Today is a special day as I’m leading with three guys in the opening blurb. Three! The reason is simple: All three guys that belong to the PEAS group (Poor Execution, Awesome Stuff) had themselves above-average and even excellent outings. For example, Matt Moore gave owners an unbelievable line today of 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 10 Ks, finally holding back his walk problems and keeping the ball in the yard. Not to be outmatched, Yordano Ventura flexed his muscles – and still got outmatched – as he dazzled with a 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 10 Ks game. Then Carlos Rodon had one of his best games of the season despite a 1.50 WHIP, going 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks against the Royals. What does it all mean? Well, they are in that group to begin with because they perform closer to their floor more than their upside. Yes, they executed today, but I would only be chasing their upside in desperate situations. Are you far back in your roto league? Needing the go for the gold deep in a H2H week? Then by all means, play with your PEAS and pray to the baseball gods. For everyone else, these options are the wrong type of upside as even when they express it they won’t be stringing it in consecutive starts for an extended period of time. It’s too volatile and we can do better. So please, pass the PEAS.
Let’s see what every other SP did yesterday:
Robbie Ray – 7.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. Today was the day of upside fellas coming through, and Ray is one of those guys that can pull something off like this every so often. Problem is that it’s only the third time all year he’s walked one batter or fewer. Don’t count on Ray keeping this up, and his upside doesn’t match the guys above.
Jon Lester – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks. Aces gonna ace. Lester is demanding a Top 15 spot at this point and there’s no use saying no.
Christian Friedrich – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 9 Ks. Through six games this year, Friedrich has an ERA of just 2.12 and a 8.21 K/9. Hot damn! He also has a 5.03 BB/9 and a 3.1% HR/FB that leads to a 4.50 xFIP and a 5.16 SIERA. Damn!
Zach Davies – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. Freakin’ Davies. Commenter J Weinstein mentioned yesterday that there should be a term for starters who are featuring an ERA much lower than what to expect moving forward (Colby Lewis, Martin Perez, Dan Straily, etc.), and I’ve got what he’s looking for: TEES. Outside of the being an obvious homophone for “tease”, which all of them clearly are, it actually stands for The End of EraS. Fine, the S at the end is a slight stretch but it is waaaaay too fitting not to do. You could also say hitters are going tee off on them in due time. It all works. Welcome aboard TEES, I’m sure you’ll love the rest of the crew and the buffet is always Top. Notch.
Michael Fulmer – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. Fulmer is on FIRE, though that K/BB today is a little disappointing. Whatever, doesn’t matter, CHOO CHOO.
Cole Hamels – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. What on Earth do we do with Hamels? Well, you have to believe he has a good enough floor to keep him in the Top 30 discussion, but the starts before today’s were oh-so-blegh that they make you reconsider even starting him daily. I think he’ll stick around at the back end of the 20s, as there are some exciting names up and coming + Hamels really should be producing more lines like this effort.
Danny Salazar – 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 4 BBs, 8 Ks. Salazar missed his last start after feeling shoulder fatigue, and it’s good to see him on the hill and striking out eight. It was his “walk a lot but few hits and ER” dance that infuriates me mightily, but we’re happy that he’s looking A-OK. I still like the idea of selling Salazar FWIW, since he’s essentially pitching at his ceiling and it’s hard not to worry about a possible shoulder issue flaring up again.
Joe Ross – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks. There’s the K/BB I’ve been waiting for from Ross, and he has one of the best schedules moving forward of any pitcher in the league. The problem with Ross is that he’s due for some sort of shutdown in September since the Nats are prepping for a playoff run. Does that mean a shift to the bullpen or just getting his start skipped a few times, or maybe a six man with Giolito? Who knows at this point, but it’s something to consider. Tough to sell now though given his schedule ahead, but if someone wants a piece of that Joe Pie knowing what’s in store, then by all means let him go.
Julio Urias – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. Urias is starting to put it together. The biggest question is if the opportunities he gets on the hill mixed in with a touch of pitch limits. Until you hear otherwise though, there’s no reason not to carry him on your squad. Just be ready to let him go when the time comes.
Jake Peavy – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. You’d have to be pretty desperate to believe in Peavy moving forward, regardless of this game.
Tyler Anderson – 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks. Anderson 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. But seriously, he made his MLB debut today and you have to tip your hat to the kid. Doesn’t mean I’d be going after him, though. We just went over why.
Pat Dean – 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 4 BBs, 3 Ks. Give Dean a Pat on the head and move on.
