I have been a fan of Danny Duffy as he’s displayed elite velocity as a starter for the Royals, and he kept the K/BB upside with a 6.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks line against the Tigers. Soooo this is slightly worrisome. Not because of the ER because that isn’t so bad and hey, this is the Tigers. Nay, it’s that his Fastball averaged 94.07 mph in yesterday’s outing. For reference, he’s been sitting comfortably above 95, normally 96 as a starter this season. It’s the first time he’s averaged 94 and it was almost 93 mph. That might not seem like a big deal, but it’s part of the reason Duffy wasn’t good as a starter earlier in his career and it could mean a regression is in play. I want to love Duffy a ton, but this might be a sell situation. I’d consider waiting one more start to see if it comes back next time, but if he’s a tradeable asset, I’d think about moving him now.
Let’s see what every other SP did yesterday:
Matt Shoemaker – 9.0 IP, 0 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 13 Ks. Awwwwww Yis! He’s back and taking numbers.
Adam Wainwright – 9.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. Look at vintage Waino but with a 5.00 K/9. Whatever! Waino is super hot like my ex-wife – Yeah right – and there’s no reason to slow down on your starts with the fella. I still don’t see Top 25 ROS, but keep on keepin’ on.
Hisashi Iwakuma – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. I gave up on Iwakuma a while ago, but that’s the beauty of fantasy baseball. You can always come back! Well I’m not sure I want to as he’s getting less movement on his Sinker, while his Split has lost a good amount of vertical drop. It hasn’t returned in these starts, which means I’m inclined to continue staying away. Prove me wrong Iwakuma. Prove me wrong.
Tanner Roark – 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. There’s the Roark upside we’ve been waiting for as he faced a meh Pirates offense. About time fella.
James Shields – 8.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. And Shields keeps on rebounding from the worst stretch ever. I wonder if ChiSox fans have forgiven him yet as he’s allowed just 6 ER in his last four starts. To be fair, all four opponents have been terrible – Twins, Yanks, Braves, Angels – but at least he’s not flustering against them too!
Brandon McCarthy – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks. Ohhhh baby I love me some McCarthy right now. Well, kinda. He now gets the Cards/Dbacks again/Sawx. It’s not fair I tell you. It’s not fair!
Jimmy Nelson – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks. Our back-up Call Boy (I feel like we need a term for this one too) did his job against a poor Reds squad. I don’t expect much out of Nelson, but he can be productive if you choose your spots wisely.
Jason Hammel – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. Solid performance from Hammel against the Rangers, I still worry about his previous second half numbers and question if he can be solid through the final two plus months.
Chris Tillman – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. Tillman isn’t good enough to deserve his 13-2 record, as he’s – get this – a TEEs. OH SNAP. Yeah, his FIP/xFIP is a point higher than his 3.29 ERA (4.23 FIP, 4.53 xFIP, 4.55 SIERA) with a 3.44 BB/9 and just a 7.55 K/9. That’s not too encouraging that he’ll keep it up.
Eduardo Rodriguez – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks. Did Eduardo really fix everything with his hands? I’m not entirely sure about that as this was the Yankees and he got 20 of 21 outs via .136 BABIP. I watched a little of this outing and he didn’t seem to have great Fastball command, though a decent Changeup that was messing up the Yanks. I’m not buying the upside to be back, but there are worse fliers to take out there.
Mike Foltynewicz – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. Our Call Boy was pretty serviceable, giving a QS, a great WHIP and a decent amount of Ks. Yeah, I would have liked just 2 ER but whatareyougonnado.
Matt Moore – 7.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks. Yeah…I’m not a fan of Moore as there is too much risk without enough consistency.
Yu Darvish – 4.1 IP, 2 ER, 2 Hits, 4 BBs, 9 Ks. Kinda nuts to watch Darvish return as he got his first five outs via the strikeout, with of course a walk to lead it off (he got a little squeezed but whatever). On one hand there is so much reason to get excited about Darvish. He has some of the best stuff of anyone in the majors. The problem is that his Fastball command is lacking, and I don’t see him getting a sub 3.00 BB/9 anytime soon. That means he won’t be able to have the same upside as Top 10 guys, but I expect a little more consistency than someone like McCullers.
Lance McCullers – 5.1 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 8 Ks. Speaking of which, this is the mini-Darvish struggle I have with McCullers. He gives us more Ks than me can handle, but does so while destroying our WHIP and being on the fringe of a poor ERA. At least with Darvish he’s got a more well rounded repertoire that will produce stud starts more often. I want to love McCullers like I do my silk pajamas, but I can’t wear them now without feeling a bit dirty. Let me sleep in comfort McCullers!
Archie Bradley – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. Meh, I find it hard to be excited about Bradley these days. He’s not the absolute bottom of the barrel, but I don’t seem him climbing up the ladder.
Chad Bettis – 6.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks. Bettis 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.
Jerad Eickhoff – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. I’m all aboard the Eickhoff train for the second half and I suggest you join me. We’re gonna have balloons, party hats, and handshake buzzers that will impress your friends!
Logan Verrett – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks. Verrett is essentially the new Niese for the Mets, soooooo yeah.
Trevor Bauer – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks. So Bauer is back to being Jack after his luscious Spring time run. Note this and I would be surprised if he gets back to where he was before.
Sonny Gray – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 4 BBs, 2 Ks. Ho’Boy this ain’t good. Man, I wasn’t high on Gray in the pre-season, but not like this. Sure, this was the Jays but four walks and 2 Ks are seriously not what we signed up for.
Tyler Duffey – 6.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks. I feel like I need a name for young pitchers who are struggling early in their career but could easily have a breakout in year or so. Guys like Folty, Lamb, Duffey, Finnegan, etc. I’ll let you guys take a whack at it before I set it in stone in tomorrow’s roundup. Show me what you got in the comments.
R.A. Dickey – 6.0 IP, 5 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. Dickey told me that he has an outie. I found out he had an innie. Don’t trust a knuckleballer.
Jeff Samardzija – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 4 BBs, 4 Ks. Yep, Loose Lips is sinking ships.
Luis Perdomo – 4.2 IP, 3 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks. Domo arigato Mr Roboto, perdomo no no. Sorry for that one guys. It’s a weird morning.
Gerrit Cole – 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. So my DL theory was put into action yesterday with both Yu and Cole returning from the DL and Cole
Tom Koehler – 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. We can’t paint the fences for you Tom, you have to figure it out yourself.
CC Sabathia – 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 9 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks. We moved ona while ago, if you haven’t yet, please please do now.
Mike Pelfrey – 1.2 IP, 5 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 0 Ks. Huh, I wonder why he’s the face of the Anti-List.
John Lamb – 2.0 IP, 9 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. Poor Lamb, for the nth time, he’s won’t be this bad forever, but his floor is too low to put any faith in during 2016.
Today’s Streamers
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.
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.
Day After Tomorrow’s Streamer
Cody Reed vs. Atlanta Braves – Not too many choices today, with Reed against the Braves having the highest ceiling. It could be shaky, though I’d expect a decent amount of Ks to come with his time on the hill.
Game of the Day
Dylan Bundy vs Tamp Bay Rays – He’s finally getting his chance to start for the O’s and of course I’m watching after going 2.1 innings with 7 Ks in his last relief appearance.