Grabbing The Rum Hamels

I haven’t been too kind to Cole Hamels this season, but he hasn’t been kind to us! Entering last night, he had a 4.12 ERA that was obnoxiously close to his 4.53 K/9, with a 3.30 BB/9, 5.08 FIP and everything looked terrible. But he took advantage of the Angels to the tune of 7.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks and that’s two straight respectable starts with 6 Ks apiece. I don’t think any of us are ready to say that Hamels is now Top 40 again after doing well against the White Sox and Angels, but I would consider him as a decent buy low option. He’s not as terrible as his pre-injury numbers dictated and his Changeup was on like the old days last night. I imagine the price is far from expensive and you might have yourself a solid #4 for your squad in the second half.

Let’s see how every other SP did yesterday:

Zack Greinke – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. Aces gonna ace. Pretty incredible to see Greinke with a 2.86 ERA entering the ASB after last season’s atrocity.

Eddie Butler – 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 1 Ks. Butler had 86 pitches after hitting the first batter in the fifth and got the hook. This is such a dangerous play as his upside is so limited but that floor is creaking badly with every step.

R.A. Dickey – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. Okay, this is getting kinda nuts. That’s five of his last six starts of 1 ER or fewer. But do you really want to be putting your faith in 42-year-old Dickey to have that feel on a given night? No, you don’t. Don’t trust a knuckleballer.

Junior Guerra – 3.1 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. Rain in the Bronx cut this one short, but man was Guerra getting terrible luck as the Brewers defense committed four errors in this time. Yeesh. I still don’t like Guerra and think you should be looking elsewhere in your leagues.

Kenta Maeda – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. Oh great, another low IPS start for Maeda. But alright, it’s 1 ER and 5 Ks so we’re cool. I guess.

Charlie Morton – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. Outside of Morton’s opponent Sanchez, who we’ll get to in a moment, DLH has been wonky lately as Duffy, Morton, and Gray all survived their first outings back from the DL. This is good – not great – from Morton but given the circumstances I’m happy if I needed him. He should be owned in all 12 teamers if he isn’t already.

Clayton Richard – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. It’s the wrong Clayton!

Dan Straily – 8.1 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks. I want more strikeouts, but hot damn, 8.1 frames?! Of course Denard Span had to club a HR to deny you the CGSHO in the ninth. Keep rolling with Straily and you’ll be happy.

Carlos Carrasco – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 11 Ks. Aces gonna ace. He had an immaculate inning!

Jordan Montgomery – 4.1 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks. I think The Bear pitched well here and I’m not sure why he was allowed to continue after a 51 minute rain delay, but you have to imagine it messed him up a little. You might have read that he was sent the Triple-A after, but don’t worry, it’s just to give the Yanks an extra bullpen arm these two starts before the ASB.

James Paxton – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 9 Ks. Paxton is the Gallows Pole of the night with 20 Whiffs as he was in prime form against the A’s. He’s so dreamy.

Drew Pomeranz – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 5 BBs, 6 Ks. The Dirty Cheerleader just had to walk six guys and ruin his WHIP for the night. That’s stupid. Otherwise, 2 ER and 6 Ks are the standard here and if the WHIP doesn’t matter we’re all happy.

Tim Adleman – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks. I’m starting to read Adleman’s name like Allen and making annoying grunting sounds when people ask if they should pick him up. What has this sport done to me.

Jason Hammel – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 8 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks. Let’s be honest, a VVPQS from Hammel is actually super good, especially with 7 Ks!

Sean Manaea – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. I want more strikeouts and the ERA/WHIP are a little higher than ideal…this is kinda blegh. Thankfully after the opening series against the Indians, the A’s have a somewhat easy schedule for a good while. It’s about dang time.

German Marquez – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 9 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks. Meh, this doesn’t do much to change my opinion of Marquez one way or another.

Nick Pivetta – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 9 Ks. Our Call Boy got the job done as he lived his strikeout upside against a bad Padres offense. Don’t start to think he can do this often as the right bet is only against weak teams. Streamer Record 46-31-11.

Trevor Williams – 3.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. Williams is worth your time like standing at the DMV for 5 hours is exactly how you wanted to spend your Saturday.

Jacob deGrom – 7.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks. deGrom, can you please refrain from allowing two sets of back-to-back HRs to lead off an inning next time out? Thanks.

Max Scherzer – 7.2 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 10 Ks. Aces gonna almost ace. Kershaw is running away with that #1 spot again.

Kevin Gausman – 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 9 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks. This was looking solid through three, then Gaus had some trouble in the fourth, and then a lot more trouble in the fifth. It might sound crazy, but I think he should be owned on 12-teamers if he gets the Rangers + Rays in the second half. Seeing that 7/0 K per BB tells me a good amount about his FB/Split combo at the moment. Well also that he’s throwing 25% Splitters now after averaging 17.5% across the whole season but whatever.

Carlos Martinez – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. Dude, a 2.00 WHIP, 9.00 ERA, and just 4 Ks against the Mets? LET ME SEE YOUR HAIR.

Matt Moore – 3.1 IP, 5 ER, 12 Hits, 0 BBs, 1 Ks. Yep, that’s Moore alright.

Aaron Sanchez – 1.2 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 4 BBs, 0 Ks. Man, this was a rough start to watch. Sanchez was squeezed a little here and he was never able to get into a groove with his pitches. And when I say pitches, I really just mean Fastball/Curveball. Both were looking solid on their own and he did induce the grounders he needed that just didn’t go his way to end that horrid second inning sooner. And this was the Astros. And it was a super obvious DLH. And you shouldn’t be petrfied that Sanchez will return zero value this year after going in the Top 150. I’m benching him at least one more start – The Jays get Detroit, Boston, Cleveland out of the gate – and past those tough teams I think he’ll be ready to go. You’ve waited this long, just hold out until July 24th, okay?

Jordan Zimmermann – 3.0 IP, 5 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. It’s a bit poetic that both Pelfrey and JZ were somehow relevant at the same time while both falling back down in hurry right away. I hope you enjoyed your taste of the honey.

Felix Jorge – 2.2 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. This has Coupe de Schmo written all over it.

Derek Holland – 4.0 IP, 7 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. The Dutch Invasion is longer than the Seven Years War. And that took a while.

Jake Odorizzi – 4.1 IP, 7 ER, 8 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks. I gave up on Odorizzi a long time ago and I hope you have too.

Ricky Nolasco – 1.2 IP, 8 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. Oh Nolasco, never change. It makes things easier for owners.

Today’s Streamer

Luis Castillo vs. Arizona Diamondbacks – Okay, here me out. It’s either Castillo, Andrew Moore against the A’s, or Jhoulys Chacin against the Phillies. I hate trusting Chacin ever, so it’s Moore or Castillo and you guys know how much I love Castillo, I would just feel weird banking on Moore over Castillo. But the matchup is much better…I don’t have a problem going Moore instead, I just need to go with my heart here.

Tomorrow’s Streamer

Trevor Cahill vs. Philadelphia Phillies – I’m amazed I can call this a streamer since he should be owned everywhere, but here we are, still sitting under the 25% owned mark.

Day After Tomorrow’s Streamer

ALL-STAR BREAK Y’ALL

Game of the Day

Mike Clevinger vs. Justin Verlander – I want both of them to do well but I’m a little nervous that neither will succeed.