There’s a good amount to talk about tonight, but what’s most interesting to me is Chad Green who came out of nowhere to give a 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks as the Yankees didn’t want CC swinging a bat with his hurt ankle. First of all, yes he did this against the Padres who are pretty dang bad at hitting. But look at Nathan Eovaldi! Oh boy, can we not? Anyway, if he gets a firm grip on a spot in the rotation – which in all likelihood he will not unless the Yanks begin to swap out Nathan – I like the kid quite a bit. Great K/BB numbers in the minors that can provide value right away, solid movement on his Fastball that sits 95-97, mixed in with a Cutter/Slider combo that changes speed and depth with a slower breaker as well to keep batters off balance. Solid stuff – not elite but solid – that would make him a good addition in 12 teamers. I don’t see much playing time for him but keep your eye on him.
Let’s see what every other SP did yesterday:
Noah Syndergaard – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks. First of all, The List isn’t coming out until Tuesday – sorry y’all, blame MURICA – which means I have another day to muse over what I’m supposed to do with the Top 15, more specifically the top tier of 8. Who should be #1? Kershaw is out indefinitely – my guess is until mid August, but who knows really – and I can understand an argument for Thor to take the top spot after another blegh performance from Arrieta yesterday and his rising walk rate, and Bumgarner has allowed 7 ER across two starts against Philly and Oakland…Feel free to tell me who you think should get the top spot in the comments.
Ubaldo Jimenez – 4.1 IP, 6 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. What about me? Hahaha, get out of here Ubaldo.
Corey Kluber – 3.1 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 4 BBs, 4 Ks. Kluber? Psssh no. It’s two great starts followed by one poor outing for Klubs this year. I think I’m gonna stick him near the backend of the teens for a good while.
Stephen Strasburg – 6.2 IP, 0 ER, 0 Hits, 4 BBs, 5 Ks. Now Strasburg, there’s a great question. Should he get a major boost? He’s back from the DL now, and despite the four walks, carried a no-hitter until 109 pitches forced him to walk away from history. I think he should, though I’m not convinced just yet he should get the top nod, especially with his teammate flat out dominating over his last ten starts: Max Scherzer holds a 2.51 ERA, 12.81 K/9, 1.76 BB/9 in that time.
Jon Lester – 1.1 IP, 8 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. And Lester? What is this? This is more ER than he allowed in all of June. I’ll just call it a fluke and move on. Don’t go selling him.
Chris Archer – 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 10 Ks. Oh come on Archer, I was talking about actual Top 15 guys, not you who has showed a significant drop in velocity from last year as your walk rate rose. I wanted to come in here and tell you that he was blazing his heater like 2015 and he is a solid buy, but that’s not the case. I’m not buying in him until I see him averaging at least 96 mph in an outing.
Cole Hamels – 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 10 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. Can we please start believing that he won’t hold a sub 3.00 ERA this year? If someone thinks this a good buy low let him think that and make it happen.
J.A. Happ – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 11 Ks. Look at those numbers! Happ must get some consideration, right? Okay, no one is actually thinking that. This is super awesome Happ, but let’s be real. It’s one shy of a career high from 2014, and he hadn’t eclipsed eight all year. Meanwhile, he holds a 4.20 FIP and 4.37 xFIP, and still just a 6.75 K/9 on the season including this outing.
Jose Quintana – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. Okay, I need to move past this whole “who belongs at the top” schtick, even though Quintana has put up yet another QS. Super good to see after some super shaky outings recently. Feel free to instill your faith back in the kid if you were holding back before, especially as he gets the Braves next.
Brandon McCarthy – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. Welcome back McCarthy! This is pretty dang sweet and the Dodgers needed this with Kershaw and Co. ailing. Nothing like a Maeda/Kazmir/Norris/McCarthy/Urias rotation, amirite? Actually, with the way they are all pitching…yeah that’s kinda solid. Crazy given that they also had Kershaw/Greinke/decent Brett Anderson as well last season. Anyway, you’re probably wondering if you should invest in McCarthy, and I say you damn well should in a 12 teamer, espeically with San Diego in his sights.
Adam Conley – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. Our Call Boy did his part as he cruised through the Braves lineup. Still don’t trust him enough to toss him out there against tough opponents, but hey, good work kiddo.
