These are the hottest SP and RP from the past week in MLB:
Starting Pitchers:
Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia Phillies: Week’s Line: 14.0 IP, 1.29 ERA, 0.64 WHIP, 17 K, 10.93 K9, 2 QS
In my opinion, Wheeler is the best pitcher in baseball (all due respect to Mr. Skubal). And quite possibly the best week of any SP all year. Elite fastballs upstairs, and a cutter that returned 53% CSW against the Rays on Tuesday is just unfair.
Nathan Eovaldi, Texas Rangers
Week’s Line: 13.0 IP, 0.69 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, 14 K, 9.69 K9, 2 QS
I thought Eovaldi was cooked. Man was I wrong. He’s been nothing short of sensational in his nine starts this season. And he shined again this week, throwing 13 innings of fantastic baseball. Fastball/splitter is his bread and butter, and that fastball is nasty. 31 swings and misses last week. Thirty-one. 18 of which came Tuesday against the Red Sox.
Ronel Blanco, Houston Astros
Week’s Line: 14.0 IP, 1.93 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 17 K, 10.93 K9, 2 QS
Blanco got touched Monday in Milwaukee, but it’s his second start that I want to highlight – 8.0, three baserunners, and 11 strikeouts Sunday at home against the Reds. Yes it was Cincyand the fastball was kinda trash, but the secondaries cooked – the slider and changeup were filthy.
Matthew Boyd, Chicago Cubs
Week’s Line: 12.0 IP, 3.00 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 15 K, 11.25 K9, 2 QS
Matthew Boyd. Yawn. Not super sexy, but for sure getting the job done. Like me. No? OK. Moving on. ERA right at 3.00, WHIP under 1.00, more than a strikeout per inning – the numbers track for a feature. But you know what else? Big boy games against big boy teams. The Giants and Mets are two of the top teams in baseball, and Boyd did his job.
AJ Smith-Shawver, Atlanta Braves
Week’s Line: 13.2 IP, 0.66 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 12 K, 8.18 K9, 1 QS
Let’s stay picking on the Reds. Who, btw – are uber generous to opposing starters. Case in point – Smith-Shawver’s near no-hitter Monday. The no-hit bid was broken up in the eighth, and he did walk four batters. The arsenal isn’t no-hitter worthy, and he’s kinda messy with it as well. But hey, the Reds. Am I right? His second start Saturday in Pittsburgh also returned solid results, courtesy of the home team’s willingness to swing, miss, and take meatball pitches.
Griffin Canning, New York Mets
Week’s Line: 11.0 IP, 1.64 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 11 K, 9.00 K9, 1 QS
Another feature with some big boy games last week was my man Griff – on the road against the D-Backs on Monday and at home against one of the hottest hitting teams in baseball, the Cubbies on Sunday. In general, I think Griff has been pretty lucky in his results – the pitch profile isn’t spectacular. But the secondaries looked good (especially against the Cubs) against two big-time teams.
Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers
Week’s Line: 7.0 IP, 1.29 ERA, 0.29 WHIP, 12 K, 15.43 K9, 1 QS
Skubal is ridiculous at the moment, and the stuff is just filthy. Two hits in seven innings, with 12 strikeouts (on 54% whiffs, I might add) is just mean. And he hit 100 MPH with his four-seamer in this one, while the sink (7/11 whiffs) nearly hit 99 MPH. My god. There’s just not much else that needs said here. Skubal is in the zone, so get used to seeing him featured here.
Erick Fedde, St. Louis Cardinals
Week’s Line: 9.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 8 K, 8.00 K9, 1 QS
I’m on record saying baseball players in general are soft. And maybe it’s not the players but how the players (and the game) managed. Average length of start has been in steady decline for years, and pitchers just don’t go the distance anymore. Case in point: In 2024, there were a record-low 26 complete games pitched in Major League Baseball. So when it happens – and it’s a shutout – I’m going to give flowers. Welcome to my features, Mr. Fedde.
Chris Sale, Atlanta Braves
Week’s Line: 12.1 IP, 1.46 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 18 K, 13.39 K9, 1 QS
So it looks like Sale is kinda back, right? The last four starts have been pretty Sale-esque – a steady diet of fastballs and wipeout sliders racking up the swings and misses. Like Smith-Shawver, Sale had the good fortune of facing the Reds and Pirates last week. And while the Bucs knocked him around a bit (especially in the third frame), he got out of the start in decent shape. Still makes me mad my White Sox traded him. And Crochet. Let’s just change the subject.
Sonny Gray, St. Louis Cardinals
Week’s Line: 7.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.43 WHIP, 8 K, 10.29 K9, 1 QS
Closing out my SP features this week is Sonny Gray, and yeswe’re picking on the Pirates again. Seven innings. Seven different offerings. A fantastic sweeper (5/8 whiffs). A superbly located curveball. And it all worked. Gray was also super efficient in this one – pounding the zone all day – needing only 89 pitches to record 21 outs.
