With “relentless” stitched on his glove, Chris Paddack continues to display his talent and approach with success as a rookie in an environment in 2019 which heavily favors hitters. Paddack carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning but lost it, along with a shutout on one swing by Starlin Castro . But, Paddack won his sixth game of the season yielding only one hit, one earned run and one walk with eight strikeouts against the franchise which traded him for Fernando Rodney . Pretty impressive for the rookie along with this tidbit:

Paddack only needed 94 pitches to navigate 7.2 innings producing 15 swinging strikes and 19 called for a 36.2 called plus swinging strikes (CSW) percentage. His next start will occur against the Mets in New York. 

On the other end of the spectrum, Aaron Sanchez lost his 10th straight start setting a Blue Jays franchise record. Less than optimal. 

Here’s the rest of the notable starting pitcher performances from Wednesday:

  • Mike Clevinger , Cleveland: 100 pitches, 23 swinging strikes, 18 called, 41 CSW%. Clevinger racked up 12 strikeouts in six dominating innings giving up six hits, one earned run and issuing one walk. Cleveland’s won 24 of it’s 34 games since June fourth. 

  • Homer Bailey , Oakland: 87 pitches, 10 swinging strikes, 14 called, 27.6 CSW%. Just another solid effort from veteran Bailey getting his first win with the A’s and eighth this year scattering seven hits and two earned runs with six strikeouts. 

  • Yu Darvish , Chicago Cubs: 83 pitches, 12 swinging strikes, 12 called, 28.9 CSW%. Darvish may be rounding into form getting his third win firing six shutout innings limiting the Reds to two hits with seven strikeouts. Key here, zero walks. 

  • Sonny Gray , Cincinnati: 85 pitches, 17 swinging strikes, 15 called, 37.6 CSW%. Tough luck loser in Chicago, Gray allowed two solo home runs, the only hits against him, with eight strikeouts en route to his sixth loss. 

  • Chris Archer , Pittsburgh: 101 pitches, 14 swinging strikes, 18 called, 31.7 CSW%. Archer left the game in line to win it but the Pirates bullpen could not hold it. Archer held the Cardinals to five hits, three earned runs and dished out two walks with eight strikeouts. 

  • Gerrit Cole , Houston: 109 pitches, 24 swinging strikes, 26 called, 45.9 CSW%. Pending free agent Cole became the first pitcher to fan 11 Angels this year. He only yielded seven hits, one earned run and a walk for his 10th win hitting 99 MPH on the gun in the seventh inning. Ka-ching. 

Bullpen Notes: Hader holds on…

Noting Josh Hader did not pitch in the All-Star game with lingering back issues, he’s gutting out saves in the second half. His defense did him no favors on Wednesday with Manny Piña committing a throwing error to first with two outs after a dropped strike three to Freddie Freeman . This allowed Josh Donaldson to deliver a two out single scoring two unearned runs versus Hader. Good news, Hader did not serve up a home run but the three hits against suggests he’s not fully healthy either. It’s save number 21 for Hader but his owners hope he can return to his first half dominant self soon.

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

  • Carlos Martínez converted his sixth save but yielded a run for the second straight outing allowing three hits with one strikeout. Keep tabs on Giovanny Gallegos in this bullpen. 

  • Save number four for Craig Kimbrel . He tossed a clean ninth with two strikeouts against the Reds.

  • One out saves prove to be a crowd pleaser. Mark Melancon recorded his first save of the year after Andrew Suarez gave up three runs in the bottom of the ninth. Ian Kennedy also notched a one out save courtesy of Wily Peralta ’s three-run implosion. Kennedy’s recorded a save in 13 of his last 14 chances with a 20:5 K:BB, 1.72 ERA and 0.89 WHIP over his last 15.2 innings. 

  • Kirby Yates held on for his 31st save working around consecutive errors starting his ninth inning. Miami did score an unearned run off Yates despite him getting all three outs via strikeout. 

  • Providing Brad Hand with a day off, and not needing him after extending the lead in the eighth, Nick Wittgren gets his second save working 1.2 innings allowing a hit, an earned run and a walk with three strikeouts. 

  • Mychal Givens retired one in the eighth with a two run lead, then stayed on the bump in the ninth after the Orioles tacked on five runs. Givens secured his eighth save giving up one hit with a strikeout in a 1.1 inning outing. 

  • Boston turned to Brandon Workman for the save chance on Wednesday. He entered this outing having retired 10 straight hitters. Workman ran into some trouble but held on for his fifth save needing 45 pitches over 1.2 innings yielding a hit, an earned run and handing out two walks with four strikeouts. Suffice it to say, he will get Thursday off. 

