Alex Wood, SP, SF
Wood improved his record to 4-0 with 7.0 innings of one-run ball against the Rangers on Monday evening. Wood struck out seven while allowing four hits and three walks. Wood has been very consistent so far this season. He has gone at least 5.0 innings and allowed no more than two runs in each of his five starts. Wood doesn't strike out a ton of batters (8.70 K/9), but he consistently gets into pitcher-friendly counts, which has hitters struggling to attack his pitches successfully. Coming into yesterday's start, his 68.6% F-Strike% ranked 8th in the majors (min 20 IP), and his 33.3% CSW% ranked 10th. This has his Hard% at a solid 25.9% and his Barrel% at 3.4%, which ranks 7th in the majors (before play yesterday). Wood currently owns a 1.80 ERA and 2.89 xFIP on the season.
Tucker Barnhart, C, CIN
Barnhart went 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles on Monday night in Pittsburgh. The 30-year-old backstop has been very productive this season despite his incredibly high strikeout rate (38.1% K%). He is now slashing .307/.381/.533 on the season with three home runs and 13 RBI. Barnhart has been able to be successful due to a 41.5% HardHit% and .500 BABIP. Those numbers will be hard to keep up, and considering he is just a .249 career hitter; some regression should be expected.
Eugenio Suarez, 3B/SS, CIN
Suarez went 1 for 4 and hit his 6th home run of the season on Monday night in Pittsburgh. The second inning bomb snapped a 15 at-bat hitless skid for the struggling third baseman. He struck out twice in the contest bringing his K% to 36.6% on the season, a figure that currently leads the league. Suarez's struggles from 2020 have gotten even worse so far this season. His 28.4% O-Swing% and 15.5% SwStr% are both career-worst marks by significant margins. What's more, his Z-Contact% this season (77.3%) is also at a career low and is 8.1% worse than his career average of 85.4%. Suarez is now batting .134 on the season with a 50 wRC+. It's hard to drop a guy who hit 49 homers just two seasons ago, but it might be that time.
Brandon Belt, 1B, SF
Belt went 1 for 3 with a solo home run on Monday night against the Rangers. After starting the season very slowly, the veteran First Basemen has come on as of late. He is 7 for his last 22 with four homers and nine RBI. His average is still just .229, but he walks a lot (16.2% BB%), and he has eight dingers on the season. He probably won't replicate his hefty .427 wOBA from a season ago, but he is trending in the right direction right now.
Luke Weaver, SP, ARI
Weaver hurled 6.1 innings of shutout ball against the Marlins on Monday night. He struck out six, gave up just four hits, and didn't walk anybody in the contest. This was a stellar start in what has been a less-than-stellar season for the 27-year-old. Weaver has been hit hard this season (46.1% Hard% and 11.2% Barrel%), and he isn't a big strikeout pitcher (8.75 K/9), so the results haven't been pretty. He has given up at least three runs in five of his seven starts and owns a 5.00 ERA on the year.
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