Clearly, you're not cutting Jesse Chavez in Fantasy, particularly if you play in a league where his relief pitcher eligibility means something to you, but his nine-strikeout performance Monday against the Giants really brought into focus just how much his stock has fallen over the last couple months. It wouldn't have been a big deal in April, when he recorded more than a strikeout per inning with regularity, but in the eight starts leading up to Monday's, he averaged just 6.8 strikeouts per nine innings.
And it's not like his walk rate (3.3 per nine) during that stretch was so hot either. He seems to be losing steam after his out-of-nowhere success to begin the season, and while this current version of him is still useful, it may have its limits. Chavez spent most of last season in the bullpen, remember, and as a result, accumulated just 87 1/3 innings between the majors and minors. He's at 109 innings now.
True, he's had other seasons when he started enough to eclipse 130 innings, or at least come close, so I'm not saying 150 or 160 is out of his reach. But 180 may be. I'm guessing it's a big reason why the Athletics felt they had to acquire two arms in the Cubs trade even with Tommy Milone pitching well and Drew Pomeranz recovering from injury.
I'm thinking Chavez cedes his rotation spot to one of those two before the end of August.