Sean Doolittle from 2018 has not showed up yet, as he narrowly escaped total disaster yesterday by allowing 4 hits, 2 ER, and a walk while getting the save. Doolittle remains the top Nationals option for closing games, but even entering yesterday, his SIERA was hardly dominant at 3.62 - over 1.5 runs more than last year. He's benefitted from a 97% LOB rate this year, but clearly hasn't been pitching that well. I would start to shop him to other teams if you have him; his ERA is going to continue northward barring an improvement to his stuff. His velocity is down slightly from last year, while his changeup is over 1 MPH faster; not a good combination.
Zach Davies went 6 IP allowing 3 runs (1 ER) with 5 K's in the win. He lowered his ERA to 1.54, which is one of the most misleading stats in baseball as his SIERA is just a hair under 5. The sky will be falling soon for Davies; make sure you don't get tricked by his sparkling ERA.
Yasmani Grandal was 1-for-3 with a HR, 4 RBI, and a walk. While Grandal's numbers are down a hair from last year, I'm encouraged by his 23.2% LD Rate (vs. 16.5% in 2017 and 17.2% in 2018). He should continue to post solid numbers if he can maintain that LD rate coupled with a 51.5% Hard%. Now may be a decent time to target Grandal as he's had a good but lackluster season.
Bryce Harper was 1-for-4 with a run scored. His wRC+ is now under 115, which is surprisingly not unheard of as he posted a 111 wRC+ in 2016. Harper remains one of the most frustrating players in baseball, as his immense potential is top 5 in the league, but he rarely produces at that level. To be blunt, he's playing horribly. His K% is 31% -- over 10% more than his career high - and his Contact rate is the worst it's ever been. Take solace that he has a 5 year track record of being a great player, but a complete dud of a season isn't out of the question a la 2016. I'm not sure what to do with him.
Zack Wheeler was lit up for 6 ER in 6 innings yesterday, giving up 11 hits with 6 K's in the loss. Prior to yesterday, Wheeler was having a solid season with a 3.33 xFIP and 2.70 FIP. His start yesterday was a bit unfortunate, as hitters had a .476 BABIP against him with a 60% LOB. So hopefully it's just a blip in the radar for Wheelers; hopefully someone dropped him your league because he's showing some promise this year with an elevated GB% and SwStr%.
