Are You Gimme, Rey?

(Photo by Samuel Stringer/Icon Sportswire)

If you’ve been reading these roundups, you’ll know that I’ve been waiting for Reynaldo Lopez to flex his muscles proper. He already has a great fastball, but it’s the consistency of his slider and changeup that have held him back, very rarely having both secondary pitches on in a given night. Tuesday evening was one of those special times, resulting in a 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks performance against the Yankees. It doesn’t matter who he faces when his slider and changeup work, Lopez’s heater sets the foundation for them all to work in tandem and BAM! We get that marvelous line. And this wasn’t even the best of his changeup, but it worked in with his fastball enough + his slider worked great with 12/20 SNIP including seven whiffs. Now here’s the problem. I don’t buy that he’ll do this again next time out. I’ve labeled him a Young Gun as I see his stuff working in the long run but with necessary development time first to work out the kinks. On the other hand, it’s the Tigers, Royals, Tigers in his next three starts and I don’t blame you for rolling the dice on that. I think it’s a little too risky for a roto league, but if you’re in one of those desperate times, it’s not the worst chance to take.

Let’s see how every other SP did Tuesday:

Madison Bumgarner – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks. This was the best start I’ve seen from Bumgarner this far, spotting Cutters down-and-in to RHB effectively. That’s where he lives when he’s on, using his slinging delivery to make it super tough for batters to barrel up the ball. He’ll get a little rise on Monday.

Max Fried – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. Fried left this one with a groin strain and has been promptly placed on the DL. Womp womp.

Adalberto Mejia – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. I already butchered a joke about Mejia last time – really saw it to its conclusion, you know? – so I’ll just call Mejia a Cup of Schmo and call it a day. What a wonderful day.

Mike Montgomery – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. Hey, Monty hasn’t been so bad lately, tallying just 2 ER in three of his last four games. Too bad he hasn’t fanned more than four in any of his six starts, though. He’s setting you up for a Grave Mistake and that’s not cool. Not cool at all, Monty.

Nick Pivetta – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. That’s my man, finally with a shutout performance that will make people say “huh, maybe he is pretty good.” The floor is still there, but the upside makes this worth it. Believe in the Pivetta.

Marcus Stroman – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. This is excellent for Stroman against the Red Sox, even if it was a ton of balls in play. It’s a 3.48 ERA and 1.23 WHIP across his last nine starts since returning from the DL, though just an 18% K rate as well. That’s totally fine and he can probably be a Toby the rest of the way. I should note he left this one with a blister – He should attend Alex Fast’s Bass Camp For Starting Pitchers – though the expectation is he’ll make his next start.

Alex Cobb – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. Whoa, that’s a 2.37 ERA across his last five starts with a 6+ IPS. Obviously don’t buy it, but I love looking at little hot streaks. Little moments of “Oh, that’s cute, Cobb.”

Zack Greinke – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 4 BBs, 4 Ks. Aces gonna ace. Even with four walks and 4 strikeouts, the end result is a great ERA and 1.00 WHIP. This only helped.

Dallas Keuchel – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. Yep, I love this and he’s battling with Jake Arrieta for the Spiderman label. Is Keuchel really a Toby though? Maybe? I can’t decide.

Tyler Glasnow – 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 0 BBs, 9 Ks. I have to say, this was incredibly surprising to me. I’ve been telling people to completely avoid Glasnow because A) I didn’t expect him to hit 80-90 pitches in a game this year and B) Who knows if the innings he does give you will be any good. I’m changing my stance a little today, though. He pounded the zone here with fastballs while his slider and curveball did good work as well. I can see Glasnow having value as a ~3 inning arm to open a game as a False Start and while the 80+ pitches may not come given an avoidance of the second/third time through the lineup (this was 61 though!), there may still be value in having a sturdy 6-7 innings a week from Glasnow. Just throwing it out there.

Sean Newcomb – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. Newcomb introduced a slider in this one as his changeup and curveball have been missing for the past month. It’s a decent pitch, with 4 whiffs on 16 thrown and a little under half were executed well. The others were either floated up in the zone or bad misses into the dirt. It’s possible it turns into the true #2 Newcomb needs, but I hate chasing guys that are still so clearly “figuring it out”. Nick, he has a 3.15 ERA. HOW IS HE “FIGURING IT OUT.” Because that was a lot of good fortune and overperformance. I’m not saying drop Newcomb – no way – but I think he’s currently overvalued and I suspect I’ll be lower on him than most entering 2019.

Jefry Rodriguez – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. Hey, not so bad for a spot start in a doubleheader. Too bad you’re a Cup of Schmo, though.

