MLB Daily Notes - August 26th
A daily automated report of what happened yesterday in Major League Baseball, along with other recent trends and further analysis.
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I am taking off for a long weekend back in Pittsburgh with the boys! Going to do all the normal stuff 30-35 year old men do when they all get back together, and it will culminate in our first in-person fantasy football draft in years on Monday night. I am very much looking forward to it, but it will mean these write-ups will likely be shorter in the next few days.
Pitchers - Yesterday
Shout out to Gerrit Cole man, he’s really one of a kind in this day and age. He’s just out there every fifth day, and he’s pitched so well the whole time.
He goes the whole way back in my Statcast history dashboard! And he’s faced at least 500 batters every single year.
He has faced the most batters in the league since 2015 and has done it all with a 23.6% K-BB%. That’s so impressive.
Reliable first-round arm every year (until he’s not), and he’s in good shape to take home a Cy Young Award, which would be his first! Personally, I’m rooting for the guy to get it, it feels #unjust for him not to have one yet.
More of the same at the top of the leaderboard. Strider did the Strider thing, Senga got there with strikeouts but still had the walks (10:3 K:BB), Woodruff was great again (although it was on a low 11.2% SwStr%), and Mitch Keller had another up start on another very low 9.7% SwStr%.
The bummer of the day was Lance Lynn who got just seven whiffs on 94 pitches and gave up three runs, but he did grit through an ugly quality start (6 IP, 10 H, 3 ER, 1 K, 1 BB).
Bryce Miller threw a ton of strikes (61.4%) but didn’t have a great outing
4 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 6 K, 1 BB
The sinker kind of went away:
Back down to 7% usage
Fantasy Points Leaders - Yesterday
1. Gerrit Cole (vs. TB): 39.46 Points
2. Brandon Woodruff (vs. SD): 33.9 Points
3. Spencer Strider (vs. SF): 33.35 Points
4. Mitch Keller (vs. CHC): 31.0 Points
5. Kodai Senga (vs. LAA): 26.81 Points
6. Zach Eflin (vs. NYY): 26.7 Points
7. Patrick Sandoval (vs. NYM): 25.9 Points
8. Framber Valdez (vs. DET): 24.75 Points
9. Cristopher Sanchez (vs. STL): 22.5 Points
10. Joan Adon (vs. MIA): 22.3 Points
Whiffs Leaders - Yesterday
1. Spencer Strider (ATL): 24 Whiffs (94 Pitches)
2. Kodai Senga (NYM): 21 Whiffs (105 Pitches)
3. Gerrit Cole (NYY): 17 Whiffs (100 Pitches)
4. Zach Eflin (TB): 17 Whiffs (103 Pitches)
5. Framber Valdez (HOU): 16 Whiffs (114 Pitches)
6. Bryce Miller (SEA): 15 Whiffs (83 Pitches)
7. Brady Singer (KC): 12 Whiffs (87 Pitches)
8. Dylan Cease (CWS): 12 Whiffs (96 Pitches)
9. Brandon Woodruff (MIL): 12 Whiffs (107 Pitches)
10. Chris Bassitt (TOR): 12 Whiffs (100 Pitches)
Strike% Leaders - Yesterday
1. Bryce Miller (SEA): 61.4 Strike%, 25.3 Ball%
2. Brandon Woodruff (MIL): 57.9 Strike%, 33.6 Ball%
3. Spencer Strider (ATL): 55.3 Strike%, 28.7 Ball%
4. Zach Eflin (TB): 54.4 Strike%, 32.0 Ball%
