{"id":555792,"date":"2026-03-31T08:13:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/555792\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T08:13:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:13:07","slug":"fantasy-baseball-sp-roundup-3-30-lance-in-the-pale-moonlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/555792\/","title":{"rendered":"Fantasy Baseball SP Roundup 3\/30: Lance In The Pale Moonlight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the SP Roundup, my daily fantasy baseball article reviewing every starting pitcher\u2019s performance from every Monday game. I apologize for the jokes written in my delirium in advance. Have questions? Ask me during my office hours on Twitch.tv<\/a> weekday mornings from 10 am-12 pm ET.<\/p>\n

Lance McCullers Jr.<\/a> (HOU) vs BOS (W) \u2013 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks \u2013 17 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 96 pitches.<\/p>\n

Ah, the first week of baseball. The time when we get a sample size of\u00a0one\u00a0and I do my very best not to get too amped or too rash, while enduring angry messages when I can\u2019t sign off on a good performance. We have a new example of the latter tonight, with\u00a0Lance McCullers Jr.<\/a>\u00a0returning a marvelous performance against the Sawx:\u00a07.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks \u2013 17 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 96 pitches (W).\u00a0I already told you I can\u2019t sign off on it, and anyone familiar with him should know why.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s volatile. He\u2019s\u00a0always\u00a0been volatile. One game he\u2019ll dominate like this with legit feel for his cutter at 90 mph, sinkers that were able to sneak on by for 28% called strikes (the Red Sox are pretty passive, for what it\u2019s worth), and shocking ability for his curve, change, and sweeper to\u00a0all\u00a0return at least a 65% strike rate. And even watching this, where he constantly attacked with pitches moving in different directions, I had to remind myself of his 19 strikeouts across two games last season. Two games that preceded 12 ER in the following two outings.<\/p>\n

So if you\u2019d like to head outside and join Lance in the pale moonlight, you do you. Maybe he\u2019s actually unlocked something with the cutter to make him more consistent. It\u2019s not a certainty. Personally, I\u2019m putting on my headphones and jamming to Opeth to block the song of this siren.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s see how every other SP did Monday:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Landen Roupp<\/a> (SFG) @ SDP (ND) \u2013 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks \u2013 13 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 88 pitches.<\/p>\n

Oh dang! We saw Roupp pull back on the curve to LHB in favor of cutters and they did their part at a four mph difference and\u00a020 inches\u00a0separation from the sinker. I absolutely\u00a0adore\u00a0that. His changeup made more of an appearance to RHB, if you can believe it, and while it still needs some polish, it did come through at times. He\u2019s a solid arm when the arsenal isn\u2019t all over the place (sinkers for strikes!), the only question is if he can keep this feel. The jury is still out.<\/p>\n

Bryce Elder<\/a> (ATL) vs ATH (W) \u2013 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks \u2013 8 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 83 pitches.<\/p>\n

Hot dang, look at you! Elder was\u00a0rough\u00a0in the spring and it looked grim when he was confirmed as a member of their rotation, but here he is, strutting his sinker\/slider to RHB, and a flurry of cutters and changeups to LHB for a strong night at the park. It feels awfully like a Birthday Party (reduced velocity on the slider and change, too, though the former had a little more movement to make up for it).<\/p>\n

Luis Castillo<\/a> (SEA) vs NYY (ND) \u2013 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks \u2013 17 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 95 pitches.<\/p>\n

OOPS ALL FOUR-SEAMERS. Castillo picked up where he left off in late 2025, tossing 60% four-seamers at the top of the zone, while the slider took nearly all responsibilities as the #2 offering at 34% usage and\u202647% strikes. But no matter! The four-seamer returned 13\/56 whiffs due to its precision upstairs and maybe I should have had more faith in the fella holding onto his second half fastball command. Or maybe this is too tenuous to continue and it was at home, even if it the Pinestripes came knockin\u2019 on the door. Either way, you\u2019re letting fly next time and I hope it\u2019s more of the same.<\/p>\n

Edward Cabrera<\/a> (CHC) vs LAA (W) \u2013 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks \u2013 15 Whiffs, 30% CSW, 80 pitches.<\/p>\n

Oh look, it\u2019s no more sinkers with 55% four-seamer strikes at 28% usage. His changeup wasn\u2019t awfully consistent either (58% strikes), but the slider and curve were hot, combining for a near 47% CSW in 29 pitches. The slider in particular was incredible with 5\/16 whiffs and boy do I hope he can keep this up. With more fastball strikes.<\/p>\n

Parker Messick<\/a> (CLE) @ LAD (ND) \u2013 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks \u2013 10 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 76 pitches.<\/p>\n

