Leading the Way

Friday was the day of the leadoff man. In last night’s Closing Bell, Justin Mason pointed out Matt Carpenter ’s five-hit, three-homer explosion from the top spot of the Cardinals batting order at Wrigley Field yesterday afternoon. Two other table setters got it done in a serious way during the evening slate of action.

First off, Derek Dietrich powered the Marlins to a 6-5 win at Tampa Bay with a multi-homer performance of his own. The Miami left fielder, who has reportedly drawn understandable trade interest from some contending clubs, went 3-for-5 with a solo shot and a three-run bomb in the contest. Dietrich had a big month of June (.964 OPS) but came back down to Earth over the first couple weeks of July (.682) heading into the All-Star Break.

Atlanta manager Brian Snitker made the decision to come out of the break with Ronald Acuna in the leadoff spot for the first time. Suffice it to say, at least for one game, it was a brilliant move. The 20-year-old phenom paced the Braves to an 8-5 victory at Washington, going 3-for-4 with a solo home run, three runs scored, and two steals. Acuna has bounced around the batting order a bit here in his rookie campaign, but he may have found his spot Friday night.

 

Saturday on the Hill

Vince Velásquez has been a high-upside yet maddeningly inconsistent hurler over the last three years with the Phillies, However, he’s been more good than bad recently, including 6.0 shutout frames against the Mets in his last outing back on July 11. Velasquez has what appears to be a favorable matchup versus the Padres on Saturday evening in Philadelphia. That said, he has labored to a lofty 6.16 ERA at home this season compared to an excellent 2.42 mark on the road.

Chase Anderson is another N.L. righty that has struggled with consistency this season but went into the break on a nice upswing. Over his last five starts, Anderson has posted a stellar 1.65 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 27-to-10 K/BB ratio across 27.1 innings. He will be on his home mound, where he holds a 4.83 ERA through 54.0 innings this year, against the Dodgers.

For all intents and purposes, Kyle Freeland has been the Rockies ace so far in 2018. The second-year southpaw entered the break on a strong, six-game run that saw him allow two runs or less while working at least five frames each time out. Overall in that stretch, Freeland put up a 1.93 ERA and 1.15 WHIP while limiting the opposition to just a .353 slugging percentage across 37.1 innings. He’ll take the ball in Arizona on Saturday night.

 

Streaking

Starling Marte - 13 games - 21-for-54, 5 HR, 4 2B, 7 SB

Yuli Gurriel - 13 games - 19-for-48, 2 HR, 5 2B

Trevor Story - 11 games - 19-for-44, 4 HR, 3 2B

Jesse Winker - 11 games - 19-for-38, 1 HR, 6 2B

Stephen Piscotty - 10 games - 14-for-42, 5 HR, 3 2B

 

You can follow Nate Miller on Twitter @Miller_RotoDad or hear him every Monday & Thursday hosting the Fantasy Alarm Fantasy Baseball Podcast along with Colby Conway.