These are the hottest SP and RP from the past week in MLB:
Starting Pitchers:
Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee Brewers:
Week’s Line: 12.0 IP, 1.50 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 12 K, 9.00 K9, 2 QS
Nick Pollack from Pitcherlist.com refers to Freddy Peralta as Professor Chaos, and I’m here for it. He does this because his four-seamer is unpredictable, fluctuating in and out of the strike zone, and not consistently sitting upstairs. This erratic performance, especially with the four-seamer, is reminiscent of Butters’ alter-ego in South Park, which is the inspiration for the nickname. FANTASTIC WORK, NICK. Anywhosers, Freddy came correct last week against both Chicago teams, holding the Chitown faithful to 11 baserunners in 12 innings of work, fanning 12 with the erratic four-seamer (just 7/44 whiffs) with his secondaries (curve against the Sox; changer against the Cubs) helping him out.
MacKenzie Gore, Washington Nationals
Week’s Line: 11.0 IP, 3.27 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 15 K, 12.27 K9, 1 QS
Mac is back in my features this week, thanks in large part to his ability to generate strikeouts. The great thing about this week though, is that it was his secondaries doing the heavy lifting. Gore’s breaking stuff – his curve (6/9 whiffs, 67%), his slowball (5/7, 71%), and his slide-piece (3/7, 43%) – more than did their share while the four-seamer touched 97MPH+ with 18” if iVB. He was a little erratic in Great American, needing 100 pitches Sunday to get 15 outs, but he kept batters off balance all game with upstairs heat and off-speed runners (just ask Elly De La Cruz and Marte), and his upstairs, back-door hook against Espinal in the 5th? Absolute filth.
Hunter Greene, Cincinnati Reds
Week’s Line: 6.0 IP, 1.50 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 12 K, 18.00 K9, 1 QS
Another hurler featured here on repeat, Greene’s phenomenal 2025 continued this past week with an utter dismantling of Washington on Friday night at Great American. Hunter allowed just four baserunners while fanning twelve with the four-seam (32% CSW) and slider (11/21 whiffs, 37% CSW) handling the Nats for six solid innings. He’s been one of the best in the bigs this season with one of the most devastating pitches in baseball – a four-seamer with a run value of +8 (second in MLB), 16.2” of iVB, and nearly 10” of arm-side run. On Friday, said fastball sat at 99.0 MPH, cracked 100 MPH four times, had a spin rate of 2,444 (elite), and routinely exploded through the box. If you‘ve watched it, you know. Virtually unhittable when he’s locating.
Nick Martinez, Cincinnati Reds
Week’s Line: 12.0 IP, 1.50 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 9 K, 6.75 K9, 2 QS
You really have to like the core the Reds have going right now – Greene, Lodolo, Singer, Abbott. It’s just too bad they pitch at one of (if not the) worst pitchers parks in baseball (PF at 103, 126 for HR). I already featured Greene, but let’s also chat about Nick Martinez’s week – a couple quality starts (against St. Louis and Washington), limited baserunners (11 in 12 frames), and a win for his ballclub. He looked pretty sharp against the Nats (who I seem to be picking on), sitting at 34% CSW rate on the afternoon, led by his change (44% whiffs on 16 swings) and his slider (also 44% whiffs). He’s not setting the world on fire this season, his profile looks like that of a 5-spot innings eater, and his arsenal is, well, lacking star power outside the aforementioned slider and changeup. He simply got it done last week, and that’s why I’m here.
Jacob deGrom, Texas Rangers
Week’s Line: 11.0 IP, 0.82 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 10 K, 8.18 K9, 1 QS
Ahhhhhh, deGoat. At least he was trending that way before injuries derailed his career. But guess what, friends, he’s kinda back, right? The innings and the strikeouts aren’t quite back, but he’s almost there. The fastball velo is up (sitting at 97.0 MPH, topping out at 99 MPH this week), the whiffs seem to be there (16/38 against the A’s, with the four-seamer cooking), and a CSW rate north of 30% in both starts this week. It was the A’s and M’s, who aren’t incredibly offensive at the moment (except to their fans), but so what? Also, the arm mechanics he was said to be tinkering with? Paying off – his Pitching+ is sitting at 124 on the season, with location (115+ leading the way). I’m buying the fact that Jacob is settling back in after two seasons lost to injuries. I do think he’s still on an innings limit, but 65-80 an outing from Jacob is better than 0. Sparking ERA and WHIP this week, two wins for the Rangers, and he came through unscathed. Flowers, my guy.
