John Lackey (SP-STL). Lackey picked up a win in his Cardinals debut, tossing 7 innings and giving up 2 runs and 7 hits with no walks while striking out 4. Lackey's performance over the last year and a half has been that of an upper-tier fantasy starter. Lackey's current ERA of 3.55 is fully supported by his 3.58 FIP and 3.38 xFIP and his 20.3% K rate should only improve with his move to the NL. Lackey is a must-add in all NL-only leagues.
Mike Leake (SP-CIN). Leake evened his record at 9-9 on Sunday afternoon, tossing 6 innings of one run ball against the Marlins. Leake gave up only three hits, but walked 4 while striking out 5, in reducing his season ERA to 3.46 and his WHIP to 1.24. Leake continues to be underappreciated for fantasy purposes, despite posting consistently solid numbers. Leake has shown significant improvement in both his K rate (18.4% in 2014, 16.1% career) and his ground ball rate (54.2% in 2014, 49.8% career) and, as a result, he is now verging on mixed league relevance, at least as a streaming option. Those in need of help at the back end of their rotations should strongly consider Leake, who is owned in only 29.8% of ESPN leagues.
Bartolo Colon (SP-NYN). Colon had another of the meltdowns that he has been prone to this season, as he lasted only 4.2 innings against the Giants on Sunday afternoon, giving up 6 ER on 8 hits, including 2 HRs. On the plus side, Colon didn't walk anyone and managed 5 strikeouts. Colon's ERA is now back over 4, at 4.12. Although Colon's peripherals (3.52 FIP and 3.69 xFIP) indicate that there should be some improvement in his ERA, his tendency to post unpredictable disaster starts (such as today's outing against an rather unimpressive Giant offense) makes him hard to rely on. Colon has surprisingly been able to post 10 wins despite a Mets offense that typically provides little support, so he has returned some value for his owners, but the potential damage his periodic explosions can do to a fantasy team's ERA, and his below average strikeout ability (6.83 K/9 rate) limits his utility to being deployed only against weaker offenses as part of an NL only fantasy rotation.
Stephen Strasburg (SP-WAS). Sunday afternoon, Strasburg had the kind of outing his owners were expecting would be routine this season, but which have not happened as frequently as they would have hoped. Strasburg tossed 7 shutout innings against the Phillies to raise his record on the season to a disappointing 8-9. Strasburg gave up only 3 hits and one walk while striking out 10. His season ERA now sits a 3.39, which is a number that still has to be disappointing to owners who invested an early round draft choice in him. Although he has been consistently inconsistent to this point, Strasburg owners should see better days ahead, as his peripherals indicate that the ERA should come down (2.74 FIP, 2.56 xFIP). His win totals will remain subject to the vagaries of the Nationals inconsistent offense, but his elite K abilities (10.41 K/9) and the expected ERA improvement should mean solid fantasy value for the rest of the season.
Jacob Turner (SP-MIA). After a couple solid starts in a row, Turner returned to his usual level of performance Sunday afternoon against a less than potent Reds offense. Turner lasted only 4 innings, giving up 5 ER on 9 hits, while walking 2 and managing only 2 strikeouts. Turner's ERA now sits at 5.97 for the season. Turner is another pitcher whose ERA should probably be lower (his FIP is 4.01 and his xFIP is 3.93), but whose lack of strikeout ability (6.20 K/9) makes it difficult to recommend adding him to a fantasy staff. Turner has shown an improvement in his swinging strike rate (to 9.0%), but that has yet to translate into an improvement in his strikeout rate. If Turner could manage to improve his strikeout rate even marginally, he could turn himself into a fantasy relevant pitcher, as his 51.2% GB rate verges on elite. Until he demonstrates some improvement in his K-rate, however, he is best left on the waiver wire.
