Charlie Blackmon (OF-COL)
Blackmon went 4 for 5 Sunday including hitting a leadoff home run. It was his first home run since June 30th, and he was marred in a 9-52 (.173) slump over the first 3 weeks of the months. Thanks to a scorching June where he hit .412 and mashed 10 home runs his overall line of .319/.365/.602 is still very strong despite a decline in his plate discipline where his walk rate has dropped to 5% thanks to a 9.5% swinging strike rate - the highest of his career. Blackmon should still be a lock for 30 home runs - but has not provided any output on the base paths, stealing just 2 bases and being in serious jeopardy of not registering double-digits steals for the first time since 2013.
Drew Smyly (SP-PHI)
Smyly made his debut for the Phillies and looked sharp tossing 6 innings of 1-run ball, striking out 8. Smyly who struggled mightily with the Rangers earlier this season while pitching to 8.42 ERA and a 6 BB/9 over 51 IP with 19 home runs allowed looked much better in this one generating 16 swinging strikes and walking just 2. It remains to be seen if he can be effective over the next few months, but its great to see considering he hasn't pitched since 2016 due to various arm injuries. Prior to his injuries he looked the part of a future front-end starter as his 4.13 career ERA is a little ballooned from this season disastrous start this year. It's anybody's guess as to how Smyly will pitch but he is certainly worth a look.
German Marquez (SP-COL)
Marquez looked great vs the Yankees Sunday, allowing just 2 ER on 3 hits over 7 innings, while striking out 5. While the strikeouts are a bit low considering he owns an 8.86 K/9 he was nevertheless efficient, and non-withstanding the 2 home runs he allowed pitched very well. He entered play with a 50% groundball rate and was able to induce 9 as well Sunday. He was able to lower his ERA to 4.99 in this one, a bloated number considering his low xfip (3.63) that is a product of a higher HR/9 than his flyball % would indicate (1.32) thanks to playing his home games at Coors Field. The numbers here are staggering - as he owns a 7.00 ERA at home and a 3.33 on the road as batter are hitting nearly .130 points higher vs him at home. Marquez is a great pitcher, but owners would be wise to sit him during his home starts.
Yairo Munoz (2B/SS/3B/OF-STL)
Munoz stuffed the stat sheet Sunday, going 3-4 with a triple, home run and stolen base, picking up 2 RBIs and scoring 2 runs as well. Munoz showed some pop last year with 8 home runs, and a .763 OPS for the Cardinals but despite posting an .306 average this year has not shown any power (.067 ISO - entered played with 5 extra base hits on the season) and is hitting the ball with much less authority (37% hard hit rate dropped to 29% this year) while hitting 60% of his balls on the ground. In addition, He has some strange plate discipline splits - his swinging strike rate is up 2% to 15% despite his strikeout rate falling all the way down to 15% as well as his walk rate dropping to below 3%. While he does have solid contact skills and some position versatility, overall, he does not offer much in terms of fantasy counting stats.
MLB DEBUT:
Zach Green (3B-SF)
Green was recalled by the Giants Sunday and made his major league debut going 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI. Green was having a monster season at AAA Sacramento posting a 1.099 OPS, mashing 23 home runs and drawing 35 walks while hitting flyballs at a 50%+ clip. Green showed some power in 2018 with the Phillies at AA with 17 home runs but has really turned it on this year and has even almost doubled his walk rate to 13% - career high in the minors. Despite this success Green struck out in 35% of his PAs in AAA last year and 32% this year so this will need to be closely monitored as he gets his first taste of big-league pitching.
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