Jose Berrios was deservedly sent to the minors for a second time after another abysmal series of outings with the Twins. This is what happens with rookies, and why I harang folks all the time when they go nuts with rookie love. (1) Berrios is an elite talent. (2) Berrios is a polished pitcher. (3) He has pitched well in the minors this season (10-5, 2.44 ERA, 1.01 WHIP). The result with the Twins? Utter devastation of epic proportions as he’s made nine starts with a 9.24 ERA and 1.97 WHIP. He’s been ghastly to the point of actually vomiting. Everything said he should be successful this season, and he hasn’t been. He’s still a strong dynasty league option, but he’s destroyed anyone who had faith in him in leagues this season. #DontCountOnRookiesNoMatterHowTalentedTheyAre

Cole Hamels has 14 victories with a 2.67 ERA and 167 strikeouts over 168.2 innings. He’s been exactly what the Rangers were hoping they were getting from the Phillies. This lefty has made eight starts since the All-Star game going 5-2 with a 1.59 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 9.21 strikeouts per nine, and almost as importantly, two more numbers. (1) He’s allowed three homers in eight outings. (2) He’s walked 14 men leading to a 2.22 BB/9 rate, a full batter below his 3.25 career rate. He’s pitching great.

J.A. Happ had a 3.61 ERA and 1.27 WHIP last season. I was dubious he could repeat. He’s actually improved as he’s gone 17-4 with a 3.19 ERA and 1.15 WHIP. I’ve been waiting all season long for his implosion, and it just hasn’t come. I’ve been wrong with Happ. Maybe the crack is finally starting to widen. Over his last two outings Happ has allowed three homers and eight runs over 12.1 frames. Far too small a sample size to get nervous… unless you’re someone like me who has assumed all along that the bottom would fall out. That 80.4 percent left on base percentage scares the heck out of me since that number is only reach a handful of times each season. Reality check. Even with all his success, Happ still has a 4.03 SIERA and 3.93 xFIP. His career numbers are 4.19 and 4.20. #Caution

Eduardo Rodriguez is just not a good pitcher; he never has been. Kevin Gausman is pitching extremely well at the moment. Andrew Triggs is not the next Felix Hernandez but he isn’t hurting himself on the mound.  CHECK OUT THE DAILY DIVE VIDEO.

Tom Koehler has gone 7-consecutive outings with producing a quality start – three or fewer earned runs over six innings pitched. He has allowed three homers his last three starts, but only three in six starts. Just not beating himself with the walk as he has issued nine in seven games helping him to a 2.00 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP.

Chad Kuhl isn’t the flashy name of Jameson Taillon and Tyler Glasnow, but boy has he given the Pirates a boost. In eight starts the youngster has gone 3-1 with a 3.50 ERA and 1.17 WHIP. He’s kept the WHIP down thanks to a curtailing of walks, just 2.27 per nine. However, my normal worries apply. (1) His 5.56 K/9 rate is terrible. (2) His 1.03 HR/9 rate is league average. (3) His BABIP of .263 is likely to rise. (4) He’s also struggled against lefties allowing them to post a .340 wOBA and a .471 SLG. He’s thrown 5-straight quality starts, all with six innings pitched and no more than two runs, but he’s also never completed seven innings and has only once gotten more than 18 outs (19 in his last start). Just a guy… who is pitching very well.

Daniel Norris has made seven starts this season for the Tigers. He’s completed six innings one time (read that again). At the same time he’s yet to allow more than three runs in an outing leading to a passable 3.74 ERA. That all sounds decent enough, but he’s getting beaten (.367 BABIP) leading to a terrible 1.60 WHIP. With no length to his game he’s hard to trust even with just one homer allowed last six games (he owns a decent 1.30 GB/FB ratio).

Jake Odorizzi, Drew Pomeranz and Matt Moore were all discussed in this edition of the Daily Dive.

Max Scherzer has struck out 225 batters for 5th straight season. He is the only pitcher in baseball to have accomplished that feat. No other pitcher, other than Clayton Kershaw who has done it four times, has done it more than twice in the last five years. In fact, Kershaw and Scherzer are the only two pitchers in the 21stcentury with 225 strikeouts five times.

Josh Tomlin meet dumpster fire, one that is burning not just with flame but some accelerant like acetone on it. I wrote this about Tomlin as far back as 2012. “So, will I target Tomlin in an AL-only league? There's no chance of that happening, but that doesn't mean he won't be a solid option in that setup though one that has some serious warts.” I wasn’t even willing to add him in an AL-only league with confidence all those years back. Flash forward to his 2016 Player Profile. “I just can’t understand why you would be looking the 31 year old’s way at the draft table. I want to like the guy who appears to have finally figured out some things but there are yellow flags everywhere with Tomlin.” I didn’t even suggest taking a shot in AL-only leagues. “There’s uncertainty everywhere, but there’s also no love for him which will keep the cost low. Guys like Chris Young routinely outperform their measureables so perhaps Tomlin can as well. Not likely, but perhaps.” It’s been a slaughter house the last five starts as he’s gone 0-5 with nine homers allowed, a 10.80 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP. #FireUpTheDumpster

Adam Wainwright stinks. I said he was going to be slightly better than average before the season began. I don’t know this for certain, but of all the major sources I saw this preseason I believe I had him ranked the lowest. He then popped off on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio and called our industry idiots for having him ranked so low. Well Mr. Wainwright… as my eight year old niece would say… in your face! Waino has seen his record drop to 9-8, his ERA climb to 4.67, his WHIP rise to 1.38 and his K/9 rate of 7.04 is also below the league average. He’s not even a league average hurler this season. Worse, his last four starts he has an 8.53 ERA… and that doesn’t include six unearned runs which, when included, means Wainwright has allowed 23 runs his last 19 innings. He’s one of the worst pitchers in baseball at the moment.

Matt Wisler has made 21 starts this season, 22 outings, with a 5-11 record, 4.92 ERA and 1.29 WHIP with a mere 6.58 K/9 for the Braves. He also owns a 0.94 GB/FB ratio that has led to a brutal 1.52 HR/9 rate this season and a 1.43 mark over 239 career innings. He’s just a guy. The poster boy of that designation. He allowed one run over eight innings against the Diamondbacks his last outing. So what. You do realize that over his previous four starts that he allowed 25 runs in 20.1 innings, right?

 

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).