As the first month of the season winds down, we are starting to see pattern emerge. While we are still dealing with some small samples, at some point numbers begin to normalize and matter. Keep in mind that your league standings will still take another few weeks to normalize, but May is when you should take a hard look at your strengths and weaknesses, if you haven’t already.

Things That Make You Go “Hmmmm…”

According to reports, Ronald Acuna will make his Major League debut on Wednesday. Acuna screamed through the minor leagues, but struggled in the early season at AAA hitting .215/.301/.277 with one home run and four stolen bases. He has hit at virtually every stop along the way to the Majors, so expectations are high. In recent years, top prospects have hit the ground running, but even the best prospects can struggle, so don’t cut bait if he starts slow. His value is extremely high right now, so selling in redrafts isn’t a bad idea either.

Tyler Mahle took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before giving up three run on three hits. He also struck out 11 in the outing. The wheels came off fast in this one, but he was filthy early on. This shows the upside and the ending shows the downside. His stock is up, but I wouldn’t be buying in shallow formats.

Trevor Story hit his sixth home run of the year in the Rockies win over the Padres on Tuesday. In 25 games, Story has hit .250/.353/.523 and swiped five bases on top of the early power surge. Even better he has lowered his strikeout rate and raised his walk rate. His swinging strike rate and o-swing percentages are both down which makes this feel somewhat sustainable.

According to manager Mike Matheny, Jack Flaherty will return to the rotation on Saturday in Pittsburgh. With Adam Wainwright hitting the DL, Flaherty returns from the minor leagues where he has been great. Flaherty showed that he can be a very good MLB starter in his first go start of the year and now has a chance to further cement himself in the rotation.

Kyle Schwarber smacked two solo home runs on Tuesday, bringing his total to six on the year. He is currently hitting .302/.413/.635. He has been great, but underneath that is still defensive struggles and the fact he cannot hit lefties at all. He is hitting only .077 against southpaws and the Cubs are doing their best to avoid him even trying to. This limits his upside and he is strictly a strong-side platoon player. Sell high.

What We’ll Be Watching Today

– Noah Syndergaard vs. Carlos Martínez . Two of the best pitchers in the NL face off. Should be fun.

– Can Didi Gregorius be stopped? He leads all of MLB with 27 RBIs. He is hitting .347/.442.1787 and has an outstanding 15.8% walk rate with a less than 10% walk rate. It is impressive what he is doing, but this is insane!

– When will the regression monster come for Jake Junis ? It has to come soon, right?

Faria vs Cobb. It was postponed yesterday, so here it is again. Cobb gets to face his old team have getting destroyed in his first start of the year. Faria has rebounded well recently and gets a struggling O’s team.

– Is Dylan Bundy an ace? He has been so far, but still struggles against left-handed hitting. If he can improve there, then he may be finally delivering on the promise once held for the former top prospect.

– Can Scott Kingery snap out of it? He has hit .105/.190/.105 over the last week and could get sent down if it continues.

– Who is Sean Newcomb ? He is a two-pitch guy, but can strike a bunch of guys out. Can he live off of two pitches though?

– Is Daniel Robertson legit? I have a hard time believing it, but he has been hot as all get out over the past week and has a bit of a prospect pedigree.

– Iván Nova vs. Michael Fulmer . Both are low strikeout guys, but have had different seasons. Nova looks like the stud of a few years ago. Fulmer has struggled early. Are these facts or fiction?

– Baseball. Lots of baseball.