The Blue Jays look to take 3 out of 4 from the Red Sox at 12:37pm this afternoon as Marcus Stroman goes up against Rubby De La Rosa. The Dominican right-hander has pitched well for Boston this year but was optioned down to Pawtucket back in June to make way for Jake Peavy, even though De La Rosa had pitched better so far this year. He was then recalled earlier this month and picked up where he left off before the demotion. Overall, the righty has a 2.64 ERA and a 3.84 FIP in seven starts this season including a pair of seven inning shutouts.

De La Rosa's repertoire is pretty weird for a righty starter, with the majority of his pitches being fastballs and changeups. Less than 14% of his pitches are sliders, meaning he attacks hitters on both sides of the plate with just his mid-90's fastball and his solid changeup. His pitch selection seems to scream reliever who only has to face batters once, but he's made it work so far this season in a starting role. There is a chance his pitch mix has changed for the better since his promotion back to the Red Sox earlier this month as he's now featuring the slider much more frequently:

Even weirder is that De La Rosa throws his changeup right down the pipe against righties, which is normally a bad idea:

via www.brooksbaseball.net

Bullpen Usage (New Feature!)

Blue Jays

• Yesterday- Aaron Sanchez (2.0 IP, 25 pitches), Casey Janssen (1.0 IP, 8 pitches)
• Two Days Ago- Dustin McGowan (1.2 IP, 28 pitches), Aaron Loup (0.1 IP, 1 pitch), Casey Janssen (0.2 IP, 24 pitches), Brett Cecil (0.2 IP, 2 pitches)

Red Sox

• Yesterday- Andrew Miller (1.0 IP, 14 pitches), Craig Breslow (1.0 IP, 12 pitches)
• Two Days Ago- Burke Badenhop (0.2 IP, 7 pitches), Felix Doubront (1.0 IP, 25 pitches)

Hopeful Lineup

1. Jose Reyes SS
2. Melky Cabrera DH
3. Jose Bautista RF
4. Dioner Navarro C
5. Colby Rasmus CF
6. Juan Francisco 1B
7. Anthony Gose LF
8. Ryan Goins 2B
9. Munenori Kawasaki 3B

Find The Link

The Miami Marlins have received several calls with regard to closer Steve Cishek over the last few days, and The Miami Herald cited a source who notes that the Marlins would risk angering Giancarlo Stanton if they decided to trade way their closer.

Giancarlo Stanton isn't afraid to speak his mind.

Miami's starting right fielder has been vocal about some of the trades the organization has made in the past, and the Marlins are in the process of trying to put a winning core around him in an attempt to keep him in South Florida.

Stanton was vocal following the fire sale trade with the Toronto Blue Jays, and wants to see the Marlins win. With the Marlins sitting eight and a half games out of first place in the National League East, the organization still feels the team can remain competitive.

The Marlins have yet to identify as buyers or sellers, but several reports over the last few days have indicated the team has received several calls with regard to the status of closer Steve Cishek. Citing a league source, The Miami Herlad noted trading Cishek would make keeping Stanton a Marlin an unrealistic goal.

Trading closer Steve Cishek, according to a major league source, might send the wrong message to Stanton, especially if the return is a haul of prospects, which is what the Padres received from the Angels in their trade for closer Huston Street a few days ago.

"I don't think there's much chance Stanton ends up staying (long-term) with the Marlins, anyway," the source said. "But if they do move Cishek, what's that telling him (Stanton)? If they traded Cishek, they could pretty much kiss him (Stanton) goodbye."

Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/fish_bytes/2014/07/source-marlins-could-risk-kissing-stanton-goodbye-by-trading-cishek.html#storylink=cpy

With Huston Street off the market, the interest in Cishek is consistently increasing. Miami would likely receive at least a pair of prospects for Cishek, who has saved 23 games while posting a 3.40 ERA and 2.03 FIP. Prospects wouldn't appease Stanton, who wants to ensure the Marlins have a stable future before moving forward.

Cishek is not eligible for free agency until 2018, and is an inexpensive option compared to the contracts of veterans such as Jonathan Papelbon. Miami would receive a decent return because of the number of years Cishek will remain under club control.

If the Marlins want to keep Stanton in Miami, every transaction made between now and the offseason, when the organization plans to begin extension talks, should at least take Stanton's perspective into consideration.

Miami has indirectly adopted such an approach to this point, noting that he and Casey McGehee are not on the block and the team will not make any quick moves until they have a better feel of where the squad is headed in 2014.

Before the All-Star break and the struggles that came immediately before and after it, the Marlins were looking to add to the roster. Miami is likely still looking for a second baseman and starting pitcher, but may be inclined to sell a few pieces too.

If Stanton doesn't have a desire to remain in Miami, which he may not, then factoring his reaction into potential moves is unnecessary. But until the conversations begin, it would be in the Marlins' best interest to please one of the best young players in the game.

Another fun game. Blue Jays up 7-0.

Today's Probables:
LHV: Greg Smith,
REA: Adam Loewen,
CLR: Aaron Nola,
LWD: Yacksel Rios,
WIL: Alejandro Arteaga

Pawtucket 7, Lehigh Valley 2 (continuation of 7/23 game)

Sean O'Sullivan - 4 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 3 K, HR, 5 GB, 1 FB
Ethan Martin - 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, WP
Jeremy Horst - 2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, K
Matt Hoffman - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, K
Cesar Hernandez - 1 for 4, R (fielding error)
Freddy Galvis - 1 for 4, R, 2B
Leandro Castro - 0 for 3, BB, 2 K
Sebastian Valle - 0 for 3, K

Sean O'Sullivan takes his 8th loss and walks a season high 5 batters. The bullpen would continue the game after it was suspended by rain for a day. Martin saw his 9.2 scoreless innings streak come to an end. Matt Hoffman makes his Lehigh debut with a scoreless inning. No Franco, Rupp or Perkins in the lineup, so there is nothing really exciting on the offensive front unless you get giddy for Russ Canzler and Nate Spears updates.

Pawtucket 5, Lehigh Valley 1 (7 innings)

Brad Lincoln - 6.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, BB, 8 K, HR, 2 GB, 6 FB
Cesar Jimenez - 0.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER
Cesar Hernandez - 0 for 4, 2 K
Freddy Galvis - 1 for 3, 2B, K
Maikel Franco - 1 for 2, R, BB
Cameron Rupp - 0 for 3, K
Tyler Henson - 1 for 3, 2B, RBI
Cam Perkins - 0 for 3, K

Brad Lincoln strikes out a season high 8 batters, but still winds up with the loss. He has struck out 79 batters in 87 innings with the Iron Pigs. Maikel Franco returns to the lineup after missing a couple games with back tightness and works a single and a walk. Perkins also returns, but doesn't have as favorable results.

