So I’ve been pretty low on Matt Moore this year given the horrific walk rate of his past and overall inconsistency. It’s been pretty easy to stay off the bandwagon as his ERA has been an ungodly poor 7.06 with a below-average 3.32 BB/9 and we haven’t had a game that reminded us of the upside the Rays lefty brings to the table…until last night when he went 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 0 BBs, 9 Ks against the Orioles. For those that didn’t watch it, his Curveball was breaking beautifully and he was pumping Fastballs effectively while missing bats. I’ll take his 16/23 first pitch strike rate as the kid threw just 93 pitches across seven innings. For those that want to jump on now, I want to bring caution. He’s clearly a major high reward caliber pitcher, but he has a long history of being inconsistent. There is no guarantee that this will continue and he could easily falter in his next start against Boston.
Let’s see what every other SP did yesterday:
Marco Estrada – 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. Estrada has the upside in the W/ERA/WHIP department, but I am going to chalk this up to Blame it on the Braves. His remaining schedule is better than expected with starts against both the O’s and Rays so hey, this may work out.
John Lackey – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks. I’m still impressed with Lackey getting the job done with a shocking amount of K upside despite his under the hood numbers saying otherwise. Yes this means I’m avoiding him next year.
Jose Quintana – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. There’s our floor guy. Nice job bud, now can you fix those tiles too? Greeaaaaaat thanks.
Jarred Cosart – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. I don’t even want to give him the title, but I will just because it’s one of Cosart’s better evenings. A One Night Bland.
Colby Lewis – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks. Not my kind of fellow at all, even after hinting at a perfect-o last time out. Just too boring.
Lance McCullers – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks. McCullers is an intriguing option in 2016, but he isn’t polished enough to lower his walk rate enough to be a consistent producer. I’m going to clump him in the Tyson Ross camp with a slightly higher chance of avoiding the walks, but he won’t go as deep into games as Ross. Not really a guy I want next year and I’m sure he’ll call for a major amount of buzz in the pre-season that I’ll do my best to ignore.
Sean Nolin – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. With just over two weeks left in the season, don’t go chasing Nolin.
Chris Tillman – 5.2 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. Our Call Boy tried his hardest but ultimately you can’t spell Win with Tillman.
Corey Kluber – 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks. He was limited in his first start back from a hamstring issue and you should feel solid having him in your lineup moving forward.
Yordano Ventura – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. Blegh, getting Singled Out while not striking out a ton doesn’t make me too thrilled. But hey, we shouldn’t be surprised anymore from Ventura.
Matt Wisler – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. Matty Nice? More like Matty Bad.
Kyle Hendricks – 3.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks. I miss the days Hendricks had sneaky value.
Jimmy Nelson – 2.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 1 Ks. Nelson was hit by a line drive in the head, which took him out prematurely. Fortunately, his CT scan showed only bruising, but it may be the end of Nelson this season.
Tanner Roark – 5.0 IP, 6 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks. When you’re not chasing Ks, you best get the W/ERA/WHIP. When the floor is this low, you have to question if the risk is worth the reward.
Charlie Morton – 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. There was a brief moment when Morton was something. That moment is way gone.
Tommy Milone – 1.1 IP, 5 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 0 Ks. I’m too tired to deal with this Milone. Go Jerome somewhere else.
Hector Santiago – 0.2 IP, 5 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks. It’s like Santiago needs to get his ERA back to normal levels before the end of the season to make sure people don’t overdraft him next season. That’s a true bro.
Today’s Streamers
Drew Smyly vs. Baltimore Orioles – The O’s are an slightly below-average offense in the second half and Smyly is super hot right now. Ride him out.
Tomorrow’s Streamer
Wei-Yin Chen vs. Tampa Bay Rays – Chen is your typical streamer who is a solid choice against a poor offense.
Game of the Day
Max Scherzer vs. Jose Fernandez – Oh hell yes.