Baseball Daily Dose: Daily Dose: All Smiles
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The Rays haven’t gotten what they expected out of ace Chris Archer so far this season, but Drew Smyly is trying to step in and fill the void.
Smyly was simply brilliant for the second start in a row Tuesday, limiting the Red Sox to just one single and two walks over eight shutout innings. He struck out 11 in the game, marking the second straight outing where he’s tied his career high with 11 punchouts.
Smyly wasn’t great against the Blue Jays in his first start of the season. But, hey, a left-hander going up against all of those big right-handed bats for the Jays is a tall task, so we’ll forgive him. There’s no debating how he’s looked the last two times out, as Smyly limited the Indians and Red Sox to a combined four hits across 15 innings of work while notching 22 whiffs.
The left-hander dealt with shoulder issues last season, and the threat of a setback with the labrum issue is always there. However, when on the field the last two years Smyly has put together a 104/24 K/BB ratio across 88 1/3 frames. Dominant stuff. The southpaw’s velocity has even been up a tick so far in 2016, which is obviously encouraging.
Smyly will take on the Yankees in the Bronx this weekend.
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Marvelous Mat
The $3 million investment the White Sox made in Mat Latos in February is paying early dividends.
Latos strung together his third straight impressive start on Tuesday, holding the Angels off the scoreboard and limiting them to just two hits and three walks over 6 1/3 innings of work. It was the third victory in a row to kick off the season for the veteran right-hander, and he’s somehow managed to give up only six hits and one run over his first 18 1/3 frames.
Latos flamed out with three different teams last season, posting a 4.95 ERA between the Marlins, Dodgers and Angels. He’s also drawn plenty of criticism for his prickly persona and poor clubhouse presence. Thus, it wasn’t terribly surprising that, despite being a 28-year-old with a career 3.48 ERA, Latos was still on the market in February and ultimately settled for a modest one-year contract. However, it looks like other teams missed the boat by passing on Latos, right? Well, I’m not so sure.
It might be too early to decipher anything definitively here, but my hunch is that we could be looking at some fool’s gold. First let’s examine Latos’ opponents so far. All three teams he’s faced rank 20th or lower in runs scored, with the Angels coming in 20th, the A’s 27th and the Twins 29th. He permitted just six total hits to those three struggling offenses, and just two of them went for extra bases. That kind of BABIP luck simply isn’t going to continue, especially when Latos goes up against better offenses. The next three clubs he’s currently lined up to face, the Rangers, Orioles and Red Sox, rank seventh, eighth and ninth in runs scored so far, respectively.
Probably a bigger worry for me than Latos simply getting lucky so far has been his velocity. The right-hander’s velocity was actually up a bit last season compared to 2014 when he dealt with elbow issues. This year, however, the velocity has bottomed out, as BrooksBaseball.net has him at 90.45 mph so far in April. That’s easily the lowest velocity during any month of his career.
Now, it’s possible Latos can learn to pitch with reduced velocity, if in fact his heater never returns to previous levels. I’m not betting on it, though. I’m looking at a guy who is displaying career-low velocity, a poor strikeout rate and a BABIP that’s bound to regress to the mean. Not to mention, he also pitches his home games at U.S. Cellular and is set to spend his first full season in the American League. The shiny 0.49 ERA is tempting, but fantasy owners might be best off passing on Latos.
Kelly Goes Down
The Red Sox entered Tuesday’s game against the Rays with their starters having posted a 5.13 ERA. They left the contest minus one of those starters.
Joe Kelly lasted just two-thirds of an inning before departing with an impingement in his right shoulder. The hurler looked noticeably off from the jump, as his velocity was down and command off. Kelly missed the final month of last season with a strained shoulder, so you can bet that the Red Sox will proceed cautiously with him.
Kelly has put up a 9.35 ERA so far this season and holds a 4.80 ERA since joining the Red Sox, so the club isn’t going to miss him from a production standpoint in all likelihood. However, Eduardo Rodriguez (knee) is still probably a few weeks away, so Boston will have to tap into their depth some more.
