Travis "The Mayor of Ding Dong City" Shaw was 23-for-4 yesterday with 3 RBIs and his 14th HR of the season. His OPS is slightly over 900 for year after yesterday's effort. Shaw is following up last year's dud with his best season yet, elevated by a great 20.3% HR/FB rate. To boot, he's making better contact and has lowered his K% to a more respectable 20%. I'd expect similar production rest of season, though he does have a nice benefit of sitting in the middle of the Brewers order in a nice ballpark, which has enabled him to tally 50 RBI through his first 64 games.
Antonio Senzatela entered yesterday with a sparking 9-2 record. He should be started in all formats, right? Wrong. He was crushed for 9 ER in just 3.1 innings yesterday, increasing his ERA from a respectable 4.10 to 4.86. Senzatela has been the beneficiary of luck and excellent run support which has enables his 9 wins in just 14 starts (before yesterday). Fantistics readers know that his peripherals do nothing to support that record. If he's not already, he'll be on the waiver wire tomorrow; leave him there.
Aaron Nola went 7.1 innings with 1 ER and 8 strikeouts in a victory against the Cardinals yesterday. Nola's ERA sits at 4.32 now (4.76 entering yesterday), with a SIERA about a half a run less than that. It certainly hasn't been a great year for the 24-year-old, but there are some things to like; his velocity is up about 2 MPH year-over-year and he's striking out about 8.5 batters per 9. He'll need to make a few more improvements, namely by limiting the longball, to be a completely trusted option. But given his age and skill set, I'm buying Nola to continue improving.
Despite a 2.87 ERA, Carlos Martinez fell to just 6-6 yesterday despite a solid 6 IP, 2 ER (3 R) performance against the Phillies. While the win/loss record isn't great, Martinez has been dominant this year with 10 K's per 9 and a solid 51% GB ratio. His ERA is a little bit favorable by a little under a half run, but he's been able to do that for the last two years, which could suggest that he bears down when he needs to and gets the critical outs. Even with some regression, he's an excellent option moving forward. Hopefully the Cardinals start to put up some runs for him.
Chase Anderson was effective yet again yesterday, going 6 IP with 2 ER and 7 strikeouts against the Pirates. Anderson's ERA is under 3.00 for year, but there could be some trouble on the horizon; his xFIP and SIERA sit at 4.32 and 4.21 for the season. Pitching in the bandbox of Milwaukee, he's allowed just 0.76 HR per 9 despite an extremely high 41.8% FB rate. This spells trouble with a capital T for Anderson. He's made some notable improvements from last year, but because of the park he's in, I'm trying to sell high on Anderson while you can.
