For Week 5, several starting pitchers have delivered exceptional performances, capturing the attention of fans and analysts alike. From established aces reaffirming their dominance to emerging talents making significant impacts, these pitchers have set the tone for excellence on the mound. Let’s take a look at who tore it up and made noise last week around the league, in no particular order.
Hunter Brown, Houston Astros
Week’s Line: 13.0 IP, 0.69 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 18 K, 12.46 K9, 2 QS
Facing the Toronto Blue Jays, Brown pitched seven scoreles innings, allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out nine batters. This performance extended his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 24. Twenty-four innings. Then against the Kansas City Royals, Brown continued his dominant week by going 6.0, giving up just one earned, and punching another nine tickets. Brown’s pitch profile is sexy, as he throws six different offerings, highlighted by his fastball variation – a four-seamer with damn good vertical break (currently the most effective pitch in baseball, per Statcast), and a filthy sinker.
Tylor Megill, New York Mets
Week’s Line: 11.2 IP, 2.31 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, 19 K, 14.65 K9, 1 QS
This guy has been one of my sleeper faves for a few years, and it makes me happy to see him pitching well in 2025. The fastball/slider combo is just plain dirty, and while it generally was located last week, he was also his inconsistent self (as evidenced by four free passes to the Phils). His ability to induce breaks is what sets him apart – 107 Stuff+, 103 Pitching+ in the two matchups, and elite spin rates. He absolutely mowed down batters last week with a complete disregard for the fact that their families were watching. I mean, check out these numbers from the Phillies start – 18” iVB on the fastball, and 16” of induced drop and run on both the change and the sinker, leading to 10 strikeouts in just over five innings. Like I said – dirty.
Max Meyer, Miami Marlins
Week’s Line: 10.0 IP, 4.50 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 20 K, 18.00 K9, 1 QS
Sure, Seattle busted him up on Sunday, but so what? He completely DECIMATED the Reds on Monday, and I’m here for it. The slider is just stupid effective (50% whiff and 37.1% put-away), and the rest of his pitches all get a bump as a result. Against Cincinnati, for example, his slider was simply phenomenal (16/21 whiffs – meaning 76% of swings on the pitch were misses), and his changeup (53% CSW) and sinker (33% CSW) both reached an iHB of 21”, which is uber elite. The Marlins are finally letting this kid pitch, and he’s shaping into the pedigree we were promised.
Joe Ryan, Minnesota Twins
Week’s Line: 7.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, 11 K, 14.14 K9, 1 QS
After what can only be described as a stinker (swings and misses below 20%), Ryan gave a master class on how to pitch a terrible offense. Yes, it was the Angels, but Ryan cooked. The fastball (18/38 – 47%) and the sweeper (6/10 – 60%) did their job en route to a 46% whiff percentage on the day, and a 38% CSW overall. And let’s chat about that sweeper for a minute – 28% usage (primarily down and away from righties) hit a max iHB of 27”, with a max spin rate of 3,050. MY GOD. If you didn’t see it, let me sum it up – absolutely one of the filthiest pitches you’ll ever see. For reals. Go watch it. And he needs his secondary pitches popping like this for his fastball to play. And it so did last week.
Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers
Week’s Line: 6.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 11 K, 16.50 K9, 1 QS
Pitching+ is an advanced baseball model that attempts to capture a pitcher’s overall effectiveness by combining measurements of their stuff (velocity, movement, etc.), location (where they throw the ball), and overall command. It aims to provide a single number that reflects a pitcher’s ability, with 100 representing league average. I give you this background as prologue – Tarik’s Pitching+ this week was 143 and is sitting at 128 on the year (both numbers pace all pitchers). For comparison, MLB’s 2024 Pitching+ leader was Corbin Burnes at 119. Translation – Tarik Skubal is really good. His start against the Orioles was a Pitching+ showcase – location and stuff (41% CSW, 48% whiffs).
Nick Lodolo, Cincinnati Reds
Week’s Line: 12.2 IP, 2.13 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 13 K, 9.23 K9, 1 QS
A tale of two starts for Lodolo, as Monday (opposite Max Meyer) wasn’t amazing, but he got it done Sunday in Colorado– seven scoreless, three baserunners, and nine strikeouts. The curve is the calling card, and it worked in Coors (6/12 whiffs, 45% CSW), but the rest of the arsenal just lacked. I mean, it wasn’t phenomenal stuff, and was probably more of a case of competition (the Rockies are baaaad, in case you haven’t noticed), but the results are what we’re after here. I just think this kind of effort against a better offense returns a very different result.
Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates
Week’s Line: 6.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 9 K, 12.80 K9, 1 QS
Paul Skenes is special. Special. Don’t believe me? Check his Statcast page, or go watch some YouTube on him. Who am I kidding – we all know who he is. And his legend grows with each start. I mean, the stones on this kid to stroll into Dodger Stadium and absolutely handle Shohei and his pals? Impressive. He threw seven pitches, all playing off his ridiculous four-seamer (2,402 spin, 16” iVB and 19” of run, while living at 99+ MPH), which resulted in 36% (18 total – eighteen) swings and misses and 34% CSW on the outing. Interesting nugget – he threw more curveballs in this game (17) than he had all season prior (16), with good results. The Pirates have two must-watch players (Skenes and Cruz), and it’s an exciting time for Pirates fans.
Andrew Heaney, Pittsburgh Pirates
Week’s Line: 6.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.17 WHIP, 9 K, 13.50 K9, 1 QS
Pirates pitchers LOVED their LA road trip this week, didn’t they? We just discussed Skenes, but how about Andrew Heaney against the Halos? His fastball was working (11/22 whiffs), his secondaries all landed well (13/29, 44.8% swings and misses), and it was soft contact city all day (78.1 vs. the change, and 84.3 vs. the sinker). A look under the hood reveals that this is not just a case of pitching against a bad team – Heaney’s pitch profile is generally in the 70th percentile. He’s always had the talent, and his four-seamer is currently one of the most effective pitches in the bigs (+6 run value). Injuries always loom for Andrew, so we’ll enjoy this while it lasts.
Walker Buehler, Boston Red Sox
Week’s Line: 13.0 IP, 2.77 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 12 K, 8.31 K9, 2 QS
Statcast doesn’t love him (except his ability to induce soft contact). His Pitching+ (stuff and location) is below league average. His wins this week came against a below average team (CLE) and “then there’s 50 feet of crap” below average (CWS). So I’m not overly impressed with the pitcher, but featuring him as a function of results. Two quality starts, two wins, great ERA and WHIP, palpable pitch data. It’s just so mehhhh for me.
Brandon Pfaadt, Arizona Diamondbacks
Week’s Line: 12.0 IP, 2.25 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 11 K, 8.25 K9, 2 QS
Is this the Pfaadt breakout? Is it here? Can we be sure? His command is near-elite, and he induces a good amount of groundballs, which was the book on him coming through MiLB. In fact, maybe he attacks the zone a little too much, which is probably a factor in his hard hit rate (41.9% of batted balls exceed 95 MPH exit velo). The Tampa start was better than the Atlanta start (shocker), but neither were uber impressive from a pitch prolife perspective – 22/94 whiffs (23%), and while the sinker and change had good drop and run, they were still hit too hard (101.3+ average). He has a great defense behind him, so as long as he keeps the ball out of the air, Pfaadt should be just fine. And maybe a little meh.
