Jim? Is He Funny Or Something?

Here’s something I wonder if I’ve ever done. I’m going to lead with Ubaldo Jimenez for his 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks start against the Blue Jays. Why? Because some guys just need a day in the sunlight. Get that vitamin D, make them feel the life they’ve craved, and provide a sweet memory for when they are shunned back to the basement. That was dark. But there was sunlight! In all seriousness, I make plenty of jokes about Jimenez – I think he’s even on the Anti-List – and I think this is the perfect example of baseball being baseball. Every starter will have a Birthday Party this year, otherwise they wouldn’t be given multiple starts for a major league ballclub. Likewise, every starter will have their terrible days. This outing is a simple reminder that this isn’t Fantasy Football (speaking of which…ahhh I’ll tell you later) where a sample size of one game is everything. Fantasy Baseball is where Ubaldo freakin’ Jimenez can be arguably the best starter of the day and he still shouldn’t be on anyone’s roster. Never leave me, baseball.

Let’s see how every other SP did yesterday:

Corey Kluber – 8.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 12 Ks. Aces gonna ace. Holy Wade Boggs’ Mustache this is getting crazy. 1.26 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 13.40 K/9, 1.47 BB/9, 7+ IPS in six June starts. Whoa.

Clayton Kershaw – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 12 Ks. Then there’s Kershaw that does that like every month. Aces gonna ace.

Dinelson Lamet – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. While I didn’t pick Ubadlo – HA Ha ha ha ha... – Lamet turned out to be as good as you could have gotten looking for an extra arm yesterday. I’m willing to say Blame It On The Braves here and I’d be cautious trusting him next time out against the Indians. Streamer Record 44-28-11.

Jimmy Nelson – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 11 Ks. That’s a 2.64 ERA, 6.5+ IPS, 11.33 K/9 and 1.70 BB/9 over Nelson’s last seven starts. Now, he’s played just three tough teams and four weak ones, but hot dang that is mighty impressive. That ERA is higher than his FIP/xFIP (2.53, 2.45).

Michael Fulmer – 8.2 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks. Man, Fulmer had the CGSHO in his hands with one strike to go and then everything fell apart. Careful, Icarus. This was against the Royals, so I’m not putting much stock into this outside of a “way to take advantage” approval.

Jon Lester – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks. And Lester keeps killing it. He’s a prime example of a veteran arm having a slow start to the season that we needed to give extra credit to for having the ability to rebound.

Jameson Taillon – 6.1 IP, 0 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. I’m still waiting for Taillon to really kick it into gear with his strikeouts – it might take some time for consistency given his tumultuous season – but I’m cool with this even with the 1.50 WHIP.

David Price – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks. I will definitely take this from Price as it’s a step forward. I want to see those K/BB extremes as the lower ER will come in time.

Brad Peacock – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 6 BBs, 7 Ks. It’s not a QS because he’s walking too many guys, but for your standard league, you’ll take that WHIP as it came with a 1.80 ERA and 7 Ks. Let’s hope he sticks in the rotation through a healthy Astros team.

Joe Ross – 6.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks. If you told me you could easily pick your spots with Ross, I’d call you a liar. That seems harsh, Nick. Fine, I’d say “Yeah, okay man.” That’s better. Good news is that he gets the Mets and Braves to close out the first half…but he’s been known to not listen to streaming suggestions and mess everything up.

Lance Lynn – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. Those strikeouts are a welcome sight after averaging under 5 per start in his previous six and if I’m owning Lynn, it’s probably in a QS league. So work Lynn, especially after a pair of 7 ER clunkers, jeeeez.

Patrick Corbin – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. Don’t buy into a Corbin resurgence, this was against the Cardinals and last time was the Braves. No thanks.

Seth Lugo – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks. If I owned Lugo, I’d be thrilled with this start. I don’t because I think he’s a bad coin flip considering mediocre strikeout potential.

James Shields – 6.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks. We’re just so happy to have you back Shields. Truly, it’s been a tough year without you.

J.A. Happ – 6.1 IP, 2 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. Happ got Singled Out here as his strikeout rate plummeted against the Orioles…which is a super weird sentence to write. Thanks O’s for making contact this one day. Thanks so much.

Chris Archer – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks. Archer with a PQS and just five Ks? Ehhhh, he’s getting harder and harder to endorse as an ace.

Jose Urena – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks. If you roll with Jose, Urena a boatload of trouble.

Kyle Gibson – 5.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. There are other guitars out there than a Gibson, you know.

Luis Cessa – 4.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 1 Ks. With all the prospects the Yanks are calling up as everyone starts to get hurt, Chance Adams remains in AAA and we get Cessa instead. This wasn’t a terrible start, but man do I want nothing to do with him.

Jaime Garcia – 6.0 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks. He gave us a wondrous two-start week and now we’ve thrown him to the curb. Life is tough, Garcia.

Jake Junis – 6.0 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks. He’s sure to put a Dent in your ratios. I still don’t get this joke. Just go with it.

Andrew Cashner – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. We all Cashed Out as Andrew buys back in.

JC Ramirez – 5.2 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. JC against the Dodgers? Yeah, not interested. Purely a streamer against the bottom tier offenses these days.

Daniel Gossett – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks. It’s too bad, I think he could have done well against the Braves, but he was pushed up a start and got the Astros instead. Of course this wasn’t going to work.

Homer Bailey – 3.0 IP, 6 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. Looks at watch. It’s not that time yet. I’d say July 28th.

Today’s Streamer

Mike Montgomery vs. Cincinnati Reds – Now that Daniel Gossett got bumped up a day and is facing the Astros instead of the Braves, it’s between Monty and Folty (vs Oakland) as all the other options just don’t suit my fancy (I’m looking at you Dirkx Digglerx) and I just don’t like Folty’s unpredictability that I’m favoring Monty against a somewhat difficult matchup.

Tomorrow’s Streamer

Ariel Miranda vs. Los Angeles Angels – You know I hate this. I wouldn’t even count it to my record, but I hate copping out and saying no streamers, SO HERE YOU GO. There’s just nothing else.

Day After Tomorrow’s Streamer

Nick Pivetta vs. New York Mets – He’s expressed the strikeout upside and he gets an easy team this time around.

Game of the Day

Lance McCullers vs. Michael Pineda – Can Pineda keep the HRs down against the Astros? (Probably not). Can McCullers fan more than eight batters? (Probably).