Howie Kendrick was 2-for-3 with 4 RBI and 3 runs scored. Kendrick has been playing the best baseball of his entire career (wRC+ 141 entering yesterday) led by a career high HR/FB rate. I'm cautious to think it can continue given his age, but he's warrants fantasy consideration given the body of work so far in 2019. Just don't become overly dependent on it.
Anthony DeSclafani was roughed up by the Pirates, going 5.2 innings and allowing 8 hits and 3 ER with just 3 strikeouts. His ERA sits at 4.97 on the year. On the surface, it would seem DeSclafani was poised for a strong 2019, as his SwStr% is up from 9.4% to 11.3% year-over-year, with an improved K% to boot. Unfortunately, he's regressed in his BB/9 and HR/9, while allowing significantly more flyballs, which is a serious problem in Cincinnati. His sinker usage dropped dramatically from 26% to just 16%, which is perhaps the cause for the increased flyballs. He may be worthy of a backend rotation spot if he can maintain the new K rate numbers with a GB rate that matches last season, but we've yet to see that.
Batting leadoff, Andrew McCutchen walked 3 times and scored 4 times in the win for the Phillies. Cutch has played mostly in line with his last two years of performance, but batting leadoff has paid huge dividends on his counting stats (namely, runs). He remains an excellent run scoring option for the rest of the season, even though his MVP days are over.
Madison Bumgarner pitched well but took the loss to the Marlins, allowing 2 ER in 6 IP. Last season, Bumgarner was on the verge of losing fantasy relevance, but he's come back with a solid 2019 campaign. His SIERA is solid at 3.76 (before yesterday) and his SwStr% is up nearly 3% from last year. Bumgarner is a potential trade candidate for the non-competing Giants, which will unfortunately hurt his fantasy value (most likely) leaving a pitcher's park. But overall, it's been a nice resurgence from Bumgarner, despite the loss yesterday. He's not the ace from 5 years ago, but he's a solid option.
Chris Paddack was hit hard in Yankee Stadium, allowing 4 ER in just 5 innings of work. While he managed 6 K's, allowing 3 HRs was far less than ideal. It was a tough matchup and I would chalk this up as a blip on the radar for Paddack, as he was somewhat unfortunate with a 50% HR/FB rate. His SIERA entering yesterday was a pristine 3.43 thru 51 innings. Paddack has lived up to the hype so far this season; the only concern in re-draft leagues is that he pitched just 90 innings last year, meaning we'll certainly anticipate an innings cap and/or usage limitation later in the season, so Paddack's value may very well decrease slightly as the year goes on. Something to keep in mind.
