Signing you in

Nick Pollack reviews every starting pitcher performance from Wednesday.

Welcome to the SP Roundup, my daily fantasy baseball article reviewing every starting pitcher's performance from every Wednesday game. I apologize for the jokes written in my delirium in advance. Have questions? Ask me during my office hours on Twitch.tv weekday mornings from 10 am-12 pm ET.

We typically see a velocity boost during debuts and this as no exception. Sandlin had showcased 2-3 tick gains on his heater in the minors from 94 mph, but we mostly saw 98 mph on the four-seamer here, while the 92 mph cutter and 92/93 mph changeup were all kinds of fun to watch. Those secondaries are what you want to see – a stabilizing cutter for strikes and a changeup with legit whiffability (just watch his second at-bat) – and I wonder what we’ll get from his breakers in the future. The curve was the trusted offering to both LHB and RHB near 30% usage for both and I’m a little concerned that it may not be as effective at ~81 mph, making it hard to come close to replicating a 78% strike rate without damage.

There is a sweeper at 86 mph for RHB he whipped out in the sixth (saved it!) that I hope to see a little more as it should be a fantastic putaway pitch if he can get it away consistently. This is a ton of praise for Sandlin, leaving one last box to tick: His four-seamer. At first glance, it seems to be Empty Velocity at 16-17″ vert and 7/8″ cut, but my concern comes from its precision. I’m not sure what his intent will be in the long run after yesterday – is it middle away to RHB and up to LHB? – after nearly all of them to LHB were down the pipe, while RHB saw a mix of middle-middle and living up-and-down on the outside edge. Among all the strikes from curves and cutters, I was a bit surprised to see him struggle to wrangle the velocity. That may be adrenaline talking, though.

Overall, he's worth the spec-add. I don’t think I’m ready to give a proper assessment due to the small sample with an aggressive Twins offense that didn’t know how to handle the unknown arm. Sandlin will have a challenge in his second MLB start – a repeat of the same Twins squad – followed by a date in Philly, and why not. Let's see what he can do. To put it bluntly, 97+ mph velocity, 3/4 secondaries he likes, including a hard cutter for strikes and a whiffable changeup + an ability to pitch efficiently, is a remarkable resume. Gotta take a chance on that, right? (View Game Card)

Aces gonna ace. What is that, 40+ IP of scoreless baseball? Five straight 0 ER outings, averaging nearly eight innings per outing, is hilarious. Sure, that schedule has been as soft as a Weaver “heater”, and I don’t care. I was completely wrong on Sánchez's hittability that would lead to more volatility. I love being wrong this way. (View Game Card)

Yeeeessssss. You’re a SWATCH, Connelly. The high heater + low changeup ruled the day, champions, loitering over the plate that Hotlanata couldn’t knock off its podium. For Early to take the next step, I need to see a third offering in between, with a bit more swing and miss on something outside of the four-seamer (His best mark was a 14% Swstr rate shared by his four-seamer and change). Have no fear against Baltimore up next. (View Game Card)

Aces gonna ace with a 29% SwStr rate slider at 89 mph that gets me all giddy. IT’S TOO SOON. Is it? Tell me, everyone who has Cole on their rosters, if he faced the Dodgers or Hotlanta or Sacré Verde, would you bench Cole? …No. We’re done here. (View Game Card)

It's a lovely line, but the performance? Ehhhhh. Gilbert wasn’t precise and his four-seamer was the only reliable strike pitch. Splitters got some whiffs against LHB, but was all of the place, and his slider stayed low to RHB (nice!) but forced Gilbert to go heater a little too often with its 59% strike rate. But it was a good outing! Sure was, I just want the skills to match and feel awesome moving forward. (View Game Card)

Oh you think we’re convinced after you’ve returned 0 ER two straight games? Across 8.2 total innings? And a game with just one strikeout? HAISTBMBWT?! (View Game Card)

Aha! The cutter appeared! It played the role of Ben Wyatt auditing Entertainment360, doing everything it could at a 76% strike rate in 22% usage while the four-seamer, changeup, and curve flung all around the zone without focus. There's so much I have to fix. Just having that cutter is a big deal, especially one with its success, now he just needs to get the four-seamer in check. And the split-change. It's a list. (View Game Card)

I watched this live yesterday while recording The Craft with Eno, and felt directly responsible for breaking up the no-hitter to kick off the eighth. We talked about his viability moving forward and his changes, concluding that May's cutter is great to LHB, his new arm angle is helping, the sweeper has room to grow to RHB (and was dope to LHB?!), and we’d pick him up for a TEX + @NYM up next. By the way, after his first two starts of the year, May now holds a 3.02 ERA and 1.10 WHIP across nine games. No, he won’t win another King Cole for a while, but he doesn’t need to. QS leagues should heavily consider this. (View Game Card)

Whoa, this was a shift. Gavin is now throwing four-seamers in two-strike counts a ton (44-50% vs.LHB and RHB), and turning to his sinker early in the count. The result? A few punchouts to RHB, and a 0/8 putaway rate to LHB. Womp womp. At least everything is at a 60% strike or higher, still, and we’re all good here. The true breakout is here. (View Game Card)

