Welcome sports fans to another week of fantasy baseball. It was a fun week, as we got to see the impact some of the trade deadline acquisitions had on their new ball clubs. Division races are starting to heat up but pitches are slowing down! We saw the utility man Brock Holt register the slowest pitch in human history last week clocking in at a beer league softball like 30 MPH. Oh and he allowed 0 runs in the inning too, but sadly I can not recommend him as a pitching acquisition.
Moving onto injury news and notes. Chris Sale is set to start on Saturday, If he’s not rostered in your league I’d go do that now. Jack Flaherty is supposed to return to the Cards this weekend as well. Shane Bieber threw from 60 feet this week. Miles Mikolas should be making his last rehab start this week. Lastly, James Kaprielian should be activated in time for Sunday’s game. I like when this list is short, with that said let’s get to the pitchers on tap for this week!
MUST STARTS
1. Freddy Peralta MIL: (8/9 @ CHC)(8/14 @ PIT)
– You couldn’t ask for two better matchups. The Cubs traded everyone and flat out stink now. The Pirates have stunk all year. Oh, and I have to mention Peralta has 4 starts against the Pirates this year and this will be his 4th in the last 5 weeks against them. The line this year against the Pirates? 23 IP, 14 H, 7 ER, 11 BB, and 28 Ks. Pure Domination.
2. Max Scherzer LAD: (8/10 @ PHI)(8/15 @ NYM)
– Mad Max was stellar in his debut with the Dodgers. He went 7 strong with 10 Ks against the Astros. Not an easy team to debut against with your new club. This week, however, he heads back to familiar territory going against the blazing hot Phillies and the ice-cold Mets. He’s having another Cy Young worthy campaign so we know we’re starting him.
3. Kevin Gausman SF: (8/10 vs ARI)(8/15 vs COL)
– Gausman was in a little bit of a rough stretch in July but all it took was a start in Arizona to right the ship in his last outing. This week he gets the two worst road teams in baseball so expect great things from the splitter-baller this week.
4. Sean Manaea OAK: (8/10 @ CLE)(8/15 @ TEX)
– Manaea got roughed up in his last start against SD. However, these are two cupcake matchups for him. Cleveland has a terrible offense and traded their leadoff hitter at the deadline. Texas has been downright dreadful and traded their biggest bat in Joey Gallo. I love these matchups.
5. Jameson Taillon NYY: (8/9 @ KC)(8/14 @ CHW)
-Taillon has put his early-season road woes behind him and is showing New Yorkers just why he was high reward signing. He’s coming off an AL Pitcher of the Month award and isn’t showing signs of slowing down. Couple his performance with the Yankees as a whole playing with a sense of urgency and this week is set up for Taillon to have a great week.
6. Joe Musgrove SD: (8/10 vs MIA)(8/15 @ ARI)
– Musgrove is up to 3 straight quality starts in a row after going 4 in a row without one. With San Diego playing for the playoffs and these two matchups playing spoiler Musgrove is set up for a big week here.
7. Luis Castillo CIN: (8/9 @ CLE)(8/14 @ PHI)
– 10 of his last 12 starts have been quality starts. On June 3rd Castillo had an 8.04 ERA, since then he’s lowered it to exactly 4.09. Talk about a tale of two halves. He’s been lights out for over 2 months now and has returned to form.
QUESTIONABLES
8. Trevor Rogers MIA: (8/10 @ SD)(8/15 vs CHC)
– Rogers missed his last start due to a family medical emergency. My favorite all year for NL Rookie of the Year has now been surpassed by the emergence of Jonathan India, the Reds second basemen. Now, normally I’d have him in the must-start category but for 2 reasons I do not. Number one, it remains to be seen he’ll actually make 2 starts since the Marlins have used bullpen games a lot this year to give their young pitchers extra rest. And number two, Rogers didn’t make it past the 4th inning in 2 of his last 4 starts. Regardless, he’s still yet to allow more than 3 runs in any ball game this year and he has extra rest leading up to this next start so we are still assuredly starting him.
9. Lucas Giolito CHW: (8/9 @ MIN)(8/15 vs NYY)
– We are in August now and Giolito’s inconsistency is still a thing. He was on a nice 4 start stretch until he was pulverized by the Royals in his last start. Now, the Twins matchup is pretty juicy but I worry about the Yankees matchup. He either pitches really great or gets rocked, the Yanks could be a rocking that I referred to. Regardless, we know we’re starting him, but if a mollywhop happens I won’t be surprised.
10. Aaron Nola PHI: (8/10 vs LAD)(8/15 vs CIN)
– Nola has been even more frustratingly inconsistent than Giolito by a long shot. I’m still not out on Nola though. I’ve said it all year, his success is based on his fastball location and when it’s not there his off-speed stuff becomes much less effective. The stuff is still there evidenced by his strikeout rate, but he’s becoming increasingly hard to trust and this week’s matchups do not look too advantageous for the former LSU Tiger. Still, with the way the Phillies are playing right now I have to believe Nola gets up for these games, if he doesn’t, he might find his way into the points league play-only category after this week.
