Rode On Rodon

Patience is a virtue. That’s especially the case for Carlos Rodon owners in 2017.

The White Sox lefty didn’t make his debut this season until the end of June due to a biceps injury. A streak of three bad starts in July pushed his ERA up to 6.29 on July 25, and at that point fantasy owners probably wished he never returned.

However, since that point Rodon has turned a corner. He has four consecutive quality starts for Chicago, bringing his ERA all the way down to 4.00. Over that time, he has a 2.12 ERA and 28/6 K/BB in 29.2 innings. That’s certainly a start for the 24-year-old, who has been making progress with his control since he was promoted to the majors in 2015.

One of the biggest concerns regarding Rodon’s return was whether he’d still use his nasty slider as often following the arm injury. The answer has been yes, and we’ve seen a K/9 above 9.0 to reflect that heavy usage.

During his current hot streak, Rodon’s only issue has been keeping the ball in the park. He’s allowed at least one home run in each of his last seven starts, resulting in a dire 1.7 HR/9 for the season. The ERA is still a bit risky until he keeps the ball down more consistently, but Rodon has pitched well enough recently that he’s safe as an every-start fantasy pitcher.

-Andrew Albers is shaping up to be a great story this season. The lefty made a spot start this week, which he could turn into a regular rotation spot after allowing only one run in five innings. The minor league veteran has made major league appearances in three of the last four seasons, including a 4.05 ERA in 10 starts with Minnesota in 2013. However, he’s failed to get consistent opportunities because of his lack of velocity and inability to keep the ball in the park. Albers had a 2.61 ERA and 1.4 BB/9 in in 120.2 innings at Triple-A Gwinnett prior to the Mariners purchasing him from Atlanta last week. While the upside is lacking, Albers could have some use in AL-only leagues for his first time around the league this year.

-It’s been a banner year for most members of the Diamondbacks rotation, with the exception of Patrick Corbin. After two straight scoreless starts, the southpaw is getting in on the action with his ERA down to 4.25. Fantasy owners have been waiting for Corbin to regain the form that he showed prior to Tommy John surgery in 2013, when he had a 3.41 ERA and had 32 starts. Corbin’s peripherals have shown signs of a rebound this season, with a career-best 8.8 K/9 and a strong 2.6 BB/9. With strong ERA metrics (4.08 FIP, 3.99 SIERA), there should be optimism that Corbin can continue to be effective the rest of the way.

-It’s been a while since we’ve checked in on Charlie Morton, but he continues to be notable. The groundball pitcher has allowed three earned runs or less in five consecutive starts, and his ERA is down to 3.69. The velocity uptick he showed last year and into this season continues to hold, with an average fastball velocity of 95 mph and a resulting 10.0 K/9 this season. Even with a difficult two-start week ahead that includes Washington, Morton is a fine option.

-Few pitchers have been bigger disappointments this season than Steven Matz. The lefty’s ERA went above 6.00 after his last start, allowing six earned runs in just 3.1 innings. The oft-injured pitcher didn’t make a major league start until June 10 this season due to injury, and it’s worth wondering if he’s been pitching through something this year. Matz’s velocity has basically held this year, but his K/9 is just 6.5 this season after posting a K/9 of 8.7 over his first 28 career starts. With Matz’s inability to keep the ball in the park this season, he’s basically unusable for fantasy owners.