The home stretch is officially upon us, with 11 days left in the season. Who has a chance to lead your team to victory? There were some start efforts last night, like Mat Latos, Gio Gonzalez & R.A. Dickey. There were also some major disappointments, like Roy Halladay. Let’s take a look at all the important notes from yesterday’s games:
- The NL Cy Young debate should continue to rage on after yesterday’s games. R.A. Dickey allowed 2 ER on 6 H and 2 BB, striking out 4, over 8.0 innings to improve to 19-6 with a 2.66 ERA and 1.04 WHIP. Meanwhile in Washington Gio Gonzalez allowed 2 R (0 earned) on 3 H and 1 BB, striking out 5, over 7.0 innings to improve to 20-8 with a 2.84 ERA and 1.12 WHIP. Throw in Johnny Cueto and it really is anyone’s guess. Considering what Dickey has done, for an awful team, he may have the lead but what do you think?
- It was another big day for Ian Desmond, going 3-4 with 1 HR, 3 RBI and 1 R. On the year he is hitting .298 with 24 HR, 71 RBI, 68 R and 18 SB in 477 AB. Not bad for a shortstop, huh? He entered play with a .331 BABIP and 18.1% HR/FB, so you could argue that there is room for a little bit of a regression. That said, there’s no arguing his 20/20 ability, meaning he is locked in as one of the better fantasy options at his position moving forward.
- The Yankees and A’s played a wild game, seeing Oakland take a 9-5 lead in the Top of the 13, only to let the Yankees tie it in the bottom of the inning and then win it the following inning. There were some big performances, but the biggest may have been Josh Reddick’s, who went 0-7. He has just 1 HR in September, hitting .158 in the process. It’s hard to give up on him, given what he’s done all year long, so just keep your fingers crossed. He’s a streaky hitter, so hopefully he can catch fire one more time.
- Carlos Marmol allowed 1 ER on 1 H and 1 BB, striking out 1, over 1.0 innings to blow the save (the hit was a home run to Carlos Beltran). While he has been pitching significantly better than he was earlier in the season, you still have to think that he isn’t going to be the answer moving forward. I would expect the Cubs to try and move him in the offseason, as they continue to rebuild.
- Adam Jones is red hot once again. He went 2-6 with 1 HR, 2 RBI and 2 R yesterday, putting him at 6-14 with 2 HR, 4 RBI and 5 R over his past 5 games. While you could argue that there is a little room for regression (most notably in the power department), he hit 25 HR in 2011 and is still just 26-years old. Obviously, there is an awful lot to like moving forward. He clearly is a Top 15-20 outfielder, at worst, at this point.
- It was an awful start for Roy Halladay, allowing 7 ER on 5 H and 3 BB, striking out 3, over 1.2 innings against the Braves. It has more or less been a lost season for Halladay, who now has allowed 4+ ER four times in his past seven starts. It’s impossible to give up hope, but it also is impossible to expect anything this bad again. It’s hard to recommend benching him.
- Mat Latos dominated the Dodgers, tossing 8.0 shutout innings allowing 6 H and 0 BB, striking out 7. While he has had some ups and downs this season, he currently has a 3.60 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 178 K over 197.1 innings of work. He entered the day with a .272 BABIP and 74.1% strand rate, so the numbers obviously are believable. Tough ballpark or not, at the end of the day he should be considered one of the better fantasy options in the league.
- Doug Fister tossed a complete game shutout, allowing 7 H and 0 BB while striking out 7. Fister has had some poor outings mixed in, but he does have a 3.43 ERA and 1.20 WHIP overall. Is anyone really going to complain about that?
- The Royals’ Will Smith pitched well against the Indians last night, allowing 2 ER on 8 H and 2 BB, striking out 5, over 7.0 innings of work. In 25.0 September innings he is 2-2 with a 3.24 ERA, though a 1.60 WHIP. He gets a rematch with the Indians (2-0 with a 2.77 ERA and 1.23 WHIP in 2 starts) in what could be his final start of the season. In deeper formats he could be worth rolling the dice on, depending on your needs. Just keep in mind that the WHIP has the potential to be poor.
- Matt Moore vs. Brandon Morrow should’ve been an impressive matchup between two young starters. It wasn’t the case, however. Moore allowed 2 ER on 3 H and 2 BB, striking out 2, over 2.2 innings of work. Morrow allowed 5 ER on 5 H and 4 BB, striking out 2, over 4.0 innings of work. I would both to bounce back strong in their next outings, so stick with them.
- It was another big day for Aaron Hill, going 1-4 with 4 RBI and 1 R. He now has 6 RBI over his past 3 games and is hitting .298 with 23 HR, 75 RBI, 81 R and 14 SB on the season. As long as he maintains his current 45.2% fly ball rate, and doesn’t get homer happy like he did in 2010 (54.2%), there is nothing in the numbers to indicate that he can’t replicate this type of success. Hill may have simply found a home in Arizona and we will enter 2013 viewing him as one of the better 2B options in the league.
- Dan Haren continues to right the ship, allowing 2 ER on 6 H and 1 BB, striking out 4, over 6.0 innings last night to improve to 4-1 over his past six starts (he has allowed 3 ER or less in each outing). While he has been a major disappointment, in September he has a 3.00 ERA and 0.96 WHIP over 4 starts. Stick with him down the stretch and hope he can keep the roll going.
- Chris Denofria went 2-4 with 2 R and 2 SB while hitting leadoff for the Padres last night. It was a nice night, but he doesn’t play every day and has just 7 HR and 12 SB over 320 AB this season. He could be a nice under-the-radar addition, but I wouldn’t plan on counting him over the final week and a half.
- Tough loss for Matt Harrison, as he allowed 1 ER on 7 H and 4 BB, striking out 6, over 8.0 innings against the Mariners last night. The problem was Blake Beaven was even better, tossing 7.0 shutout innings allowing 8 H and 1 BB while striking out 2. It was a fantastic outing, and he also has a 1.27 WHIP over his 24 starts this season, meaning he won’t hurt you there. With a .287 BABIP and 72.8% strand rate, he could continue to pitch well. Of course, the caveat is that he offers nothing in the strikeout department, meaning he holds value only in the right circumstance (especially with matchups against the A’s and Angels to finish out the year).
