2017 FANTASY BASEBALL LEGIT/FLUKE: WADE MILEY SP BALTIMORE ORIOLES

One of the more standout numbers in fantasy baseball Thursday night were the 11 strikeouts and only 2 hits given up in 8 innings of one-run ball by Baltimore Orioles veteran Wade Miley.  This on the heels of an 8-K/3-ER/6-IP outing prior to Thursday's gem.  As we head into Friday's action, Miley is now sitting with a 1.89 ERA and 0.84 WHIP with 23 K's in 19 innings.  All from a guy who as considered barley even AL-only worthy in terms of ownership coming into the yearand who for his career has a shaky 4.14 and 1.34 WHIP.  So as we always do in situations such as this, let's find out if what Miley is doing is legit or a fluke.

So getting back to career trends, Miley comes off a truly pathetic 2016 campaign where he was equally awful with the Seattle Mariners (4.98 ERA) and Orioles (6.17).  With a K/9 rate of just 7.43, Miley showed nothing like what we are seeing now out of him.  That alone is a huge red flag for Miley and it shows how over his head he is pitching right now.  Even in 2015 with the Red Sox, Miley bombed with a terrible 6.83 K/9 and an ugly 4.46 ERA.  So there really is no reason to go further here when it comes to Miley as he is a total fluke in terms of the strikeouts and the overall numbers he is generating.  He still has just AL-only value in my humble opinion and soon enough will be back to waiver fodder given the ballpark and rough division.

VERDICT:  FLUKE