Jacob Faria (SP, TB) - Faria impressed in his second start with the Rays, yielding just one run over 6.1 innings with one walk and eight strikeouts. He only gave up one extra base hit, a double to Russell Martin in the fourth inning, and now sits with a 1.42 ERA and 13:3 K:BB ratio through his first 12.2 innings with the Rays. The 2.19 BB/9 is pretty remarkable given his lack of control throughout his minor league career, although his 3.38 BB/9 at Triple-A this season was the best rate he had posted since he was in A-ball. With Matt Andriese looking at an extended stay on the DL and Blake Snell still working on his control at Triple-A, Faria's rotation slot should be his to lose. Faria is definitely worth an add in all formats given his high strikeout upside, but keep in mind his track record of inconsistent control could lead to some abbreviated starts due to high pitch counts early in the game. If he sticks in the rotation, his next start would be Sunday in Detroit.
Jharel Cotton (SP, OAK) - Cotton suffered his seventh loss of the year as he allowed five runs over five innings on eight hits and a walk, striking out five Marlins. He walked just the one batter, which is mildly encouraging, but his 4.18 BB/9 has been a huge problem. He had never really had any sort of control issues at all throughout his minor league career, which makes the bloated walk rate a head-scratcher. He owns an acceptable 61% first-pitch strike rate and it's not like he is living out of the zone, with a 49% zone percentage. He simply isn't getting anyone to chase his pitches outside of the zone, with a 26% chase rate that puts him in the bottom 20 of all starters with at least 50 innings pitched. He doesn't gave great swing-and-miss stuff, so he can't be issuing free passes at such a rate or you get his current ERA, which is 5.52. Whether the A's decide to send him back to the farm for some refining or let him learn on the fly in the MLB rotation, you should avoid him in all fantasy formats until he strings together a couple of good starts.
Brad Peacock (SP/RP, HOU) - Peacock has been turning heads with his strikeout rate this season, but you've got to take the good with the bad. The good was 10 strikeouts over 4.2 innings in his start against the Rangers, but the bad was that he walked four and ran his pitch count up to 96 before he could qualify for the win. He only allowed two hits as he continues to impress in his return to starting after opening the season in the bullpen. The 29-year old has increased his slider usage this year and has seen his strikeout rate skyrocket to 13.38 K/9 as a result. While the strikeouts are dead sexy, the walk rate certainly is not; his BB/9 is now up over five, at 5.08 BB/9, and his 3.00 ERA is masked a bit by his success out of the pen early in the season. He has allowed 11 runs over 22.2 innings as a starter, but he's still worth a look in deeper mixed leagues just for the strikeout upside. It's unlikely he'll be able to limit the walks enough to be a true asset in standard mixed leagues, but those who are strapped for starters should pick him up and roll him out for his next start, which is very friendly as he heads out to Oakland.
Buck Farmer (SP, DET) - Farmer was a hot pickup this week after firing 13 shutout innings over his first two starts with 16 K's versus just three walks. Regression hit him hard on Tuesday though, as he was pummeled for six earned runs over 2.1 innings against the Diamondbacks. He gave up nine hits including two home runs, but if you're looking for a silver lining at least he had a 4:0 K:BB ratio. Despite the blow to your ratios, Farmer is still someone to hang on to in most mixed leagues. He entered the game with a 14.3% swinging strike rate and 67.4% first pitch strike rate, assuring us that his K:BB ratio will stick. While his ERA is 3.52 now, his FIP is 2.78 and all of his peripherals are still impressive. Try to look past the blow up start and hold fast. Next up, Farmer will try to plow through the Rays at home in his second start of the week.
Marco Estrada (SP, TOR) - Estrada was blown up for the third game in a row, giving up six earned over 3.1 innings against the Rays. He had no walks and two strikeouts but allowed two home runs and a whopping 12 hits, so it wasn't just a few mistake pitches that cost him. As an extreme fly ball pitcher you'd think he'd be more homer-prone, but he had HR/FB rates of just 8.7% and 9.9% over the last two years, thanks partially to a huge amount of pop-ups induced. His pop-up rate has been cut in half from last year though, to 8%, and instead of auto-outs some of those fly balls have been struck hard and that's led to a 12.7% HR/FB rate that harkens back to his Brewers days. His control is still good though and his K/9 is an impressive 10.18, so at least there has been quite a few more strikeouts than you had expected to offset the 4.54 ERA you've absorbed. His FIP is much better than his ERA at 3.70 and his hard contact rate is fine at 30%, so better days are on the horizon.
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