There are times when September callups can get us pumped in the off-season and I suspect Luiz Gohara might be one, especially if he can keep going 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks like he did against the Nationals last night. Well well well. In his debut, I mentioned Gohara was a better asset than his line had suggested and BAM, he goes and dominates the Nationals. More Changeups this time around – which is a good thing – though he rolled through via his heater, which was averaging over 97mph. I’m seriously wondering if he’s going to be a major sleeper pick entering 2018. In reality, he’ll be one of those guys that will go undrafted simply because the rest of the draft will ignore my targets and I’ll be staring at him on the wire for the first week or two thinking “what am I doing.” You know what I’m talking about. Anyway, it’s a repeat of the Nationals followed by the Mets and Marlins to close out the year, and even with this start there’s still a major risk factor given the super small sample. I think I still bench next time unless you really need it, but I want all of that game against the Mets on the 25th.
Let’s see how every other SP did yesterday:
Yu Darvish – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks. THANK YOU. What was all that stuff you were going through before? Don’t do that again, okay? Okay.
Max Scherzer – 6.0 IP, 7 ER, 7 Hits, 6 BBs, 7 Ks. Oh, so now you want to give Kershaw the Cy Young. Gee. Thanks. Since the debate back in June, Scherzer has a 3.29 ERA, 11.86 K/9, and 3.29 BB/9 in 13 starts/76.2 innings. Kershaw? 1.17 ERA, 12.24 K/9, 1.84 BB/9 in 9 starts/53.2 innings. I’m taking Kersh there despite the fewer IP/GS.
Tyler Mahle – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. Now he’s collected 11 walks in three of his four starts. He’s supposed to be a control guy! Yeah, I’m looking elsewhere.
Ervin Santana – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. Santana got the Padres and did his thang. Now it’s the Yankees and I’m doing my thang. I say “BENCH BABY” really loudly as I press enter on my keyboard, which doesn’t actually take him out of my lineup but it’s a lot more dramatic. I’m a man of flair. 37 pieces of it.
Tyler Skaggs – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. Well la-di-freakin’-day Skaggs shows up against the Astros. Why can’t you make it easy for us and do well against a team we might actually start you against? No I don’t believe he’ll do this again.
Marcus Stroman – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks. This was Baltimore and next is Kansas City. That’s what’s up. Good to see him have this game after struggling against the Tigers prior.
Chase Anderson – 5.1 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. It’s pretty boring with a meh WHIP and 2 Ks, but I’ll take it. I wrote about Chase at RotoGraphs yesterday, I suggest taking a look as I explain how he’s sequencing and using all of his pitches to be dope n stuff. I swear I’m articulate. Please believe me.
Mike Clevinger – 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. YOU CAN’T STOP THE CLEV. One out from a Quality start as he also allowed two extra unearned runs. You best keep the faith and if you believe he shouldn’t be a starter, please tell me why. Quoting inconsistency or “can’t go deep” isn’t a valid argument at this point – he looked ready to cruise through the six if a throwing error hadn’t messed things up.
Patrick Corbin – 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks. Y’all had your doubts about Corbin after his start against the Padres, but not this guy. Corbin is dope and you should feel dope for starting him.
Jaime Garcia – 4.2 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks. I don’t see where you would have rolled with Garcia, but I guess you’re happy with this? Too bad he couldn’t survive one more for the Win, but that’s what you get for starting Garcia.
Kevin Gausman – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. You’re probably taking it start-by-start as a Gausman owner, which means you ran with him against the Jays. Sweet. Now it’s questionable against the Sawx, but I’m cool with the Rays twice after. My gut says bench against Boston, but it’s all about your situation.
Lucas Giolito – 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. Three walks are meh and I wanted to see a little better command of his breaking stuff, but it works against the Royals. I have no idea where I’m placing Giolito next season if he’s in the rotation out of the gate. A part of me says Top 50, another around 60-70. I’m not totally sold he’s out of the woods control wise and he’s still a bit raw. For now, the Astros are next and you want no part of that. Streamer Record 75-56-16. Three games over .500 now, here’s to hoping I can pull it off.
