All posts under "Player Commentary" - Page 34

Chris Sale, Boston Red Sox - Chris Sale had a mixed bag of results on Tuesday with a season-high six strikeout and also had a season-high average fastball velocity at 95.6 MPH, but he also was tagged for seven hits...

Marcell Ozuna (OF-STL) - Ozuna continued his hot hitting Tuesday, going 1-for-3 with a walk and his seventh homer of the season (all in his last nine games). He line rose to .293/.339/.707 as a result, and though we'd like...

Asdrubal Cabrera, IF, TEX Cabrera continued his unlikely power surge on Monday, hitting his 5th HR of the season in just his 14th game. His career high in HR's is 25 set back in 2011, but he's on pace to...

Clayton Kershaw, SP (LAD) In a very encouraging season debut for the former Cy Young winner, Kershaw went seven innings, allowing only a 1st-inning 2-run homer to former teammate Yasiel Puig. He struck out six and walked no one. He...

Jameson Taillon-Pirates-SP Jameson Taillon went 6 IP and gave up 3 ER on 7 H, 1 BB, and 4 K's against the Nationals. Through four starts Taillon has a 3.43 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. Coming into the year Taillon had...

Hunter Dozier (3B-KC) Dozier went 2-4 with 2 runs, an RBI and a walk Sunday. Don't look now but that's 4 multi hit games in a row for the former 8th overall pick of the 2013 MLB draft. Dozier, who...

Greg Bird- 1B- NYY- Idea- Bird has had reverse splits for the last 3 seasons and in the small sample of 2019 that trend has continued. So far he is posting a slash line of .286/.375/.714 against LH pitchers after...

Javier Baez (SS-CHC) enjoyed a strong day at the plate against the Angels on Saturday, going 3-5 with a pair of RBI doubles. Coming off a breakout 2018 campaign, Baez has been merely human so far in 2019, as he...

Tyler Skaggs, SP (LAA) Don't get too concerned with Skaggs' line on Friday (4 IP, 4 ER, 7 K). The three home runs he allowed were aided by a very hitter-friendly wind at Wrigley Field. The good news is he...

In most years, slow news weeks for closers is usually seen as a good thing. Unfortunately, in years where there are more bullpens in committee than concrete closers, slow news weeks are both frustrating and unsettling. As far as 2019,...

Anthony Rizzo Rizzo went 1-3 with a home run against the Angels on Friday. After a pair of top-five MVP finishes, Rizzo has seen his OPS decline in each of the past two seasons and had his ISO drop from...

Sonny Gray was very effective against the Reds, though he only went 4 IP. He struck out 6 and allowed 2 hits before leaving the game after 60 pitches. Gray took a comebacker off the shin in the second, and...

Whit Merrifield, 2B, KC Whit didn't get a hit! For the first time in 31 games Whit Merrifield failed to register a base knock. The extra inning affair against the Mariners gave him plenty of opportunities to do so but...

Trevor Richards (SP - MIA) - Richards had such movement on his pitches Wednesday, he generated 21 swinging strikes over 108 pitches and walked five batters while fanning 7 in just 6 innings, allowing just one other baserunner on a...

Mike Trout (LAA) - Mike Trout was not in the lineup for the Angels on Wednesday night against Milwaukee and there's some skepticism whether or not his strained groin will improve enough in time for him to be in the...

Dansby Swanson, Atlanta Braves - Dansby Swanson continues his assault on opposing pitchers with a three-run homer off of German Marquez on Tuesday. The homer gives Swanson four homers and 15 RBI, both team highs for the red hot Atlanta...

Yoan Moncada (2B-CHW) - I don't own Moncada in any of my leagues, so of course he's off to a great start. Moncada went 2-for-4 with HR #3 on Tuesday to lift him to .333/.378/.643. He did strike out twice...

Brian Dozier, 2B, WAS Dozier hit his 1st HR of the season against the Phillies on Monday, a welcome sight to see for one of the coldest players in MLB (outside of Chris Davis) at the start of the 2019...

