James Paxton (SP-SEA) Paxton was brilliant again Tuesday, no hitting the Blue jays in Toronto walking 3 and striking out 7. Just when fantasy owners thought it couldn't get much better than his 16-strikeout gem last week vs the Athletics, Paxton topped that needing only 99 pitches to shut down the Blue Jays without allowing a hit. Paxton entered the game sporting an American League leading 13.97 K/9 and while the strikeouts were on the lower side for him in this one, he threw 21 first pitch strikes while generating 14 called and 15 swinging strikes, respectively. Fans will need to tune in Sunday to see what Paxton does next as he is a strong 2-start option this week as he is set to toe the rubber vs the Tigers.
Blake Snell (SP-TB) Snell hurled his 6th straight quality start in the Rays 1-0 loss to the Braves Tuesday, tossing 6 1/3 innings, striking out 5 and walking 2. A Ronald Acuna home run in the 3rd inning was the only mistake he made as Snell continues to impress. With a 3.39 and 4.19 FIP over the past 2 seasons Snell has been a solid mid rotation starter but this year has really cleaned up his Achilles heel - walks. His 2.59 BB/9 is down from 4.11 in 2017 and 5.16 in 2016 a number that moved him to the middle of the pack as opposed to being near the very bottom. The downturn in walks has not adversely affected his strikeout numbers as he is still sporting a 9.25 K/9 ratio. Snell will take his 2.40 ERA and sparkling 0.86 whip into a matchup with the Orioles Sunday.
Jorge Soler (OF-KC) Soler continued his resurgence going 3-4 with a home run, 3 RBI, 2 runs scored and a walk. After seeing a steady and sharp decline in batting average each of the past 4 seasons including a dreadful .144 clip in 35 games last year, Soler has been a bright spot on a bad Royals team boosting a robust .324/.436/.546 line through 31 2018 games. An inflated .406 BABIP which currently sits at 4th in the American League means we can expect the batting average to come back down to earth a bit but his percentage of balls hit hard has jumped from 31.1% in 2017 to 42.5% this year, meaning if he can keep hitting the ball with authority he should continue to add to his 9 doubles and 5 home runs.
Eddie Rosario (OF-MIN) Rosario went 2-5 with 3 runs scored Tuesday afternoon. Rosario has been on an absolute tear entering the game, hitting .452 with an eye-popping 1.484 OPS and 4 home runs over the past week. He kept up the hitting clinic Tuesday producing his 4th multi-hit game in a row, and 6th in his past 8 games. After two average hitting seasons to start his career, Rosario had a career year in 2017 slashing .290/.328/.507 and his current .291/.313/.551 mark so far this year looks very similar. The only real knock on Rosarios game is he only walks at a 3.1% clip but as long as the hits keep coming owners should feel confident rolling him out on a daily basis.
Dylan Bundy (SP-BAL) Bundy got shelled by the Royals giving up 7 earned runs in the first inning on 5 hits and 2 walks without recording a single out. As if his stat line didn't look bad enough already Bundy gave up a major league record 4 home runs without recording a single out including back-to-back-to-back shots to the 2-3-4 hitters in the Royals lineup, truly making it one of the worst starting pitching lines in recent memory. This marks the third game in a row Bundy has struggled mightily, as he has now surrendered 23 hits and 19 runs over his past 3 starts where he has only lasted 9 total innings. Entering the contest Tuesday Bundy sported a .345 BABIP, 4th highest of all American League starters - a number which will surely rise following the home run barrage Tuesday. Bundy will try to right the ship Sunday vs the Rays.
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Millard Babo
May 8, 18 at 10:07 PM
I love Rosario, especially platooning him in fantasy. Another good one!