Trevor Bauer (SP-CLE) Bauer threw 7 shutout innings vs the White Sox Monday night, allowing 3 hits and walking 2 while striking out 8. Bauer delivered another strong start in what has been a career year, although owners will note it's the first time in almost a month (May 22) he has not struck out at least 10 batters. The win pushes his record above .500 to 6-5, and he has been a hard luck loser several times this season. He entered Monday with a career high 11.63 K/9 and a career low 2.98 BB/9 and 0.48 HR/9. A big reason for his success has been his increased usage of his slider (up 10% from 2017) and the fact that hitters have been unable to hit it (hitting just .103 in 88 plate appearances). He will take his 2.50 ERA and 1.09 WHIP into his next start Sunday vs the Tigers.
Giancarlo Stanton (OF-NYY) Stanton went 4-5 with a double and 2 RBIs Monday night. It was nice night for Stanton who has struggled throughout the 2018 season to get in any sort of rhythm. It was his 2nd 3+ hit game in his past 6, but he has only 2 hits in those other 4 games and is still whiffing at what would be a career high 31.3% rate. He has especially struggled vs breaking pitches where has a whiff/swing % of 52% on 376 pitches seen. While his career number have not been spectacular vs righties (.258 batting average) he has been downright disastrous vs them in 2018 sporting a .212 average a contributing factor to his below-expectations line of .254/.329/.485.
C.J. Cron (1B-TB) Cron went 0-4 Monday night with 3 strikeouts. After being a pleasant surprise with a .270 average with 12 home runs and 32 RBIs over the first two months of the season, Cron has really struggled in June going 5-51with 3 home runs and a 5:23 BB:K rate. The 28-year-old consistently settled in with an OPS in the mid-.700s during 4 seasons with the Angels and the recent slump drops his back down to that level (.761). Still, the 15 home runs are just 1 shy of his career high of 16 which he has hit in each of the past 3 seasons. A .210 ISO and a .450 SLUG % should ensure he breaks his career high in home runs in the coming weeks, but a 26.4% K% will keep owners honest and aware that Cron is due for prolonged power outages.
Ryne Stanek (RP-TB) Stanek served as the "opener" for the Rays Monday night retiring all 5 Astros batters he faced needing just 11 pitches. This was no easy task against one of the top lineups in the league and especially so as the Astros have been red-hot. Stanek has made 6 "starts" this season and has been lights out in June appearances tossing 9 and 2/3 scoreless frames, allowing 3 hits, 3 walks and striking out 11 to give him a strong 2.33 ERA and 0.93 WHIP. Stanek has posted good k rates over his past few seasons - 10.46 K/9 at AA in 2016, 12.09 K/9 at AAA in 2017 and 12.2 K/9 in almost 40 Major League innings over the past 2 seasons. That being said his walk rates are high as he has walked more than 4 BB/9 at the majority of his stops over the past few seasons. He may have found his role as a top opener for Tampa Bay as his fastball that averages 98.3 mph and his 88.7mph slider seem to be wreaking havoc in the month of June.
Joey Gallo (1B/OF-TEX) Gallo went 0-4 with 3 strikeouts. Another big strikeout night for Gallo, but at this point the results should be no surprise to fantasy owners. Gallo has been awful in May hitting .140 but still sporting a .651 OPS due to 3 home runs and 9 walks. The overall season slash line of .195/.290/.445 looks ugly but the 18 home runs, 42 RBIs and 31 walks at least somewhat balances a league worst 62.4% contact rate and 37.1% K rate driven by a league-high 109 strikeouts in 72 games. Gallo's numbers are slightly lagging behind last years and if he can somehow manage to approach the .869 OPS he hit last year he make for a boom or bust fantasy play despite the fact that his average will most likely hover around .200.
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