Reading 6, Akron 1

Ryan O'Sullivan - 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 4 K, 6 GB, 4 FB (pickoff error)
Colton Murray - 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, K
Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez - 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, BB, 3 K
Peter Lavin - 0 for 4, K
Kelly Dugan - 2 for 3, 2 R, K, HBP
Jake Fox - 2 for 3, 2 R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, HBP
Aaron Altherr - 1 for 3, R, RBI, BB
Carlos Alonso - 1 for 4, HR, 2 RBI

Ryan O'Sullivan has...been pretty darn good in his turn as a starter. Yes, the 5 walks yesterday are less than ideal, but he has only given up 14 hits in 22 innings (his last 4 starts). MAG has given up runs now in back to back outings for the first time with Reading. Kelly Dugan OBP for the season now stands at .390 (146 AB). Jake Fox is just being ridiculous now, hitting his 14th HR, his 6th in his last 8 games. Carlos Alonso also picks up his 9th homer.

Clearwater 7, Jupiter 4

Miguel Nunez - 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 4 GB, 5 FB
Ramon Oviedo - 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, K
Roman Quinn - 1 for 4, R, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, SB
Angelo Mora - 1 for 5, 2B, RBI, 2 K
JP Crawford - 2 for 5, R, K
Brian Pointer - 1 for 5, R, K, CS (outfield assist, 2B)
Harold Martinez - 1 for 3, R, SB, HBP
Gabriel Lino - 2 for 4, R, 2B, 4 RBI

Miguel Nunez has now put together 2 very good starts in a row (12 IP, 1 ER). Roman Quinn steals his 14th base, his 5th in the last 7 games. JP Crawford with a two-hit game and is slashing .371/.439/.486 in his last 10 games. Brian Pointer now has 9 outfield assists this season. Gabriel Lino continues his hot streak and has 5 hits in his last 2 games (slashing .300/.323/.433 in his last 10).

Lakewood 8, Greenville 3

Jon Prosinski - 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, BB, 5 K, 9 GB, 2 FB
Delvi Francisco - 3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 K, 2 BB, 2 FB
Carlos Tocci - 2 for 4, R, CS
Andrew Pullin - 2 for 4, 2 R
Andrew Knapp - 1 for 4, 2B, 3 K
Dylan Cozens - 2 for 4, 2 R, 3B, 2 RBI
Zach Green - 2 for 3, 2 R, 2 2B, RBI, BB
Mitch Walding - 1 for 4, 2 RBI, K
Larry Greene - 0 for 2, R, RBI, BB, K
Willians Astudillo - 1 for 4, RBI

Prosinski has a good start and has put up some pretty good GB/FB numbers all season. Too bad everyone just keeps hitting off him in the process. Lakewood offense dominated this game, collecting 11 hits and going 4 for 9 with RISP. Cozens picks up his 4th triple and raises his average to .249. Tocci and Pullin both remain hot as well. Larry Greene's average falls to .181.

Williamsport 5, Mahoning Valley 1

Feliberto Sanchez - 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 GB, 6 FB
Edubray Ramos - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, K
Manny Martinez - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 2 K
Jesen Therrien - 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K
Chase Harris - 0 for 4, R, SB (outfield assist, 1B)
Jiandido Tromp - 3 for 3, 2 R, 3B, RBI, BB, SB
Aaron Brown - 1 for 3, R, 2B, RBI, K, HBP
Rhys Hoskins - 0 for 2, RBI, BB
Derek Campbell - 0 for 3, R, HBP (fielding and throwing error)
Cord Sandberg - 1 for 4, 3B, 2 RBI, K
Deivi Grullon - 0 for 4, 2 K
Drew Stankiewicz - 1 for 3, CS
Robinson Torres - 1 for 3

Feliberto Sanchez returns to the rotation and does fairly well with the bullpen closing it out. Jiandido Tromp goes 3 for 3 and steals his 10th base. Combined through two levels he is batting .267/.332/.484 (217 AB) with 10 HR and 13 SB. Cord Sandberg has his first extra base hit in what seems like forever.

GCL Blue Jays 9, GCL Phillies 2 (Game 1 of doubleheader, 7 innings)

Denton Keys - 2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, WP
Jared Fisher - 2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, BB, 3 WP
Gregorio Santos - 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, K
Carlos Duran - 1 for 4, R, 2 K
Tim Zier - 2 for 3, R, 2 2B
Damek Tomscha - 0 for 3, RBI
Gustavo Martinez - 0 for 1, 2 BB
Jose Pujols - 1 for 3, K
Trey Williams - 0 for 3
Jake Sweaney - 0 for 3, K

A bit of a disaster with both the pitching and offense in the 1st game of the doubleheader. This was by far Key's worst outing of the season. The same with Fisher, who hadn't given up more than 1 ER in an appearance prior to yesterday. The offense only collects 4 hits and was 0 for 6 with RISP.

GCL Phillies 12, GCL Blue Jays 1 (Game 2 of doubleheader, makeup of 7/23 ppd, 7 innings)

Franklyn Kilome - 5 IP, 4 H,1 R, 1 ER, 4 K, 7 GB, 3 FB, WP
Elniery Garcia - 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, 3 K
Venn Biter - 1 for 3, 2 R, RBI, BB, K, SB
Olvy Marte - 1 for 2, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB
Jesus Posso - 2 for 3, R, 5 RBI, BB, K
Damek Tomscha - 0 for 4, K (throwing error)
Jose Pujols - 2 for 3, 2 R, 2B, BB, K, CS
Joel Fisher - 2 for 4, R, 2B, RBI, K
Luis Encarnacion - 0 for 2, R, BB, K, HBP
Jake Sweaney - 2 for 3, R, 2B, 3 RBI, BB

Kilome is having himself quite the stateside debut. The massive 19 year old from the DR has only given up 12 hits, 3 earned runs and 5 walks in 18 innings. The offense went bonkers in this game, getting 12 runs on 10 hits and 9 walks. Damek Tomscha has fallen off a cliff after his hot start. He is .118/.250/.294 in his last 10 games.

Cool news of the day: Mark Buehrle is getting the young guys on the Blue Jays suits in New York City because he is cool and fatherly. Not that my father ever got me custom suits from New York City or made $18 million a year.

Mark Buehrle is the absolute man! Awesome having a veteran presence like him on the squad. Just got all the young guys fitted for suits!

— Marcus Stroman (@MStrooo7) July 25, 2014

Buehrle has a history of furnishing his teammates with gifts. When he threw a no-hitter against the Rangers back in 2007 he got all of his teammates watches, after his perfect game (which happened five years ago this week), he gave everyone a personalized bottle of Crown Royal XR.

I wonder what the cutoff is to get these veteran presents from Buehrle? Does Rob Rasmussen, a 25-year-old rookie, get a suit too? How about Ryan Goins, who is somehow already 26?

Buehrle goes on the hill at Yankee Stadium tonight to face Hiroki Kuroda. Buehrle has not recorded a win for eight consecutive starts (since June 1) this season, and he has not recorded a win in Yankee Stadium since April 10, 2004, a span of 14 starts with the White Sox and the Blue Jays.

