Stream, Stream, Stream: 2x SP 6.3-6.9

Let’s first start with results:

Week 1: 1-3, 30 IP, 3.00 ERA, 5.4 K/9, 2.3 K/BB, 1.13 WHIP (Kevin SloweyUbaldo JimenezJoe Saunders)
Week 2: 2-3, 25.1 IP, 5.69 ERA, 6.8 K/9, 2.4 K/BB, 1.74 WHIP (Joe BlantonJames McDonaldEric Stults)
Week 3: 1-2, 32 IP, 3.66 ERA, 7.9 K/9, 3.1 K/BB, 1.22 WHIP (Wade DavisCarlos VillanuevaPatrick Corbin)
Week 4: 2-1, 22 IP, 6.14 ERA, 7.8 K/9, 2.1 K/BB, 1.95 WHIP (Julio TeheranJason HammelGarrett Richards)
Week 5: 2-2, 30 IP, 3.60 ERA, 5.4 K/9, 1.6 K/BB, 1.23 WHIP (Scott DiamondNick TepeschAndrew Cashner)
Week 6: 2-3, 32.2 IP, 4.96 ERA, 5.5 K/9, 2.0 K/BB, 1.44 WHIP (Justin GrimmJuan NicasioHector Santiago)
Week 7: 1-0, 29 IP, 3.41 ERA, 6.8 K/9, 1.8 K/BB, 1.34 WHIP (Julio TeheranPhil HughesScott Kazmir)
Week 8*: 1-0, 18.1 IP, 3.44 ERA, 6.9 K/9, 7.0 K/BB, 1.04 WHIP (Jhoulys Chacin, Kevin Slowey, Dan Straily)

—————————————————————–
Total: 12-14, 219.1 IP, 4.19 ERA, 6.5 K/9, 2.3 K/BB, 1.38 WHIP

Slowly but surely we’ll get back to .500, and then after that start shooting for a sub-4.00 ERA or maybe a league-average strikeout rate. But until then, it’s been a pretty solid two weeks. Hopefully this week stands up.

Here are this week’s selections, with a tip of the cap again to Twitter pal @tlschwerz:

Andrew Cashner – 24.0% ESPN/40% Yahoo! – @LAD (.305), @COL (.332)

The Padres rotation has been incredibly bad, but it’s hard to pin much of that on Cashner, who’s carrying a pitching slash of 3.65/4.42/4.20. And while those aren’t entirely good looking numbers — at -0.2 WAR I might add — three Padres starters have been considerably worse than Cashner, with Jason Marquis (-0.9 WAR) and Clayton Richard (-1.2 WAR) being particularly bad.

Cashner is still pumping the heat pretty well, and has so far — knock on wood — remained healthy enough to make 13 appearances (eight starts) spanning 56.2 innings. He won’t be a great play as the season wears on, and wins might be hard to come by, but he should start racking up strikeouts and hopefully steal a win here or there to make him a sneaky play in most leagues.

Chris Tillman – 13.1% ESPN/35% Yahoo! – @HOU (.307), @TBR (.329)

Tillman has seen the strikeout rates go up, but the home run rate has absolutely skyrocketed. As a result, he’s a good but not really great play this week as the Orioles hit the road. The Astros have been better than most would expect offensively, but still present a good chance for an opposing pitcher to nab the ‘W’. The Rays are a much tougher match-up, but like most two-start types, you have to go with one who has a strong match-up and a shaky one. This has been true pretty much across the board this week.

John Danks – 1.8% ESPN/4% Yahoo! – @SEA (.306), v. OAK (.322)

I think of Danks as a lottery ticket this week. For one, he’s probably a better option than Joe Blanton (who gets Houston but also Boston) and Joe Saunders (Danks’ mound counterpart on Monday who also gets the Yankees on the back-end).

Secondly, Danks has pitched decently well on the whole since coming back — granted it’s only been two starts — and when he was healthy he was a darn good pitcher. Of course, that hasn’t been since 2011, so it’s a calculated gamble. Danks’ four-year run from 2008-’11 resulted in a 3.77 ERA, 7.0 K/9, and a WHIP of 1.26. At these ownership rates, it would be crazy not to give him a shot





In addition to Rotographs, Warne writes about the Minnesota Twins for The Athletic and is a sportswriter for Sportradar U.S. in downtown Minneapolis. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Warne, or feel free to email him to do podcasts or for any old reason at brandon.r.warne@gmail-dot-com

12 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Frank
10 years ago

Both Seattle and Oakland are in the top five in runs scored vs lefty’s and have an OPS over .700. That does not scare you?

Frank
10 years ago
Reply to  Frank

Thoughts on Koehler?

Troy
10 years ago
Reply to  Frank

Remember Oakland and Seattle have extra games against the AAA affiliate in Houston. That will inflate those run scored numbers.