Funny story, this wasn\u2019t peak Messick. The sinker is dope, though, with 33% usage vs. the 14% of last year vs. LHB, and he got that bad boy inside like a cute pet hiding in a jolly giant\u2019s shirt pocket. But this wasn\u2019t \u201cpepper up, salty change down\u201d, nah, he tested out a new cutter and some sliders with his hook a fair amount, and eventually had some fine fastballs and changes to get the job done. Regardless, this was a scary play and while I\u2019m not absurdly encouraged by this, his sinker embrace and cutter unlace is my happy place.<\/p>\n

Michael Soroka<\/a> (ARI) vs DET (ND) \u2013 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 10 Ks \u2013 12 Whiffs, 37% CSW, 89 pitches.<\/p>\n

I was anticipating the cutter would show up, and while it did, only five lifted their head above the trenches, while the curveball hollered toward the enemy, obliterating all in its path with 44% CSW across nearly 50% usage. Soroka had such a good feel for the pitch down-and-gloveside, and it allowed him to stay up with four-seamers and scatter a few solid sinkers armside. Is this super repeatable? Not really, but against mediocre offenses, this will do just nicely. Does that include Atlanta up next?\u00a0Ehhhh, maybe? Don\u2019t expect another King Cole.<\/p>\n

Chase Burns<\/a> (CIN) vs PIT (W) \u2013 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks \u2013 15 Whiffs, 35% CSW, 78 pitches.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s nice to see a calm, easy, simple outing, and even a dub with a 78 pitch limit. Sure, he didn\u2019t have his best four-seamer command (53% strikes, yikes), but he was too hard to hit and the slider cooked with 8\/24 whiffs. Just stay healthy. Please.<\/p>\n

Kris Bubic<\/a> (KCR) vs MIN (W) \u2013 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks \u2013 12 Whiffs, 35% CSW, 75 pitches.<\/p>\n

Not his best, but it was the Twins and he was sitting 92 mph. That\u2019s fine. Now go locate the sinker and four-seamer a little better, k thx. The changeup can\u2019t go 6\/16 whiffs\u00a0every\u00a0game. Thanks for staying healthy.<\/p>\n

Kyle Harrison<\/a> (MIL) vs TBR (ND) \u2013 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks \u2013 16 Whiffs, 34% CSW, 87 pitches.<\/p>\n

This was a flurry of heaters inside the zone with changeups and curveballs slashing through randomly, and you know what? That\u2019s totally cool with me. A 74% strike rate from Harrison is Something, while my former self Gently Weeps for getting sniped in my draft. That said, it wasn\u2019t\u00a0the best\u00a0feel for the changeup and curve, but I\u2019m nitpicking now. When you see plenty of strikes with great stuff, the sun will come.<\/p>\n

Tomoyuki Sugano<\/a> (COL) @ TOR (ND) \u2013 4.2 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks \u2013 9 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 72 pitches.<\/p>\n

Okay, sure. I\u2019m happy for him?\u00a0But he didn\u2019t go a full five frames.\u00a0Let the man have some joy dangit.<\/p>\n

Ryan Weathers<\/a> (NYY) @ SEA (ND) \u2013 4.1 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks \u2013 11 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 77 pitches.<\/p>\n

Daaaaang, I wish he could have made it through the fifth. His pitch separation was\u00a0phenomenal,\u00a0keeping heaters inside and changeups away, even if he\u00a0just\u00a0missed the zone with the slowball a fair amount. He\u2019s sitting 96\/97 mph (up to 99 mph in the first and down to 93 mph in the fifth, dude was\u00a0gassed.) and I think he needs a few more starts to pace himself a little better. Keep riding this, of course.<\/p>\n

Roki Sasaki<\/a> (LAD) vs CLE (ND) \u2013 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks \u2013 9 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 78 pitches.<\/p>\n

You know, this is way better than I thought. At least for a final line. The \u201ccutter\u201d is a standard gyro slider, which is totally cool on paper, and Sasaki was able to get the thing in the zone aplenty at 73% strikes. However, the splitter returned just 22% strikes and that four-seamer movement is horrendous, granting it the lamented Empty Velocity tag. Still, he survived and props to him for that. As expected, we saw Justin Wrobleski<\/a>\u00a0appear shortly after Sasaki, tossing the final four frames of the game and three runs to his name after an endless seventh inning. This was far from the best I\u2019ve seen Wrobleski (94 mph and mostly fastball\/slider), though this could be the plan moving forward, opening the door for vulture Wins.<\/p>\n

Cody Ponce<\/a> (TOR) vs COL (ND) \u2013 2.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks \u2013 15 Whiffs, 34% CSW, 47 pitches.<\/p>\n

Man, the dude was looking fantastic and then he hurt his leg (Knee? Hamstring?) fielding a ball toward first. 15\/47 whiffs before the injury, y\u2019all. His slider was dotted to RHB, the changeup baffled RHP, and his curve + four-seamer filled in the rest.\u00a0Sigh.\u00a0Please be okay, this was your year.<\/p>\n

