Ronald Acuna and Jack Flaherty are two of the prime contenders for N.L. Rookie of the Year honors here in 2018, but during Wednesday afternoon’s showdown between the Cardinals and Braves in Atlanta, 22-year-old righty Touki Toussaint, in just his fourth big-league start (fifth game), shined the brightest amongst the young stars. Toussaint surrendered two runs on five hits and three walks while registering eight strikeouts across 5.2 innings, as the Braves avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of the Cards and halted a four-game losing streak overall with a 7-3 victory. Over his four starts for the Braves this year, Toussaint has put up a solid 3.27 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 9.4 K/9 across 22.0 innings.

 

In Case You Missed It

In support of Toussaint, Freddie Freeman went 3-for-3 with a two-run homer, three RBI, and a steal. The All-Star first baseman has really been raking of late, as he has now come up with seven multi-hit performances over the last 11 games. During that span, Freeman has hit a cool .405 (17-for-42) with two deep drives and nine RBI.

First-year backstop Willians Astudillo continued his hot hitting of late with a 2-for-4 effort that included three RBI during the Twins 8-2 rout of the Tigers Wednesday. Since September 5, Astudillo has hit safely in 7-of-9 games, going 12-for-32 with two home runs, a double and 10 RBI. He has proven his ability to handle the bat in the minors, and now that seems to be translating to the majors. Astudillo should continue to see plenty of at bats over the next week-and-a-half.

Despite his team getting blanked in a 4-0 loss at Philadelphia on Wednesday evening, Amed Rosario turned in a nice 3-for-4 effort that included a couple of stolen bases. The second-year shortstop has really come on strong over the past month or so, as he has hit a healthy .326 with four homers, eight steals, and 26 runs scored over 32 games since August 16.

 

Thursday on the Hill

Matt Shoemaker made his 2018 debut on March 31 before a forearm injury forced him to miss each of the next five months in their entirety. The veteran right-hander rejoined the Angels rotation during the first week of this month and has made three starts since, pitching to a 3.68 ERA and 15-to-2 K/BB ratio across 14.2 innings. Shoemaker has yet to log more than five frames in any of those last three starts, but he will attempt to work deeper into Thursday afternoon’s outing in Oakland.

What will Cincinnati hurler Cody Reed do to follow up on his effort from this past Saturday when he came out of nowhere to punchout 10 Cubs over 5.0 shutout innings at Wrigley Field. We will see when the big lefty takes the mound in Miami opposite rookie righty Jeff Brigham on Thursday evening.

Following several weeks on the DL, Eduardo Rodríguez ’s results have been mixed since returning to the Red Sox rotation this month. Two of his three September starts have been very strong, but the other, not so much. Most recently (September 13), he held Toronto to a single run while striking out seven over 6.0 innings. Overall, across 15.0 frames this month, the 25-year-old southpaw has turned in a 4.20 ERA and 23-to-4 K/BB ratio. Rodriguez will duel with Masahiro Tanaka at Yankee Stadium this time around.

 

Streaking

Charlie Blackmon - 12 games, 16-for-41,  1.263 OPS, 4 HR, 5 2B

Franmil Reyes - 11 games, 16-for-39, .990 OPS, 1 HR

Whit Merrifield - 10 games, 12-for-42, .807 OPS, 1 HR, 4 2B, 5 SB