This is going to be a little weird as we’re going to focus on a reliever instead of the starter. I know, right?! Lance McCullers was removed in fifth after going 4.2 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks due to what they are calling “Elbow Discomfort”. That does not sound good whatsoever. So who decides to come in and face the Blue Jays in the most awkward MLB debut ever? Joe Musgrove, who is my latest man crush. Okay, him and Bundy but hot damn did this kid look good. His one-seam Fastball comes in around 92 with sink and it fooled the bejesus out of Edwin Encarnacion right off the bat, and his Curveball was outright filthy and it baffled batters the entire rest of the way and he was commanding his pitches and it was awesome and I’MSOPUMPEDAHHHH. His line in relief was 4.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hit, 1 BBs, 9 Ks. If a baseball line could be sex, this would be it. Now that McCullers is all but confirmed to miss his next start, I’d be snatching up Musgrove everywhere in hopes that he takes his spot. It’s possible that it’s the funky delivery Chris Devenski – who despite his improved velocity I don’t trust nearly as much as Musgrove – though my bet is on Joe. Now be cautious, it is the Rangers and that offense is super good now (don’t let Bundy’s performance let you forget that) and the adrenaline Musgrove had in this outing might not be there if he does indeed get this start, but I love the kid. I really do. I like him more than Jose Berrios. Awwww snap!
Let’s see what every other SP did yesterday:
Dylan Bundy – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. There is just so much to talk about today. I fell in love so many times today it’s crazy. Remember when I last talked about Bundy in depth? My biggest concern was his Fastball command. His Changeup is excellent and Curveball solid, but his heater – despite its great velocity – just wasn’t hitting the spots that it should. Well, tonight it was. AND IT WAS AMAZING. It must be weird for Orioles fans to be legit excited for a starting pitcher again, because this guy is now their ace. For real. You’ll be watching October baseball with the Orioles and you’ll see a story on every outlet about Bundy – “He was injured! They were out of options! Came out of the pen!” – it’s going to be glorious. Well, that’s if the O’s make the playoffs in the first place, which is another story. The real story is that I placed Bundy inside the Top 40 this morning and I’m feeling like he could break the Top 30 in the next week or two. Guy is simply fire.
Carlos Carrasco – 3.2 IP, 8 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks. And I almost led with Carrasco since I am just so disappointed in him. It’s weird when you have the best and worst outings in a given day on your team, but here we are. It’s not like Carrasco has been killing it as of late -now just 24 Ks across his last six starts – but he hadn’t eclipsed 4 ER all season and just had two starts with that mark in 15 games. That being said, no I don’t think you should go deal him – the Twins are one of the stupidly hot teams out there right now – just be upset and move on with yer life.
Madison Bumgarner – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 10 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. Then there’s Mr. #2 who I’m really starting to question if he deserves such a title. Okay maybe he does because he has three of his last five games of at least 9 Ks, as he holds a 10.06 K/9 and 2.20 BB/9 with a 3.13 FIP for the year. Carry on.
Jacob DeGrom – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. Aces gonna ace. I have to say, it’s been really nice having someone inside the Top 10 actually be super consistent.
Jon Gray – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. There was a lot of backlash about Gray’s lowish spot on The List today and the rationale is pretty straight forward. Y’all know the rules for starting Gray: average teams on the road, bottom tier at home. His future schedule is a train wreck: Miami, @Philly, Nationals, @Brewers, Dodgers, Dbacks, @Padres, @Dbacks, Cards, Dodgers, Brewers. That puts him at about half benches left in the year. That’s a streamer, not a roster spot. But Nick! He just excelled against the Dodgers in Coors! This is true and I’m pretty impressed by it. I’m not fully convinced that I should change my approach that would lead to starting him against the Marlins and Nationals, but he does well there, then obviously we need to change the rules.
R.A. Dickey – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks. Dickey got wind of Wright doing poorly so now he’s trying to take back the crown of #1 Knuckler in the land. Ain’t gonna happen. Don’t trust a knuckleballer.
Jason Hammel – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. That inevitable 2nd half collapse is taking its sweet time. Or maybe it’s not happening at all…DUN DUN DAAAAAAA.
Matt Shoemaker – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. I beginning to think that Pedro’s Secret Stuff is finally wearing off. I’m not opposed to selling Shoe right now. It could certainly come back, but outside of that one 13 K start, he’s had just now just had 17 Ks in five starts. Yikes.
Yu Darvish – 6.1 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks. It was a super fun duel between Darvish and Bundy in Camden Yards until the O’s elected to go nuts and hit solo bomb after solo bomb. Nah, still fun since my boy Bundy got the dub. Awwwww yeah. Anyway, love what Darvish is doing as that walk rate is still low and there’s no sign of injury. Yet. Haha I keeed he’s clearly Top 15, but let’s just hope neither of those pop up. Pleeeeease.
Dan Straily – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks. Is there a bigger TEEs out there than Straily? After this start, he holds a 4.54 FIP and 5.02 xFIP, with 32.1% Hard Contact nad just 17.3% soft contact entering today’s game. I just can’t endorse this guy.
Anibal Sanchez – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks. Oh look, it’s Anibal not being worse than the third Matrix movie. Too much else to talk about, sorry buddy. Go eat some cheese and crackers or something, I’m busy here.
