This is getting wild. After Adam Wainwright’s stellar 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks performance yesterday, Waino has now has a sub 4.00 ERA, while fanning at least six batters in six of his last seven games. WILD I SAID. In these seven games, we’ve seen the near 37-year-old shift to nearly 60% curveballs and cutters, sticking to heaters close to just 35% of the time. His cutter has been the true gainer here and there’s something to be said about its raising strikeout rate this year, sitting at a career-best 22%. I just can’t ignore the sub 3.00 ERA in his recent starts with the strikeout production, forcing me to lift Wainwright into the Top 75 today. Not sure how far, but he should be owned to see where this goes. It’s not as clear as day like it was for Lynn’s ascension, but nevertheless, he’s making it work with his cutter and hook and during a time where we all need something, Wainwright may work.
Let’s see how every other SP did Sunday:
Reynaldo Lopez – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks. Yeah, like this is totally believable. Those that know ReyLo, he can have these wondrous games, then relapse a start or two later. Don’t chase this.
Cal Quantrill – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. I want to be higher on Quantrill, but his secondary stuff was kinda lame and 22% CSW just isn’t enough for me. Maybe the occasional stream, but nothing much more than that.
Mike Soroka – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks. 34% CSW and nine strikeouts while needing just 83 pitches to get through seven frames. How can you not fall for this kid? His slider has improved – 50% CSW – and even showcased a solid changeup today as well. Here’s to hoping he gets to pitch through the end of the year, I wouldn’t be making moves to play around the shutdown.
Ryne Stanek – 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks. Stanek opened for The Fratty Pirate Ryan Yarbrough who took full advantage of a day against the Orioles with 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks. Jeeeeeez that’s lovely. It’s seductive, though I have to preach caution here. This is far from the norm and the floor ends weeks.
Jake Arrieta – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. Huh, a bit surprising to see Arrieta still pitching with the loose body in his elbow, but here we are. He’s a Toby at best and those that dropped him after hearing the news, honestly, I think you’re still better off.
Jhoulys Chacin – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BBs, 5 Ks. Hey, I got one! Streaming Record: 56-41. Atta boy Chacin, way to take advantage of a date with the Giants. You can go back to the wire now, k thx.
Jacob deGrom – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks. Aces gonna not dominate nearly as much as he should. I was thinking this could be the start of the weekend and deGrom served up a poor WHIP among the rest. He went slider heavy – 35% CSW on the pitch – and earned 17 whiffs overall and while the walks are blegh, he did well enough. Can you give us one of those phenomenal 7+ IP games, though? That would be cool.
David Price – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 Hits, 3 BBs, 7 Ks. Aces gonna ace. I’m loving where Price is right now and so should you.
Brett Anderson – 6.2 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks. Sure, whatever Brett.
Hyun-Jin Ryu – 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. Aces gonna ace. Here’s to him pulling it off for another two months and change. I don’t think he will, but I sure hope he does. Can you imagine the fun it’ll be to rank him outside the Top 10 next year?
Masahiro Tanaka – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 5 Ks. There we go Tanaka. Not whatever that was last time, this is plenty better. You should be taking advantage of the Jays like this.
Justin Verlander – 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. I know a lot of you are scared about Verlander and his HR problem. Don’t look at the box score, does it really matter if it was a pair of solo shots or not? (It wasn’t, just got Singled Out in the first). He’s clearly the #2 given his volume, strikeout ability, and WHIP, even if the ERA is 3.00 the rest of the way.
Shane Bieber – 6.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 9 Ks. Aces gonna ace. Stupid 3 ER, stupid good everything else. He will rise today!
Jose Berrios – 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 6 Ks. Kinda blegh here from Berrios. He was soaring and has recently been fine. Not great, not bad, but fine. Biebs is going to rise about him today as Berrios stays in the lower tier.
Tyler Beede – 6.2 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks. Well this is interesting. After introducing a slider last week against the Padres, Beede, featuring the pitch 22% of the time here, returning 11/22 CSW. Reee-heee-heee–heaaaaaallllllyyy. It’s a strong pitch that pairs well with his heater and I’m kinda buying this. That’s about 14 frames of 11 Ks and 4 ER and that’s enough to sell me on a buy at this point as he gets the Mets next. Let’s see what happens!
