Michael King, SP, Padres
Michael King got lit up for 6 runs on 8 hits over 5.1 innings against the Rockies on Wednesday. He struck out 7 and walked 2. After dominating the Dodgers in his previous starts, you would think a matchup against the Rockies in San Diego would be a piece of cake. Instead, King continued the trend of being completely unpredictable from start to start. He has two double-digit strikeout performances on the season where he looked like a true ace but has also now allowed 6 runs in two separate starts. His ERA is now 4.31 and his WHIP is 1.36 on the season, which is certainly not what fantasy players were expecting when they drafted him. He is a very volatile pitcher who would typically be referred to as matchup-dependent, except he has had his two best starts of the year against the Dodgers and Brewers while having his worst starts against the Rockies and Giants. He has too much potential to drop at this point, but it's also hard to trust him in your starting lineup right now.
Brandon Pfaadt, SP, Diamondbacks
Brandon Pfaadt continued his up-and-down season on Wednesday, bouncing back from a rough previous outing by tossing 7 innings of 1-run baseball. He allowed 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 9. He only had 8 whiffs on the day but finished with a strong 32% CSW% thanks to plenty of called strikes. He threw his sweeper more than his fastball in this one, getting 4 whiffs and 9 called strikes for a 40% whiff rate and 39% CSW%. He now owns a 4.17 ERA on the season with a 51:10 K:BB ratio. It's worth noting that he was facing a Cincinnati lineup that has been heavily depleted by injuries, but even in tougher matchups this year he has been able to get by with quality starts even when the strikeouts don't come. He remains towards the backend of the top 75 starting pitchers for fantasy, and I would probably avoid starting him in tough matchups. He's currently lined up to face the Dodgers and Rangers in his next two starts, so expect some tough times ahead.
Bryan Woo, SP, Mariners
Bryan Woo allowed 3 hits, 1 walk, and 1 earned run over 5.1 innings while striking out 5 against the Royals. It was a solid start for his second outing back off of the injured list, and he totaled 13 whiffs on 79 pitches for a 16.4% SwStr% and a 29% CSW%. It was another start cut short as he builds his arm back up, but he showed why he was gaining steam as a popular breakout pick during draft season. He finished last season with a 4.21 ERA and 1.21 WHIP with 93 strikeouts over 87.2 innings, and I think he should be able to improve those numbers by a large margin in his sophomore campaign. There are so many exciting pitchers this season that he still falls toward the backend of the top 70 starting pitchers as of now, but he could be one of the biggest rankings risers over the coming weeks.
Logan Webb, SP, Giants
Logan Webb turned in a quality start against the Dodgers, allowing 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 5 over 6 shutout innings. He only induced 5 whiffs on the night for an 11% whiff rate and a 24% CSW%, but it was still a solid outing against a very tough offense. Webb has been his usual self this season in terms of his 95th percentile 59.2% ground ball rate, but his changeup has been hit uncharacteristically hard. His changeup is his most thrown pitch, and coming into this start it had a .346 xBA compared to a .246 xBA in 2023. It's notable that he significantly cut back on his changeup usage in this start, throwing it only 15% of the time, making his least used pitch. He heavily relied on his sinker, throwing it 43% of the time, and it looks like it paid off. He now has a 3.03 ERA on the season and is tentatively scheduled to face the Pirates in his next start. He remains a top-20 starting pitcher for fantasy.
Sal Frelick, OF, Brewers
Sal Frelick went 3 for 4 with a home run and a double on Wednesday. It marks the second day in a row that he has homered, bringing his season totals to a .257/.331/.354 slash line with 10 homers and 5 steals. It's good to see a bit of power from Frelick, who had a hard-hit rate of 23.6%, a barrel rate of 0.9%, and an xSLG .285 going into the day, all ranking in the bottom 5 percent of the league. He will retain some fantasy value for his stolen bases thanks to his 91st percentile sprint speed but don't count on this power stretch to continue unless he makes big changes to improve his quality of contact. He is a fine 5th outfielder if you need steals, but he shouldn't be rostered in points leagues or any other format where you only start three outfielders.
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