Aces gonna ace. Four walks against Rockie Road, Shohei?! You forgot the HBP. SHOHEI. PLEASE. (View Game Card)

Hey, I’m happy for the fella, and I’m here to tell you that the four walks with a HAISTBMBWT?! is a bit misrepresentative. His slider has elite movement at 88 mph and there will be better days for Gibson's K/BB ratio. I’m not going to expect it for bit, and that's not even acknowledging his hazy playing time ahead. Who knows when he starts next. (View Game Card)

Patrick did well with his Ras-Pack arsenal (Cutter, Sinker, Four-seamer, and those random others no one remembers), and it's so Milwaukee to give him the ole hail-a-cab-clap-clap-give-me-the-dang-ball after four frames. You can’t roster a guy like this, sadly. (View Game Card)

Burows has reduced the slider to just seven thrown, featuring four-seamers, changeups, and curveballs as his main approach, which…is fine? This was a Blame it on the Rangers (and their home park) with a four-seamer that produced a high 35% CSW you shouldn’t get used to. I’m not jumping back in yet. (View Game Card)

I don’t quite understand McDonald. Why is he suddenly going 61% sinkers and 24% sliders? Doesn’t he know the breaker is his best pitch?! I’m glad he was able to give you six strong, then worsen that WHIP in the seventh, and I sincerely hope it means he sticks around instead of Houser or Mahle. He's a better arm for a Giants team that needs the help. If he does stick, it would be in Milwaukee up next, and I’m cool with that one. (View Game Card)

Aces gonna ace with a Gallows Pole as he quells your fears. It was another game of deGrom's fear of throwing too many four-seamers, while the slider is what allowed the solo shot to Alvarez in the fourth. That's the second time we saw Alvarez demolish a hung slider from a RHP in what, two? Three days? WHEN WILL YOU LEARN!? (View Game Card)

Standard elite pitch separation from Soroka, save for the cutter going all willy-nilly around the plate for whatever reason, kinda like me when I don’t take my ADHD medication (and also sometimes when I do. Mental health, y’all. It's legit important). If you were looking for a time to consider moving on from Soroka, it may be now with LAD, WSH, @CIN on the docket. I can’t get myself to do it personally, but I can understand it. That's just too big brain for me. (View Game Card)

He survived. How? I don’t really know, but he did. I’m just gonna yell at Philly. That's usually the wise move. (View Game Card)

Oh hey, sunshine and rainbows for Springs in Sacré Verde. It was a rare moment of 30% sliders to RHB with just one hit allowed and I wonder if that sticks around. It was flipped in there without fear, and that may be the way it is moving forward. It's not a good enough pitch to change my tune (I see this as a SUPRISE! Double the usage! game, not a real step forward), and I’m out against the Cubs. (View Game Card)

Blegh. How do you want to frame Soriano? 50/50 good vs. bad across his last four or 33/67 across his last six? The thread has been his four-seamer's strike rate, which dipped under 60% here, but more importantly, it was ball four on three of those four walks. Ohhhh dangit. He also went curve/splitter happy, which can work, but not if the splitter is just a 48% strike rate. Gotta fix that, and he should be comfortably in the zone next time against Rockie Road. Should be. (View Game Card)

He got burned on a strike-three call to Ohtani whilst out of challenges, but it didn’t ultimately affect this one. Really? What did then? Being Sugano against the Dodgers did. Ohhh, right. Sorry fella. (View Game Card)

Sigh. The command is still highly suspect. I’m watching a PEAS akin to Leiter in front of me and I can’t tell you when he’ll fix it. He just doesn’t work at-bats properly. (View Game Card)

Blegh. I love seeing him go more inside to RHB, setting up outs on the sweeper away, but two four-seamers left the yard for all four runs and that's your ballgame. I won’t rule out one or two six inning outings of production with ATH, SFG, @SFG on the horizon, and hopefully he can nail the fastball a little better. (View Game Card)

Matz located the changeup well, but the sinker was bad. Its sub-50% strike rate allowed the Orioles to thwack slowballs more than they should, and that's your ballgame. The Tigers are next and that doesn’t spell start in my book. Just wait for Matz to prove his worth again until adding him. (View Game Card)

Chris Sale vs. Payton Tolle – Old school vs. new school vs. west coast kids stuck in school. It's sad they can’t watch this live.

But Nick?! Where are the streaming picks? – I’ve moved them to the daily SP Matchups & Streamer Rankings article.

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Featured image by Ethan Kaplan (@djfreddie10.bsky.social on Blue Sky and @EthanMKaplanImages on Instagram)

Founder of Pitcher List. Creator of CSW, The List, and SP Roundup. Worked with MSG, FanGraphs, CBS Sports, and Washington Post. Former college pitcher, travel coach, pitching coach, and Brandeis alum. Wants every pitcher to be dope.