The biggest let down of the day was this Justin Verlander start against the Indians, where he allowed 4 – yes FOUR – homeruns in the fifth inning alone enroute to a 4.2 IP, 8 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks line. Whatareyougonnado. I’m sure a good amount of you guys are worried about this outing after such a good run from Jimmy V – I know Jimmy isn’t the proper nickname for Justin but IT’S WHAT I WANNA DO – and let me ease your mind. The velocity was fine, it really was just “one of those days” where it wasn’t clicking on his end and his batters were on point. Don’t do anything rash – I’d even consider buying if his owner is sick of him – and let’s turn the page.
Let’s see what every other SP did yesterday:
Tyler Duffey – 8.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks. I really want to get behind this as Duffey demolished the Yankees, but I can’t have faith in him for his next two starts against Texas. Too much of a risk as we’ve seen him already have great starts followed by duds this year.
Ian Kennedy – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 11 Ks. Well hot damn Kennedy, way to have your only good start of the entire month. I’m totally cool riding him for the Phillies next if he was dropped, but that’s just a spot start given Toronto thereafter.
Bud Norris – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks. I joke about Nud Borris a lot, but I have to hand it to him for holding a 2.14 ERA with a near 9 strikeouts per nine across his last five starts. Sure, the only tough opponent was from Chicago – he faced the Marlins/Dodgers/Mets/Reds otherwise – but you gotta show up to work to get paid, you know? You could do worse rolling with him against Miami + Philly the next two times out – he’ll be on The List tomorrow, crazy enough – but I don’t have much faith for the long term this year.
Anthony DeSclafani – 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks. He was the easy Call Boy as he faced the Padres and you were rewarded handsomely.
Jose Fernandez – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 13 Ks. Aces gonna ace. Why does JoFer have to be the stud that’s getting shut down early? He would be #2 otherwise, no joke. That sub 1.00 WHIP and the best K rate in the majors is just crazy.
Chris Sale – 8.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks. Aces gonna ace.
Tanner Roark – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. Good to see Roark taking advantage of a solid matchup against the Brew Crew. Keep on riding this train.
Jimmy Nelson – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 Hits, 5 BBs, 1 Ks. Yes, he was pulled with a no-hitter after throwing 91 pitches through just five. That’s what five walks will do to you. Still not much of a fan of Nelson.
Bartolo Colon – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. Yep, that looks like a typical start from The Big Apple.
Josh Tomlin – 8.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. Somehow, Tomlin keeps outperforming his FIP/xFIP, as his 3.32 ERA is about a full point lower than each. Whatever, as long as his walk rate is still well below 1.00 (currently a dazzling 0.81 per 9!), I’m kinda okay with it. That sub 6.00 K/9 is pretty stupid though.
Jason Hammel – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. Yeah, this is fine. Three Ks is not what you want from Hammel and I still believe he is a sell as we near the second half, but this is fine.
Martin Perez – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. Perez is such a TEEs.
Sonny Gray – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. Even though the Ks are lacking, I’m all aboard the Gray rebound train. He’ll be above the Sea of Upside tomorrow.
Doug Fister – 6.2 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks. Six Ks?! Whoa! 4 ER?! Dude…
Luis Perdomo – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks. This lowered his ERA to a sparkling 8.49 on the season. Yikes.
Chad Kuhl – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 5 Ks. I’ll be quick. Kuhl had his MLB debut today and doesn’t strikeout enough batters to be relevant. He’s just a Cup of Schmo.
Nathan Eovaldi – 6.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. Man, Eovaldi really has fallen off since I led with him in May. It was just noise after all.
Clayton Kershaw – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. I’m disappointed only because this lowered his historical K/BB season down about four points to ~16.00. Not cool. Kershaw got a bit Singled Out in the second inning when he allowed all four runs with two outs. So it goes.
Marcus Stroman – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 4 BBs, 4 Ks. If you haven’t dropped Stroman yet, please do so now. Really, you’ll feel so much better once you let go of that pain inside of you.
Hector Santiago – 6.0 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 4 BBs, 6 Ks. I don’t know what his velocity was this game, and I don’t care. I ain’t trusting Hector again for a loooong time, if ever.
James Paxton – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks. I wasn’t recommending people to start Pax in St. Louis, and I’d be hesitant with his next start against the O’s as well. But then it’s golden like a Lannister locks (as least those that are left…). Hang tough.
Clay Buchholz – 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 5 BBs, 3 Ks. Bucky should just stay out of it like he tried to do in Civil War. That guy knew what was up.
Jaime Garcia – 5.2 IP, 5 ER, 10 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. Sad to see Garcia continue the plunge, but he was facing the Mariners today, which is a tough matchup to be upset with him about.
Johnny Cueto – 6.0 IP, 6 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. Cueto couldn’t handle the Phils, and it’s not like he pulled a Kershaw and had one bad inning where things didn’t go his way. A start like this was what made me cautious to raise Cueto in the first place, but I’m not going to sit here and say I told you so. Because I didn’t. I put him at #10 last week after all and there is no excuse for Cueto to fall apart against such a weak offense. Whatever, just act like nothing happened and keep walking.
Tyler Wilson – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 10 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks. Tyler, stop being so Wily!
Aaron Nola – 3.1 IP, 5 ER, 10 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks. Last time he pitched I told you guys that it might be a few starts before he returns. I’m buying that we’ll see Nola get back into prime form in the second half as he gets enough time to fix the mechanical issues he has.
Patrick Corbin – 4.1 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 5 BBs, 1 Ks. Corbin is one of the heartbreaks of the season. It’s sadder than the ending of Moulin Rouge.
Drew Smyly – 5.0 IP, 8 ER, 10 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. Ugh, Smyly is another disappointment and I’m willing to cut him a little slack given a matchup against Baltimore, it’s tough to be a Ray in the AL Beast when 3/4 of your rivals are top tier offenses.
Chad Bettis – 5.0 IP, 7 ER, 12 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 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.
Today’s Streamers
Robbie Ray vs. Philadelphia Phillies – I liked what we’ve seen the last few starts from Ray, and he gets a sweet matchup against the Phils again. I can also understand going with Eduardo Rodriguez against the Rays in hopes that he can find his Slider and put it all together against a weak team.
Tomorrow’s Streamer
Jerad Eickhoff vs. Arizona Diamondbacks – Eickhoff has been looking better and he’s the best option you’ve got for guys under 30% owned. I can understand Junior Guerra against the Dodgers as well, I simply like Eickhoff’s upside a little more.
Day After Tomorrow’s Streamer
Archie Bradley vs. Philadelphia Phillies – Easily the best choice of the day, with deeper picks being Yovani Gallardo vs. the Padres, Jake Peavy vs. Oakland and Zach Davies vs. Los Angeles.
Game of the Day
Noah Syndergaard vs. Joe Ross – While I’ll be hoping Thor’s arm doesn’t fall off during the entire start, I’ll also enjoy watching Ross pick apart a scant Mets offense