Brandon Nimmo (OF-NYM) had a monster day at the plate against the Nationals on Monday as he went 4-6 with 2 HR, a 2B, 4 runs scored, and 9 RBI. The 32 year-old had started the 2025 campaign slowly as he was hitting just .192 with 4 dingers, 12 RBI, and 9 runs scored through his first 113 PA. While his strikeout rate is down (17.5% in 2025, 22.5% career), so is his walk rate (6% in 2025, 12.5% career) and his contact rate was down to 77% (79.5% career) as was his in-zone contact rate (84.5% in 2025, 86.5% career). Curiously, his quality of contact was pretty good entering Monday's contest as he owned a 56.5% hard-hit rate, 10.5% barrel rate, and average exit velo of 92.5 mph. Look for his stat line to continue to improve as Monday's performance represented the beginning of some correction to the mean.
Ryan Jeffers (C-MIN) recently began to operate as the club's primary catcher and he delivered on Monday as he went 2-4 with a homer, 3 RBI, 2 runs scored, and a walk against Cleveland. The 27 year-old is now batting .257 with that one homer, 10 RBI, and 7 runs scored across 85 PA this season. His strikeout rate is down to a career-best 16.5% while he's drawing walks at a career-high 10.5% clip. Jeffers's contact rate (80%), in-zone contact rate (87.5), and swinging-strike rate (8%) are all either the best of his career (granted, it's early in the season) or among the best. There's also good news in the quality of contact department as he's compiled a 44.5% hard-hit rate and average exit velocity of 89.5 mph so far this year. More power should be coming.
Tomoyuki Sugano (SP-BAL) impressed against the Yankees on Monday evening as he fired 5 shutout IP in which he scattered 5 hits and a walk while racking up 8 punchouts on 95 pitches (59 strikes). The 35 year-old righty now claims a 3.00 ERA, 4.6 K/9, 1.6 BB/9, and 4.35 xFIP through his first 33 IP in the majors (6 starts). The strikeout rate is underwhelming as Sugano's swinging-strike rate was just 7% entering Monday's performance. Opposing hitters had previously had little trouble registering contact in general (85%), including in-zone contact (93.5%). The control is certainly a plus, and Sugano deploys a kitchen sink repertoire that includes a 92-mph heater (15.5% usage), 92-mph sinker (13.5%), 87-mph cutter (16%), 87-mph splitter (25%), 82-mph slider (17.5%), and 77.5 mph curve (13%). But opposing hitters had little trouble registering loud contact before Monday's outing as Statcast shows an 11% barrel rate and average exit velo of 89.5 mph to go with an average launch angle of 12.5. It will be interesting to see how he fares against the Royals in a home start this weekend.
Griffin Canning (SP-NYM) defeated the Nationals on Monday afternoon with 5 shutout IP in which he scattered 4 hits and 3 walks while recording 5 punchouts on 90 pitches (56 strikes). Canning has been a pleasant surprise in 2025 as he now owns a 2.61 ERA, 9 K/9, 4.1 BB/9, and 3.53 xFIP through 31 IP (6 starts). He has certainly benefited from an 84.5% strand rate and 8% HR/FB while his control has been shaky, but Canning has missed some bats (12.5% swinging-strike rate). Meanwhile, the opposition hasn't had much trouble making contact on pitches in the zone (87.5% z-contact%) while registering a lot of loud contact (47.5% hard-hit rate and average exit velo of 91.5 mph), although an average launch angle of 8.6 has helped to limit the damage (5.5% barrel rate). There will most certainly be some correction to the mean going forward given the control issues and amount of hard contact Canning has surrendered. Up next is a start against the Cardinals in St. Louis this weekend.
Bubba Chandler (SP-PIT) has enjoyed a nice start to the 2025 campaign in Triple-A and should be in the majors before too long. The 22 year-old righty has compiled a 1.33 ERA, 12 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, and 2.74 xFIP through 5 starts (20.1 IP). Statcast indicates that opposing hitters aren't making much loud contact against him (average exit velocity of 85.5 mph and a 36% hard-hit rate) while their overall contact rate is at 71.5%, their in-zone contact rate is a at 81%, and his swinging-strike rate is at 13%. Chandler's average fastball velocity is up a full tick from a year ago to 98 mph while the club seems to be following the Skenes plan in not letting him pitch deep into games (he's yet to pitch more than 5 innings or face more than 18 batters in an outing). Consider stashing him now or be ready to scramble to add when he gets the call.
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