Starting Pitcher Notes: 6/15/26 (Chase Burns, MacKenzie Gore, and Dustin May)
Corbin Young examines Chase Burns, MacKenzie Gore, and Dustin May from the games on Monday, June 15th.
Sorry that I’ve been quiet on here. Coaching softball multiple days per week, plus four fantasy baseball articles and real-life responsibilities, have eaten up my extra bandwidth. I write two articles per week at Yahoo Fantasy, covering hitter matchups and hitter skill and luck factors. I also contribute to RotoGraphs, covering starting pitchers and doing some rookie check-ins.
We’ll highlight a few starting pitchers from Monday, June 15th, below.
Chase Burns, SP, Reds
Cincinnati Reds’ starting pitcher Chase Burns threw 5 scoreless innings with 7 strikeouts and 19 whiffs (19% swinging-strike rate) against the Mets. Burns has been posting near-elite skills, with a 21.9% K-BB%, 15.1% swinging-strike rate, and a 113 Stuff+ before Monday.
2⃣Burns has been a four-seamer (62%) and slider (30%) machine against both sides of the plate. His four-seamer elicited a 25.8% swinging-strike rate with the slider at 30%. For context, Burns’s four-seamer had an 8% swinging-strike rate with the slider (26.2% SwK) leading the arsenal.
Four-seamers in the upper third of the zone with sliders located low and toward his glove side have been a recipe for success. If Burns develops a third consistent pitch, he’ll be even more dangerous.
MacKenzie Gore, SP, Rangers
Texas Rangers’ starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore logged 10 strikeouts against the Twins for the 1st time in 2026. Gore had a 16.7% swinging-strike rate and a 31% ball rate on Monday against the Twins. That’s significantly better than Gore’s 36% ball rate and a 11.4% swinging-strike rate before Monday.
⏩Gore pounded the zone with four-seamers 59% of the time on Monday. The heater was generating called strikes (37%) and first-pitch strikes (69%) while eliciting whiffs (21.6% swinging-strike rate). Gore challenged the Twins’ hitters and attacked them.
🪙Meanwhile, Gore’s changeup elicited a 25% swinging-strike rate, most of which came low and toward his arm side against right-handed hitters. The changeup has been an option for weak contact against righties (.171 wOBA, .240 xwOBA) before Monday.
I loved Gore as a breakout option with a new team, but it’s been bumpy as expected.
Dustin May, SP, Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals’ starting pitcher Dustin May hadn’t gone past 7 innings before Monday, throwing a complete game shutout with 1 hit, 1 walk, and 9 strikeouts against the Padres on Monday. May had a 14.9% swinging-strike rate with a 32% ball rate on Monday.
🧹May’s sweeper led his arsenal with 6 whiffs (31.6% swinging-strike rate). He was throwing his sweeper in the zone 47% of the time, compared to a 39.4% zone rate this season. Opposing hitters were chasing the sweeper 50% of the time on Monday, significantly higher than in 2026 before Monday (30%).
✂️May’s cutter elicited a 15.8% swinging-strike rate, as something he throws against both sides of the plate. He has been throwing cutters 27.3% of the time to left-handed hitters in 2026 before Monday, similar to Monday’s outing (30%). The cutter looks like a gyro-like version of his sweeper. For context, May’s cutter has been performing better (.326 wOBA, .293 xwOBA) against lefties in 2026 compared to 2025 (.540 wOBA, .427 xwOBA).
May has shown one of his best K-BB% (15.3%) with above-average stuff (103 Stuff+) and command (101 Location+), supporting his 3.88 SIERA. I liked May in the past, but we’re remaining cautious.