Please Say You’ll Stay, Sandy

Photo by Doug Murray/Icon Sportswire

I was excited to see Sandy Alcantara return to the bump for the Marlins last night and he took full advantage of it via a 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks line against the Phils. I’ve been curious about the potential of Alcantara all season (he was in my bold predictions piece!) and we saw a hint of it here against the Phils. His sinker did an excellent job around 96/97 staying low in the zone, earning some whiffs while inducing plenty of weak grounders – some needed double-plays – and plenty of outs. Meanwhile, there’s a four-seamer in there that I can’t help but think would be a great complement to sit letters high while his sinker does work down. Secondary stuff needs work, though. His changeup had its moments – This one and this one – that made me feel all tingly, but it took a while into the start for him to get comfortable with it. He’s still searching for a strong breaking pitch with a slider that rarely had much bite and a curveball that had an underwhelming hump. Given Miami’s loss of Pablo Lopez for the season, Alcantara may have a spot through the end of the year, facing the Mets, Nationals, Reds, and Mets. I like that a lot for teams looking for arms in NL-Only leagues, while 12-teamers should consider him only if there is a need for a streamer. There’s still too much unknown at this point. As for 2019, I need to see a better breaking ball, a polished changeup, or a better four-seamer/sinker mix to get legit excited, but it’s within reach. Alcantara is a very intriguing Young Gun, I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in the future.

Let’s see how every other SP did Wednesday:

Jaime Barria – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks. Atta babe Jaime, I’ll keep using you as a decent streaming option, but I sure won’t be drafting you next year. Streaming Record: 89-42.

Mike Leake – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks. After two games of 5 and 6 ER, of course Leake is going to go six shutout frames. Duh. Why didn’t you see it coming? *Suit man whispers in my ear*. Oh, you did? Ah right. Blame it on the Orioles.

Jordan Zimmermann – 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. We saw Jay-Z have a stretch of success in the first half, and now he’s gone 2 ER total in three of his last four. Sorry, I just can’t buy this and I think you’re going to have a bad time like doing a French Frie when you should be doing a Pizza if you roll with him.

Mike Foltynewicz – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. Solid stuff from Folty. He hasn’t dazzled so much in the second half, but at least it’s not the regression I expected way back in May. Here’s to that wonderful slider taking over!

Brad Keller – 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 10 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. You’re happy if you ran with Keller, but man is this a case of getting Singled Out with 11 baserunners in 7 frames. That hurts. A lot.

Corey Kluber – 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 10 Ks. Aces gonna ace. I talked about Snell winning the Cy Young yesterday, though if Kluber goes on a tear in September, this could be a very close race. It’ll be fun.

Jameson Taillon – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks. Just 9 whiffs and 24/100 CSW here from Taillon as he struggled to put batters away (27/100 Fouls!). Four-seamers weren’t up enough, making the slider a bit too hittable in the bottom third of the zone – batters simply didn’t have to change their eye level enough. While this is far from a bad start, I think there’s a higher ceiling here with that toolset.

Framber Valdez – 5.1 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks. I still have my concerns about Framber as a legit 12-teamer option, but maybe I should consider him at least in the streamer mix. Maybe. I’m not sure. I still think his floor is super low and that scares me.

Mike Fiers – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks. We had a small scare with Fiers last time out, but he got back on track here against the Yankees, forcing us to simply accept it for the rest of 2018. We don’t have a choice.

Nick Pivetta – 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. Pivetta got pulled for a pinch-hitter with 69 pitches. ADD THE DH. Blegh, I don’t think this should do anything either way about Pivetta, it’s just annoying.

Jose Quintana – 6.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. That’s three starts tallying 4 ER total from Quintan…but it’s his first start of 7 Ks since June 6th. And he had 5+ ER in three of his four games prior to this stretch. Yikes. It’s a great start, but I just can’t label Quintana as fixed after this start against the Phils. I can’t do it, Pax’n!

Hector Velazquez – 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks. Yeah, this is the mediocrity I expect from Hector the Nectar. But he wasn’t sweet at all. Fine, he’s the anti-Nectar Hector. Yeah, you killed the joke. Thanks. 

Homer Bailey – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks. Blegh. Yes, blegh. Four Ks aren’t enough to ignore a 5.40 ERA and 1.40 WHIP.

Andrew Cashner – 4.2 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 0 Ks. Leave it to Cashner to give you literal nothing of benefit from a start. Literally nothing. Seriously, 0 strikeouts? HAISTFMFWT?!

