Jacob DeGrom (SP, NYM) - DeGrom finished at least eight innings for the third consecutive start, giving up just one run on four hits with a walk and seven K's against the Giants. Over his last three sterling starts he has accrued 25 IP, a 0.72 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, and a 21:7 K:BB ratio. After a rough May where he finished with a 4.95 ERA over 36.1 innings, DeGrom has now chiseled his ERA to 3.71 on the season and is finally looking like the ace we were hoping to see. His strikeouts are higher than ever but so are his walks and homers, part of which can be attributed to a higher slider usage. He's backed off the pitch a little bit over his last few starts though in lieu of more curveballs and changeups, and we've seen that he's been very effective with a more even deployment of off-speed offerings in those starts. He seems to be healthy, and should be started in all formats with confidence.
Homer Bailey (SP, CIN) - Bailey had what you might call an "inauspicious debut" against the Nationals, tossing just an inning and two-thirds and allowing eight runs on six hits with three walks and two strikeouts. That puts his ERA at a cool 43.20 to open the year, which isn't going to put him on any waiver wire pickup lists. It's obviously not going to continue to be this bad the rest of the way for Bailey, and the Nats are a mighty tough matchup for your season debut. However, it's been three years since he's shown any effectiveness, and it's as likely as anything that as soon as he strings together a couple solid starts he will find the DL again. As a silver lining he at least got some nice whiffs on his slider and changeup, and his fastball velocity was back up to 94 MPH on average, the highest it's been since 2014 when he was last effective. Keep an eye on him, but he can be avoided for the time being outside of NL-Only leagues, where he is still worth a flier.
Trea Turner (2B/SS/OF, WAS) - Turner stayed hot, racking up five singles in six trips to the plate, also drawing a walk and scoring four times with two RBI. After a slow start and a stint on the disabled list, Turner owners were growing impatient with their first-round draft pick. They can safely put those days behind them though as Turner has a .288 average and 19 steals over his last 32 games with 26 runs scored. Over his first 162 games played with the Nats dating back to his debut last year, he has a .299/.333./484 line with 21 homers and 63 steals...and that ain't bad. His home run power has come down to earth this year though, with a .149 ISO compared to his .225 mark from last year. His hard contact rate is actually below average at 26%, so you're looking at more like 15 home runs as a season total instead of the mid-20's pace he was on last year. The steals and runs scored total will be elite though, and he is going to be a true difference-maker in those categories.
Lance Lynn (SP, STL) - Lynn continued his expected regression, allowing seven runs for the second straight start. He lasted 5.2 innings, with those seven runs coming on six hits and three walks, while he out three. His ERA rose to 3.86 but he somehow he still has a .219 BABIP and 82% strand rate on the season, leading to a 5.54 FIP. He has given up a ton of long balls though and his HR/FB rate is now at 20.5%, which if normalized gives you a less terrifying 4.64 xFIP. Overall it's been a nice return to action after Lynn missed 2016 with Tommy John, but he's walking more batters than ever with a 3.75 BB/9, and if he continues to give up home runs like he has, that ERA will continue to balloon rapidly when there are so many men on base from the free pass. The time to sell was before these last two starts so you probably won't be able to sell high on him at this point, so your best bet is to pick favorable spots to start him moving forward, or simply cut bait in shallow mixed leagues.
Dinelson Lamet (SP, SD) - Lamet not only has a quality name, but put forth a quality start against the Tigers. He gave up three runs (two earned) on three hits and a walk over six innings of work, striking out five Tigers. His ERA actually dropped to 6.60 with this start, although with just 30 innings pitched his two awful starts have done a lot of that damage. He's been obscenely inconsistent, with run totals of 1, 2, 9, 7, 3, and now 3 over his six starts. His strikeouts are very appealing though, with a K/9 of 12.60 and just 3 BB/9. He's also been very homer-prone with a 19.5% HR/FB, which if normalized leads us to an even 4.00 xFIP that would look really nice with that strikeout rate. He relies heavily on his slider, which he throws about a third of the time, but he does have a changeup that he deploys 15% of the time to combat platoon splits. He's an interesting player, but the ride might be a little too bumpy for standard mixed leaguers to hop aboard just yet. The strikeouts alone make him worth a shot in deeper leagues, but depending on what the Padres do with their rotation next week, Lamet might get sent back to the minors for a bit, so keep an eye on that.
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