That Just Happened
Trevor Bauer ’s breakout season continued today, he fired seven innings of two-run baseball and compiled seven strikeouts. He has a 2.24 ERA for the year and has given up just three earned runs through 22.2 July innings (three starts). His teammate José Ramírez finished the game 2-for-4 with a run and his 20th stolen base of the season. He is the first player in the 20-20 club this season as he has 29 home runs to go along with the 20 steals. Consider this, the last time a player went for 30 and 30 over the course of a FULL season was in 2012 (Mike Trout ), Ramirez should easily join that club barring an injury. There wasn’t a better player in baseball in the first half than Ramirez. Last season, Ramirez had a great year with 29 home runs and 17 steals over the course of 585 at-bats, showing just how impressive his 29-20 has been in 358 at-bats.
Brian Anderson and Cameron Maybin led the Miami charge today to a 10-5 win over the Phillies. Anderson finished 3-for-5 with a home run, a double, three RBI, and two runs. Maybin stuffed the stat sheet with a 3-for-4 day with a solo home run and a stolen base.
Jeremy Hellickson looked good against the Mets today as he fired six innings and gave up just one run. He struck out six and only allowed two hits en route to his fourth win of the year. Daniel Murphy knocked in two runs as a pinch-hitter as part of the Nationals six runs.
Shin-Soo Choo , the all-star, finished his strong first half on a high note. He went 2-for-3 with a home run, two walks, one RBI, and a pair of runs scored. Ronald Guzman made his lone hit of the afternoon count as he smacked a grand slam.
The Tigers struck out against Justin Verlander 12 times today, but that didn’t stop them from tagging him for six runs (five earned). John Hicks (9), Jeimer Candelario (13), Niko Goodrum (9), and Jim Adduci (1) each launched a home run off Verlander. Goodrum is someone worth adding if still available in your leagues, he has multiple position eligibility and is hitting a strong 20-for-57 (.351) in the month of July with two home runs and a stolen base.
Lucas Giolito allowed zero runs today, yes that Lucas Giolito , for the first time this season. He pitched 6.1 innings and struck out six while giving up just two hits. It marks his second straight quality start and in those two starts he has given up two earned runs across 13.2 innings pitched. Don’t jump to picking him up just yet, but start to monitor him. Carrying much of the offensive load for the White Sox were Yoan Moncada and Daniel Palka . Moncada finished 3-for-4 with a solo home run, a walk, and three runs scored. Palka also collected three hits in four at-bats, but his home run was of the two-run variety.
Trevor Story blasted his 20th home run of the year in the Rockies 4-3 win over the Mariners. He is hitting .292 to go along with the 20 dingers and has driven in 68. This is the type of production people were hoping for last season when they used an early round pick on the shortstop only to see him hit .239 with 24 home runs in 2017.
Brian Dozier hit a walk-off grand slam to lift the Twins over the Rays 11-7. He finished the day 2-for-6 with the grand slam, five RBI, and two runs scored. His day was good enough for 38.9 points on FanDuel, which led all hitters. The home run was his sixteenth of the season and fifth of July after hitting just three in June. He is also hitting .298 in July and has brought his average for the season up to .230, he is finally getting hot.
Despite giving up a three-run home run, Clayton Kershaw was still able to pick up a quality start today. He tossed 6.2 innings, gave up the three runs, and struck out eight. He also drove one in himself with a single. He did not factor into the decision and his ERA took a slight hit and now stands at 2.74.
Odd Stats
*As of the time of writing this.
Jacob deGrom leads MLB in ERA at 1.68 and is the only qualified pitcher with an ERA under 2.00, but is also the only player in the top-20 of ERA with fewer than six wins. His current record is 5-4.- Of the 41 pitchers with at least 100 strikeouts, Ross Stripling is the only one with fewer than 15 walks. He has 108 strikeouts and has issued 14 walks.
- Manny Margot has seven steals, but has also been caught stealing seven times. Fantasy owners should be worried.
- Bryce Harper and Carlos Santana have been walked the second and third most times in the league this year despite carrying batting averages of .214 and .209 respectively.
- Jackie Bradley Jr. is a perfect 11-11 on stolen base attempts so far. He had never stolen more than nine bases in a season prior to this year. Keep on running Jackie.
- Aaron Judge leads MLB in strikeouts with 132, but is still managing to hit for a solid .276 average.
- Franmil Reyes has six home runs in 99 at-bats, but only has eight RBI. Of the 287 players with at least four home runs, he is the only one without at least 10 RBI.
- Joe Panik is the only player with more than 100 at-bats and fewer than 15 strikeouts; he has struck out only 13 times in 200 at-bats.
Cold Streaks
*Last 7 days, entering today
Ender Inciarte – 1-for-14 (.071), zero home runs, zero stolen bases, one RBI, and one run scored.
Matt Davidson – 1-for-13 (.077), zero home runs, zero stolen bases, zero RBI, and zero runs scored.
Willson Contreras – 1-for-16 (.063), zero home runs, zero stolen bases, zero RBI, and one run scored.
Delino DeShields – 0-for-14 (.000), zero home runs, zero stolen bases, zero RBI, and zero runs scored.
Tommy Pham – 0-for-13 (.000), zero home runs, zero stolen bases, zero RBI, and zero runs scored.
Curtis Granderson – 0-for-12 (.000), zero home runs, zero stolen bases, zero RBI, and zero runs scored.
What to Watch
MLB Home Run Derby – Monday, July 16 @ 8 P.M .ET.
MLB All-Star Game – Tuesday, July 17 @ 7:30 P.M. ET.
Start of the second half of the MLB regular season – Thursday, July 19 @ 7:05 P.M. ET.
Stay tuned.