Chris Sale, Boston Red Sox - Chris Sale had a mixed bag of results on Tuesday with a season-high six strikeout and also had a season-high average fastball velocity at 95.6 MPH, but he also was tagged for seven hits and four runs in five innings. Sale threw to his preferred catcher Tuesday in Sandy Leon, but the results still weren't great. Sale generated 12 swing and misses but eight of those came on the slider and if players weren't missing the pitch, they were sending missiles all over the park. The Yankees had an average exit velocity of 96.7 MPH off of Sale in the outing, and it was 103.4 MPH off of his fastball (the pitch that has been the big issue this year). Sale at least is showing more velocity and the ability to get some more swings and misses, and I think if you're an owner you wait it out at this point.
Tyler Glasnow, Tampa Bay Rays - Tyler Glasnow turned in another excellent start for the Rays, and it was still likely the worst of his season. Glasnow tossed seven innings and allowed two runs, but only struck out three batters and allowed seven hits. He didn't have hit typical swing and miss stuff on the evening with just eight whiffs, but he was able to succeed by allowing an average exit velo of just 83 MPH off him. Glasnow continues to show remarkable control with no walks in his outing, and he entered Tuesday's start with just a 4.3% walk rate. Glasnow is striking batters out at an excellent rate (this start aside), limiting walks, and generating a ton of soft contact as he's been one of the best starters in baseball this season.
Yoan Moncada, Chicago White Sox - Yoan Moncada continued his incredible 2019 with a pair of homers on Tuesday in a 2-for-4 effort. He now has five homers to go with 16 RBI along with a .333/.371/.652 triple slash. Obviously the talk about Moncada this year is how he's dropped his K% by 10%, but hasn't done it at the expense of hard contact as he ranks in the 99th percentile in exit velocity and the 89th percentile in hard-hit rate. Moncada is actually swinging outside the zone more this year than last, but the 7% jump in his zone contact offsets that perfectly fine. We've always known about his talent and everything looks like he's making the jump to stardom.
James Paxton, New York Yankees - James Paxton twirled an absolute gem against the Red Sox on Tuesday with 20 swinging strikes on 110 pitches in eight shutout innings. Paxton had 12 strikeouts against just a single walk while allowing two hits. Paxton averaged 97 MPH on his fastball this evening, a couple ticks up from the 95 MPH he's been averaging this season. This was a great bounce-back start for him after two sub-par outings and it's also the first time all season he's completed at least six full innings. Lindsey Adler of The Athletic tweeted that Paxton told reporters after the game that he noticed, in video, that he needed to drive down the mound more and he credits that for being the reason he was able to jump up velo-wise in the outing.
Jorge Polanco, Minnesota Twins - Jorge Polanco launched his third homer of the season. He's off to an extremely strong start with a .415/.467/.755 triple slash over 60 PAs. Polanco is hitting second in the Twins lineup most nights and despite ranking in the 17th percentile in exit velocity, he's in the 89th percentile in xwOBA. He's shown flashes before of being a potential high end fantasy SS, and he's show a lot of those similar traits here again in 2019
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