Carlos Carrasco, Cleveland Indians - Carlos Carrasco was dominant in his return to the mound Tuesday after having been hit in the face with a line drive his last time out. He tossed just five innings (which may have been the plan) but still allowed just one earned run while striking out eight running his whiff total to 18 over three starts. He walked none, and now has just one walk over his 11.1 innings pitched. Even with how dominant a start he's gotten off too, he could still get a little better at he has a .348 BABIP which is a bit higher than his career BABIP of .310. Batters swing percentages against Carrasco line well with his stretch run in 2014 and he already has a higher swinging strike rate than that stretch , even if it is just by .5%. He's as great this far as he was hyped this offseason and owners have been thoroughly rewarded with their investment this far.
Hanley Ramirez, Boston Red Sox - Hanley Ramirez returned to the lineup Tuesday after leaving the game in the seventh with an illness last game. He was back to his dominant self going 2-for-4 with his first stolen bases of the season. Right now he is triple slashing .286/.328/.558 with five homers and nine RBI so far this season. With his power numbers so far it's kind of amazing he's hitting a career high level of ground balls which means he could start putting up some even better numbers as that begins to normalize. Although I can't find the source tonight, Han-Ram is sitting near the top of the batted ball velocity leaderboard which bodes very well for his continued success this season.
Taijuan Walker, Seattle Mariners - FINALLY. This is the Taijuan Walker we saw all spring and had been waiting to appear in the regular season as he dominated the Astros but did not factor in to the decision as the Mariners' bullpen blew the game in the 8th. He threw 5.1 innings allowing just one run but still walked four batters while striking out eight. While this isn't surprising, but Walker shaved seven runs off his ERA in this start and two full runs off his FIP. He's not out of the woods quite yet, but Tuesday's start definitely keeps him on your roster for at least one more start.
Chris Young, New York Yankees - On a team with Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner, and Carlos Beltran it is Chris Young who leads the OF in homers and wRC+. He also leads the outfielders in RBI and all this is being done with a BABIP of .250 (mainly because of the homeruns). He's now homered in two straight starts and picked up three hits and two walks in Tuesday's game. I'm unsure how long this streak can last as his track record isn't great since his early seasons with the Diamondbacks, but he was a 20/20 guy back then and while the speed isn't there anymore he could easily hit 20 homers with regular playing time.
Collin McHugh, Houston Astros - As Taijuan Walker got a cheap no-decision thanks to the Mariners bullpen, Collin McHugh got a cheap win as a result. He's now 3-and-0 earning a win in each start this season while recording a 1.73 FIP. He's been extremely dominant to start the season and a huge part of his success has come from his ridiculous 66% GB rate. There must be something in the water in Houston that helps force ground balls because that's where fellow staff-mate Dallas Kuechel's huge breakout came from last season. His GB rate has increased each season while in the majors, but a jump from 42.7% to 66.7% is a little too steep for one year. That will likely come down here in the upcoming weeks, but he's still an elite option every week.
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