There are many pitchers that I go out of my way to avoid as I simply don’t trust them to give me a performance worthy of a roster spot on a given night. Wade Miley is one of those guys and will continue to be one of them even after last night’s line of 9.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks. There are many little notes to make about this start, such as it’s his first career complete game and only the second time he’s had more than 6 Ks since July 7th, and I don’t want this game – against the Phillies – to trump everything he has done this year. He still holds a 4.00 xFIP and holds a sub 7.00 K rate with a BB/9 of 2.88 that is way too close to 3.00. He does get to face the Rays twice in his next three starts, and I understand if your desperate times call on Miley for a stream once, but I’d really try to avoid if I could. He has eight starts this season – over 28% of his starts – with at least 5 ER, and that frightens me terribly.
Let’s see what every other SP did yesterday:
Jake Arrieta – 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks. Aces gonna ace. Arrieta has only allowed 2 ER in his last 50.1 IP across seven starts. Yup.
Jaime Garcia – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks. Garcia is back on track and only has 5/6 six more starts to not get injured. Don’t let me down now!
Derek Holland – 8.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. I still don’t love Holland but you may as well ride him when he’s hot. I foresee some regression soon, but given the small sample left in the season it’s not out the question we don’t see it this year. Don’t even think of drafting him at his ADP next year, though.
Ervin Santana – 8.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 11 Ks. There clearly is a ton of upside in Santana as he’s now collected 21 Ks in just his last two starts…both against the Astros. Don’t forget that he accrued just nine strikeouts across his previous FOUR starts.
Alfredo Simon – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 4 BBs, 5 Ks. Go away Alfredo. I bet your recipe includes lamesauce. Yeah I went there. Yeah I’m running out of Alfredo jokes.
Gio Gonzalez – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 4 BBs, 10 Ks. Whoa Gio, 10 Ks??? Oh. Blame it on the Braves.
Lance McCullers – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks. Now that’s what I like to see from McCullers who faced the Twins for the second time in a row. He had a rough first outing but this is the exact guy I was hoping would appear yesterday. I’d ride him here on out.
David Price – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 4 BBs, 8 Ks. David Price’s 2015 salary? 7.231 million. Grabbing an ace at the deadline? Daniel Norris, Matt Boyd and Jairo Labourt. A Tigers team without a stud lefty? Priceless.
Alex Wood – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 4 BBs, 4 Ks. It’s good Wood, I just reminisce of the days when you had a great K rate.
Bartolo Colon – 9.0 IP, 0 ER, 9 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks. Dang, a lot of great outings today, including this CGSHO from the Big Apple. Sure the Ks weren’t there and he needed some luck to make it through including on the coolest web gems I’ve seen all year from Colon himself, but this is why low walk guys are great. Those 0 walks make his WHIP a very solid 1.00. Do I like Colon moving forward? Only when he’s matched up with the Braves/Marlins/Phillies.
Jose Quintana – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks. Yep, that’s sturdy ole Quintana alright.
Felix Hernandez – 8.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 9 Ks. There’s the King we know and…still expect a little more from. Why did you have to give up that solo shot, huh?
Jered Weaver – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. Oh no. Unless you’re into seeing your team plummet like a tank off a cliff, don’t even think of adding him. Okay now I want to see a tank falling off a cliff. I guess this will have to do.
Tyson Ross – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. I want to say I’d take this, but if I’m starting Ross, I’m already accepting a bad WHIP and do it for the Ks. Three strikeouts ain’t gonna cut it Ross. You just can’t make me happy.
Charlie Morton – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. Okay, Chuck. I don’t like Morton all too much as his upside is realized too infrequently for me to ignore his floor
Robbie Ray – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 8 Ks. Ray is becoming a more intriguing add in deeper leagues as his K rate is improving once against. Come on make the obvious joke. FINE. There is a Ray of hope. HAPPY?!
Jake Peavy – 5.2 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. I didn’t like Peavy in the pre-season, and I don’t like him during the season. You can call me Peaved if you want. That would be a horrible pun but sure, go ahead. You do you.
Danny Duffy – 7.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks. The wrong Duff Man.
Matt Moore – 4.2 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. So Moore returned and did little to make owners feel that they need to keep a watchful eye on him. It’s not a bad start, but it’s in the land of blegh, and the Rays are clearly being over-protective of the lefty who only threw 79 pitches during the afternoon.
Wily Peralta – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 0 Ks. There was a rain delay that took out both Peralta and Sampson. Peralta was actually being somewhat decent, but he would have probably screwed it up somehow. Let’s be honest here.
Keyvius Sampson – 3.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. The delay probably helped Sampson here. Ouch.
Nathan Eovaldi – 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 4 BBs, 7 Ks. Crazy to see Eovaldi keep up the strikeouts, but he has other issues to work out before he becomes a stable entity that deserves a long-term add. I can see him being a labeled a sleeper for next year’s drafts, and I’m for it very very deep into the draft, but don’t forget, we’ve been hearing the Eovaldi sleeper talk for ages.
Mike Wright – 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks. The wrong Wright. Well, come to think of it both Wright’s are wrong, so the right wrong Wright.
Chad Bettis – 4.1 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 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.
Matt Garza – 4.2 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 4 BBs, 2 Ks. Per usual, Garza is making owners feel like this.
John Lamb – 5.2 IP, 6 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. Our Call Boy wasn’t so hot against the Brew Crew and his Changeup mastery wasn’t there for owners. I wouldn’t like to be a in a position to depend on a Lamb stream again this season.
Shelby Miller – 4.1 IP, 7 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. The regression angels are done with their poker game and taking out their losses on Miller. Dude, why would you go in high just a pair of fives?
Danny Salazar – 3.2 IP, 6 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks. He’s still a Cherry Bomb despite being the most successful one of the lot. The Tigers seemed to have their way with him – they are one of the best offenses around – and it’s been a bit shaky for Salazar. It’s a tough road for Danny with a repeat matchup against the Tigers next followed by the Royals. I wouldn’t be all too confident with Salazar, but hey, he did a great job against the Blue Jays in just his previous start. That’s what makes him a Cherry Bomb.
Jesse Chavez – 2.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 5 BBs, 2 Ks. I know some are still haning on to glimpses of 2014 and the first half of 2015, but we really need to just let Chavez go. You know, like that 30 cent coupon you’ve been hoarding for months. Not worth it.
Today’s Streamers
Eduardo Rodriguez vs. Philadelphia Phillies – I would go with Steven Matz returning from the DL, but he’s actually owned in more than 55% of ESPN leagues, soooo yeah. EDU has the upside to have a fantastic game against the Phils, though there is some risk. If you need that extra push on a Sunday, .EDU is your best option.
Tomorrow’s Streamer
Ian Kennedy vs. Colorado Rockies – He’s been on a tear lately and gets to face the Rockies outside of their hometown, which makes Colorado a bottom tier offense.
Game of the Day
Johnny Cueto vs. Erik Johnson – Johnson is one of the best pitching prospects left to hit the bigs and you know I’ll be curious to watch the righty perform against the Royals. Throw in a solid pitcher on the other side and we have ourselves a beautiful day for baseball.