DFS PLAYBOOK PRO – An exciting offering from the Alarm is the DFS Playbook Pro. I will be doing a daily breakdown of the hitters – Hitting Coach – while Howard Bender looks into the Pitchers (Pitching Coach). You can find the link to the Hitting and Pitching articles under the DFS Playbook pro tab at the top right of the screen.

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SURGING

Zach Godley has impressed to this point. He threw six scoreless Monday for the Diamondbacks as he moved to 3-0 through three starts. There’s great stuff here too given a 1.50 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 8.50 K/9, 3.40 K/BB and 55 percent ground ball rate. At High-A ball this year, yes he threw 14 innings at Double-A but he made 12 starts (14 outings) at A-ball, Godley had a 51 percent ground ball rate and struck out 78 batters in 75.1 innings. You know what I think about guys that lack experience, and this guy has less than 200-innings of pro work under his belt, but the 25 year old certainly looks pretty sharp and is worth adding in most leagues until he cools.

I still get queries from folks about whether or not Jose Quintana is someone they should hold on to or move on from? I just don’t understand the question to be honest. The record is 6-9 and that’s bad, but so what. Win/loss records do not, for the 1,749th time, tell you much about the hurler. The 3.50 ERA and 1.27 WHIP aren’t great either, I get it, but come on now. Over his last 13 outings Quintana has a 2.78 ERA and 1.23 WHIP. On the year Carlos Martinez has a 2.61 ERA and 1.26 WHIP. Are you benching/moving on from him? Moreover, only once in 13 outings has Quintana failed to go six innings. Only once in 13 starts has Quintana allowed more than three runs (both of those things happened on July 18th when he allowed four runs in 5.1 innings). There haven’t been many who are more consistent over the last three months.

Stephen Strasburg looked solid in his second rehab outing Monday and is on track to return from his oblique issue later this week, even if the team didn’t make an official announcement. The question is, who gets booted from the rotation? If we’re basing the decision on performance Doug Fister would hit the pen. In 164 innings last season he allowed 44 earned runs over 164 innings. He’s allowed 44 earned runs this season as well… over 86 innings. Fister is pretty much a mess right now. Meanwhile… Joe Ross is killing it. Ross is the 1st hurler since 1914 to begin his big league career with at least four strikeouts and no more than one walk in each outing. But Ross has been much better than that. Over his six outings he owns a 3.00 ERA and 0.92 WHIP. Those numbers play anywhere. What about 40 Ks in 39 innings? Yes sir. How about four walks in six starts leading to a 0.92 BB/9? You bet. Then there is this. Just like his older brother, who I’ll touch on in a moment, Ross is a dynamite ground ball inducer with a mark of 53.4 percent. Grounders, strikeouts and no walks… the trifecta of pitching. Hopefully he sticks in the rotation when Strasburg is activated.

Tyson Ross is still walking too many batters over his last nine starts – an average of 3.57 per nine – but he’s also pretty locked in in terms of the overall performance he’s putting forth. Ross is 5-1 in that time and hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any outing. In fact, his ERA sits at 2.55 (recall it was 2.81 last season). Ross also has 53 strikeouts in 53 innings and is looking pretty much exactly like the guy he was last season.

I heard this on SiriusXM Backspin today (ch. 46), and thought those of you out there who are about my age would love a trip back in time. Those that aren’t over 35, well, you might still find it humorous/entertaining.

 

FALLING

Matt Cain just looks like… a guy. Through six starts he’s not missing bats (6.55 per nine on the K-rate), is allowing a lot of big flies (1.36 per nine), is allowing batters to hit nearly .300 off him and he has a 1.45 WHIP. About the only solid thing to note is that he’s walked eight guys in six trips to the bump. Stay away. Nothing to like at the moment.

Jesse Chavez allowed six runs over just 3.2 innings Monday against the Orioles. That effort brought his ERA up to 3.88 and his WHIP to 1.31. Not great at all. Not that far off last year mind you (3.45 and 1.31), but it’s been bad of late. Over his last eight starts Chavez has gone 2-5 with a 6.58 ERA, 1.74 WHIP and has allowed seven big flies. He cannot be trusted, or started, at the moment. Is the workload catching up to him a season after he threw a career-high 146 innings? Don’t forget that was a massive jump over his 2013 mark (87.1 innings).

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Tom Koehler was just about on the cusp of being recommended… until his last two starts. From 6/15 to 7/23 he posted a 1.62 ERA over six starts never allowing more than two earned runs in a start. So much for that. Over his last two starts Tom has been bombed for 12 runs (11 earned) in 10.1 innings. Those beatings have taken his ERA back up to 3.71. Given that he only has a 6.53 K/9 rate he really needs strong ratios to be a confident start in mixed leagues (his 1.23 WHIP passes that test). He simply doesn’t miss enough bats, walks too many (3.12 per nine) and allows the big fly just a tad too much (1.11). Pitch him at home in the right matchups (3.07 ERA, 1.09 WHIP).

Lance McCullers was bombed without mercy Monday night as he allowed six runs while recording a single out against the Rangers in one of the worst efforts in recent memory. After the game he was demoted to the minors, likely just so he could rest his arm (a demotion means he is ineligible to return for 10 days). He might pitch down on the farm, or he might just chill. Should be pointed out that there might be some workload concern here as well. Here are Lance’s innings pitched marks his four years as a pro.

2012: 26 innings

2013: 104.2 innings

2014: 97 innings

2015: 105.2 innings

He just doesn’t have any innings on that right arm. That means we could see Vincent Velasquez start, Maybe Dan Straily, perhaps even Mark Appel will be seen before years end.

Wily Peralta has had a rough year health-wise, and unfortunately his performance when healthy has stunk too. Peralta allowed six runs Monday to the Padres and his ERA sits at 4.55 and his WHIP is 1.50. He’s also seen more than a batter and a quarter regression in his K-rate (down to 5.68), and his homer rate is up from 1.04 per nine to 1.28. Until he starts missing more bats you cannot trust him – even in league specific setups. 


Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday at 8 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 9 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).