Sale of the Year

I rarely lead with aces. There’s no point to it as you guys know he’s an ace and aces gonna ace. Well, I feel the need to talk about Chris Sale after his 3.0 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks marks the second straight dud from the previous “far and away” AL Cy-Young winner, sparking plenty of talk about Kluber vs. Sale. That doesn’t matter here, we’re all about fantasy in the roundup (It’s still Sale, by the way). The reason we’re here are two clunkers in a row of 6 and 4 ER, with a 7 ER not too far away just five games ago. Is Sale bad now? Can I trust him? I’m sure some have those questions. What happened here is that the Indians own Sale and his Changeup + Sinker (responsible for the 6 ER and 7 ER games), and Sale simply wasn’t on the top of his game, especially with his Four-Seamer command in this one last night. I wouldn’t be shocked if we see 3 ER or fewer the rest of the way now from Sale as he hits 300 Ks. I’m really just writing this to yell at Sale for not taking advantage of the one week I put him at #1 on The List with Kershaw and Scherzer hurt. COME ON MAN.

Let’s see how every other SP did yesterday:

Jake Arrieta – 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 8 Ks. Surprisingly enough, I didn’t love what I saw behind the hood here, but Arrieta has now allowed 2 ER or fewer in each of his last 8 starts, good for a 1.78 ERA in that time and an IPS above 6.0. Yes it comes with a 4.17 xFIP but I’d say his 3.30 FIP is about right. And I’ll take that.

Alex Cobb – 4.1 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. So Cobb returns from the DL and gives us five strikeouts in under five innings, blowing me away as he’s normally a Grave Mistake. It’s still just five strikeouts as he was a little limited (DLH), but I’m sure those who were on t he Cobb train are back on it now. Y’all know I’m not a major fan of chasing Cobb, but he has a 2.90 ERA including two 8 ER and 9 ER clunkers across his last 12 starts now and I totally understand if you want to chase that. The 4.36 xFIP and 5.68 K/9 are why I’m staying away, but you do you.

Martin Perez – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks. Please don’t. But 0 ER in—Don’t. Really.

Stephen Strasburg – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. Aces goona ace. Atta boy Strasburg, you single-handedly put Jose Altuve on the DL.

Derek Holland – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 4 BBs, 5 Ks. Holland staved off the invasion. For now…

Jake Junis – 5.1 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. Junis threw 50% Sliders in this game. Junis had a 15.2% whiff rate. Junis had 7 Ks in 5.1 frames. Junis’ best pitch is his Slider. I understand that Sliders can’t just be thrown in every count and need to be setup and all, but please, please, find a way to keep throwing a ton of them. K thx.

Tom Koehler – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks. Koehler is on a new team and I’m sure some fans are thinking “Hey, this Koehler guy ain’t so bad!” Candians, I’m sorry for your future disappointment. It’s going to hurt like being a Maple Leafs fan. Okay not that badly, but you get my flow of the syrup.

Carlos Martinez – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. Even with the meh WHIP, I will certainly take this from CarMart. You couldn’t just outright demoralize the Padres like Weaver did, though, could ya.

Robbie Ray – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 9 Ks. Ray missed time recovering from a liner to the head and I would have called this DLH given the decent amount of time missed and Ray not being a Top 15 stud. Well he certainly pitched like one against the Mets and now you’re  probably expecting me to love and adore him n all. Not really. We know this about Ray: He’s demolishes bad teams and gets hit around a lot against good teams. Here’s the rest of his assumed schedule: @LAD, SDP, @SFG, @SDP, SFG. Okay, so save for the next start against the Dodgers, I love Ray down the stretch. That’s absurdly good. And also will make me debate a ton in February about why I’m not slotting Ray in the Top 25. Yay…

Hyun-Jin Ryu – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. Did you realize that Ryu has a 2.13 ERA across nine starts since June 17th? With a 8.70 K/9? Kinda crazy, isn’t it. Here’s the hoping he gets more turns in the rotation and stays healthy long enough to make it to San Diego on the 3rd of September. What about his next start? Oh that’s in Arizona and I’m sitting that one out.

Jaime Garcia – 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks. Sure, whatever Garcia.

