At first, I didn’t want to see Stephen Strasburg get back on the hill, because I wanted to see more of Joe Ross establish himself as Joe Boss. But now that Doug Fister is taking the hit, I was pumped for an all out Strasburg rebirth and boy was it fantastic: 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 12 Ks. You know what I would do? Sell high. Most were avoiding him like the plague, but this start should raise a lot of eyebrows. There could be guys who think that this is the new Strasburg of old, and will pay quite a pretty penny for the guy. But you’re not one of those guys since you’ve seen this from Stras many a time. He shows super promise one start, then his Fastball gets hammered and Changeup is flat in the next. For those who can’t find a good deal, keep rolling with him, but don’t be shocked if there a bunch of bumps on the road.
Let’s see what every other SP did yesterday:
Ubaldo Jimenez – 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BB, 6 Ks. Oh come Ubaldo, you know that you’re gonna regress next time out. I know you had a giant party hat and everything, but it’s the next morning now and we all know what that hungover room looks like.
David Price – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks. He blanked the Yankees and still cruising at Top Gear. It’s like that 5 ER start against the Rays never happened…
Jaime Garcia – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 4 BBs, 5 Ks. Garcia, buddy, can we quit the walks please? K thx.
Tyson Ross – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BB, 8 Ks. He saw his brother get all the headlines and Tyson needed to show that he is still relevant. Whatever the reason, this is a solid step in the right direction.
Jesse Chavez – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 4 BBs, 4 Ks. Even when it looks like he’s doing better, he then has to throw in four walks. Dude, not cool.
Keyvius Sampson – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. I know what you’re saying right now. Who? Let’s keep it that way.
Collin McHugh – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 8 Ks. It’s like that friend who is already an hour late saying “dude, I’m just going in the shower right now and I’ll be right over.” You know he’s not going to make it.
Adam Morgan – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 HIts, 1 BB, 4 Ks. Sure Morgan, whatever.
Robbie Ray – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BB, 8 Ks. Eight strikeouts from Ray get me intriguied, but we really can’t depend on him being solid elsewhere just yet.
Wily Peralta – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BB, 2 Ks. Don’t get cute Peralta, we know what you really are.
Garrett Richards, 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BB, 7 Ks. Better than I expected given that he only walked one batter. I don’t really like Richards down the stretch as it’ll be tough to trust him not to give you a horrendous evening.
Martin Perez – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BB, 5 Ks. This is a top 33% start for Perez. Yeah…
Mike Foltynewicz – 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 4 BBs, 3 Ks. I am firmly off the Folty train, which is sad since I now have this feeling he’ll be great in the final weeks of September. So it goes.
Kyle Hendricks – 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. Ehhhhh.
Ivan Nova – 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. This was a great outing through the first five innings, then he allowed a Justin Smoak Grand Slam in the 6th. Welp, one can only last so long against the mighty Jays.
Trevor Bauer – 6.1 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 8 Ks. Those who think Bauer will turn a major corner and keep the Ks while limiting the walks are just setting themselves up for depression.
Tom Koehler – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. Koehler is never gonna get cooler. Even if he gets better AC Ayyyyyy lmao.
Nathan Karns – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks. Awwww, our Call Boy couldn’t handle the new Mets offense. But he still got 8 Ks at least.
Mike Montgomery – 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 4 BBs, 4 Ks. Monty has been pretty mediocre lately, and it’s time to accept him as such.
Wade Miley – 6.0 IP, 5 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BB, 6 Ks. Miley was bad. More at 11.
Eddie Butler – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 4 BBs, 2 Ks. Butler 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.
Alfredo Simon – 6.2 IP, 6 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BB, 1 K. There’s no disappointment here, just pity.
Francisco Liriano – 3.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. That makes two bleghy starts from Liriano back-to-back, but I still love the guy. That 2.87 xFIP and the best soft contact in the league with a 10+ K/9 are soooo solid.
Noah Syndergaard – 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. This is probably the most shocking line of the night, as he got killed by the Rays in his best Steve Erwin impression. I’m sorry, it’s still too soon for that joke. It will always be too soon. :(
Matt Cain – 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 5 BBs, 2 Ks. No one is still expecting Cain to rebound this season and be productive, right?
Jeremy Guthrie – 5.2 IP, 6 ER, 10 Hits, 1 BB, 1 K. Guthrie’s value is lower than your standards at 3:00am.
Jeff Samardzija – 4.2 IP, 7 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 K. Loose Lips is sinking ships. If you haven’t cut bait yet, you’re doing it wrong.
Mat Latos – 4.0 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BB, 0 Ks. Welp, now we can go back to shrugging when asked what we’re going to get from Latos.
Ervin Santana – 2.1 IP, 8 ER, 10 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 K. Seriously that MFRTSPA is just hanging by the pool in a bikini and all the fellas are hiding in their hotel rooms like fools.
Today’s Streamer
Matt Shoemaker vs. Baltimore Orioles – Not the best matchup, but Shoe has 27 Ks across his last three outings, and you gotta roll with it.
Tomorrow’s Streamer
Wei-Yin Chen vs. Seattle Mariners – It’s between him and Rubby De La Rosa, both streams that I’m not really jonseing for. The Phils have had some renewed strength as of late, which makes me go with the steadily bad Mariners.
Game of the Day
Chris Archer vs. New York Mets – It’s the recipe for a big performance for the Rays’ ace.