I feel like each year we need to remind everyone of the same Corey Kluber flaw, but it’s 2017 and nothing has changed after he went 6.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks against the Rangers. What’s that flaw? Well, for the months of March/April since 2014, Kluber’s ERA has been 4.14, 4.24, and 4.24. He’s notorious for having a poor first month and I completely buy that Kluber is a pitcher who needs to rev up his engine first before giving you the stud numbers you want. Does that mean treat him like a DL stash for all of April? Nah because that’s overdoing it. All I’m getting at is don’t undersell him if he takes a moment to get out of the gate or look to buy him if his owner is freaking out after his third straight meh start to begin the season.
Let’s see how every other SP did yesterday:
Dallas Keuchel – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. Look at this. Alex Fast was pushing me to raise Keuchel given that he is apparently fully healed from his shoulder surgery and Dallas gave owners a start reminiscent of his 2015 days. The strikeouts are still lacking, though, and I do wonder if we’ll see a major rise in those or if you’re taking a mini Grave Mistake each time out. Either way, be happy as a Keuchel owner for now, but I’m still cautious.
Clayton Kershaw – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks. Aces gonna ace. 1 ER to the Padres? Come on Kershaw, you’re slacking.
Ervin Santana – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. My call boy for the day was better than expected, even if the Ks didn’t show up. Do I like Santana for a 12-teamer? Ehhhhh maybe? I think he’s more of a streamer than a roster buddy as he can really ruin some weeks.
Noah Syndergaard – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks. Aces gonna ace. He left with just 85 pitches to his name after getting a blister on his finger. Well isn’t that just the greatest news ever. He’s getting pushed back from Saturday to Sunday now, which is totally reasonable and shouldn’t get anyone all too upset. It’s just that the Mets always find a way to make us endlessly worry about their golden starters and it’s a bit laughable at this point. Ha.
Danny Duffy – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 8 Ks. Sure, just 3 Hits and 1 ER with 8 Ks are great. Totally. A 91mph Fastball that left the yard to Miguel Sano with 3 walks should give you some concern though.
Julio Teheran – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks. Well done Teheran, I still don’t trust that you’re going to be a consistent boss this year, but well done.
Edinson Volquez – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. Whoaaaa, this might be the most impressive start of the day since it came against the Nationals. Six Ks from Volquez? A 1.00 WHIP? 0.00 ERA? I feel bad for those that are going to run out and get him now, though I guess I’d be lying if I didn’t say a stream against the Mets on Sunday wasn’t so terrible.
Stephen Strasburg – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks. I know this is a beneficial start, but why do I feel disappointed from Stras? Blow me away Stephen. I know you can do it.
Kendall Graveman – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks. Wanna know how many games Graveman has had in his career with at least seven strikeouts? Just three across 52 outings. I know some people love him for whatever reason and they can have their fun, but I’m not going anywhere near this situation.
Marco Estrada – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. I think I’d take this if I were an Estrada owner. Which I’m not, but that’s a completely different topic.
Felix Hernandez – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks. Felix left the game early with groin tightness. Good news is that he’s expected to make his next start, but what on earth was he doing in between innings?
Rick Porcello – 6.1 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. Awarding Porcello a quality start for this outing is exactly how it felt awarding him the Cy Young last year.
Junior Guerra – 3.0 IP, 2 ER, 1 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks. Guerra left after straining his calf while running out a bunt. On one hand we have pitchers getting hurt while hitting. On the other we have MADISON BUMGARNER OMG. I have no idea how I feel about implementing the DH in the NL suddenly.
Jeremy Hellickson – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks. The Devil approacheth…Watch, Hellickson is going to get blown up now and punish all those who let him hang out on their roster now after this low ERA performance.
Kevin Gausman – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 4 BBs, 4 Ks. Four walks from Gaus is simply not right. It was just the third time since the start of 2015 that he’s walked more than three batters and I wouldn’t hate on Gausman for this one.
Yu Darvish – 6.1 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 5 BBs, 4 Ks. Darvish has been lowering his walk totals each of the last three years, right? Fiiiiine, it’s just one game but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I eked out a smile after I’ve been questioning his ability to not walk batters moving forward through the preseason.
Ricky Nolasco – 5.2 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. Yep, that’s Nolasco alright.
Scott Feldman – 4.2 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. Feldman Schmeldan. Look, if he can’t give you a good ERA/WHIP against the Phils, why would you want to trust him in any other matchup?
Jon Gray – 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks. You know, I feel like even though Gray did poorly, this start will be put in the context of “see, his road splits are worse than his home splits!” I still like Gray though, believe it or not, and there’s a part of me that believes this outing has more to do with the surprisingly good Brewers offense than Gray’s ineffectiveness.
Gerrit Cole – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. But Nick! Cole is going to recover from injury, gain movement back on his Fastball/Slider and be just like 2015 all over again! Ha. Ha. Ha. But seriously, this was against the Red Sox so give him some slack, and he was looking pretty decent through the first four innings. Unfortunately for Cole, 12 outs just isn’t enough these days.
Jhoulys Chacin – 3.1 IP, 9 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. I feel bad hating on Chacin since he’s clearly not having a good day, but this was the easiest pick for the worst outing today so no surprises here. Sorry duder.
Today’s Streamer
Tyler Anderson vs. Milwaukee Brewers – Can’t say I love this one a whole lot – I think the Brewers might actually be a decent offense this year – but Anderson can keep the ball in the park and showed signs of non-suckage a good amount last year. Wow Nick, what an endorsement. Hey, there are only eight games on Tuesday and they are all #2 starters!
Tomorrow’s Streamer
Lance Lynn vs. Chicago Cubs – I feel like this one is cheating since he should be owned in over 20% of ESPN leagues (and Hisashi Iwakuma is owned well over 50%…people man. PEOPLE.), and there is some risk given it’s the Cubs, but I like Lynn a lot this year and he should be owned in 12 teamers.
Day After Tomorrow’s Streamer
Andrew Triggs vs. Los Angeles Angels – I don’t think Triggs gets enough love and totally believe this is a streamable outing for those in H2H 12 teamers. Jason Hammel against the Twins is another considerable option, though I like Triggs a bit more.
Game of the Day
Sean Manaea vs Matt Shoemaker – I enjoy both of these arms and look forward to a solid duel of value. Those are the best kinds of duels.
I thought Gray was elite for 4 innings…and then…you know, he wasn’t. He’s got the stuff. No question there.
How far out of the rankings do you have Wei-Yin Chen, and what do you think about his chances this week @NYM? Love the rankings, just missed Lynn for $1 ($1000 FAAB), need one more starter to fill out the roster.
Don’t love it much. Chen’s Fastball command has been terrible since his days with the Orioles. Even though its the Mets, I still don’t like his next start and find it tough to endorse him outside of NL-only leagues.
Think Desclafini or Kazmir would be worth a DL stash?
I’d prefer Tony Disco over Kaz, but would drop them in a heartbeat if I needed the DL spot.