Miguel Gonzalez (SP-BAL). Gonzalez had a solid outing against the Yankees on Friday night, tossing 8 innings of two run ball in a no-decision. Gonzalez gave up only 6 hits and walked none, while striking out 5 in reducing his ERA to a still-unsightly 4.04. As ugly as Gonzalez' numbers are, and despite the solid outing tonight, he is far outpitching his peripherals, which indicate that his ERA should be more than a run higher (his FIP is 5.20). Fantasy owners are advised to stay far away - either Gonzalez will lose his spot in the rotation to Kevin Gausman (who has outpitched Gonzalez to this point and has much more upside) or he will continue to put up numbers that not only are not helpful, but are affirmatively harmful, to fantasy teams.
Chris Archer (SP-TB). Archer got roughed up in a no-decision against the Blue Jays on Friday night, as he gave up 5 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks over only 5 innings. Archer did strike out 7, so he did provide some benefit for his owners. Archer's ERA now sits at 3.41 for the season. This level of performance is probably what owners should expect for the rest of the season. Archer's 20.6 K%, 9.2 BB% (both increases from 2013) .299 BABIP and 73.2% strand rate all indicate that his current ERA is about where it should be, as evidenced by his 3.29 FIP. There is some danger of some increase in ERA, as Archer is benefiting from a favorable 5.6% HR/FB rate. At this point, Archer is what he is, which is an SP4 for fantasy purposes, who won't hurt you in ERA and will provide solid, but not great K numbers.
Garrett Richards (SP-LAA). Richards collected his 11th win of the season by shutting out the suddenly-feeble Rangers over 7 innings on Friday night. Richards gave up only 5 hits and 2walks while striking out 8 in reducing his ERA to 2.55. This performance is not a fluke, as it is fully supported by Richards' 25.8% K rate, 49.3% GB rate and 11.1% swinging strike rate. Richards' 2.71 FIP indicates that he may well be able to maintain his current ERA, although there is some risk of an increase, given his below-average 4.5% HR/FB rate. Bottom line, there is no reason that Richards should not be able to maintain his current level of performance, and he should be a top 15-20 fantasy pitcher for the balance of the season. If you are fortunate enough to own Richards, you should give yourself a pat on the back for your foresight in acquiring him.
Danny Duffy (SP-KC). Duffy was solid in defeat on Friday night in the Royals' loss to the Tigers. He went 6 innings, giving up only 2 runs (1 earned), on 5 hits and no walks, while striking out 6. Duffy's ERA now sits at 2.76, although a consistent lack of run support has left him with a 5-9 record. Despite the solid numbers, it is difficult to recommend running Duffy out there regularly in standard mixers, both because his team can't score and because his peripherals indicate that Duffy's ERA should be at least a run higher. He has benefited from some extreme good fortune, with a .235 BABIP, 78.8% strand rate and 6.9% HR/FB rate. Additionally, Duffy's 10.0% K minus BB rate is less than ideal. There is a high risk that Duffy's ERA will regress to something closer to his 3.95 FIP, making it inadvisable to rely on him as a member of your mixed league staff.
Kendrys Morales (1B-MIN). Morales went 1 for 4 in the Twins' loss to the Rockies on Friday night. Morales has to be classified as a disappointment so far, with a meager slash line of .231/.252/.322 and only 1 HR, although he has managed to drive in 16 runs. Better days should be ahead as Morales continues to knock off the rust from his late signing, as his numbers are being dragged down by a .263 BABIP and a 2.9% HR/FB rate. Once these numbers normalize, Morales should provide production more in line with his 2013 line of .277/.336/.449, although his counting stats will suffer somewhat as a result of the general weakness of the Twins offense. Those in need of help at a CI spot could do worse than to consider adding Morales.
