The Broken Arrow Gant

(Photo by Tim Spyers/Icon Sportswire)

I’ve been writing off the solid outings of John Gant over the past month and it’s because of the potential of the terrible floor he displayed last night via 4.1 IP, 6 ER, 6 Hits, 4 BBs, 4 Ks. Yikes. It had been 2 ER or fewer in each of his last seven starts and this hurts. Sorry you had to go through that. I thing is, not even including yesterday’s game returns a 4.77 SIERA to go with the 1.60 ERA of his last seven. Not to mention, a 5.6 IPS over those starts + a 11% walk rate wasn’t all too lovely. All this doesn’t matter, that’s the past and we’re talking about the future. The final weeks of the year. Well, he gets the Giants next and I think you’re still safe rolling with him there. Anything else? Nah, it’s the Brewers or Cubs after and that’s a no-go. So if you rostered Gant and wondering if it’s safe to drop, see if you need to ride him for that Giants outing first. 

Let’s see how every other SP did Saturday:

Madison Bumgarner – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. A weird start from Bumgarner, earning just four whiffs in 62 pitches, then leaving with side tigheness after two pitches in the sixth. That sounds like he’ll be shut down for the rest of the year (when does side tightness not force at least one missed start?) and we’ll have some fun deciding where to place Bumgarner for 2019. Should he be above or below the likes of Jack Flaherty, Walker Buehler, and Zack Wheeler? 

Mike Clevinger – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks. Clev, you are a wonderful man. A wonderful, wonderful man.

Jarlin Garcia – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 Hits, 0 BBs, 0 Ks. He got another start! And it was a bullpen game. Womp womp.

Jeremy Hellickson – 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks. Hellickson left early with a wrist injury and you really don’t need to waste more time on The Devil.

Liam Hendriks – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 0 BBs, 1 Ks. FALSE START. This is okay, right? I mean, what else would you really want?

Alex Claudio – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 0 BBs, 1 Ks. FALSE START. Seriously.

Ryne Stanek – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks. FALSE START. At least Stanek is the OG.

Jon Lester – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 9 Ks. And #TheGreatRegressionOf2018 has officially been halted by Lester as his last six games have returned a 1.73 ERA and 37 Ks in 36.1 frames. Solid stuff, keep on keepin’ on.

Reynaldo Lopez – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. The Orioles are bad and ReyLo is starting to feel it, with just 4 ER allowed in his last five games, each returning at least six strikeouts. His fastball and changeup have been a studly during that span, while his slider woke up for 10/25 CSW, which is all kinds of lovely. It was three pitches coming together to return a great start against the Orioles. Yes, I’ll have a bold prediction on ReyLo being a Top 30 SP next season. The man has the talent, clearly. Streaming Record: 95-45.

Corey Oswalt – 2.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. The False King had a spot start against the Sawx and we don’t care about this Cup of Schmo. Carry on.

Cody Reed – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 10 Ks. Wait, what?! Reed elected to show off his upside finally? I remember hints of this from 2016 and his slider was ridiculous with 19/45 CSW here. Do I think it’s repeatable from Reed? Sure, there’s a chance. Is it worth the gamble? Definitely and I mean definitely not.

Sean Reid-Foley – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 4 BBs, 10 Ks. Hot dang! That’s the second ridiculous 10 strikeout start from RF in three games and this time he faced the Yankees instead of the Marlins. Sooooo that’s a pickup, right? His fastball was stupid good and I don’t expect it to perform with a 25/62 CSW moving forward, though I do like how he attacked right-handers up a lot. Still not enough for me to think this is incredibly repeatable as he only tossed a slider otherwise – an excellent 9/23 CSW that was a product of established heaters. Now it’s two games against the Rays and I can see one going well and another not. It’s kinda 50/50 as I think if his heater isn’t killing it, everything falls apart. Not to mention, this was just five frames and four walks as well. There is a clear floor here that you may want to avoid any risk witnessing.

Ian Kennedy – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. His second start from the DL was a solid performance, but I’m still not ready to call Kennedy a good streaming option. But he gets the Tigers next! Well…um…okay maybe. Fine.

