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ON THE BUMP

Chris Archer tossed seven shutout innings against the Blue Jays. Now we’re seeing why I had him listed as an SP2 for mixed leagues this year and as a top-10 AL-only arm. That’s four starts in a row without an earned run allowed for Archer to set a Rays record. Only Cory Lidle has a longer streak in the AL since 2000 (5-straight outings in 2002).

Carlos Carrasco took that shot off his face three starts ago. In his next outing he was pulled with body soreness after 60 pitches (what the hell does that mean?). Sunday he allowed five runs while recording just 4.1 innings of work. I warned about him in the preseason in his Player Profile. I’d be pretty nervous right now if I went all in and rostered him early at the draft expecting him to be ace-like.

Jesse Chavez is a name to know as the Athletics demoted the brutally horrific Kendall Graveman (8.27 ERA, 2.02 ERA, 0.78 K/BB over four starts). Chavez steps into the vacated rotation spot a year after he did pretty well in the role (8-7, 3.44 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 8.5 K/9). I see a lot of Sergio Romo when I look at Chavez, but the guy certainly has a solid wing, is a must add in AL-only leagues, and in most mixed leagues he at least becomes a streaming option.

Mike Fiers allowed two runs, one earned, over four innings Sunday. He allowed nine hits and two walks in the effort. I still think he becomes a useful mixed league part, but right now he needs to be on the bench.

Gio Gonzalez had another rough outing Sunday. He allowed six runs in five innings to the Marlins. That’s the bad. The good news is that he struck out eight batters and walked just one guy. Buy low from a manager that has their thoughts blinded by his 5.01 ERA.

Lance Lynn allowed six runs Sunday in five innings. Kick the tires and see if his current owner is willing to deal. If so, buy low. Lynn entered the day with 20 Ks in 17.1 innings and he’s pretty darn stable.

Wade Miley – dumpster fire. He allowed seven runs (six earned Sunday). He’s been comically bad in his new home with a 8.62 ERA, 1.79 WHIP through four starts. Waiver-wire should be his home.

Brandon Morrow – silent assassin. Morrow can’t stay healthy, we all know that, and he might not be the strikeout arm he once was, but he’s proving yet again just how good he can be when he’s on the bump. The Padres’ righty allowed one run over seven innings against the Dodgers Sunday. He lowered his ERA to 2.67 with the effort and he’s only walked six batters through four starts. Stay healthy kid. He shouldn’t be on waiver-wires right now even if you’re in a shallow league.

Drew Pomeranz allowed five runs, three earned, in five innings Sunday against the Astros. That effort left him with a 4.23 ERA and 1.23 WHIP. It’s also the 38th time in 44 career starts that he’s failed to complete six innings. Yikes.

David Robertson picked up his third save of the year. That’s it? Yeah, but these things go in cycles. He’s yet to allow an earned run and he has 17 strikeouts and has walked only one batter for the Sox.

Max Scherzer hurt his thumb batting in his last start. The team said he was fine. Well, maybe not so much. Manager Matt Williams said that it’s unlikely that Scherzer takes the bump Tuesday as planned. If you set your lineup once on Monday probably best to leave Max on your bench.


AT THE DISH

Jose Abreu is off to a fantastic start with five homers and 14 RBIs through 17 games. That OPS of 1.012 is also flashy. Keep an eye on that ground ball rate though. It was too high last season at 45.5 percent and early on this season it’s even higher at 49.1 percent.

Adrian Beltre sent a bill for broken bats to Garrett Richards.

Chris Davis has five hits hit last three games including two homers leading to six RBIs. If he holds on to his current slash line (.269/.338/.522) his owners are going to be very pleased with his performance this season.

Carlos Gonzalez says he’s ready to bust out. He had better be after hitting .197 through 17 games. He went 2-for-4 Saturday and then hit a homer Sunday. I’m still a fan and would be buying low.

Joe Mauer is up to .299 with a .392 OBP. Yeah he has no power, but the man can still hit.

Why are people bailing on Daniel Murphy? OK, he’s not even hitting .170 but it’s like people have just put out of their minds the fact that he’s hit .288 the past two seasons while averaging 86 runs and 18 steals a season. Don’t be that guy.

Jimmy Paredes had three this Sunday, drove in three runners and scored. Through 36 plate appearances he’s batting .429 with three homers, nine RBIs and nine runs scored for the Orioles. Now the reality check. The 26 years old has hit .252 with a .288 OBP and .361 SLG over 460 at-bats in the bigs. He doesn’t have the bat for 15 homers though he does have 20 steal speed. Still, the guy hit .258 over 32 games with the Orioles last year at Triple-A. He has hit .300 over 307 Triple-A games, but he’s got the smell off AAAA type player who has had a nice two weeks to me. The Orioles hit it big with Steven Pearce last season. Can they do it again this year?

Why are people dropping Joc Pederson? It’s like they have no idea what it means to be a successful offensive player. Through 18 games he’s hit a solid .275 with a superb .441 OBP and strong .471 SLG. If you’re dropping anyone with that slash line, even in a super shallow league, you’ve got some explaining to do.

Josh Reddick has appeared in 13 games for the Athletics with impressive results. He’s hit .348 with a .412 OBP and .522 SLG. He’s a nice add off waivers if he’s lying around. Don’t go crazy though. He’s still failed to appear in 115 games either of the past two seasons, his career slash line is blahtastic (.247/.307/.433) and he is terrible against lefties (career: .229/.290/.398).

THIS WEEK

Make sure to read Jeff Man’s breakdown of Week 4 – vital read as you set your lineups.