As we look at Thursday’s pitching matchups, a couple of the best values based on Draftstreet‘s salaries are young pitchers getting spot starts. Those are just the types of players who can pay off in a big way with their low costs.
Best Bet
Blake Treinen – $11,771
With Gio Gonzalez landing on the DL, the Nationals are in need of a spot starter and Treinen is the guy. He has been back and forth between Triple-A and the Majors this season, and has been excellent everywhere. He has appeared in four games for Washington, with one start. Overall, he has a 0.77 ERA over 11 innings. In his lone start, he went five innings against the Dodgers and didn’t allow a single earned run. In six starts with Triple-A Syracuse, Treinen has been dominant. He was 2-0 with a 1.96 ERA and 1.04 WHIP. Opponents hit just .218 against him. He also has a pretty good matchup tonight. In the six games prior to last night, Pittsburgh scored just 20 runs, ahead of only Milwaukee in the National League during that week.
Double Down
Robbie Ray – $10,777
Like Treinen, Ray is another young starter who has spent time in both the Majors and minors this year and is filling in for an injured starter. Ray had made a couple starts in the place of Anibal Sanchez, but is now being called upon to step in for Rick Porcello. In his two starts, he threw 11.1 innings, and gave up one run on nine hits while striking out seven. Combined with another 0.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen, and Ray has a 0.75 ERA and 1.00 WHIP on the year. With Triple-A Toledo, meanwhile, he was 3-2 in six games with a 1.53 ERA over 29.1 innings. He has a good chance to continue his hot run tonight against Rangers. They have lost five of their last seven and have scored more than four runs only once in their last 10 games.
Roll the Dice
Eric Stults – $11,484
Stults got caught in a rut for a few games late last month, which bled over into one start in May. But he seems to have gotten things back on track, turning in quality starts in back-to-back outings. On May 10 against Miami, he went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits. Six days later he went 6.2 innings giving up six more hits, and holding the Rockies to one run. Now in May, he is 1-1 with a 3.12 ERA. And with a start against the Cubs coming today, that is a number that could be lowered. Chicago ranks in the bottom third of all teams in both scoring and batting average against left-handed pitching.
