Kelvin Herrera’s latest hiatus due to forearm issues was a brief one. The Royals’ closer was lifted early last Friday against the Twins with tightness in his lower forearm, but according to the Kansas City Star, he was available again for Tuesday night’s game in Detroit. The Tigers won handily, 13-2, so Herrera wasn’t needed.

Given that Herrera has been lifted twice in the last two weeks with forearm tightness, it is hard to trust that he will be healthy and effective from here on out. In both cases where Herrera had to leave early in the middle of a save opportunity, it was Scott Alexander who was called in to finish the job. On Monday, with Herrera resting, Brandon Maurer started off the ninth inning to protect a four-run lead against the Tigers, but after allowing a Nicholas Castellanos three-run homer with one out and a pair of two-out singles, Alexander had to come to the rescue again. With a Mikie Mahtook force out, Alexander got his third career save, and each one required just a single out.
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It’s the final month of the season and every pitching matchup holds extra weight. Maybe one of your regular arms is slated pitch in Coors and in Arlington or you’re in need of an extra few starts from now through September 14th. Over at my site Pitcher List, I helped tackle this question by outlining the Top 100 Starters for the rest of the season according to their ROS schedules, providing estimations for each starter’s schedule from now until the end of the year. Instead of focusing on the entire month of September, here we’re going to take a look at ten lesser owned arms that could help you later this week or find themselves in good matchups for the next round:

Note: Owned rates are according to ESPN Leagues.

Good Matchups

Kyle Gibson (@KCR, SDP) – 8.7% owned

You may be surprised to see Gibson here. I’m surprised to see Gibson here. His career 6.17 K/9, 3.20 BB/9, and 4.73 ERA have secured him a comfortable spot on the third page of your waiver wire for ages, but in his last three starts, Gibson has been a new man, sporting a 1.37 ERA, 9.15 K/9, and 0.92 BB/9. His whiff rates have jumped to 13.9% in those starts after a near 9.0% prior and given he’s facing the paltry lineups of the Royals and Padres next, he’s worth a look for your squad.

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For now we Grind. Later we chat.

AGENDA

1. Something Something Martinez
2. Weather Reports
3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
4. SaberSim Says…
5. TDG Invitational Returns!

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Episode 294 – Has A Little Bit Of The Joey Gallo-Itis

The latest episode of “Field of Streams” is live!

In this episode, Dylan Higgins and Matthew Dewoskin discuss Mikie Mahtook’s bad weekend, the walk-off hit vs. the walk-off walk, pitchers who aren’t reliable this year but may be worth drafting next year, Matt trying to understand Doug Fister, being ready to pick against Matt Harvey, trusting Wilmer Flores despite his facial injury, the Twins pitcher evolution resulting in Aaron Slegers, Sam Gaviglio’s quiet move, and David Freese’s nickname.

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9/4/17

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is brought to you by Out of the Park Baseball 18, the best baseball strategy game ever made – available NOW on PC, Mac, and Linux platforms! Go to ootpdevelopments.com to order now and save 10% with the code SLEEPER18!

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Leading Off: Question of the Day

• Are you starting Chris Archer or Marcus Stroman this wk?

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The organization is rich in third bas prospects. MVP candidate and Gold Glover Nolan Arenado isn’t going anywhere, which is causing a backlog with MLB-ready Ryan McMahon looking for another position to play. Behind him, the club has 2016 draft pick Colton Welker (.904 OPS in low-A) and 2017 draft pick Ryan Vilade (.934 OPS in Rookie), who played shortstop in his debut but is expected to move off the position shortly.

The Graduate: German Marquez, RHP: The Rockies graduated an impressive number of starters to The Show in 2017 including Jeff Hoffman, Kyle Freeland, Antonio Senzatela and Marquez. The other three arms generally got more love at the beginning of the year but I put my money on Marquez and he responded with a 2.3 win season – pacing all Rockies starters. Using predominantly a two-pitch repertoire (mid-90s fastball and curveball), he showed swing-and-miss stuff as well as above-average control. Marquez has been understandably better on the road (4.50 vs 3.86 ERA) but hasn’t really been that bad at home. He’s a good bet to continue to get better in 2018

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What kind of work are you planning for this fine Labor Day? As you see, I’m doing my usual assignments – although it’s debatable as to whether or not what I do is technically “labor.” I do have a couple typing injuries which seems to support the notion that I’m a laborer.

AGENDA

1. Getting Help
2. Weather Reports
3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
4. SaberSim Says…
5. TDG Invitational Returns!

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Hope everyone is having a safe and happy Labor Day!

When you remember tomorrow is part of the 3-day weekend. pic.twitter.com/O7rCTCcuFS

— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) September 3, 2017

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On Friday, for the second time in 11 days, Kelvin Herrera was pulled from an existing ninth inning because of discomfort in his throwing arm. Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star reported on Saturday that the Royals expect Herrera to be unavailable for at least three days because of what Dodd calls a “mild strain in the lower part of his right forearm.”

With Hererra still unavailable on Sunday, Scott Alexander struck out two in a scoreless inning (spanning the sixth and seventh), Peter Moylan retired the lone batter he faced in the seventh, Mike Minor walked two in a scoreless eighth, and Brandon Maurer worked around a leadoff two-base error and struck out one to secure his 21st save.

The Royals were blown out 17-0 on Saturday, so Sunday offered the only glimpse into their plan of attack with Herrera on the shelf. Herrera has not been very good season, so his job could be in jeopardy to some degree even if he comes back healthy in the next few days.

Alexander successfully converted the save both times Herrera had to depart mid-inning, and his numbers (2.24 ERA/3.33 FIP/3.12 xFIP) suggest he could enjoy continued success in the ninth if given the opportunity. Entering Sunday, he boasted a ridiculous 74.8 percent ground ball rate, a solid 20.5 percent strikeout rate, and an acceptable 9.6 percent walk rate in 45 appearances spanning 56.1 innings. Minor (2.86 ERA/2.71 FIP/3.60 xFIP in 66 innings) also seems like someone capable of closing out games. Read the rest of this entry »

Can you believe it’s September? Just one month left!

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