Get ready, there were a bunch of disappointing starts yesterday, and Joe Ross‘ might be the biggest offender. After looking shaky against the Mets last week, he put up a line of 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 10 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks against the Reds. Yeah, the Mets. Now over his last seven starts, Ross holds a 4.75 ERA with just a 41.5% GB rate. Sure, the Ks have been fine (a little over 5 per start) and the walks have been in check (2.16 BB/9), but here’s the kicker. These seven starts came against (in order): @PHI, @CHW, PHI, @SDP, @LAD, NYM, CIN. What. The. Hell. Guys like Paxton and Snell would kill for those kinds of matchups and Ross is floundering it like he’s both Harry and Lloyd. I’m not saying drop the kid – he’s got too much upside on a winning team in the NL Easy to give up on quite yet – I’m just saying I’d be looking to move him if there’s someone interested. Also that I’m super disappointed in him. SHAME.
Let’s see what every other SP did yesterday:
Scott Kazmir – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 10 Ks. This is getting kinda weird. Kaz has a sweet 9.69 K/9 now, but just eight of his 17 starts have been above 5 Ks. Meanwhile, his 3.42 BB/9 is also inflated from five starts of 4/4/4/5/7 walks. He should be rostered in 12 teamers at the end of your staff because why not, really, but have him on a short leash.
Justin Verlander – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. If you don’t like Verlander by now, you can giiiiiit out.
Danny Duffy – 8.2 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks. He allowed his second run with two outs in the ninth after hitting Ruiz, stole second on defensive indifference, a single to left. Womp womp. I’m a little cautious for his next start against the Mariners, but he’s far and away the best pitcher in Kansas City and he’ll be pitching through the full year. Hard not to love him after rebounding from a few shaky outings.
Drew Pomeranz – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks. Mmmmmmm that’s some beautiful Dirty Cheerleader. The consensus is that he will probably be removed from the rotation by early September given that his career high for innings was 96.2 in 2012 and has since always spent time in the bullpen. Fun fact, it took him 22 starts to reach those 96.2 innings for the Rockies in 2012. He’s sitting a 95.0 now in 2016 in just 16 outings (nearly 6 innings per start). Don’t hesitate to roll with him at all moving forward.
Adam Wainwright – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. That’s now a 3.09 ERA in his last 9 starts, and he’s going deeper into games (about 6.5 IPS). Wainwright is going to have to battle Kenta Maeda for the Tobey Maguire title as the most prolific Toby in the land.
Lucas Harrell – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. It wouldn’t be fair to label Harrell as a Cup of Schmo since he’s 31 and has pitched over 400 innings already in the majors. But for the Schmo part, he fits the bill. This isn’t the flier you’re looking for.
Hector Santiago – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 4 Ks. I refuse to buy into Santiago. He’s going to hurt you more than help.
Dan Straily – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. Straily is a TEEs and while I am a little impressed that he didn’t get completely blown up against the Nats, I refuse to invest anything into him.
Ivan Nova – 5.1 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. Easily Nova’s best outing of the season as it came against the Friars. Don’t expect the same as he gets the Indians next.
Rich Hill – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. Hill is back and ready to take names. Great to see him perform well right off the bat.
Bartolo Colon – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks. The Big Apple had an odd start, striking out 5 but allowing 3 walks, which is so not his thang. But hey, it worked and he got himself a nice little dub.
Chris Sale – 7.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks. Sale, got Singled Out in the third, leading to a trio of ER. He looked like an ace though, and I wouldn’t panic.
Marco Estrada – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks. Weird, normally I expect more walks from Estrada, but here we are. That ERA isn’t too fun but the rest is super solid. Just 8/19 on first-pitch strikes should be enough to explain his short outing.
Chad Kuhl – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks. Can I say it? Ughhhh I know what the joke is Nick. Please don’t it. Oh come on, we all know he isn’t a guy to roster in 12 teamers, can’t I just get away with it? Whatever, fine, I don’t care anymore. Kuhl story bro.
Jeff Samardzija – 7.1 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks. Loose Lips is still sinking ships. Looks like that sell window has closed given his 16 ER in just three starts. If it hasn’t, get a move on and don’t forget your hat as you slide through.
