Over the course of a season, it’s easy to give up on guys that have burned you in the first half. Many owners deeply regretted drafting Stephen Strasburg to their teams and wrote him off as dead weight as he hit the DL for the second time. Now after going 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BB, 7 Ks in his fourth start back, it’s time to wonder if the man we signed up for in March is finally here. Across those four outings, Strasburg holds a 1.73 ERA, xFIP near 2.50, K/9 of 11.08, and a BB/9 of only 1.04. Sure, it’s a small sample size, but heading into September, he can be that final piece you thought was missing for so long. Enjoy it, love it, embrace it, and definitely don’t fear it as Strasburg does his best to cleanse the memories of his first half.
Let’s see what every other SP did yesterday:
Dallas Keuchel – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 9 Ks. I got into a discussion with a reader about placing Keuchel one spot higher than Matt Harvey on Monday’s edition on The List, which you can find here if you’re bored at work. Moral of the story, stick with the guy that has the data set behind him and good things will happen.
Jake Arrieta – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BB, 8 Ks. Aces gonna ace. Let’s all do a collective high-five for those who drafted Arrieta after the 6th round this year. CLAAAAP.
Jaime Garcia – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BB, 6 Ks. Yep, Garcia can do this and do it somewhat regularly.
Brad Hand – 8.0 IP, 2 ER, 9 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks. On the other, Hand doesn’t do this. Like ever.
Alex Wood – 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. It’s alright. Only 4 Ks and a below average WHIP does little to seduce the minds of fantasy owners. We’re a tough bunch to sway.
Chad Bettis – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. Bettis [insert Colorado blurb]. Wait a sec, where are the guys that normally do that? HEY MIKE! Yeah Nick? Can you poke the guys that polish up the site? Sure thing bud. I bet they’re sleeping again. Lazy chumps.
Danny Duffy – 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. Are you the E or no E? Checks name. Nah, it’s the wrong Duff man. Move along.
Noah Syndergaard – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 9 Ks. What separates most high tier pitchers from the rest of the bunch is an ability to still produce a solid K total even if the rate stats aren’t there. Thor’s ERA/WHIP weren’t magical, but owners salvaged the start with a boatload of Ks for the whole family.
Josh Tomlin – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks. I still like Tomlin – just look at that K/BB – as he won’t allow 3 dingers next time round. Or will he… Nah he probably won’t.
Mike Foltynewicz – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BB, 3 Ks. The thing is, my earlier love for Folty was his nasty stuff that can make any night a 7+ K night. Now he’s starting to do alright but with a K total that makes me question why I started him. I don’t get it so I don’t trust it.
Jose Quintana – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks. It’s not spectacular, but it’s not horrific. Ah yes, the middling floor of Quintana.
John Lamb – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks. I watched his entire start as I’m writing this week’s GIF Breakdown on Lamb, and it was pretty disappointing. He nibbled around the zone instead of pounding it frequently and often seemed a bit lost. His Changeup was outright horrible and couldn’t command his Fastball. He should be throwing more Cutters and unless he makes an adjustment for next time, I’d be worried to throw him out thereat all for the rest of the year.
Derek Holland – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BB, 3 Ks. Now you see why I’m not a fan of Holland. But the Dutch are wonderful people! Oh lord…
Jerome Williams – 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. Jerome, stop Jeroming!
Mark Buehrle – 6.0 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BB, 3 Ks. The Burly Buehrle is just as bleghy as you remember him.
Miguel Gonzalez – 4.1 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 1 K. Miguel…no.
Charlie Morton – 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks. After looking so good his last time out, I’m very disappointed to see this effort from Morton. Welp, time to move on.
Jesse Chavez – 4.2 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BB, 3 Ks. I just can’t trust Chavez and you shouldn’t either. He’s not the worst desperate stream out there, but he has very little consistency these days.
Wily Peralta – 2.2 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 K. Then again, Peralta has consistency…for being terrible. SICK BURN.
Jered Weaver – 5.2 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BB, 1 K. You saw his last start, ignored what I said here, and elected to run with him against Detroit. I only have pity for you.
James Shields – 5.2 IP, 5 ER, 8 Hits, 4 BBs, 2 Ks. We have all moved on from Shields a long time ago, right? RIGHT?!
Wade Miley – 6.2 IP, 5 ER, 13 Hits, 1 BB, 3 Ks. Yes Miley, we know. You’re baaaaaaad and not in that trying to be seductive kind of way. It’s like you don’t even know what I want.
Nathan Karns – 3.0 IP, 5 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 3 Ks. I wanted to do a GIF Breakdown on you Karns – I even made you our Call Boy – but this…I can’t work with this. Fix it fix it fix it!
Matt Cain – 5.0 IP, 6 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. Cain you tie him in a knot? “Yes” – his opponents.
Robbie Ray – 3.0 IP, 6 ER, 5 Hits, 5 BBs, 3 Ks. Is a Ray of Darkness a thing? Because this is the complete opposite of sunshine.
Ervin Santana – 2.2 IP, 5 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 K. But Santana, didn’t you notice that you received a handful of votes to win the MFRTSPA?
Mike Montgomery – 1.1 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BB, 0 Ks. Monty hasn’t held value in a while, just like those baseball cards I bought in the 90s. Sigh…
Ivan Nova – 4.0 IP, 7 ER, 7 Hits, 4 BBs, 1 K. Nova has potential locked away, but it doesn’t look like it’ll show up this year. He’ll be a bit of a sleeper in deeper leagues next season but this year just let him chill on the wire.
Alfredo Simon – 4.1 IP, 8 ER, 9 Hits, 4 BBs, 2 Ks. It’s tough to come up with a new joke detailing just how bad Simon is. Oh, got one! Ahem. Maybe they should change his game to making sure you don’t duplicate what he does. GOOD ONE NICK.
Today’s Streamers
Chris Bassitt vs. Seattle Mariners – Gray’s start was changed, so instead we’re going with Bassitt against the Mariners. While I think the Bassitt train will come to an abrupt halt soon, he has a good matchup here and has a nice shot at serving you well.
Tomorrow’s Streamer
Drew Smyly vs. Minnesota Twins – Smyly has a lot of upside that can take advantage of the Twins, and is coming fresh off 5.2 innings against the A’s.
Game of the Day
Max Scherzer vs. Tyson Ross – It’ll be good to see if Scherzer can get back to being ultra dominant, while Ross could decide not to walk guys and pile up the strikeouts.