Andrew McCutcheon's year to date numbers are not what we've necessarily grown to expect from the former MVP. He has stated publicly that he is not 100% healthy, and manager Hurdle gave him the night off on Monday. Continue to monitor going forward.
Cole Hamels faced the Reds Monday for the second time in as many starts and gave up 5ER in 6IP. Despite the hiccup, he continues to be a dominant force and all underlying statistics indicate he remains an excellent pitcher. He is striking out in excess of 9K/9 (including another 7 in 6 innings on Monday), and his FIP is 3.46. He goes deep into games, averaging 6.2 per start, and is currently second in the league in IP. The one thing he can't control is how many runs his team scores - the Phillies are last in MLB in runs, despite playing in Citizens Park - and because Hamels goes deep he's being punished for losses. While he's under contract for another 5 seasons, Philly would do well to trade him as they certainly aren't going anywhere soon. Obviously any trade would probably be to a contender and would bolster Hamels' value.
Ruby de la Rosa - Prior to his start last night, 19% of Ruby's fly balls were hit for home runs. This may mean he's catching too much of the plate, but his career figure is in the 11-12% range before this year. With this normalized, his xFIP is actually currently 25th amongst starting pitchers. Fantasy is about finding value, and there is some to be harvested here. Stash him if he's on your waiver wire - he isn't this bad. Keep an eye on him for DFS when he plays in bigger parks as well - and there's plenty of those in the NL West.
John Lackey was a player whose ERA going into last night (2.93) was a run better than his xFIP (3.95). This was due to an unsustainable HR/FB rate. In 2013 and 2014 combined, his HR/FB rate was 12.5%; year to date it was 5.4% before last night. Enter Coors Field. Hopefully you avoided this one despite his performance thus far. Tulowitzki hit a frozen rope in the first and it was all downhill from there. The veteran righty's final stat line of 8ER in 4IP shows just how ugly a start it was. He's striking out less than 7 per 9, which... isn't good. Lackey is a mediocre pitcher at this point in his career, and his place on a contending fantasy roster is on the bench.
AJ Burnett - Before his start Monday, AJ Burnett had a WHIP of 1.22, which is below his career average of 1.32. That's pretty remarkable considering first off that's he's 38 and his BABIP against is 3.14. He continues to post a high K rate of 8.27, and in general he's actually just pitching pretty well. Some good fortune has been driving his ERA, namely his remarkably high strand rate - in addition to not allowing a lot of baserunners, he was leaving 82.5% of those runners on base, which clearly can't last. You can expect him to come back to earth a bit and have the occasional blow up, but he's helping your team and chances are you got him cheap on draft day.
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