I know it’s the second time in two weeks I’m leading with Yu Darvish but after his start of 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 4 BBs, 7 Ks, I feel like we need to talk. So I really want to like this outing and be on the Darvish train like WHOA, but he really brought to surface both concerns of mine: Years of poor walk rates and an injury history that makes me believe he won’t pitch unharmed through the year. Those four walks are obviously blegh, but the trainer coming out to check on him for a stiff shoulder in the fifth – despite not being taken out – is also a bit disconcerting. I’m not saying sell Darvish necessarily, I’m just keeping an eye out if there is someone who believes he’s a preemo stud.
Let’s see what every other SP did yesterday:
Taijuan Walker – 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 11 Ks. Almost led with Walker, but there isn’t much to say outside of HOT DAMN. Welcome back kiddo, now please don’t be terrible next time out and we can celebrate like kings. But Felix is hurt. Fine, really rich people since we won’t have a proper king to show us how. We have a really rich person? Dude, they are MLB pitchers, they make bank even when they are pre-arbitration. Oh, right.
John Lackey – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks. There’s just no stopping Lackey from his anti-lacking. Good one.
Chase Anderson – 6.2 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks. He was our backup streamer and did a solid job against Oakland. Now that he doesn’t face easy teams for a bit, don’t get attached and let him fly like A FREAKIN’ BEAUTIFUL EAGLE.
David Price – 8.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks. Aces gonna ace. Feels good man. Feels good.
Max Scherzer – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. Ditto.
Chris Tillman – 7.1 IP, 0 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 9 Ks. Awesome bounce back from Tillman against the Royals. He needed this as I was a bit worried he was returning to his old ways.
Julio Teheran – 8.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. Speaking of old ways, Teheran is showing off dem guns like he’s fresh outta the gym in his 20s. But he is only 25…I’m still not sold that he’s going to coast like this through the year – he simply had too much suckage for my mind to erase – but he’s making it hard not to endorse.
Chris Rusin – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. Rusin 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 not named Gray and maybe even Gray.
Kenta Maeda – 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks. Finally Maeda turned up the dial and got hot hot hot. In the same vein, I’d now sell sell sell if someone thinks he’s gonna be like this for the foreseeable future.
Madison Bumgarner – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. Aces gonna ace. Now that’s a sturdy pitcher. So much for dem foot problems.
Doug Fister – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. The Ks are higher than a typical Fister outing, but then again so is the WHIP. Whatareyougonnado.
Carlos Carrasco – 6.2 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. The ER make this look a lot worse than it is given the sub 1.00 WHIP and a handful of Ks. I have a feeling next time out against KC that he’ll be where we want him to be – hopefully that place is on your roster.
Vincent Velasquez – 0.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 Hits, 0 BBs, 0 Ks. He was removed after two pitches that came in around 87 mph. It’s been reported as “bicep tightness”. Why wasn’t there some concern during his bullpen session or pre-inning warmups? Whatever, I’d bet on this being TJS #2 for Vince, and it’s been a fun ride. I’d consider it safe to drop him at this point. Wait it out if you can just to be safe, but if you need the spot ASAP, go ahead.
Noah Syndergaard – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. Blegh. He never looked on top of his game during this outing save for a few at-bats here and there, but keep in mind that this is Thor at his worst. That super high floor solidifies his Top 5 spot.
Jake Odorizzi – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 8 Ks. Rizzi has been kinda solid in his last five starts now, and he looked a bit better this start. Just ease up on dem walks and dingers, okay boss?
Jameson Taillon – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. We’ve been waiting for this day for a long time, and it wasn’t nearly as exciting as we hoped. I’ll have a Breakdown up on the site around noon tomorrow (and here I was hoping to have that mega innings limit article up instead…look for that early next week!), and it’ll talk about his need to dominate with his Fastball and hopefully work in his Changeup more early on. His Curveball is super legit and I think Taillon will be the best of the promoted Prospects we’ve seen this year – including Fulmer.
Archie Bradley – 5.2 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 4 BBs, 5 Ks. You know how I say “ride the hot hand” all the time? Time to stop riding this hand. The walks are back and they are super scary. Also, why did you have to stop being the hot hand when I labeled you as the Call Boy? Not cool duder.
