Jon The Supplantier

With Luke Weaver ailing, the Diamondbacks turned to rookie Jon Duplantier to step out of the bullpen and into the rotation for the first this year, raising eyebrows and making owners question his viability. So I watched last night’s performance against the Mets – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – and yeaaaah I’m not into this. He’s a bit of a Cup of Schmo, unfortunately. He has violent and inconsistent mechanics that speak to a poor fastball command and his secondary stuff isn’t anything to write home about it. I can imagine a start where he puts it together, but it’s not worth chasing those brief fleeting moments. Briefs? Fleeting? Don’t get any ideas.

Let’s see how every other SP did Friday:

Dylan Covey – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. Come on y’all. Don’t Covey Thy Dylan. Just the second game all season with six frames and the only one under 4 ER. Yeah.

Yu Darvish – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks. Two pitchers that have struggled massively through the year but should be better in the final four months squared off today and…it went well. Whoa. I’m not convinced that Darvish is really fixed after this one, though. His fastballs is still a little wonky, his cutter was relied on super heavily and…what’s this?! JUST FIVE SLIDERS?! I’m at a loss here. Darvish was essentially two-pitch and it returned one of the better starts of the year. Yeah, I’m skeptical. We’re still waiting for Darvish to return.

J. A. Happ – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. The newly demoted Toby had 10 Ks last time out as his four-seamer finally showed up, and now he survived the Red Sox in the Bronx with…15/84 CSW. Blegh. Glad he got through this one, here’s to hoping he takes advantage of the Jays next time out.

Joey Lucchesi – 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. Another solid outing from Lucchesi as I’m sure I’ll have to give him a little bit of a nudge forward on Monday. Still don’t love his pitch mix and think he’s “fine” with a sprinkle of “oh nice!” but he obviously should be owned in your 12-teamer.

Miles Mikolas – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. 12/104 whiffs? Yes please. A slider hovering 88 mph? SIGN ME UP. I’m buying into the recovery of Mikolas and I’d buy low if you still can. Be rational here and if you have an arm that’s working already, don’t play hot potato, but I’d be very happy owning Mikolas in a 12-teamer at the moment.

Ryne Stanek – 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks. Move out of the way Stanek, this is about Jalen Beeks and his 3.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks False Start that just doesn’t do a dang thing. You owned him for a full week and that’s all you got. Get used to it. If he somehow gets traded to another team, he becomes a Toby with a touch of upside, but I don’t think that’s coming any time soon as we continue to wonder if Beeks is worth your time or not.

Spencer Turnbull – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. With just two strikeouts, am I still Turnbullish? Yes? I believe in his inevitable development with a great slider and four-seamer, it’s all about advancing his curveball to become the tried-and-true third option. He has the Canning/Bieber build with a touch more ceiling given the movement on the four-seamer. I think it’ll all come together this year so don’t let him go.

Trevor Bauer – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. That WHIP is a bit high but 21 whiffs is a wonderful thing (co-Gallows Pole) as his cutter and curveball got it done. I really want to see more sliders mixed in and working again, but if the cutter fits, we sits. Or something like that. Feel confident in Bauer moving forward.

Mike Fiers – 6.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. Sure, whatever Fiers. You’re a Panda and maybe this is the start of you being a Toby. Maybe.

Ariel Jurado – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks. I don’t want to be a par—Nick, it’s two ER and six frames in each of his last two games! – I DON’T WANT TO BE A PART OF THIS WORLD.  Seriously, this was a 5% whiff rate, which was more than double the rate from his last start. Ouch.

Mike Leake – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks. Hey, Leake did a good thing! It’s about time, you know? Five more starts like this and he’d equal the amount of ER allowed in his previous two. Yeeeeeep.

Kenta Maeda – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks. The whiffs are here, the strikeouts followed, and it’s oh-so-good to have Maeda healthy and things actually working again. His changeup has improved a bit – 13/23 strikes with five whiffs is fine – and it’s helping with the punchouts. 18/88 whiffs is legit, y’all.

German Marquez – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks. Hey, Marquez survived in Coors! 28/103 CSW but still! And against the Jays. BUT STILL. I’m not dancing around at this one, though you’re happy as an owner. Aw, not even a little quick celebration dance? BUTT STILL.

Brad Peacock – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. Just three strikeouts and four whiffs is a little concerning as he’s staying two-pitch, but at least he touched the top of the zone a little in this one. I still don’t love Peacock long term given the limited repertoire, questionable approach, and multitude of options for the Astros this summer, but as long as you own Peacock, you can be fine holding on.

Caleb Smith – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks. Sure, I wanted maybe one more frame, but it’s nice to see the 8 strikeouts return after the unthinkable that happened last week. Everyone cool again with Kaleb? Cool.

Jose Berrios – 6.2 IP, 3 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 8 Ks. Was his curveball back? Kinda! Just 4/33 whiffs, but 23/33 strikes is solid. Meanwhile, his changeup – get this – WAS ACTUALLY GOOD. 7/24 whiffs and pushed Berrios to a 33/99 overall CSW. I will definitely take that. Here’s to hoping two things: his changeup is this good moving forward and his curveball is on the mend where we get out of this stupid valley that doesn’t have any leaves in it. Why can’t all the valleys of the season be the Great Valley?

