Nathan Eovaldi, SP (TEX)
The Padres entered Tuesday's game with a league-leading 123 wRC+ against right-handed pitching. Well, Eovaldi spit all over that metric with a dominant performance. The veteran righty held San Diego scoreless on one hit and no walks in seven innings. He struck out six and was pulled from the game after throwing 92 pitches. Eovaldi has the upside to strike a lot of batters out, but he doesn't typically lean on that skillset. He only generated a 26% CSW rate but held the Padres to an 85.7-mph average exit velocity. Weak contact, typically on the ground, keeps opposing teams from posting big innings. He has had a couple games this season with too many walks, and that has caused a myriad of problems, but when he limits the free base runners, he usually delivers strong numbers, even if the strikeout totals are mediocre.
Heliot Ramos, OF (SF)
Ramos stuffed the stat sheet on Tuesday, hitting his 11th home run and stealing his second base of the season. The Rookie Of The Year candidate continues to crush the ball. He entered Tuesday's game with a 52.6% hard-hit rate and both of his hits were over 96 miles per hour. He could benefit from increasing his 8.1-degree launch angle, but there isn't a lot to complain about as Ramos climbs the rookie leaderboards in homers and RBI's. Meanwhile, he isn't on your roster for stolen bases, but he has decent speed and could develop into a double-digit steal candidate. Ramos' offensive profile is evolving, but fantasy owners can continue to roll him out there each and every day, regardless of who's on the mound for the opponent.
Garrett Mitchell, OF (MIL)
Mitchell reached base twice in five plate appearances on Tuesday, his first start of the season. The young outfielder appeared as a pinch hitter on Monday, reaching base two times in three plate appearances. Mitchell missed the first three months of the season following a fractured finger suffered late in spring training, but he looked excellent during his minor league rehab stint and received a somewhat surprising callup to the majors despite the Brewers' abundant depth in the outfield. Blake Perkins has played very well this season, but the rookie was on the bench to begin the game on Tuesday. Sal Frelick is an option to move to 3rd, but Mitchell will have to play well to earn more playing time. He's a former first-round pick with five-category upside, but his redraft value is uncertain.
Hayden Birdsong, SP (SF)
Birdsong captured his first career win on Tuesday, holding the Braves to two runs on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts in five innings. The two runs came courtesy solo home runs by Austin Riley and Sean Murphy. That was the bulk of the damage and overshadows the majority of weak contact the rookie right-hander generated.The 22 year old is refining his arsenal but features four different pitches, the primary being his mid-90's 4-seam fastball. It's a pitch mix that generated a lot of strikeouts in the minor leagues, but he also surrendered too many walks, and that has been true so far in two big-league starts as he has walked five batters in 9.2 innings. That makes Birdsong a volatile play in redraft leagues, although the long-term potential is high, if he can find a way to cut the free passes.
Spencer Arrighetti, SP (HOU)
Remember all that excitement last week when Arrighetti struck out 10 batters in seven scoreless, walkless innings? Remember how that came against the Rockies? Well, the rookie right-hander fell flat down to Earth on Tuesday, allowing seven runs (six earned) on six hits and four walks in four innings. The Blue Jays were patient and beat him up when they made contact. Arrighetti allowed a pair of home runs and labored to 89 pitches before his day was done. The home runs aren't egregious, but when you combine those totals with a huge number of walks, it just doesn't add up to many quality starts. The Astros rotation is thin so Arrighetti probably continues to start, but he cannot be trusted for fantasy owners.
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