Knocking On Wood

With Ryu on the DL and Hill being Hill, Alex Wood has gotten his time to shine in the rotation and boy did he ever tonight with a line of 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 11 Ks against the Pirates. This follows up a rugged 4 ER start against the Giants and I’m sure you’re excited if you ran with him. That’s a 11.53 K/9 and 3.03 BB/9 across the season with a 2.17 FIP and 2.80 xFIP to boot. Holy Wade Boggs’ Mustache! Then the groundball rate well above 55%…Hard Contact under 30%…wait, that headline was for good luck! Dang straight, I want Wood to stick in the rotation so badly. Please keep McCarthy and Ryu on the DL or send Hill to then pen or limit Urias’ innings. I want Wood to pitch as a starter as he increased his Changeup usage and does a great job of keeping it low in the zone. I want this kid to be the man I thought he could be entering 2015. Please, please give him a chance. Oh, are you talking to us owners too? Sure am, 23.3% owned in ESPN leagues just isn’t fair.

Let’s see how every other SP did yesterday:

Ricky Nolasco – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 10 Ks. Even with this start, Nolasco has a 4.31 xFIP and 4.41 ERA. Don’t buy into this, I know his BB/9 is below 2.00 and K/9 above 7.50. This is still a bad bet to make on a given night.

Trevor Cahill – 5.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 5 BBs, 7 Ks. I watched this start from Cahill and I was pretty impressed. Good command of his pitches, with a great Changeup and 1-2 Slider/Curveball punch. He featured nice polish on his Fastball working both sides of the plate as well. Now, the Rangers are making plenty of pitchers look better than they should and those five walks shouldn’t be thrown out the window either. Still, I’d want to own Cahill in all 12-teamers and see where this goes.

Kevin Gausman – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. Absolutely loved Gausman’s Fastball command today, which is everything. Everything from his poor walk rates to lower Ks and a bad ERA is founded with that and he showed up today, against the Nats of all teams. Will he tomorrow? Not sure, but I’d give him a test run against the Royals, definitely.

Nate Karns – 6.1 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 10 Ks. This is after a very solid 2 baserunners 7 K outing and I’m sure you have an eyebrow raised. Well, that one came against the ChiSox and this against the Rays. Next up are the Orioles and I’m betting against Karns there. Womp womp.

Kendall Graveman – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. It was the Trout-less Angels for Graveman and he was able to throw strikes this time. Still super scared using him against any decent teams with his hard hit contact this season, but this is nice.

Jacob deGrom – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 11 Ks. Aces gonna ace. He moved to #4 today with The List. Weird to say that, but it’s more of the other guys falling and deGrom still has 10+ K potential each start. Dude has a 12.66 K/9 after all.

Marcus Stroman – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks. Good to see Stroman all healthy n stuff. Not good to see a K/BB of 0.50 though.

Carlos Martinez – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks. Yeah, I’m okay with this. Sure the ERA needs help, but that’ll come.

Masahiro Tanaka – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 10 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. Tanaka got a bit Singled Out in this game and when I say that, I legit mean eight singles allowed. The Reds are surprisingly decent offensively this year and keep rolling with Tanaka per usual.

Trevor Bauer – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks. A K per inning but everything else is bad. That’s Bauer alright.

Matt Moore – 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. Moore still managed a questionable WHIP even with just 1 walk. Blegh.

Nick Martinez – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks. What are you chasing here from Martinez if this is what he gives you against the Padres?

Gio Gonzalez – 6.0 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 4 BBs, 2 Ks. As Fast put it in the staff chat: “Gonzalez meet your xFIP. xFIP, Gonzalez.”

Rookie Davis – 4.1 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. Don’t confuse Rook for a King.

Blake Snell – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 10 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. I called Wood my secondary Call Boy instead of my primary choice and here I am with Snell thinking that if any team can bring out the best in him, it’s the Royals. Lesson learned, do not trust Snell for a long time, if ever, as he carrying on the PEAS legacy. Streamer Record 15.5-13-4. 

Adam Conley – 3.2 IP, 7 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks. I’m not sure if you were holding on Conley after the atrocity two weeks ago, but you best not be now.

Trevor Williams – 3.0 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. I just feel bad for Williams at this point. That’s a 6.59 ERA now across 13.2 innings with a 5.27 BB/9. Poor kid. If only all Trevors could be like Cahill…

Today’s Streamer

Charlie Morton vs. Atlanta Braves – He’s on a roll and the Braves aren’t the kind of offense to make me reconsider. Jharel Cotton against the Angels also gets my vote if you need another arm.

Tomorrow’s Streamer

Joe Musgrove vs Atlanta Braves – I’m not liking where Musgrove is at right now and I need to get rid of this silly half a point in the W column, so let’s go .5 here. But what if you don’t get a Win. THAT’S A RISK I’M WILLING TO TAKE.

Day After Tomorrow’s Streamer

Miguel Gonzalez vs Minnesota Twins – I hate this. I really do. It’s this or JC Ramirez against the Tigers and I just have a bad feeling about that one. Or Martin Perez against the Friars but it’s Martin freakin’ Perez. Half point here as well.

Game of the Day

Zack Wheeler vs. Jeff Samardzija – I want to see if Loose Lips can keep it up and if Wheeler can keep down the walks while pounding the zone with heaters.