Dallas Keuchel – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. This really is Keuchel 2014 edition and that’s not a good thing as he’s making Three-Fist Compromises all over this place. He’s had just one game above 4 Ks in his last six starts and that’s not good. I mean, yeah I want Keuchel n all, but I can’t slot him Top 20 when he’s acting like this, right?

Chad Kuhl – 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 5 BBs, 2 Ks. Yeaaaah, there’s no way I’m trusting Kuhl at all anymore in 2017. He’s a Young Gun as Kuhl is just one solid pitch away from being solid in fantasy, but we sure can’t bet on that happening.

Luis Perdomo – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. It’s a 1.50 WHIP again for Perdomo but he gave you a Quality Start. That’s all you can really ask for in 2017, and I still call him a Young Gun for 2018. I really think in super deep leagues he’s a sleeper to breakout in future years.

German Marquez – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. Terrible WHIP and his whiff rate is super low once again at just 5.2%. Welp, I hope you had fun in Kansas City, because now you’re hosting the Tigers and Giants at home, facing the Dodgers and Diamondbacks away, then back at home for the majority of games remaining. I have no interest rolling with Marquez moving forward.

Sal Romano – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks. Hey, there’s that K upside! Too bad You’re so inconsistent that we can’t ever collect your production for our teams, but way to go Sal! Here’s a sticker. Why does it say Our Favorite Second Cousin? Because we’ll never see you on our teams but when you actually show up, it’s not so bad.

Jose Berrios – 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 9 Ks. I’m kinda okay with this as nine strikeouts are nine strikouts. I know the WHIP and ERA aren’t good, but it’s not so bad and can be made up easily while those Ks can be the difference maker. Not to mention, you’re feeling good with Berrios in his repeat start against the ChiSox next + two starts against the Royals…then the Jays. This is going to be good.

Rafael Montero – 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. Montero hasn’t been too bad lately, thought he was one out away from a VPQS here and that’s not all too good. I can understand if you need to chase in an NL-Only league, but I’m not chasing in anything shallower.

Troy Scribner – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. I’ll be honest, all I’m seeing here is Scribner on an MTV show saying “Yoooo whatup! This is Troy’s crib, nerd!” and I’m paralyzed. So…is his a cup of schmo? Oh, yeah Cup of Schmo, whatever, NERD. Aren’t you the nerd? Yeah, that’s definitely me.

Trevor Bauer – 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 8 Ks. Uggggh, so the Sawx are really tough and I get that and I have to be sympathetic and this was eight strikeouts and I need to finish this sentence. But I really wanted to get fully hyped on Bauer with a start where he dominated Boston, you know? Now it’s the Yankees and I think I start him there , with a pretty solid schedule the rest of the way.

Michael Fulmer – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. Alright, alright, what’s Fulmer got left this year? Coors? Nope. Indians? Ehhh. Jays? Sweet. ChiSox? Sweet. A’s? Sweet. Twins twice? Sweet. If you can sit out two more starts of Fulmer – maybe just one – it’ll be sweet. Sweeeeeeet. Sorry for this one, I’m kinda cringing right now.

Jake Thompson – 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 4 BBs, 4 Ks. With a name like that, you’d think the Phils are throwing out the 46-year-old who won a “Pitch for the Phillies!” contest. This doesn’t look like my office…Anyway, Thomspon is a Cup of Schmo and don’t expect a rebound.

Vance Worley – 4.0 IP, 8 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. Yep, that’s Worley alright.

Today’s Streamer

Adam Conley vs. San Diego Padres – Conley racked up 11 Ks last time out and now he gets the Padres. Yes please. Jerad Eickhoff was moved from yesterday to today (sorry about that y’all) and I prefer Conley.

Tomorrow’s Streamer

Mike Clevinger vs. Kansas City Royals – I’m doing it. His Slider is too good and the Royals are cold in the last week.

Day After Tomorrow’s Streamer

A.J. Griffin vs. Oakland Athletics – Can’t say I love Griffin at all, but he’s able to give you some value against a bad Oakland offense.

Game of the Day

Chase Anderson vs. Kenta Maeda – I want Anderson to dominate despite being the Dodgers and I want Maeda to go more than five.