Braxton Ashcraft<\/a> (PIT) @ CIN (L) \u2013 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 3 Ks \u2013 8 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 87 pitches.<\/p>\n

I\u00a0love\u00a0that Braxton has embraced his curveball over the slider. Both saw the same volume against RHB, but the curve was excellent to LHB at 41% usage and it\u2019s the right call \u2013 its 84 mph velocity with -12\u2033 of drop and\u00a0-8\u2033 sweep is fantastic.\u00a0And he also throws 96\/97 mph!\u00a0Well\u2026about that. First of all, he doesn\u2019t have the best command of them. Second, they returned zero whiffs on forty-three thrown. 0\/43.\u00a0Is that normal?\u00a0No, fella, IT AIN\u2019T NORMAL. Well, for Ashcraft\u2019s heaters, it\u00a0kinda\u00a0is, but what I\u2019m trying to get at is how hyper-reliant Ashcraft is on his breaker. This feels like the Huascar Rule getting broken, not to mention nearly 75% hard contact in this one. I\u2019m still tepid here.<\/p>\n

Nick Martinez<\/a> (TBR) @ MIL (ND) \u2013 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks \u2013 7 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 88 pitches.<\/p>\n

I guess his hamstring is alright! He\u2019s going more kitchen-sink than I expected with changeups leading the way at a surprisingly low 24% usage.\u00a0It\u2019s because it went sub-50% strikes.\u00a0Okay, fair. It was a day of cutters, sinkers, and four-seamers chilling over the plate and barely getting touched, while the rare sliders he threw (and should not continue to throw) were slapped with a quarter of hits across only ten thrown. I\u2019m just throwing stuff at you now and I\u2019ll stop. This didn\u2019t impress me. Be careful.<\/p>\n

Jack Leiter<\/a> (TEX) @ BAL (W) \u2013 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks \u2013 21 Whiffs, 37% CSW, 92 pitches.<\/p>\n

Oh snap, look who has come back to town? Why, its\u2019s \u201cJACK ZIPPO\u201d! A Gallows Pole for the stuff king, who gave us all a lovely surprise with 29%\u00a0changeups\u00a0at 91 mph, returning 8\/27 whiffs and a 70% strike rate. The slider was its right-hand man and it produced 7\/22 whiffs of its own, and while I\u2019m super jazzed about all of that, how does he go 0\/16 whiffs on his fantastic heater? Ohhhh, right. Because whiffs are highly correlated with location\u00a0and it had a 44% strike rate. This wasn\u2019t Leiter locked in. As much as I want it to be (oh I SO want a true breakout season from Leiter), this was not the start you thought it was. It\u2019s why he\u2019s a HIPSTER \u2013 he can still have these strikeout games, but the volatility is staring at you in the face. Who knows what the results will be next time with this chaotic command.<\/p>\n

Clay Holmes<\/a> (NYM) @ STL (W) \u2013 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks \u2013 13 Whiffs, 36% CSW, 90 pitches.<\/p>\n

A Philly for The Adobe with a questionable WHIP, but you\u2019ll take it. This is who he is. Pretty dang cool changeup here, with three more inches of drop as nearly everything\u00a0was below the x-axis. That is, negative vertical values save for the 2\u2033 vert sinker. I honestly haven\u2019t seen that before and it hurts my back just thinking of how much I\u2019d have to lean to reach some of these tailing pitches. If only his last pitch tailed a bit more, allowing a solo shot on a hung slider down the pipe to Gorman in the sixth.\u00a0So close.<\/p>\n

Simeon Woods Richardson<\/a> (MIN) @ KCR (L) \u2013 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks \u2013 6 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 83 pitches.<\/p>\n

Velo is still 92\/93 mph (a\u00a0little\u00a0better than the spring, but not 94), but he\u2019s lost movement on everything + the splitter was\u00a0rough.\u00a0He got away with this one with an overall 53% strike rate and 23% CSW. Make like Sir Robin, y\u2019all. Run. Away.<\/p>\n

Foster Griffin<\/a> (WSN) @ PHI (W) \u2013 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks \u2013 8 Whiffs, 23% CSW, 86 pitches.<\/p>\n

I just want to make the \u201cIs this a SWATCH?\u201d meme out of this, but it\u2019s too dang late. The cutter saved the day and I don\u2019t know why he thought he could get away with that sub 92 mph four-seamer over the plate to March\u00e1n (it left the park quickly for both runs allowed), but he sure can\u2019t let that happen again. Without a ton of changeups destroying RHB, I\u2019m not in.<\/p>\n

Davis Martin<\/a> (CHW) @ MIA (W) \u2013 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks \u2013 7 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 92 pitches.<\/p>\n

