Boxscore Bits: May 20th, 2022

by
May 20, 2022
David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

A few thoughts on the pitchers from Thursday’s games:

FOR STARTERS

Thursday’s Starters
# Name Team IP H R ER HR BB SO TBF ERA WHIP W vFA (pi) vSI (pi) SwStr%
1 Yu Darvish SDP 7 6 0 0 0 0 5 26 0.00 0.86 1 95 94.4 11%
2 Framber Valdez HOU 7 6 1 1 0 2 7 29 1.29 1.14 1 95.5 94.7 14%
3 Cal Quantrill CLE 7 5 1 1 1 0 5 23 1.29 0.71 0 94.1 93.8 7%
4 Tyler Mahle CIN 6.1 2 1 1 0 2 4 23 1.42 0.63 0 93.7 4%
5 Zac Gallen ARI 5 2 1 1 0 3 4 21 1.80 1.00 1 94.4 7%
6 Glenn Otto TEX 6 7 2 2 0 3 2 27 3.00 1.67 0 92.3 92.4 12%
7 Kyle Gibson PHI 5.2 8 2 2 0 0 7 25 3.18 1.41 0 91.7 91.6 13%
8 Marcus Stroman CHC 5 5 3 2 1 0 6 20 3.60 1.00 0 93.1 92.3 13%
9 Jordan Montgomery NYY 5 7 3 3 1 0 3 21 5.40 1.40 0 92.7 93.9 15%
10 Chris Bassitt NYM 6.1 9 4 4 2 1 3 29 5.68 1.58 0 93.5 92.6 9%
11 Vince Velasquez CHW 5 6 4 4 1 1 3 22 7.20 1.40 0 93.9 91.8 10%
12 Dakota Hudson STL 4.2 5 4 4 0 2 2 20 7.71 1.50 0 92.2 92.4 10%
13 George Kirby SEA 5 8 5 5 2 1 3 23 9.00 1.80 0 95.6 9%
14 Bruce Zimmermann BAL 5 7 5 5 1 1 2 21 9.00 1.60 0 91.4 91 1%
15 Carlos Hernandez KCR 3 5 3 3 0 5 3 19 9.00 3.33 0 94.3 13%
16 Rich Hill BOS 2 6 4 4 1 1 2 13 18.00 3.50 0 88.9 84.3 7%
Sorted by ERA

Business As Usual: Nothing actionable

Notable Gems: The standouts who merit some extra attention

  • Tyler Mahle – Three straight gems (2.60 ERA/0.81 WHIP/18 Ks in 17.3 IP), but two were on the road and the home one was against Pittsburgh so I’m not sure much has changed on my overall outlook that he’s primarily a road-only guy with occasional spot starts at home.
  • Marcus Stroman – Strong return off the IL and he had two quality starts before the injury, too. He allowed 12 of his 17 ER in back-to-back duds in mid-April, including one at Coors Field. He seems back on track and worth starting across all formats.
  • Cal Quantrill – I want to be positive about Quantrill because I’m a fan, but I just can’t ignore the 4.94 SIERA. There aren’t many discernible traits in the profile right now. He has a solid Chase Rate at 33% (32nd of 58 qualified SPs) and has limited hits well since the start of last year (7.7 H/9), but there is such a burden on his .254 BABIP when he only has a 15% K rate and 7% SwStr rate.
  • Tanner Houck as Follower for 4 IP – Back-to-back good outings after those two meltdowns back in early-May (10 ER in 5 IP). Following Hill is perfect deployment of Houck, but we’re not sure that will be the consistent usage for him. He popped up on a lot of wires after 7 ER against LAA and I’m open to scooping him up, but primarily in deeper leagues. There are some scenarios where I’d take a shot in 12s, though I’m thinking 15s or deeper right now.
  • Glenn Otto – Only 2 Ks against HOU, but a nice Quality Start in the midst of a remarkably difficult schedule (HOU, at NYY, BOS, at HOU and then at LAA next week, too!). I cut him because the schedule was still so difficult and I didn’t foresee playing him until at least the week of May 30th.

