Chris Sale had one of the most dominant games ever on Tuesday, striking out an insane 17 batters over seven innings. He ended up with a no-decision though after the bullpen allowed Colorado to tie the game up in the eighth and then ultimately lose the game in extras. After his slow start to the season, Sale now has 41 strikeouts in his last 21 innings and has 10+ strikeouts in four out of his last five starts. His ERA is the only thing that will take some time to correct, but he's back to being the frontline starter we all expected to come into this year.
Vlad Guerrero Jr finally "arrived" last night as he hit two mammoth homers in a 3-for-4 effort at the plate. Vlad now has a small three-game hitting streak where he's picked up six hits and also walked three times, something he had only done three times in his short career to this point. Vlad is already being pitched to like one of the most feared hitters in the game and the more he remains patient at the plate and forces pitchers to come into the zone, big nights like this will become all the more usual.
Shohei Ohtani had a 3-for-4 game at the plate Tuesday and is off to a strong start in his return with a .321/.424/.429 triple slash and 142 wRC+. Everything is extremely small sample size with him right now but he's showing no signs of rust at the moment. His schedule in the second half of the season will definitely get interesting with how they are going to work in his pitching rehab, but for now, just enjoy having one of the top hitters in the majors back in your lineup.
Michael Chavis homered again on Tuesday, giving him seven total for the year while posting a .289/.407/.592 triple slash. He's started every game but two at second base so far and I can't imagine a scenario where the Red Sox are going to move him off of the second base for Dustin Pedroia, especially when Rafael Devers has turned it around at third and is also having a fantastic season.
Jose Ramirez hit his fourth homer of the season but is still slashing just .195/.290/.312 so far this year. He's been dropped to 5th in the Indians order recently until he starts to get going more at the plate. There's a good chance that may be counterproductive because with as bad as the Indians lineup is, dropping him further is only going to get him fewer pitches to hit with less talent around him.
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