Raisel Iglesias entered with two men on yesterday and promptly allowed both runners and one more to score. Iglesias's stats are a little bit alarming - and certainly not indicative of a sub-1.00 ERA. His SwStr% is elite, but he is walking far, far too many batters to be a consistent closer. He is walking nearly 5 batters per 9, which will get him into substantial trouble this season. His job is safe for now, but two walks last night have me worried.
Travis "The Mayor of Ding Dong City" Shaw hit his fifth HR of the year yesterday. It's been a great start out the gate for Shaw. His biggest improvement has come by way of patience at the plate, as he's walking at a career high 14%, up from under 10% last year. To slightly temper expectations, he does sport a lofty .345 BABIP, about 40 points over his career high, suggesting a slight regression to his BA coming forward. That said, if he continues to match last year's numbers while walking at 14%+, it will be an excellent season for the 28-year-old.
Tommy Pham reached base in each of his first 3 PA yesterday, including hitting his 3rd HR of the season. Pham picked up right where he left off last season. I see some potential regression coming given a BABIP over .400, but he still has an excellent LD% coupled with speed, which should keep him comfortably in the 360+ BABIP area. Pham looks poised for a strong 2018.
Kyle "Slim" Schwarber continued his resurgence of 2018 as he hit two more HR last night, giving him 6 on the season. Entering yesterday he sported an insane 166 wRC+. There's a lot of good here - his BB% is 17% and he's improved on his K%. The HR rate is unsustainable, and when he's making outs, it's due to a large amount of groundballs (58%). So once the flyballs stop leaving at an absurdly high rate, there could be a serious drop in performance. But there are enough positives here to think that won't happen. My one additional note to consider here is that if you're not in an OBP-based league, Schwarber's season is far less beneficial to you. A 17% walk rate will hopefully result in more runs, but it won't help your average a lick.
If you were thinking about dropping Ian Happ, he made you think again yesterday during his multi-hit effort, which included his third HR of the season. The talent is undeniable, but is strikeout rate is absurdly high (43% entering yesterday) which suggests he's a bit overmatched at the plate right now. He's also batting 9th, which will limit AB in addition to the amount he's already sitting. This could be a regrettable call, but I'm willing to move on from him right now, mostly because the lack of at-bats can become a big issue.
