





Reynaldo Lopez (CHW) 13% on the Road vs DET, Monday 8/13 and at Home vs KC, Sunday, 8/19

Rey-Lo has been a very high risk-reward Pitcher this year and I’ve stayed away for the better part of the last two months. However, Lopez’s last two starts have been solid, one against the Royals and the other an impressive one run outing against the Yankees. He’s been getting more swings and misses and most importantly, not walking many batters. It’s too early to tell if Rey-Lo has turned the corner yet but he gets the Royals again and the Tigers. In the last month, the Tigers have been the worst offense in the league with a .246 wOBA and .197 batting average! Wow, that’s awful. The Royals have been better but are still bottom five in the league in that last 30 days. Match-ups don’t get much better than this for a two start streamer, so I’m taking the plunge. STREAM

Jaime Barria (LAA) 10% on the road vs SD, Tuesday 8/14

Another young pitcher facing another terrible offense. Who gets the upper hand? Well the Padres have a .296 wOBA at home this season and are likely without Wil Myers until the weekend series. That’s good, but what about Barria? Barria hasn’t gotten a ton of strikeouts this year but his 11% swinging strike rate tells me that his strikeout numbers should be better. He’s coming off a great start against the Tigers and has given up more than 3 ER just once in his last 8 starts. Then there’s his slider. Opponents are hitting .173 off the slider with a sub-65% contact rate. His change up has been decent but the fastball is terrible. I don’t trust him beyond this start, but I’ll roll the dice on his great slider. STREAM

Ervin Santana (MIN) 22%, Home vs DET, Thursday 8/16

Finally, a crusty old veteran. Santana missed more than half the season and has not been good upon his return. How bad you ask? How about a 6.53 ERA with a 1.40 WHIP with only 14 strikeouts in 20.1 IP. The good: 20% soft contact… that’s it. The bad: his velocity is down 4 mph from last year, he’s allowed a crazy 98% zone contact, and has a sub-5% SwStr rate. Yikes. Until the velocity returns, I can’t recommend Santana. He’s far too hittable right now and I don’t think he’s completely right. STAY AWAY







Matt Boyd (DET) 18%, on the Road vs MIN, Friday 8/17

Matt is my Boy-d. How is he not over 25% owned? My guess is that over 40% of leagues are dead. I’ve discussed Boyd’s improved slider, it’s pitch value is up near Patrick Corbin’s this year and he’s kept the walks in check. I’m not really concerned about the Dozier-less, Escobar-less Twins. I think the only way he has trouble here is the home run ball. Over the last 30 days the Twins have only hit 18 home runs, tied for the second least in MLB. They also have a 94 wRC+ in that span. I like Boyd to get a QS with at least 5 strikeouts and solid ratios. STREAM

Joey Lucchesi (SD) 18%, Home vs ARI, Friday 8/17

The Diamondbacks have been middle of the road offensively this past month but much of it has been buoyed by a .323 BABIP. They have only managed 23 home runs in that time frame and it doesn’t hurt that this game is being played in Petco. However, Lucchesi has been worse at home with an ERA well over 4.00 with and ERA in the mid-2s on the road. It’s a small sample, so I won’t completely trust it. Lucchesi is still getting strikeouts but not a ton of swings and misses and has an ERA over 5.00 in the second half. I think the league has figured him out a bit which was to be expected with his two-pitch arsenal. I think the D-Backs make this a short outing for Loey L. Stay Away

Tommy Milone (WAS) 3%, at Home vs MIA, Saturday 8/18

Milone got pummeled last week giving up 7 runs against the Braves. At this point, Milone is not scheduled a guaranteed start, so keep an eye on this one early in the week to see how the Nationals set up the rotation. Milone got stung by the long ball in that last start but he’s been able to punch out 19 batters in 18 innings and has yet to allow a walk! It’s not that he’s been in the zone too much either, he’s getting ahead of hitters with a 71% first pitch strike rate, combine that with a 13.2% SwStr rate and it looks like we may have something here. The Marlins are bad, there’s no doubt, and they just traded away their best power hitter in Justin Bour. This seems like an easy win for Milone with a decent strikeout total. I’m rolling with this one if he goes. STREAM







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