SP Roundup – April 1

What a day on the mound. We saw some masterclasses! We had our first GOAT grade of the season, and THREE ELITE grades.

GOAT

Sandy Alcantara (MIA) – 9 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 7 K, 15 whiffs, 93 pitches

Our first GOAT grade of the season is for a complete game shutout in less than 100 pitches. This is so rare these days. Sandy Alcantara is rolling back the clock here. His slider was phenomenal, earning 5/9 whiffs and a 47% CSW, with no hard hits. I think its safe to say, Sandy is back!

ELITE

Gavin Williams (CLE) – 7 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 10 K, 16 whiffs, 85 pitches

Keep in mind, this was achieved against the Dodgers’ lineup. His curveball and sweeper were absolute weapons on the night, and both pitches generated a 60% whiff rate. His four-seamer performed well, too, sitting at an average of 97.1 mph and not giving up a single hard hit.

Cam Schlittler (NYY) – 6.1 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 7 K, 13 whiffs, 79 pitches

11 whiffs (61%) on the four-seamer! Another dominant, scoreless performance. Two starts and 11.2 innings pitched into the season, and he’s yet to give up a run.

Kevin Gausman (TOR) – 6 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 10K, 19 whiffs, 89 pitches

11 whiffs with the signature splitter and a 47% CSW with the four-seamer. When his splitter works, he’s just so tough to face. Kevin Gausman may be 35, but he’s here to stay.

ACE

Chris Sale (ATL) – 6 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K, 9 whiffs, 79 pitches

He was down quite a bit in velo. Apparently, this was due to illness. The Braves didn’t even know if he would make the start. Manager Walt Weiss said he was hoping to get three innings out of him. This makes this performance even more impressive. I thought it was a very controlled outing by Sale. He pounded the zone with his slider. I actually thought the A’s could have seized upon some of them. Just gave up the lone hit, a solo HR by the red-hot Shane BANG-eliers.

Zac Gallen (AZ) – 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 6 whiffs, 88 pitches

A much better performance from Zac this time around. Six scoreless innings in a pitching duel vs Tarik Skubal. Good command.

Matthew Boyd (CHI) – 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 10 K, 20 whiffs, 98 pitches

20 whiffs! He must be the whiff leader this season. The changeup was fantastic, with a 44% whiff rate and no hard hits. He faced righties only.

Nick Pivetta (SD) – 5 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 8 K, 10 whiffs, 82 pitches

Five scoreless innings. 21” of IVB on his four-seamer. Are you kidding me? He needs to locate it better, though, as it only generated a 21% CSW. Much better outing from Nick.

BALLER

Freddy Peralta (NYM) – 5.1 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K, 15 whiffs, 92 pitches

Good outing for Peralta. 40% whiff rate with the four-seamer.

Tarik Skubal (DET) – 7 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 3 K, 7 whiffs, 87 pitches

Very good outing, but where are the whiffs and strikeouts? His stuff seemed to have less horizontal movement in this outing, which made him perhaps less dominant. Still a strong outing.

Drew Rasmussen (TB) – 5 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 8 K, 12 whiffs, 89 pitches

Could be more efficient, but a good outing from Drew nonetheless. His changeup got 4/5 whiffs, and the four-seamer had a 54% CSW. Strong start to the season.

Cade Cavalli (WSH) – 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 K, 9 whiffs, 84 pitches

Great outing against a strong Phillies lineup. His curveball was magnificent with a 47% CSW.

Matthew Liberatore (STL) – 6 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 4 whiffs, 76 pitches

Quality start from Liberatore. Seven different pitches were used, all with low CSW %, but got the job done against a strong Mets lineup.

Paul Skenes (PIT) – 5 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 K, 11 whiffs, 77 pitches

Skenes settled in well with a strong outing after last week’s fiasco, when he couldn’t get out of the first inning. He located the sinker well (43% CSW).

Noah Cameron (KC) – 5 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 5 K, 8 whiffs, 86 pitches

The cutter to righties looked good in a strong outing in tough, wet conditions. Could be more efficient.

Kyle Freeland (COL) – 5 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 K, 10 whiffs, 88 pitches

He seems to have found more velo and horizontal movement on his stuff. Kyle’s been very good so far this season. We could be looking at a better Kyle Freeland this season. His four-seamer had a 42% CSW.

Christopher Sanchez (PHI) – 5.1 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 7 K, 12 whiffs, 97 pitches

Struggled to locate his sinker. Had some command issues. The slider was filthy with 4/7 whiffs and a 45% CSW.

Jacob Misiorowski (MIL) – 6 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 7 K, 13 whiffs, 94 pitches

Good outing from the Mis after a stellar performance last week. His location wasn’t as spot on as last time out, but his four-seamer is still electric enough to get the job done.

SOLID

Trevor Rogers (BAL)

Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LAD)

Adrian Houser (SF)

Mike Burrows (HOU)

WORKABLE

George Kirby (SEA)

Garrett Crochet (BOS)

Andrew Abbott (CIN)

Yusei Kikuchi (LAA)

GAS CAN

Luis Severino (ATH)

Joe Ryan (MIN)

DUMPSTER FIRE

Nathan Eovaldi (TEX) – 4 IP, 6 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 5 K, 13 whiffs, 88 pitches

This is the second consecutive poor performance by Eovaldi. Is it time to start worrying? Maybe not yet. He’s struggling with command a bit, so this is something he should be able to sort out. The curveball got 4/7 whiffs. The cutter wasn’t great.

Shane Smith (CWS) – 3 IP, 7 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 1 K, 3 whiffs, 72 pitches

A proper dumpster fire if I ever saw one! Poor locations all day cost him dearly. He seems to have more movement on his stuff. His four-seamer has 17” of IVB. He gave up only 3 hard hits. The potential is there. I’ll give him one more chance beofre giving up on him.