Steven Brault has made six starts for the Pirates going 0-3. He has a 3.90 ERA, a 1.66 WHIP and 3.90 walks per nine. He hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any start, but he’s also recorded more than 15 outs just once time.

Alex Cobb has made three starts, and he’s looked pretty good. He’s gone at least five innings in all three outings, and he’s posted a 3.06 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. He did walk three guys last time out, and the total of 6.11 strikeouts per nine is well below expectations for the righty. Took him forever to arrive, but he’s been solid since he has.

Marco Estrada stunk yet again. I wrote about his issues Thursday in this Daily Trends article.

Kevin Gausman was rolling yet again against the Red Sox with eight shutout innings Wednesday. Yeah, you read that right. Eight shutout innings, six strikeouts and one walk. That gives Gausman a 2.74 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 9.68 K/9 and 2.45 BB/9 over his last 15 starts. He’s rolling, bout time, as he finally has had his performance catch up to his talent. Finally.

Junior Guerra continues to get it done, shockingly so. Guerra has made three starts since returning to action and he’s posted a 2-0 record with a 1.88 ERA. I keep waiting for the damn to burst, and think it’s close to happening, especially when you consider that his xFIP the last three starts is 5.09, but he’s been remarkable virtually all season long. I can say this with confidence. Not a single person on the planet predicted a 9-3 record, 2.81 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. He has no chance to repeat those numbers next season, but he’s been pretty darn impressive when called upon this season.

Hisashi Iwakuma, like the Mariners, continues a strong push to the finish line. Iwakuma has won his last two starts to give him a career best 16 victories. Over his last nine outings he might only be 5-4 but the 3.07 ERA and 1.20 WHIP play in all leagues. Unfortunately, his value is somewhat diminished given his 36 strikeouts in 55.2 innings (5.82 per nine). He’s been exactly as expected this season – solid is as solid does.

Sean Manaea returned from a back issue to toss five shutout innings against the Royals. He only walked one batter while striking out five. That’s a total of five walks his last four starts for Manaea, and over his last three outings he’s permitted a total of three runs. He’s just 6-9 with a 4.23 ERA in 21 starts, but he’s pitched pretty well in the second half and has set himself up to be a solid late round add next season in mixed leagues.

Carlos Martinez went 14-7 with a 3.01 ERA and 1.29 WHIP over 179.2 innings. Carlos Martinez is 14-8 with a 3.15 ERA and 1.21 WHIP over 177.1 innings this season. He walked 3.16 batters per nine last season. The mark is 3.15 this season. He has a 0.65 HR/9 mark last season. This year the mark is 0.71. He had a 78.8 LOB percentage last season. The mark is 78.5 this season. He had a 2.14 GB/FB ratio last season. The mark this season is 2.13. He’s been virtually identical except for one thing – the strikeouts. After striking out 9.22 batters per nine last season the mark has dipped to 7.77 this season as his swinging strike rate has fallen from 10.5 last season down to 9.0 this year. Without the strikeouts he’s not elite. With them he likely would be.

Luis Perdomo is 8-9 with a 5.68 ERA for the Padres. Yikes. He’s pitched better of late. Over his last five outings he’s allowed one, one and zero earned runs in three of the outings. The other two times he’s taken the hill he’s permitted                      nine runs in 12.2 innings. Those two blow ups are two of his last three outings by the way. With little in the way of strikeouts, 6.75 per nine, it’s hard to see using him unless you’re desperate.

Michael Pineda has allowed two runs or less each of his last three starts. He’s also failed to complete five innings in any of the outings.

Rick Porcello lost his first start at home on Thursday to fall to 13-1 at Fenway and 20-4 overall. Rick Porcello Cy Young candidate. Never thought I would write that.

Anibal Sanchez holds your hand right to the edge of the cliff… then he let’s go and pushes you off. He’s a disaster. Here’s what has happened his last nine games. He’s allowed zero runs twice. He’s allowed one run twice. That’s four of nine starts with 0/1 earned run. He’s also allowed three runs twice. That’s 6-of-9 outings with three earned runs or less. However, the other three starts in those nine he’s allowed eight, five and six runs. Overall he has a 4.70 ERA over nine starts, despite four of the outings being one earned run or less. That’s extremely hard to accomplish.  

Jake Thompson went 1-3 with a 9.78 ERA and 1.81 WHIP with a 6.05 BB/9 rate his first four starts. His last four starts he’s gone 1-2 but with a 2.49 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP with a 3.20 BB/9 rate. He’s totally turned things around. Moreover, he’s allowed just seven runs total in the last four starts, two or fewer each time out, while allowing just 22 hits in 25.1 frames. Hard to have raging confidence in him, but as a streaming option he’s not the worst guy you could turn to out there.

Yordano Ventura has made 29 starts with a 10-11 record, 4.42 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and has struck out just 6.74 batters per nine this season. He’s taken a step back. Great arm, but simply put – you cannot trust him.

Don’t give up on Taijuan Walker, it would be a mistake.

 

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 9 PM EDT PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).