Bartolo Colon holds my favorite nickname among all pitchers with The Big Apple, but what’s a good nickname if the player doesn’t perform well? Prior to this outing, Colon held a 4.92 ERA and identical 4.12 FIP/xFIP across his previous 12 starts, making owners cautious to trust the large fella from New York. However, he lit up the scoreboard in a good way with a sterling 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks last night, crushing his 6.82 K/9 for the season. It nearly mimicked his previous shutout performance on the hill against Philly and may make some people turn to Bartolo down the stretch. At first I would warn you against such an idea given his tumultuous season, but looking at his matchups may have turned me around. If the five man rotation sticks, the rest of his season would be: Miami, Atlanta, Yankees, Cincinatti, Philly. Considering that 3 of those starts are excellent you may want to consider Colon if you need some help in the earlier rounds. Just throwing it out there.
Let’s see what every other SP did yesterday:
Tyson Ross – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks. When Ross walks fewer than 3 batters good things can happen. Unfortunately he rarely does so.
Dallas Keuchel – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. Aces gonna ace.
Chris Archer – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks. What Keuchel said if I could hear what comes out of his beard. Question: Does having a beard like that automatically make you have a sexy, deep voice? I’m asking for a friend.
Danny Salazar – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 10 Ks. He danced with the devil in Toronto and somehow came out ahead. Considering how far my head is from my feet, there is no way I’d have danced so well. Well you also don’t pitch in the majors. Man, you must be a hit at parties.
Chris Narveson – 5.1 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. The Narvster isn’t this good. Seriously guys.
Shelby Miller – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks. Miller has been a shockingly sturdy rate stats pitch this season and I can’t hate on him too much for it. Well, those Ks will never be there making my interest a little more like an occasional glance than a full on infatuation, but I know he’s there.
John Lackey – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 8 Ks. Good matchups = good times.
David Price – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks. That’s what makes Price an ace. Even when the ERA isn’t ideal, he still gives you a sexy WHIP and a bunch of Ks.
Robbie Ray – 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 8 Ks. Oh, now you decide to bring back that K upside. YOU’RE TOO LATE RAY. No one likes you anymore.
Jerad Eickhoff – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. Eickhoff will be chilling on waiver wires everyone, which makes him the Staten Island Ferry. You know, everybody gets Jerad, and it’s free. But you really shouldn’t waste your time.
Gio Gonzalez – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. I felt like looking over pre-season SP rankings from a lot of sources today and noticed that Gio was ranked all over the place in the Top 30, sometimes near the Top 20. I can hear your gasp from shock all the way over here.
Jake Peavy – 5.2 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks. Speaking of rankings, I also saw Peavy in the Top 50 from many sources. I can’t criticize too much – I had Paxton in the Top 40 – but I don’t really understand what they saw.
Felix Doubront – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 4 BBs, 5 Ks. Growing up, the only Felix I cared about was a cat. I care more about that cat than I do Doubront.
Ivan Nova – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. Ehhhh, this is a work in progress for Nova and you’ll just have to wait til next year to see him blossom into a decent member of your 12 team roster.
Eduardo Rodriguez – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. I suggested those who owned EDU to bench him tonight, but those who had the brass were met with a solid ERA…and a horrible WHIP without enough Ks to justify it. I still like the guy a lot and a start in NYC isn’t going to change my mind.
Kyle Hendricks – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. Hendricks, you just aren’t exciting anymore. It’s like we’re married or something.
Brett Anderson – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks. Someone asked today why Anderson wasn’t getting much love on The List anymore. It’s because he ceiling is lower than your standards at 4am on a Saturday night after pounding tequila shots in honor of your friend John who left the bar three hours ago.
Vidal Nuno – 6.0 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. He got the start as Felix was skipped in the rotation and was as exciting as adding a fourth pillow to the couch.
Chad Bettis – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 11 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 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.
Michael Lorenzen – 4.2 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. Michael is back in the Reds rotation in place of Holmberg (I know, such a tough loss) and he isn’t much better in his place. It’s like they replaced pistachio ice cream with peach. Yaaaaay.
Colby Lewis – 5.2 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. Lewis is still searching for answers and Clark is no where to be found.
Hector Santiago – 2.2 IP, 5 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. He’s been on a steeper decline than a hypotenuse and it doesn’t involve anything radical. Math jokes are cool.
Wei-Yin Chen – 4.2 IP, 5 ER, 9 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks. Our Call Boy was messed up by the Rays who actually do a good job of hitting against lefties. Still, I expected Chen not to get Singled Out like he did and welp, it was a poor stream. So it goes.
Today’s Streamers
Joe Ross vs. St. Louis Cardinals – Shocked to see he’s still owned in under 40% of ESPN leagues, and even though the Cards can make it tough, Ross is still your best option.
Tomorrow’s Streamer
Ian Kennedy vs. Texas Rangers – It doesn’t feel great, but Kennedy has been cruising lately and I like it more than, say Raisel Iglesias against a HR friendly Cubs team or inconsistent Kevin Gausman against the Rays.
Game of the Day
Madison Bumgarner vs. Zack Greinke – Over/Under 5 ER total allowed by these starters combined. I’m taking the under.