Paul Goldschmidt went 3-for-8 in Saturday's doubleheader against the White Sox, slamming his second homer of the year in the process. After a relatively quiet 1-for-4 performance in the opener, Goldschmidt helped power St. Louis to a doubleheader sweep by going 2-for-4 with a homer, two runs and two RBIs in the nightcap. The slugging first baseman has now hit safely in six of the seven games he's played thus far. While his first season with St. Louis was a bit of a letdown offensively, he still wields an extremely potent bat and remains a must-start in all fantasy formats.
Anthony Rizzo went 3-for-5 with a double, a home run and two RBIs in the Cubs' 6-5 loss to the Brewers on Saturday. Rizzo snapped out of his recent slump with his first three-hit game of the season, raising his average 30 points from .224 to .254. After starting the year with three homers in his first four games, Rizzo batted just .213 with one extra-base hit over his next 13 games heading into Saturday's contest. He's been an all-or-nothing hitter thus far with five homers but no doubles, which explains his somewhat lackluster RBI total (nine). Rizzo has only had one season with more homers than doubles, however, and is typically a consistent RBI man who hits for solid averages, so don't expect those early-season trends to persist much longer.
Aaron Nola dominated the Mets on Saturday, yielding just three hits and two walks over seven scoreless innings while striking out eight. Nola won his second straight outing with his third straight quality start, carving up the Mets to lower his ERA to 2.05. After getting roughed up a bit in his first start of the year, Nola has allowed just two earned runs in 21 innings over his last three starts while running up an impressive 30:3 K/BB ratio. After a solid but disappointing 2019, Nola is back to looking like the pitcher who finished third in the 2018 NL Cy Young voting on the strength of a 2.37 ERA. With his elite command and run prevention, Nola is a must-start every time he takes the mound. He'll look to keep rolling when he faces the Blue Jays in next Thursday's doubleheader.
Max Fried continued his outstanding start to 2020 with another dominant outing on Saturday, permitting just four hits and three walks over 6 1/3 scoreless innings against the Marlins while striking out seven. Fried has yet to allow more than two runs in any of his five starts this year and has allowed one or fewer in four straight, resulting in a sparkling 1.24 ERA. He's also 3-0 with a 28:9 K/BB ratio in 29 innings. After winning 17 games with a 4.02 ERA last year in his first full season as a starter, Fried seems to still be getting better at age 26, although he has benefitted from some good luck as well (i.e. a low hit rate and 0 homers allowed this year). Fried will look to keep rolling in his next schedule start against the Phillies at home.
Kevin Gausman racked up a season-high 11 strikeouts in a no-decision against the A's on Saturday, allowing three runs on five hits and three walks over 5 2/3 innings. While all the strikeouts were impressive, they pushed Gausman's pitch total to 106 and prevented him from finishing the sixth and securing a quality start in the process. Gausman has quietly been a strikeout machine this year, with 32 punchouts in 21 2/3 innings over his four starts. While that hasn't translated to ace-level results (he's 0-1 with a 4.21 ERA), he's still providing great value to fantasy owners who hoped he could bounce back after going 3-9 with a 5.72 ERA last year. While the Giants' lackluster roster limits his potential for wins, Gausman's ability to generate high strikeout totals makes him a solid fantasy play. He'll face the Diamondbacks at home his next time out.
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