Dinelson Lamet – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. I had some fears about Lamet in Minnesota and he quelled them. I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again. Lamet is impressing me a ton in this second half where I didn’t expect him to be able to mitigate the damage of his Fastball and let his Slider shine like the golden pitch it is. He hosts the Diamondbacks next (start), then the Dodgers (ehhhh), then the Giants possibly (start).
Mike Leake – 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. Leake is absolutely cruising right now and just survived the Rangers in Arlington. Now he hosts them in Safeco and I’d consider him for that start. Just that one start.
Aaron Nola – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 11 Ks. Mmmmmm that’s beautiful. I know many of you had concerns given how the Marlins messed with Nola in previous starts, and it’s wonderful to see him explode like this. So good. Dodgers, Braves, Mets are left and I’m leaning start against the Dodgers. Enjoy that Gallows Pole with 17 whiffs – 11 coming from his Curveball.
Jon Lester – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 4 BBs, 5 Ks. Ehhh that WHIP is bad but I’m okay with it.
Eric Skoglund – 3.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. But I already had my Cup of Schmo today. Yes, I drank it out of my Cup of Schmo mug because that’s what I do every morning.
Chris Archer – 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks. Ugggh, I feel terrible for you Archer owners that are just not getting what you need at the worst time. The Cubs are next and my gut says you still start him. I know, I know, that’s what I’m feeling y’all.
Jharel Cotton – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. He’s a Young Gun and I’m treating Cotton like he’s at the Pokemon Day Care Center. Let’s just give him his time and hopefully when we show up in May he’ll be something much much better. Oh right, Cotton. I forgot all about you!
Jack Flaherty – 4.1 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. I’m not much of a fan of Flaherty and while I’d love to have a new opinion come 2018, I don’t see myself chasing him this season at all. Give me a reason to love you, Jack.
Martin Perez – 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks. Yep, that’s Perez alright.
Buck Farmer – 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks. Barmer at least gave you seven Ks, which is cool! Too bad you can’t expect that to happen again but the ERA and WHIP…
German Marquez – 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 11 Hits, 0 BBs, 1 Ks. Marquez headed to Arizona, making this a pretty easy bench. He got Singled out a ton, but so this wasn’t set up to be all too favorable. Now, he does get the Giants and Padres next outside of Coors and I’d be all over that.
Matt Moore – 4.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks. You don’t want to chase Moore. Just don’t.
Tyler Glasnow – 2.2 IP, 5 ER, 4 Hits, 6 BBs, 3 Ks. I was tempted to lead with this, but there isn’t much to say, really. I was asked a ton about Glasnow leading up to this and my response was the same “We heard the same hype in spring training (“He’s Fixed!”) and there’s no reason for me to believe that it’s actually true now.” I’m sure there will be more hype next year too. I need to see it – and see it over a consistent stretch – to believe it.
Matt Harvey – 3.1 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 4 BBs, 2 Ks. I wonder if he’ll ever be fantasy relevant again. I hope so.
Doug Fister – 4.0 IP, 6 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks. Awwwwww, Fister finally hit that wall as he faced one of his easiest opponents along the way, hosting Oakland in Fenway. Now I have concerns about him against Baltimore – The Vargas Rule was in effect here – and I didn’t want to have those feelings. Emotions man…emotions.
Mike Fiers – 3.2 IP, 8 ER, 10 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. Fiers, I want to thank you for taking to heart all the times I told you to stop being good for Peacock’s sake. My man.
Dan Straily – 6.0 IP, 8 ER, 13 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. What is this. Seriously. Did anyone tell him he was facing the Phillies? I think you’re still safe throwing him against the Mets, but dannnng.
Today’s Streamer
Mike Montgomery vs. New York Mets – Call me crazy after the short start on Saturday, but I think Monty is much better than that and the Mets are fun. Monty is being replaced by callup Jen-Ho Tseng and I don’t want to roll with him…so I guess Amir Garrett against the Cardinals? Bleeeeegh. I wouldn’t do this.
