Kai-Wei

Teng

Teng also issued a pair of walks in the ballgame while recording only one strikeout. The Pirates scratched out a run against him in the opening inning, and that was the lone run for either team in the contest through the first five frames. The Bucs broke it open in the sixth though, striking for four runs — including a two-run blast off the bat of Ryan O’Hearn. Teng got 10 swings and misses on 87 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of 26 percent. He’ll look to bounce back as he carries a 3.06 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and a 44/21 K/BB ratio (47 innings) into Tuesday’s battle against the Angels in Los Angeles.

Teng fanned seven and allowed just three hits, but he walked four and two of the hits he gave up were homers from David Hamilton and Jackson Chourio. Hamilton’s was a 343-footer that was a homer in exactly one ballpark, according to Statcast. As such, we’ll rate this as another solid showing from Teng. He’s an option in deeper mixed leagues in a home start against the Pirates next week.

The Giants better turn catcher Jancel Villarroel into a legitimate prospect because giving up on Teng over the winter is looking like another clear miscue for Buster Posey and company. Despite never throwing more than three innings in a game previously this season, Teng has won back-to-back starts against the Rangers and now the Cubs, pitching 11 scoreless frames in the process and now has a 2.19 ERA in 37 innings overall. Unfortunately, assuming the Astros stick with their six-man rotation, it looks like he’ll face the Brewers at home rather than the Rangers on the road next week, making him a much poorer streaming option in mixed leagues.

Teng’s previous win came in his first relief appearance on March 28. Teng walked four tonight, but he allowed just two hits and two hard-hit balls. He might prove to be an option in deeper mixed leagues as he continues to build up as a starter. He’s allowed just three homers and amassed a 30/12 K/BB in 31 innings to date. He’ll face the Cubs next weekend.

Teng struck out one and walked one, throwing 63 pitches as the Astros’ rotation continues to battle through a long list of injuries. Tatsuya Imai’s return this week should help, but Teng is likely to still be used as part of a six-man rotation. His next start lines up at home against the Rangers.

Teng, who started and pitched three innings Wednesday, appeared to be the likely choice to start Sunday’s game. Instead, he’s back in the pen for now, and Cody Bolton will start. Teng has been the Astros’ best reliever with a 2.57 ERA in 21 innings.

Bolton missed the minimum amount of time with mid-back inflammation. It remains to be seen if he takes his spot back in the rotation or works in some kind of tandem with Kai-Wei Teng. Both pitchers remain off the fantasy radar.

Knowing he’d be going a little longer than he typically has of late, Teng dialed it back some tonight, with his average fastball checking in at just 92.2 mph. It was 94.9 mph in his relief appearances this season. That seems like a bad sign for him being useful as a starter. It’s easy to understand why the Astros wanted to give this a try, as he’s mostly been a starter in his career and he’d been quite effective in middle relief to start the year. Still, if this is all Teng has as a starter, he’s probably going to be more useful throwing 95 mph out of the pen.

The team had previously reported that they were considering stretching Teng out as a starter, so he will get his first start this week. His longest outing was 2 2/3 innings last Tuesday, so it would be hard to expect him to pitch more than three innings in this one, so he doesn’t have much fantasy appeal. He also posted a solid 2.16 ERA in 16 2/3 innings out of the bullpen, but just a 25 percent strikeout rate in the bullpen doesn’t suggest lots of strikeout upside as a starter. We’ll have to see on Tuesday.

Teng has been arguably one of the team’s best relievers this season, posting a 1.65 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, and 16/6 K/BB ratio in 16 1/3 innings. He was far less successful as a starter with the Giants last year, posting a 7.66 ERA and 35/16 K/BB ratio in his 24 2/3 innings as a starter. However, with all of Hunter Brown (shoulder), Tatsuya Imai (arm fatigue), Cristian Javier (shoulder), Brandon Walter (elbow), Ronel Blanco (elbow), and Hayden Wesneski (elbow) sidelined, the Astros could use more starting pitching depth.