Alright, we're done talking about Chris Sale. He turned in a vintage performance Wednesday against the Orioles, racking up a whopping 24 swinging strikes (including a 31.3% rate on his fastball) and struck out 14 in eight innings of work. That's what we've wanted to see.
Over his past four starts, Sale has 42 strikeouts to just six walks over 26 innings, with seven earned runs; he had allowed 17 earned runs in his first 18 innings of the season with just 14 strikeouts. Maybe he just needed to knock off the rust from a delayed and limited spring training workload, or maybe it was just a mechanical tweak, but at this point, Sale looks like himself again.
And that fastball is a big reason why:
The velocity isn't all the way there, but after being forced to rely on his slider almost exclusively to get whiffs early on, Sale has found the feel for his fastball.
In the depths of his struggles, I was probably more worried about Sale than anyone on the CBS Fantasy staff, but it was more question for me of when he would figure it out, not if. We have that answer now, and Sale is back to being a must-start stud.
Four players to add on waivers
Brad Peacock (73% owned) — Expectations were high when Brad Peacock won a role in the rotation this spring, but he entered last night with a 5.28 ERA and less than a strikeout per inning. However, after his dominant turn Wednesday — 12 strikeouts, one walk in seven three-hit, shutout innings —Peacock is starting to look quite a bit better. At the very least, he should have saved his spot on those rosters he was still on and will be worth adding once again where he is available.
Brandon Woodruff (68%) — A lot of what I said about Peacock could go for Woodruff. He wasn't quite as bad as Peacock prior to Wednesday, and he wasn't quite as good Wednesday either. Of course, he still had nine strikeouts and no walks while allowing one run in six innings. That's four good starts in the past five for Woodruff, who has a 3.29 ERA in that span. That's a big improvement from his 6.00 through three starts. Woodruff should probably be owned across the board at this point.
Kyle Gibson (57%) — Gibson never manages to put it all together, but he always has these interesting stretches like the one he is currently in. He struck out 11 in six innings against the Blue Jays Wednesday, and now has a 2.25 ERA over his last four starts. That doesn't really represent what his actual upside is, but with some tweaks to his arsenal, Gibson can be a good option off your bench against good matchups, at the very least.
Hunter Renfroe (42%) — Something has to give with the Padres outfield at some point, right? They still just have too many interesting guys and not enough spots for all of them. Renfroe homered yet again Wednesday, his third in four games. At this point, the Padres would probably be better served playing Renfroe over Wil Myers if we're being honest. Whether that will happen remains to be seen, but at some point, Renfroe is going to have an everyday job. Somewhere, somehow.
And on player to drop …
Mike Foltynewicz (95%) — It's not at all unreasonable to say that, like Sale, Foltynewicz needs some time to figure things out after an injury delayed his start to the season. Unlike Sale, however, I'm not sure he deserves to be on your roster while he does. Foltynewicz, who missed most of the first month of the season with an elbow injury, was tagged for five earned runs in six innings Wednesday, and now has a 5.94 ERA through three starts. And this isn't just bad luck: He has a 6.91 FIP, with just a 13.2% strikeout rate. Toss in his minor-league rehab stint —which kept getting extended because Foltynewicz couldn't seem to get it together — and we're talking 24 strikeouts in 34.1 innings, with 23 ER allowed. Foltynewicz was great in 2019, but he was due some regression, and with three prior seasons with a FIP over 4.00, I'm fine if you don't want to wait it out.
Winners and Losers
Winners
Jose Ramirez — Look, it's no guarantee of things to come, but it sure was nice to see Jose Ramirez hit a 412-foot homer to walk off yesterday. As bad as things have been, he is hitting .296/.367/.481 in seven May games. Baby steps.
Jorge Polanco — I'm still quite unsure of what to make of Jorge Polanco's breakout, but he just isn't slowing down. He went 5 for 5 with another home run Wednesday, giving him seven on the season and a .419/.486/.806 line in May.
Kyle Hendricks — Hendricks is always an afterthought in drafts, largely overlooked because of the lack of perceived upside in his profile. And all he does is goes out and gives you great numbers. He has allowed just one unearned run over his past 17 innings of work.
Losers
Alex Wood — Wood is a good pitcher when healthy, but he's never healthy. He had another setback in his recovery from a back injury in recent days, and will take a two-week break from throwing after he suffered discomfort in a bullpen session last week.
Jack Flaherty — It's just been an up-and-down ride for Flaherty this season, and we've seen some signs of regression with his control of late. It's just two starts and seven walks, but it's something to keep an eye on, especially given how inefficient Flaherty has been all season, going six innings just three times in eight starts.
Tyler Skaggs — Skaggs isn't lacking for talent; he's lacking for consistency. After allowing just two earned in 11 innings off the Il, he was tagged for seven Wednesday against the lowly Tigers. I still like having him on my bench for the upside, but it's awfully hard to know when you might be able to use Skaggs.