Rays lefty Blake Snell won after allowing one run on six hits (one homer) and no walks with 11 strikeouts in six innings Monday against the White Sox. Snell tallied double-digit strikeouts for the second consecutive start en route to...

Jose Berrios-Twins-SP Jose Berrios went 6 IP and gave up 2 ER on 2 H, 3 BB, and 7 K's against the Phillies. Berrios has been excellent to start the year with just 5 ER over 20.2 IP with 21...

Ben Zobrist- 2B- CHC- Idea- Last year, the switch-hitting Zobrist posted a .295/.377/.452 slash line against RH pitching. Jameson Taillon had a .265/.334/.403 slash line against LH hitting. This matchup falls in Zobrist's favor, and his price and flexibility at...

IN THE FIELD Jedd Gyorko was activated off the 10 day IL. He was limited to pinch hit duties for the Cardinals on Friday.... Marcell Ozuna appears to have dodged the potential intercostal strain, and he was back in the...

Joey Votto Votto went 2-5 with his first home run of the season against the Pirates on Saturday. Votto posted a career worst slash line last season but still managed to slash .284/.417/.419 with more walks than strikeouts. Based on...

Matt Moore (SP - DET) - Moore looked really strong again Saturday, allowing just a bunt single and nothing else through three innings while racking up three more K's without a walk on improved command and velocity both. Naturally, within...

We've spent a lot of time this pre-season parsing hard hit rate and all of its various components. One of the most fascinating aspects of this metric is almost certainly how each type of batted ball can be hit hard,...

Jorge Polanco (MIN-SS) Polanco completed the first Cycle of 2019 going 5-5 and finishing it off with a double in the 7th inning. As the rest of the Twins offense generally slumped his only RBI and run scored came on...

The closing situations are an absolute mess across most of baseball, as many of the situations that were in flux during the off-season remain in flux one week into the year. It's foolhardy to cast a general philosophy for all...

Pirates righty Trevor Williams projects to be a strong fantasy play Saturday against the Reds at home. Dating back to July 11 of last year, he is 9-3 with a 1.20 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP over his last 14...

Max Fried lost a perfect game bid in the 6th inning before getting through the sixth just allowing a single. This was Fried's first start of the season. He shows some promise; he had limited time in the majors last...

Eduardo Rodriguez (SP-BOS) struggled again on Thursday, pitching just 3.2 innings in which he gave up 6 runs (all earned) on 8 hits and 3 walks while striking out just 2 A's batters. The good news is that his 7.75...

Juan Soto, OF (WAS) Aided by some friendly winds, Soto filled up the box score in Washington's 9-8 win over Philadelphia. The 20 year old went 3-4 with a home run and three RBIs. He now has two games with...

Corey Kluber (CLE) - Corey Kluber was rocked by the White Sox on Wednesday and chased from the game in the 4th inning. Kluber wasn't sharp in this one, giving up three runs in the 1st inning, a run in...

Asdrubal Cabrera, Texas Rangers - Asdrubal Cabrera went 1-for-4 at the plate with his third homer of the year on Tuesday. He drove in two runs as well bringing his season total to seven and he scored his fourth run...

Curtis Granderson (OF-MIA) - The rebuilding Marlins seem to have no issue playing an elderly Curtis Granderson frequently, and on Tuesday, he even got a start against a southpaw - the Mets' Jason Vargas. Granderson went 2-for-4 to raise his...

Mike Clevinger, SP, CLE Clevinger dazzled for the Indians on Monday, allowing just 1 hit in 7 shutout IP, while striking out 12 and walking 3. Clevinger has moved up the SP ranks by posting back-to-back seasons with a sub-3.20...

Peter Alonso (1B-NYM) Alonso went 1-5 with his first career home run Monday. Alonso launched a 444-foot shot in the 9th to give the Mets some insurance runs. Alonso forced his way to not only an opening day roster spot...