BEST 5-INNING LINE: Pinnacle +144

Due to all of the pitching injuries suffered by the Rangers, Nick Martinez made the starting rotation out of spring training. He pitched very well last year in Double-A with a outstanding command and a WHIP of 0.562 but it was only in 32 IP. That’s the issue here: Martinez is making a big jump to the majors as an injury fill-in. When Darvish, Harrison and Lewis return, he is likely to be sent back down. In the long run he shows promise as a starter with good command of three pitches leading to excellent control and few home runs. That bodes well at this park. Furthermore, pitchers with profiles like Martinez often have success in their first go around in the majors because these hitters are completely unfamiliar with him. Note that in the minors last year, Martinez had a BAA of just .109 in five starts and in his lone start this season in Tampa, he went six full and allowed just three runs with a 50% groundball rate and 11% line-drive rate. Dude could certainly go five strong here and we can’t say the same about Tommy Milone.

As none of his pitches top 90 mph, Milone relies on location and pitch mix. His ERA last year indicates he took a step back, though his numbers barely moved and 2013 ERA matched 2012 xERA. Lots can go wrong with all those fly-balls and line-drives. Without much upside, you can continue to expect replacement-level performance from this below average starter. Additionally, Milone was absolutely abysmal in three starts versus Texas last season, two of which resulted in pure disasters. In those three starts, he went 1-2 with an 8.36 ERA (7.72 xERA) and 1.79 WHIP in 14 IP. As a favorite in this price range, Milone is one to avoid at all costs and in terms of value, this might be the best on today’s board.