Manny Banuelos has made five starts. His last one was the shortest at 2.2 innings, but in none of the five has he lasted six innings. No Bueno. He’s walk more than four batters per nine innings. He’s striking out less than six batters per nine innings. Not good. His 1.48 WHIP speaks more to what we’re seeing from him than his 3.33 ERA (SIERA 5.03 and xFIP 5.09). Dude threw 76.2 innings last season. He’s already at 129 innings. How many more frames will the Braves let the youngster throw?

 
Rubby De La Rosa is 12-6 despite poor ratios (4.46 ERA, 1.30 WHIP). His walk rate isn’t nuts, 2.69 per nine is a solid mark, but his 7.10 K/9 mark is really boring stuff. Big fan of the 49 percent ground ball rate though. Since August began he’s 4-1, even though his ERA (4.00) and strikeout rate (5.50) are poor. Only once in the six outings has he allowed more than three runs, which helps explain the win-loss record. A solid arm who is pitching well, but nothing to get all pumped up about.
 
Anthony DeSclafani has a 3.87 ERA and 1.35 WHIP with a 7.00 K/9 mark and a 3.01 BB/9 rate. You would struggle to find an arm that is any more league average across the board. Similar league average stuff includes his 9.3 percent HR/F ratio and .306 BABIP. Only once in eight starts has he allowed more than three earned runs, but even so his 3.62 ERA is barely better than his season long mark. He’s just a blah option.
 
Dan Haren has a 3.89 ERA, a league average mark that would be a 4-year best. Haren has a 1.15 WHIP giving him a 1.17 mark over his last 59 starts. That’s pretty impressive. He’s working on a 5th straight year with a walk rate under 1.95 per nine. Alas, there are concerns. His 6.31 K/9 mark is a decade low, and he’s being battered by the long ball. No longer capable of keeping his heater at 91 mph, he’s barely at 86 mph this season. When he makes a mistake it gets hammered leading to a 1.69 HR/9 mark which is terrible even for him. His 12.4 HR/F ratio isn’t too off (career11.0) but he’s allowing a whopping 49 percent fly ball rate, 10 percentage points above his career mark. His blowup potential is very high.
 
Rick Porcello struck out 13 batters in his last start, the most of his career. In two starts in August he’s been nails allowing three runs (one earned) while striking out 18 while walking one over 15 innings. He’s likely on waivers in a ton of leagues. Should you be adding him? Well… over his last 14 starts he’s allowed at least five earned runs six times. That’s not very good, at all. He’s also the owner of a 5.21 ERA and 1.36 WHIP, poor numbers. Not walking anyone, less than two per nine, and his 7.63 K/9 mark is a career best and two full batters above last season’s mark (5.67). Overall he’s been so poor it’s really tough to trust his last two starts.
 
Robbie Ray is 3-10. Yikes. He’s the owner of a 3.72 ERA and 1.32 WHIP. That’s totally league average. About the only redeeming fantasy tweet is his 8.10 K/9 mark. In three of his last four starts he failed to last six innings, and twice he failed to reach five. Over his last six starts he’s gone 0-5 with a 6.00 ERA while walking 5.40 batters per nine. He threw 129 innings last season and this season he’s at a career-high of 138 innings.
 
Danny Salazar has a 10.23 per nine strikeout mark (172 S in 151.1 innings). Everyone know he’s a big time K-artist. How many folks realize that Salazar has walked only 2.50 batters per nine or that he has a 1.08 WHIP? That’s an elite number is it not? He’s rounding into form as one of the better right handed starters in the junior circuit.
 
Hector Santiago is wearing down under the weight of career-high 152.1 innings. His numbers look sharp – a 3.37 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 8.39 K/9 mark – but of late he doesn’t look anything like that guy. The last two starts he’s lasted a total of seven innings while allowing three homers and 10 runs. Over his last three starts the numbers are pretty darn awful: 10.13 ERA, 2.25 WHIP. Don’t know how you can start him at the moment.
 
Chris Tillman is 9-10 with a 4.87 ERA and 1.36 WHIP, really poor numbers from a guy who was very solid the last two years. He had a good stretch there for a while – he allowed two or fewer runs in 6-straight starts from June 28th to the July 29th – but he’s back to being a spotty option on the bump. Twice in his last five starts he’s allowed at least five earned runs without recording five innings of outs. Can’t trust him at all at this point.
 
Finally, Stephen Strasburg won’t start Friday (Tanner Roark will) for the Nationals. Strasburg’s back is bother him again. What a disaster.
 
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 ).