Tomoyuki Sugano, Baltimore Orioles
Week’s Line: 11.0 IP, 1.64 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 12 K, 9.82 K9, 1 QS
Speaking of settling in, how about Tomo this week? 11 innings of goodness at Camden against the Yankees and Royals have landed him in my features this week. His profile isn’t sexy, but he does throw six pitches with regularity, highlighted by a splitter that DID WORK against the Yankees – 9/12 whiffs (75%). In fact, all his “secondaries” performed well Monday – 16/32 whiffs (50%!) and CSW north of 30%. While technically a rookie, Tomo isn’t a newbie – Sugano’s professional career began in 2013 with the Yomiuri Giants in the NPB. Over 12 seasons, he established himself as one of Japan’s premier pitchers, amassing a record of 136 wins and 74 losses with a stellar 2.43 ERA and 1,585 strikeouts over 1,857 innings. The pedigree is there, friends, and the Orioles need it with Grayson Rodriguez out and Corbin Burnes Corbin’ing in Arizona.
Garrett Crochet, Boston Red Sox
Week’s Line: 12.0 IP, 2.25 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 12 K, 9.00 K9, 1 QS
The Red Sox paid their prospect’s weight in gold for Crochet back in December, and it’s safe to say it’s been paying off richly. Crochet is among the league leaders in strikeouts and innings pitched, and he gave us both last week against the Blue Jays and the Twins. This is Crochet’s second time in my weekly Hottest features, and – as I mentioned before – it’s his fastball variation (4-seam, cutter, sinker) that is his bread and butter. While he has pounded the zone effectively, he’s done so largely on decreased velocity from a season ago (down about two ticks). Crochet himself acknowledges the velocity dip, and believes it’s related to his mechanics, particularly how he’s “working down the slope” on the mound. Will it catch up to him? Not if his secondaries keep playing so well (10/17 whiffs, 58.8% this week).
Kevin Gausman, Toronto Blue Jays
Week’s Line: 6.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.33 WHIP, 9 K, 13.5 K9, 1 QS
This seems to be the week for repeat business, so step on up, Mr. Gausman! After a brutal start in the Bronx, Gaus rebounded magnificently against the Guardians with one of the most dominant lines of the week. He punched two batters in four different innings Saturday, as his signature splitter was cooking – 9/14 whiffs (64%) with 18” of drop and run (iHB). The four-seamer also played (17/54 CSW, 31%), and he even dropped in some effective sliders (5/11 CSW). His only blemishes were a walk to Santana in the first and a rinky-dink little blooper to Kwan in the 3rd. I’ve always been enamored with Gaus’ split-finger, which mimics the look of his fastball (same arm look and speed, enhancing its deception) before diving sharply down and away from left-handed hitters and into righties. It is a devastating weapon, inducing lots of whiffs and weak contact, with an xBA of .180, and xSLG of .352, and a hard hit% % of 30.3% – all elite marks. Swoooon.
Reese Olson, Detroit Tigers
Week’s Line: 11.1 IP, 2.38 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 15 K, 12.16 K9, 0 QS
I would love to see Reese Olson pitch deeper into games, which won’t happen until he locates better. Even still, the eleven he gave us this week sparkled. He was much better against the Haloes (shocker), but he still punched seven in Houston before he got the hook. Let’s be honest – the sinker (his most-used pitch) was atrocious this past week. Hit hard in both contests, it returned 0/22 whiffs on the week. 0%. Not one swing and miss. His breakers, however, sizzled. The slider (13/21, 62%), change (16/25, 64%), and curve (5/9, 56%) all generated swinging strikes and landed north of 40% CSW. This matches the season-long profile, as all three (45.3%, 54.3%, and 50%, respectively) are exceptional offerings. Detroit has themselves a rotation up there in Comerica, which, btw, is a beautiful ballpark.
Bryan Woo, Seattle Mariners
Week’s Line: 6.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.16 WHIP, 8 K, 11.8 K9, 1 QS
Nope. Not Gilbert (injured). Not Miller (brutal on the road). Friends, it’s Bryan Woo. Woo has been bea-WOO-tiful so far in 2025, and the fascinating thing is he’s doing it away from the friendliest pitcher’s park in the game – T-Mobile Park. His Statcast is fairly red, so the profile matches. And while I don’t think the pitches are elite, they’re doing their job (which makes Bill Belichick happy). Against the Rangers, Woo featured his fastball (40% usage,) which returned a CSW of 31%, but it was his increased use of his secondaries that popped in this one. The sinker was just located (seven called strikes on 18 offerings), and the slider/sweeper worked RHB like they owed him money. The strikeout pedigree is there (13.3 K/9 across three minor league levels before his big league debut), and the pitch profile (113 Pitching+) suggests he’s right there.
