Framber Valdez, SP (HOU)
Valdez was one out away from a no-hitter but a two-run Corey Seager home run ousted him from the game, leaving Josh Hader to clean up the final out and secure a 4-2 Astros win. Valdez threw 107 pitches in 8.2 innings, allowing two runs on one hit and three walks while striking out five. The velocity on his mid-90's sinker was up, which benefitted his secondary pitches. His curveball generated eight swinging strikes and he finished the game with a 31% CSW rate. Yet he actually posted his lowest strikeout total in more than a month. Valdez has allowed two or fewer runs in four of his last five starts and lowered his WHIP to 1.19. He continues to pound the lower quadrants of the strike zone, which creates so many ground balls, albeit some hard-hit grounders. After overcoming early-season injuries and inconsistency, Valdez is reestablishing himself as one of the more reliable starters in the league.
Colin Rea, SP (MIL)
Rea's career season continued on Tuesday with the best start of his career. The 34-year-old right-hander threw seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and a walk while striking out nine. He lowered his ERA to 3.38 and won his 10th game. For context, he has a 4.40 career ERA and entered the season with seven wins since 2016. The cliche "You can't teach an old dog new tricks" doesn't seem to apply to Rea, who has implemented a sweeper that is simply flummoxing opposing hitters. In fact, Rea has only allowed four hits on his sweeper all season. He has thrown the pitch 330 times. With Tuesday sticking out as an exception, Rea rarely posts big strikeout numbers, but he's certainly established himself as far more than just a streaming option.
Vinnie Pasquantino, 1B (KC)
Pasquantino continued his second-half surge on Tuesday with three hits and two RBI's. The Royals slugger has hit safely in 16 of his last 17 games and has 15 RBI's in his past eight games. Pasquantino is hitting .378 with five home runs since the All-Star Break as the Royals young core is thriving. It's hard to figure out what's more impressive: Pasquantino's quality of contact or his plate discipline. He has a 5.7% swinging-strike rate with a 91-mph average exit velocity. For a guy with as much pull power as him, it's simply remarkable how well he makes contact. With fewer than 1,000 career at-bats, Pasquantino is emerging as one of the more nightmarish hitters for opposing pitchers and should only benefit from the talented hitters around him in the Kansas City lineup.
Heliot Ramos, OF (SF)
After missing the past two games with a sore thumb, Ramos was back on Tuesday to continue his breakout season. The Giants outfielder hit his 16th home run and stole his third base of the season as he continues to thrive near the top of the lineup. Any concerns about his thumb were quickly washed away in his first at bat when he crushed a MacKenzie Gore fastball 428 feet at 108 miles per hour to right center field. He also hit another ball 108 miles per hour, which resulted in a single. The 24 year old is slashing .287/.345/.500 as the Giants' everyday centerfielder. Meanwhile, while holding his own against right-handed pitching, Ramos is absolutely destroying lefties. Half of his 16 homers have come against lefties and he's hitting .438 against them. He is a must-start regardless of opposing pitcher, but he is a DFS cash game darling against southpaws.
Hayden Birdsong, SP (SF)
Birdsong was recalled from AAA-Sacramento to start for the Giants on Tuesday, and it did not go well. The hard-throwing right-hander allowed seven runs in only two innings to the Nationals. He gave up five hits, including two home runs, and three walks while striking out one batter. The Nationals absolutely clobbered his four-seam fastball, averaging a 98.8-mph average exit velocity. Therefore, Birdsong started using his curveball far more than he's accustomed to. All of the damage was done in the 2nd and 3rd innings as Birdsong actually tossed a scoreless first inning. It's a disappointing outing for the rookie who hadn't allowed more than three runs in any of his previous six starts. His roster spot is not entirely secure and the Giants are going to continue to monitor his innings so Tuesday's performance is not a good sign. On the other hand, his upside is very high and this was simply one bad start.
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