There are many times through the year that you find a hot hand and ride him until he slows down. It’s the yin to the the Yang of The List as fantasy baseball can be all about timing. If you get a guy for his hot April and don’t roster him during his ultra cold rest of the season, you’ve found great value where you shouldn’t have. The List is all about expectancies moving forward, cold streaks and all, which is a completely different story. Anyway, the recent go-to guy to ride has been Ian Kennedy, but that came to a screeching halt in San Fran last night after giving owners a line of 4.2 IP, 7 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks. Welp, it was fun y’all, he goes to Coors next followed by another matchup against the Giants, which means he’s pretty much droppable everywhere. Know when to Hold em, know when to fold em, know when to curse his name loudly and tear up your cards like a madman.
Let’s see what every other SP did yesterday:
Madison Bumgarner – 9.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 0 BBs, 9 Ks. Aces gonna ace. He lost his perfecto in the 8th with two outs, but that doesn’t really matter all too much in fantasyland.
Noah Syndergaard – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. Ahhhh finally Thor gets back to his usual self, and it looked like he needed a weak offense like the Braves to remind him of his ace upside. The Mets reported that they do not intended to skip Syndergaard again here on out, so let the good times roll.
Jerad Eickhoff – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 8 Ks. Eickhoff has decent K ability, but not this good. He doesn’t have the overpowering stuff to make it a consistent feature, so understand the risk involved here. I think he’s a decent pickup for his next start against Atlanta, so get on that if you want.
Anthony DeSclafani – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 10 Ks. Don’t look now, but Tony Disco has a 3.05 ERA with a 8.68 K/9 and 1.61 BB/9 since July 29th. I don’t think he’s that good, but if need someone to ride, he’s most likely hanging out with his sub 25% owned percentage.
Jose Fernandez – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. Our most lovable Floridian came back and was his usual self albeit before getting taken out at 69 pitches. What a guy.
Jeff Locke – 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks. Whoa whoa whoa, you think you can just strut in here with this start and think we’re gonna Un-Locke you? Ya right.
Roenis Elias – 5.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 3 BBs, 8 Ks. Excellent outing from Elias as he hosted the Rockeis in SafeCo. This is probably the best we’ll see from him this season, but he does have this K upside. Keep that in mind if you need a spot start down the stretch.
John Lackey – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 3 BBs, 10 Ks. Lackey’s a funny guy. His last start featured only 4 Ks, and now he explodes for 10. SO FUNNY. Anyway, he’s been one of the most consistent guys around, even though his xFIP is over a point higher than his 2.89 ERA. For those looking to next season, I think Lackey will be a bit overrated so don’t get too amped for his 2016.
Hector Santiago – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. This is okay from Santiago, but his season ERA of 3.21 is so far off from his 4.85 xFIP that you wonder what kind of connections he has upstairs.
Jose Quintana – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks. Solid Floor, solid outing, Papa Johns.
Rick Porcello – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 8 Ks. Our Call Boy gave us a nice helping of Ks and a decent WHIP with the Win, just not the ideal ERA. I think most of us will take this and run.
Sean Nolin – 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. He’s an interesting fella who has expressed excellent K ability in the minors at times, but has slowed up in recent years as his walk rate has increased. He doesn’t have overpowering stuff with a sloooooow 88.5 MPH Fastball that relies on movement to avoid the heart of the bat. He gets some decent matchups here on out, and I wouldn’t be against someone looking to Nolin when needing a few more innings under their belt, but I don’t like Nolin outside of deep leagues.
Travis Wood – 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks. Wood is a reliever now and got the start since a rain-out was expected. So yeah, just ignore this like that super annoying kid from 2nd grade – I’m looking at you Gary – and move on.
Lance Lynn – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. Yeah, he’s kinda droppable right now in shallow leagues. Which is super weird considering how incredible of a first half he had, but when a fella who has been a steady K guy for years suddenly goes four starts without eclipsing 3 Ks, you gotta throw up your hands in defeat.