Relief Pitchers:
Felix Bautista, Baltimore Orioles:
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, 4 K, 12.00 K9, 3 S/H
Bautista has been incredible this season, and virtually untouchable over the last three weeks. His Statcast is basically 90th percentile and above, except for his BB%, resulting from some location issues early in the season (which he has absolutely corrected – 110 Location+). This past week was highlighted by two saves against the Evil Empire (Yanks) and one against the Royals. Felix spent the week upstairs with sinkers (7/20 35% CSW) and splitters (6/13, 46% CSW), with both pitches doing work. And he did it against Aaron Judge, Paul Goldschmidt, Trent Grisham, Vinnie Pasquantino, and Maikel Garcia. Big boy saves.
Robert Suarez, San Diego Padres
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 2 K, 6.00 K9, 3 S/H
Speaking of incredible, have you been watching Robert Suarez? Kyle Amore from DrRoto.com featured Suarez this week as his #1 reliever, and for good reason – he’s a league leader in saves, and his stuff is PHENOMENAL (129 Pitching+). Suarez’s effectiveness stems from his dominant fastball (which averages 98 MPH+ and 18.8” of elite iVB), exceptional location, and a competitive nastiness in his pitching approach. And while the changeup (which is also quite good – 18” of iHB drop and run) wasn’t quite there this week, he didn’t need it. And like Bautista, Suarez earned it this week – facing Heliot Ramos (twice), Wilmer Flores, Brian Reynolds, and Oneil Cruz.
Lucas Erceg, Kansas City Royals
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 3 K, 6.75 K9, 3 S/H
Lucas Erceg is another feature this week that is having a fantastic season – 0.59 ERA, 0.52 WHIP, 7.62 K/9, and 13 S/H. This week, Lucas added three holds to his season line – two against the Rays and one against the O’s. Erceg works effectively with a four-pitch mix, featuring a big-time four-seamer (98 MPH, nearly 2,200 spin, and 10.3” or arm-side run) and a stupid slider (37.0% whiffs). He’s also cut the walks to 1.9% (down from an already respectable 6.3% in 2024), which is the 99th percentile. He just excels in high-leverage situations, pitching in the most important innings before the ninth. Take, for example, Sunday’s game in Baltimore. Zerpa came in to pitch the 8th and immediately got pounded. He was pulled for Erceg (who probs would have been called first, but he pitched Saturday also). Erceg inherited runners at first and second, and immediately proceeded to close out the inning. The man just does his job.
Tyler Ferguson, Athletics
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 0.54 WHIP, 3 K, 7.36 K9, 3 S/H
Tyler Ferguson is an enigma to me. Through last week, the season-long numbers were really good (he got knocked around this Tuesday, though). He’s striking out around one batter per nine, he’s got average/not exceptional stuff (his changeup is his best pitch, and also his least used), and his location is wonky (check out his frame against the Marlins from Saturday). All of this to say he’s kinda of a JAG, yet here he is in my features again. He’s the primary setup to Mason Miller, and the go-to when Miller needs a break – this week he locked up two holds (@ Texas, @ Miami), and a save (@ Miami). The A’s clearly trust him, I’m just not sure I do. But they didn’t make a movie about my improbable run through the 2002 season, so I don’t get to have input here.
Jhoan Duran, Minnesota Twins
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 7 K, 15.75 K9, 2 S/H
Duran is another pitcher that has absolutely filthy stuff (126 Stuff+) but trouble locating (88 Location+, the lowest of his career). Does that matter when your Statcast is blood red, your Pitching+ is still 111, and you’re striking out better than 11 batters per nine? My answer is no… no ,it does not. Yes, he walks too many batters, and that can bite ya, but it hasn’t yet, and his numbers sizzle. Duran is a pure flamethrower, averaging 100.5 MPH on the four-seamer, 97.8 MPH on the splitter (yes, I said splitter), and a sweeper/knuckle curve combo that cooks (40.9% and 60.0% whiffs, respectively). Duran works in a crowded bullpen (stay tuned), and he will get work as both a setup and a closer. Both Cleveland and Boston knocked him around a bit this past week, but Duran still didn’t allow a run to the plate. And isn’t that the objective of (relief) pitcher?
