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Posted at 12:45 PM EST. 

10:05 PM EST. Nothing like being thrown right in the fire. Zach Neal gets called up last week and is immediately called upon at Fenway to mop up against the red-hot Red Sox with his team down 10-3 in the sixth. Neal finishes the game by going three full and allowing four hits and three runs while striking out two and not walking a batter. That wasn’t the worst way to get one’s feet wet. Neal will now make his MLB starting debut.

Neal was a 17th-round pick in 2010 by Miami before they released him in March 2013. Oakland signed him two days later and now has spent the majority of the past three years in Triple-A. The lack of strikeouts mutes his upside but he offers some talent in his 6’3” 220-pound frame. Neal has a deep repertoire and has exceptional control of each of his four pitches. He moves his 88-93 mph fastball around the plate and mixes in a slider, curveball and change-up. Though none are considered plus pitches, none are below average either. He doesn’t use his curve much, though he likes to change speeds with both his fastball and change-up. Neal has proven durable throughout his pro career and has spent most of his time as a starter. If he has a bad outing, so be it.

11 days ago, we faded Hisashi Iwakuma against the Angels (+150) in Seattle and cashed that ticket and we intend to cash this one too. If it doesn’t cash, oh well but once again, Iwakuma cannot be favored in this range. In his last two starts against the Reds and aforementioned Angels, Iwakuma has allowed seven earned runs in 12.1 innings. He was also tagged for 15 hits over those two games. Iwakuma remains very high on our fade list and once again, here’s why. Iwakuma was a free agent this past winter and signed a three-year contract with the Dodgers. However, a failed physical sent him back to Seattle on a one-year deal. That’s rather interesting, no? The Mariners didn’t want him but the Dodgers did before they didn’t. The Dodgers clearly saw something they didn’t like and we’re not going to ignore that. If it were a correctable problem or a short term one, Los Angeles would have surely stuck with it but they didn’t. Iwakuma is 35-years-old and his average fastball velocity is 87 MPH. He is very prone to giving up jacks. Iwakuma comes in with a 4.39/4.15 ERA/xERA split but the bigger issue is that the Dodgers sent him right back from where he came from. We have to wonder why. A shoulder injury cost Iwakuma most of the first half of 2015. This year he has three pure quality starts in nine tries and he can barely get by 90 pitches. This is a dull starter with diminishing skills and we are not going to miss fading him at this price.   

Note: Games may be added or subtracted by 6:00 PM or thereabouts, as we monitor lines looking for value all day.

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