Henry Owens has put up a 1.00 ERA and has struck out 23 over his first 18 innings at Triple-A Pawtucket and could at the top of the call sheet. He’s also walked 10 batters, however, and with a career 4.0 BB/9 rate in the minors, control issues are nothing new for the left-hander. Brian Johnson is also a potential option. He’s posted a 2.89 ERA and 9/3 K/BB ratio across 9 1/3 frames at Pawtucket. There’s also Roenis Elias, who might be the most sensible option given his big league experience. He has a 3.86 ERA and 9/7 K/BB ratio over his first 9 1/3 frames for Pawtucket.
Owens would probably be the most intriguing guy from a fantasy perspective but also probably the riskiest. He made 11 starts for the Red Sox last season and mixed in some very good outings with very bad ones. Sometimes he was good and bad in the same outing, as he had a start versus the Mariners where he struck out 10 and walked just one over six innings but also gave up three homers and seven runs. Boston might want the 23-year-old to keep honing his craft some more before they throw him back into the fire. If that’s the case, Elias makes sense as a fill-in until Rodriguez is ready.
National League Quick Hits: Jacob deGrom (lat) will rejoin the Mets’ rotation on Sunday in Atlanta … Stephen Strasburg struck out 10 over eight scoreless innings in Tuesday’s win over the Marlins … Bryce Harper launched a grand slam against the Marlins on Tuesday … Reds manager Bryan Price wouldn’t commit to JJ Hoover as his closer after the reliever struggled again in Tuesday’s game against the Rockies … Neil Walker smacked two of the Mets’ six homers in Tuesday’s victory over the Phillies … Robbie Ray struck out eight over six scoreless innings in Tuesday’s win over the Giants … Jason Hammel struck out six across six frames of one-run ball in a win over the Cardinals on Tuesday … Tyson Ross (shoulder) played catch Tuesday for the first time since being placed on the disabled list … Cory Spangenberg was pulled from Tuesday’s game against the Pirates with a left quad strain … Tyler Flowers went 4-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored in Tuesday’s win over the Dodgers … Brandon Phillips went 4-for-4 with a double, a triple and a run scored in the Reds’ win over the Rockies on Tuesday … Logan Verrett tossed six shutout frames in a win over the Phillies on Tuesday … Mark Reynolds double and had a two-run home run in Tuesday’s loss to the Reds … DJ LeMahieu (groin) returned to the Rockies’ lineup Tuesday … Carl Crawford (back) will begin a rehab assignment Wednesday …
American League Quick Hits: Michael Brantley (shoulder) is nearing a return but needs to play in back-to-back rehab games first … Trevor Plouffe was placed on the disabled list Tuesday with a right intercostal strain … Salvador Perez went 2-for-4 with a home run and five RBI as the Royals beat the Tigers on Tuesday … Jarrod Saltalamacchia homered for the third straight game Tuesday, hitting a three-run shot in a loss to the Royals … Angels manager Mike Scioscia said Tuesday that Andrew Heaney has “plateaued” in his recovery from a left flexor muscle strain … Byung-ho Park homered Tuesday for the third time in his last four games … Kevin Gausman (shoulder) will make one more rehab start Wednesday before being activated next week if all goes well … George Springer doubled and homered in Tuesday’s loss to the Rangers … Todd Frazier went 2-for-3 with a home run and two runs scored Tuesday against the Angels … Kevin Kiermaier hit his first homer of the season in an extra-innings win over the Red Sox … Mitch Moreland went 2-for-4 with a solo home run as the Rangers beat the Astros 7-5 on Tuesday … Jarrod Dyson (oblique) went 2-for-4 with an RBI single and a run scored in his return to the lineup Tuesday … Matt Wieters clubbed his first home run of the season in Tuesday’s loss to the Blue Jays … Carlos Carrasco held the Mariners to one run over 6 1/3 frames while recording five strikeouts in Tuesday’s victory … Kyle Seager singled and belted a solo homer in Tuesday’s loss to the Indians … Henderson Alvarez (shoulder) will begin a rehab assignment on Wednesday … Josh Hamilton (knee) is aiming to begin a rehab assignment on April 30 …
