Starting Pitcher Chart – August 29th, 2024

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Ewww, ugly board after the lock starters. And even some of the locks have wicked matchups (Hunter Brown, Sonny Gray, Bowden Francis, Cristopher Sánchez, and Brady Singer all facing top 6 offenses v. their respective handedness). The 2-x guys are either would-be 3-x’s who aren’t super trustworthy right now (Kutter Crawford, Bobby Miller) or a complete wildcard who has impressed of late but still not sure we know who he is as a pitcher (Keider Montero). Just be careful out there, y’all!
Brayan Bello absolutely smoked the Jays tonight with 8 shutout innings, allowing just 2 hits and a walk with 9 punchies in his best start of the season. That doesn’t necessarily give me more confidence in Crawford, though, as he’s struggling more than Bello was ahead of this start. Crawford’s toting an 8.13 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, and 11% K-BB in his last 7 starts.
Miller was strong last time out (6 IP/3 ER/0 BB/7 Ks), but that was against Tampa Bay which is way different than facing Baltimore. He did still allow 2 HRs to account for all 3 of those runs. That’s a shakyyy 2-x reco. Just saying I could see it in 12s and 15s, but it’s more of an upside shoot-the-moon play. Hayden Birdsong and Cade Povich are even deeper Hail Mary shots.
I know Francis draws the difficult Red Sox, but he is absolutely dialed in right now and I just can’t see passing on the start: 1.91 ERA, 0.61 WHIP, 26% K-BB in 33 IP since returning on July 29th. In that span, his ranks in those categories are 5th, 1st, and 7th in baseball (min. 25 IP).
Speaking of dialed in, Ryne Nelson’s been on fire even longer with a 2.76 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 21% K-BB in 62 IP since July 1st. He ranks 12th, 8th, and 18th in that time, though unfortunately is just 4-0 despite Arizona playing well and going 8-2 during those 10 outings.
By the way, MacKenzie Gore possibly finding his footing again with a 2nd straight gem (6 IP/2 ER/6 Ks, W v. NYY) on a night when Dylan Crews hit his first MLB HR and James Wood steals 3 bases as they go 4-for-8 with 3 RBI, 2 R has to give Nats fans some hope.