Carlos Carrasco has a 3.12 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 9.00 K/9, 2.18 BB/9 and a 48.2 percent ground ball rate. You will get no complaints from me regarding his performance to date. None. He was also great in his last start holding the Athletics scoreless for eight innings with nine punchouts and no walks. That’s a great sign but it still doesn’t completely remove the stain that his month of August has been wrought on his owners. Well, sort of. Carrasco has a 5.01 ERA in five starts even though he’s walked just four men with 38 punchouts, so in total he’s still be just fine. The reason the ERA has been up is the homer as he’s allowed five in the five starts. Take out the homers and it is quintessential Carrasco.

A.J. Cole has been called on to take the roster spot of Stephen Strasburg and in his first start the righty held the Orioles, a pretty potent offense, to four runs while striking out eight against two walks over seven frames. It was a pretty moderate outing for Cole, but it also wasn’t a bloodbath against a potentially difficult club. In 22 starts at Triple-A he posted a 4.26 ERA and 1.33 WHIP with 109 strikeouts in 124.2 innings, passable numbers but nothing to get worked up about. Nothing more than a streaming option for however long he holds a spot in the rotation.

Doug Fister rebounded from allowing nine runs over 11 innings in two starts to toss seven shutout innings against the Pirates. The win, his 12th of the year, lowered his ERA to 3.59 and his WHIP to 1.27. He’s done a great job limiting the big fly with just three bombs allowed his last nine outings. Solid is as solid does.

Zack Godley owns a 5.87 ERA with a 1.54 WHIP in eight starts this season. This comes on the heels of his bombing at the hand of the Braves (seven runs over five innings). Before that outing he had allowed three runs over two starts against the Mets and the Red Sox. Godley owns one skill of note, his ability to generate grounders with a 52.5 percent ground ball rate. The rest of the pitching line – pretty boring stuff.

Jon Lester has won his last five decisions including each of his last two outings. Each of those outings has been a one run allowed affair as he’s walked a total of four batters against 15 strikeouts over 12.2 innings. This just in – he’s good.

Jimmy Nelson threw six innings for the first time in seven starts against the Rockies as he managed a quality start allowing two runs in his last outing. Only once in five starts has he generated more than four strikeouts. Only once in four starts has he kept the ball in the yard. It’s a craptastic season of mediocrity. I was wrong about Nelson. Sorry about that.

Michael Pineda did it again, and by that I mean he was a total letdown after getting hopes up. Check this out. Here are his earned runs allowed totals of his last seven starts. The only pattern you will find is the absence of a pattern:  0, 1, 5, 4, 2, 0 and 5. Four strong outings. Three poor ones. That run just continues the recent trend of uneven, frustrating work that seems to be Pineda’s calling card at this point. I think we should rename him Michael Disappointment. Who’s in with me?

David Price is finally starting to look like himself. Dylan Bundy is slowing down and it is something to keep an eye on going forward. Homer Bailey wishes he was still on the DL after the Dodgers rocked him Monday. CHECK OUT THE DAILY DIVE VIDEO.

Blake Snell has been, dare I say it, just flat out blah this season. You will hear people making arguments for him, but I have had it with those folks. He’s not been good. He has 69 strikeouts in 65.1 innings. That’s really good. His ERA is 3.17. That mark seems good but it’s a mirage that hides a bunch of crap. Snell is 4-6. His walk rate would make Nuke Laloosh blush at 5.51 per nine. It’s just embarrassing. The resulting 1.73 K/BB ratio is flat out pathetic. The 1.16 GB/FB ratio is just league average. Three homers in 13 starts is solid too, I’ll give him that. But my goodness, it’s been 5-straight outings for Snell with 5.1 or fewer innings pitched and two of the last three outings he’s failed to reach four frames. Folks, he’s been atrocious his last three starts: 13 walks and 14 hits allowed over 10.1 innings. Starting him now is borderline suicidal.  

Jameson Taillon generated a Player Profile back on June 7th. As I noted, he came through the minors as an elite prospect. I also wrote this. “You really cannot pitch much better than he has. His skills and performance say he is ready for the big leagues right now.” I then went on to note that he had never thrown 150-innings in a season and even worse, that injury had limited him nary an official pitch in two seasons. That’s the big concern with Taillon at the moment. After failing to throw an official pitch in 2014 or 2105 he’s up to 74 innings with the Pirates and 61.2 innings in the minors. So no pitches the last two seasons to 135.2 innings this season. Just how many frames with the Pirates allow the righty to throw no matter how well he is pitching? Taillon has been dynamic for a rookie with a 2.92 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and just 10 walks in 12 starts. He’s been exactly as advertised, and that’s damn impressive. He’s also tossed in a 2.27 GB/FB ratio to further bolster his case as a burgeoning fantasy ace. The Pirates are still in the Wild Card race but they have to know they cannot mortgage their future with Taillon simply to make the playoffs. Make sure you have a plan in place when starts are skipped or Jameson is flat out shut down.

 

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).