Haren has made a point of publicly noting his lack of concern with his declining fastball velocity, claiming that overthrowing was the cause of his early seasons struggles. And while that may be the case, I also cannot endorse Haren as a reliable Fantasy option if he is just pitching to contact. This is still a guy who struggles to keep the ball in the yard, thanks to a subpar 34.9 groundball percentage.

If Haren isn’t missing bats or keeping the ball on the ground, his pinpoint accuracy will only take him so far. Eventually, all of those balls in the zone are going to turn into hits and home runs, and Haren is going to look a lot less impressive than his 3.00 ERA over the last four starts might indicate.

I can buy Haren as a useful Fantasy option somewhere near the back of your rotation. But I definitely am not on board with his apparent return to relevance as anything resembling a must-start option. 

Haren held the Tigers to just one run in his first five innings of work, and the Nationals jumped out to a 5-1 lead after two. He hit a rough spot in the sixth inning, allowing two runners with two outs and pinch hitter Matt Tuiasosopo's three-run home run, which cut the lead to 5-4. However, the bullpen held on to give him his fourth win of the season.

Haren allowed four runs on nine hits and a walk in six innings, with three strikeouts. His ERA rose to 5.17 while his record improved to 4-3.

Haren will make his next start Tuesday against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. 

Haren's fastball usage has jumped 7 percent this season. Pitching coach Steve McCatty admitted this was an intentional strategy the Nationals pushed on Haren, but "he didn't feel comfortable with it."

Over his past three games, Haren's fastball usage has fluctuated. April 22, he only threw his four-seam fastball three times. That jumped to 17 during his next start, but dropped down to eight during his most recent game. 

Haren has talked about mixing in more cutters and sinkers. Haren said he tried to throw harder earlier in the year, and it led to decreased movement on his cutter. He's focusing less on velocity now, and said that's helped him regain some effectiveness with his pitches.