Pablo Lopez (MIA) - Pablo Lopez flashed the brilliance in his start on Tuesday night that made him one of the most trendy late-round speculative picks of the draft season. Lopez had a no-hitter going into the 6th inning, but eventually finished the day with a line of 6.1 IP, 2H, 0ER, 2BB and 6 K. On the season, has a 4.44 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP, but his 29:8 strikeout-to-walk rate is mouth-watering and his 3.47 xFIP and 64% LOB% suggest he's been a bit unlucky. Look for Lopez to break out in a big way as his luck reverses over the next several weeks to months.
Eduardo Escobar (AZ) - Eduardo Escobar recorded a 3-hit night on Tuesday against Trevor Williams and the Pirates. That's now back-to-back 3-hit days for the third baseman and he's managed to raise his slash line from .225/.311/.350 to .270/.350/.427 since Sunday. Ah, small samples at their finest! Nonetheless, Escobar had been getting relatively unlucky and now his .333 BABIP has rebounded above his career mark of .299. Playing time concerns were about the only thing that could threated Escobar's mixed league value, but with Lamb still sidelined, he shouldn't have to worry about that for awhile.
Luke Weaver (AZ) - Luke Weaver twirled another strong outing for the Diamondbacks on Tuesday and improved his season line to 3.33 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and a great 31:6 strikeout-to-walk rate. The added strikeouts from Weaver are appreciated, but it's a little unusual where they're coming from. Weaver has just a 10.3% SwStr%, which is below average. Weaver's cutter usage has gone from 4.8% in 2018 to 12.3% in 2019 and it's been an effective pitch with a 4.06 CT/C pitch value. Weaver's 3.13 xFIP and 73% LOB% are all in line with his performance, so the good news is this level of production can be counted on continuing from the DBacks pitcher.
Sonny Gray (CIN) - Sonny Gray was on his way to his first excellent start of the 2019 season before the wheels fell off in the 6th inning when Atlanta loaded the bases before an error forced Gray out of the game. Gray finished with 5.1 IP, 6H, 3ER, 0BB and 9 K. On the season, he now is sporting a 3.28 ERA (2.60 xFIP) with a 0.99 WHIP and 31:6 strikeout-to-walk rate. Even more exciting is his 54% groundball rate, which is something he's going to have to prioritize while pitching in Great American Ballpark. The window to buy low is probably gone, but the performance is real.
Yasiel Puig (CIN) - Yasiel Puig hit his 3rd home run of the season on Tuesday night and added another hit, but is still slashing just .183/.200/.352 on the season and has an ugly 27% strikeout rate and 3% walk rate. Puig's hard hit rate is down to just 31%, well below both his career average and league average, and his flyball rate has soared to 48%. In addition, his chase rate is an abysmal 43%, while his swinging strike rate is an unsightly 17%. All these indicators point to a player who is a little lost at the plate and simply guessing. Perhaps Tuesday will be the spark he needs to turn it around, but there's very little in his metrics to suggest a turnaround is coming.
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