In spite of Mookie Betts sitting out a third straight game with a sore side, the Boston offense churned out six more runs. J.D. Martínez launched his 18th home run, his ninth homer in the last 16 and 13th over his last 26 games played. Of his home runs, only one has come off of a southpaw with Martinez raking versus right-handed pitching with a visit to his former team (Houston) this weekend and the short fences in left field.

Plus, Martinez has been a Statcast hero ranking second in barrels per plate appearance (14.3) with an average fly ball and line drive exit velocity of 99.8 MPH. He’s registered a 60.1 percent rate of batted ball events with an exit velocity of 95 MPH or more. Many teams seemed hesitant to pay Martinez to morph into a designated hitter, but he’s been worth his weight in gold for the Red Sox through two months.

 

That Just Happened

Fellow Statcast hero, TeOscar Hernandez hit his eighth home run accounting for both Blue Jays runs. Of his 41 hits, 24 have been of the extra-base variety (13 doubles, three triples, eight home runs) translating to 58.5 percent of his hits. Hernandez ranks third in barrels per plate appearance at 13.7 and his average fly ball and line drive exit velocity of 99.1 MPH suggests more power to come.

Eduardo Rodríguez won his sixth game of the season and Boston’s 10 - 1 in games he’s started this year. Rodriguez limited Toronto to three hits, two earned runs and a walk with seven strikeouts. His last five starts have yielded a 2.25 ERA in 28 innings of work.

Hitting leadoff again, Andrew Benintendi added two hits pushing his average to .404 the last 14 games with five home runs.

Did you know Tim Anderson ’s one of three major league players with at least 10 home runs and 10 stolen bases? Anderson finished with two hits in Wednesday and has hit 11 home runs this year with 12 steals. The only other two to do so? Mookie Betts and Mike Trout . By the way, Anderson’s hitting .409 his last six games in 22 at-bats with six runs, four home runs and eight RBI.

Cleveland’s offense is heating up with the weather. Michael Brantley extended his personal hit streak to 19 games during which he’s batting .366 with 21 runs, six home runs and 19 RBI. Greg Allen hit leadoff on Wednesday with two hits to raise his average to .327 (17-for-52) his last 15 games with eight runs, two doubles, a triple and a home run with three RBI.

As strong of a year Mookie Betts has had, José Ramírez also went under drafted. Ramirez crushed his 17th home run and he’s hitting .300 with a 1.021 on-base plus slugging after a horrific start to the season. Patience pays.

Smooth sailing for Corey Kluber who won his eighth game turned in his 12th consecutive quality start in as many turns. Kluber whiffed 10 in six shutout innings giving up only three hits.

Matt Carpenter did not homer, but did move to 9-for-20 since shifting to hitting first with three home runs, two doubles and two bunt singles since. Yairo Munoz has hit safely in all seven of his starts (12-for-25) since his recall and stole his first base in a loss to Milwaukee.

Jeremy Jeffress can be human giving up his first earned run after 23 straight scoreless appearances prior to Wednesday afternoon. His punishment? Picking up the win in relief after the Brewers rallied against the Cardinals bullpen.

Josh Hader seemed in line for a two inning save but fell one out short with traffic in both of his innings. Hader recorded four strikeouts in 1.2 innings but also gave up two hits and two walks. Corey Knebel notched his fifth save getting the last out.

Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich continues to rake with two more hits including his seventh home run. He’s hitting .330 in May with five home runs and 17 RBI. Again, patience pays.

Hopefully the readers heeded the advice in prior columns about speculating on J.R. Murphy . He crushed his fourth home run in the last six games and seventh of the year this afternoon. In his 13 starts, Murphy’s 18-for-57 (.316) with four doubles, seven home runs and 15 RBI. Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run home run as well breaking his drought at home this year. Could correction be coming?

Back in the saddle for Raisel Iglesias who notched his ninth save and first fresh off of the disabled list. Iglesias did allow three hits in his 1.1 scoreless innings with a strikeout. Joey Votto extended his modest hit streak to seven games and has reached base in 10 straight.

 

Night Moves

Add C.J. Edwards  to the Cubs disabled list with Yu Darvish . Darvish did get positive news from his MRI with triceps inflammation. Edwards will be sidelined due to shoulder inflammation.

Rhys Hoskins has headed back to Philadelphia with news of a fracture in his jaw. There’s not timetable on his return but he will also be headed to the disabled list. His owners will need to plan accordingly.

A bevy of moves could be on the horizon for San Francisco. Jeff Samardzija heads to the disabled list due to his shoulder but Joe Panik and Mark Melancon could rejoin the active roster on Friday. The team also needs to make a decision regarding Hunter Pence as well. Stay tuned.

Reports have surfaced about Danny Santana joining the Dodgers. Nothing confirmed at this time, but keep this in mind.

 

Burning Questions

Can Ross Stripling turn in another quality start for the Dodgers? Who moves up in the order for the Phillies? Can Jon Gray ever turn in a strong outing against anyone besides the Padres? Which southpaw turns in the better performance, Clayton Richard or Sean Manaea ?

 

All of these and more will be covered in Thursday’s Round Up by Justin Mason. Be sure to check back daily on Fantasy Alarm to stay ahead of the competition.

 

Statistical Credits:

MLB.com

Fangraphs.com

BaseballSavant.com