Yesterday's 6 inning, 5 ER performance of Stephen Strasburg likely got some owners scared about the lack of results he's seen. Strasburg entered yesterday with his lowest K rate and highest SIERA of his career. It's too early to tell, but Strasburg seems fine to me; his velocity is still there, as is his SwStr%. I should also mention that despite struggling, he struck out 9 yesterday. The strikeouts should start coming soon, and when they do, we'll see a SIERA improvement to something we're more used to seeing.
Jaime Garcia took the loss yesterday allowing 4 ER over 6 innings. He walked six in the game with 4 strikeouts. Jaime is most known for his fantastic 2015, but he hasn't been able to replicate it since. His SIERA was 5.33 entering yesterday vs. a 3.99 ERA; he shouldn't be owned in any formats until he can get his control issues fixed. His BB/9 was four entering yesterday, before walking six batters. Stay away.
Freddie Freeman hit his 12th HR of the year yesterday. We saw Freeman put on a clinic in the second half of 2016, which made me wonder what it would look like for him to do that over a full year. It appears we're seeing that. His wRC+ is over 200 for the year and he's as locked in as ever before. His HR/FB rate will come down, but everything else is the real deal. It seems silly to think that a month ago, it was normal to wonder which Freeman would show up in 2017. Smile if Freeman is on your roster.
Jedd Gyorko continued his strong season, collecting a few hits, 2 RBI, and an SB yesterday. If you can find an owner that thinks Gyorko is turned a corner, I'd make a trade soon. His BABIP is over .400 on the year vs. a career average of .276. We haven't seen much of an improvement to his overall plate approach, albeit he is swinging at fewer pitches outside the zone. Still, it deosn't seem like he's improved enough to be sporting a 167 wRC+, which makes him a good sell high candidate. All that said, remember that he hit 30 HR last year, so continue to roster him but don't expect a .333 average.
Zach Eflin pitched a quality game, going 6 innings with 3 ER and 5 strikeouts against the Mariners. His ERA is impressively sitting at 2.81 for the season, but be cautious here. His SIERA entering yesterday was 4.67, obviously a huge delta between his ERA. He's been fortunate with an 81.7% LOB rate, and from a fantasy perspective, he barely contributes any strikeouts. All that said, make sure he's not on your roster.
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