5. Cole Irvin (BAL): 51.8 Strike%, 25.9 Ball%
6. Kodai Senga (NYM): 51.4 Strike%, 36.2 Ball%
7. Yu Darvish (SD): 51.3 Strike%, 30.3 Ball%
8. Kutter Crawford (BOS): 51.2 Strike%, 34.9 Ball%
9. Cristopher Sanchez (PHI): 50.6 Strike%, 28.9 Ball%
10. Trevor Kelley (TB): 50.0 Strike%, 36.0 Ball%
11. Gerrit Cole (NYY): 50.0 Strike%, 34.0 Ball%
12. Chris Bassitt (TOR): 49.0 Strike%, 33.0 Ball%
13. Patrick Sandoval (LAA): 48.6 Strike%, 39.3 Ball%
14. Kyle Freeland (COL): 48.0 Strike%, 22.7 Ball%
15. Tanner Bibee (CLE): 47.4 Strike%, 34.0 Ball%
Pitcher/Pitch Trends
Velo Changes - Yesterday
Kyle Freeland's SL velo (21 pitches) UP 2.4mph to 86.1
Kyle Freeland's CU velo (18 pitches) UP 2.2mph to 82.4
Joan Adon's SL velo (21 pitches) UP 1.8mph to 87.9
Trevor Kelley's ST velo (23 pitches) UP 1.7mph to 77.4
Lance Lynn's FC velo (14 pitches) UP 1.6mph to 90.1
Kutter Crawford's FF velo (34 pitches) DOWN -1.6mph to 92.4
Zach Eflin's FC velo (24 pitches) DOWN -1.6mph to 87.0
Hunter Greene's SL velo (32 pitches) DOWN -2.7mph to 85.3
Pitch Mix Changes - Yesterday
Bryce Miller's ST usage (18.1%) up 11.1 points
Dane Dunning's SI usage (45.1%) up 11.8 points
Framber Valdez's CH usage (33.3%) up 19.5 points
Joan Adon's SL usage (22.3%) up 12.3 points
Kodai Senga's FC usage (37.1%) up 11.9 points
Lance Lynn's FF usage (53.2%) up 10.6 points
Matt Manning's SL usage (40.0%) up 10.5 points
Mitch Keller's FC usage (38.7%) up 12.7 points
Patrick Sandoval's FF usage (35.5%) up 11.2 points
Trevor Kelley's SL usage (14.0%) up 10.8 points
Yu Darvish's FS usage (24.0%) up 16.8 points
Zach Eflin's ST usage (12.6%) up 10.5 points
Zach Neal's SI usage (42.5%) up 15.5 points
Pitch Mix Changes - Last 3 Starts
Bobby Miller 4-Seam Fastball: +20.6%
Bryce Miller 4-Seam Fastball: -19.8%
Trevor Williams 4-Seam Fastball: -19.0%
Luis Severino 4-Seam Fastball: -18.4%
Bryce Miller Sinker: +18.2%
Jon Gray Slider: +18.1%
Bobby Miller Sinker: -18.0%
JP Sears Slider: +17.9%
Johan Oviedo 4-Seam Fastball: +17.6%
Tanner Houck Sinker: +17.0%
Noah Syndergaard 4-Seam Fastball: +16.3%
Josiah Gray Sinker: +16.3%
Jose Urquidy 4-Seam Fastball: +16.0%
Noah Syndergaard Cutter: -15.6%
Noah Syndergaard Sinker: -15.6%
Luis Severino Cutter: +14.6%
Lance Lynn Cutter: -14.4%
Noah Syndergaard Slider: +14.1%
Patrick Sandoval Slider: -14.1%
Cole Ragans Slider: +13.5%
Josiah Gray 4-Seam Fastball: -13.3%
Scott Alexander Slider: -13.1%
Framber Valdez Changeup: +13.1%
Patrick Corbin Sinker: -12.7%
Austin Gomber Slider: +12.4%
Patrick Sandoval Sinker: +12.2%
Pitchers - Recent Leaders
CSW% Leaders - Last 3 Weeks
Freddy Peralta - 70 TBF, 36.9% CSW%
Julio Urias - 73 TBF, 36.0% CSW%
Gavin Williams - 90 TBF, 35.0% CSW%
Charlie Morton - 94 TBF, 34.4% CSW%
Spencer Strider - 91 TBF, 34.3% CSW%
Lucas Giolito - 79 TBF, 33.8% CSW%
Merrill Kelly - 92 TBF, 33.3% CSW%
Nick Pivetta - 95 TBF, 33.2% CSW%
Dylan Cease - 101 TBF, 33.1% CSW%
Dane Dunning - 99 TBF, 32.3% CSW%
K% Leaders - Last 3 Weeks
Freddy Peralta - 70 TBF, 42.9% K%
