SF Giants starter Landen Roupp continues to excel in key area

Landen Roupp has generally been effective at keeping the ball on the ground and in the ballpark. In fact, the SF Giants starter has not allowed a long ball through five starts this year. 

SF Giants starter Landen Roupp continues to excel in key area

Similar to Logan Webb, Roupp has an arsenal that is tough for hitters to get into the air. The sinker, curveball, and changeup all have heavy, downward movement, leading to a lot of ground balls. In particular, the changeup has been an effective offering, especially against left-handed hitters.

That theme continued on Tuesday in a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. They have a left-handed-heavy lineup, and Roupp held them to just one run across five innings of work. Considering the quality of the lineup he faced, that is about as good of an outing as a team could want.

Roupp has been excellent this year, pitching to a 2.28 ERA across 27.2 frames. He has a 2.42 FIP to go along with that. This is to say, his ERA is right around where it should be based on the events he can control.

One of those events is home runs. Roupp has not allowed one yet this year, and has excelled at keeping the ball in the ballpark. He is just one of eight qualified pitchers to not allow a home run yet this year.

Among pitchers who have thrown at least 150 innings since 2024, Roupp is 15th with a 0.63 HR/9 rate. Logan Webb is ahead of him on that list with a 0.55 HR/9. You want to know who else is on that list? Ryan Walker with a 0.59 HR/9. He has not been all that sharp lately, but he has kept the ball in the park.  

Pitching at Oracle Park certainly helps, but Roupp would be effective at that regardless of the ballpark. He has allowed a ground ball in 50.8 percent of his batted-ball events this year. There are just not many opportunities for hitters to get the ball in the air against Roupp. 

The homer-less streak will not last forever. I remember sharing this same observation on here about Ty Blach and Chris Stratton early in the 2018 season, and the home runs quickly followed. 

This is not to say that will happen for Roupp. In 50 major league appearances, he has pitched to a 3.51 ERA. It might be time to recognize that he just has been a good pitcher, and keeping the ball in the park is a big part of that.

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