Hitter Highlights: Underrated Whit keeps raking…

During his first at-bat on Wednesday, Whit Merrifield extending his hit streak to 15 with a single. He finished the game going 3-for-3 with two walks reaching base in all five plate appearances scoring a run, driving in one and stealing his 15th base. Merrifield’s recorded three different hit streaks of at least 15 games since 2017 and leads the majors with 128 hits this year. He’s recorded at least one hit in 81 of his 97 games slashing .316/.369/.511 with 69 runs, 12 home runs and 15 steals but remains undervalued in fantasy. 

Amed Rosario racked up four hits, scored four runs and hit his 10th home run driving in three against the Twins. Teammate Pete Alonso added his 31th home run, a titanic 474 foot blast to set the Mets rookie record for extra-base hits (54) in a season. It’s July 18th. 

Twins catcher Mitch Garver went 2-for-3 with his 15th home run becoming the sixth Twins hitter to reach the plateau tying them with the Cubs for the most players on a team with at least 15 dingers. Nelson Cruz launched his 18th home run as well. 

Could Paul Goldschmidt be heating up? He hit a go-ahead three-run home run in a Cardinals comeback win. Goldschmidt’s hit 18 this year on pace for 31 but feels like a disappointment. Tyler O’Neill recorded two more hits and swatted his fifth home run driving in two. Since the start of the second half, O’Neill’s 10-for-20 with four home runs and 11 RBI with a robust 1.200 slugging percentage. 

Christian Yelich homered for the second straight game helping the Brewers to consecutive wins:

In the loss, Josh Donaldson went 2-for-4 with his 22nd home run and four RBI. He’s hit four home runs his last seven games and seven in his last 11 plus reached base in his last 14 contests with a .433 on-base percentage. 

Trevor Story recorded three extra-base hits along with hitting his 22nd home run with two RBI in a Rockies loss. Ryan McMahon added his ninth home run and he’s hitting .350 in July. 

Oakland continues to surge in the standings:

One of the A’s biggest contributors to this streak, Ramón Laureano . He tallied three hits with three runs and hit his 19th home run in Wednesday’s win. Since June 12th, Laureano’s hitting .317 with 11 home runs and 29 RBI along with five home runs his last seven contests. 

Trey Mancini left the yard twice against the Nationals for the sixth career multi-home run game of his career. This snapped a 15-game homerless streak for Mancini. 

Stay hot Rafael Devers . He went 3-for-5, hit his 18th home run and drove in four during the Red Sox win over Toronto. Dating back to June 11th, Devers has appeared in 28 games with 26 runs, nine home runs, 30 RBI, a .393/.437/.735 slash line and .342 isolated power. 

With Cleveland heating up, Francisco Lindor and José Ramírez could carry them back to the playoffs. Lindor hit his 15th home run last night and Ramirez went 3-for-4 with two runs, a double along with stealing his 20th base. Ramirez owns a .353/.400/.618 slash since June 21st and recorded eight multi-hit games in his last 18 played. 

Both Eduardo Escobar and Danny Santana notched double dong evenings in a Diamondbacks rout of the Rangers. For Escobar, he’s up to 21 home runs this year and 75 RBI through 94 games. Santana’s on a heater going 14-for-his-last-26 (.538) with four home runs in five games plus multi-hit games in five of his last six. 

With Carlos Correa on a rehab assignment and the offense heating up, things will be interesting in the West standings. George Springer launched his 21st home run driving in three during a win over the Angels. Jose Altuve went 2-for-4 with a run, double, two RBI and stole his third base. He’s hitting .317 since returning from the injured list his last 23 contests. Michael Brantley added his 13th home run, and 100th of his career. 

What To Watch For

More moves from the Royals? Already trading Homer Bailey to Oakland, Kansas City moved Terrance Gore to the Yankees and placed Adalberto Mondesi on the injured list. It seems like their motivated to trade so be aware if you own Ian Kennedy . 

After a rain delay lasting over two hours, the Dodgers and Phillies ended their game late last night matching up early this afternoon. Could Ross Stripling and Aaron Nola benefit from tired batters? 

Rain also factored in the Yankees postponement forcing a doubleheader with the Rays. 

Upside arms will meet in Miami with Dinelson Lamet facing Caleb Smith this afternoon. 

In the night cap, the Giants remain hot but this still remains a possibility: 

Bumgarner will be opposed by Noah Syndergaard at home in what should be a heavily scouted game. 

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

 

Statistical Credits:

BaseballSavant.com

Fangraphs.com

MLB.com - Game Notes