Vincent Velasquez – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks. So I like owning Velasquez despite calling him a sell since his second – and freakin’ amazing – start of the year. The thing is that I imagine some are still overvaluing him – that 10.50 K/9 isn’t as good as you think with 9 of his 14 starts only giving you six Ks at most. There is also the chance he gets shutdown, though I’m not totally buying that since he’s thrown just under 73 innings thus far and the Phils kinda like stretch younger guys in the rotation. We’ll see.
Andrew Cashner – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. This is the second game all season Cashner has had exactly 6 Ks – both season highs. Yikes.
Albert Suarez – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks. Don’t buy into this. Sure, he hasn’t allowed more than 3 ER yet, but this is only the second time he’s had under a 3.60 ERA in a game all year. Blegh.
Mike Pelfrey – 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. Yeah okay, Pelfrey belongs in that discount pile of defunct toys. Just because the “Try Me!” button worked this one time on the shelf doesn’t mean it’s going to work when you take it home.
Kyle Gibson – 6.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. Go away Kyle. Stop tricking novice owners.
Collin McHugh – 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 4 BBs, 9 Ks. It’s hard not to get a little excited when you see nine strikeouts from McHugh. It’s the second highest total of his season, but it just haaaad to come with four walks leading to a abhorrent 1.80 WHIP. I wouldn’t enjoy counting on McHugh for the foreseeable future.
Sean O’Sullivan – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks. Do you guys remember his nickname? Sean O’Suckivan? Ding ding ding!
Jon Gray – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. It’s probably time to hang up the Gray stuff unless it’s a really really good matchup. Does that mean we’re going to be getting the traditional Colorado blurb back? Maybe. Just maybe.
Michael Wacha – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. A 2.00 WHIP is as welcome as your fly in my soup. Unless you’re trying to get out of paying, which might…work…? I dunno, that’s not how I roll. And neither is rostering Wacha. Oh snap!
Robbie Ray – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks. Oh man, that K upside is just soooo tasty from Ray for his super low price, it’s too bad he has so much trouble keeping dem runs off the board. It didn’t help that he had to face the Giants, and I can see him as a solid deep league sleeper next season.
Matt Wisler – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 10 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. You didn’t start Matty Nice, right? More like Matty-Not-So-Nice. Good one Nick.
Francisco Liriano – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. Whoa, just one walk! …and only two Ks…and a 5.40 ERA…
Chase Anderson – 4.1 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 5 BBs, 2 Ks. Again, Anderson’s value lies in facing super weak opponents and the Cards are far from that.
Daniel Mengden – 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 4 BBs, 5 Ks. Mengden ran into his first trouble this game, though it came in the later innings. Even after five he still looked fine with just 2 ER, 2 BBs, and 5 Hits. Not incredible, but far from the travesty that is above. I still like him and so should you.
Hisashi Iwakuma – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 10 Hits, 0 BBs, 1 Ks. I abandoned the Iwakuma train a long time ago and I highly recommend you do the same.
Yordano Ventura – 2.2 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 1 Ks. Ventura left the game in the third with an ankle injury. You call it disappointing, I call it mercy.
Matt Shoemaker – 4.2 IP, 5 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. Shoemaker got singled out in the fifth (he was solid through four) and the bullpen allowed three runs to score as he watched from the dugout. Sure, he didn’t look as dominant as he has, but this was the Sawx and it’s not like they ran all over him like they have so many other teams.
John Lamb – 4.1 IP, 8 ER, 8 Hits, 4 BBs, 5 Ks. Oh Lamb, it wasn’t supposed to be like this.
Today’s Streamers
Archie Bradley vs. San Diego Padres – With Greinke out for at least one start, Bradley gets this matchup against the Friars and I want all parts of it, even with his somewhat disappointing outing against the Phils last time. If Jerad Eickhoff is still available, he also has a sweet date with the Braves.
Tomorrow’s Streamer
Zach Eflin vs. Atlanta Braves – It’s a toss between Eflin and his opponent Mike Foltynewicz as two young pitchers with a decent amount of upside face each other inside the NL Easy.
Day After Tomorrow’s Streamer
Shelby Miller vs. San Diego Padres – Miller is a duder that you want only against the bottom tier. Is this bottom tier? What do you think?
Game of the Day
Matt Harvey vs. Miami Marlins – He’s one of the bigger enigmas and while Max Scherzer’s outing against the Brewers can be a lot more fun, there’s work to be done here!