Fans in Toronto finally saw what Aaron Sanchez is like this week with his promotion up to the major leagues. But many of the broadcasters in the Blue Jays' minor league system have been watching him develop level-by-level since he started pitching professionally. Rob Fai was probably the first among Around The Nest regulars to have seen him in action, when the then 19-year-old appeared in a three-game stint with the Vancouver Canadians in 2011.

So Bluebird Banter's Questions of the Week for the broadcasters are: 1) What was the best Sanchez performance you've ever seen? and 2) Can you tell us your best Aaron Sanchez story (on- or off-field)?

Of course, you readers can also have your chance at asking questions to the various minor league broadcasters simply by putting them in the comments below. Host Jesse Goldberg-Strassler will be sure to ask as many of them as possible on the podcast.

Like always, Around The Nest will be broadcast live starting at 5 pm Eastern today, and you can listen in live right here, or download it after it's over.

Meanwhile you can catch last week's podcast right here:

Since Deck McGuirewas designated for assignment last Thursday, the Blue Jays had designated two other pitchers for assignment in Sergio Santos and Brad Mills (the player McGuire was DFAed for). Both Mills and Santos were placed on outright waivers, and both eventually passed through without being claimed. But we hadn't heard anything about the status of Deck McGuire, so naturally the speculation was that there was some minor trade interest in the former 11th-overall pick. And apparently there was.

The Oakland Athletics--but not the Blue Jays because of course--announced that their club has sent money to the cash-strapped Blue Jays for the rights to McGuire and that the 25-year-old will be reporting to triple-A Sacramento where he will join Kenny Wilson (Marcus Walden is currently in double-A for the A's). Today at 2 pm was the deadline for the Blue Jays to place McGuire on waivers (DFA rules gives a club 10 days to assign a player, but outright waivers take 48 hours to clear, so a player must be placed on waivers by the 8th day), so it appears that the trade squeaked through at the last minute.

The #Athletics have acquired RHP Deck McGuire from Toronto for cash considerations. McGuire will be optioned to Triple-A Sacramento.

— Oakland Athletics (@Athletics) July 25, 2014

Despite the fact that McGuire is already 25 and had spent parts of four seasons in double-A, the pedigree of being a first-round draft pick (and Alex Anthopoulos's first ever pick) as well as his two remaining options beyond 2014 meant that there was little chance that he would get through waivers. Since waivers claims go to the claimant with the worst record, the 63-38 Athletics would not likely have been able to pick him up that way. The amount of cash sent to Toronto has yet to be disclosed, but one can only assume that, in order to get dibs on McGuire, the A's would have had to pay a premium on the the $20,000 the Blue Jays would've gotten on an outright waiver claim.

In retrospect, we can second-guess Anthopoulos's decision concerning McGuire. Not his choice to DFA McGuire instead of Santos in the Mills waiver claim, as in that case someone--probably McGuire--would've had to come off the roster along with Mills for Aaron Sanchez and Esmil Rogers anyway, but his choice in the offseason to add McGuire to the 40-man roster in the first place. If Anthopoulos had done that McGuire would've been exposed to the Rule 5 draft and may have been claimed, but did anyone think that he would've been good enough for a major league team to justify using up a spot on their 25-man roster for the whole season?

Good luck to Deck on his new adventures (he'll need it in the Pacific Coast League) in the Oakland system.

The former first round pick is leaving the Blue Jays' organization after five years.

The Oakland Athletics have acquired 25-year-old right-hander Deck McGuire in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays, per a club announcement. In exchange, the Blue Jays will receive cash considerations. The former first round pick was designated for assignment last week in order to create room on Toronto's roster for waiver claim Brad Mills.

McGuire was drafted 11th overall in the 2010 draft out of Georgia Tech. He pitched well in his first season with the organization, reaching Double-A, but saw his stock decrease sharply after two terrible campaigns at Double-A in 2012 and 2013. McGuire entered 2014 ranked outside the Blue Jays' top 30 prospects according to Baseball America, after ranking 20th entering the 2013 season. He has had somewhat of a mixed year, posting a 2.98 ERA and 2.76 K/BB in just over 60 innings at Double-A, before imploding in Triple-A with a 5.56 ERA and 1.65 K/BB in 55 innings.

McGuire will report to Triple-A Sacramento, likely serving as added depth for an A's team that already boasts a strong rotation.

The Oakland Athletics announced that they have purchased right-hander Deck McGuire from the Toronto Blue Jays today. He has been assigned to Triple-A Sacramento in the Pacific Coast League.

McGuire is one of the bigger prospect disappointments of recent years. He was the ace of the Georgia Tech pitching staff from 2008 through 2010, going 28-7, 3.28 over that period, making 45 starts and posting a 306/106 K/BB ratio in 291 innings with 250 hits allowed. He was considered one of the "safest" talents available in the 2010 draft: he threw four quality pitches for strikes, thrived against top competition in college, and was very polished. Drafted 11th overall, he signed for $2,000,000 and was expected to be ready for the Jays rotation within two years.

That's not what happened.

He started off well, posting a 2.75 ERA with a 102/38 K/BB in 105 innings for High-A Dunedin to open 2011. Promoted to Double-A, he made four more starts and held his own with a 4.35 ERA but a solid 22/7 K/BB in 21 innings. He hurt his back late that summer and missed all of August.

He was never the same after the injury. Returned to New Hampshire for 2012, he went 5-15, 5.88 with a 97/62 K/BB in 144 innings and 162 hits allowed. He gave up 22 homers. Although his fastball velocity was the same as it was before (88-92), his ability to locate the fastball was compromised, his secondary pitches (slider, curve, changeup) all went backwards, and he was hammered more often than not.

McGuire was a little better in 2013, posting an improved 143/59 K/BB in 157 innings with 148 hits allowed, but his ERA was still ugly at 4.88. The FIP wasn't as bad at 3.70 and in general he looked a little more like his old self, but his stock remained down with scouts. McGuire performed well for New Hampshire this spring (2.98 ERA, 47/17 K/BB in 60 innings) but ran into more problems after moving up to Triple-A Buffalo (5.56 in 10 starts, 38/23 in 55 innings, 12 homers).

Can he turn things around? Stranger things have happened. Although the 2011 back injury was not supposed to be a big deal, it sticks out like a sore thumb in his record: he was effective before the injury and ineffective afterward. It could be a coincidence I suppose, but it does seem strange. Even when he was pitching well in college and the lower minors, McGuire relied on location and command to succeed. A small, apparently inconsequential injury or tiny mechanical tweak can have outsized effects for a pitcher with a thin margin for error.

It seems unlikely at this point that McGuire will live up to his early promise, but I like this move. It is clear that he needs a change of scenery and wasn't going to do much in the Toronto system, so a fresh start with a new organization is a good plan for everyone involved. The Jays get a little money out of it, McGuire gets to clear his head and start over, and Oakland picks up an interesting retread project.

