So this prospect named Zach Davies threw one of the best games of the night with a line of 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks and you’re probably asking “Who is this guy?” Here’s the sticky on him: Davies is an ultra finesse pitcher who throws moving Fastballs that top out at 90 MPH with a decent Changeup that he favors a bunch and a rarely utilized Curveball/Slider mix. He’s not going to overpower batters and collect plenty of strikeouts, and he holds a slightly higher minor league walk rate than I’d like to see. If you’re going with him, you’re hoping it’s a great matchup – like this one versus Miami – and he can escape with low rate stats and the Win. He’s not the prospect that you’re looking for to provide sneaky value the rest of the way, and he’ll probably face a couple major bumps the rest of the way. Bummer.
Let’s see what every other SP did yesterday:
Trevor Bauer – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 Hits, 5 BBs, 6 Ks. The Cherry Bomb poster child (CBPC?) managed to collected a solid amount of Ks…and five walks because, you know, it’s Bauer. It’s as if he doesn’t want you to forget who he is. Hey guys! It’s still me! They don’t recognize me, hmmm maybe a few more walks will help…
Anthony DeSclafani – 7.1 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks. Tony Disco is doing his best to keep his 2015 party alive. Dude, the cops shut down the party like four months ago.
Dan Haren – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. The Deuce of Chicago is trying his best to relive his days as the Ace of Miami.
Patrick Corbin – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks. Solid stuff Corbin. Solid stuff.
Williams Perez – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks. Ah yes, a One Night Bland for Sir W.
Tommy Milone – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks. Milone saw the lady Perez was with and stepped up his game.
Yovani Gallardo – 5.1 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. This is pretty much as far as the YoGa ceiling goes. He won’t collect more strikeouts, and sure, he could hold a better WHIP and go a few more innings, but there’s no one who started YoGa who is disappointed in this. There will be people in the future, though, when they believe they can trust the fella to produce errrr day. Well, he’s a starting pitcher so of course he can’t produce errrr day. I can’t wait til I’m rid of you in the offseason. I can’t wait.
Chris Sale – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. Aces gonna ace in everything but give up an extra ER or two than he should. I think that’s Sale’s motto. He finds a way to sneak in a few ER every start like they’re McDonald’s ketchup packets.
Jeff Locke – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. Locke you seem lost. You sure you’re not stuck on an island somewhere?
Roenis Elias – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. There is some upside with Elias, but I don’t see him being all too productive with it this year. I can see a chance in the future when he gets regular innings, but I doubt he makes an impact this year.
Rick Porcello – 7.1 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. Wait, so the crazy amount of Ks he got last time aren’t real? WHAT.
Zack Greinke – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks. It’s not horrible, but this is a disappointing start from Greinke. You’re so much better. So much better.
Michael Pineda – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. Ehhhh I expect a bit better from Pineda, but the O’s are a dang solid offense these days.
Max Scherzer – 6.0 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks. Scherzer just can’t figure it out and I’m kinda shocked I didn’t knock him from his #3 spot in the rankings. It’s kinda sad to watch as the Nationals crumble. :(
Kyle Kendrick – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. Kendrick 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.
Felix Doubront – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. You’re still the wrong Felix. More like Burger King Felix, amirite?
Ian Kennedy – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks. Our call boy kept the K dream alive, but got knocked around a bit as well. He heads to San Fran then Coors next, and I can’t sit endorse either start. It was a fun ride Kennedy but there are other sights to see. Like Reddit.com? S-I-G-H-T-S. Jeez.
Mike Fiers – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 4 BBs, 5 Ks. Ouch this is not what any of us want from Fiers. Or any pitcher against the Athletics for that matter. It’s just not right.
Nick Tropeano – 4.1 IP, 3 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. This fourth start for Tropeano was his second best of the season. Yeah.
Drew Smyly – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. Blegh, but he did face the mighty Tigers. Looking deeper shows Smyly facing the Sox twice, the Orioles, Miami, then Toronto for the rest of the season. Not ideal, but the Sox and Fish could make for easy times.
Yordano Ventura – 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 5 BBs, 8 Ks. Like the 8 Ks, hate everything else. As I detailed last time with Ventura, I love the kid’s stuff more than Angel Hernandez loves taking over games, but I don’t see a time when Ventura becomes a mature pitcher that can command as his pitches consistently enough to not allow clunkers like these every other night. It’s sad, but I think we need to come to accept the nature of Ventura.
Wei-Yin Chen – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. He had a bad matchup in NYC and got burned badly. Chen is a streamer, nothing more.
Randy Wolf – 4.1 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks. Seriously, why is he still pitching?
Aaron Harang – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 8 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks. HAAARRRRAANNNGGG!
Justin Nicolino – 4.1 IP, 5 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks. I haven’t taken a dive to inspect Nicolino on Fangraphs yet because, well, he’s pretty poor, but here are some things I found today. His K/9 after this start is below 3.00. When your strikeout rate looks like a Cy Young canidate’s ERA, we have a problem.
Mike Leake – 5.2 IP, 6 ER, 11 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks. It’s his worst start in a Giant uniform (no I don’t mean it–did you mean it was an oversized jersey?…was an oversized jersey. Sigh.) and while the Giants aren’t going to release him, if he’s still chilling on your squad, I wouldn’t let him ruin your weeks anymore.
Jonathon Niese – 3.1 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 1 Ks. And the Mets still won. It really doesn’t matter how poorly Niese does, he finds a way to get out of it. He’s now allowed ,7 ER, 5 ER, 6 ER, 5 ER across his last four starts. His record in that time? 1-1. Yeah.
Mark Buehrle – 3.1 IP, 5 ER, 9 Hits, 0 BBs, 0 Ks. The Burle Buehrle doing…poorly. Very poorly.
Lance Lynn – 2.1 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. Lynn had such a fantastic first two months of the year, and everything else has been…meh. He was removed from the Top 30 in Monday’s edition of The List, but he may need to drop even further if he can’t recover next time out.
Today’s Streamers
Aaron Nola vs. Atlanta Braves – It’s either his last start or penultimate start and owners have already started to jump ship. This matchup is as good as they come for Nola who may have one more great start left in the tank.
Tomorrow’s Streamer
Josh Tomlin vs. Chicago White Sox – Tomlin has been on fire and the ChiSox are an average offense. My kind of matchup.
Game of the Day
Carlos Carrasco vs. Carlos Rodon – Outside of the fact that this is a battle of the Carloses, I’m curious to see how Carrasco looks after missing his last start. Then there’s the benefit of watching a Cherry Bomb like Rodon with the added flavor of youth sprinkled all over. So tasty.