Jimmy Nelson – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. It’s tough to expect more from Nelson when he’s matched up against the Cardinals.
Blake Snell – 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 4 Ks. Ehhhh it’s super tough for Snell to get into a groove when he’s facing so many tough teams. It really isn’t fair that he has to face the power trio of the AL Beast + Mariner + Tigers. IT’S CRUEL. He didn’t do himself many favors with four walks, though. Anyway, I understand sticking with him for a potential second half boost, but I’m okay dropping him for sexier options.
Chad Bettis – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 1 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 not named Gray and maybe even Gray.
Patrick Corbin – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. It just hurts to even look at Corbin these days, even if this isn’t the worst start ever.
Tyler Duffey – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks. I’m not sure if we’ll ever see Duffey fully come out of his shell and be the beautiful upside butterfly he can be for an extended period of time. Luckily for you, if he does, he’s sure to be sitting on that wire waiting for you.
Aaron Nola – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. Nola had one bad inning in the second and was killer the rest of the way. I’m telling you guys, best buy low there is right now. Just wait it out one more start as he heads to Coors next. Then it’s the Mets, Marlins twice, Braves, San Diego, Dodgers (maybe twice!), White Sox…it’s going to be super pretty in the second half.
Zach McAllister – 1.0 IP, 3 ER, 1 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. He threw 31 pitches in the first after relieving in the previous day’s marathon game, so they pulled him right away. Nice going bud!
Jake Arrieta – 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. Ughhhhhhh, this isn’t supposed to be like this. Arrieta really shouldn’t struggle against the Reds and Mets. I’ll need to dive more into this today.
James Paxton – 5.2 IP, 3 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. Okay guys, the tough games are out of the way. We can finally start loading into the Paxton hype train! Well, he might have a few rough starts early in the second half (depending on the rotation setup, the crew play the Blue Jays/Red Sox/Cubs because they want Paxton to fail), but I’m definitely rolling him out there against the Royals.
Chi Chi Gonzalez – 0.2 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 0 Ks. Chi Chi threw 38 pitches and got pulled before killing his arm in a heartbeat.
Clay Buchholz – 4.1 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks. We’ve seen worse from Buchholz, but this entire game was a complete mess. There’s no reason to start believing in Buchholz.
Jose Fernandez – 5.2 IP, 6 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. Dude. Come on. With Kersh going down, Arrieta being blegh, Sale allowing four ER (I know he looked good), and now JoFer having one of the worst outings of his career, I have absolutely no idea who will be #1 on The List, let alone what the Top 8 will look like on Tuesday On…Tuesday?! Yeah, I’m out of town for MURICA DAY, and while I could give you guys a rushed version, I’m taking the extra day to get it right for y’all. Hope that’s okay.
Doug Fister – 4.2 IP, 5 ER, 9 Hits, 5 BBs, 3 Ks. Those five walks seem to be a bigger indication for Fister’s poor outing than a general “Oh, clearly regression given his FIP/xFIP”. I mean sure, there has to be some of that involved here
Tyler Wilson – 3.0 IP, 8 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. Oh Wilson, you were so much cooler…actually I don’t remember when. Maybe in college he was a stud? He must have been.
Today’s Streamers
Adam Conley vs. Atlanta Braves – Conley is exactly the kind of pitcher that you’d want to stream against a weak team, and he gets one of the worst on Sunday.
Tomorrow’s Streamer
Archie Bradley vs. San Diego Padres – With Greinke out for at least one start, Bradley gets this matchup against the Friars and I want all parts of it, even with his somewhat disappointing outing against the Phils last time. If Jerad Eickhoff is still available, he also has a sweet date with the Braves.
Day After Tomorrow’s Streamer
Zach Eflin vs. Atlanta Braves – It’s a toss between Eflin and his opponent Mike Foltynewicz as two young pitchers with a decent amount of upside face each other inside the NL Easy.
Game of the Day
Noah Syndergaard vs. Jon Lester – I really want to see Thor recover and show y’all that The Bone Spurs (my favorite up-and-coming band) aren’t weighing him down.