With two outs in the 9th inning and an 0-2 count on Joey Butler, Carlos Carrasco lost his no-hitter with a single that scored the only Rays run of the game. Whatever, he still put up a godly line of 8.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 Hits, 2 BBs, 13 Ks and was the start you’ve been waiting for all season from Carrasco. He expressed every element of his peripherals – 10.17 K/9, 1.94 BB/9, 2.76 FIP, .273 xFIP – that have made him one of the best buy low targets around, and you have to imagine that his ghastly 3.88 ERA will be creeping down through the final three months of the season. If you had any concerns before, they should be fully removed now as he carries you to the ship.
Let’s see what every other SP did yesterday:
Bartolo Colon – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. Colon finally got his act together after allowing 10 ER combined in his previous two outings. He’s a toss up for his start in San Fran next week, since the Giants are a Top 10 offense in the majors this season (how is that happening).
Taijuan Walker – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks. Now he’s had four consecutive starts without a walk, this time only allowing one hit. If he’s still somehow on your dub-dub, go snag him and enjoy the ride.
Johnny Cueto – 8.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. Aces gonna ace.
Jon Lester – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. Good to see Lester take advantage of a poor team like the Mets. A solid step in the right direction that will not be ignored.
Mark Buehrle – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks. The Burley Buehrle struck out seven batters for the first time all season. In fact, he hadn’t even fanned six batters all year before yesterday.
Wei-Yin Chen – 8.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. He was The Call Boy and did a solid number on the Rangers offense. More Ks would have been cooler, but that would have put him in legitimate ace territory, so we’ll take this.
Matt Wisler – 5.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 5 BBs, 6 Ks. I feel dirty liking this start when five walks are involved. I’d prefer other options than go after Wisler.
Jose Quintana – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks. One of the best starts we’ve seen all year, and only the second time he’s had over 7 Ks. I’m not sold on Jose being a steady producer, but you certainly do worse at the end of your staff in a 12 teamer.
Jesse Hahn – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. This is great n stuff, especially vs. Colorado, but this is his season-high for Ks. What happened to you Hahn? You used to be cool.
Brett Anderson – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks. Three straight starts of only 1 ER now for Mr. Anderson. He’s beginning to believe.
James Shields – 6.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 7 Ks. While the Ks are kinda returning, his walk rate isn’t disappearing. I’m still on the sell high boat that’s taking up to victory land.
A.J. Burnett – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks. Nice job handling the Tigers Burnett, I’m still grossly infatuated with you. His FIP sits now at 2.57 with a 3.14 xFIP with a 54.7% GB rate. Crazy good.
John Lackey – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. He’s a solid play for decent matchups and there are few better than the ChiSox.
Trevor May – 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks. He rebounded after pulling a Felix in his previous outing, but I don’t like seeing 3 walks from May. There are also grumblings of a rotation mix up with Ervin Santana returning on Sunday, and May’s job isn’t 100% safe. I know, crazy talk.
Nathan Eovaldi – 5.1 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. Even despite 0 ER, Eovaldi manages to make this shizz boring.
Vincent Velasquez – 6.1 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. Let’s see…a two-run HR in the first, back-to-back singles in the second (a wild pitch in between) and he was pulled with a man on first and 1 out in the 7th, who came around to score later on. These all seem somewhat fluky as opposed to being slammed for four runs through bad pitching. Velasquez looked his best all season and I’m encouraged to chase him if I’m looking for a big upside player in a deeper league.
Nick Martinez – 6.2 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. Ehhhhhh.
Matt Shoemaker – 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. Remember when I really liked you? Don’t ever forget the mediocre days we had together Shoemaker. Never forget.
Chris Heston – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 1 Ks. I still like Heston, but those walks are stupid. Come on fella, you know better.
Robbie Ray – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. There is a little bit of intrigue still left with Ray, but he doesn’t have that major upside that keeps you involved through the bumpy patches.
Doug Fister – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. Man, I’m so happy that you’re in the Nationals rotation instead of Joe Ross…
Chad Bettis – 5.2 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 4 BBs, 4 Ks. Bettis has limited upside, pitches his home games at Coors Field, and doesn’t deserve a spot on your team. This should be the blurb for every Colorado starter.
Alex Colome – 7.0 IP, 5 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. Well he’s fallen off the earth like that Dell guy. Dude, you’re getting a big wave of regret for starting me.
Kyle Lohse – 6.1 IP, 4 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. Add another to Lohse’s side in the LoKer TOCAL.
Edinson Volquez – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. Eight Ks? Looks like he got Singled Out so he had no choice.
Dan Haren – 5.2 IP, 3 ER, 10 Hits, 0 BBs, 1 Ks. He wanted one last hurrah before being stripped of his precious title of “Marlins Ace”. Haren may be the only person in baseball who is sad to see JoFer return to the game.
Alfredo Simon – 5.2 IP, 6 ER, 15 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks. Fifteen hits in under six innings?! Wow, you must be dryer than an Arizona summer after Ausmus hung you out there.
Rick Porcello – 2.0 IP, 7 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks. And people thought your contract with the Red Sox was a good thing. Oh dear.
Aaron Harang – 5.0 IP, 8 ER, 14 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks. I could have sworn that after the 5th inning Harang called the bullpen phone himself.
Today’s Streamers
Yovani Gallardo vs. Baltimore Orioles – This is a really interesting day of pitching, and while you could have fun and go with guys like Matt Moore and Matt Cain returning from the DL, I’m going to ride the hot hand of Gallardo if I’m desperate for the stream.
Tomorrow’s Streamer
Jesse Chavez vs. Seattle Mariners – He’s somehow still owned in under 50% of ESPN leagues and faces one of the worst offenses in the majors. Possibly worse than the Phils. Yeah, that bad.
Game of the Day
Jose Fernandez vs. San Francisco Giants – OH MY GOD IT’S FINALLY HERE. You can expect a GIF Breakdown Friday morning.