I'm running out of Kevin Gausman puns as I've led with him a decent amount this year but I feel like I need to make some noise after his 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 3 BBs, 8 Ks start yesterday against the Rays. I've been suggesting that Gausman could be on the road to recovery over the last month and here are some startling numbers. Prior to his July 2nd start (five games ago), Gausman held a 8.5% whiff rate, 58.1% First Strike Rate, 28.2% O-Swing overall, with a -3.5 pVal mark on his Splitter as he threw his best pitch just 16.0% of the time. The result was a 7.01 K/9, 4.29 BB/9, and 5.20 xFIP. Atrocious. But since July 2nd, here are those numbers across five starts: 16.4% whiff rate. 65.2% First Strike rate, 32.9% O-Swing overall, with a 0.7 pVal on his Splitter as he bumped his usage rate to 27.1%. And what do you know, he has a 12.81 K/9, 2.77 BB/9 and 2.78 xFIP in that time. Yeah, you get the idea. He's getting ahead more often, allowing him to set up his Splitter plenty and boosting his strikeout numbers in the process. Now I'm not going to tell you it's going to stick - small sample size and it's possible his Fastball command dies away so he stops getting ahead as often - but this isn't just some mirage and a random fluke as there's a clear reason for his success. If you're in dire need, Gausman is a better bet than you think.
Let’s see how every other SP did yesterday:
I am third in my ESPN league if the playoffs started today. How’s my staff ROY?
Morton, Lester, Hamels, Severino, A. Wood, Godley, Fiers.
10-team h2h: Ks, Ws, ERA & WHIP
In a 10-teamer, I’d imagine you can replace Hamels with a better asset. Also keep a short leash on Fiers.
Meyer is on the DL now man
My man, knew I was forgetting something. Fixed.
Alex Meyer hit the DL yesterday, might want to change your streamer suggestions.
Thanks for catching that! Should have been Corbin against the Braves anyway (I didn’t realize he was owned in under 25% of leagues!)
I know you are concerned with Duffy’s decreased fastball velocity….do you see it getting better moving forward or would I be better off cutting bait for someone like Castillo or Cahill with his new team?
Start Castillo or Maeda today?
I’m leaning Castillo. Higher IPS and bigger upside. Yanks are one of the easier opponents he’s faced.
Simply want to point out that the strike zone Cole was dealing with yesterday was miniscule. He wasn’t missing his spots….he just wasn’t getting ANY calls which forced him to throw everything right in the strike zone. It was a horrible game called by the umpire. Not making excuses for the 4 walks…just pointing out that a good outing could have been great had it not been for the calls.
Kershaw owner in my league wants to trade. I’ve already locked in my bye for playoffs. What’s a fair price to pay? If he’ll take Gerritt Cole do we think Kershaw will be back in time for fantasy playoffs?
How is my rotation ROY?
13 team roto
1. Kluber
2. DeGrom
3. McCullers
4. Tanaka
5. Nelson
6. Rich Hill
7. Samardzija
8. Jon Gray
DL- Aaron Sanchez
Looks solid to me!
better than mine…. :-(
Will a hitter list (ros) update be coming soon?
It’s just about to be published.
wow minutes later thanks!