Edinson Volquez – 4.2 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. After his first four starts of the year where he surrendered 3 ER total, Volquez now holds a 4.25 ERA on the season with a 4.18 xFIP to back it up. Ouch.
R.A. Dickey – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks. Dickey told me today was his birthday. For a moment I even felt guilty I hadn’t written him a card. Don’t trust a knuckleballer not named Wright. See how I added that at the end? I even don’t like trusting Wright, but I have no choice at this point.
Drew Pomeranz – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. The Dirty Cheerleader couldn’t pull a Cheri Oteri and whip out the perfect cheer against the Braves in PetCo. Just one of the many reasons I’m continuing my infomercial selling Pom-Poms.
Wei-Yin Chen – 5.1 IP, 5 ER, 9 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks. Now I’m starting to believe I’ve been too high on Chen this season as well, as he hasn’t been holding the floor that we has supposed to have. Expect him in the 60s at least on Monday.
Nathan Eovaldi – 5.1 IP, 5 ER, 10 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks. If Eovaldi is having trouble with the Angels, maybe his success was just noise…
Ricky Nolasco – 5.2 IP, 5 ER, 11 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. Speaking of noise, I wonder if fantasy baseball players under the age of 8 cower in fear, imagining they hear Nolasco in their closet. No! He’s trying to get to my roster! DAD! HELP!
James Shields – 2.0 IP, 7 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. I’m considering removing Shields from The List next week. The Mets broadcast made the case that Shields was broken after allowing the solo shot to Bartolo Colon, which is an interesting idea, and could have paved way for him to express his then 4.61 xFIP. He’s now at a 5.06 ERA and the boos are raining in Chicago. Hopefully he’s far removed from your squad.
Alfredo Simon – 5.0 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 5 BBs, 3 Ks. And yet another horrible pitcher that produces lines of pain each time out did exactly as he should have. I feel bad for the pitchers who are actually decent and have been pushed out of starting jobs. It’s just not fair.
Jered Weaver – 5.1 IP, 6 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. I hope the Anti-List crew gathered and had some coffee as they all showed up tonight…and didn’t show up if you get my drift.
Jesse Hahn – 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks. Jesse failing? That’s right.
Jordan Zimmermann – 4.2 IP, 7 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. You sold high, right? Please tell me you sold high.
Jaime Garcia – 4.2 IP, 5 ER, 13 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. Over his last five starts now, Garcia has a enormous 6.38 ERA in 24 innings while striking out just 13 batters. It’s not like he pitched against top notch guys as he had the Brew Crew last week and the Reds tonight. While I do think there is still upside left in the tank for Garcia, I completely understand if you’re dropping him for some hotness like Paxton right now.
Today’s Streamers
Bartolo Colon vs. Milwaukee Brewers – He’s allowed 2 or fewer ER in each of his last three starts and could escape with an easy win. Other options includes Jimmy Nelson against the Mets, Ivan Nova vs. LAA, and Nate Karns against the Indians. I like Colon the most, but those have a decent shot at being serviceable as well.
Tomorrow’s Streamer
Junior Guerra vs. New York Mets – I really wanted to go with Anthony DeSclafani against the A’s, but A) I have a theory about not starting pitchers following long DL stints (I really need a term for this) and B) I don’t trust that he’ll be in the game long enough to earn a win given he’ll most likely be on a pitch count. So that leaves Guerra as the only decent option outside of much owned Jon Gray and Ian Kennedy.
Day After Tomorrow’s Streamer
James Paxton vs. Texas Rangers – An interesting array of options to choose from, and I can see up to five guys going today. If you need heavy K upside, there’s Trevor Bauer against the Angels, if you need a Win at a super discount, Logan Verrett may be the guy against the Brewers. Then there’s Mike Fiers vs. the Rays, and even Matt Shoemaker vs. the Indians if he was dropped after his last start. Ultimately, I like Paxton after his absurdly impressive outing last time out, regardless of the decent Rangers offense.
Game of the Day
Marcus Stroman vs. Baltimore Orioles – I really want to see if he can bounce back in some way vs. Baltimore after two straight poor outings facing the Red Sawx.