Sure, Matt Shoemaker has had a rocky season, but he’s been better since the end of May, and he pitched his best game of the year as he took down the Twins with a line of 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 10 Ks. Seriously Shoemaker? You know what this does, right? It was clear cut in Halo Land that you were going to be the one cut to make room for Weaver’s return, with Heaney’s role secure as the #5 guy. Now you had to all of sudden get your act together like the 16 year old who cleans his room in 2 minutes after putting it off all weekend. You’re going to get grounded if I come home and see your socks hanging off the door. The 2015 numbers still like a bit out of whack, but since May 26th, he holds 3.08 ERA and a 3.31 FIP with an okay 2.80 K/BB. It’s still not spectacular but if you’re desperate like a 30 year old virgin, I feel you. The jury is still out if he’ll get more chances, but I get the feeling a 6-man rotation is on the horizon.
Let’s see what every other SP did yesterday:
Chris Heston – 7.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. It’s hard not to be on board with Heston. 3.18 FIP, 3.40 xFIP, 56.8% GB rate, and a low 2.42 BB/9. Sure, he could strike guys out better than a 7.18 K/9, but when you’re paying less than a king size snickers, you’ll embrace those numbers like your lost teddy bear. Sidenote: I’m totally on my analogy game today.
Mat Latos – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. I have to hand it to Latos. After starting the season as everyone’s favorite joke, he’s turned it around since his DL stint, with a 2.73 ERA, 8.62 K/9 and 2.04 BB/9 over six starts. I’m not saying that you guys should be best buds and share ice cream together, but invite him to your party when you cross paths.
Jacob deGrom – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks. Aces gonna freakin’ ace. Super annoyed that Collins pulled him after 82 pitches for a pinch hitter – even if said pinch hitter hit a go-ahead 2-run single. Jacob could have gone the distance, but whatever. He’s totally deserving of his #7 ranking over Felix and I don’t see a great reason not to value him as such moving forward.
Gerrit Cole – 7.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks. Yup, that’s an ace.
Jeremy Hellickson – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks. Yup, that’s not an ace trying to do ace things but then goes home and can’t sleep because he’s not an ace and can’t figure out what changes he needs to make in his life to become an ace. This drives him into madness as he stares at the clock. Okay, if I sleep now, then I’ll still have five solid hours of sleep. Hellickson had only 90 minutes of sleep that night.
Aaron Nola – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. There’s a decent amount to discuss with Nola, and I’ll be featuring him in the late afternoon with today’s GIF Breakdown. In the short term, go and grab him if he’s available. All his stuff moves, and he has the upside to be a solid Top 40 guy this season. Just do it and be happy as you climb aboard the hype train.
Nathan Karns – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. Our first Call Boy more or less got the job done though I want to see more Ks against the Phils. You mean like Jackson and that doctor with the moustache? Oh god, that’s a horrible joke. HORRIBLE I TELL YOU.
Matt Garza – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. For once, Garza wasn’t making owners feel like this.
Danny Salazar – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 8 Ks. That WHIP would be much sweeter if he could just not walk guys, especially when they come around to score on a HR. He’s not the Top 20 ace you think he can be, but he’s definitely a Top 30 given his upside and ability to rack up strikeouts without demolishing your night.
Mark Buehrle – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks. The Burly Buehrle keeps doing his thing.
Matt Harrison – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. A more welcome return to baseball for Harrison, though I can’t say that his past makes me at all excited to see him return. He could squeeze into the 80s or 90s at some point, but he’s not much better than that.
Joe Ross – 6.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks. It was fun to see Ross back on the hill, and he took a tough loss as the bullpen allowed a pair of runs to score including one that got on base from an error. Sadly he days are numbered unless more weird stuff happens to the Nats’ staff with Strasburg returning. Ride him for his next start against the Pirates, then most likely you’ll have to find the next young hottie to get by.
Nathan Eovaldi – 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. Eovaldi is the Mayor of Bleghtown. Seriously, Four Square told me so and that bar is awesome. Okay it’s not awesome, kinda too brotastic for me.