Tyler Mahle – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks. I know the ERA and WHIP aren’t pristine, but a dub and 8 Ks is a streaming Win, right? Streaming Record: 39-23. Anyway, I’m not the biggest Mahle fan overall as I don’t trust his splitter and curveball enough start-to-start, while his four-seamer is great but not immune to the longball. 30/91 CSW here as his secondary pitches were good enough and his next date against the Cardinals is fine with me.

Chris Archer – 7.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks. Archer allowed a pair of tates that accounted for all four runs and otherwise was kinda dope. 35/92 CSW is fantastic, 18 whiffs, and even 5/15 whiffs on his changeup. He’s still favoring sinkers over four-seamers, though, and I really hope he moves away the pitch with time. Those that own Archer needed this start (despite the 4 ER) and I think you start him against the Braves. It’s really questionable, I know.

Chris Sale – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 10 Ks. Just 21 whiffs for a co-Gallows Pole? Only 38/108 CSW? You’re slacking Sale. Velocity was 94.5 mph on average today, touching 97.5 mph as the Yanks bring out a little something extra in him. Too bad it couldn’t keep the ERs off the board, but Sale owners should be stoked to see where he is entering June.

Tyler Skaggs – 7.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. I’m digging Skaggs’ fastball/curveball combination, though I would like to see a little more from his changeup (1/7 CSW here). A touch of Careful Icarus here as well as he was one pitch away from ending the seventh before a Jay Bruce longball. Keep starting Skaggs with confidence.

Zack Wheeler – 7.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 9 Ks. 97 mph heaters is a wonderful thing, though I’m still waiting for one of his secondary pitches to really take off.1/9 CSW on sliders is blegh and just 3 whiffs on 39 secondary pitches leaves a lot to be desired. Still, that fastball is so good that it didn’t really matter…save for a 3-run sixth. A solo shot off a poor splitter and another longball off a meh fastball make me think he really needed a pitch to trust in that sixth to mix in well. The splitter didn’t work, he had to throw heaters the next time and it was blegh. What does this all mean. It Johns that Wheeler is ultra close to another one of his crazy good runs and even if he doesn’t hit that ceiling, he’s still a Top 30 arm. Things are good.

Jake Arrieta – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 10 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. Blegh. Arrieta got the Dodgers and you were already cautious about starting Arrieta here – after all, Tobys aren’t supposed to be starting against strong offenses. But you’re like me and thought Hey, maybe he can pull this off? Spoiler Alert: He can’t.

Mike Foltynewicz – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks. On one hand, Folty allowed three HRs and that ERA hurts. On the other, his slider was stupid good finally and 18/78 whiffs overall is magnificent. Yeaaaaah, I’m totally buying in on Folty after this one, longballs be damned. We’ve been waiting for the slide piece to become what it was last year and it’s there. The rest will come into place.

Andrew Cashner – 5.0 IP, 6 ER, 8 Hits, 5 BBs, 0 Ks. Nothing like Cashner to give us all a healthy reminder that he’s an Oriole.

Patrick Corbin – 2.2 IP, 6 ER, 11 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks. Noooooo, here we were saying “hey, Corbin has been one of the steady guys in the Top 15 this year!” Now he’s burned you in two of his last three, with his second 6 ER game in seven starts. You’re acting like John Starks with that long range. Okay, fair. Just didn’t expect this from him. No need to worry, I’m not seeing anything alarming – his fastball velocity was as high as it’s been all year after all – so let’s shrug this off.

Danny Duffy – 5.1 IP, 6 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. You know, Duffy actually wasn’t pitching that badly until a sixth-inning grand slam off the bat of Joey Gallo. That’ll get you. He was in Arlington, so this wasn’t set up as a strong play in the first place, so don’t neglect Duffy if you’re hurting for SP in a deeeep league.

Jhoulys Chacin – 2.2 IP, 7 ER, 6 Hits, 4 BBs, 2 Ks. Remember kids, Chacin will do well when Jhoulyst expect it. Those still holding out for 2018’s magic, don’t.

Drew Pomeranz – 1.1 IP, 8 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. Yeah, the only cheers you’re leading these days are for the other team’s fans.

Edwin Jackson – 2.1 IP, 10 ER, 10 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. EJax in Coors? What could go wrong? Everything. Everything can go wrong. You know, I did hear that it started raining the moment he left the clubhouse after the game. SEE.

 

Today’s Streamer

 

For those unaware, I’m forced to make my Streamer picks under the condition of sub 20% owned in Fantasy Pros’ consolidated ownership rates.

 

Lance Lynn vs. Kansas City Royals – The strikeouts have been flowing and the Royals have been wildly susceptible to the way of the K.

 

Tomorrow’s Streamer

 

Zach Plesac vs. Chicago White Sox – I think he brings enough to the table to give owners a solid start with his heater and changeup. Trevor Richards against the Padres is another option.

 

Day After Tomorrow’s Streamer

 

Corbin Martin vs. Seattle Mariners – There are just four games on Monday and I’ll go with Martin’s strikeout upside instead of Lauer, Cahill, and LeBlanc against tough opponents.

 

Game of the Day

 

Jacob deGrom vs. Zack Greinke – deGrom always gets the fun starts.

 

(Photo by Juan Salas/Icon Sportswire)