Tomorrow’s Streamer
Rafael Montero vs. Atlanta Braves – I don’t love it, but it could go decently well. What a resounding endorsement. YOU’RE A RESOUNDING ENDORSEMENT.
Day After Tomorrow’s Streamer
Reynaldo Lopez vs. Detroit Tigers – Still only owned in 11.6% of leagues and he gets the lackluster Tigers. Awww yeah.
Game of the Day
Jen-Ho Tseng vs. New York Mets – I honestly don’t expect much here but, hey, it’s a new face n all.
h2h pts league – Would you start lackey 9/15 ?
I think so.
I’m up big thanks to Nola and I owe it to you always bringing him to our attention before his breakout and never losing hope. Don’t have a question, just wanted to say cheers and thanks as always. Easy A could easily be my ALCS mvp (sounds cooler than fantasy baseball semi-final), just waiting on a Nola shirt!
Thanks Vinny! Glad it worked out for you.
I’m thinking:
“Live Each day”
Silhouette of Nola pitching with the hair
“Like It’s Nola Day”
Love it. I would pre-order that!
Take a look! http://pitcherlist.com/store
Looking ahead, would you pitch Richards vs TEX? Any word on pitch count? Or would you rather go Stephenson vs PIT?
How about Carson Fulmer tomorrow?
You know, I think I might prefer Carson over Montero for tomorrow.
Really liked the movement Fulmer exhibited in his start earlier this week and the Tigers are…flat out terrible without JD and Upton.
Clevinger doesn’t go deep into games is absolutely a valid argument, despite your declaration. Some guys get to hide behind bad luck and some get called out for getting lucky. Reality is reality. We can also talk about why Clevinger doesn’t go deep into games – he walks well over 4 per 9, which means you are not a starter in my book. Ks and walks go hand in hand – both jack up the pitch count quickly. If he walked less, he would also strike out less. It all checks out for me and I am OK if you don’t agree. There is also the reality that he is not super-young and has TJ on the resume, the idea that there is a bunch of improvement on the horizon is not a given either. Look at the velo drop from last year, I also question the health. Going 6 innings is a minimum, it is not ideal or easy on your bullpen when you only go 6 innings and that seems to be his max which he usually can’t reach. There is nothing wrong with being an elite bullpen guy… which I don’t necessarily buy either. This is a guy with a track record of inconsistency which is also a factor for me. I don’t hate Clevinger and I like the Indians, I am just not buying what Clev is selling. Light on stuff, high on walks and Ks. Who really has made a living of that? Just off the top of my head, Gio Gonzalez maybe? Gio is left-handed and walks a lot less than Clev. People get too excited about Ks when in reality, there is more to it than that. I I don’t think he shouldn’t be a starter – the Indians certainly don’t have 5 better guys right now. I wouldn’t want any long-term shares…well, I would but you know they would be pricey as the hype train is fully under way. I would be selling a top 35 starter as fast as I could. It is one thing to pretend that he can be had for Mike Fiers or something else that is worthless, but calling him a quality SP is not something that I am willing to do. He is certainly on a quality run!
Flaherty was good yesterday. 2 of the 3 runs were inherited runners that scored. If you watched the 5th inning, you would agree that it should have been zero runs and he would have pitched through the 5th earning a win with some luck. That reliever allowed 3 ER + JF’s 2 in 2/3 IP just to paint how bad he was. JF only threw 70 pitches, just to illustrate how much he wasn’t struggling. I could see if you don’t love the stuff or like the overall package, but a win and good start yesterday would possibly make you feel better about yesterday. Yesterday’s start was hardly a blemish – they prematurely yanked him and all the runners scored. He didn’t get knocked out of the game.
I am not sure how much I like him, but I remain hopeful. He is throwing a bunch of pitches and working all over the zone. He looks like a kid still learning to pitch and he is treading water while doing so. Most kids his age are just going power, power, power, but he is not and I think that is a good thing.