Janson Junk (shin) to start Thursday vs. Mariners

Junk issued four walks on the night while racking up five strikeouts. The Mariners scratched out an unearned run against him in the second inning, then Junk served up a solo blast to Randy Arozarena in the fifth. He generated five swings and misses on 79 offerings, posting a CSW of 29 percent. The 30-year-old right-hander finishes up the first half with a 4-5 record, 4.57 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and a 48/17 K/BB ratio across 65 innings through his first 12 starts.

Junk will start today’s game against the Mariners. He carries a 4.80 ERA in 11 starts so far this year, but 15 of those came in a pair of starts right before his injury. He’s proven an interesting streamer so far, and the Mariners are a worthwhile offense to stream against in deeper leagues despite some uncertainty in his first game back off the injured list.

Junk didn’t walk anybody, hit one batter, and struck out three while throwing 37 of his 61 pitches for strikes. The 30-year-old has been on the injured list since May 31st with right shin inflammation after being hit by a comebacker. He then took another comebacker off of his left wrist while beginning his rehab assignment at the end of June. He will likely make one more rehab start before rejoining the Marlins’ rotation after the All-Star Break.

Junk suffered the injury when he was hit by a comebacker during Monday’s start against the Blue Jays. The Marlins had been hopeful that he would be able to make his scheduled start on Sunday, but Junk did not improve at all throughout the week, so they’ll sit him down for a bit to make sure that it heals properly. John King will start a bullpen game for the Marlins on Sunday.

Junk surrendered eight hits for the second straight start, but they came with greatly reduced exit velocities this time around after getting torched for eight runs by the Braves his last time out. He managed to limit the Blue Jays to just an RBI single by rookie Yohendrick Piñango as all eight hits he gave up were singles. He struck out three and didn’t hand out a free pass. He’ll face the division-rival Mets to finish off a two-start week on Sunday.

Things weren’t going too bad for Junk until he came out for the sixth inning. To that point, the only runs he’d given up came via a three-run home run by Austin Riley. Then, he retired 11 batters in a row to get through five innings and it was shaping up to be a fine start. Yet, five straight Braves’ hits to begin the sixth which culminated in a three-run home run by Dom Smith turned Junk’s outing into a catastrophe. He didn’t make any really bad pitches that inning either, it was just a lot of impressive hitting on balls that were on the edges. After this poor start, Junk has a 5.07 ERA and is scheduled for a two-start week coming up against the Blue Jays and Mets with both starts on the road.

Junk retired the first two batters he faced on the day, but walked Jonathan Aranda to set up Yandy Díaz for a two-run homer that gave the Rays an early lead in the first frame. Junk would give up two more runs in the second inning, allowing Richie Palacios to score on a sacrifice fly and Cedric Mullins to be driven home on a fielder’s choice. After keeping the rays off the board in the third inning, Junk would allow two more runs in the fourth on an RBI double by Taylor Walls, but bounced back to pitch a scoreless fifth inning before being pulled with two outs in the sixth. Junk has had a rough two-game stretch, allowing 11 earned runs in his last two outings while also letting 22 runners reach base. He’ll look to bounce back in his next start, which is scheduled for Wednesday against a tough Braves team.

Junk served up a solo homer to James Wood to open the game. Three more hits would bring another pair of runs in before Junk could escape the first inning. The Nationals plated one more run in the third on a triple and a sacrifice fly. Junk settled in to give the Marlins three more scoreless innings, ending his day after six with six strikeouts. The 30-year-old right-hander will take a 3.25 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and a 33/10 K/BB ratio across 44 1/3 innings into a start against the Rays in Tampa Bay on Friday.

Junk’s lone mistake was a sweeper that he left over the heart of the plate to Phillies star Bryce Harper, who made him pay for it by sending the baseball 393 feet into the right-center field seats. He finished with six strikeouts and didn’t hand out a free pass. He isn’t overpowering, despite a noticeable uptick in fastball velocity this season, but he continues to effectively mix speeds and locations to keep hitters off balance and avoid hard contact. He’ll bring a sparkling 2.82 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 27/8 K/BB ratio across 38 1/3 innings into a home outing against the Nationals on Saturday to close out a two-start week.

Junk stranded the bases loaded in the first inning, then settled in to blank the Dodgers over six frames. He scattered three hits in all and one walk while striking out four. That’s now 11 scoreless innings with four hits and two walks allowed over his last two starts. The 30-year-old right-hander will take a 3.00 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, and a 21/8 K/BB ratio across 33 innings into a start against the Phillies in Miami on Monday.