After firing eight shutout innings with 12 strikeouts, a win seemed assured for Trevor Bauer . He surpassed 100 pitches for the 19th time in 19 starts, recorded 21 swinging strikes with 18 called strikes while lowering his ERA to 2.30 on the season with 168 strikeouts prior to the All-Star break. Bauer’s made seven straight quality starts with at least eight strikeouts yielding no home runs in any of them. Add in striking out at least eight his last eight consecutive outings to his 10 starts of whiffing double digits to the resume and he deserved better than a no-decision on Tuesday night.
However, Cody Allen , who has pitched well of late, imploded. Allen only recorded two outs giving up three hits, two walks, six earned runs and hitting a batter en route to his fourth loss of the season. During the game, Francisco Lindor and José Ramírez played home run derby hitting their 24th and 25th, respectively, home runs this year fueling the Indians to a lead. While it’s apparent an upgrade in the outfield would be nice with Lonnie Chisenhall out for at least the next two months, but unless an upgrade occurs in the bullpen, can Cleveland make a deep run in the playoffs?
That Just Happened
Rookie Enyel De Los Santos pitched 6.1 innings allowing six hits, three earned runs and three walks with six strikeouts to earn his first major league win. He generated eight swinging strikes on 94 pitches with 19 called strikes. At the time of his promotion, De Los Santos led the International League in ERA (1.98), was tied for first in wins (9) and tied for second in WHIP (1.08). He may not stick in the rotation but remains an arm to watch for the Phillies going forward.
It’s been a white knuckle ride, but, Maikel Franco could finally be breaking out? He launched his 12th home run and drove in four yesterday. Over his last 21 games, Franco’s hitting .375 with six doubles, four home runs and 13 RBI while walking seven times. Teammate Odubel Herrera hit his 16th home run surpassing his total from last year.
With the Yankees potentially in the market for a first baseman, it’s put up or shut up time for Greg Bird . He hit his sixth home run and a sacrifice fly to drive in four during a loss in Baltimore, but could he be ready to surge? Bird’s 27.8 line drive percentage in July and 50 percent fly ball rate could hint more production in the days ahead and 13 of his 25 hits this year are for extra-bases (six doubles, a triple and six home runs). However, will he be afforded the time to make this happen?
Manny Machado continues to mash when in Camden Yards. He hit two more home runs last night with three RBI and a walk raising his average at home this season to .363 with 16 home runs in 43 games. Keep an eye on Jonathan Schoop who extended his modest hit streak to nine games and has more hits in July (18) in 11 games than he did all of June (14) in 25 contests. During his streak, Schoop’s hitting .432 (16-for-37) with five doubles, two home runs and three RBI.
Riding the wave of his selection to the All-Star game, Wilson Ramos crushed his 14th home run driving in three for the Rays. He’s hit five homers with 15 RBI his last 12 games since June 25th.
Christian Yelich racked up three hits including two doubles with four RBI in his old ballpark. He’s recorded multiple hits in three straight games. Also, Yelich has 11 home runs and 12 stolen bases in his quest to reach 20 in each category for the first time in his career.
Bounce back outing for Marcus Stroman in Atlanta. Stroman won his second game this year going seven innings giving up six hits, one earned run and two walks with five strikeouts. Justin Smoak supported his cause with his 13th home run. Smoak’s been a disappointment this year but 16 of his last 22 hits have been for extra-bases (11 doubles and five home runs) and he’s 10 for his last 33 with six runs, three doubles, four home runs and nine RBI.
Whit Merrifield moved his hit streak to 12 games going 2-for-3 with two walks and two runs. Merrifield’s hitting .460 in the streak with seven multi-hit games. Adalberto Mondesí hit his second home run and stole his fifth base in the win and has scored nine runs his last 12 games. He does not hit for average, but continues to stuff the stat sheet since his promotion.
Would Minnesota trade Brian Dozier ? Fantasy owners should try to buy low soon as the window to do so will close soon. Dozier hit his 14th home run last night, has homered in two of the last three games and hitting .278/.350/.611 in July with a .333 isolated power. Since the start of month, Dozier’s hard hit percentage of 60.9 and fly ball rate of 52.2 percent bode well for another strong second half.
Crazy night in Houston where each teams bullpens struggled. First, Ken Giles took the mound with a four run lead in the ninth and proceeded to give up three straight hits without recording an out. He was replaced by Héctor Rondón who could not stop the bleeding yielding two hits and an earned run. Then, after Collin McHugh gave up a home run to Stephen Piscotty , Blake Treinen suffered his first blown save since April 18th, spanning 20 save conversions, giving up two runs (one earned). McHugh notched his fifth win in the process.
Fueling the Astros offense, Alex Bregman hit two home runs and reached on an error in the bottom of the 11th allowing the winning run to score. Over the last 365 days, Bregman’s scored 109 runs with 30 home runs, 103 RBI, 17 stolen bases and a .296/.377/.533 slash line. Currently he’s pacing for 157 games, 105 runs, 33 home runs, 102 RBI and 14 steals. It’s not a fluke.
Not so encouraging, Garrett Richards left his start early with forearm tightness. His last two fastballs, prior to his exit, only registered 92 MPH on the radar. He averages 96 MPH this season on fastballs. This could be the final blow to the Angels playoff chances if they lose Richards for an extended period of time.
Four strong outings by southpaws, but only two record a win in the late games:
Tyler Anderson allowed one run on three hits and four walks with eight strikeouts in a no-decision at Coors Field. He’s whiffed at least eight in four straight starts with a 1.61 ERA and 0.89 WHIP his last 28 innings with 33 strikeouts.
José Quintana won his eighth game firing six shutout innings in San Francisco yielding three hits and two walks with three strikeouts.
Derek Holland , making a spot start giving Johnny Cueto an extra day of rest, completed a quality start giving up one run on five hits with eight strikeouts. He generated 18 swinging strikes of his 99 pitches with 21 called strikes. And, he lost.
Eric Lauer of the Padres fell one out short of a complete game allowing four hits, one earned run and a walk with eight strikeouts. Lauer induced 17 swinging strikes (15 with his fastball) and 19 called strikes against the Dodgers en route to his fifth win.
Hot hitting David Peralta launched his 16th home run and sits one away from matching his career high in a season. He’s hitting .375 his last 10 games and over his last 36 has hit .333 (47-for-141) with 10 doubles, three triples, nine home runs and 31 RBI.
What To Watch For
With a mix of day and evening games, there’s plenty to track in Wednesday’s action. For starters, Arizona’s won eight straight games in Coors and will try to extend it to nine with Shelby Miller on the mound, good luck.
Shin-Soo Choo will look to extend his on-base streak to 49 games with Chris Sale on the mound for Boston, tough sledding.
Can Jordan Zimmerman maintain his renewed fantasy relevance with a start in Tampa Bay?
Burch Smith will start for the Royals, he’s not pretty but could be relevant in the second half with Kansas City in a steep rebuild.
With the Yankees canvassing the majors for starting pitching, Sonny Gray takes the mound in Baltimore potentially vying to stay in the rotation.
Will the Mets score enough runs to support Jacob deGrom to a sixth win despite leading the majors with a 1.79 ERA?
Be sure to stop back later for Fantasy Alarm’s Closing Bell recapping this afternoon’s action along with the salient fantasy tidbits to stay ahead of your competition.
Statistical Credits:
MLB.com
Fangraphs.com
BaseballSavant.com