/5, 2R, 2HR, 5RBI, 0SB, 37FPts
Zach Remillard (CWS): 3/3, 3R, 1HR, 2RBI, 1SB, 37FPts
Luca Tresh (KC): 3/3, 3R, 1HR, 5RBI, 0SB, 36FPts
Michael Gigliotti (SF): 3/4, 3R, 1HR, 3RBI, 0SB, 36FPts
Will Wagner (HOU): 5/5, 3R, 1HR, 2RBI, 0SB, 36FPts
Robbie Tenerowicz (SEA): 2/4, 2R, 2HR, 4RBI, 0SB, 32FPts
Osvaldo Bido (PIT): 5IP, 2H, 0ER, 9K, 4BB, 29FPts
Sawyer Gipson-Long (DET): 5IP, 3H, 1ER, 9K, 0BB, 29FPts
J.P. France (HOU): 5IP, 0H, 0ER, 7K, 1BB, 28FPts
Humberto Mejia (NYM): 5IP, 2H, 0ER, 7K, 3BB, 26FPts
Dylan Dodd (ATL): 5IP, 4H, 0ER, 8K, 3BB, 24FPts
Joe Boyle (CIN): 4IP, 3H, 0ER, 9K, 2BB, 24FPts
Logan Allen (CLE): 4IP, 5H, 1ER, 9K, 1BB, 22FPts
Ben Brown (CHC): 5IP, 3H, 0ER, 7K, 2BB, 22FPts
Drew Rom (BAL): 5IP, 2H, 0ER, 5K, 3BB, 22FPts
Blas Castano (NYY): 5IP, 2H, 0ER, 6K, 0BB, 22FPts
Jake Bauers (AAA - NYY) 52 PA 1.356 OPS
Nolan Jones (AAA - COL) 48 PA 1.351 OPS
Buddy Kennedy (AAA - ARI) 53 PA 1.35 OPS
Christopher Morel (AAA - CHC) 56 PA 1.322 OPS
Jo Adell (AAA - LAA) 73 PA 1.266 OPS
Brian O'Keefe (AAA - SEA) 50 PA 1.235 OPS
Coco Montes (AAA - COL) 71 PA 1.217 OPS
Cody Thomas (AAA - OAK) 66 PA 1.213 OPS
Peyton Burdick (AAA - MIA) 64 PA 1.211 OPS
Luken Baker (AAA - STL) 58 PA 1.2 OPS
Ronny Mauricio (AAA - NYM) 62 PA 1.192 OPS
Andy Ibanez (AAA - DET) 55 PA 1.184 OPS
J.P. Martinez (AAA - TEX) 47 PA 1.181 OPS
Trey Cabbage (AAA - LAA) 55 PA 1.167 OPS
C.J. Hinojosa (AAA - MIA) 48 PA 1.167 OPS
Hudson Haskin (AAA - BAL) 56 PA 1.152 OPS
Luke Williams (AAA - LAD) 66 PA 1.151 OPS
Alfonso Rivas (AAA - SD) 48 PA 1.138 OPS
Zack Collins (AAA - CLE) 69 PA 1.133 OPS
Mark Vientos (AAA - NYM) 60 PA 1.109 OPS
Andrew Abbott (AA - CIN) 10 IP 68.5% K-BB
Emmet Sheehan (AA - LAD) 11 IP 40.9% K-BB
Pat Monteverde (AA - MIA) 13 IP 40.4% K-BB
Sam Bachman (AA - LAA) 10 IP 32.5% K-BB
Sawyer Gipson-Long (AA - DET) 11 IP 31.7% K-BB
Casey Lawrence (AAA - TOR) 13 IP 31.5% K-BB
Allan Winans (AAA - ATL) 15 IP 29.4% K-BB
Tanner Bibee (AAA - CLE) 11 IP 29.3% K-BB
Matthew Liberatore (AAA - STL) 17 IP 26.1% K-BB
Logan Allen (AAA - CLE) 14 IP 25.9% K-BB
Shane Drohan (AA - BOS) 11 IP 25.6% K-BB
Osvaldo Bido (AAA - PIT) 12 IP 25.0% K-BB
Clayton Beeter (AA - NYY) 11 IP 25.0% K-BB
Alex Faedo (AAA - DET) 11 IP 25.0% K-BB
Bryan Hoeing (AAA - MIA) 12 IP 24.0% K-BB
Brandon Pfaadt (AAA - ARI) 13 IP 23.7% K-BB
Touki Toussaint (AAA - CLE) 11 IP 22.5% K-BB
Luis Ortiz (AAA - PIT) 12 IP 21.5% K-BB
Logan Allen (AAA - COL) 11 IP 21.3% K-BB
Coleman Crow (AA - LAA) 11 IP 21.0% K-BB
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