A few weeks ago, the trio of young Jacksons (Chourio, Marrill, and Holliday) were the talk of baseball. On Thursday, it was another duo who share a name that made headlines, as pitchers Spencer Schwellenbach and Spencer Arrighetti both showed out.
In Schwellenbach's case, it was in keeping with what he's accomplished for a while, while Arrighetti bounced back from a poor showing to give us some reason to think he might be a must-roster pitcher the rest of the way, at least. Before we get to the rest of Thursday's standouts, news and notes, and some waiver-wire targets, let's get to what you need to know about the Spencers and their excellent performances:
Spencer Schwellenbach, Braves vs. PHI: 6.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K – I don't want to get ahead of myself, but Schwellenbach just keeps showing the kind of skill set that is really worth getting excited about. He obviously has elite control, with a George Kirby-esque 4.5% walk rate in his rookie season, but where Schwellenbach also stands out is with the swinging strikes he's able to generate. He got 20 of them Thursday and has a 14.5% swinging strike rate for the season, essentially tied with Chris Sale and Tarik Skubal. Read that again: "Essentially tied with Tarik Skubal and Chris Sale." He has a 3.35 ERA with 53 strikeouts and five walks in 37.2 innings over six starts since the All-Star break, and I think we may be talking about him as a top-24 starting pitcher next season. If there's one concern, it's this: Schwellenbach has never thrown more than 65 innings in a season before this one, and he's already up to 127.1 this season. That's a big jump, and it's fair to wonder how he'll hold up down the stretch.
Spencer Arrighetti, SP, Astros @BAL: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K – Pitchers are funny creatures. Arrighetti had one of the best two-start runs of any pitcher in the league when he struck out 25 against the Rays and Red Sox earlier in August, and then followed that up with four earned runs over 5.2 innings against a historically inept White Sox lineup. So, of course, he went out and shut the Orioles out over six innings Thursday, striking out six with one walk and only three hits allowed. The Orioles, who are averaging nearly two more runs than the White Sox this season. Sure. The upshot is, it's another reminder of the upside Arrighetti brings to the table every time he steps to the mound. Is he someone you can trust in your lineup? Not quite yet, but he's absolutely someone who could be a difference-maker down the stretch if he finds that consistency, and he should be rostered in all leagues just in case.
Friday's waiver targets
Jack Leiter, SP, Rangers (14%) – Alright, so I know Leiter's first stint in the majors went poorly. Okay, that might be underselling it: Leiter gave up 17 earned runs in 9.1 innings over three starts earlier in the season, which is about as poorly as you can do. But the former No. 2 overall pick has continued his solid bounceback season at Triple-A since going back in May, and he's especially been flashing some outrageous upside lately, striking out 20 batters in just 9.1 innings over the past two outings. He certainly has the stuff to thrive in the majors, with both his slider and four-seamer rating out well – with the latter sitting at 97.8 mph in his most recent outing. Skepticism is warranted, certainly, but Leiter wouldn't be the first pitcher to struggle at first only to figure it out in the majors. There's been a bit of a shortage of interesting pitchers on the waiver wire of late, so if you have a roster spot to play with in a deeper league, Leiter is an interesting stash now that it looks like he's on the verge of returning to the majors.
Spencer Torkelson, 1B, Tigers (43%) – Torkelson hit his first homer since coming back from Triple-A Thursday, and he's now 7 for 17 in his first five games back, with four extra-base hits. Perhaps most importantly, he has struck out just three times in his first 20 plate appearances, a big deal for a guy who struck out 29 times in his final 105 plate appearances before being sent down. Strikeouts are always going to be part of Torkelson's game, but if he can just keep them to a manageable level, that should be enough to let the power play. If you need a CI or 1B in a Roto league, I'm looking his way.
Alejandro Kirk, C, Blue Jays (14%) – When the Blue Jays traded Danny Jansen at the deadline, it felt like a put-up-or-shut-up moment for the former All-Star Kirk. And he's responded well. After going 2 for 4 with a couple of doubles Thursday against the Angels, he's now hitting .259/.359/.426 in the month of August. He's been hitting the ball pretty hard all season and remains a standout in plate discipline, but it wasn't really until July when he started to show much with the bat. He has an xwOBA over .360 over the past two months and is a viable No. 2 catcher as long as he can keep this up.