A two-run shot did most of the damage, but the overall performance still isn\u2019t encouraging. Extension is down, velocity is down, and he struggled to get his four-seamer and cutter over the plate. Never trust pitchers with two first names. Usually.\u00a0Stupid Gerrit and Joe\u2026<\/p>\n

Walker Buehler<\/a> (SDP) vs SFG (ND) \u2013 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks \u2013 8 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 72 pitches.<\/p>\n

He\u00a0really\u00a0tried to make that changeup work, and I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever seen a higher usage rate than strike rate on a pitch thrown over 15 times \u2013 46% usage vs. 38% strikes. Yeesh.\u00a0There are obviously so many better options.<\/p>\n

Jacob Lopez<\/a> (ATH) @ ATL (L) \u2013 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 5 BBs, 0 Ks \u2013 4 Whiffs, 18% CSW, 91 pitches.<\/p>\n

Welp, this sure ain\u2019t it. If you were giving this a ride, be happy you have a quick decision to get off this train \u2013 he was over a tick down on everything but the 78 mph breaker.<\/p>\n

Kyle Leahy<\/a> (STL) vs NYM (L) \u2013 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks \u2013 8 Whiffs, 18% CSW, 79 pitches.<\/p>\n

It was two runs through five, then he allowed both batters he faced to reach in the sixth before he got the hook, who obviously both scored. But that\u2019s not the real issue here. No, that would be a\u00a0HAISTBMBWT?!\u00a0Come on Leahy, you even pushed it to 94 mph. How could you throw your filthy slider just 10 times?! It\u2019s better than the sweeper, dangit. He threw plenty of strikes, but didn\u2019t spot that all particularly well, and I\u2019m out until I see a game of executing his arsenal. The stuff is still interesting with 7.3 feet of extension on that heater, presenting some fun upside if it clicks.<\/p>\n

Ranger Suarez<\/a> (BOS) @ HOU (L) \u2013 4.1 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks \u2013 6 Whiffs, 22% CSW, 76 pitches.<\/p>\n

Like those goats in Severence, he ain\u2019t ready.\u00a0He\u2019ll get there, just give him a moment. Sure hope he doesn\u2019t turn into a HIPSTER.\u00a0Why is he wearing flannel?\u00a0Oh no.<\/p>\n

Chris Bassitt<\/a> (BAL) vs TEX (L) \u2013 4.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 4 BBs, 3 Ks \u2013 12 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 100 pitches.<\/p>\n

I remember thinking of Bassitt as this wide arsenal arm, and sure, he still has a variety of options for LHB, but he\u2019s sinker\/curve nearly 85% of the time to RHB and it\u2019s\u2026eh. You need more meat on the bone.<\/p>\n

Justin Verlander<\/a> (DET) @ ARI (ND) \u2013 3.2 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks \u2013 6 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 80 pitches.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m happy the slider got some whiffs. I\u2019m sad he returned just one strikeout \u2013\u00a0HAISTBMBWT?! \u2013\u00a0and failed to give us any faith in streaming him in the short term.<\/p>\n

Taijuan Walker<\/a> (PHI) vs WSN (L) \u2013 4.2 IP, 6 ER, 10 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks \u2013 6 Whiffs, 21% CSW, 99 pitches.<\/p>\n

Even against the Nationals. Don\u2019t go near it.<\/p>\n

Ryan Johnson<\/a> (LAA) @ CHC (L) \u2013 3.1 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 4 BBs, 2 Ks \u2013 11 Whiffs, 21% CSW, 80 pitches.<\/p>\n

His splitter was pretty dope to LHB, and everything else was nothing to write home about. This looks bad on paper, like ice cream. No one likes ice cream on paper.<\/p>\n

Chris Paddack<\/a> (MIA) vs CHW (L) \u2013 4.0 IP, 8 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks \u2013 15 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 79 pitches.<\/p>\n

And here I thought there was a chance of being sneaky against the White Sox.\u00a0Should have learned from Sproat.\u00a0I guess? After all, they each allowed a grand slam to the squad. At the very least, it\u2019s encouraging to see a new sweeper that returned a fair number of whiffs, but the cutter went 42% strikes and he obviously has a terrible floor.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Game of the Day<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shane McClanahan<\/a> vs. Brandon Woodruff<\/a> \u2013\u00a0This would have been SO SICK like three years ago.<\/p>\n

But Nick?! Where are the streaming picks? \u2013\u00a0I\u2019ve moved them to the daily SP Matchups & Streamer Rankings article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Have Questions? \u2013 Join my morning Twitch.tv livestream!<\/a> I answer all questions there for free: 10:00 am \u2013 12:00 pm ET Monday through Friday.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Aaron Polcare (@abeardoesart on Bluesky and X)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to the SP Roundup, my daily fantasy baseball article reviewing every starting pitcher\u2019s performance from every Monday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555793,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[99],"class_list":{"0":"post-555792","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/555793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}