Yefry Ramírez – 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. Hey, here’s some of that Young Gun upside for Yefry! He has a bit of that Feral Command^TM that Aaron Sanchez and Fernando Romero have popularized, which will result in starts like this every so often. Problem is that it often elevates his pitch count as he hasn’t had six innings in any of his ten starts this year. Yikes.

Zach Davies – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. This is pretty boring, though a popular stream among few options yesterday and it was fine. I think you should be dropping Davies for the next stream now.

Michael Fulmer – 0.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 Hits, 0 BBs, 0 Ks. Fulmer allowed back-to-back HRs to lead off the game, then left with soreness in his knee. Thanks for nothing, Fulmer.

Andrew Heaney – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks. I had worry throwing Heaney out there against the Mariners and he succeeded, albeit it with a 1.80 WHIP. It doesn’t help all too much, though, but at least if you took the gamble, he didn’t kill you.

Eric Lauer – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks. Lauer, go join Davies in your Mediocrocity. Who’s the mayor? Uhhhh Ivan Nova?

Ivan Nova – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks. You called? YEAH I’M TALKING ABOUT YOU NOVA. But I went Super Nova! Yeah, you did. And it’s still boring. THAT’S WHAT YOU DO. Okay.

Charlie Morton – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks. Solid stuff from Morton here, who we’ve been wanting to give the thumbs up for over the past month or so and it’s nice to see him give it back in a firm gesture. 

Julio Teheran – 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 6 BBs, 7 Ks. Of course Teheran went six walks and seven Ks. True outcomes for lyyyyyfe.

Chase De Jong – 3.1 IP, 3 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks. Don’t…run after the Jong. He’s a Cup of Schmo. 

German Marquez – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks. A PQS from Marquez from four strikeouts? But but but what about the last month? And this was San Fran! Ummmmmm, can you be better next time in Chase Field? K thx.

Rick Porcello – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. Ehhhh okay Porcello. You got a Win as well so all is fine.

Zack Godley – 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 6 BBs, 1 Ks. Remember when I said “at least he’s giving you strikeouts when he falters” two weeks ago? HA Ha ha…yeah no. You already dropped him by now any way, but handing Godley a HAISTFMFWT?! is just funny now. Oh and six walks too? Come on.

Rich Hill – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 2 Hits, 4 BBs, 8 Ks. A grand slam messed up this outing from Hill – also the four walks – but you should be happy with 8 Ks and a 1.20 WHIP. No reason to overthink this.

Erasmo Ramirez – 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. Ohhh maybe it should be Erasmo instead of Nova as the mayor. Maybe not, he doesn’t nearly show up enough.

Vince Velasquez – 2.0 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks. This was the Marlins. He’s now struggled against the Fish, Mets, and Fish again in his last three. Stop starting him. Just stop.

CC Sabathia – 2.1 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks. You’re wondering what’s going wrong with one of the most standard Tobys around and it’s pretty simple: he’s not executing with his cutter nearly as well. He has been a Toby anyway, though, so some bumps and bruises are expected, and I wouldn’t worry against the O’s next time out.

Today’s Streamer

Jose Urena vs. Philadelphia Phillies – I feel so weird suggesting Marlin after Marlin, but there really are very few options left, with my standard options – Minor/Giolito/Junis, etc. all well above the 20% threshold as everyone picked up on it. Meanwhile, the Marlins have a cushy schedule and Urena ain’t that bad. Jacob Nix against the Rangers is so blegh, Jaime Barria against the Mariners is very ehhhhhhh, and there’s pretty much nothing else out there.

Tomorrow’s Streamer

Andrew Suarez vs. San Diego Padres – I don’t love Suarez but I think I’d let him fly against the Padres.

Day After Tomorrow’s Streamer

Aaron Sanchez vs. Baltimore Orioles – A bit of a gamble here, but he looked good last time and it’s the Orioles. I’d also consider Sandy Alcantara against the Nationals.

Game of the Day

Justin Verlander vs. Zack Greinke – Now that sounds fun.