Jhoulys Chacin – 4.2 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. This is the Chacin that we expected at the beginning of the year, but I guess not now. You know that means…Chacin will do well when Jhoulyst expect it. Also, I saw the wonderful Bleacher Nation also come up with this pun and it makes me happy. I think you keep going with Chacin for now. It’s not a pure Vargas Rule situation.

Hyun-Jin Ryu – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 11 Hits, 0 BBs, 8 Ks. The 8 Ks are great, but getting Singled Out to a VVVPQS hurts a bit. Whatever, keep starting Ryu.

Aaron Sanchez – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks. A PQS with 8 Ks? You’re dang right I’m happy with that from Sanchez. And just two walks! Too bad this is just the first sign of life, forcing me to play it safe during playoff time. But hey, good luck Sanchez, we’re all counting on you.

Antonio Senzatela – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. Those ratios are terrible from Senz-a without a Win, with six strikeouts to make you feel better. Well? DO YA? No and please stop yelling. It’s just making it worse. Sorry, my bad.

Zach Wheeler – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 9 Ks. Don’t stop starting Wheeler. Just don’t.

Bartolo Colon – 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. The Groan Ranger lived up to his name oh-so-well. I can hear the massive groan of owners everywhere if they were desperate enough to let him fly. Fly? With that bod?! 

Miles Mikolas – 6.2 IP, 4 ER, 12 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks. Bleeeeegh. A lot of Blegh tonight and this Mikolas start is a big one. No walks, fine, but 12 hits? Just 2 Ks? The Nats aren’t this good and now he’s allowed 4+ ER every other start over the last five. I’m conflicted here as I think Mikolas should be an elite Toby type, i.e. prime Keuchel/Hendricks

Andrew Suarez – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. Blegh. I need at least a PQS Suarez, AT LEAST. I don’t think he’s your guy save for the rare stream.

Jake Odorizzi – 4.2 IP, 5 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 4 Ks. Too many fours and they weren’t with Odorizzi today. I hope that joke lands, I sense it won’t. Hopefully, the fours won’t be with him next time. Or maybe we want them too. I’M CONFUSED. At least don’t be confused about owning Odorizzi – don’t. 

Luis Severino – 2.2 IP, 5 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. He was pulled with just 59 pitches as he just didn’t have command. Too many pitches over the middle of the plate and the strong A’s offense capitalized. It’s your playoffs and it’s so hard watching your four-month long ace struggle so heavily when it matters. He gets the Twins next and I think you still start him there, but if I were doing a traditional List, I’d have Sevy near #30 by now. I just don’t have a choice.

Michael Kopech – 3.1 IP, 6 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. I’m going to be honest here, I wonder if there is an injury at play. The fourth inning in this game was an atrocity, featuring three homers: one a 93mph pitch, one a horribly hung slider and another on a fastball out over the plate pushed the other way. This wasn’t the man that was promised, this was a starter struggling to get his velocity back, making mistakes as a result and looking terrible. It’s still possible he spins off a good final stretch, but I’d be very worried and consider looking elsewhere.

Tanner Roark – 5.0 IP, 6 ER, 10 Hits, 0 BBs, 4 Ks. That’s back-to-back duds from Roark after cruising for a month. I think I still roll with him for the Phils, Mets, and Marlins through the end, but take a pass on the Braves along the way.

Tyler Glasnow – 0.2 IP, 7 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. Clearly, Glasnow needs an opener…HA Ha ha…but seriously, his fastball was unbelievably hittable in the middle of the zone constantly, while his secondary pitches didn’t find the zone once and it resulted on batters sitting dead red to fastballs down the pipe. Ouch. I can imagine many dropping Glasnow after this, though I honestly believe that would be a mistake. The floor is clear, but the ceiling is still present. I’d hold back against the Tribe next, but TEX + TOR after is still startable.

Today’s Streamer

Eric Lauer vs. Cincinnati Reds – There are four games total on Thursday, with just Marco Estrada against the Indians and Lauer against the Reds as the only qualifying options. Yeah. Don’t do this.

Tomorrow’s Streamer

Steven Matz vs. Philadelphia Phillies – A good amount of options here from Felix Pena vs the ChiSox, Austin Gomber vs Detroit, and even Anthony DeSclafani vs. Padres, but I’d go with Matz as he’s still under 20% owned, hot off his 11 strikeout game, and gets the Phils. Sign me up.

Day After Tomorrow’s Streamer

Wei-Yin Chen vs. Pittsburgh Pirates – He’s on a roll and there aren’t many decent options out there otherwise.

Game of the Day

Luis Castillo vs. San Diego Padres – Y’all know I want to see my boy take advantage of these Friars.