Ole Jimmy Bucklers Is Up To Something

(Photo by Quinn Harris/Icon Sportswire)

This is weird, but I feel the need to talk about James Shields – or as I call him, Jimmy Bucklers – after he went 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks against the Mariners last night. That’s a 3.20 ERA across his last eight starts including a 8 ER disaster against the Astros, which you wouldn’t have risked anyway. Look, I won’t tell you that you should pick him up, that’s just not right with his 18.5% K rate and 8% walk rate in this span. However, I can fathom him as not the worst streaming option moving forward for those desperate for starts. It’s a crazy time but I won’t shy away from it like I’m not giving hard denials to Mike Fiers. I have to think you’re better off in 12-teamers to turn away from him if you need a more direct answer. This will probably not last for much longer.

Let’s see how every other SP did Friday:

Wade Miley – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. This was a DLH, why doesn’t Miley know what that means? He will bring down your team like stairs off the Brewers’ jet plane. This might be the worst joke of the year. Probably.

David Price – 6.1 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. This actually had signs of it not turning out well – 87mph EV, 25/96 CSW and only 9 whiffs – but Price pulled it off against the Tigers. I’m kinda cool selling high here as I’m not loving the lack of strides from Price this year paired with a sharp decline in swings and misses. Sell high? The dude has a 4.17 ERA! Yeah, that’s fair. You get what I mean, though.

Matt Boyd – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. Before this one, Boyd had allowed 5+ ER in three of his previous four. It’s wild to see this against the Sawx, but…yeah. I’m still Boyd Watching.

Danny Duffy – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. And Duffy’s hotness continues. This was a weird one though, as he kept up the Curveball usage (woot!), it wasn’t all too good. 31/114 CSW is blegh, but 80mph EV is solid. He kinda dipped into the entire arsenal to make this work against the Twins and…sure. I don’t feel strongly that it continues the narrative, but it doesn’t detract…? Stop using ellipses. BUT I’M SO CONFLICTED. He gets the Tigers next so alright, let’s go with that and talk after. ChiSox to follow too!

Nathan Eovaldi – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks. See? Eovaldi is totally fine after that 8 ER blip against the Twins. I hope. Next are the Yanks and I’m passing there, but the Angels and ChiSox after are lovely.

Jack Flaherty – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 4 BBs, 9 Ks. With CarMart hitting the DL, Flaherty is now the #1 Cardinal starter – I actually think I was going to him ahead of CarMart on Monday anyway…Flaherty earned a Gallows Pole here with 18 whiffs – 35/110 CSW – though 27 foul balls made him get the ax after just five frames.

Rich Hill – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 4 BBs, 9 Ks. That 1.50 WHIP hurts but 9 Ks and that lovely 1.50 ERA is everything we hope and dream for. Keep starting Hill if he’s on the bump.

Dallas Keuchel – 7.2 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. This was a no-no for a while as Keuchel hinted as his old stuff. Still not playing with the bottom of the zone like I want him too, but he owned the inside corner to left-handers and that was fun to watch. I’m not ultra confident in him for the second half, but definitely keep rolling with it.

Wade LeBlanc – 7.1 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 10 Ks. 10 Ks from LeBlanc?! But already gave up on him! *Suit man whispers in my ear.* Ohhhhhh. Blame it on the ChiSox.

Dereck Rodriguez – 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks. Ayyy Rodriguez got the A’s and had himself another lovely day, with 31/93 CSW. Only 7 whiffs though with none of his pitches exceeding two. 24 called strikes makes up for it though, so we’re all cool. Streaming Record: 57-32.

Dan Straily – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. Is Straily figuring it out? That’s two straight 1 ER games…ehhh 3 Ks here, 1 K just two games ago, and that floor is looking farther and farther every day. That’s because you’re a growing man. And you keep wearing platform shoes. I’M FINALLY EXPRESSING MYSELF. It’s a no from me, dawg.

Noah Syndergaard – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks. It was a DLH against the Yankees here and they took it easy with him. A trainer came out to look at his hand, but then it seemed like everything was fine. I don’t know. What I will say is that he’s still as hittable as before and it irks me a little bit. There’s a reason his BABIP is .334, .337, .353 across the past three seasons.

Jameson Taillon – 5.1 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. Taillon is really good y’all. Sure, the Reds are far from scary, but since adding his slider on May 27th, Taillon is boasting a 3.15 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 25% K rate, and 6% walk rate with a 6.0 IPS. That’s so legit. I don’t expect this to stop.

Edwin Jackson – 6.1 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. 6:1 K per BB is just not what you do EJax, stop making things confusing. Can we just write you off, please? Please?! Oh hey, he’s sporting a .198 BABIP and an 8.5% whiff rate. That’ll do.

Anibal Sanchez – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 8 Ks. A VPQS with 8 Ks? Sure Sanchez, it’s not what you’ve been doing a ton but that’s okay. We’re cool with this.

