Major League Baseball

MLB Quick Hits: Shelby Miller, not so dominant

Published May. 18, 2015 6:10 a.m. ET

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John Halpin

Braves SP Shelby Miller came within one out of a no-hitter on Sunday, and finished with a two-hit shutout of the Marlins. Through eight starts, Miller is 5-1 with a 1.33 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP, and has been fantasy's sixth-best starter per FOXSports.com scoring. All good, right?

Good, yes. Great? Not really. Miller has struck out 43 batters in 54 innings, good for a below-average K/9 of 7.17. His control is just OK, keeping in line with his career BB rate. Sure, Miller is inducing many more ground balls this year, and that's a good thing when Andrelton Simmons is behind you gobbling them all up. That can account for some, but not all, of Miller's benefit from the main luck stats -- an MLB-low .183 BABIP and a third-best 88.8 LOB%. Those numbers are VERY unlikely to continue.

Disaster is not coming for Miller, but an ERA dropoff to his current FIP of 3.28 over the rest of the season sounds about right. Add that to his so-so K rate, and Miller is probably an SP3 in 12-team mixed leagues. If you can find a trade partner who thinks he's worth more than that -- maybe someone offering a solid power bat -- it's worth exploring a deal. Tweet me (@jhalpin37) if you have any "Miller for ________?" questions.

In other news ...

Nationals OF Jayson Werth missed the weekend with a wrist injury, but there's no talk of a DL stint right now. Hopefully, he'll play on Tuesday.

Rockies OF Corey Dickerson (plantar fasciitis in left foot) might be headed for the DL. Whether or not Dickerson goes on the shelf, this issue will probably linger. Any stolen bases you expected from him probably won't come.

Bryce Harper had another big day on Sunday, but Justin Upton is no slouch from the Nats-Padres boxscore, either. If you haven't noticed, Upton is on pace for a huge season.

Shawn Tolleson pitched the ninth inning for the Rangers on Sunday, coming in with a four-run lead. Before the game, manager Jeff Banister was cagey about his team's closer situation. I'd probably guess Tolleson over Neftali Feliz and Keone Kela, but nobody in this mix is a can't miss. If you own Feliz, hold a little longer.

The Dodgers' closer situation is pretty clear, as Kenley Jansen saved Sunday's game. 

Brewers OF Carlos Gomez left Sunday's game after being hit in the face by a Noah Syndergaard fastball. Gomez does not have a concussion, but his status for Monday night is TBD.

The Reds have moved Billy Hamilton to the No. 8 spot in the order. They don't want Hamilton to stay there forever, but he will until he starts to hit. This is going to hurt his stolen-base chances, folks.

Padres OF/1B Wil Myers (wrist) took some swings in the cage on Sunday, and his team is off today. Tuesday, maybe?

Twins DH Kennys Vargas started the season slowly, but is slashing .366/.395/.561 with a couple of homers this month. I knew he'd turn things around. What's that? He got sent to the minors? Oh.

Lance McCullers, who has been blowing away Double-A hitters, makes his big-league debut tonight for the Astros. The hard-throwing McCullers was in A ball last season, so don't expect much right now.

The Orioles are unsure when Chris Tillman (back) will make his next start. Beyond Tuesday, their starters are listed as "TBD."

Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira hopes to play Tuesday after suffering a bruised big toe upon getting hit by a pitch. If Teixeira does play, there might not be room in the lineup for DH Alex Rodriguez, as the Yanks will play at Washington.

Chris Heston capped a weekend of dismal streaming starter selections with a terrible Sunday outing. If we're going to pick someone today, it's Colorado's Jordan Lyles (owned in 1.8 percent of FOXSports.com leagues) at home against the terrible Phillies.

DFS advice (salaries from DraftKings): I don't love the three higher-priced starters (Matt Harvey, Corey Kluber, Chris Sale), but would pick Harvey at $10,600 if forced to choose from that trio ... If you'd like an inexpensive option, can I interest you in Rubby De La Rosa ($6,900) at Miami? ... BvP alert: D-backs 2B Chris Owings is 9-for-14 against Marlins SP Dan Haren. I don't trust that sample size, but you might ... I'd much rather go with Jose Altuve ($4,800) against LHP Drew Pomeranz ... George Springer ($4,700) looks like a nice option, too. Reserve 1B Chris Carter ($4,100) and C Evan Gattis ($3,700) for tournaments if you can ... My cash game catcher will be Wilin Rosario ($3,300) at home against Cole Hamels ... I will happily start A's OF Josh Reddick ($4,200) against McCullers ... SS looks like a black hole today unless you want to pay for Troy Tulowitzki ($4,100) against Hamels. The price isn't bad, but Tulo is day-to-day with a quad injury, so make sure he's in the lineup ... To save money at 1B/3B, think about Mets 3B Eric Campbell ($2,600), who batted second on Sunday.

See you back here tomorrow morning.

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