Cole Ragans - 96 TBF, 37.5% K%
Gavin Williams - 90 TBF, 34.4% K%
Brandon Woodruff - 87 TBF, 33.3% K%
Nick Pivetta - 95 TBF, 31.6% K%
Zac Gallen - 96 TBF, 31.2% K%
Chase Silseth - 68 TBF, 30.9% K%
Charlie Morton - 94 TBF, 30.9% K%
Spencer Strider - 91 TBF, 30.8% K%
Zack Thompson - 75 TBF, 30.7% K%
K-BB% Leaders - Last 3 Weeks
Freddy Peralta - 70 TBF, 35.7% K-BB%
Cole Ragans - 96 TBF, 30.2% K-BB%
Gavin Williams - 90 TBF, 28.9% K-BB%
Julio Urias - 73 TBF, 28.8% K-BB%
Zack Thompson - 75 TBF, 26.7% K-BB%
Brandon Woodruff - 87 TBF, 26.4% K-BB%
Zac Gallen - 96 TBF, 26.0% K-BB%
Yusei Kikuchi - 68 TBF, 25.0% K-BB%
Logan Gilbert - 68 TBF, 25.0% K-BB%
Zach Eflin - 93 TBF, 24.7% K-BB%
GB% Leaders - Last 3 Weeks
Logan Webb - 104 TBF, 61.4% GB%
Dakota Hudson - 72 TBF, 61.1% GB%
Cristopher Sanchez - 95 TBF, 60.3% GB%
Graham Ashcraft - 82 TBF, 57.9% GB%
Framber Valdez - 112 TBF, 57.3% GB%
Max Fried - 71 TBF, 56.4% GB%
Grayson Rodriguez - 77 TBF, 55.4% GB%
Sandy Alcantara - 113 TBF, 54.3% GB%
Tarik Skubal - 93 TBF, 53.8% GB%
Dane Dunning - 99 TBF, 53.3% GB%
Magic Formula Qualifiers - Pitchers - Last 3 Weeks
Brandon Williamson - 97 TBF, 27.8 K%, 4.1 BB%, 45.5% GB%
Clarke Schmidt - 63 TBF, 28.6 K%, 7.9 BB%, 43.6% GB%
Cole Ragans - 96 TBF, 37.5 K%, 7.3 BB%, 47.2% GB%
Gavin Williams - 90 TBF, 34.4 K%, 5.6 BB%, 44.2% GB%
Julio Urias - 73 TBF, 30.1 K%, 1.4 BB%, 43.8% GB%
Justin Steele - 98 TBF, 27.6 K%, 6.1 BB%, 43.8% GB%
Merrill Kelly - 92 TBF, 30.4 K%, 6.5 BB%, 50.0% GB%
Michael King - 54 TBF, 33.3 K%, 7.4 BB%, 46.9% GB%
Sonny Gray - 102 TBF, 27.5 K%, 5.9 BB%, 45.5% GB%
Tyler Glasnow - 51 TBF, 27.5 K%, 5.9 BB%, 50.0% GB%
Zac Gallen - 96 TBF, 31.2 K%, 5.2 BB%, 45.0% GB%
Zach Eflin - 93 TBF, 28.0 K%, 3.2 BB%, 45.3% GB%
Zack Thompson - 75 TBF, 30.7 K%, 4.0 BB%, 50.0% GB%
Hot Pitcher Tracker - Last 3 Weeks vs. Career
Mitch Keller - +3.9% CSW%, -3.5 BB%
Jake Irvin - +3.5% CSW%, -3.5 BB%
Julio Urias - +5.6% CSW%, -3.8 BB%
Freddy Peralta - +5.3% CSW%, -2.0 BB%
Adrian Houser - +8.5% CSW%, -6.4 BB%
Jhony Brito - +4.6% CSW%, -4.0 BB%
Matthew Liberatore - +2.4% CSW%, -3.8 BB%
Jakob Junis - +5.0% CSW%, -3.6 BB%
Bryan Shaw - +2.5% CSW%, -3.4 BB%
Hitters
Multiple Barrels
Austin Hays (BAL) 4 PA, 8 Swings, 2 Barrels, 1 HR
D.J. LeMahieu (NYY) 5 PA, 5 Swings, 2 Barrels, 2 HR
Drew Waters (KC) 4 PA, 8 Swings, 2 Barrels, 0 HR
Eloy Jimenez (CWS) 4 PA, 4 Swings, 2 Barrels, 1 HR
Kyle Schwarber (PHI) 4 PA, 4 Swings, 2 Barrels, 1 HR
Ronald Acuna Jr. (ATL) 4 PA, 5 Swings, 2 Barrels, 0 HR
Ryan McMahon (COL) 4 PA, 5 Swings, 2 Barrels, 0 HR
Hardest Hit Balls
Shohei Ohtani (LAA) - 115.4mph - double
Gary Sanchez (SD) - 115.1mph - home_run
Matt Wallner (MIN) - 112.8mph - triple
Eloy Jimenez (CWS) - 112.5mph - home_run
Manny Machado (SD) - 111.4mph - home_run
Tyler O'Neill (STL) - 111.3mph - double
Kyle Schwarber (PHI) - 109.9mph - double
Ryan McMahon (COL) - 109.9mph - field_out
Triston Casas (BOS) - 109.9mph - single
Leody Taveras (TEX) - 109.9mph - double
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