Aaron Sanchez, Toronto Blue Jays - Aaron Sanchez turned in a gem Tuesday allowing one run over eight innings to pick up his first win of the season. Sanchez so far this year has started to use his changeup WAY more often than he ever has at 26%, and that was before he threw it 42 times in 92 pitches according to Baseball Savant in this latest start. Now with only an average of 3 MPH difference on his fastball and changeup, there's a chance that may some of the higher velocity ones were actually two-seam fastballs or sinkers, but regardless that's a ton of offerings with the pitch. He generated eight swinging strikes on the pitch and got nine called strikes on it which was the highest in both categories in this game. His walks could end up being an issue for him, but in his last start, he walked just two in six innings so he hasn't had high totals in every start.
Hanley Ramirez, Boston Red Sox - Hanley Ramirez went 2-for-4 at the plate with a walk, two RBI, and his third stolen base of the season Tuesday. In a stunning turn of events, Hanley is actually starting to run again as he stole 16 bases across his first three seasons in Boston and now he has three in a week and some change. Hanley's bat has also gotten off to a great start with a 149 wRC+ and a lone homer with 11 RBI. He's hit third every game this year and in the Boston lineup that's an excellent place to be. He's hit at least 23 homers in each of the last two seasons and if he can reach double-digit steals that's a solid player that's only owned in 56% of ESPN leagues right now.
Matt Boyd, Detroit Tigers - Matt Boyd was excellent on Tuesday but ultimately left with a no-decision after seven innings allowing a lone run. While the final results for Boyd have been great (sans strikeouts) over his first two starts, there are a couple numbers right now that make him slightly terrifying... and not in a good way. First, he's currently rocking a 92% strand rate which obviously isn't something that's sustainable. Second, right now he's allowing the hardest contact of his career with a 38% hard contact rate against him, a measly 27.5% GB rate, and a 4% HR/FB. Unless he learns to either start missing some bats or develops into a pitcher where soft contact is a skill, the sheer number of hard-hit fly balls has a chance to really mess with his overall line.
Luis Severino, New York Yankees - The Red Sox roughed up Luis Severino for five runs in five innings, handing him his first loss of 2018. While he did have more of an issue with walks this outing, everything else in Severino's profile looks just in line with his other starts this season and I don't see much to be alarmed at. He still recorded over a strikeout per inning and his swinging strike rate was just under 20% where his season average is around 10%. The Red Sox were just able to hit it where the Yankees weren't posting a .481 BABIP compared to his .304 mark for the year. His FIP for the game was even at a 2.43, so even by formula standards, everything looks fine.
James Paxton, Seattle Mariners - James Paxton gets the Royals on Wednesday and I love that matchup on DraftKings as an arm just under the elite price tag. While the Royals are hitting .286 against lefties this season, it's without a ton of damage as they have no homers and an 85 wRC+. Adding in their 20% K% and Paxton currently striking out 24% of his batters, I like this matchup the most out of any of the AL arms Wednesday.
