I'm sure I'm going to get some questions about Sal Romano after his 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks outing against the Pirates last night, so let's dive in here. He's allowed just 9 ER total over his last six starts, while facing the Braves, Cubs, Mets twice, and Pirates twice. The most impressive part of the run is just 11 walks to his name, especially with 0 in each of his last twice starts (Mets and Pirates). I think we can all agree that his next start against the Sawx should be avoided, but what about that matchup against Milwaukee on the 28th? Yeah, I'm not buying that either. I understand he has strikeout upside and has pitched to a 2.09 ERA in this time with a near 55% groundball rate. That's great! 3.52 FIP and 3.94 xFIP aren't so bad either. I really just hate his mechanics that explain his overall questionable command. It was on last night for him across eight frames and it's hard not to think he's made some tweak, but there's no way I'm taking that dice roll here. Over a full season, it's possible he shows that consistency, but Romano will not be on my 2018 radar unless I'm in an NL-Only league and even then he isn't near the top of the list. Sidenote: This might be the worst headline of the season from me. I am so sorry.
Let’s see how every other SP did yesterday:
Hammel always tanks down the stretch. Crazy how he manages to do it every year.
Duffy looked great vs Cle today and Cole implodes once again. Drop Cole for Duffy? I have a lot more faith in Duffy vs CHI then Cole vs STL in my Championship week. Rest of my staff is deGrom, Verlander, Godley, Nola, Peacock, Weaver and Jon Gray. Feel a lot more comfortable with those guys over Cole.
I like Duffy vs the ChiSox over Cole vs STL, so I’d make the swap.
I’ve followed your column all year and I’m now in a head to head points championship (!!) week with only five starting pitchers I can grab to take home the top prize. My league is straight points that heavily favors strike outs so 2 start pitchers who fireball are the most valuable.The 2 start pitchers that are left are Harvey, Perdomo, Farmer, Skaggs, Stephens and Suter and I don’t see tons of value there because to pick them up I would need to drop aces…my thought is to stream all week instead…. If you could weigh in on the best option for each given day that would be fantastic.
MON- I know there are no fantastic options here
TUE- Taillon or Mc Cullers
WED- Hernandez or Junis (Moore? seems unlikely but some sites rank him highly)
THURS- Newcombe or Bailey
FRI- Lopez or Graveman
SAT- Duffy or E. Rodriguez
SUN- Terrible options- Skaggs, Farmer, Harvey or Perdomo
I truly appreciate your ability to add humor to your posts, your column was way better than the “big brand” sites. I’m pumped I found you through the reddit community and look forward to watching your stock grow to the point where I can no longer contact you directly because you are so popular hahaha. Appreciate any help you can provide!!
Tue – Taillon (McCullers isn’t starting)
Wed – Junis (Felix is still on pitch count and I don’t trust Matt Moore)
Thurs – Newcomb
Fri – Lopez
Sat – Duffy (Erod may have more K potential, but Duffy is safer)
Sun – Skaggs (blegh, is Flaherty available?)
And thanks man! I’ll always be around to answer questions :-D
Drop any or all of the following for playoff run?
– Tanaka
– Severino
Pick up any or all of the following for playoff run?
– Aaron Nola
– Garret Richards
H2H, yahoo, playoffs start and I’m in first.
Hold Tanaka and Sev.
Hey Nick! I know I’m looking a bit ahead but what do you think of chatwood @ SF?
Hey Matt!
He’s on a short list of mine for one of my leagues in possible streaming options, but he’s not my favorite at all. Really comes down to whatever other options you have.
You could do worse, I question if they’ll let Chatty go deep.
Thank you sir. The options are slim, so I may go for it. Playing the 1st place guy so I’ll need all the help I can get.