Early Action

The Phillies defeated the Giants 6-3 in our only early game today. They out-hit the Giants 11-to-5 and Vince Velásquez gave them a quality outing as he finished with six innings of three-run ball with 12 strikeouts. The 12 strikeouts were a season high for Velasquez as was his 55.0 points on FanDuel. In fact, the 12 strikeouts were his highest since he was able to punch-out 16 Padres in a complete game shutout on April 14th 2016. He has always been good in the strikeout department; unfortunately he walks too many batters and gives up too many hits to be a seasonal fantasy asset. However, outings like this show why he can be utilized in DFS GPP tournaments. On the offensive side of things, Carlos Santana and Odubel Herrera did much of the heavy lifting for the Phillies. Santana made the most of his lone hit, blasting a three-run home run to left field. Herrera finished 3-for-4 with two RBI, one run, and a double. Héctor Neris struck out two in a clean ninth inning to pick up his eighth save of the year. The win gave the Phillies a complete four-game sweep over the Giants. The Phillies are now 22-15 on the season and tied for the lead in the N.L. East. 

 

Stats to Know

Only four players have scored over 30 runs thus far: Mookie Betts (36), Ozzie Albies (34), George Springer (33), and Mike Trout (32).

Only five players have 30 or more RBI thus far: Javier Báez (33), A.J. Pollock (32), Jed Lowrie (32), Khris Davis (31), and Didi Gregorius (30).

Only five players have at least 10 stolen bases thus far: Dee Gordon (15), Ender Inciarte (15), Trea Turner (12), Michael Taylor (10), and Tim Anderson (10).

Only five hitters have 40 or more strikeouts and fewer than 10 walks (K/BB): Lewis Brinson (45/7), Robinson Chirinos (45/5), Ian Happ (45/8), and Drew Robinson (45/9). However, my personal favorite (because of how bad it is) is Jake Marisnick who has struck out 39 times and has walked just once.

Bryce Harper leads the league in walks with 40, the next highest is a tie at 29 between Mike Trout and Rhys Hoskins .

Only three pitchers have at least 70 strikeouts so far: Gerrit Cole (86), Max Scherzer (80), and Justin Verlander (70).

Josh Hader currently ranks 31st in baseball in strikeouts with 46… he is a reliever.

Josh Tomlin has given up the most home runs with 13, followed by Homer Bailey who has surrendered 11 long balls. For Tomlin, he has only pitched 25.2 innings, giving him a HR/9 of 4.6!

Running Cold: Christian Villanueva is 0-for-25 in his last seven games. Kendrys Morales is 0-for-24 in his last seven games. Joey Wendle is 0-for-19 in his last six games.  Martín Prado is 0-for-15 in his last three games.

 

Injury News

Carlos Martínez landed on the 10-day DL today with a right lat strain.  

Tommy Pham makes his return to the starting lineup after sitting out the last two games with a groin injury.  

Byron Buxton has been activated from the 10-day DL and will be in the lineup for the first time since April 12th.

Keynan Middleton has been activated from the 10-day DL and will likely return to the closing role for the Angels. 

Dee Gordon is sitting out today with a bruised big toe.

Greg Bird has been sent on a rehab assignment and is likely to be back within 10-to-20 days.

 

Burning Questions

Can CC Sabathia continue his strong start to the season? His ERA currently sits at 1.39 but he has a tough matchup with the Red Sox.

Over his last 18.2 innings Caleb Smith has given up just two runs and has struck out 26, can he keep it going against the Braves?

How many runs will the Cardinals score against Jordan Lyles ? He has had a solid beginning to the season out of the bullpen, but tonight he makes his first start of the year and he has a long history of struggling as a starter.

Can Walker Buehler make it four straight good outings to begin his 2018 campaign? He has given up just two runs over 16 innings pitched in his first three starts and racked up 19 strikeouts.

 

Stay tuned.