Luis Severino- P- NYY- Hot- Severino threw the best start of this season yesterday, allowing just 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out 10 in 7 scoreless IP. It was his third quality start in his last 4 outings. Severino has struck out 30 in 26.1 IP across that span. After only throwing 18 MLB IP from 2019 through 2021 he is looking like he is recovered from Tommy John surgery and other nagging injuries suffered during rehab. Severino threw 61 of his 92 pitches for strikes yesterday. His fastball velocity is at 96.5. Severino's BB/9 is down to 2.29 for the season and only 1.71 in his last 4 starts. His production is trending up.
Ji-Man Choi- 1B- TB- Stats- Choi has had extreme home/road splits this season and it was pointed out by the announcers in their game against the White Sox. Before yesterday's 1-for-4 at the Trop he was slashing .333/.427/.619 at home and .163/.288/.233 away. All 4 of Choi's homers have come at home. Is this something you should pay attention to when you set your lineup and in DFS play? Probably not. While Choi has had some small edge at home for the past couple of seasons, his career is pretty even with slash lines of .246/.355/.439 at home and .241/.340/.448 on the road. In 2022 he has a BABIP of .425 at home and .280 away.
Brendan Donovan- 3B- STL- Hot- Donovan went 4-for-8 with a walk yesterday to continue his impressive rookie campaign. He is currently slashing .315/.440/.438 in 109 PAs. Donovan has a lone homer and 2 steals, but he isn't expected to be outstanding in any of those areas. In fact, he's not really expected to be outstanding in any one category. Donovan has hit at every level of the minors and is continuing that with the Cardinals. He does have a .370 BABIP but has posted high numbers in the minors. He also has excellent plate discipline. His Batting EYE is a whopping 1.20. That is better than he did in the minors, but he has shown good plate discipline there also. Where he gets added fantasy value is his versatility. In 33 MLB games he has already appeared in multiple games at all 4 IF positions as well as RF and DH. In fact, he has at least 5 games played at all of those positions except for DH (which doesn't matter.) So he is able to be plugged into a lot of places and will give average and OBP (if that counts for a given league.) That's a good thing to have.
Mark Melancon- RP- ARI- Old Player- Melancon blew his second save of the season and took the loss yesterday. It only took him two batters to see a 1-0 lead turn into a 2-1 loss. Melancon allowed a leadoff single to Bryan Reynolds and then a homer to Jack Suwinski. Note that we are not talking facing the likes of Bryan Harper and Mike Trout. Melancon has had only a lone 1-2-3 outing in his last 6 appearances. At age 37, Melancon may be experiencing a rapid decline. His cutter velocity is at a career low 90.4 and he is relying on it more than In all but one of his seasons. Melancon's EV of 89.3 and HardHit% of 40.3% are career worsts. He owns a 1-6 record with a 6.87 ERA. It would be a fall off a cliff, given Melancon's 39 saves and 2.23 ERA in 2021, but his xERA last year was 4.21 and such sudden shifts are not unprecedented.
Yasmani Grandal- C- CHW- Cold- Grandal went 0-for-2 with a walk yesterday. That leaves his slash line at .160/.271/.212 with 2 homers in 181 PAs. Regression should be welcome for Grandal when and if it kicks in. His .202 BABIP is hurting him a lot. Grandal's EV is down from 2021, but it was very high at 93.1 in 2021 and is not horrible this season at 90.6. Likewise his HardHIt% of 42.6% is down from last year but not bad. It was unrealistic to expect him to equal those numbers that resulted in 23 homers in 375 PAs last year. With a 39.1% FB%, a lot of Grandal's issues look like bad luck. The White Sox seem to be sticking with him and if they continue to do so he would be a buy low candidate.
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