As we finally get back into baseball again – that was rougher than…not going to make that joke – it’s interesting getting a fresh look at some players. For one, there is Daniel Mengden who last night had the tough job of facing the Blue Jays and it went 3.1 IP, 6 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks. That’s back-to-back-to-back disappointments from Mengden, and I’m starting to question why I liked him a bit in the first place. Okay fine, it was the mustache, but looking at his numbers, he had one really good start against the Rangers, three decent outings (one with 9 Ks!) against the Reds, Brewers, and Giants, and now three straight duds. He’s held an xFIP under 3.60 just twice in those seven outings, he’s walking guys at a 4.15 BB/9 rate and I’m not feeling the love, Meng. It’s a 92 mph heater without overpowering secondary pitches…Not for me.
Let’s see what every other SP did yesterday:
Stephen Strasburg – 8.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. Aces gonna ace.
Hector Santiago – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks. That’s his third straight 0 ER outing and I have to give him super props for that. I find it hard to like Santiago. Even with his six starts of 1.88 ERA, it’s still a 5.05 xFIP with a 3.76 BB/9 and I think you’ll be heavily disappointed if you invest in Santiago. He gets Texas next and I’d only be starting him if I needed to take a chance.
Justin Verlander – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 10 Ks. Jimmy V, you’re the gift that keeps on giving.
Andrew Cashner – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 9 Ks. I’ve Cashed Out and Andy elects to have his best start since April of 2015. Yeah, that’s 2-for-3 in great starts recently, but hot damn that odd egg is odd. Like giving you two-year-old creative freedom to design his own egg odd. 8 ER in just 2.2 innings against the Dodgers. You can take the risk if you like on Cashner, I don’t think he’s suddenly grasped his unlimited power and will churn these out errrr day.
Kyle Hendricks – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. There’s the beautiful, stable floor that we own Hendricks for. Sure, it’s a Grave Mistake, but we’ll take it.
Carlos Carrasco – 6.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. I want more strikeouts CC! I WANT MORE.
Steven Wright – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks. Ehhhhhh I’m kinda tipsy on the bandwagon and wondering if I could survive the fall. I can totally do it!
Ian Kennedy – 5.1 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. Super boring, but you’ll take it. He’s holding a 2.96 ERA in his last five starts, and this was his second straight against a tough opponent (first Jays, now Tigers). I guess I’m kinda back being okay with Kennedy? Too bad his 29 Ks from the last three games didn’t stick around though.
Bartolo Colon – 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. This is The Big Apple’s upside. Nice job bucko, still don’t trust you when you’re not playing the Phils et al.
Anthony DeSclafani – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks. One more ER than I’m okay with, but oh lord is everything else super sexy. A 1.00 WHIP and a 8/0 K per BB? Mama Mia. I was cheated by you and I think you know when…
Miguel Gonzalez – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. That’s three starts of just 4 ER total, and I have to had it to Miguel – his VPR would be pretty decent as he only has three starts of 13 that are more than 3 ER. Too bad his walk rate is bad, strikeouts are too low, and he barely averages 5.2 innings per start. You know what that means. Miguel…No.
Chris Archer – 7.1 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. This is…not so bad? That low walk total is fine and Ks are okay, and this was the O’s after all. It’s possible I’m too low on Archer, but I really do believe that this is his talent level, not the stud run we saw last year as that came with a 1.5 mph boost that made his fastball not so bad. There are obviously worse fliers if he’s chilling out there in your league, but he’s not a buy low guy.
Francisco Liriano – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 4 BBs, 5 Ks. A 1.50 WHIP? Just another day at the office for Liriano.
Madison Bumgarner – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks. Annnnd this is why he ain’t number one. One studly CGSHO does not erase the meh starts before.
Wei-Yin Chen – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. Blegh. Sure it was the Cards, but I’m not falling back into Chen’s arms anytime soon.
Jeremy Hellickson – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks. Hellickson’s only good pitch is his Changeup, with everything else being super bad. Jonah Hill wouldn’t even approve.
Jorge De La Rosa – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 8 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks. De La Rosa 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.
Doug Fister – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. We made the compromise and you didn’t return your half of the bargain. What am I going to do with you Fister?
Ervin Santana – 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. Ahhh yes, there’s the Santana we know and hate.
Michael Pineda – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. Ugh, I knew before even looking at the box score that this was three HRs. Duh. He did have to face the Red Sawx for what it’s worth, which is about a dime. Please mail that to my address, k thx.
Matt Garza – 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. Garza is once again making owners feel like this.
Jaime Garcia – 6.1 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. This is what Garcia has become. :(
Bud Norris – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks. Stupid Nud Borris producing a 1.18 FIP and 2.52 xFIP yet earning a 7.20 ERA and 1.60 WHIP. If you want to keep that rotation spot, you gotta gotta try a little tenderness! Owners love that romantic crap.
Yovani Gallardo – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 8 Hits, 4 BBs, 2 Ks. Gallardo is more boring than hearing Ben Stein talk about his obsession with different types of paper.
Martin Perez – 5.2 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks. What else would you expect during an afternoon in Wrigley? To his credit, he was being his BABIP loving self for five innings before the Cubs finally got their adorable paws all over Perez.
Patrick Corbin – 4.0 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks. Everytime I see a Corbin stat line, a piece of me dies inside.
James Paxton – 5.0 IP, 6 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks. Speaking of pain…man this is a rough one. He allowed a leadoff HR, then settled in for a solid four innings, but just couldn’t find the final out in the fifth and it went all to hell. ALL TO HELL. I still love the man dearly and think he’ll have a dominating second half. His velocity was its second highest average of the entire season – only his first start was higher.
Marcus Stroman – 4.2 IP, 6 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. This was against the As. THE AS. As? As what? Okay it doesn’t work in caps but I’m upset, LET ME HAVE THIS ONE. Anyway, so much for that comeback. He might be a post-hype sleeper next season, but we’ll have to see some major trends in the final two months to get me on that train.
Lucas Harrell – 3.2 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. This isn’t a surprise from Harrell. Herrell’s is much cooler, that’s also because it’s ice cream, but I digress. I don’t see a scenario where you want to own Lucas. So don’t do it. Okay? Okay.
Today’s Streamers
Mike Foltynewicz vs. Colorado Rockies – Looks crazy, right? The Rockies are 25th in the league in wOBA when on the road, with a wRC+ of just 82. Meanwhile, Folty was dominate as anything last time out with 10 Ks and could be moving in the right direction. Or it could end horribly, this is a stream after all. Jimmy Nelson against the Reds would also work.
Tomorrow’s Streamer
Jon Gray @ Atlanta Braves – A lot of good stream options today. I went with Gray and emphasized the @ since playing in Atlanta makes this super favorable for Gray. Other options are Zach Eflin against the Mets, J.A. Happ vs. Oakland, Zach Davies against the Reds, Josh Tomlin vs. Minnesota, and even Mike Montgomery vs. the Astros.
Day After Tomorrow’s Streamer
Tyler Anderson @ Tampa Bay Rays – Yeah, I’m going with Anderson since there aren’t many good options and at least his ERA is being supported by his FIP/xFIP. I don’t like him ROS as I do believe the magic will wear off as his stuff just isn’t that good, but might as well make use of this matchup. Mike Fiers in O.Co is also a serviceable option.
Game of the Day
Gerrit Cole vs. Washington Nationals – He’s finally back and I really want to be able to comfortably label him as Top 20 given the shenanigans at the top of the SP rankings. I could have also went with Yu Darvish, but I’m a little more confident in my opinion of him.