Rookies and home runs continue to take center stage in 2019. Each home run Eloy Jiménez hits until the end of the season adds to his record for homers by a White Sox rookie. Last night, he moved his total to 29:

 

Jimenez finished 3-for-5 with two runs, a triple and his second grand slam of the year. He’s in the midst of an 11 game hit streak during which he’s blasted five home runs while driving in 17 runs. He’s also hitting .388 his last 20 games with six doubles, seven home runs, 22 RBI and 11 multi-hit games in them. Tim Anderson racked up two more hits raising his major league leading average to .336 and could be the first hitter to lead the majors while ranking among the lowest in walks. Yoán Moncada went 2-for-3 with two runs and hit his 24th home run. Moncada’s recorded 12 multiple hit games over his last 15 contests with eight doubles and 15 runs. 

Pete Alonso continues to surge reaching the history books again last night:

 

Alonso’s the second rookie with at least 50 home runs in major league history and the 46th player overall. Jeff McNeil added his 23rd home run among three hits scoring three runs and driving in two.

Sparking the Nationals offense, Trea Turner hit two home runs upping his total to 16 this season. Mitch Moreland racked up two home runs in a Boston loss to Tampa Bay. 

During the Braves National League clinching win, Ronald Acuña Jr. went 2-for-2 with three runs, a double, his 41st home run and walked twice. He needs three more steals to become the fifth major leaguer to accomplish the feat. 

Houston set a franchise record when Jose Altuve hit his 30th home run last night:

 

Alex Bregman launched his 38th home run and Carlos Correa hit two raising his total to 21 this year. Think if Correa stayed healthy the Astros would have five with at least 30? Or if they called up Yordan Alvarez sooner? 

Starting Pitcher Spotlight: deGrom States His Case For The Cy

Although wins can be tough to come by for Jacob deGrom , he fired seven shutout innings in Cincinnati giving up four hits while striking out nine for his 10th this year. In a developing Cy Young Award race, deGrom now leads the National League in strikeouts (248) and WHIP (0.99) while ranking second in both innings (197) along with ERA (2.51). Last night, deGrom generated 13 swinging strikes and 13 called among his 96 pitches for a 27.1 called plus swinging strike (CSW) percentage. 

Here’s the other notable starting pitcher performances from Friday:

  • Luis Castillo , Cincinnati: 103 pitches, 23 swinging strikes, 12 called, 34 CSW%. Absorbing his seventh loss, Castillo hurled seven innings allowing three hits, three earned runs and three walks with seven strikeouts. 

  • Shane Bieber , Cleveland: 101 pitches, 16 swinging strikes, 18 called, 33.7 CSW%. Moving to 15-7 on the season, Bieber recorded 7.1 innings yielding seven hits and two earned runs with seven strikeouts. 

  • Mike Foltynewicz , Atlanta: 95 pitches, 12 swinging strikes, 16 called, 29.5 CSW%. Since June 11th, Foltynewicz owns a 7-0 record with a 3.54 ERA over 11 starts. He’s also turned in a 1.49 ERA his last seven outings securing his spot in the Braves postseason rotation. 

  • Dylan Cease , Chicago White Sox: 104 pitches, 14 swinging strikes, 18 called, 30.8 CSW%. Tossing six innings giving up five hits, one earned run and two walks with eight strikeouts, Cease gets his fourth win of the season. His last seven starts yields a 46:15 K:BB as he builds towards next year. 

  • Merrill Kelly , Arizona: 100 pitches, 10 swinging strikes, 28 called, 38 CSW%. Kelly logged seven shutout innings scattering two hits with nine strikeouts in San Diego en route to his 12th win. He’s surged of late with a 3-1 record and a minuscule 1.00 ERA his last four starts. 

  • Mike Fiers , Oakland: 95 pitches, eight swinging strikes, 22 called, 31.6 CSW%. It takes guts to wear a beard like Fiers does but he rolled to eight shutout innings allowing two hits with five strikeouts Friday night. He’s won 13 of his last 14 decisions. 

Bullpen Notes: May’s streaking

One overlooked aspect of chasing saves, protecting ratios. Preseason darling Trevor May did not win the closer role with Minnesota, but he’s been terrific since July 27th. His last 24 innings yields a 1.50 ERA with 32 strikeouts against five walks, 0.63 WHIP and .122/.172/.280 slash line against. Last night, May notched his second save striking out the side on 13 pitches. Savvy owners with May active in deeper formats continue to accrue strikeouts with a low WHIP and maybe another save before the end of the season. 

Here’s the rest of the high leverage events from Friday: 

  • Bounce back outing by Carlos Martínez recording his 22nd save getting the last two outs in Chicago navigating around a walk. Andrew Miller gets his 28th hold working 1.1 scoreless giving up a hit with a strikeout. 

  • Save number 21 for Ken Giles firing a clean ninth inning striking out two. 

  • Once again, the Nationals turned to Daniel Hudson for a two inning save. He allowed three hits but zero runs during his two innings of work for his fifth save. 

  • Even though Brad Hand returned to Cleveland’s bullpen, Carlos Carrasco closed out the win with 1.1 scoreless frames walking one for his first save of 2019 and the second of his career. 

  • Roberto Osuna secured his 36th save yielding a hit while striking out two. 

  • Blown save number eight for Emilio Pagán coughing up a home run to Mitch Moreland in the ninth inning. Diego Castillo garnered his fourth win pitching a scoreless inning walking and striking out two preceding a Rays rally in extra innings. 

What To Watch For

Milwaukee continues to surge now leading the National League second Wild Card spot by two games winning its sixth game over the last seven and 13th of its last 15 contests. Zach Davies will take the mound versus the Pirates looking to extend the streak. Meanwhile in Chicago, St. Louis will send Dakota Hudson to the bump versus José Quintana . Suddenly, the Mets hover within three and a half games of the Brewers for the last playoff spot and only one game behind the Cubs in the loss column. Stay tuned. 

In the American League, Oakland remains in line to host the play-in game leading Cleveland and Tampa Bay by two games. Sean Manaea faces the Rangers at home this evening. Rays starter Tyler Glasnow should extend his innings in a start versus the Red Sox while Zach Plesac starts for the Indians at home versus the Phillies. 

Be sure to stay with Fantasy Alarm across all fantasy formats to remain ahead of the competition. 

Statistical Credits: 

BaseballSavant.com

Fangraphs.com

MLB.com - Game Note