Rodon Point

Among the various terms we have here at Pitcher List is PEAS, standing for Poor Execution, Awesome Stuff. Carlos Rodon has been the poster child for that term, featuring a wipeout Slider and hard Fastball that should dictate great fantasy upside, but he simply can’t put the two together consistently to become a stable arm for your squad. After a walk heavy first start back from the DL, he faced the Athletics and took advantage in the most Rodon way, going 6.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 10 Ks. That whole opening bit was to remind you that he will do this sometimes, but the consistency is what kills you. Now, this was something incredibly though, with 25 Whiffs to his name. That’s just absurd and it was spread across all three of his pitchers – Fastball, Slider, Changeup. It’s the upside we’ve been chasing from Rodon and it’s wonderful and let’s celebrate, but you just can’t expect this to be there each start. Sure, ride it now and see what happens – maybe he made a tweak to make those whiffs appear? One game isn’t enough of a sample – but don’t be shocked if he reverts to 4 walks and 4 ER by the next start.

Let’s see how every other SP did yesterday:

Steven Matz – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. 12 Whiffs this time and y’all can be super happy you’ve stashed him for so long. It’s going to be a fun second half that should stopped abruptly when he gets injured in the middle of August…why would you say that? Oh come, you were all thinking it!

Aaron Nola – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. Easy A is back y’all. HE’S BACK. Okay fine, this was the Pirates and they are weaker than my noodle arms but his Fastball command was suuuper good and touching 95+ and I’m just so excited y’all.

Stephen Strasburg – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks. Aces gonna ace. I feel that Strasburg is going to get demoted next week just because Bumgarner is returning.

Brent Suter – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. Suter? I hardly know her! Well, she sat in front of me in physics class and wrote terrible notes. So not, she doesn’t suit me. This was dumb. And so is owning Suter with his 86mph heater.

Ian Kennedy – 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks. Alright, alright, that’s four straight starts of 2 ER or fewer after six straight 4+ ER appearances. You might think he could be a Toby with some strikeout upside but I’m not buying that. He’s needed a .145 BABIP to put up that 2.22 ERA in those four starts – 5.04 FIP and 4.78 xFIP with just 9.0% soft contact! HOW?!

Masahiro Tanaka – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. He didn’t allowed a HR for the third straight start and now he has 40 Ks in his last five starts…with a 2.27 BB/9, 53.2% groundball rate, 2.56 ERA, 3.21 FIP, and 2.80 xFIP. To be fair, this was against the Angels, A’s, Rangers, White Sox, and Jays and tougher times are ahead, but I think we are at the point that we can be comfortably starting Tanaka always outside of the toughest of teams.

Martin Perez – 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 4 BBs, 3 Ks. Nothing quite says mediocrity like Martin Perez.

Marcus Stroman – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. That’s our guy, what Nova wants to be these days. But at least Stroman has more strikeouts in his pocket when he wants to show the kids on the playground what he’s got. The problem is he’s a little shy and we’re nice people who don’t want to pressure him into anything he doesn’t want to do.

Jeff Hoffman – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. Outside of a pair of back-to-back jacks that Hoffman definitely deserved to allowed (a horrible elevated Changeup and a down-the-middle 3-0 Fastball), the Hoff looked good this game. Not great, but good. Love that second half still so don’t write him off as a Rockie pitcher.

Adalberto Mejia – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. I will not be the one to give you the Berto and BBs talk. Okay maybe I will as he holds a 4.47 BB/9 this season with a 5.38 FIP…yikes.

Andrew Moore – 8.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks. It’s a Grave Mistake with Moore and if he can somehow allowed just five baserunners in 24 outs all the time, then bless him. We know he can’t and those strikeouts aren’t going to get better.

Rick Porcello – 6.1 IP, 3 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. I think we’re all okay with this. Not prime Porcello but if you’re somehow needing him to not mess up terribly right now, this works. In most other news, we’re still sitting on our hands as we play the waiting game.

Luis Castillo – 5.2 IP, 4 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. A man pitched in Coors allowed 4 ER and two longballs and I came away incredible pumped about him. 17 Whiffs overall, 11 on his Fastball as he touched 100mph in the fifth to fan Nolan Arenado…you have to take him now. Just do it. Can’t say I want to start him in Arizona just yet but boy do I want to own him in the second half. Don’t miss this boat.

Jharel Cotton – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. It makes me sad how much of a PEAS Cotton is and I really do hope he can put it together. For now, you shouldn’t be banking on that recovery.

Ivan Nova – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks. Sooooo, why are you still holding onto Nova? If you take out his first five starts of the year, he’s boasting a 4.04 ERA, 4.60 FIP, 4.43 xFIP, and 1.29 WHIP with a 4.50 K/9 in 12 starts…Ummmm I want Castillo.

Alex Meyer – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 4 BBs, 6 Ks. I wrestled a good amount debating if Meyer should be on The List this week and elected to leave him off, even with his immense K upside. The walk rate is just too much for me to endorse, making his risk of a terrible ERA/WHIP too high to make up for the boatload of strikeouts. It will hurt more than help. Oh and I have to take a Loss now. Womp womp. Streamer Record 45-30-11.

Adam Wainwright – 5.0 IP, 6 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. Well well well. I hope y’all didn’t buy into his seduction tactics as The Devil over here tried to lure you in. Not today bucko.

Wade Miley – 1.2 IP, 7 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. It’s amazing how this wasn’t the worst outing of the day. Good for you Miley.

Jeff Locke – 2.2 IP, 11 ER, 11 Hits, 4 BBs, 2 Ks. Locke wanted to win something this year, so now he’s tied with Christian Friedman for the WHERST start of the year. I love it when managers just let them hang out to dry. It’s a hot day out there.

Today’s Streamer

Joe Ross vs. New York Mets – I guess we’re doing this coin flip? Ho boy.

Tomorrow’s Streamer

NONE – I hate to do this again, but the best here is Edinson Volquez against the Cardinals and you know I can’t endorse that. Luis Perdomo against the Indians? Nope. And I’ve given up on the small moment with Mike Pelfrey even if he’s playing the A’s. Plan around this day.

Day After Tomorrow’s Streamer

Mike Montgomery vs. Milwaukee Brewers – I think Monty can be beneficial as the Brewers aren’t the scariest of teams out there.

Game of the Day

Danny Duffy vs. Felix Hernandez – Duffy returns and watch his velocity be as low as we feared at the beginning of the year. Fiiiine, I’d allow it since he’d need some time to get back into the groove and all. Whatever.