What a day of Major League Baseball action we had yesterday. We witnessed history on two different occasions in Seattle last night, as George Kirby set an MLB record with 24 straight strikeouts to begin a game, and Julio Rodríguez joined rare company by joining the 20/20 club before the age of 21. Atlanta’s Matt Olson had a huge day in the shellacking of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Nathaniel Lowe made fireworks at Coors Field. Oakland’s Cole Irvin continued his dominance at home this season, en route to a career high strikeout total against the Miami Marlins. If Irvin is available in your fantasy baseball league, make him a priority waiver wire pickup. I don’t want to give any spoilers for my favorite MLB play of the day, but Jacob deGrom is pitching for the Mets, and let’s just say that my MLB best bet for the day centers around deGrom dominating this Colorado team.

 

 

 

Fantasy Baseball MLB News & Notes from Wednesday

George Kirby Fills up Strike Zone

Kirby put on a clinic in terms of lighting up the strike zone! Kirby has always displayed excellent command throughout his path to the big leagues, and even across 18 starts in the MLB, he has a miniscule 1.20 BB/9 and he hasn’t walked more than one batter in any start this season. He was excellent against Washington yesterday, allowing just one earned run on eight hits while striking out nine over seven strong innings. It was just the second time this season that he completed seven innings in a start. If we want to nitpick, sure, eight hits in seven innings isn’t ideal, but nine strikeouts and only one earned run sounds pretty good to me!

Speaking of history in Seattle…

 

Julio Rodríguez Joins 20/20 Club

Since returning to the lineup in the middle of August, Rodriguez is hitting just .269 with a .423 slugging percentage, but last night’s home run was a big one, as it gave him 20 on the year and put him in the 20/20 club.

Look at the company he’s in there with, as there are some fantasy behemoths within that list! This is an impressive rookie season for Rodriguez, but now the question is, how high does he go in 2023 fantasy baseball drafts?
 

Matt Olson Has Monster Day in Rout

Olson had a monster day to say the least, notching three hits, including one home run, with four RBI and two runs scored. He’s now up to 27 home runs and 87 RBI on the season, and since August 9th, he’s slashing .262/.319/.585 with only a 13.9 percent strikeout rate! He may only be hitting .239 in the month of August, but there are definitely some signs that could be pointing to Olson going on a torrid run. First and foremost, he’s hardly striking out, meaning he’s making more contact. When he has made contact, his 93.9 average exit velocity is his highest in a month since April (94.0), and his batting average (.239) and SLG (.478) are underperforming compared to his expected statistics (.287 xBA, .548 xSLG).

 

Logan Webb Falls Apart in 5th Against Tigers

It was smooth sailing for Webb yesterday against the Tigers, and then the fifth inning hit. Heading into the fifth inning, Webb had allowed zero hits, while notching five strikeouts. Then, here’s how his fifth inning went: Fly out, single, double, walk, strikeout, single, single, single. 

Webb has a 5.22 ERA (3.50 FIP) over his last five starts, and outside of a good start against Pittsburgh and Oakland, he hasn’t looked all that impressive. His walk rate is up considerably, but thanks to an elite ground ball rate, homers continue to be a non-factor for Webb. His ERA is nearly a full run higher away from his home park. A 3.60 FIP and .321 BABIP indicate that he’s been more unlucky than bad in his recent starts, but I would love to see his BB/9 get to sub-3.00 like it has been for a good chunk of the season.

 

 


Cole Irvin Dominates Marlins

After two rough starts where he allowed five earned runs to both Houston and Seattle, Irvin had a dream matchup against Miami, a team that has struggled mightily against left-handed pitching. Furthermore, Irvin has been superior in his home park, so the stars aligned for a big day for Irvin. Well, he delivered. Over seven shutout innings, he allowed just three hits and posted a career-high 11 strikeouts. His previous career high was nine strikeouts in May of 2021, and his season high was eight strikeouts against Texas back on July 22.

Irvin’s four-seam fastball generated an insane 21 whiffs on 36 swings (58%), which was by far his highest mark of the season. Beyond that, his changeup was healthy in the whiff department, and is working itself into a deadly weapon for Irvin. Whenever he pitches at home, he’s a near must start, as he has a 1.94 ERA, .193 BAA, and 0.86 WHIP.

 


Confirmed: Nathaniel Lowe Loves Coors Field

In the 10 games prior to this series at Coors Field, Lowe was slashing .410/.465/.615 with two home runs, six RBI, and a 211 wRC+. What if I told you that was merely the appetizer? In the two games at Coors, Lowe hit .400 with two home runs, one triple, eight RBI, and four runs scored. Oh, he has a 1.200 SLG and 354 wRC+. Coors Field is obviously the game’s best park for hitters, and Lowe has actually enjoyed getting out of his home park all season, as you can see below:

 

AVG

OBP

SLG

wOBA

wRC+

Home

.262

.325

.421

.326

115

Away

.325

.362

.542

.388

158


 

Lowe is now slashing .378/.434/.611 with a .447 wOBA, five home runs, 17 RBI, and 13 runs scored in the month of August. His .447 wOBA is tied for seventh-best in Major League Baseball this month, and his 200 wRC+ is fifth-best.

 

Thursday’s Best Bet

Mets -1.5 Run Line First 5 Innings (-120 BetMGM)

Jacob deGrom is throwing for New York, so Colorado should only have, at best, one run on the board during deGrom’s time on the bump. So, can the Mets get to two or three runs? Sure! Colorado’s Ryan Feltner has a 6.26 ERA on the road, and as a team, the Mets have the fifth-highest OPS in Major League Baseball against right-handed pitching over the last two weeks. The league average for wOBA is .310 on the season, and over the last 30 days, the Mets have a .360 wOBA against righties.

 

 


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