Jason Vargas – 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. He left the game with a left elbow strain in the 2nd inning. I know, this is super bad sounding and you’re all waiting with bated breath. The most exciting man of all, Joe Blanton, took over and was actually dominant allowing only 2 hits and striking out 5 over 3.2 IP. Whatever, you know that road. It’s filled with tar pits and frogs that oddly know your name. HOW DO THEY KNOW MY NAME.
Raisel Iglesias – 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 4 BBs, 8 Ks. Okay, so this is some of the upside of Iglesias, but it’s so wild and free that you just can’t expect Rasiel to be domesticated and stick to how things are done. No Raisel, you can’t just go licking everyone’s arm. Yes, I know how tasty they are. No you can’t lick mine.
Vincent Velasquez – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks. He struggled a bit in the third where he allowed all 3 ER, but was pretty dang impressive the rest of the outing. There’s certainly upside here, but I wouldn’t go ahead trusting it yet. Not to mention, his job isn’t all too secure in Houston.
Jason Hammel – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. Ehhhh, this was an extended rest for Hammel after his hamstring strain scare, so I’m willing to chalk his 3 walks up to finding his groove back.
Alex Wood – 6.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 4 BBs, 3 Ks. I feel like I need to start giving Wood the Anibal treatment. YOU WILL NEVER SATISFY ME. Man, I scream a lot. I don’t in person, I swear.
Michael Wacha – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks. I find it interesting that in 4 of the 5 starts where Wacha has fanned at least 7 batters, he has allowed at least 4 ER. Makes me not want to own him.
Wei-Yin Chen – 6.1 IP, 3 ER, 10 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks. Awwwwww. It wasn’t a great matchup against the Yanks and he got Singled Out.
Brian Johnson – 4.1 IP, 4 ER, 3 Hits, 4 BBs, 3 Ks. I watched a little of this, and it wasn’t all bad. 2 ER were inherited runners that the Sox pen couldn’t save him from. His Curveball has the ability to be a solid K pitch as a big loop and drop can fool plenty of batters. I think he’ll improve moving forward, as poor debuts can often be the result of jitters more than inherit skill.
Brett Anderson – 2.2 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. Uh oh. We knew it was coming at some point but we didn’t want to admit it. Anderson left with “Left Achilles Irritation” in the third inning, marking the moment he finally got injured, putting a sudden halt to this serendipitous season. We don’t know the future yet, but I’m willing to be it’s not good :(
Kendall Graveman – 5.1 IP, 6 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. I told y’all to stay away. I hope y’all stayed away like you do the word y’all.
Shane Greene – 4.2 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks. Oh hey Shane! So good to have you back.
Taijuan Walker – 4.1 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks. That’s three straight starts of at least 5 ER. Now do you believe that he hasn’t firmly turned that corner?
Kyle Gibson – 5.0 IP, 6 ER, 10 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. It’s like Gibson knew he didn’t deserve the MFRTSPA and had to sabotage himself.
Odrisamer Despaigne – 5.0 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks. Who is that guy in San Diego that gets rocked more than he rocks? Despaigne.
Kyle Kendrick – 4.1 IP, 5 ER, 10 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. Kendrick 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. Man, I’ve been doing this bit since my days at Pitcher GIFs. Kinda nuts how it still holds true. Sorry Rocky fans.
Carlos Rodon – 4.0 IP, 7 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks. I think Rodon will be fantasy relevant…in 2016. For now the talent is too raw and needs much more refinement before becoming the guy you see in his deep…brown…eyes. He has brown eyes, right?
Today’s Streamer
Robbie Ray vs. Miami Marlins – The Fish are still without Stanton and Ozuna, which makes them easy pray for Ray.
Tomorrow’s Streamer
Ervin Santana vs. Los Angeles Angels – Ugh, I hate this start. There are a lot of vastly owned guys + scrubs with bad matchups today, so I’m going with Santana over Fiers vs. the Dbacks.
Game of the Day
Noah Syndergaard vs. Jordan Zimmermann – It’s the best duel of pitchers today, but if you want more action and excitement, go with Jose Fernandez vs. Robbie Ray.