David Price – 7.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks. Like this! We should have known better to have believed Price had turned a corner after killing it last time…okay we didn’t really believe that but we wanted to so badly. Lesson learned, right? He’s going to be back-and-forth all year and that’s just how it is. That WHIP and strikeout production is still super helpful, don’t you forget that.
Matt Andriese – 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks. Oh yay, Andriese is back in the rotation now that Matt Moore was dealt. Whoop-de-freakin’-doo.
Wade LeBlanc – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. LeBlanc is getting starts while we wait for Nate Karns to recover from his back injury asboth Taijuan Walker and Wade Miley’s rotation spots are free. Ariel Miranda gets the ball on Thursday – the guy that came over in the Miley trade – and that shouldn’t last very long.
Adam Wainwright – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. Ehhhh it’s pretty bleghy but alright Waino. This was the Reds and you know you should have done better but whatever.
Zach Davies – 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. I’ve been coming around on Davies, and I expected much better against the Pads. This isn’t how seduction is done buddy.
Tanner Roark – 6.1 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. Good to see Tanner return with strikeouts, but the rest ain’t nearly what we’re looking for. My patience is wearing thin.
Jose Fernandez – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks. The strikeouts will always be there with JoFer – more dependable than a Jerome Williams clunker, that’s what I always say! – though it is super annoying to see these bleghy outings here and there from him. I get the feeling that he’s a little aware of his shutdown and it’s affecting him slightly. He’ll probably be my #2 entering next season when he’s free to go wild. Looking forward to that.
Gerrit Cole – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. The King of Really Good sits comfortably atop his throne. Can’t say I’m shocked as we spent like $400 on that seat cushion. They said it made from the hands of some ancient fraternity of weavers named Jolie or Freeman or something. Whatever, I wanted it.
Yordano Ventura – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 4 BBs, 2 Ks. Ventura found himself off The List today and answered with a 2.00 WHIP and just 2 Ks. That sounds like the classic Ventura revenge move alright.
Luis Perdomo – 6.2 IP, 3 ER, 10 Hits, 4 BBs, 6 Ks. I think there could be a day that Perdomo will be good. I don’t want to call him a proper Young Gun as that command is still a far ways off, but his Sinker can be a deadly bowling ball force that acts like it’s being thrown by The Dude himself.
Mike Foltynewicz – 5.1 IP, 5 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. Oh Folty, I want to love you but you make hate you. It’s okay, I’ve found new lovers! Runs into Bundy and Musgroves’ arms.
Robbie Ray – 6.0 IP, 5 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 9 Ks. This is so typical of Ray it kinda hurts. Maybe one day he’ll limit that atrocious hard contact rate (35.3%!) and suddenly become a fantasy stud for the price of zilch.
Sean Manaea – 5.2 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. The Angels are inexcusably ultra hot like the Twins so I don’t blame Manaea too much for struggling tonight. I’ll let him off the hook for now, just don’t screw it up against the…Cubs next? Aww dang. Alright I’ll give you yet another free pass. Then it’s the Mariners…then the Rangers…then the Indians…dude this isn’t looking good at all. ABORT! ABORT!
Brandon McCarthy – 3.0 IP, 3 ER, 3 Hits, 5 BBs, 2 Ks. McCarthy had to deal with the rain and pitching Coors. He also gets the Red Sox next. Just sit this one out until next week like you were supposed to.
Masahiro Tanaka – 6.1 IP, 7 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks. Awwww, Tanaka isn’t nearly this bad and I expect him to bounce back next time out.
Zach Eflin – 5.0 IP, 6 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. Eflin faced the Giants, which isn’t the worst matchup, but he’s really just a good streamer against weak teams. Like most of the NL Easy. Just stick with that for now.
James Shields – 5.0 IP, 6 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks. I went over Shields last time describing how his small little resurgence was more luck than A True Corner Turned. Wow, what a great band name! At least he won’t be fooling owners again? I guess that’s our first cover song…I’ll be here til Thursday, enjoy the buffet.
Kyle Gibson – 4.2 IP, 6 ER, 10 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. There’s the Gibson I know and hate. Glad things are back to normal.
Today’s Streamers
Edinson Volquez vs. Tampa Bay Rays – Blegh this is bad. Like I was really tempted to just not pick anyone bad. This is as reluctant of a Call Boy as they come. Screw all of that. Chad Green is getting the ball now that Ivan Nova was dealt and I like him more than Volquez. Not to say that this is strong stream and I endorse it everywhere, I’d just rather put my chips on Green against the Mets than Volquez against anyone.
Tomorrow’s Streamer
Matt Boyd vs Chicago White Sox – I like the way his Changeup is looking these days and I’m betting on him to continue his ride against the ChiSox.
Day After Tomorrow’s Streamer
Ervin Santana vs. Tampa Bay Rays – He’s been on a good roll and while I really don’t like him overall, there isn’t a better option. :-/
Game of the Day
Chad Green vs. Steven Matz – Green is back and I liked what I saw last time he was up. Then there’s also the fun Matz as well, which makes this a great time. Plenty of other fun games too – Sale v. Fulmer, Nola v. Cueto (please come back velocity!).