It was a horrible Spring. It was a tough first outing. But we kept the faith. We were still holding out that Rick Porcello could still be the guy he turned into in the second half last year. Well, against the mighty Jays last night he did this: 6.1 IP, 3 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BBs, 8 Ks. I will take that in a heartbeat from Porcello, and he gets the Braves + Rays in his next two outings. This isn’t a fluke and he’s going to be on your waiver wire so go get him in H2H leagues, and we’ll talk again once he’s cruising in a few weeks.
Let’s see what every other SP did yesterday:
Chris Sale – 9.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 0 BBs, 9 Ks. Aces gonna ace. For real, great to see Sale at the top of his game.
Joe Ross – 7.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. Y’all know I love me some Ross of the Joe variety, and he’s looking mighty good out of the gate as he trounces NL Easy teams. Just looked at the Nats schedule in general, and it’s unreal how many bad teams they play. Outside of their division rivals, they also get matched up often against the Brewers, Reds, Twins and Padres. Use and abuse Ross as much as possible.
Dallas Keuchel – 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks. Yeah, he’s fine. Aces gonna ace.
Jake Odorizzi – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. This is pretty much the upside of Odorizzi. I don’t see him doing any sort of Sale-eque outings, but having a good night without a ginormous amount of Ks is what you’re shooting for.
Clayton Kershaw – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks. Aces gonna ace.
Wei-Yin Chen – 6.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. Lots of people were worried about Chen after he struggled in his first start. Against the Tigers. Of course he’s going to struggle, you got him to excel in the NL Easy, not to go against a Top 5 offense. So he went against the Braves and did exactly what you wanted. We good now guys? I think we’re good.
Zack Greinke – 7.1 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. Patience is fun. Aces gonna ace.
Garrett Richards – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. Sure it was against Minnesota, but Richards only walked one batter and started expressing that solid upside. He has some tough opponents ahead and if he comes out unscathed, consider me sold.
James Shields – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 4 BBs, 6 Ks. Okay, so at least Shields is providing ;some strikeout production, but I’m moving him down dramatically come Monday. Shields is probably going to do more damage than help you out this year.
Carlos Martinez – 7.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. The only blemish was a 3-run shot from Joey Votto as he cruised to the victory. There’s a little more upside in their, but you should feel good about Martinez.
Nate Karns – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 4 BBs, 7 Ks. Hmmmm. I want to say this start is encouraging, but those walks really need to go. Karns has a decent schedule in front of him, so I’d still roll with him. Maybe I’ll send The Dog on dem walks.
Mike Pelfrey – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 Hits, 6 BBs, 3 Ks. Wow Pelfrey, you must have come out of the game and said “how on Earth am I still alive?”
Edinson Volquez – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 2 Ks. This is more boring than going to a Brewers/Braves game. Sorry not sorry Brewers/Braves fans…
Martin Perez – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. Perez with a strikeout per inning? What’s next, a Rockie pitcher shutting out the Cubs?
Chad Bettis – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. Well I’ll be damned. Doesn’t matter, Bettis 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.
Jimmy Nelson – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 4 BBs, 1 Ks. Four walks and just one strikeout? If you’re trying to make us have trust issues Nelson, you’ve succeeded.
Kyle Hendricks – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks. Yep, this looks like a Hendricks start.
Vance Worley – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. Add-Vance? Dude, no one pre-orders anymore. That one was a stretch, Nick. Noted.
Bartolo Colon – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. Our backup Call Boy for those who couldn’t get a hold of Ross was The Big Apple, and he got the job done with a poor WHIP. Whatever, I’ll take it for that dub.
Tommy Milone – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. Blegh.
Jeff Locke – 4.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 Hits, 7 BBs, 4 Ks. Yeah, Locke is still terrible. Hopefully this will mean we get Glasnow somewhat soon…? I mean, I know Ryan Vogelsong is around and so is Justin Masterson now – which is hilarious, might I add – but it’s hard not to think we’ll be seeing Glasnow before the end of May if the Pirates want to be competitive.
R.A. Dickey – 4.2 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 4 BBs, 3 Ks. Dickey told me he owns a helicopter. The helicopter was a toy. Don’t trust a knuckleballer.
Luis Severino – 5.2 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 2 Ks. Hmmm, I think Severino is an excellent buy-low guy as I see him improving far beyond his two starts to begin the season. It’s one of the fun things about April – never are two starts ever more scrutinized than they are now. If Severino performed back-to-back like this in, say, late July, no one would bat an eyelash. So go get him.
Rich Hill – 4.1 IP, 3 ER, 9 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks. Are we going to stop rolling down the Hill now? He struggled in every inning and it’s a much better chance that the magic is donezo than he twirls plenty more wonderful outings.
Tim Melville – 3.0 IP, 6 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks. No Melville, Matt Holiday isn’t the White Whale. Stop hitting him.
Madison Bumgarner – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. Hmmmm, he gave up a pair of solo shots and that K/BB is super beautiful. Yeah, I’m a little worried now, not enough to sell him for peanuts, but if someone was offering me a preemo bat at a position I needed, I’d pull the trigger. He probably won’t be #5 come Monday.
Williams Perez – 4.1 IP, 3 ER, 8 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks. Sir Dub is super lame still. It’s too bad since I really like his nickname.
Cody Anderson – 4.2 IP, 5 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks. There was some hype about Anderson coming into the year, and I hope this quells those talks.
Jeremy Hellickson – 3.0 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. And welcome to the hell that is rostering Hellickson. Just don’t do it guys, I don’t care how good he looked in the previous outing. I’ll warn y’all every time, but it rests on you to do the right thing.
Today’s Streamer
Josh Tomlin vs. New York Mets – We talked about how poor the Mets are lately and Tomlin has strikeout upside that could make you a very happy owner as you catch up over the weekend.
Brandon Finnegan vs. St. Louis Cardinals – Don’t forget, his last start was against the tough Cubs while the Cardinals aren’t the gritty tough offense they once were.
Tomorrow’s Streamer
Nick Tropeano vs. Minnesota Twins – He looked good against the Athletics, and he could cruise through the Twins as well.
Game of the Day
Aaron Nola vs. Max Scherzer – This could be a fun game of excellent pitching.