Personally, I would think about converting him to the bullpen. It could kick his stuff up a notch.

The Yankees and Blue Jays face off in a battle for the second wild card spot.

Yankees lineup: Gardner 7 Jeter 6 Ellsbury 8 Beltran DH McCann 3 Headley 5 Ichiro 9 Roberts 4 Cervelli 2 Kuroda RHP

— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) July 25, 2014

After one weird day, it looks like the top of the order is back to normal with Brett Gardner, Derek Jeter, and Jacoby Ellsbury on top. Carlos Beltran remains the designated hitter with Brian McCann at first base again and Chase Headley at third base. Ichiro Suzuki, Brian Roberts, and Francisco Cervelli round out the bottom of the lineup.

Teixeira said back spasms better. Hopes to swing a bat soon, maybe even today. Said goal is to avoid DL. "I hope to be back soon," he said.

— Jack Curry (@JackCurryYES) July 25, 2014

The Yankees were expected to make a decision on whether or not they would put Mark Teixeira on the disabled list with a strained lat muscle. With him listed on today's roster, it appears that the team has decided to forego the DL idea, but it is still unknown when he will return to action. The Yankees will wait until Sunday to see if he can swing a bat yet before finally making a decision.

The Yankees acquired Chris Capuano last night and today he's been placed on the 25-man roster after Chris Leroux was designated for assignment. There's still no indication as to how he will be used, starter or reliever, but we know he won't be in Triple-A.

UPDATE:

Wow. Chris Capuano is tomorrow's starting pitcher, Joe Girardi says #Yankees

— Brendan Kuty (@BrendanKutyNJ) July 25, 2014

Shane Greene was supposed to pitch tomorrow, but with Chase Whitley also scheduled for Sunday, it's possible Greene will be pushed back a day.

Capuano will start tomorrow. Whitley to pen. Greene moved to Sunday.

— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) July 25, 2014

yep.

Blue Jays 4 Yankees 6

If the Blue Jays are to snap their losing streak at Yankee Stadium it will apparently take more than just Jose Bautista hitting home runs. Although the team's star slugger hit two home runs and drove in four runs, a bad start by Mark Buehrle put Toronto in a hole that they were never able to climb out of.

The game got started in a big way right off the bat in the top of the first for the Blue Jays. Singles by Jose Reyes and Melky Cabrera set up a Jose Bautista home run to left field off a Hiroki Kuroda fastball. The inning was extended when Derek Jeter did his best pylon impression and let a Juan Francisco single roll right by him, but Colby Rasmus eventually went down swinging on a tough splitter to end the first.

The Evil Empire got two runs back in the second inning after a pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases for a Brian Roberts infield single to Munenori Kawasaki that scored a run. That was followed by a sacrifice fly that scored Chase Headley before some solid Anthony Gose defence and slowness down the line by Derek Jeter ended the inning.

The scoring continued in the third with Jose Bautista once again launching a homer to left field on a Kuroda slider, which increased his total to 20 on the season. The solo shot was matched in the bottom half of the inning by Carlos Beltran who destroyed a Mark Buehrle changeup to left field. It started to look like neither team was aware of the fact that it's much easier to hit home runs to the right field porch in Yankee Stadium rather than left field. That was until Ichiro stepped up to the plate and smashed a three-run home run to right off an ugly curveball from Buehrle to make it 6-4 for the Yankees. There was a combined 15 hits by both teams by the time the third inning was over, which is slightly more offence than the Royals and Indians game on Thursday where it took five innings to just get one hit.

Things calmed down after that....and by calmed down I mean nothing else happened and the game ended 6-4. Mark Buehrle only went the first three innings allowing six runs on nine hits, while throwing 67 pitches. Todd Redmond relieved him in the fourth and also went three innings striking out four. Brett Cecil and Dustin McGowan each took an inning after that and struck out one hitter apiece.

On the Yankees side of the ledger, Hiroki Kuroda went 5.2 innings allowing the four earned runs on eight hits. Relievers David Huff, Shawn Kelley, Dellin Betances, and closer David Robertson sealed the deal for New York allowing a total of two hits collectively. Somehow this seriously undermanned Yankee squad is still playing good baseball and going head to head with every team in the AL East.

Only Jose Bautista (.351 WPA) qualifies for Jay of the Day while Suckage Jays are Mark Buehrle (-.517), Juan Francisco (-.109), and Colby Rasmus (-.107).

Source: FanGraphs

Tomorrow sees Drew Hutchison attempting to right the ship against newly acquired Yankee Chris Capuano. Capuano appeared in 28 games for the Red Sox this year before being DFA'ed and then released, eventually signing with the Rockies. On Thursday the Yankees sent cash to Colorado for the lefty, who will become the only southpaw currently in the Yankees rotation.

The Blue Jays attempt to snap their 17-game losing streak at Yankee Stadium this afternoon as Drew Hutchison takes on Chris Capuano. The lefty Capuano made the Red Sox out of spring training and appeared in 28 games out of the bullpen before being released and picked up by the Rockies. Then on Thursday the Yankees sent cash to Colorado for the pitcher, who slides right into the starting rotation showing just how banged up New York currently is. In his 31.2 innings in Boston, Capuano had a 4.55 ERA with an ugly 10.5 BB%.

Capuano throws the main four pitches in a fastball (sinker), curveball, slider, and changeup, with the 35-year-old's hard stuff still sitting in the low-90's. Against same-handed hitters the southpaw mainly just throws a fastball and slider, while he's heavily fastball and changeup against right-handed batters. A fun thing to note is that Capuano has thrown 41 curveballs this season and has not got a single batter to whiff on one. I'm not sure that's how curveballs are supposed to work Chris.

Interestingly, an article published three years ago on FanGraphs three years ago noted how Capuano gets a ton of groundballs against left-handed hitters, but much fewer against right-handed hitters. That weird trend has continued this season as he has a 45.7 GB% rate against lefties, while that number drops to 27.1% against right-handed hitters. I don't have much of an explanation, but it is clear that he keeps the ball very low in the zone:

Bullpen Usage

Blue Jays

• Yesterday- Todd Redmond (3.0 IP, 40 pitches), Brett Cecil (1.0 IP, 8 pitches), Dustin McGowan (1.0 IP, 12 pitches)
• Two Days Ago- Todd Redmond (1.0 IP, 25 pitches), Rob Rasmussen (1.0 IP, 20 pitches)

Yankees

• Yesterday- David Huff (1.0 IP, 7 pitches), Shawn Kelley (0.1 IP, 6 pitches), Dellin Betances (1.0 IP, 11 pitches), David Robertson (1.0 IP, 10 pitches)
• Two Days Ago- Adam Warren (0.2 IP, 13 pitches), Matt Thornton (0.1 IP, 1 pitch), Dellin Betances (1.0 IP, 9 pitches), David Robertson (1.0  IP, 17 pitches)

Hopeful Lineup

It's becoming clear why the Yankees are happy to start a southpaw they just acquired against this Blue Jays roster.

