After Clayton Kershaw looked mortal yesterday, two more members of the Top 5 disappointed owners tremendously. Noah Syndergaard went 3.0 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks against the Nationals and Jake Arrieta continued his walk habits with a 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 4 Hits, 5 BBs, 4 Ks outing. Why does this warrant an opening blurb? It’s not like you’re going to bench any of these guys or sell them like they’re in the Steam Summer Sale. It’s yet another reminder of how ridiculous this year has been for starting pitching. No one is safe from disaster just like its a Game of Thrones novel and it makes it even more important that we stay calm and not get emotional as a player performs poorly for an evening. Play the matchups, trust the numbers for the most part, and we’ll all get through this.
Let’s see what every other SP did yesterday:
Daniel Mengden – 7.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks. And look, while aces crumble, a guy that no one had even heard of until a month ago has one of the best lines of the night. You can’t predict baseball, Suzyn. THAT’S RIGHT JAWN. I kinda like Mengden, though I really can’t fathom him being a Top 40 guy. He just doesn’t have the stuff that screams dependable upside. Still, keep rolling with him if you got him.
Matt Shoemaker – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. Look at Shoe still being awesome. That’s a 1.87 ERA over his last eight starts with a 13.6 K/BB to boot. Dayyyyum.
Danny Duffy – 8.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks. Excellent bounce back game from Duffy as he struggled in his past two meetings. Even more impressive is his ability to perform against the mighty Cards. I know there is an aces/cards joke here and I’m going to find it…These Cards revealed the true ace of the night. Ehhhh that’s pretty horrible, but that’s all I’ve got. I’M NOT A DANCING MONKEY YOU KNOW.
Vince Velasquez – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks. You hear that noise? It’s the sound of thousands of owners letting out one giant Keith Hernandez “Mmmmmmm” as they saw this pitching line. Welcome back Velasquez, this is mighty impressive inside of Chase Field, especially given your absence from the field. Yes I’d sell again given the high probability of a shutdown and the fact that this is just the fourth start all season with more than six Ks – that near 11 K/9 is super inflated. Earn yourself a pretty dime with those numbers.
Jon Gray – 7.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks. I know it isn’t a good ERA, but that low WHIP and 8 Ks against one of the hottest teams in baseball in Coors is something to be impressed with.
Trevor Bauer – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks. Is this the sign of a decline from Bauer? A 5/3 K per BB is typical of classic Trevor and I am a little concerned. I’ll be watching his next start against Toronto super carefully – keep in mind, he did face the Braves tonight.
Marco Estrada – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks. Dude is on fire despite every metric saying that he shouldn’t be. His BABIP is under .200 for the season. Yeah, I know that flyball pitchers will have a lower BABIP than others, but he’s not supposed to lead the majors in BABIP by 20 points. He has a 3.53 BB/9. His ERA and xFIP are about 1.80 points apart. It’s crazy. Do what you will with that information, clear there is something at play here that is keeping his head afloat despite these numbers, but it’s hard to think it’s all sustainable.
Dan Straily – 3.2 IP, 7 ER, 9 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks. Speaking of BABIP guys, Straily entered the day at #4 overall for BABIP. Looks like he ran out of sacrifices to the baseball Gods. Such a TEEs.
John Gant – 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks. Gant went down with a strained oblique. Owners everywhere were devastated. There are literally dozens of us!
Collin McHugh – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. I wouldn’t take McHugh for someone who enjoyed the rides at Bleghtown USA, but HERE HE IS.
Robbie Ray – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 9 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks. Our Call Boy brought the K upside like it was his J-O-B, but that 1.50 WHIP and 6.00 ERA are not cool at all.
Scott Kazmir – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 4 Ks. We’re playing baseball here, not golf Kazmir. Stop screaming FORE!
Joe Ross – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 10 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. This one really upset me as Ross is supposed to walk all over the Mets like the king that he should be. But no, he has to go and get Singled Out as he racks up 7 Ks and just one walk. And when I say Singled Out, I mean the Mets had just one XBH the entire night – a double off the bat of James Loney. Stupid baseball being baseball and all. It’s stupid.
Ivan Nova – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. Don’t believe in Nova. It’s never going to come out like you want it to. You’re better moving onto other projects, like Overwatch. Was that a Blizzard joke? Yes. Yes it was. Niiice.
Blake Snell – 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 4 BBs, 4 Ks. He was looking good early, but the Sawx are too good offensively and they eventually battered the kid down. This was an easy sit for Snell owners and there is just one more start left until he sees the light of weak opponents (he gets Seattle Detroit next), so be patient ya’ll.
Adam Wainwright – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. Nice to see some K upside from Waino, too bad it had to come with one of his worst WHIP/ERA outings for a while. I want to believe in Wainwright, but I find it very difficult to think he can produce consistently enough to hint at Top 30 this season.
Francisco Liriano – 4.1 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 5 BBs, 3 Ks. I know I’ve said it many times before, but I see people talking about dropping Liriano every day. If you haven’t yet, please, please do so now. For anything, really. He hurts you more than helps.
Jeff Samardzija – 6.0 IP, 6 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. Loose Lips is sinking ships. Dang it, I was legit starting to believe in the guy, but this is his second straight six ER game and third in five starts. My hatred grows deeper…
Chi Chi Gonzalez – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 10 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. Chi Chi is the answer for the Rangers injury bug. It’s like making up your own equation for a chemistry test and thinking it’s going to work. Sure, you’ve got an answer now, that doesn’t mean it’s the right one. What if I give it a really cool name? …depends on the name.
Eduardo Rodriguez – 2.2 IP, 9 ER, 11 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. Welp, time to pack this one up and write “Don’t open until August…and maybe later”.
Today’s Streamers
Jerad Eickhoff vs. Arizona Diamondbacks – Eickhoff has been looking better and he’s the best option you’ve got for guys under 30% owned. I can understand Junior Guerra against the Dodgers as well, I simply like Eickhoff’s upside a little more.
Tomorrow’s Streamer
Archie Bradley vs. Philadelphia Phillies – Easily the best choice of the day, with deeper picks being Yovani Gallardo vs. the Padres, Jake Peavy vs. Oakland and Zach Davies vs. Los Angeles.
Day After Tomorrow’s Streamer
Michael Pineda vs. Texas Rangers – I’m feeling like this is the day to trust Pineda after looking solid over the past few weeks. Deeper streams include his opponent AJ Griffin who I can conceive skirting past a poor Yankee offense. There’s also Chase Anderson against the Dodgers and Tom Koehler vs. the Braves for those in dire need.
Game of the Day
Lucas Giolito vs. New York Mets – The Nationals are electing to give Gio his MLB debut despite not having a good start last time out in AA. I think this is going to end poorly for the kid, which is really too bad given his excellent skill set. I’ll be watching and doing a Breakdown per usual, so make sure to check in early Wednesday morning.