Ryan Gusto charged with four runs prior to exit

Gusto struck out four and walked one in the 60-pitch outing. He’d gone over 75 pitches in each of his past two starts, but Miami limited him on Sunday afternoon. He stepped into the rotation when Max Meyer went on the IL shortly after the All-Star break, and he’ll likely stick for a while, given Braxton Garrett was traded at the deadline. Gusto doesn’t have much fantasy value, though, and his next start lines up in Cincinnati’s hitter-friendly ballpark.

The only run Gusto allowed was a solo homer to Ozzie Albies in the second inning. Outside of that blemish the 27-year-old pitched well with five strikeouts, one walk and just five hits allowed through the contest. He still has a 4.80 ERA on the season, but Gusto has looked better than that number suggests for much of the campaign. He has a friendly matchup coming up on paper Sunday in a scheduled bout against the Angels.

Gusto struck out three and walked two, raising his ERA to 5.31. Down 6-0, Miami scored eight unanswered to sweep Philadelphia. He’s made 13 appearances (eight starts) on the year but remains off the fantasy radar. His next outing lines up against the Braves in Atlanta.

This was a new age ‘short starter game’ with Gusto and his counterpart Germán Márquez combining to throw 5 2/3 innings and 94 pitches. The old heads somewhere screaming at a cloud. Regardless, Gusto flashed some solid stuff with a lively mid-90s fastball that he kept up in the zone, sinker he did a good job to bury low, and deep array of secondaries that he landed for strikes. There could be some mild intrigue here if he eventually builds up to a full starter’s workload. He’s lined up to face the Phillies at home next time out.

Gusto hasn’t gone more than three innings in an appearance since being activated off the IL, so he’s likely not in the wins mix for what profiles to be a bullpen game for the Marlins.

Garrett has been thriving of late — he’s allowed one earned run over 30 innings in his last five starts for the Jumbo Shrimp — and seemed like the obvious choice to step into Miami’s rotation in Max Meyer’s place, but it’s not happening right now. They’ll apparently go with a bullpen day on Friday, with Ryan Gusto likely to be featured.

Gusto could potentially mix in behind Janson Junk today in Junk’s return from the injured list, as he hasn’t pitched since July 2.

Gusto was lit up for three runs in just three innings against the Rockies on Thursday and hasn’t made it through the fifth inning in any of his six starts with the Marlins, culminating in a troublesome 5.55 ERA. He’ll attempt to work through his issues at the Triple-A level for the time being. William Kempner was recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville in a corresponding move on Friday.

Gusto came out after plunking Kyle Karros to start the fourth. He still hasn’t completed five innings in any of his six starts, and his ERA is sitting at 5.55. The Marlins might activate Janson Junk to replace him in the rotation next week. Braxton Garrett also seems like an option after throwing eight scoreless innings Wednesday for Triple-A Jacksonville.

Gusto gave up three hits, walked one and struck out four. Gusto pitched well again, but still doesn’t have much fantasy value because he’s a converted reliever and hasn’t completed a five inning start all year. With Eury Perez coming back next week, Gusto isn’t schedule to get another start.