Relief Pitchers:
Louis Varland, Minnesota Twins: Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 0.33 WHIP, 2 K, 6.00 K9, 3 S/H
It wasn’t sexy, but Varland did his job picking up two holds against the Orioles and one against the Giants. Varland is a key piece of the Twins bullpen, often deployed ahead of Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran.
Tanner Scott, Los Angeles Dodgers
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 0.28 WHIP, 4 K, 10.00 K9, 2 S/H
Scott, the Dodgers de facto closer, leads the team in saves and did pick up one of those this week, closing out a slugfest in the desert on Friday. But before that, he was sent out in the eighth to stop the bleeding against the Marlins after Yoendrys Gomez gave up a three-run shot to Agustin Ramirez. When the Dodgers need outs, it’s Scott they turn to.
Camilo Doval, San Francisco Giants
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 0.33 WHIP, 4 K, 12.00 K9, 2 S/H
Great success story so far in 2025 for Doval, and the strikeouts came back this week as well. Two big boy holds against the Cubs, and he sat down their best hitters – Tucker, PCA, Busch, Happ, Hoerner. He’s an eyelash away from the closer’s role again, with Walker not being amazing just yet.
Tyler Rogers, San Francisco Giants
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, 3 K, 9.00 K9, 2 S/H
Same games, different Giants reliever. Rogers faced six batters in the Cubs series, and got ‘em all – five by induced groundouts. His other appearance? A 15-pitch, three-strikeout (including Byron Buxton) effort up in Minnesota on Sunday.
Jhoan Duran, Minnesota Twins
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 0.50 WHIP, 6 K, 13.50 K9, 3 S/H
Duran generally gets the ninth for the Twins, and he shut the door three times this week – twice against the O’s, and another against the Giants. And he went right at Willy Adames – pounding the zone with his nearly unhittable knuckler and stupid 98 MPH splitter.
Yariel Rodriguez, Toronto Blue Jays
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 0.43 WHIP, 9 K, 17.61 K9, 2 S/H
Yariel earned two holds last week and instantly doubled his season total on the cat. He’s the bridge for the Jays, and outside this week, he hasn’t been amazing. I’m just here to give props for the way he handled the Angels on Thursday. Yes, it’s the Halos, and yes, he allowed an inherited runner to score. But of the six outs he registered, five were via the punch. And the strikeout is my absolute favorite baseball stat.
Mason Montgomery, Tampa Bay Rays
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 0.33 WHIP, 4 K, 12.00 K9, 2 S/H
If you don’t know who Mason Montgomery is, you will very soon. The lad throws pure smoke (averages 98+ with 19”+ of iVB), and the Rays give him the bump in leverage spots. Want proof? Take Thursday, against the Phils. Uceta started the eighth and proceeded to cough up three runs on a Stott homer, which cut the lead to just one run. Next batter – Bryce Harper. Montgomery was summoned for the task and dealt two filthy sliders, the second of which induced a soft groundout. 100 MPH heat with a ridiculous slider, and he’s a lefty. Swooooon.
Brendon Little, Toronto Blue Jays
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 0.43 WHIP, 5 K, 19.31 K9, 2 S/H
Another whiff-inducing southpaw on my features this week, Little got the bump twice this week in leverage situations (@ LAA, @ SEA) and did his job – earning five strikeouts in a little over two innings of work. He’s generally the bridge, but does have eight holds on the season and the pitch profile to handle big spots.
Josh Hader, Houston Astros
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 5 K, 22.50 K9, 1 S/H
If you’ve read my features before (thank you), you’ll remember my previous doting on Hader’s deceptive delivery. His delivery is so deceptive, I nicknamed it “my ex-wife.” Kidding (not kidding). Anyways… he wasn’t ultra-effective against the Brewers (walking Collins and giving up a double to Hoskins to put runners at second and third, then plunking Durbin to load ‘em up), and it took him 20 pitches to get three outs Friday against the Reds. But five of those six outs were strikeouts. And remember what I said about strikeouts.
Randy Rodriguez, San Francisco Giants
Week’s Line: 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 5 K, 22.50 K9, 1 S/H
My third bridge featured this week… and my third Giant. But it’s for good measure. He features a ridiculous fastball (elite velocity and iVB), and a ridiculous slider (just ask Miguel Amaya), with both pitches returning fantastic run value. A hold against the vaunted Cubs on Tuesday and a big stones, uber-efficient stop-gap against the Twins on Saturday (three punches, including Buxton). The Giants bullpen is really good, y’all.
