CheeseIsGood's Million Dollar Musings: Wednesday, September 1st
Happy September! We are down to the final month of this MLB season and starting it off with some rain. The Marlins-Mets game has already been postponed, and at this point, it looks dicey for the Phillies-Nationals. And, voila, the Phillies-Nationals are postponed as well. Even as that takes Nola off this slate, we still have another night with plenty of high-end pitching.
A housekeeping note before we jump in to the slate – I will gone tomorrow and Friday, so Cards will be covering the bases with you, and I’ll be back for Labor Day on Monday. I hope you all enjoy the first full weekend of college football, if that’s the kind of thing you enjoy! And now, back to the slate at hand.
Wednesday Night Pitching
For a third straight day, we have multiple aces to choose from, and then things drop off rather quickly.
FIVE ACES
Max Scherzer vs Braves – 34.6% K, 6.1% BB, 2.51 ERA, 2.92 SIERA
Gerrit Cole at Angels – 34.3% K, 5.5% BB, 2.80 ERA, 2.83 SIERA
Chris Sale at Rays – 34.4% K, 4.9% BB, 2.35 ERA, 2.66 SIERA
Carlos Rodon vs Pirates – 35.1% K, 6.7% BB, 2.43 ERA, 2.88 SIERA
Kevin Gausman vs Brewers – 28.8% K, 7.5% BB, 2.49 ERA, 3.58 SIERA
Chris Sale is pitching like he’s completely 100% on a per inning basis, but his pitch count is still looking limited to some extent. His first start was 89 pitches, followed by 71 and then 80. He’s so good, that is more than enough to be elite, however, now he’s on a slate with Scherzer and Cole at essentially the same salary. It’s reasonable to think he gets a little more run here in a key game with an injury riddled bullpen, but that would still likely put him short of Scherzer and Cole for pitch count upside. A dozen or so pitches wouldn’t matter to me if it was anyone less elite than these other two. Add in the patience of the Rays lineup, and I have to side with Scherzer and Cole here tonight. Among those two, the matchup is enough better for Cole, that he is my SP1 here tonight. All three of these aces are matchup proof and good enough to dominate in any start, and I will absolutely be playing all three early and often. But I have to rank them somehow, and it’s Cole, then Scherzer, then Sale.