The toughest part about ranking pitchers is balancing each pitcher’s history vs. recent games. Sure this guy has done well his past five starts, but he has a history of walking too many. Will he regress for the future or will he continue rolling through the year? Corey Kluber can be a nightmare when trying to gaze into the crystal ball, and he had allowed a combined 12 ER across his previous three outings. I kept him firmly at #4 on The List though, and yesterday showed why with a 9.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BB, 10 Ks. It’s the most difficult move to make as owner, but when considering elite pitchers, you have to stick with them til they turn it around. Try to keep this in mind as in the final two months of ball.
Let’s see what every other SP did yesterday:
Jake Arrieta – 7.2 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. Aces gonna ace. Sure, his last four starts all featured 3 walks and I’d much rather see him dip below 2 last night, but over about 8 innings I’m alright with it.
Chris Bassitt – 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 10 Ks. Here’s the sticky on Bassitt: Before this start, his two season highs were 6 and 7 Ks while he held a 6.32 K/9 across his six starts, so don’t let his current 7.42 K/9 sway you too highly. However, his 1.44 BB/9 is solid and it’s matched with a great 2.67 FIP and okay 3.57 xFIP. Roll with him til he slows down, and I don’t think he’s ever going to be a Top 45 guy, but you’ll definitely see him make an appearance on today’s edition of The List.
Marco Estrada – 6.1 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks. Why I am screaming Polo? Because my goal is to stay away from Marco.
Brad Hand – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. You know this does pretty much nothing for his outlook. What’s his outlook? It’s when he puts his hand right above his eyebrows, cocks his head a little forward, squints his eyes and says “Yeah, I don’t see a single good thing out there.”
Jerome Williams – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks. Jerome stop Jeromi— Well, this isn’t so bad. Then again, this is a Top 5 start for Williams this year, sooo yeah.
Justin Verlander – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks. I watched some of this game, and what I saw looked baaaaad from JV. His command is poor as the ball is staying up like he’s not getting out far enough with his top half, and his sole ER was from a bases-loaded walk. I know the Ks are enticing and you need them desperately, fine go ahead. This guy is C4 wrapped in sugar.
Masahiro Tanaka – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks. The longball did him in once again from two solo blasts from Donaldson and Bautista. Otherwise it’s solid stuff from the Yankee ace. Come back soon Pineda…
Mike Fiers – 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BB, 4 Ks. So Fiers gave you great stuff except the one area that he’s known for. This doesn’t confuse me at all, nope.
Colby Lewis – 8.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BB, 6 Ks. Don’t care, don’t want you Lewis.
Felix Hernandez – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BB, 5 Ks. So it’s good across the board, but not great.
Chris Archer – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 10 Ks. The walks have returned after nearly a year of disappearing, not a good sign while going against the Mets.
Jered Weaver – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits 0 BBs, 7 Ks. Ha, yeah like I’ll believe this.
Henry Owens – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 4 BBs, 2 Ks. I watched a bit of this outing and I’m not all too impressed with Owens. He doesn’t have much K upside and while I can see him being an effective BABIP tosser, I wouldn’t invest much into him this year, maybe a decent streamer here and there. 12 teamers who need an ERA/WHIP boost should look his way though.
Jake Peavy – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. You know I don’t like you anymore. It’s tough to remember the good old days when Peavy would go in the first five rounds.
John Lackey – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. Blegh.
Jimmy Nelson – 7.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks. The Ks are legit, and it wasn’t until a 3 run blast in the 7th that Nelson ran into trouble. He’s a sneaky upside guy for those who need some help entering the playoffs.
Shelby Miller – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. Better late than never for Miller to turn into the guy he’s supposed to be.
Patrick Corbin – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BB, 5 Ks. I’m not all too shocked about this outing from Corbin. He’s just not that amazing.
Max Scherzer – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BB, 10 Ks. Scherzer wasn’t hitting his spots all too well in this outing and it came back to hurt him. Still, salvaging 10 Ks is pretty nice.
Andrew Cashner – 6.1 IP, 3 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks. I honestly can’t remember the last time someone was excited about Cashner.
Alex Wood – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks. “Change of scenery” rarely is a convincing argument.
Jose Quintana – 6.2 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. But you were supposed to have a solid floor!
Anthony DeSclafani – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 10 Hits, 1 BB, 3 Ks. Go home Tony Disco.
Yohan Flande – 4.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks. Flande 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.
Danny Duffy – 3.1 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BB, 2 Ks. Not for me, not for you, not for the Royals, not for anyone.
Bartolo Colon – 6.2 IP, 4 ER, 9 Hits, 0 BBs, 0 Ks. The Big Apple managed to go almost 7 innings with every batter getting the ball in play. What was this, tee ball?
Miguel Gonzalez – 4.2 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. Miguel…No.
Charlie Morton – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 10 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks. I wonder if Morton watched Good Luck Chuck and shed a few tears while eating his popcorn. If only that was me…
Phil Hughes – 3.0 IP, 7 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BB, 2 Ks. I’m sure some are devastated about Hughes’ poor season after his breakout in 2014, and I hope you’re not one of them.
Today’s Streamer
Matt Shoemaker vs. Chicago White Sox – So Jered Weaver got the start yesterday instead, meaning Shoemaker was pushed back until today. He’s K’d 27 batters across his last three starts and gets possibly the worst offense in the majors in the ChiSox. Sign me up.
Tomorrow’s Streamer
Luis Severino vs. Cleveland Indians – I liked what I saw last time out, and the Indians aren’t the most intimidating of teams.
Joe Ross vs. Los Angeles Dodgers – This will be featured in this week’s GIF Breakdown, and if he’s somehow not owned in your league, get on that stat.
Game of the Day
Chris Sale vs. Matt Shoemaker – Easily the best duel of the night where the pair combined could eclipse 20 Ks.