Week 8: Wednesday Roundup

No wonder hitters are having trouble with Kenta Maeda.

Oh, you have a catcher who can hit? Bet he can't
make great defensive plays like Jeff Mathis can.

STUDS: Apparently, Kenta Maeda (FF) is a strikeout machine now. He struck out 12 and got the win in 6.2 shutout innings against the offense formerly known as the Blake Street Bombers. Josh Harrison (M) went 4 for 6 with a triple, a run, an RBI and a walk. Tyson Ross (M) tied up the Nationals, striking out 9 and allowing 1 run in a 6.2-inning win. Jake "from State Farm" Arrieta struck out 7 Braves and got the win in 6.2 shutout innings. Jacob deGrom (FDD) struck out 8 Marlins and didn't allow a run in 7 innings, but he didn't get the win because the Mets bullpen barfed up one of his leads for the third time this year. Not that the commissioners are bitter or anything.

DUDS: Following up on the deGrom note, Jeurys Familia (PM) took a minus-4 by allowing 2 runs in a blown save/loss combo platter against the Marlins. The MARLINS. He struck out 1 in his ugly inning of work. Andrew McCutchen (FF) went 0 for 4 with 3 Ks and an error. Chris Owings (R) went 0 for 4 with 2 Ks and an error. Asdrubal Cabrera (PYB) went 0 for 4 with a K and an error. Trea Turner (SG) went 1 for 4 with 2 Ks and an error.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH BASEBALL: With ridiculously overstaffed bullpens these days, managers have fewer bench options. Today, Arizona's Torey Lovullo used Jeff Mathis — career slash line of .198/.257/.306 and this year sitting at .170/.304/.191 — as a pinch-hitter in the 5th inning. You think that's bad? Milwaukee's Brent Suter walked Mathis.