Jerad Eickhoff has made 20 starts with a 3.98 ERA and 1.27 WHIP this season. Those are really good numbers for a guy in his first full season, and through 171 career innings the Phillies righty has a 3.58 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and a 8.00 K/9 mark. Toss in a 2.26 BB/9 mark, and we’ve got the making of a very solid big league arm here. The 1.15 GB/FB ratio and 1.05 HR/9 are average numbers, but there are a whole lot of big league hurlers who sit in that range that make the all-star team. Like what I’m seeing from him and Aaron Nola. If Vincent Velasquez could just stay healthy…

Mike Foltynewicz has a smooth delivery and throws 95 mph. He’s also struck out more than eight batters per nine innings since the start of last season. He also has a solid 3.06 K/BB ratio this season over his 11 starts. In 6-of-7 starts he’s allowed three or fewer runs offering consistently solid work. He also walked five guys last time out, and four outings ago he allowed four homers to the Phillies. Overall the 3.79 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 8.03 K/9 marks all play, but his inconsistent start-to-start efforts make him hard to trust.

Cause I had someone ask… Tom Koehler was sharp against the Phillies in his last outing holding the club to three runs, one earned, over eight innings (he only allowed two hits though unfortunately both were homers).  He’s 7-8 with a 4.42 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, 7.00 K/9 and 4.42 BB/9. Best case he’s a spot starter in NL-only leagues (righties have a .312 wOBA against this season). That’s it.

Francisco Liriano dominated the Brewers in his last start striking out 13, without a walk, over 6.2 innings. Even so, he still allowed three runs, two earned, though that was a strong outing indeed. I had all kinds of questions flooding my account about Liriano, and I had the same answer to all of the questions that I would have had before that outing. Liriano has elite arm talent. He has a borderline elite strikeout rate. He also leads baseball in BB/9 and is just as likely to strike out 10 batters as he is to get bombed for five runs over four innings. He’s also thrown 190-innings once in an 11-year career. #CannotTrust

Matt Moore has thrown 5-straight quality starts up there for the Rays. He’s walked more than two batters just once his last 10-outings. Really good stuff. Alas, he hasn’t struck out more than six guys in 9-of-10 outings and has allowed a homer in each of the past 4-games. Baby steps, but he’s not “back” yet.

CC Sabathia is 5-8 with a 4.04 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Those the numbers everyone should have been expecting/hoping for if they rostered Sabathia in March. Alas, he’s been all over the place from start to start. Over eight starts from April 27th to June 16th, he posted a 1.26 ERA, a 1.06 WHIP and struck out 8.28 batters per nine. Over his last six starts he’s imploded with a 7.46 ERA, 1.63 WHIP and a 5.14 K/9 rate. He’s a mess and really, and unless you’re in at least a 15-team mixed league he’s not even worthy of a roster spot.

Stephen Strasburg lost for the first time this season to fall to 13-1 for the Nationals. He was pounded for two homers and six runs over six innings against the Dodgers. He’s still the owner of a 2.83 ERA and 1.00 WHIP with 148 strikeouts over 120.2 innings. That’s all elite. Can he stay healthy? Since 2012, his first season of 150-innings pitched, his last four seasons have produced an average of 171 innings. He’s at 120.2 right now.

Chris Tillman is an amazing 14-2 with a 3.18 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. The wins are two off a career best. In a season of 100-innings he’s only posted an ERA under 3.70 once. Only once in seven years has his WHIP been under 1.22. The last two seasons he had K/9 rates of 6.51 and 6.24. The mark is 7.63 right now which would be only the second time in eight years that the mark has hit seven. His 3.39 walk rate is worse than his league average of 3.21. His 1.04 GB/FB ratio is the same as always (1.00 career). I keep saying it, and it’s still true, that he’s just not as good as he appears to be. It’s obvious. More data. For his career his SIERA is 4.41. The mark is 4.48 this season. For his career his xFIP is 4.44. His career is 4.39 this season. He’s not pitching any differently than the guy who has posted a 4.07 ERA and 1.30 WHIP over 170 career starts.

Adam Wainwright is 9-5 with a 4.09 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 7.11 K/9 mark. Those are just numbers for the nearly 35 year old righty. However, his outlook is certainly much better than that right now. Since the start of June Waino has made nine starts. He’s posted 59 strikeouts in those 60.2 innings which is excellent. He’s posted a 2.37 ERA which is excellent. He’s posted a 1.04 WHIP which is excellent. He hasn’t allowed a single homer in nine starts. That’s insane. He hasn’t pitched this well since 2014. The real question is – who is he the rest of the way? (1) Is he the star of the last seven weeks OR (2) is he the hurler who has posted average numbers over the course of the season? I would say split the difference. That means expecting a guy with a 3.25 ERA, maybe 7.5 strikeouts per nine, and a 1.20 WHIP the rest of the way. Look at that. Just did something I never do – I tossed out actual projections. Mr. Wainwright should consider himself to be special.

DFS DIAMONDS

*The following list of players are guys that Ray recommends as daily plays.

CATCHER: Tony Wolters has a hit in each of his last five games. In those five outings he’s also driven in seven runners. He faces Yovani Gallardo who has walked four batters each of the last three outings and in July Yovani has a 5.57 ERA and 1.90 WHIP.     

FIRST BASE: Joey Votto versus righties this season: .291/.435/.513. Joey Votto in July: .407/.560/.630. Joey Votto since the All-Star break: .517/.650/.862. He’s 3-for-10 against Jake Peavy.

SECOND BASE: Starlin Castro has a homer, eight RBI and a .314 batting average his last 10 games. He’s also hit much better against lefties this season (.279/.330/.442). He faces lefty Dallas Keuchel.     

THIRD BASE: Danny Valencia has, as always, mashed lefties to the tune of a .359/.425/.603 line this season. Martin Perez has allowed a .299 batting average to righties this season. He’s allowed 19 runs his last 15.2 innings.

SHORTSTOP: Andrelton Simmons has been lighting it up in July with little fanfare. He’s hit .426 with a .446 OBP and .559 SLG over those 19 games. Ian Kennedy has a 5.66 ERA and 1.31 WHIP through four starts in July.    
  
OUTFIELD: Carlos Gonzalez faces the weak Yovani Gallardo with a .412 average and one homer in 17 at-bats. He’s also walked in 4-straight games and over the last six outings he has a hit each time while scoring six runs.

OUTFIELD: Christian Yelich has mashes righties with a .333/.414/.544 line. He’s mashing everyone in July (.370/.402/.593). In those 19 games he’s hit four homers, driven in 16 runs and scored 15 times. He’s hit .429 against Jeremy Hellickson (6-for-14).

OUTFIELD: Carlos Beltran has at least wo hits in five of eight games. He’s hit two homers with four RBI his last five games. He’s hit .417 with a homer against Dallas Keuchel, and on the road this season he’s batting .310/.329/.503.   

 

Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday, 7 PM EDT and Friday on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 7 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).