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Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Report for July 24th

Welcome to the fantasy baseball pitching report for July 24th, where we dive into the fascinating world of baseball’s most captivating element: pitching. We document intriguing patterns and metrics presented throughout the previous day each day, such as spin rate, velocity, and pitch mix. But we don’t stop there. Our reports go beyond the numbers, offering fantasy pitching analysis when certain pitchers deserve more or less attention. Whether you’re seeking a competitive edge, the next breakout star, or daily pitching refreshers, these reports have you covered.

Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Report for July 24th

Tarik Skubal (5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, 82 Pitches)

Pitching Report

There were many positives to take away from Tarik Skubal’s Monday afternoon start against the Giants. First, it marked the most pitches Skubal has thrown in an outing since the 2022 campaign. Furthermore, it represented the lefty’s first win since recovering from flexor tendon surgery that sidelined him for nearly a year. Skubal stuck to a familiar pitch mix in this start and its effectiveness could not have been more evident. He earned 13 whiffs on 82 pitches and an overall 34% CSW. One piece of information to note is the fact that his changeup was thrown inside the strike zone 73% of the time. This is up tremendously from his seasonal average of 45.2%. Not only did he limit the Giants’ offense to two hits, but he also limited batters to an average exit velocity of 86.7 mph.

Fantasy Analysis

Tarik Skubal is, at the very least, a top-50 starting pitcher in fantasy. As he is somehow still available in 52% of Yahoo Fantasy Leagues, it is imperative that you check his availability immediately. In most fantasy formats he is not a streamer and should not be treated as such. Do not be discouraged by his lack of quality starts. The Tigers have been cautiously increasing his workload but the 82 pitches he threw tonight are an extremely positive sign. As long as he’s somewhat efficient, Skubal should be able to log six innings in his next start against the Marlins this weekend.

As he’s only thrown 17 innings in the Majors this year, it’s hard to accurately compare his season statistics to the league averages. With that being said, things are looking good. He possesses a stellar sub-three xERA and a near-30% strikeout rate. His fastball velocity continues to sit nearly two ticks up from last year. In this start, he hit a maximum velocity of 97.8 mph and an average of 95.8 mph. If he can maintain his increased fastball velocity and continue to locate the zone expertly, the sky is truly the limit. The only downside to his fantasy value is that he plays opposite to a relatively weak Tigers offense.

Yu Darvish (4 1/3 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 85 Pitches)

Pitching Report

While he threw eight different pitches in his Monday start against the Pirates, Yu Darvish wasn’t able to get much of anything done. The Padres ace only managed to earn eight whiffs on the night as he struggled to locate his 4-seamer. While his 4-seamer’s average zone% on the season sits at 47.9%, he was only able to locate the strike zone with it 27% of the time on Monday. His slider wasn’t any better. Thrown 19 times in this outing, the pitch generated zero whiffs and only possessed a 13% oSwing%. The sweeper was responsible for 5/8 whiffs but got crushed with an average exit velocity of 97.5 mph. Overall, Darvish surrendered eight hard hits before the completion of the fifth inning.

Six of Darvish’s eight pitches were down by varying amounts of velocity in Monday’s start:

  • Sinker: 0.9 mph decrease
  • Sweeper: 0.5 mph decrease
  • 4-Seamer: 1.0 mph decrease
  • Curveball: 0.8 mph decrease
  • Splitter: 1.9 mph decrease
  • Cutter 1.4 mph decrease

Furthermore, four pitches were down in spin rate by at least 100 RMP:

  • Slider: 133 RMP decrease
  • Sinker: 181 RMP decrease
  • Splitter: 114 RPM decrease
  • Cutter: 139 RMP decrease

As Darvish is a master pitch-tinkerer, there really shouldn’t be anything to worry about at this time.

Fantasy Analysis

Immediately following a frustrating start like this is absolutely the optimal time to buy low on Yu Darvish. First, as mentioned previously, Darvish has a huge arsenal and loves to constantly change and alter his pitches. There’s no doubt that Darvish has already pondered over what to do differently in his upcoming start. This mentality and ability are beneficial not only in sports but also for the fantasy managers who need Darvish to pull things back together. Prior to this semi-blowup, Darvish threw 12 innings of one-run ball against the Jays and the Phillies. Furthermore, Darvish has a track record of being able to step up his pitching game in the second half of the season. Last year, Darvish was able to drop his first-half 3.41 ERA to a second-half ERA of 2.71. There really is not much of an argument to make in terms of challenging the talent and range of Yu Darvish and the value he brings across fantasy leagues. Send some trades his way to see if fantasy managers are willing to cut bait after his less-than-ideal Monday start.

Main photo credits:

David Reginek-USA TODAY Sports

Players mentioned:

Tarik Skubal, Yu Darvish

Jackson Wessels

Jackson Wessels

Despite picking up the sport of baseball recently, Jackson has been infatuated with looking deeper into player performances with the use of statistics and analytics. A student at the University of British Columbia, he spends his free time away from studying thinking, talking, and watching a variety of sports.

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