MLB Daily DeltaWeek 18 · July 28, 2026
Portrait of Cade Smith
Cade Smith
CLE · P
Change to
Portrait of Pierce Johnson
Pierce Johnson
CIN · P
Change to
Who's more valuable, rest of season

Cade Smith.

He projects to help you in more roto categories the rest of the way — strikeouts, ERA, WHIP, and saves.

Head-to-head
K
ERA
WHIP
W
SV

Cade Smith wins 4 categories (K, ERA, WHIP, SV); Pierce Johnson wins 1 (W).

04

Under the hood

Underlying skill — each value vs league avg
Fastball Velolg 94.0 · higher = better
Cade Smith
97.0
Pierce Johnson
95.4
Swinging-Strike %lg 11.0% · higher = better
Cade Smith
17.1%
Pierce Johnson
11.0%
Strikeout %lg 22.0% · higher = better
Cade Smith
34.7%
Pierce Johnson
20.0%
Chase %lg 28.5% · higher = better
Cade Smith
33.7%
Pierce Johnson
32.6%
Hard-Hit % Allowedlg 40.0% · lower = better
Cade Smith
44.6%
Pierce Johnson
40.7%
Barrel % Allowedlg 8.0% · lower = better
Cade Smith
9.6%
Pierce Johnson
13.2%
xwOBA Allowedlg .315 · lower = better
Cade Smith
.279
Pierce Johnson
.375
stabilized — trust it · small sample yet · dashed = league avg · right = better
05

The tape

Rest-of-season projection · bold = leads
rest-of-season projection current season projection range
Rate · earned-run quality
ERAlower is better
Cade Smith
2.144.21
lg xERA 4.10
now 2.60
3.67
Pierce Johnson
2.144.21
lg xERA 4.10
now 3.27
3.75
WHIPlower is better
Cade Smith
1.011.31
now 1.08
1.23
Pierce Johnson
1.011.31
now 1.23
1.24

Volume · rest of season
Strikeoutshigher is better
Cade Smith
4051.20
now 42
29
Pierce Johnson
4051.20
now 20
19
Winshigher is better
Cade Smith
.5202.48
now 2
12
Pierce Johnson
.5202.48
now 2
12
Saveshigher is better
Cade Smith
.00028
now 20
917
Pierce Johnson
.00028
now 1
01
If you already own them — trade angle
Hold · wait & seeCade Smith — hold.conf 0.50
Sell HighPierce Johnson — sell high. His value is peaking; good time to trade him.conf 0.95
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