The Wire Troll: Jordan Lyles Locks Down Rotation Spot

About three weeks ago, Lyles was inserted into the Padre rotation, and the results have been mixed. He was solid in his first start and spectacular in his second before a couple of rough outings. But Lyles rebounded from that on Thursday with a very strong seven innings of work against the Fish to earn another win. When the Padres signed him last year and brought him up late in the season to start, things didn’t go well at all. Undeterred, they’ve given Lyles another chance to start this year and it’s now paying off. His hit rates are much better and he’s never produced an ERA even close to this low. Note that Lyles’s FIP (4.09) suggests there will be some regression, but not dramatically so. Still, after he began the season in the bullpen, the veteran has really brought some stability to the Padre rotation and San Diego has won each of his last four starts. After flaming out in Houston, Lyles was being counted on to be a key cog in the Rockies’ rotation, but injuries and ineffectiveness derailed that, and he was shifted to the pen. It’s great to see him get another crack at starting now, and he seems to be running with it.

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Gorkys Hernandez is heating up for the San Francisco Giants.

The Wire Troll: Gorkys Hernandez Heating Up

Jankowski was a first round pick (44th overall) in 2012, so we shouldn’t be shocked, but before this season all he’d done is put up a 30-steal season in 2016. There’s no doubt speed is his calling card, but before a slump this week, he was hitting .390. Okay, so that’s down to .325 now and will likely keep dipping, but Jankowski is hitting well, swiping bags and getting on base at a .395 clip. He even drove in a rare run on Friday. Surely, he has use in a mixed format league right now.

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The Wire Troll: Frankie Montas is Nearly Ready

His Thursday start got pushed back to Saturday, and now he’s been scratched from that as well. Hamels apparently won’t go on the DL, so may take the bump on Sunday. With Texas doing awful this season, he may very well be on the trading block, and given his 2.54 ERA on the road, his value could soar with a trade. Once we’ve established his prognosis, consider making an offer for Hamels.

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The Wire Troll: Neil Walker Morphing into Utility Role

Jimenez may be the next top prospect to get recalled. After missing some time at the start of the season with a pectoral injury, he’s gone 30-for-90 so far at Double-A, but is really heating up lately. He had a streak of nine straight multi-hit games, and had gone 19-for-43 over the last 10 games, with 10 RBI before Saturday (when he was 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBI). Jimenez’s walk rate is down, but he’s offset that by making better contact. It’s clear he’s ready for the next step, so jump on him now while his ownership is fairly low.

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The Wire Troll: Domingo German Deserves Attention

McCarthy has not given up more than three earned runs in any of his half dozen starts this season, tying a season-best with six punchouts in his last outing to improve to 4-0, 3.09. His strikeout rate is down a smidge this year, but if he can stay healthy, he should easily top 125 whiffs while providing plenty of wins, a solid ERA and a decent WHIP. It’s not Fantasy gold, but it’s roster-worthy.

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The Wire Troll: Free Willy Adames

Injuries to Oriole infielders have guaranteed that Valencia is going to get PT for the foreseeable future, so it’s time to consider him in deeper AL-only leagues. On Thursday, he delivered two hits, including a solo dinger, to snap a slump. Valencia started the season as a part-timer, and hasn’t done much yet, but he does have some pop — that was his third jack of the season. He’s shown the ability to hit for a decent average (.267 career) and be productive (66 RBI in each of the last two seasons), so it’s worth watching to see what he does with this opportunity.

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