11. Sonny Gray CIN: (8/10 @ ATL)(8/15 @ PHI)
– Gray has been another victim of inconsistency and I have to believe it’s due to the two separate IL stints. The strikeout stuff is still there as is the talent. Also, the Reds are fighting for the playoffs, as are the 2 teams the Reds square off against this week. I have to believe Gray gets up for these 2 starts seeing as how all three of these teams are playing with a sense of urgency right now, which I believe brings the best out in players. So I’m starting Gray this week.
12. Jon Gray COL: (8/10 @ HOU)(8/15 @ SF)
– Compare Jon Grays 2017 with his 2021 and you will be astounded. He’s matching his career year in 17′ in a few Categories. 20 Starts, 110.1 IP, and 3.67 ERA. This year should make him sought after in the off-season considering he’s young and has those numbers in Colorado. Now, I know these matchups don’t instill a ton of confidence but Gray has faced each of them once apiece this year and registered a quality start in each. Factor in both these are on the road and I’m starting Gray this week.
13. Casey Mize DET: (8/10 @ BAL)(8/15 vs CLE)
– Mize has been solid this year. He went through a stretch between July 2nd and July 24th where he didn’t get into the 5th inning and then he ran into the Orioles where he went 7 innings with 0 ERs. He gets Baltimore again and then Cleveland so Mize should fair well this week. Start him.
14. Logan Gilbert SEA: (8/10 vs TEX)(8/15 vs TOR)
– Gilbert has been pretty solid since the rocky start to his career. He’s super talented and has great strikeout stuff to boot. A start against Texas should go well for him because they are putrid. Toronto is tough but they’ve never seen Gilbert so he has a puncher’s chance in this one. I’m starting him.
15. Zac Gallen ARI: (8/10 @ SF)(8/15 vs SD)
– Gallen is one of my favorite young pitchers in the league so I hate to see him struggle. I know he’s suffered some losses on his RPMs since the sticky substance rule but I have to believe his struggles have been due to his injuries. With that said, He’s squared off against San Fran 3 times this year and the results have been mixed. Two bad starts, then in his most recent start last week against them he looked pretty decent going 5.2 innings with 3 ERs and 6 Ks. I believe in the talent so I’m starting him but if he falters in both these matchups I’ll have to reconsider starting him the rest of the year.
16. Carlos Carrasco NYM: (8/10 vs WAS)(8/15 vs LAD)
– Carrasco has looked pretty good in his 2 starts so far. The Mets however have looked lifeless. I’m willing to start Carrasco until something goes wrong so lets roll him out there even with a Dodgers matchup.
17. Jake Odorizzi HOU: (8/10 vs COL)(8/15 @ LAA)
– Odorizzi was coming along nicely from injury at one point this year but the wheels have fallen off since his 8 game stretch of pitching well between May 29th and July 9th. He got shelled in his last start against the Dodgers but I think he can be serviceable this week against a terrible road Rockies team and an Angels team that has very little punch left in it. I’m starting him this week.
18. J.A. Happ STL: (8/10 @ PIT)(8/15 @ KC)
– I know what you’re thinking. How is J.A. Happ in this article he’s been atrocious all year no matter who he faces. But I came across an interesting tidbit this week. Happ has been traded during the season 5 times in his career. Each time he’s been traded he’s been really good or much better than he was with the team that traded him for that season. In 245.1 Innings of baseball after being traded Happ has a 2.79 ERA, and it’s started happening again with his last outing where he went 5 innings with 2 ERs and 4 Ks. I could be wrong here but I’m going to roll with this until it blows up in my face. Oh and these matchups are pretty great too.
19. Drew Smyly ATL: (8/10 vs CIN)(8/15 @ WAS)
– Smyly hasn’t allowed more than 3 ERs in any start since May 26th. He’s been rolling right along and pitching a whole hell of a lot better the last 2 months than he did the first 2 months. His month-by-month ERA is as follows. April, 8.05. May, 4.24. June, 2.84. July, 3.33. He’s been very serviceable for 2 months now so I’m starting him especially with the Nats on the docket.
POINTS LEAGUE PLAYS
20. Eduardo Rodriguez BOS: (8/10 vs TB)(8/15 vs BAL)
21. Adrian Houser MIL: (8/10 @ CHC)(8/15 @ PIT)
22. Luis Patino TB: (8/10 @ BOS)(8/15 @ MIN)
23. Zach Thompson MIA: (8/9 @ SD)(8/14 vs CHC)
24. Steven Matz TOR: (8/10 vs LAA)(8/15 @ SEA)
NO THANKS
Triston McKenzie CLE: (8/10 vs OAK)(8/15@ DET), Alec Mills CHC: (8/9 vs MIL)(8/14 @ MIA), Jake Arrieta CHC: (8/10 vs MIL)(8/15 @ MIA), Kolby Allard TEX: (8/10 @ SEA)(8/15 vs OAK), Paolo Espino WAS: (8/10 @ NYM)(8/15 vs ATL), Nestor Cortes NYY: (8/10 @ KC)(8/15 @ CHW), Reiss Knehr SD: (8/9 vs MIA)(8/14 @ ARI), Chris Rodriguez LAA: (8/10 @ TOR)(8/15 vs HOU), Steven Brault PIT: (8/10 vs STL)(8/15 vs MIL), Alex Wells BAL: (8/10 vs DET)(8/15 @ BOS)
