Tomoyuki

Sugano

All he does is win, no matter what. Sugano breezed through nearly seven innings against the hapless Royals lineup with the only blemish on his ledger coming from a Carter Jensen solo home run. That makes it wins in three straight starts for the crafty righty and wins in seven straight decisions dating back to early June. That is outright shocking while pitching for a team with only 43 wins in total. Sugano is a prime trade candidate before Monday’s deadline and he should benefit from leaving Coors Field.

He struck out five and both runs allowed came off solo home runs to Christian Yelich and Brice Turang. There’s not much mystique to Sugano at this stage of the season -- he throws the full kitchen sink and tops out at 94 between three different fastballs. His 27 percent whiff rate here was well above his season average of 17 percent. Sugano draws a Coors Field start next week against the Royals, assuming he’s not traded before then.

That would include Kyle Freeland, Michael Lorenzen, and Tomoyuki Sugano. While they may not seem like major additions, they are experienced veteran starters that playoff contenders could look to add as rotation depth for the final months.

Jose Trevino, of all people, homered off him twice. Sugano didn’t have much issue with anyone else. He’s now a rather stunning 9-4 with a 4.76 ERA. He’s the first Rockies starter to win nine games in a season since Austin Gomber in 2023. The last to reach double figures was Germán Márquez, who had 12 in 2021. It’s unclear if Sugano will get the chance to enter that territory, as the Rockies would surely part with him in return for a solid prospect before the deadline. He still might be a tough sell to contenders, though, given his paltry 13.3 percent strikeout rate. He’ll pitch in Milwaukee next weekend.

Sugano gets the ball for Saturday’s showdown against the Reds at Coors Field following a minimum stay on the injured list due to back spasms. The 36-year-old has forged a respectable 4.80 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 48/23 K/BB ratio across 84 1/3 innings over 16 starts in his Colorado debut. He can be safely ignored in most, if not all, fantasy formats based on his lack of strikeout upside.

There was conflicting reports as to whether Sugano would need to be placed on the injured list, but the Rockies won’t take any chances. Sugano will likely be back — if there are no setbacks, of course — after the All-Star break. Sean Sullivan is up to take Sugano’s spot in the rotation, for now.

It’ll be rookie Sean Sullivan drawing the starting assignment at Coors Field in his place. The 36-year-old veteran has been dealing with a finger issue since his previous outing against the Twins last week, but it’s a back-related issue that will keep him from taking the ball this weekend. It sounds like this could become an injured list situation if he’s not ready to pitch in a couple days.

It’ll be Tanner Gordon coming off the injured list to start against the Marlins on Tuesday in Sugano’s place. The 36-year-old was torched for seven runs over five innings in his previous outing against the Twins last Friday. It appears the he’ll avoid a trip to the injured list and take the ball against the Giants later this week.

Sugano struck out two batters in the contest while allowing one base on balls. The Twins got to him early and often in this one as Kody Clemens blasted a two-run homer in the first inning and Brooks Lee clobbered a two-run shot in the second inning. Sugano then settled in until giving up an additional three runs in his final frame. He got just five swings and misses on 85 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of 25 percent. He’ll try to bounce back as he brings a 4.80 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and a 48/23 K/BB ratio (84 1/3 innings) into Wednesday’s matchup against the Marlins.

Sugano gave up four hits, walked none and struck out five. He improved to 8-4 with the win. Sugano lowered his ERA to 4.31, though his xFIP is 4.98. The 36-year-old right-hander has one of the lowest strikeout percentages among starters at 13 percent. Sugano out-dueled Paul Skenes on Saturday, but doesn’t offer much fantasy upside. He’s lined up to face the Twins on the road next weekend.