Blake Snell (SP - SF) - Snell made his long-awaited SF debut against the offensively offensive Nationals on Monday, and while it looked poor on the surface (3 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K), it was pretty standard for Snell. He didn't allow a ball hit over 90.1 mph (the 3 singles were 82, 79, and 77), he got 10 swinging strikes on just 72 pitches, and his fastball velo was on par with last season. He struggled with command, but like I said: par for the course. It'll probably take him a few outings to get up a "normal" pitch count, but there's no reason for concern here that I can see.....get him active.
Ivan Herrera (C - STL) - Herrera homered and walked in his 5th straight start for the Cards on Monday, and while the stats are nice, I'm even more thrilled that he's playing more than I ever expected this quickly. He projects to be an above-average contact hitter with at least average power, and he even has a bit of speed. At the catching position, that makes him a must-add.....my only concern with Herrera all along was whether he would play more than 2-3 days a week. It seems clear that the answer to that is yes, at least for now....the Cards have 3 guys that will demand playing time coming off the IL between now and Memorial Day, the first of whom (Nootbaar) should be back later this week. I think Herrera's PT should survive that fairly well, and by the time the others return he could be firmly ensconced, so I'd say I'm a lot less worried about the PT than I was even just 2-3 days ago.
Spencer Turnbull (SP - PHI) - I feel like I'm far too optimistic about a guy that has pitched 137 2/3 innings in the past 4 seasons combined, but Turnbull looked very solid again on Monday, holding the Cards to 2 hits and a walk over 6 shutout innings, striking out 6. 12 swinging strikes in 82 pitches is great, the excellent GB rate is great, and the control has also been great. His second start of the week is a tough one against a Pirate offense that ranks #2 in runs scored thus far, but an outing against the White Sox next week mitigates that a bit. I'm absolutely in favor of a claim here. Sure, we don't really know what we have here with such a spotty performance record with all of the time missed, but despite their performance so far it should be a solid supporting offense behind him, and he was starting to look like a reliable back-end guy before the injury in 2021. I've been scooping him up where I can as soon as I saw that he had won a rotation spot.
Christian Yelich (OF - MIL) - Yelich hit his 4th HR of the young season on Monday in the 10-8 loss to Cincinnati. I don't mean to alarm anyone, but through 9 games Yelich is posting the highest LA and swing% of his entire career, two underlying statistics that are very positively correlated to his overall production throughout his career. He hasn't been blessed with the best hitting conditions thus far either, playing all of his games in northern climes so far. I'm excited.
Luis Castillo (SP - SEA) - After another 5 IP, 4 ER, 2.0 WHIP outing on Monday, I think it's reasonable to be mildly concerned about Castillo. Yes, April and May are his two worst months of the year historically, so there's some precedence for this. The K rate and BB rate look pretty normal, and he came into the game with an xFIP of 3.25 despite the ERA north of 6.00. The warning signs are there as well, though. The swinging strike rate is off significantly despite the K rate remaining stable. The GB rate has remained down from last season's drop, and his velocity is down almost 1 mph as well. The worst thing is the exit velo allowed, which is on its 4th straight increase....a difficult thing when combined with the drop in GB rate. If I had to guess, I'd still vote for Castillo righting the ship and finishing the year as a top-12 SP, but there's certainly cause for some minor concern right now.
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