Matt Andriese was a starter, then reliever, now he’s back to starting. The results of late have been poor (0-4, 7.76 ERA, 1.59 WHIP despite 32 strikeouts and five walks over 29 innings), but honestly, I blame the Rays. They did the same thing with Erasmo Ramirez. Give a guy a role and let him run with it. Changing a fella back and forth doesn’t work.

Dillon Gee has made three strong starts for the Royals lasting 18.1 innings with two wins, 14 strikeouts and two walks. The lack of walks is a sample size thing, he’s at 2.83 for his career though he has been under that mark each of the past four seasons. The skills are very moderate, but it seems like whomever the Royals throw out there at the moment are having success.

Jon Gray the last three years has thrown 37.1, 124.1 and 155 innings. This season he’s up to 147.1. With the Rockies going nowhere, there’s always the chance the team limits his innings ROTW. Good to see though that he’s allowed two runs his last two starts after the three previous outings he was bombed for 19 runs over 12 innings. Over his last nine outings he’s 4-2 with a 3.96 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 3.60 walks per nine. All of that is struggling to be league average. The 55 punchouts in 50 innings impresses, but overall he still pitches at Coors and he just can’t seem to get those ratios down.

Hisashi Iwakuma allowed five runs in his last outing as he lasted just three frames against the Rangers. Heard a couple of folks getting really nervous with the hurler. Why? Over his last six starts he has walked five men, has a 3.28 ERA, a 1.18 WHIP and a 4.80 K/BB ratio. That’s all-star level work.

Kenta Maeda, back from the minors (he was “demoted” because of a roster crunch), held the Rockies to two runs in five innings in Colorado, which is an achievement. That’s 7-starts in a row in which Maeda has allowed three or fewer earned runs. Alas, five of those seven starts he’s failed to complete six innings. He’s also allowed five homers his last four starts and only once in eight starts does he have more than six strikeouts. He’s not limping to the finish line but he’s certainly not surging either.

Wade Miley has allowed three homers his last two outings. He’s also walked just five guys with 15 strikeouts. Oh yeah, he permitted just five runs too. Of course, that comes on the heels of the back-to-back six earned run efforts. He is what he is. A mixed league option as a streamer, nothing more. He’s much better off facing a lineup full of lefties (.244/.302/.397).

Joe Musgrove tossed 5.1 shutout frames against the Athletics in his last start. It really wasn’t that strong an outing though. Joe walked three batters and he also hit two others in the effort. He’s allowed five homers his last four starts, and in two of his last three outings he struck out a mere two batters. The walks in his last outing are odd, he walked just three batters his first five trips to the hill, but over his first five big league starts he has a 5.02 ERA, 1.33 WHIP with a 1.57 HR/9 mark. Love the 4.80 K/BB ratio, but I need to see more before I’m confident in his arm.

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Masahiro Tanaka has been great for the Yankees this season. Zack Greinke’s K/BB ratio takes a hit. What is HAPP-ending with J.A. Happ lately? CHECK OUT THE DAILY DIVE VIDEO.

Michael Pineda, well, at least he’s healthy. He’s allowed five runs in each of his last two outings continuing his maddening rollercoaster like trend. However, he’s only walked two men in three games, against 16 strikeouts. He’s also allowed just one big fly over four outings. How a guy can have a 10.24 K/9 and a 2.44 BB/9 and be this bad? It just vexes me.

Tanner Roark has thrown seven scoreless innings, or more, eight times this season which is the most in baseball. In nine outings since the All-Star Game Roark is 6-2 with a 2.61 ERA and 1.11 WHIP. This despite a significant drop in his K/9 rate, the number is just 5.83 per nine in those nine starts, while his walk rate is up to 3.07. Hell, his HR/9 rate is up to at 1.07 as well. Let’s just say he doesn’t deserve those sparkling ratios. His last nine starts his FIP (4.78) and xFIP (5.18) suggest just how fortunate Roark has been.

Matt Shoemaker has a 3.06 ERA his last nine starts since the All-Star break. Alas, he’s gone a mere 5-4 for the Angels, and with just 44 strikeouts in 61.2 innings his 6.42 K/9 rate is more than a batter an a half off his 8.00 season long mark. Luckily for him he continues to eschew the free pass having walked just eight batters in nine starts, and though he’s allowed three homers in three games it’s just five in the nine outings overall. He’s also given the Angels innings having lasted at least six frames in all nine of those starts.

It had to end sometime. Dan Straily was blasted by the Angels in his last outing permitting seven runs while adding only 2.2 innings to his ledger. He was off and he got torched for four homers in the outing. I’ve said over and over again that it’s impressive what Straily has done, but I’ve also stated repeatedly that he simply doesn’t own the skills to support the success he has been having. Let’s hope he can be the pitcher he has been overall this season, the guy with a 3.92 ERA and 1.16 WHIP the rest of the way, though I do worry about his ability to match the WHIP. To be fair though, Straily has walked a total of three men his last five outings and five in seven trips to the hill, and lots of good things can happen when you don’t beat yourself.

 

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).