Andres Munoz, Seattle Mariners
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 0.50 WHIP, 2 K, 9.00 K9, 2 S/H
And here we go again. And again. And again. Munoz just keeps landing in my features because he just keeps getting it done. Kyle Amore ran Munoz out there as his #2 reliever in this week’s power rankings, and I can’t fault it. He has exceptional stuff (114 Stuff+) featuring an insane slider (58.8% whiffs, 38.8% put-away) and a four-seamer that explodes through the zone at 100 MPH+. This week it was the slider doing work – 5/7 whiffs (71%) and 7/14 CSW (50%) – earning saves against the Halos (yes, I know) and the Rangers. Oh, and Munoz is a groundball machine, inducing another four (of his six outs) this past week. And he also hasn’t allowed a single run to cross the plate all season (18 innings). Read that again. Is there anyone else you’d rather have in the ninth? He’s such a weapon for this Mariner’s team that is surprisingly a contender.
Griffin Jax, Minnesota Twins
Week’s Line: 2.45 ERA, 0.54 WHIP, 5 K, 12.26 K9, 2 S/H
Back to the Minnesota bullpen we go! Griffin Jax is one of my favorite pitchers in the league, and he’s really taken off since his transition to the pen back in 2022. Jax throws six pitches pretty well, but he really excels when his secondaries play off his 97 MPH heater. Jax’s sweeper is a standout pitch, featuring high velocity (88.5 MPH) and sweeping movement (3,000 spin, 12.8 iHB glove side), making it a lethal swing-and-miss option. It’s for sure one of the best pitches in baseball when he’s able to effectively tunnel it with his fastball. His Pitching+ is elite elite(143), with his ability to command the zone (136 Location+) front and center. The ERA and WHIP on the year don’t match the expected stats, so he’s been a bit unlucky in those departments. Aside from the Abreu homer in Boston on Saturday, his week was basically unblemished.
Raisel Iglesias, Atlanta Braves
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 6 K, 18.00 K9, 2 S/H
Iglesias has had an up and down season, no question – multiple blown saves, earned runs have been plentiful, and he’s been hitdamn hard and squared up with regularity (3.2 HR/9). The Pitching+ is just ok at 98, which is waaaay below his career average. But he’s maybe pitching his way out of it, as evidenced by his showings this past weekend – five strikeouts (four swinging) in his two innings of work against the Dodgers. The problem is – and remains – consistency. Iglesias pounded the zone Sunday, but only hit on 3/11 pitches Saturday. In context, the Dodgers don’t chase, so you have to pound the zone to get them to swing. Whiffs on Saturday – 2/6 (33%). Whiffs on Sunday – 6/15 (40%). The strikeouts were still there, mind you, so as always, results > expected stats. Once he cleans up his location inefficiency, I think he takes off. But this is a weekly column, and Raisel put up a big boy week.
Pete Fairbanks, Tampa Bay Rays
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, 3 K, 13.5 K9, 2 S/H
“That’s not Yankees dancing. That’s Devil Rays dancing! Continuing my redemption tour, I present Pete Fairbanks. Who, like Raisel, has had a tendency to give up hard contact. Unlike Raisel, he’s been able to sprinkle in a very good ground ball rate (52.6) and an elite barrel rate (2.6%) to help limit the damage. As a result, he returns a sparkling ERA (1.88), a palatable WHIP for a closer (1.05), and the sizzle to the steak – consistent saves. He’s up to eight on the season (two last weekend), and he hasn’t blown one yet in 2025. He hasn’t given up a run in over a month, a trend that continued in the Bronx this week. In fact, he hasn’t allowed a baserunner in almost two weeks. Now I get that’s only four innings, but so what? It’s still impressive given today’s MLB. Oh – btw. To close out the Yanks Sunday, all he did was strike out the side, including Trent Grisham (swinging) and Aaron Judge (also swinging).
Tommy Kahnle, Detroit Tigers
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 0.43 WHIP, 4 K, 15.65 K9, 2 S/H
Kahnle is a guy who has returned really good results, and for a really good Detroit team. Kahnle locked down games in Los Angeles (Halos) and Houston last week, and he did it in style – four strikeouts in a little over two innings for a hold and a save. It just defies logic to me, however. Let me explain. First, Kahnle exists on his changeup – 84% usage on the season, throwing 27/33 of them this weekend, which is incredible to me. You absolutely know it’s coming. There’s not much there to keep you off balance, other than the pitch itself. Kahnle’s changeup is highly effective due to a combination of factors: deception, hard velocity (89 MPH), and a unique arm angle (low, 35 degrees). Adding in an elite degree of vertical drop (35.5”) makes it difficult for hitters to anticipate and contact. The results are a good amount of strikes (5/12 whiffs and a CSW of 40.7% just this past week) and a 91st percentile groundball rate (57.6%) – and both were in play for him last week. Thankfully for the Tigers, logic doesn’t necessarily win ball games.
