Two Start Pitchers, Week 26: Last Week Of The Season, Can’t Hold Anything Back Now

• Last week of the regular season. Playoff teams may decide to adjust or sit their starters as they lock up their position and start getting ready for the playoffs. Did my best to recognize the 2 starters as best I could here.
• There’s still some questions about who will start, but the situations I couldn’t nail down were:
  • Baltimore: Dylan Bundy is in line to start, but there’s a chance that Chandler Sheperd gets a chance in that spot instead.
  • Mariners have Marco Gonzales down to pitch both Sunday and Tuesday. It could be Tommy Milone or Justin Dunn if Marco goes Sunday.
  • The Reds could throw Kevin Gausman as an opener or could let Sonny Gray take the spot on Tuesday.
• Oakland and San Diego are likely running a 6 man rotation.
• Cincinnati may run a 6 man rotation, but have to monitor that situation.

No Doubt

In the last run of 2 start pitchers, ERod has finally earned his way into the top grouping. The match-ups against Texas and Baltimore don’t hurt either. He’s been a bit lucky, but this is consecutive sub 4 ERA seasons that we have to factor in for draft season next year.

Pretty…Pretty Good

The velocity bump that Odorizzi got earlier in the season has dissipated, but he’s gotten it together again over the last month plus. Since his July 30th start, Odorizzi has a 3.06 ERA and  29.6% K rate.

There’s evidence that he’s actually been unlucky during this stretch with a .359 BABIP and 2.24 FIP. With games against Detroit and Kansas City, you have to be throwing him this week.

Serviceable

Caleb Smith starts are based on his skills rather than his 2nd half performance. If you’re set with strikeouts and chasing ratios, I can see dropping him into the Jumbled Mess below.We’ve seen some blowup s from both Thor and Caleb in this grouping. They are not without risk here in this last week of the season, but I trust them more than the names below this tier.

Jumbled Mess

Alcantara has a 2.93 ERA from August 5th to now. Blake Snell is still working on increasing his workload for a potential playoff run. Lester is on the list based on reputation, and I need him to show up this week for my Cubs. Mix of vets and youngsters in this group with different question marks for the last week of the regular season. Shark and Waino have seemingly turned it on, but there’s something I don’t trust.

Alex Young has quietly been putting up a nice run to end the season for the DBacks. FB, slider, curveball, and change up mix has proven useful even as a soft tosser, although he gets the boost from the left side.  Young had a bump in his K rate in AAA this season, and seems to have found something that works for him.

Brown Paper Bag

Close your eyes, hold your nose, and hope for the best. Free Streamonator pick of the week: Dylan Bundy has 2 bad outings in the 2nd half that are coloring his numbers in the wrong way, but the occasional blow up is a concern with Bundy especially in his 2nd start at Boston.

I Immediately Regret This Decision

Projected 2 Start Days and Schedule