Marcus Stroman – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. Great to see Stroman back on the hill, but it looks like he’ll need some time before getting into the groove he had last year. To be fair, he gave up a 3 run shot in the fifth and had a tough matchup in the Bronx, and he could certainly have his moment if he’s in the rotation against the Rays. I simply didn’t see the Stroman of ole last night and I’m not sure if he’ll get there in time.
Chris Tillman – 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. You can’t spell Win with Tillman.
Lance McCullers – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks. Those will McCullers should keep throwing him out there, but I think he’s too inconsistent to
Williams Perez – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 8 Hits, 3 BBs, 3 Ks. Pardon me Sir W. Yes what is it Jeeves. I have word that the people would prefer if you performed adequately in future outings. I’m doing my best here Jeeves! I think that’s the point, Sir.
Michael Lorenzen – 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 10 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. Man that WHIP is a tough pill to swallow – and I’ve swallowed my share of pills!
Michael Pineda – 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. Pineda was looking so sexy in the first half and has been nothing close to his earlier self in the second half laden with injuries. Fortunately his matchups ease up a little with the Mets, ChiSox, and Boston in his near future. I’d probably toss him out there if I needed the help, but if you’re on the fence, it’s often better to be conservative.
Tanner Roark – 4.2 IP, 2 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. Yeah, this is how lame-o Roark is. He doesn’t have the K ability to be super fly and he relies on being a finesse fella to generate weak contact. You have to be very skilled at it ala Michael Wacha or Jordan Zimmermann to give you the value that you want.
Marco Estrada – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. Estrada never excited me, and sure this was against the
Yovani Gallardo – 4.1 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. For whatever reason, I pair Estrada and YoGa together – maybe because they are very boring and had no right performing as well as they did for a bit in July/August – and looks like the buds are going down as a team. Such loyalty.
Yordano Ventura – 5.2 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks. If you’re surprised by this, you haven’t been watching closely. It really is a pity that he can’t consistently harness his stuff effectively.
Yohan Flande – 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. Flande 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. Well, Gray has some value outside of Coors.
Mike Bolsinger – 3.2 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 4 BBs, 1 Ks. Four walks from Bolsinger is surprising and completely out of character. So is earning just one strikeout. What is this Bolsinger, a famine?
Tommy Milone – 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 3 Ks. Bleghy blegh blegh.
Zach Davies – 3.2 IP, 6 ER, 6 Hits, 5 BBs, 3 Ks. I mentioned that Davies would probably have some major bumps through the end of the year, and here’s the first of the lot. He’s not the prospect pitcher you’re looking for.
Matt Moore – 5.0 IP, 6 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. The struggles for Moore continue and I think some will use this as fuel for a sleeper article on Moore for 2016. I’m on the fence as I know there is K upside and obviously more in him than 2015 has shown, but his walk rate is atrocious and I don’t see him overcoming that next year. Not the worst late round flyer, though.
Ivan Nova – 1.2 IP, 6 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks. There will be a time that Nova becomes a solid contributor. Now is not that time.
Rubby De La Rosa – 2.0 IP, 6 ER, 9 Hits, 0 BBs, 1 Ks. Rubby’s value is lower than a limbo competition featuring Hermes Conrad.
Today’s Streamers
James Paxton vs. Colorado Rockies – Can’t say I’m the biggest fan of this start, as I generally dislike starting pitches are elongated DL stints and Paxton will be on some sort of pitch count, but he faces the Rockies out of Coors and can be very serviceable in his return.
Tomorrow’s Streamer
Logan Verrett vs. Miami Marlins – He has the stuff to be effective, especially against a weak Marlins offense.
Game of the Day
James Paxton vs. Colorado Rockies – Yes he’s the streamer too, but I really want to see the big lefty out on the hill again. I still have a soft spot for the fella.