1. Jose Reyes SS
2. Melky Cabrera DH
3. Jose Bautista RF
4. Dioner Navarro C
5. Colby Rasmus CF
6. Steve Tolleson 3B
7. Dan Johnson 1B
8. Ryan Goins 2B
9. Anthony Gose LF

Find the Link

Chris Capuano makes today's start as Shane Greene is pushed back a day and Chase Whitley moves into the bullpen.

Today's lineup: Gardner 7 Jeter 6 Ellsbury 8 Beltran DH McCann 2 Headley 5 Ichiro 9 Roberts 4 Cervelli 2 Capuano 1

— Erik Boland (@eboland11) July 26, 2014

Brett Gardner, Derek Jeter, and Jacoby Ellsbury remain up top, while Carlos Beltran is the DH and Brian McCann gets back behind the plate. Chase Headley starts at third base, while Ichiro Suzuki, fresh off his first home run of the season, plays in right. Brian Roberts remains glued to second base forever and Francisco Cervelli gets his turn at first base.

The Baseball Hall of Fame made a very bizarre change to their balloting policy by reducing the maximum amount of years a player can stay on the ballot from 15 years to only 10. Players currently on the ballot who have gone past the 10-year mark but have not yet fallen off completey, like Don Mattingly, have been grandfathered in and allowed to stay, but the new rule doesn't make a lot of sense. It gives players less of a chance to get into Cooperstown while still restricting how many players a voter can vote for. In the coming years there will be a huge influx of potential Hall of Famers and this rule doesn't help solve the logjam at all, it just gets rid of people faster. The only way to get people in faster is to do something about how the voters vote, not change how long they have to decide. That will just end in unhappiness. If I was a conspiracy theorist, I would say that this change was made to get people like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens off the ballot faster. Steroids are the wooooorst!

A few days ago the Yankees signed undrafted free agent Billy Fleming out of the Cape Cod League. The second baseman will forgo his senior year at West Virginia University in order to start his professional career in the Yankees organization. In 2014, Fleming was named Big 12 player of the week (March 17-23) and made the All-Big 12 First Team. He made his debut last night going 3-5 in the GCL.

Blue Jays 6 Yankees 4

The much talked about Yankee Stadium losing streak for the Blue Jays came to an end at 17 games this afternoon, as Dan Johnson and some sloppy New York defense powered Toronto to a 6-4 win. Drew Hutchison was pretty solid allowing only two runs and should quiet talk of him possibly being moved out of the rotation.

The game started with a little bit of funny business in the first inning after Jose Bautista was plunked by Chris Capuano after hitting two home runs last night. Then in the bottom half, another home run hitter from Friday in Carlos Beltran was plunked by Drew Hutchison which led to warnings being handed out by home plate umpire Alan Porter. Gregg Zaun went on to say that the HBP from Hutchison was CLEARLY unintentional, BUT he would love to see Drew do more of those types of things (which makes no sense at all). At this point I could hardly handle the drivel coming out of my TV and decided to mute it for the remainder of the game.

Regardless of the warnings, the umpiring was pretty bad all day with a checked swing by Jose Reyes in the first at-bat of the game being called a third strike without even an appeal to first base. There was also this low strike call to Melky Cabrera that got the Blue Jays dugout all riled up:

via www.brooksbaseball.net

Luckily it went both ways this afternoon as a Dan Johnson at-bat looked like this in the top of the fourth (red for strikes, green for balls):

via MLB.com

The initial innings went along fairly smoothly aside from the plunkings until the fourth when Jacoby Ellsbury saved an extra-base hit by Colby Rasmus with a tremendous play in center field. Then in the bottom half, Brian McCann smashed a two-run homer to center field that opened the scoring. The home run came on a elevated changeup, which Hutchison seemed to be throwing a lot more than the usual 12.54% rate so far this season.

The Blue Jays got both runs back in the fifth after a Melky Cabrera double down the left field line scored Jose Reyes all the way from first on an aggressive call by Luis Rivera to send the speedy shortstop home. This was shortly followed by a Steve Tolleson sacrifice fly to center field that scored Cabrera. In the sixth, Drew Hutchison hit Francisco Cervelli after the Yankees catcher didn't react to the ball flying towards his arm at 90mph. Thankfully Alan Porter realized this and didn't eject Hutchison much to the chagrin of Joe Girardi and company.

After Shawn Kelley relieved Chris Capuano in the seventh, the Blue Jays loaded the bases which was helped by Brian McCann playing first base like a dingus not deciding whether he wanted to throw home, touch first base, or throw to second. That resulted in all runners being safe and lefty Matt Thornton coming into the game in an attempt to clean up Kelley's mess against Dan Johnson and the rest of the lefty-heavy bottom half of the Blue Jays lineup. Johnson proceeded to get jammed and squib it to second baseman Brian Roberts who did his best indecisive McCann impersonation (while also being kicked by McCann for good measure) allowing all the baserunners to once again advance safely, scoring Melky Cabrera. A Rasmus strikeout and Goins groundout limited the damage, but the Blue Jays still took the lead 3-2.

Aaron Loup came on to get the final out of the seventh inning for the Blue Jays and proceeded to stay in the game for the eighth as well. After some tough calls led to two straight walks, the southpaw got out of the inning on this close strikeout call to Brett Gardner that no one in Yankee Stadium appreciated very much:

via MLB.com

The Blue Jays got some serious insurance in the ninth when Dan Johnson slugged a three-run homer to the short porch in right field off CANADIAN Jeff Francis. I'm sure if the Yankee fans hadn't started leaving before the homer even got to the seats they would still be chanting "USA USA USA"  despite how idiotic it is.

Casey Janssen entered the game in the ninth without a chance for the save, but still with the opportunity to crack another ugly trend aside from the Yankee Stadium losing streak:

Toronto's bullpen hasn't allowed a run in its last three games. #BlueJays 'pen hasn't gone four straight scoreless games all year.

— Gregor Chisholm (@gregorMLB) July 26, 2014

That streak didn't snap as Janssen gave up a big two-run home run to Carlos Beltran because OBVIOUSLY he didn't have the same intensity in a non-save situation. Other than the homer it was a clean ninth inning and the Blue Jays finally snapped the annoying 17-game Yankee Stadium losing streak.

To sum up some of the noteworthy performances:

• Drew Hutchison went 6.2 innings allowing two runs on five hits, while striking out seven hitters.
• Dan Johnson went 2-5 with four RBI and the insurance home run in the ninth.
• Dioner Navarro was 3-5 with a double in the ninth.
• Brett Gardner was 0-5 with three strikeouts.
• Chris Capuano went 6.0 innings allowing just two earned runs on five hits, which was impressive for the newly acquired Yankee.

