Fantasy Baseball SP Roundup 5/22: A Cole in One
Welcome to the SP Roundup, my daily fantasy baseball article reviewing every starting pitcher's performance from every Friday game. I apologize for the jokes written in my delirium in advance. Have questions? Ask me during my office hours on Twitch.tv (https://twitch.tv/pitcherlist) weekday mornings from 10 am-12 pm ET.
Note from Nick: Please welcome Jake Crumpler as our new SP Roundup author for Saturdays! I wrote about this major change here (https://pitcherlist.com/pitcher-list-special-announcement-from-nick/) and I couldn’t be more excited for everyone to enjoy the Jake Crumpler experience.
Gerrit Cole (NYY) vs TBR (ND) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 72 pitches.
The King hath returned! The originator of the King Cole hasn’t made a big league start since the final week of the 2024 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery (including internal bracing). Offseason questions centered on when he’d make his season debut and what he’d look like when he got back on a big league mound.
The former question was answered as Gerrit Cole made his long-awaited first start of the 2026 campaign in front of his home crowd against the Rays, returning 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks – 5 whiffs, 33% CSW, 72 pitches (ND). Now we can go about answering the latter question.
At 35-years-old and a year and a half removed from his last outing, there was no guarantee we’d see the slightly diminished 2024 iteration of Cole (3.41 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 25.4% K%), let alone the 2023 Cy Young Award-winning version of himself. The thought was that his most recent version was limited due to his compromised elbow, leaving a glimmer of hope that he could return to his mid-career form. However, even at his worst, he had the makings of an elite Holly.
I’m happy to report that…the verdict is unclear. Cole maintained his 2024 four-seamer, sitting 96 with 17-18″ of vert, a flat attack angle, and intent upstairs while displaying the ability to turn the velocity up to 98.6 mph with a whiff in the first. He paired it with a sinker displaying the same 98+ mph potential, as it averaged 96 mph and effectively jammed RHBs. You’re not dreaming, and it’s not 2017 (I’d still be in college!). Cole threw a sinker more than 10% of the time for the first time since his days with the Pirates.
On the secondary front, sliders looked the same but failed to nail the low-gloveside corner against RHBs. Changeups came in three mph slower at 85-86 mph with more drop and run, creating more separation from the fastballs. Curveballs were a tick down at 81 and had the same intent of stealing called strikes. Long gone is the cutter that held things together in years past.
With an elite pair of heaters, Cole has a foundation that automatically makes him a top 25 starter. However, there’s still work to do to shake off the rust of his secondaries. He needs to find the location that made his slider such a devastating pitch at his peak, and he needs to turn to it as a putaway pitch to both handedness (33% usage vs RHB and 0% vs LHB in 2-strike counts). Equally as important, we need to see much better command of slowballs, which flew above the zone on five of the eight he threw, leading to a 50% strike rate.
Can he fix those issues? Yes. Does it help that the issues are obvious? Yes. Could it take a couple of starts before he locks in? Yes. Should I stop asking myself questions I know the answer to? YES.
The aging monarch that once ruled the league still has plenty of fighting spirit left, and I have so much faith that with all his experience, he’ll make the necessary adjustments to restore the confidence of his subjects. We ride to Kansas City at dawn! Or May 27th for those managing fantasy teams, not living in a fantasy world. (View Game Card) (https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:vxh67fh2qpq74sdmedzbpxt7/bafkreidkwye7pc7hvstnh256oli3u2yn7zuaegc7hr662mmwdzeuqlhehe)
Other SP Performances
Cristopher Sánchez (PHI) vs CLE (ND) – 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks – 22 Whiffs, 36% CSW, 96 pitches.
Aces gonna ace. That’s now 37.2 consecutive scoreless frames from Sánchez (the second-longest streak in Phillies franchise history), as he earned a co-share of the Gallows Pole via excellent secondaries. The 11 changeup whiffs are expected, but the usually quiet and supportive slider took center stage, returning a season-high nine whiffs. Let’s keep this CS:GO-ing with SDP x2 up next. (View Game Card) (https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:vxh67fh2qpq74sdmedzbpxt7/bafkreiatnyg3hrhl2p626gccdwgzxcflalfv2u2azwvhxnb62rsnnqvsiy)
Gavin Williams (CLE) @ PHI (W) – 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 11 Ks – 17 Whiffs, 33% CSW, 99 pitches.
Okay, Gavin! The ups and downs of your season are making me a little seasick, but that’s what I get for rostering you without the proper amount of Dramamine (the Cherry Bomb flavor is the best). That’s five straight starts with a strike rate north of 70%, and while two of those have resulted in five earned runs each (the other three have resulted in two runs combined), this is exactly what we want to see from him. His stuff is overwhelming enough that we just want to see him live in the zone and force batters to battle him rather than watch him battle himself. (View Game Card) (https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:vxh67fh2qpq74sdmedzbpxt7/bafkreidfwvtbdbgrziwdjshlezuocjbgmmgqmvisgbvhsas35kffhy5pze)
Noah Cameron (KCR) vs SEA (ND) – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 96 pitches.
With eight punchouts, Cameron set and tied his season and career highs, respectively. His changeup was impressive, coming in two ticks slower, but catching too much of the zone, and cutters made up for four-seamers failing to entice upstairs. However, the strikeout increase can be attributed to his curveball landing low, earning 53% CSW and producing an unsusatainable 63% per-pitch putaway rate. I knew it was too good to be true! With the Yankees up next and Great American Smallpark on deck, we can check back in with Cameron in a couple of weeks. (View Game Card) (https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:vxh67fh2qpq74sdmedzbpxt7/bafkreift5h3mewxxmwhur5n4ltb5eekibhhnkgfx5myw2za52bfqxodfki)
Logan Gilbert (SEA) @ KCR (ND) – 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks – 11 Whiffs, 26% CSW, 94 pitches.
Gilbert has rightfully earned the Cherry Bomb tag, pairing starts like this with the seven earned runs he allowed last time. Who gave him his sommelier certification? Please stop serving me orange juice with my toothpaste! (View Game Card) (https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:vxh67fh2qpq74sdmedzbpxt7/bafkreidajhelomaghn3je4xbagirjaz2ayqzijp6fx3xpt3qsy5o3bovm4)
Miles Mikolas (WSH) @ ATL (ND) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 66 pitches.
Thank you for making my first Gold Star selection an easy choice. With Richard Lovelady opening with a scoreless first, Mikolas survived five frames for just the third time this year and did so while allowing fewer than two earned runs for the first time since July of 2025. He’s Miles away from being fantasy relevant. (View Game Card) (https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:vxh67fh2qpq74sdmedzbpxt7/bafkreihhte6iep2rmmlv6rfgmlgfpf3ywxqyz5gg7kw3sglio6426anhvu)
Logan Henderson (MIL) vs LAD (W) – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks – 15 Whiffs, 36% CSW, 85 pitches.
After seeing what Henderson was capable of in his first four starts, I wasn’t afraid of starting him against the mighty, two-time-reigning champions. I really appreciate you making me look smart, Logan. With his first scoreless outing of the year, Henderson became the first pitcher in MLB history to begin his career by making 10 straight starts while allowing two or fewer earned runs in each of them. Enjoy being the envy of your league as you slot him into your fantasy roster every week. (View Game Card) (https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:vxh67fh2qpq74sdmedzbpxt7/bafkreibfqzwsjzkbgynuswrj2upjywjqkrvpnl263nww6rr7fymwyya4qq)