Duds: The worst of the day

  • George Kirby – First real dud and of course it comes after everyone paid a big FAAB price for him! I don’t love it, but I’m also not holding it too firmly against him because the Boston offense is excellent. They got off to a slow start in April, but they are back to being full on scary.
  • Rich Hill – Seems to always come the second we start trusting him. He had 11 IP with just 2 ER in his last 2 starts before this dud. It’s the Dick Mountain Experience!

WHAT A STORY! (lame headline, I know lol)

We are generally past the point where a guy can flip his numbers on a single night… well, unless you’re Trevor Story. A 4-for-4, 3 HR onslaught with 5 R, 7 RBI, and an SB basically put his numbers back in order. He’s now pacing toward a 25 HR/25 SB season with 113 RBI, 93 R, and .230 AVG. Obviously, this isn’t a common game, but it does show that we are still in the range where guys can flip their numbers with even just a 2-3 game heater.

COMBO MEALS

Shoutout to ESPN’s Fantasy Focus podcast for coming up with the “combo meal” term when guys get a HR and SB in the same game. Here are the weekend (Fri-Sun) combo meals:

  • Trevor Story – (3rd, 4th, 5th HR; 5th SB)
  • Pete Alonso – (10th HR; 1st SB)

NOTABLE CALLUPS

  • Nolan Gorman, 2B/3B | STL – Gorman has been raking in Triple-A with 15 HR and a 171 wRC+ in 147 PA. The main focus for me will be on his plate approach. He had a 34% K rate and 16% SwStr rate this year and has had swing-and-miss issues throughout his pro career. His game-changing power will push FAAB bids, just understand the risk with this kind of volatility. There are 19 guys with a 30%+ K rate this year (174 qualified hitters) and they run gamut in wRC+ totals from 56 (Adam Duvall) to 128 (Eugenio Suárez). The average of that group is 96 with 8 at 100+ and 5 under 90.
  • Matthew Liberatore, P | STL – Liberatore will join the team in Pittsburgh and get a start against the Pirates on Saturday. That could send bids sky-high if he deals. He has been solid in Triple-A with a 3.99 ERA and 1.24 WHIP in 164.7 IP since the start of last year. He has a 25% K rate and 7% BB rate with his two plus breaking balls (55 SL, 60 CB) driving his success. His fastball command will determine how far he goes as a big leaguer. If it remains spotty, he is probably a workhorse #4 and their insane defense can maximize a solid-average profile like this. That Saturday start at PIT could make the bids unreasonable.

FRIDAY FAAB

Heading to the weekend, I’ll give a few names to consider in FAAB for the weekend. I will try to give a name or two for many league sizes:

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Shallow

  • Dane Dunning | TEX, SP (14% Y!, 9% ESPN) – Dunning has been rolling of late with a 3.19 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and 29 Ks in 31 IP. His swinging strike rate is up to 11% during this run, too, which isn’t huge, but enough to keep him right around this K-per-IP level. The trip to LAA is scary, but he also gets a trip to OAK to cap off the week and I’m open to streaming him.

Medium

  • Isaac Paredes | TBR, 2B (0% OC) – With neither Taylor Walls (71 wRC+) nor Vidal Bruján (23) doing anything this year, Paredes could find himself earning more playing time. He had a 2-HR game on Wednesday and the 23-year-old prospect has always had strong plate skills, including a 17% K rate and 12% BB rate at Triple-A this year. This could be a sneaky cheap pickup with some interesting upside if he does land on real playing time.

Deep

  • Eli White | TEX, OF (57% ME) – White will likely be added to the remainder of the Main Event leagues where he is available. He has started 11 of the last 12 games, batting 1st in 5 of the last 6. Texas facing a bevy of lefties has played a big role (7 gms v. LH starter), but he has also started against 4 of the last 5 righties. He only has a 97 wRC+ thanks in part to a 34% K rate, but he’s 8-for-8 in SBs.

OC = NFBC Online Championship (12-tms)

ME = NFBC Main Event (15-tms)

DRAFTKINGS GAME

WTWT

Here is What To Watch Today for Friday, May 20th:





 

Paul is the Editor of Rotographs and Content Director for OOTP Perfect Team. Follow Paul on Twitter @sporer and on Twitch at sporer.

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