Jays of the Day include Drew Hutchison (.174 WPA), Aaron Loup (.162), Melky Cabrera (.146), Jose Bautista (.220), and Dioner Navarro (.188). Suckage Jays are Ryan Goins (-.144 WPA) and Anthony Gose (-.139).

Source: FanGraphs

Tomorrow sees the rubber match of the series get underway at 1:05 as J.A. Happ gets the start against rookie Shane Greene. The Blue Jays are undefeated at Yankee Stadium in the past one game, so let's see if they can keep the streak going tomorrow.

YES Network | Lou DiPietro: Ex-Yankee Michey Rivers believes that the speed of Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner will be very important for the offense going forward.

LoHud | Chad Jennings: Since coming back from injury, Francisco Cervelli has been a big part of the team.

MLB.com | Barry M. Bloom: On the verge of his Hall of Fame induction, Joe Torre reflects on his time in the Bronx.

Baseball Prospectus | Sam Miller: A breakdown of the Chase Headley trade and how it affects both the Yankees and the Padres.

SB Nation | Rodger Sherman: Watch as Chris Capuano almost hits a dragonfly with a baseball.

Hardball Talk | Craig Calcaterra: A guide on how to troll fans of all 30 teams, including Yankees fans, who might be the hardest to troll.

LoHud | Chad Jennings: After beating the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium 17 times in a row, the streak finally comes to an end.

The (now) Toronto left-hander has lasted for a while, and has done pretty well for himself in doing so. But should he head to the Hall of Fame when he retires?

Mark Buehrle took the hill on Friday for the Blue Jays. While that start didn't go so well, he has had a sensational season so far, as his 79 ERA- ranks 22nd in all of baseball. Of course, luck has played a role in his success — a lot of stranded runners, not a lot of homers, you know the routine — but enough about the present.

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Today, a legendary member of the White Sox (who later took his talents north of the border) will be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. To commemorate the occasion, I thought I'd look at another erstwhile Chicago star who left for Toronto, and see if he should receive the same honor when he decides to call it quits.

Buehrle has pitched for fourteen years now, and he should return for a fifteenth. Over that span, he has accumulated 50.6 WAR — a fairly astounding figure. By runs allowed, his performance has been even more formidable, as his career RA9-WAR sits at 58.6. To see if he deserves to go to the Hall, though, we'll have to put these numbers in perspective.

Before we begin, we need to take into account that Buehrle is still active, and as such, that his career numbers will change as he adds to them. For the purpose of this exercise, we'll assume Buehrle doesn't play after 2015 (when his current deal expires); since he'll be 36 at that time, it certainly seems plausible. Let's use ZiPS's rest-of-season projections to simulate his 2014, and Oliver's 5-year projections for his 2015.

Now, to the comparison. FanGraphs provides a fun feature, under its "Leaders" tab, that allows you to view the best pitchers of all time*. Since Buehrle has a grand total of 25 relief appearances (all of which occurred in his forgettable 2000 debut), we'll isolate starters. This leaderboard holds 2,180 names, including Buehrle.

*You could also attain the same results by setting the year parameters to "1871" and "2014", and the minimum innings to 300, but...shut up.

We can analyze his candidacy from a few angles; let's begin with aggregate statistics. With the aforementioned conditions, Buehrle's theoretical career WAR comes out to 53.0. Of those 2,180 pitchers, that would rank 78th — the 96th percentile. Likewise, his total RA9-WAR, which should end up at 61.0, would be 76th — the 97th percentile.

So Buehrle appears to reside in the top 5% of starting pitchers, ever. Before we immediately declare him Cooperstown-worthy, however, let's look at rate statistics. If things hold up, he will end his career with 3.23 WAR/200 IP and 3.72 RA9/200 IP. The former would only rank 230th all-time (89th percentile); while the latter places him slightly better, at 188th ever (91st percentile), both represent significant downgrades from his cumulative rankings.

This boils down to the core element of Buehrle's pitching, the thing for which most people know him: his durability. He has compiled 200 innings in each of the past thirteen seasons, and according to ZiPS/Oliver, he should do the same in each of the next two years. That longevity has seemingly come at the expense of excellence, as he only owns one five-win season (albeit five by runs allowed).

So really, his case epitomizes a key question about the Hall: Should it be reserved for the truly great? Or should the good players who stuck around get in too?

Well, your answer depends on your point of view. Personally, I would lean toward the former, but you could feasibly make an argument for the latter. We can't really have one definitive, objective definition of "fame." Nevertheless, we do have one thing — the men who have already been inducted. Let's shift our focus to them, to see how Buehrle stacks up.

As of this writing, 72 pitchers are in the Hall of Fame; 57 of them accrued most of their innings as starting pitchers in the major leagues. Adding Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine brings that total up to 59. Now, since Buehrle won't receive his eligibility for several years, the roster will probably change by the time this exercise becomes relevant. As such, we'll include in our sample seven men who will most likely enter Cooperstown before he does: Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling, Mike Mussina, John Smoltz, and Roy Halladay. Let's look at the stats of these superb 66.

They averaged 69.6 career WAR, to go along with 84.4 career RA9-WAR; Buehrle's future marks rank 49th and 53rd, respectively. Not only does he fall far short of the mean standard, many of the pitchers he beats don't exactly deserve their spots. Names such as Jesse Haines, Rube Marquard, and Jack Chesbro don't come with positive reputations in the historical sabermetric community. It's probably no coincidence, then, that none of the men he topped on either list were inducted in the new millennium — as more statistics become available, the voters have (very slowly) become more intelligent in their choices.

By contrast, the average WAR/200 of the group was 3.51; Buehrle's 3.23 mark ranks 37th. In this regard, he bests many pitchers who everyone agrees have earned their places: Warren Spahn, Phil Niekro, and Glavine have no debates surrounding them. Runs allowed tell a bit of a different story, as the group averaged 4.25 RA9 per 200 innings; Buehrle's 3.72 figure there only puts him at 48th. However, that's still better than some notable players — Don Sutton, Nolan Ryan, and Red Ruffing, to name a few. Moreover, if Buehrle can outperform his projections for the twilight of his tenure, he could inch past other famous hurlers: Steve Carlton and Gaylord Perry each are within a tenth of a win.

At first glance, those names don't seem like examples of "reliable veterans", as we think of Buehrle. How, then, is he comparable to them? Simple: The definition of "durable" has changed. Buehrle has remained injury-free for much of his time in the show, as his impressive 3018.0 career innings illustrate, but that mark pales in comparison to those from days of yore. To wit: A full 129 pitchers can surpass that.

Let's look at one more stat. Recall, if you will, the tidbit from above — that Buehrle only has one five-win campaign to his name. As you might suspect, most Hall-of-Famers have more than that; they averaged 5.92 per, with Buehrle's measly one tying for 61st. When we put each of those seasons on a rate basis, however, we flip the script.