Mike Leake – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks. Solid rebound for Leake against a good hitting Pirates team. Keep on keeping on.
Rick Porcello – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. Our Call Boy was solid all around today. Good stuff kiddo, and he’s through most of the difficult matchups of the first half, with multiple Tampa starts and dates with the ChiSox and Angels ahead. Not sure I’m looking forward to him against Seattle, though.
Michael Pineda – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks. This is a great Pineda outing, but it’s going to take a bit for me to believe he’s turned into the guy I thought he was primed to be this season. It’s part of the reason I don’t have Ben & Jerry’s left in my freezer. :(
Adam Morgan – 6.2 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 8 Ks. Whoa, didn’t know Morgan could strike out eight batters. Wonder if we’ll see that again within the next two months. Hint: Probably not.
Wade Miley – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks. Now that Felix is hitting the DL for another month or so, Miley can relax as he isn’t in danger of losing his spot to Paxton. That means it’s back to the old bleghity blegh of Miley. Yay.
Kendall Graveman – 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. If you start Kendall, you’re digging your own Grave, man.
John Gant – 4.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 5 Ks. Gant got his first career start for the Braves and it went as well as we expected. Poor fella.
Dallas Keuchel – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 9 Ks. Why do I feel like Keuchel’s so close to being baller again? That’s 17 Ks in his last two starts, and he had an xFIP under 2.25 in each outing. I know this was the Rays, but I can’t shake the feeling that all he needs is a little luck in his direction and Bang! Zoom! Straight to the moon!
Steven Matz – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 9 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks. This is Matz’s first start with more than 2 ER since his blowup in first game of the season. He’s fine, ya’ll.
David Huff – 1.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. Huff the not-so-magic and definitely-not-a-dragon is just as boring as this fake representation of an awesome song’s protagonist. There must have been a better way to craft that sentence but the lack of sleep is starting to hit reaaaall hard. I wonder how many feathers are inside my pillows…
John Lamb – 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks. I gave up on Lamb a long time ago and sadly any sort of rebound he’s been toying with seems to hit another roadblock. Sigh.
Aaron Sanchez – 5.0 IP, 6 ER, 10 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks. Let this start keep us in check that Sanchez isn’t a Top 20 guy. I still think he’ll be a good starter for you in the next two months, though keep in mind of his inevitable shut down that’ll have him most likely hit the pen around the end of August or so. If he did well I would have encouraged a sell, and you may be able to do that still since someone thinks they are getting a solid buy-low. See what’s out there.
Adam Conley – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 11 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. I really need to drop Conley in the rankings. Sure, the diamondbacks are an above average offense,
Jon Niese – 5.1 IP, 8 ER, 11 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. I prefer the Nephew. Ayyyyy lmao.
Ubaldo Jimenez – 0.1 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 1 Ks. Jeez, this is just getting painful to watch these days. Poor fella, at least you’re making bank unlike the rest of us. Probably. Just realized I know pretty much know none of you reading this and that’s kinda cool. Not Wild Thing haircut cool, but maybe Munenori Kawasaki cool. Nah, nothing is Munenori Kawasaki cool. That guy is the best. THE BEST.
Today’s Streamers
Matt Cain vs. Milwaukee Brewers – A few things. A) Totally got the days wrong and my bad for not having this proper streamer the past few days. B) I can’t believe I’m actually endorsing Cain but it really is the only okay choice of the lot since he’s allowed 2 ER or fewer in each of his last four starts (including an injury shortened one…) C) I’m also going against my “don’t start a guy after an extended DL trip” so you can really grasp how iffy I am about this stream. D) Sorry again about screwing up the streaming dates.
Tomorrow’s Streamer
Martin Perez vs. Oakland Athletics – Perez is a BABIP lover who has managed a 3.22 ERA this year, and in a blegh day for streamers, this is your best option. I can see someone trusting Juan Nicasio vs. the Mets given his previous solid outing against them, or even Tom Koehler vs. the Padres.
Day After Tomorrow’s Streamer
Anthony DeSclafani vs. Atlanta Braves – If he’s still around in your league, go grab him for this start. Few options today (Nate Karns against the Rays works, but he’s most likely taken), and Tony Disco is your best shot. There’s also Jameson Taillon going against the Mets again if someone he hasn’t been picked up yet. Do that now, by the way.
Game of the Day
Carlos Carrasco vs. Kansas City Royals – I want Carrasco to show off his upside for the first time in a while and be the beast we know he is ala Michael Jackson in Thriller.