Bartolo Colon has a 3.35 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 10 wins for the Mets. Noah Syndergaard has nine wins, a 2.75 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. Take in those numbers for a moment. Do you feel nauseous like I do?

Anthony DeSclafani has made 11 strong starts for the Reds this season with a 6-1 record, 3.11 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. Those are all solid numbers. Can say the same thing about his 7.84 K/9 mark and 2.24 BB/9 rate. In the solid category are his 1.07 GB/FB ratio, 1.12 HR/9 rate and .303 BABIP. In his 12 starts this season he’s allowed more than three earned runs once. Not great, but a stable, solid youngster on the bump.

I spoke about the struggles of Felix Hernandez Thursday in the Daily Dive video. I also spoke about Blake Snell being overrated and Edwin Jackson, surprisingly, pitching well.

Jaime Garcia allowed six runs on July 30th. His last two times out he’s allowed two runs. The good news is that he’s walked three batters in four games, and after three games in a row in which he failed to reach six innings he’s tossed eight frames in back-to-back outings. Over his last eight trips out there he’s won four games with a 3.65 ERA. He does have a 1.16 WHIP in that time, but the 7.11 K/9 rate and 1.09 HR/9 mark are middling. His total of 137.1 innings are a five year high, so it’s fair to wonder about how many bullets he still has to fire before something breaks.

Gio Gonzalez allowed four runs Wednesday night to end a run of 5-straight games of two earned runs or less. The good news is that he’s walked just eight batters his last five outings while giving up only two big flies. On the year he has an 8.55 K/9 rate with a 1.39 GB/FB and 1.32 WHIP. His career numbers are 8.80, 1.44 and 1.32.

Ian Kennedy has had some ups and downs, but right now he’s looking pretty sharp. In each of his last three outings he’s allowed no more than one run while generating six innings of work (in total, he has allowed two runs over 19.1 frames). The key for him, as always, is keeping the ball in the yard. He’s permitted one homer his last four starts, coming on the heels of allowing four big flies in one start (July 20th versus the Indians). On the year Kennedy has a 3.91 ERA and 1.20 WHIP. His career numbers are 3.97 and 1.27. Kennedy has a 9.02 K/9 rate with 134 punchouts in 133.2 innings. He’s on pace for a third straight season with at least one punchout per inning pitched.

David Phelps has made two starts for the Marlins as he tries to stretch his arm out. In those two outings he’s looked sharp, much like he has all season long working out of the bullpen. Phelps has allowed one run with nine strikeouts and four walks over 9.1 frames. The numbers are really good, a 2.40 ERA and 1.16 WHIP, with 78 punchouts over 63.2 innings. He’s not that guy. No way. His numbers as a big leaguer are as league average as you could find. Better he has been this year by a ton, but that’s solely because he was throwing one inning an outing. It’s intriguing, but I remain cautious.

Drew Pomeranz has made five starts with the Red Sox. Three of the outings have been decent, two have been poor. One of the three solid outings was a two run in six inning effort against the Mariners. Still, he walked six guys that game, so is that really a positive effort? On balance I guess it is. In his five starts in Beantown Drew is 0-2 with a 5.26 ERA and 1.60 WHIP. Atrocious numbers. We will all take the strikeout an inning, his K/9 rate is 9.12, but those punchouts continue to be negated by the walk as Drew has a 4.56 BB/9 rate in five starts. I say it all the time, you can’t consistently succeed as a starting pitcher if you’re walking more than 4.50 batters per nine innings. Can’t.

Robbie Ray has 156 strikeouts in 128 innings for the Diamondbacks. That’s an elite 10.97 K/9 mark. Stephen Strasburg’s career mark is 10.52 by the way. So why is Ray 5-11 with a 4.57 ERA? Well, first off, his 3.30 BB/9 rate is slightly worse than the league average. His 1.20 HR/9 mark is slightly worse than the league average. His .354 BABIP is way worse than the league average. His 22.9 percent line drive rate is worse than the league average. The line drive mark and BABIP could easily come down, but he still has a problem – right-handed batters. This season righties have hit .273 with a .347 OBP and .443 SLG against Ray. Until he figures out how to lower all three of those numbers his success will be hit or miss.

Jeff Samardzija is using a new pitch, a curveball, and he looked much better Wednesday as he allowed nary a run over 5.2 frames against the Marlins. JS has been lost for a while now, so it will take more than one good start to get him back into the fantasy gods good graces. Over his last 12 outings, since June began, he is 3-5 with a 5.73 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and an alarming 2.04 HR/9 mark. Alas, his 5.22 K/9 rate in that time might be even more concerning that all those other poor numbers.

Josh Tomlin has allowed a homer in 11-straight games and only twice in 21 outings this season has he kept the ball in the yard. Remarkable ineptitude. He’s allowed 14 runs his last two starts, covering 8.2 innings. Over his last 13 starts his ERA is 4.71, his WHIP is 1.33. Move on. It’s time.

DFS DIAMONDS

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

CATCHER: Cameron Rupp has a tough matchup against Jon Gray, though the righty was bombed last time out. Rupp has a .445 SLG with nine homers in 218 at-bats against righties this season, and in six August games he’s hit .292 with three homers, 10 RBI and a 1.054 OPS. He also has a .869 OPS at home this season.    

FIRST BASE: Freddie Freeman has three homers his last six games. He’s scored at least one run in each of those games as he’s scored nine total runs. He’s always hit Stephen Strasburg with three homers, nine RBI and a 1.203 OPS over 39 plate appearances.   

SECOND BASE: Logan Forsythe has hit .444 against CC Sabathia with two homers (18 at-bats). Moreover, check out his rock star August: .390/.479/.634. He’s hit three homers in five games overall.

THIRD BASE: Evan Longoria has hit six homers with 14 RBI and 13 walks in 81 plate appearances against CC. His slash line is .388/.494/.791. Too much history to overlook.

SHORTSTOP: Addison Russell has a .845 OPS at home this year. He has a .763 OPS against righties. He has a .747 mark in August. He has an .817 OPS in day games. Adam Wainwright has looked decidedly junky his last three outings: 2 HRs, 25 hits, five walks and 12 in 17.2 innings.   
  
OUTFIELD: Jacoby Ellsbury has 18 hits in 28 at-bats leading to a .643 batting against Chris Archer. Ellsbury has five RBI his last four games and is batting .342 with a .409 OBP in August.   

OUTFIELD: Nick Markakis has hit .378/.375/.595 with two homers and 10 RBI in 10 August games. That’s a .970 OPS folks. He has a .279/.361/.415 line against righties this season and is 5-for-15 against Stephen Strasburg (.333 with a .375 OBP).

OUTFIELD: Ryan Braun, fresh off a day off, faces Homer Bailey with a .353/.405/.647 slash line over 37 plate appearances. He’s also hit two homers with seven RBI. In August his slash line is .367/.459/.867 with five homers and 12 RBI in eight games.     

 

Ray Flowers can be heard Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday, 8 PM EDT, Wednesday 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 11 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).