Tyler Skaggs – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 1 Ks. Hmmmmm. A VPQS with just one strikeout is not what Skaggs has been doing and while I’ve been thinking this is smoke and mirrors, I haven’t had much of a choice but to stick him Top 30 this past week. Is this the start of the end? I wouldn’t say that but it wouldn’t be the most surprising thing. Don’t do anything now. Oh, and of course…HASTFMFWT?!

Jake Arrieta – 3.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks. Did anyone tell Arrieta this was the Padres? Just 3 wiffs on 82 pitches is scary as anything, abandoning his changeup completely and getting just 4 CSW on 24 sliders. Yikes. He looked as hittable as we’ve seen him and we can only hope that he has a better feel for his stuff next time around.

Trevor Bauer – 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 9 Hits, 5 BBs, 7 Ks. Aces wanna ace. That’s courtesy of Redditor duffcalifornia and we’re doing this moving forward. Well hopefully not Bauer because he’s much better than this, but we’ll live to see another day.

Sam Gaviglio – 7.2 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. This is a career high in strikeouts…which he achieved with a 8.7% whiff rate. Sorry Sam, I don’t think I’ll play it again.

Domingo German – 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. German was sent down to the minors as he couldn’t handle the Mets. Man, if only Loaisiga wasn’t hurt, seriously. I still believe he has the better long term outlook than German, who just can’t find consistency in his changeup. In any case, go ahead and let Domingo go.

Kyle Gibson – 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. 16 Whiffs against the Royals, but he labored a bit, lacking precision with his heaters. Still a fan of Gibson but can’t say I’m too shocked at a start like this.

Robbie Ray – 5.1 IP, 5 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. So that’s 15 ER in three of his last four and it’s not good. At all. He had no trouble in Coors but Rocky Road is where he stumbled. Duh. He only threw 1 deuce in this one – and it was crushed – relying on all four-seamers and sliders, and it’s hard not to wonder if this will be consistent. I’m going to bet on a resurgence at some point here, but I don’t blame you for benching against the Cubs next.

Dylan Bundy – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. Now it’s three straight poor outings and I’m a little worried. Why? Because this was 90.5mph with 5/21 CSW on his slider. That’s terrible. It was a DLH + the Yanks prior, but now he had some rest and faced the Jays and it was bleeeeegh. Maybe he recovers. Maybe it’s durability. May may be returning after he killed it in April and June. He’ll take a hit on Monday, but I’m not giving up here.

German Marquez – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 8 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks. The fourth highest whiff rate of the season for German, but it didn’t do him much good. Sorry Marquez, I just don’t want to buy into the Rocky Mountain Way with you.

Tyler Mahle – 5.2 IP, 6 ER, 8 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. Blegh. 26 CSW across 111 pitches with 29 foul balls as his secondary stuff just wasn’t there to support his heater. It was one of the days where Mahle tried to force it as the Pirates just wouldn’t give in and you could feel the frustration. That’s back-to-back horrid starts, with 13 Ks total in four of his last five games…though the outlier was a 12 K performance against the Brew Crew. It’s weird being a Mahle owner these days, I think this is more of a rough patch than a second half death sentence.

Martin Perez – 5.1 IP, 6 ER, 10 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. Yep, that’s the Perez we all know and hate.

Stephen Strasburg – 4.2 IP, 6 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. It was a DLH – especially against the Braves – and Strasburg’s fastball got hit harder than my bank account during Steam sales. I think everything will be fine moving forward, feel free to snatch him from a worried owner after this.

Clayton Richard – 3.0 IP, 7 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 3 Ks. It’s the wrong Clayton! I remember getting comments demanding more respect for Richard as I refused to put him on The List. I understand it, sometimes I do overlook things. I’m happy to not get those comments now.

Jon Lester – 3.0 IP, 8 ER, 7 Hits, 5 BBs, 1 Ks. Huh. Normally when we talk about regression, it’s not in one massive wave. Not a brick wall that swings in like Miley Cyrus to put you in your place for good. Well, the last three starts have turned Lester’s 2.25 ERA into a 3.14 mark and there’s no sign of it slowing down. I ultimately see a 3.70/3.80 guy here and I’d treat him like one moving forward. Does that mean he’s a Toby? Actually…yeah. Yes he is.

Today’s Streamer

Nick Kingham vs. Cincinnati Reds – He’s still owned in just 12% of leagues. I’m thinking that PL readers make up half of it.

Tomorrow’s Streamer

Ivan Nova vs. Cincinnati Reds – There may be a better one popping up as we get closer to it as teams are still solidifying their weekend rotations. I don’t love this one, but you could get a Super Nova and that’s cool.

Day After Tomorrow’s Streamer

Brett Anderson vs. Texas Rangers – This will probably change as ten starters haven’t been claimed yet. This is bad.

Game of the Day

Clayton Kershaw vs. Milwaukee Brewers – I’m waiting for that start that makes us say “Oh damn” from Kersh. I’m feeling like today’s the day.