Aaron Nola(SP-PHI)
Nola allowed 3 ER on 4 hits over 6 innings, striking out 7.He made one bad pitch in this one serving up a pinch hit 3-run homer as he threw 56 of 80 pitches for strikes including 14 first pitch strikes. Nola has been excellent for the Phillies this season as he entered Thursday with 2.84 ERA/2.46 FIP while delivering strikeouts (9 K/9) while limiting walks (1.1 BB/9). Nola has always been good but not spectacular at limiting walks as evidenced by his career 2.7 BB/9 so perhaps this is him taking his pitching to the next level. It is worth noting that he is striking out guys less then last year (12.1 K/9 in 2020) .
Rhys Hoskins(1B-PHI)
Hoskins went 0 for 5, striking out twice Thursday. It has been quite the interesting season for Hoskins who entered play Thursday with a 5% walk and 32% K rate - both wildly different from his 14% and 23% career marks, respectively. He has been much more aggressive at the plate this year as his swing rate is up 6% from last year as is his swinging strike rate (13%). The funny thing is, while his lower walk numbers have led to a sub .300 OBP his bloated K rate hasn't hurt his average that much - he is still hitting .238 in line with his career .240 mark. His new aggressive style at the plate has paid big time power dividends, as Hoskins has a .573 slug% and is tied for the league lead in home runs with 8. Let's continue to watch to see if he keeps the aggressive style at the plate and rewards fantasy owners in the power department.
Alex Wood(SP-SF)
Wood continued his hot start allowing just 2 ER on 4 hits over 6 innings, striking out 9. While Wood has dominated 2 lighter hitting squads in the Rockies and Marlins (Twice) he has some impressive metrics. His 2.09 isn't to much worse then his 1.50 ERA and looks to be partially due to an elevated strand rate of 84% early on in the season. This is also the second year in a row Wood has dialed up his K rate to 10 K/9, but through 3 starts this year is sitting at career low 1.50 BB/9. Part of his success this year is driven by his addition of a slider, which he added last year. Batters hit .278 vs it last year but he did still get a 42% whiff rate. This year it has been his wipeout pitch as batters have a .118 avg against and 47% whiff rate. Wood has also been a groundball machine - posting a 57% groundball rate. All these signs point to a nice comeback from Wood - but I would like to see him pitch against some of the better offenses in the league. His next start is a step in that direction as he face the Rockies again, but this time at Coors Field.
Tyler O'Neill(OF-STL)
O'Neil went 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts and scored the winning run on a wild pitch Thursday. He had 3 home runs in his fast 4 games entering Thursday but had a lot swing and misses vs the Phillies in this one. Its still a bit hard to judge O'Neil who just hasn't received steady enough playing time for a full evaluation. He has picked up just 498 plate appearances over the past 4 seasons and while the 25 home runs, 65 RBIs and 7 stolen bases are nice counting stats a career .228 batting average and 34% K rate have been a big factor in him getting more playing time. O'Neil hit in the 250s over 2018-2019 which earned him a full time look last year in the shortened season and he simply didn't deliver - hitting .189 but he did cut his o-zone swing rate significantly to under 30% while dropping his swinging strike rate to a career low 14%. That hasn't stuck this year as he is swinging through above 20% of the pitches he sees again for a 35% K rate. Even with the big power potential he brings there are better fantasy options now.
Alec Bohm(3B-PHI)
Bohm went 2 for 5 with a run scored and an RBI. Bohm hasn't gotten things going at the plate yet slashing .216/.255/.318 with just 2 home runs. While his walk rate (6%) and K rate (25%) are each down a bit from a year ago this doesn't he is actually swinging at less pitches outside the zone, and more inside the zone while making contact at a 79% clip - a 3% increase from a year ago. Remember, Bohm had an unreal .410 babip a year ago to fuel his .338 batting average so a repeat of that should not expected. An increase in flyballs and a decrease in groundballs may also be fueling the depressed .246 babip. With hits in his last 2 games, perhaps Bohm can go on a nice hitting streak for owners.
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