Fantasy Baseball SP Roundup 7/10: The Hunter & The Hunted
Welcome to the SP Roundup, my daily fantasy baseball article reviewing every starting pitcher’s performance from every Friday game. I apologize for the jokes written in my delirium in advance. Have questions? Ask me during my office hours on Twitch.tv (https://twitch.tv/pitcherlist) weekday mornings from 10 am-12 pm ET.
Hunter Greene vs CHC (W) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 12 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 37% CSW, 93 pitches.
There’s an inherent link between some pitchers. Some find commonality in their pitch repertoire, others share comparable career trajectories, and still more have similar pitching mechanics. Rarely are pitchers linked by such arbitrary reasons as a title, but Hunter Brown and Hunter Greene have felt like distant kin since they both emerged as aces, sharing the same first name with a color-inspired surname.
They don’t have similar arsenals, career paths, or mechanics, nor did they have similar outings on Friday, but they did both just return from injury and will be discussed often both this weekend and the rest of the season. Greene outpitched Brown, dominating the Cubs with 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 12 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 37% CSW, 93 pitches (W), announcing his return to form. Pitching in Texas against the Rangers, Brown stumbled to 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 5 BBs, 4 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 98 pitches (ND), failing to recover his pre-injury success.
Greene’s start doesn’t require much analysis. He overwhelmed batters with triple-digit heat, allowing him to get away with a sub-60% strike rate on sliders. There was room for even more success if four-seamers weren’t fouled off a whopping 18 times (36% foul%) – likely whiffs in a start where he holds a normal foul ball rate. He’ll need to find the zone more with his slider to continue pitching this well, but we’re beyond happy seeing a King Cole with a dozen punchouts after he allowed eight runs in his season debut. He’s back, baby!
As for Brown, his trajectory is headed in the wrong direction. He looked amazing in March before he suffered a shoulder strain that held him out of action until mid-June. He still looked great upon his return, but it’s been downhill since then, and there are two concerning problems.
The command, or lack thereof, is the most obvious one, as only sinkers eclipsed 60% strikes while everything else combined for a 52% mark. Even worse, most of his pitches weren’t competitive and were all over the place. We’re not talking about near misses. We’re talking about a majority of his secondaries landing in the upper half of the zone and tons of fastballs missing by more than a foot. You can blame that for the five walks in this one, and it was surprising he was efficient enough to survive six frames with so many free passes.
The more concerning issue has been the diminishment of his stuff, most notably on his four-seamer. Not only is he throwing more than a tick slower, but the movement of the pitch has precipitously disappeared. He’s lost more than 2″ of iVB on his four-seamer, making it a below league-average pitch according to stuff grades. His sinker and changeup movement have actually improved, with both gaining more drop and the former finding more run (the changeup has less run, but that’s a result of inconsistent feel for the pitch). However, the accompanying velo dip offsets the movement improvements.
The four-seamer decline weighs more heavily than possible sinker enhancement. It was his most-used pitch last year, and his formerly elite dual fastballs were what propelled him to acedom. Without those pitches dominating in concert with well-commanded curveballs, he quickly becomes a pitcher easily exploited by opposing offenses. We’re not dropping him, but this current version of Brown won’t be having a Coronation Day any time soon.
Greene has firmly established himself as the premier Hunter+Color in MLB. (View Game Card) (https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:vxh67fh2qpq74sdmedzbpxt7/bafkreieciyoe4uwrzpmqtwna3mgw27neqny2xtd7xy2qxdity7rynnwzb4)
Other SP Performances
Nolan McLean (NYM) vs BOS (L) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 98 pitches.
Kyle Leahy (STL) vs ATL (ND) – 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hit, 0 BBs, 2 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 44 pitches.
Chris Sale (ATL) @ STL (ND) – 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 40% CSW, 43 pitches.
Sean Burke (CHW) vs ATH (W) – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 9 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 98 pitches.
Sonny Gray (BOS) @ NYM (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 2 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 91 pitches.
Parker Messick (CLE) @ MIA (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 Hit, 4 BBs, 1 K – 8 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 91 pitches.
Cal Quantrill (TEX) vs HOU (ND) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 K – 2 Whiffs, 16% CSW, 79 pitches.
Ryan Weathers (NYY) @ WSN (ND) – 5.1 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 91 pitches.
Robbie Ray (SFG) vs COL (ND) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 6 BBs, 4 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 15% CSW, 100 pitches.
Tanner Gordon (COL) @ SFG (ND) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 81 pitches.
Shota Imanaga (CHC) @ CIN (L) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 102 pitches.
Zack Littell (WSN) vs NYY (ND) – 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 69 pitches.
Jack Flaherty (DET) vs PHI (W) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 86 pitches.
Eduardo Rodriguez (ARI) @ LAD (W) – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 87 pitches.
Nick Martinez (TBR) vs SEA (W) – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 K – 6 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 70 pitches.
Aaron Nola (PHI) @ DET (ND) – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 84 pitches.
Shane Bieber (TOR) @ SDP (ND) – 4.2 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 97 pitches.
Kyle Hurt (LAD) vs ARI (ND) – 1.2 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 K – 4 Whiffs, 22% CSW, 36 pitches.
Sandy Alcantara (MIA) vs CLE (L) – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks – 13 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 99 pitches.
Brandon Young (BAL) vs KCR (ND) – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 85 pitches.
Grayson Rodriguez (LAA) @ MIN (W) – 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 0 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 19% CSW, 79 pitches.
Luinder Avila (KCR) @ BAL (ND) – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 96 pitches.
JP Sears (SDP) vs TOR (L) – 4.1 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 72 pitches.
Zebby Matthews (MIN) vs LAA (L) – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 22% CSW, 102 pitches.
Luis Castillo (SEA) @ TBR (L) – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 8 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 91 pitches.
Aaron Civale (ATH) @ CHW (L) – 2.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 58 pitches.
Game of the Day
Logan Gilbert vs. Griffin Jax – Can Gilbert continue his hot streak, and does Jax finally break out into the mainstream baseball consciousness?