Buehrle still has the lone 5-win season, but this time, he has company: That number is tied for 28th, meaning a mere 27 of the 67 pitchers did this more than once. Looking at the other names that occupy that spot (Niekro, Spahn, Perry, Rube Waddell, and Robin Roberts are among them), in addition to the 30 (!) pitchers with zero, we finally realize that Buehrle doesn't have the right reputation.

We would reach the same conclusion if we went by runs allowed. Buehrle has five 5-RA9 seasons, which ties for 57th. With that said, his three 5-RA9/200 seasons are the same as Ryan, Fergie Jenkins, Eddie Plank, and Old Hoss Radbourn.

Buehrle definitely won't go in without controversy, if he even gets there, and more starts like Friday's won't do him any favors. On the other hand, I carried this exercise out with a pessimistic outlook toward Buehrle's future; should he maintain the change that has brought him hegemony this year, he could improve his case.

Is Buehrle the best pitcher ever? No, but he's up there. It's just important to look at these things through a neutral mindset, and see that, well, he really should be enshrined when all is said and done. Too often, a player's reputation determines his legacy, as opposed to his performance. Even if he never shakes the label of dependable No. 3, comparisons to legends of years past reveal him to be so much more.

. . .

All data courtesy of FanGraphs, as of Saturday, July 26th, 2014.

Ryan Romano is a featured contributor for Beyond the Box Score. He also writes about the Orioles on Birds Watcher and on Camden Chat that one time. Follow him on Twitter at @triple_r_ if you enjoy angry tweets about Maryland sports.

After losing last night, the Yankees look to take the finale and go for the series win. Shane Greene pitches, having been pushed back one day after Chase Whitley was pushed to the bullpen.

The #Yankees lineup v Jays: Gardner LF, Jeter SS, Ellsbury CF, Beltran DH, McCann 1B, Headley 3B, Cervelli C, Wheeler RF, Ryan 2B (Greene P)

— Brian Heyman (@bheyman99) July 27, 2014

Brett Gardner, Derek Jeter, and Jacoby Ellsbury are the top three, as usual. Carlos Beltran remains the DH, Brian McCann sticks at first base, and Chase Headley is at third. Francisco Cervelli stays behind the plate, while Zelous Wheeler gets his first career start in right field (good luck!), and Brendan Ryan is at second base to round out the lineup.

It was believed that today would be the day the Yankees determined whether Mark Teixeira needed to be placed on the disabled list or not. Given that he was seen taking swings in the batting cage, it appears he will be able to avoid the DL.

Girardi optimistic about teixeira - sounds like no DL, shooting for a tuesday/wednesday return. "Hopefully he's a player for us soon."

— Daniel Barbarisi (@DanBarbarisi) July 27, 2014

Teixeira took 50 swings (25 on each side of plate) and said he felt no pain. Says it's up to staff when he plays. #Yankees

— Stephen (@StephenCLorenzo) July 27, 2014

Girardi also believes that Carlos Beltran isn't too far off from returning to the outfield. He estimates that it could take a few weeks of playing catch before Beltran's elbow is deemed to be in good condition again.

Then again...

Joe Girardi says Beltran has been progressing with throwing and could be a possibility in right after this week. #Yankees

— Brian Heyman (@bheyman99) July 27, 2014

The Blue Jays have activated Nolan Reimold from the DL.

Nolan got in 12 at bats with the Jays, after being picked up off waivers and before being put on the DL. In those 12 at bats he had 4 hits, with 3 doubles, 3 RBI, 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. Glad to have him back, we could use the bat.

Esmil Rogers, unfortunately, gets the DFA treatment. Rogers was added to the 40-man roster last week, and brought up to the Blue Jays. He didn't ever get to pitch for us before designated again. Poor guy. I'll admit, I'd rather keep him and option Rob Rasmussen, but they don't consult me before making these moves.

Rogers cleared waivers before, so odds are he'll clear them again, unless someone saw him in Buffalo and took a liking to him.

We are back down to 7 in the bullpen. 3 lefties: Brett Cecil, Aaron Loup and Rasmussen and 4 righties: Casey Janssen, Dustin McGowan. Aaron Sanchez and Todd Redmond.

Glad to have you back Nolan. Sorry to see you go Rogers.

Update: Minor Leaguer tells me Rogers made about $15,000 for his weekend in New York, plus the MLB per diem. Though, having spent a few days in New York...the per diem won't be enough. Food doesn't come cheap there.

Can we keep him?

During today's game between the Yankees and the Blue Jays, Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was spotted in the stands at Yankee Stadium taking in a game.

Here is the picture of Troy Tulowitzki at the Yankees game that seems to have been deleted by @MLBFanCave. pic.twitter.com/dA7O6NmbZD

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 27, 2014

Well that's weird, since the Rockies are playing the Pirates in Colorado today. Unfortunately, Tulo is now on the disabled list, but apparently he's spending his time away from the team, and the state, in order to attend a Yankees game all the way across the country.

Jeff Passan thinks it means something:

Put it this way: Tulo showing up at a Yankees game the day after the Rockies gave out 15,000 shirts with his name misspelled is no accident.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 27, 2014

Rockies know Tulowitzki wants out. Club can't be happy he's on DL at another team's game. Sort of thing that will lead to an eventual trade.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 27, 2014

Why is this all a big deal? Well, Tulo has recently hinted that he'd be pretty ok if the Rockies wanted to trade him to another team. Now he's on the DL at a ballgame in another state, one day after the organization had a giveaway where they actually spelled his name wrong. Yes this really happened:

OH NO RT @_Bwoss_: .@purplerow dear god the #rockies misspelled the giveway Tulo jerseys. photo credit: vanessa wos pic.twitter.com/WFeNTL5978

— Purple Row (@PurpleRow) July 26, 2014

Mentioning that he didn't want to end up like Todd Helton, who spent his entire career in Colorado and didn't win squat, seems to be a good way to say you want out. With Derek Jeter retiring it's not difficult to see how the two teams could potentially come together for a trade or how fans and media alike are slowly hyping up this story.

Would it be awesome to think that Tulowitzki is mad at the Rockies and is currently being wined and dined by the Yankees until he forces his team's hand into trading him, yes of course it would be, but that doesn't mean that anything is really happening. It's not the kind of commitment you want to see from your franchise player for sure, but that doesn't mean this has anything to do with the Yankees, despite being in their stadium. Even if a trade were to come about, Tulo will command some serious prospects and is still owed $114 million through 2020 with a long injury history.

It's nice to dream that Tulowitzki being at Yankee Stadium ~means something~, but it almost certainly does not.

— Pinstripe Alley (@pinstripealley) July 27, 2014

While Purple Row is reporting that he's in the area to see a doctor in Philadelphia, that doesn't exactly explain why he's at the game, now does it. Hmmmm...

Ranking and tiering the two-start pitchers for Week 18, including Marcus Stroman, Jake Odorizzi, Trevor Bauer and Mike Leake.

