After striking out 10 Yankee batters over seven scoreless innings on July 20th, Oakland A’s pitcher Tommy Milone was 9-6 with a 3.34 ERA. In his past three starts, against Toronto twice and Tampa, he has been battered for 16 earned runs in 19 innings (7.58 ERA).
He dropped all three of his starts to even his record at 9-9 and his ERA ballooned to 3.91.
That rough patch has led to many a fantasy owner jumping ship. The question is, should you swoop him up?
He certainly has use as a streamer at the very least. In his home starts, Milone is 5-3 with a 2.13 ERA and 0.92 WHIP. On the road it has been a different story, as he’s 4-6 with a 5.77 and a 1.53 WHIP.
He has also been hit hard during day games (5.68 ERA compared to 3.40 at night). That kind of split differential makes it tough for full-time ownership.
Milone pitched well for Washington last year (3.81 ERA and 1.23 WHIP in 26.0 innings) and was a dominant force for Triple-A Syracuse (3.22 ERA, 1.03 WHIP). Tommy has illustrated great control throughout his career, which helps keep his ERA and WHIP down.
He has the goods to make batters miss so continued success in the strikeout department wouldn’t be unexpected.
Milone is owned in about 45 percent of Yahoo! and 35 percent of ESPN fantasy baseball leagues. He does have some value, but right now he’s best served as a streamer during home night starts. I’d sit him out today on the road against the White Sox, though.
Also check out:
- Can Carlos Lee be a Fantasy Factor?
- Should You Be Looking At Hisashi Iwakuma?
- Is Lorenzo Cain Able?
- Can Wei-Yin Chen Continue to Deliver?
- Need Speed, Add Justin Ruggiano
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com