Chris Sale now has eight consecutive games with at least 10 Ks

As the calendar moves to July, the plotline of the season has been confirmed; outstanding young players are taking over the league. Top players are getting even younger, and fantasy owners need to continually look to the minor leagues for the next big thing before other owners add them. Even with all of the outstanding pitching performances from veteran aces, this daily update for July 1, 2015 will begin with a dominant start for a rookie in San Diego.

Recap

Mike Montgomery continues dominant stretch
Montgomery pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout against the Padres on Tuesday night, his second straight shutout for the Mariners. The former top-20 prospect for the Royals has finally met his promise after moving from KC to the Rays to the Mariners. The 26-year-old has a 1.62 ERA in 44 1/3 innings this season. Montgomery has allowed two runs or fewer in five of his six starts this season and has struck out 17 batters in his last two appearances. Montgomery has walked two or more batters in four of his six starts this season, but has limited batters to a .178 batting average. A low strikeout rate at the beginning of the season and .213 batting average on balls in play has Montgomery’s FIP at 3.02 for the season, but he has a 44.5% ground ball rate and has induced 22.7% hard hit balls. The Mariners left-handed pitcher has a 83.7% strand rate this season, but if he is able to limit damage with a low percentage of hard hit balls, he will continue to be a fantasy-relevant player.

Chris Sale makes history for the White Sox against the Cardinals
Sale pitched eight strong innings for the White Sox on Tuesday, allowing one run on six hits and striking out 12 batters. Sale tied a MLB record on Tuesday, recording his eighth consecutive game with at least 10 strikeouts, joining Pedro Martinez, who set the record in 1999. The White Sox left-handed pitcher has struck out 10 or more batters in nine of his last 10 starts, averaging 12.28 strikeouts per nine this season. He has also limited his walks to 1.92 per nine and is fourth in baseball in K:BB for qualified starting pitchers at 6.41. The top-10 SP has a 0.97 WHIP and 2.87 ERA this season, but advanced statistics say that he can be even better. His FIP is 2.09 for the season because of his .299 batting average on balls in play and 73% strand rate. If Sale’s strand rate were closer to his 78% career average, his ERA would be closer to 2.50 and he would be a sure-fire top-five SP. After seeing his hard hit ball percentage jump to 25% in his previous starts, Sale now sits at a hard hit ball percentage of 22.3%, good for fifth in baseball.

Mitch Moreland clubs two home runs for the Rangers for second night in a row
Moreland finished 2-for-3 with two home runs for the Rangers in Texas’ 8-6 victory over the Orioles on Tuesday. This is the second straight game that Moreland had two home runs against the Orioles and the sixth home run in six games for the Rangers’ first baseman. Moreland had nine home runs in June and a .917 OPS this season with 27 extra-base hits. The 29-year-old has not displayed good plate discipline this season, walking only 14 times in 213 at-bats, but the left-handed Moreland leads the Rangers in home runs and is second on the team with a .305 batting average. Moreland is 0-for-5 against the Orioles’ starter on Wednesday, Wei-Yin Chen, and Moreland has a .738 OPS against left-handed pitchers this season.

Colby Lewis fired six strong innings, allowing three runs on six hits, to earn his eighth win of the season. Lewis is 6-1, but with a 5.05 ERA, in his last 10 starts and has a 1.19 WHIP in 16 starts this season. Manny Machado and Chris Davis, two, had home runs for the Orioles, who need to win today to prevent losing their first series in their last eight.

Dallas Keuchel shuts down the Royals to earn 10th victory
Keuchel has been dominant this season and pitched eight shutout innings against the Royals on Tuesday night to drop his ERA to 2.03. After allowing eight earned runs in his previous two starts, Keuchel has back-to-back shutout appearances, pitching a complete-game shutout against the Yankees last Thursday. Keuchel has also struck out seven or more batters in five of seven starts after striking out seven Kansas City batters on Tuesday. He has been the second-best SP in baseball this season, posting a 0.96 WHIP, .196 batting average against, and has 13 quality starts in his 17 appearances this season. June was kind to Keuchel, as he struck out 42 batters in 42 2/3 innings and had a 2.53 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. Advanced statistics have Keuchel’s FIP at 2.92, mainly because of his .238 batting average on balls in play and 82.4% strand rate, but his skill set is well known and sustainable for fantasy purposes. The Astros left-handed ace has a 64.8% ground ball percentage and leads baseball with 20.2% hard hit balls. As long as he is able to keep up those ratios, Keuchel is a top-10 SP.

Jordan Zimmermann shuts down the Braves as Shelby Miller struggles
Zimmermann pitched 7 2/3 shutout innings to earn his fifth win of the season in the Nationals 6-1 victory over the Braves. This is the second straight scoreless start for Zimmermann, who won his first start in five starts, and his ERA dropped to 3.16. The Nationals right-handed pitcher has struck out nine batters without a walk over his past two starts and averages 1.71 walks per nine innings this season. Although Zimmermann had three straight starts in June where he allowed three runs or more, Zimmermann finished June with a 3.00 ERA and has eight quality starts in his past 10 starts. Advanced statistics show that Zimmermann is a bit unlucky with a .323 batting average on balls in play, but he has seen his ground ball percentage drop from 47.6% in 2013 to 40.6% in 2015 and his fly ball percentage is up to 36.5%. Zimmermann is a SP3 at the best, especially since he is not able to strike out a lot of batters, averaging 6.23 strikeouts per nine this season.

Miller was not crisp for the Braves, allowing four earned runs in five innings, but struck out 10 batters for his first double-digit strikeout performance of the season. Miller now has a 2.20 ERA, the highest of the season, but has allowed one run in three of his past five starts. Miller is still a low-level SP1 and if his strikeouts continue to improve he will provide value, even with a 5-4 record.

What to watch for

An interleague matchup of two of the top teams in the Central divisions headlines the Wenesday slate, with A.J. Burnett and the Pirates facing Alfredo Simon and the Tigers. The veteran Burnett has impressed in the final season of his career, posting a 2.01 ERA and 12 quality starts in his 15 appearances. Simon has struggled of late, allowing 12 earned runs in his past nine innings, but he had a 2.67 ERA entering June and has a 1.27 WHIP this season. Jon Lester, Johnny Cueto, and James Shields will also pitch today in the full slate of games to open the month of July.

Chris Zolli is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Chris, check out his archive and follow him @thezman2010.