Trevor Story (SS-COL) Story continued to mash Milwaukee pitching Saturday going 3-3 with a double, 2 home runs, 2 runs scored and 4 RBIs . Story tripled in the opening game Thursday, homered last night and added the additional 3 extra base hits Saturday. Overall in the first 3 games of the 4 game set Story has gone 5-10 with 4 runs and 9 RBIs in addition to the extra base barrage, and raised his season slash line to .239/.333/.542. He kept up his lopsided tendencies Saturday excelling once again vs Left handed pitching (.260 average vs .202 against righties) and at home (hitting .302 vs .174 on the road). Owners that can stomach the fact that he has consistently struck out in 30% over his career may be able to find some value if started on a per matchup basis.
Bryce Harper (OF-WSH) Harper went 2-4 with an RBI double and a walk Saturday. The multi-hit effort was a sight for sore eyes for Harpers owners as he was mired in a 2/25 slump entering play Saturday however, all of Harpers other ratios would tell he might just be having a bit of bad luck as he is sporting a .188 BABIP and has dropped his K% 5% and increased his BB% over 9% from 2017 to 2018. He is even hitting balls harder (34.3% in 2017 to 45.4% in 2018 a figure good for 6th in the National League). If the hits start falling his .237 batting average should continue to fall more in line with his elite .406 OBP and .533 slugging %.
Christian Villanueva (3B-SD) Villanueva went 0-3 with 3 strikeouts and was lifted for a pinch hitter in the 9th inning of a tie game Saturday night. Villanueva has had an awful month of May going 1-37 with 14 strikeouts. His lone hit was a home run which came May 1 meaning he has gone hitless over his past 10 games. Villanueva came out of the gates hot hitting .338 with 9 home runs in April but has crashed back down to earth. With Chase Headley recently being designated for assignment, the door would appear to be open for Villanueva to work through is struggles - but he will need to improve drastically on a .162 batting average vs righties if he wants to avoid being on the short end of a platoon down the road.
Kyle Freeland (SP-COL) Freeland tossed 6 1/3 shutout innings Saturday evening allowing 4 hits, walking 4 and striking out 6. Freeland cruised through the first 6 innings but walked the first 2 batters of the 7th then was pulled following getting the first out. The effort was the 4th strong outing in a row for Freeland who has struck out 27 in 27 1/3 innings over that span allowing just 17 hits and 5 earned runs. The win improves Freeland to 3-4 and he will take a 3.42 ERA into his next start Friday against the Giants.
Jose Bautista (3B-ATL) Bautista went 1-3 with his first home run as a Brave Saturday night. The veteran slugger has struggled in his brief time since being called up to the Braves going 4-24 with 2 RBIs, 4 BB and 5 strikeouts. It remains to be seen whether Bautista still has what it takes to be a productive major league hitter as he has seen his average drop each season from .284 in 2014 to .203 last season. One key indicator will be Bautista's BB:K rate which has been above or near 1.0 for most of his top season. Last season that number sat at .49 but he has a done a better job of drawing walks and limiting strikeouts in a short sample size this season (4:5 BB:K).
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Millard Babo
May 12, 18 at 08:57 PM
Hoping "Bautista watch" can be a regular thing :)
Millard Babo
May 12, 18 at 08:57 PM
Well that ended quickly....