In a year of high upside young arms, we often see guys who we don't recognize having big strikeout games and our ears perk up. I'm s ure many will see Parker Bridwell's line of 6.1 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks against the Rays and wonder what the deal is. The deal is that you really don't want to touch this guy. I can see Bridwell having some good days - his breaking ball (Pitch Info calls it a Slider, I think it's more of a Curveball) is getting a whiff rate above 20% and zone rate of 50% in its ~50 thrown thus far while his Changeup can carry a ton of fade to make batters frustrated. However his Fastball is straight with questionable command and while it hits the zone a ton, it gets hit pretty hard. Then there's his Cutter/Slider that is just not good. It hangs up, doesn't have much bite and really shouldn't exist. But he can't set up his proper breaking ball without it and his Four-Seamer gets tatted enough that he needs a pitch like this so it gets thrown over 20% of the time. Yikes. This is just one of those good days where his mistakes didn't often come back-to-back and he was getting a few extra whiffs on his heater. I'd keep him parked on your waiver wire in all 12-teamers.
Let’s see how every other SP did yesterday:
pleasantly surprised with the early article!
They used to always be this early! I need to step up my game.
Wood, is there a regression coming? Thinking of trading while value is high. Is it worth looking at a known commodity ROS?
I would like to know this also. Also, what is his outlook in a keeper league?
I imagine he’ll be around #15 on most draft boards next year.
Some sort of regression should be expected, but not one where I would think you should sell high now.
There isn’t a question of if he’s outperforming his ability right now. He’s killing it and deservedly so, with deception, excellent command of his Fastball and Changeup, and a good amount of whiffs with his Curveball.
The question is if A) he can stay healthy and B) how long he can keep it up. I’m in the opinion that he stays Top 20 definitively ROS.
Manaea was squeezed really badly, I watched the first few innings and saw at least 6 strikes called balls.
Thanks for posting this so early Nick!
I currently have Edu on my DL and am thinking about dropping Matz to activate him for tonight, thoughts?
The rest of my pitching staff is: Nelson, Manaea, Duffy, Straily, Pomeranz, Faria, and Verlander.
It’s between Verlander and Matz. I think Matz is the better drop right now, but Verlander could never turn it around as well.
Is Darvish really still AGA? He has a WHIP below 1 in just 2 of his last 6 starts, in which time he’s given up 18 ER in 36.1 IP. Sure his Ks are good (still well below his career average) but is that enough to warrant the honor despite average performances vs KC and the Angels? I know you’re all about SwStr% lately so here’s his last 6 starts (in reverse order): 7.2%, 11.8%, 6.8%, 9.9%, 18.2%, 9.1%. With 11% on the season, that’s 2 above average games. But he’s at 12% for his career, which makes this even more startling. All that on top of a 3.73/3.89 FIP/xFIP and I don’t think he deserves the designation at all anymore. He probably deserves to stay in the teens because of his upside though
Great points!
I generally don’t remove the AGA label unless there is a drastic drop-off and I’m not 100% convinced it’s hit yet for Darvish, but it certainly can happen in the near future.
The lack of whiffs lately really is a bad sign,though. I’m curious if this small trend continues.
Would you trade Bautista/Kinsler/Castillo for Yelich/Jordan Montgomery?
It’s close – do you need strikeout upside and/or power? Who takes over at 2B?
If you have good answers for this, I’d make the swap.
Nick, weird question here, but any possibility that Gsellman comes back and is in last year’s form? I was forced to take him in a trade, and hoping for the best.
Thanks!
There is a chance, his upside doesn’t just disappear in half a season, but it’s a low chance.
Luis Castillo or Drew Pom in a keeper?
Feels weird saying this but I think Castillo.
Hey Nick, should Peacock be dropped outright given the likelihood of losing his rotation spot with Keuchel and McHugh coming back? Salazar is sitting on waivers and could be a nice lotto ticket for the stretch run.