Yusei Kikuchi – 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 2 Hits, 4 BBs, 3 Ks. We’ve talked about Kikuchi and his changeup last time out and he actually wasn’t bad here, save for a home run and two baserunners that tacked onto his ERA in the fifth. But that changeup? Gone. 0/7 CSW. Sooooo yeah, I’m out.
Jose Quintana – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. A PQS from Quintana is what you signed up for. We know he’s a Toby and as long as we embrace that, everything is fine.
Anibal Sanchez – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 Hits, 2 BBs, 2 Ks. Ehhhhhh this only does something if you’re in a QS league and that’s kinda lame. LAME. Get that cutter/splitter combo working again, please.
Marcus Stroman – 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 7 Ks. I wonder where Stroman will land. Maybe it’ll help him hold a strikeout per inning while turning this VPQS into a legit QS. Not a bad buy low here for that reason…but only if it’s low, since his ERA (3.25) is well outperforming his FIP/SIERA (3.72/4.42).
Jose Suarez – 4.1 IP, 3 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. Good to see the strikeouts still flowing, too bad the rest isn’t there to complement the secondary stuff. Move on.
Sandy Alcantara – 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 9 Hits, 2 BBs, 6 Ks. Those ratios are why we’re terrified for the Sandy Allcanstara. You just had to do that, didn’t you. How could I not?! This is a nice reminder of the floor that comes with the decent ceiling, one that makes me turn away save for the best matchups.
Tom Eshelman – 5.2 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BBs, 7 Ks. Sweet! A new arm with seven strikeouts! What does he throw? *Suit man whispers in my ear* 86 MPH FASTBALL?! Sir, this is a restaurant. I DON’T CARE IF IT’S THE QUEEN’S BRUNCH! I’M SURPRISED AND UPSET! Tommy Boy just isn’t the solution. He’ll be the problem.
Zack Greinke – 6.0 IP, 5 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks. This wasn’t Greinke’s day, though he gave us a strong fifth and six to ease the pain a little. Just one of those days, nothing to worry about.
Ariel Jurado – 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 7 Hits, 4 BBs, 3 Ks. This is why I don’t want to be Part of this World.
Tyler Mahle – 4.1 IP, 6 ER, 12 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks. Awwwww. On the plus side, a date in Coors is sure to keep Mahle on the wire longer if you want to stream him for strikeouts as he faces the Cardinals next. Yeah, definitely do that.
Brian Flynn – 2.0 IP, 7 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 3 Ks. You know, I think Flynn needs to hook up with Mr. T to really light a fire here, you know? That’s all that’s missing. Otherwise, he just isn’t helpful.
Jordan Zimmermann – 4.0 IP, 7 ER, 8 Hits, 0 BBs, 2 Ks. Jay-Z is still missing his Blueprint for success.
Antonio Senzatela – 5.1 IP, 8 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks. Well, yeah. I feel bad for those that signed up to Senz-A’s dojo. What did you learn today? NOTHING BUT PAIN.
Trevor Williams – 5.1 IP, 8 ER, 11 Hits, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. I feel weird about this. Yes, I never really believed what Williams was doing prior, but at the same time, there’s an injury that creates the chasm between success and failure. It’s hard to say “aha!” with such a clear reason for degradation. Poor guy.
Today’s Streamer
For those unaware, I’m forced to make my Streamer picks under the condition of sub 20% owned in Fantasy Pros’ consolidated ownership rates.
Jakob Junis vs. Chicago White Sox. This one may change as we get six more starters confirmed for Monday’s game, but it’s Junis or Norris and I’ll go Junis’s strikeout upside.
Tomorrow’s Streamer
Daniel Mengden vs. Seattle Mariners – I could see Mengden cruising for a QS here.
Day After Tomorrow’s Streamer
Spencer Turnbull vs. Cleveland Indians – There are some interesting options here, and I’m taking a bit of a chance that Turnbull’s last outing was DLH based.
Game of the Day
Blake Snell vs. James Paxton – LIGHT UP THE K MACHINE.
(Photo by Rick Ulreich/Icon Sportswire)