I promised to pick it up after the All-Star break, and all three of my two-start recommendations delivered wins. Jake Odorizzi continued to dazzle at home, striking out eight Cardinals over 5 2/3 innings of work; Jacob deGrom pitched seven innings for the third consecutive start, striking out seven Mariners; Danny Salazar was victorious -- if not efficient -- in his return, with six punchouts in five frames. Salazar and deGrom are on the bump today, while Odorizzi's second start was scratched, pushing him to two-start status in Week 18.

Results (through 1/2 of Week 17)

37-26
7.28 K/9
2.49 BB/9
3.46 ERA
1.16 WHIP

Start!

Yu Darvish: Mon-NYY (Phelps), Sun-@CLE (Bauer)
Cole Hamels: Tue-@NYM (Gee), Sun-@WSH (Strasburg)
Stephen Strasburg: Tue-@MIA (Alvarez), Sun-PHI (Hamels)
Madison Bumgarner: Mon-PIT (Worley), Sun-@NYM (Colon)
Hisashi Iwakuma: Tue-@CLE (Bauer), Sun-@BAL (Tillman)

Tier 1

Tyson Ross: Tue-STL (Lynn), Sun-ATL (Harang)
Anibal Sanchez: Tue-CWS (Quintana), Sun-COL (De La Rosa)
Jordan Zimmermann: Mon-@MIA (Eovaldi), Sat-PHI (Burnett)
Jose Quintana: Tue-@DET (Sanchez), Sun-MIN (Swarzak)
Jered Weaver: Tue-@BAL (Tillman), Sun-@TB (Odorizzi)
Homer Bailey: Mon-ARI (Anderson), Sat-@MIA (Eovaldi)
James Shields: Tue-MIN (Swarzak), Sun-@OAK (Chavez)

Tier 2

Marcus Stroman: Tue-@BOS (De La Rosa), Sun-@HOU (Feldman)
Ervin Santana: Mon-SD (Kennedy), Sat-@SD (Kennedy)
A.J. Burnett: Mon-@NYM (Colon), Sat-@WSH (Zimmermann)
R.A. Dickey: Mon-@BOS (Buchholz), Sat-@HOU (Peacock)
Lance Lynn: Tue-@SD (Ross), Sun-MIL (Lohse)
Josh Beckett: Tue-ATL (Harang), Sun-@CHC (Jackson)
Jake Odorizzi: Mon-MIL (Lohse), Sun-LAA (Weaver)
Trevor Bauer: Tue-SEA (Iwakuma), Sun-TEX (Darvish)
Bartolo Colon: Mon-PHI (Burnett), Sun-SF (Bumgarner)
Kyle Lohse: Mon-@TB (Odorizzi), Sun-@STL (Lynn)
Jesse Chavez: Mon-@HOU (Peacock), Sun-KC (Shields)
Mike Leake: Tue-ARI (Cahill), Sun-@MIA (Alvarez)

Tier 3

Aaron Harang: Tue-@LAD (Beckett), Sun-@SD (Ross)
David Phelps: Mon-@TEX (Darvish), Sun-@BOS (Buchholz)
Jorge De La Rosa: Tue-@CHC (Jackson), Sun-@DET (Sanchez)
Henderson Alvarez Tue-WSH (Strasburg), Sun-CIN (Leake)
Chris Tillman: Tue-LAA (Weaver), Sun-SEA (Iwakuma)
Chase Anderson: Mon-@CIN (Bailey), Sat-PIT (Worley)

Not this week

Clay Buchholz: Mon-TOR (Dickey), Sun-NYY (Phelps)
Nate Eovaldi: Mon-WSH (Zimmermann), Sat-CIN (Bailey)
David Phelps: Mon-@TEX (Darvish), Sun-@BOS (Buchholz)
Brad Peacock: Mon-OAK (Chavez), Sat-TOR (Dickey)
Scott Feldman: Tue-OAK (Samardzija), Sun-TOR (Stroman)
Yohan Flande: Mon-@CHC (Wada), Sat-@DET (Porcello)
Edwin Jackson: Tue-COL (De La Rosa), Sun-LAD (Beckett)
Tsuyoshi Wada: Mon-COL (Flande), Sat-LAD (Ryu)
Vance Worley: Mon-@SF (Bumgarner), Sat-@ARI (Anderson)

My Week 18 Picks

Marcus Stroman, Blue Jays& Jake Odorizzi, Rays
2014: AWESOME SAUCE

I've written about Stroman and Odorizzi ad nauseam, so I decided to combine the under-appreciated hurlers; both are available in roughly 75 percent of ESPN leagues, despite recent hot streaks from both starters. Stroman has the eighth highest WAR over the last 30 days, according to FanGraphs.com, while Odorizzi hasn't allowed more than three earned runs since June 10 (a span of eight starts). The Rays starter has been superb at home (2.73 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 76 strikeouts in 62 2/3 innings), and gets two more turns at Tropicana Field in Week 18. The 5-foot-9 Stroman, meanwhile, has outperformed rookie expectations with a tidy 3.93 K/BB and gets two road starts against the Red Sox and Astros. These two young arms are must-start options and should be owned in far more leagues.

Trevor Bauer, Indians
2014: 4-5, 84.2 IP, 8.72 K/9, 3.19 BB/9, 32.5 GB%, 3.93 ERA, 1.39 WHIP

It took him awhile, but Bauer is starting to live up to his former top prospect billing. I don't think he'll ever be elite, as his walk total (59) through 118-plus career innings hasn't been good -- and his minor league numbers have never been fantastic in that area, either. Recent results have been very promising, as the 23-year-old right-hander has a respectable 3.35 ERA and 35 Ks over his last 37 2/3 innings. Thirty walks in 84-plus innings have contributed to a 1.35 WHIP, but that's something Bauer owners will have to absorb in the present. Bauer opposes Hisashi Iwakuma and Yu Darvish in Week 18, but the Mariners and Rangers have the 27th and 28th lowest wRC+ over the last 30 days, according to FanGraphs.com. He's no sure thing, but Bauer provides tremendous upside in a two-start week.

Mike Leake, Reds
2014: 7-9, 140 IP, 6.81 K/9, 6.81 K/9, 1.86 BB/9, 53.8 GB%, 3.73 ERA, 1.27 WHIP

Because I combined Odorizzi and Stroman into one recommendation, I feel obligated to give you a fourth. Leake hasn't been particularly good of late (four earned runs in three straight starts), but his overall body of work has been solid. He's well on his way to recording his best season numbers as a starter, and he continues to do two things very well: limiting free passes and keeping the ball on the ground. Home runs have really started to hurt Leake (seven in his last eight starts), but that's something you should expect to come down from a pitcher with a ground ball rate of over 50 percent. Leake routinely goes deep into ball games (only four out of 21 starts of fewer than six innings), and I'm betting on his recent string of bad luck turning around in two winnable matchups against the Diamondbacks and Marlins.

Stats from FanGraphs.com