Sal Romano – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks. I didn’t expect this to go well but it’s never a terrible idea to bet against the Mets. Streaming Record: 68-38. Wait, why aren’t you talking about Sal? Because you don’t care about Sal. Oh.

CC Sabathia – 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 12 Ks. Whoa, 12 Strikeouts? I know it was the ChiSox, but CC, dude, that’s ridiculous. 22 Whiffs as well en route to 37/103 CSW and a Gallows Pole. Great rebound and nice to see his changeup working well as his cutter dominated. Keep starting him.

Max Scherzer – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. Aces gonna ace. That’s what he’s #1.

Rich Hill – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 4 BBs, 5 Ks. Yeah, okay. Not great, but if this is the worst from Hill when he starts, then we’re cool.

Pablo Lopez – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. Great outing here from Pablo who earned some weak contact with heaters and worked his curveball well. I think this is his ceiling, though, and I can’t bank on it happening often. Not the worst chance in NL-Only leagues.

Miles Mikolas – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 1 Ks. I really want to love you 8Miles, but can you please work on striking some batters out? The constant HAISTFMFWT is killing me a little inside. Just a little.

Drew Pomeranz – 4.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 5 BBs, 1 Ks. And this is why I just can’t utter your nickname anymore. Come on Pomeranz, you’re on the Red Sox, all you have to be is decent and we can still own you. But one strikeout? HAISTFMFWT?!

Jameson Taillon – 9.0 IP, 2 ER, 10 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. A complete game from Taillon as he worked around singles instead of punching guys out in Coors. Don’t let 11 baserunners fool you, it’s just a 1.22 WHIP with a 2.00 ERA. I’ll take this all day.

Carlos Carrasco – 6.1 IP, 3 ER, 10 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. Aces gonna ace. Okay, it’s with a meh ERA/bad WHIP, but still a QS and 8 Ks. I feel like if I’m not going to give an AGA it needs to be terrible and/or a low strikeout total. 

Sean Manaea – 2.2 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 1 Ks. This was horrendous. Fastballs and changeups flying up-and-away to right-handers as his command was as terrible as I’ve ever seen it from Manaea. 13/77 CSW in under 3 frames should be enough for you to understand it. It’s not “auto-drop” time for Manea as it’s probably just a bad day, but it ain’t helping things. Oh, and of course, HAISTFMFWT?!

Jason Vargas – 0.1 IP, 3 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 1 Ks. Vargas threw 14 pitches before a rain delay that ended his day. A waste in so many ways.

Chase Anderson – 4.2 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 4 BBs, 4 Ks. Awwww. I haven’t seen this many unfortunate fours since The Last Jedi as Anderson’s hot streak came to screeching halt. And against the Padres! Hie secondary pitches earned 1 whiff on 34 thrown and it just wasn’t meant to be.

Bartolo Colon – 7.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 1 Ks. The Groan Ranger gave us a HAISTFMFWT?! and we’re not at all surprised. I hope he has a solid moment or two in September when his tale comes to an end.

Brad Keller – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. BK, it’s not what you crave.

Andrew Heaney – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. One of the more disappointing starts tonight as Heaney simply didn’t have his changeup. Curveball was fine and he threw strikes with his sinker, but it had to do too much and it got hit around a bit. And this was the Tigers! Blegh. Hopefully he rebounds next time.

Clayton Richard – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. It’s the wrong Clayton! And he always will be.

Jacob Turner – 1.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks. Turner started and did exactly what we thought he’d do. Looks like the tables have been Turned…No, they are exactly in the right place. Sorry for wasting your time.

Felix Hernandez – 6.0 IP, 7 ER, 8 Hits, 4 BBs, 2 Ks. Prince Felix is struggling as much as any veteran pitcher does. Here’s to hoping he can reclaim it again down the road – he’s so close to being a hall of famer – but for fantasy, you know not to touch this.

Chad Bettis – 4.2 IP, 9 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. Bettis is back and ready to be ignored.

Today’s Streamer

Trevor Richards vs. St. Louis Cardinals – I’m also considering German Marquez against the Pirates, but that’s in Coors and this isn’t.

Tomorrow’s Streamer

Ivan Nova vs. San Francisco Giants – If you look at the slate, you’ll understand that I have no choice.

Day After Tomorrow’s Streamer

Jose Urena vs. New York Mets – It’s between Urena and Austin Gomber vs. Kansas City Royals and I’ll bet against the Mets offense + Urena’s propensity to go a little deeper into games.

Game of the Day

Robert Stephenson vs. Jacob deGrom – I’m curious if Stephenson has developed in the minors this year and if his slider is still super good. Oh, and the guy who’d my NL Cy Young vote today is also pitching.