All posts under "Player Commentary" - Page 40

Rays lefty Blake Snell won after allowing one run on six hits (one homer) and no walks with 11 strikeouts in six innings Monday against the White Sox. Snell tallied double-digit strikeouts for the second consecutive start en route to...

Jose Berrios-Twins-SP Jose Berrios went 6 IP and gave up 2 ER on 2 H, 3 BB, and 7 K's against the Phillies. Berrios has been excellent to start the year with just 5 ER over 20.2 IP with 21...

Ben Zobrist- 2B- CHC- Idea- Last year, the switch-hitting Zobrist posted a .295/.377/.452 slash line against RH pitching. Jameson Taillon had a .265/.334/.403 slash line against LH hitting. This matchup falls in Zobrist's favor, and his price and flexibility at...

IN THE FIELD Jedd Gyorko was activated off the 10 day IL. He was limited to pinch hit duties for the Cardinals on Friday.... Marcell Ozuna appears to have dodged the potential intercostal strain, and he was back in the...

Joey Votto Votto went 2-5 with his first home run of the season against the Pirates on Saturday. Votto posted a career worst slash line last season but still managed to slash .284/.417/.419 with more walks than strikeouts. Based on...

Matt Moore (SP - DET) - Moore looked really strong again Saturday, allowing just a bunt single and nothing else through three innings while racking up three more K's without a walk on improved command and velocity both. Naturally, within...

We've spent a lot of time this pre-season parsing hard hit rate and all of its various components. One of the most fascinating aspects of this metric is almost certainly how each type of batted ball can be hit hard,...

Jorge Polanco (MIN-SS) Polanco completed the first Cycle of 2019 going 5-5 and finishing it off with a double in the 7th inning. As the rest of the Twins offense generally slumped his only RBI and run scored came on...

The closing situations are an absolute mess across most of baseball, as many of the situations that were in flux during the off-season remain in flux one week into the year. It's foolhardy to cast a general philosophy for all...

Pirates righty Trevor Williams projects to be a strong fantasy play Saturday against the Reds at home. Dating back to July 11 of last year, he is 9-3 with a 1.20 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP over his last 14...

Max Fried lost a perfect game bid in the 6th inning before getting through the sixth just allowing a single. This was Fried's first start of the season. He shows some promise; he had limited time in the majors last...

Eduardo Rodriguez (SP-BOS) struggled again on Thursday, pitching just 3.2 innings in which he gave up 6 runs (all earned) on 8 hits and 3 walks while striking out just 2 A's batters. The good news is that his 7.75...

Juan Soto, OF (WAS) Aided by some friendly winds, Soto filled up the box score in Washington's 9-8 win over Philadelphia. The 20 year old went 3-4 with a home run and three RBIs. He now has two games with...

Corey Kluber (CLE) - Corey Kluber was rocked by the White Sox on Wednesday and chased from the game in the 4th inning. Kluber wasn't sharp in this one, giving up three runs in the 1st inning, a run in...

Asdrubal Cabrera, Texas Rangers - Asdrubal Cabrera went 1-for-4 at the plate with his third homer of the year on Tuesday. He drove in two runs as well bringing his season total to seven and he scored his fourth run...

Curtis Granderson (OF-MIA) - The rebuilding Marlins seem to have no issue playing an elderly Curtis Granderson frequently, and on Tuesday, he even got a start against a southpaw - the Mets' Jason Vargas. Granderson went 2-for-4 to raise his...

Mike Clevinger, SP, CLE Clevinger dazzled for the Indians on Monday, allowing just 1 hit in 7 shutout IP, while striking out 12 and walking 3. Clevinger has moved up the SP ranks by posting back-to-back seasons with a sub-3.20...

Peter Alonso (1B-NYM) Alonso went 1-5 with his first career home run Monday. Alonso launched a 444-foot shot in the 9th to give the Mets some insurance runs. Alonso forced his way to not only an opening day roster spot...

Trea Turner, Washington Nationals - Trea Turner launched two homers on Sunday while also swiping his fourth base of the season. Turner said before the year he (and the Nats) wanted him to steal 75-80 bases this year and right...

Michael Pineda - Pineda allowed a hit and a walk across a clean four innings against the Indians on Sunday. Is 2019 the year the Pineda finally pitches well again? Tommy John surgery and a knee injury have kept Pineda...

There is no better reminder of the fact that I don't run the Padres ...

Dylan Bundy- P- BAL- Idea- Could the Orioles end up actually winning the first series of the year with the Yankees? Part of that depends on whether Bundy can overcome his wretched spring (7.89 ERA) and perform as he did...

Yu Darvish (SP-CHC) did a pretty good "Nuke" LaLoosh impression against the Rangers on Saturday, giving up 3 runs on 2 hits and 7(!) walks while striking out 4 in just 2.2 innings of work. He did throw just one...

Germain Marquez, SP, Rockies Marquez allowed just 2 hits and 1 earned run across 6.0 frames on Friday against the punch less Marlins. He struck out 7 and walked 3 before he was pulled after 93 pitches. This was an...

Matt Shoemaker (SP-TOR) Shoemaker was brilliant blanking the Tigers over 7 innings on just 2 hits while striking out 7. What a rebound for Shoemaker who only appeared in 21 games over the past 2 seasons due to injuries and...

Baseball is back and you know what that means.....ALL ABOARD THE CLOSER CAROUSEL! This year we didn't even manage to get through one day without at least one team throwing us a curveball as Taylor Rogers nabbed the first save...

Madison Bumgarner, SP, SF Bumgarner was dominant against the Padres on Thursday, striking out 9 in 7 IP, while allowing 2 ER's on 5 hits, including a HR. Bumgarner missed significant time with injuries in each of the past two...

Madison Bumgarner, SP, SF Bumgarner was dominant against the Padres on Thursday, striking out 9 in 7 IP, while allowing 2 ER's on 5 hits, including a HR. Bumgarner missed significant time with injuries in each of the past two...

Corey Kluber-Indians-SP Corey Kluber once again gets the Opening Day nod for the Indians. Kluber is coming off another excellent season of a 2.89 ERA across 215 IP with a 0.99 WHIP. Kluber saw his draft stock take a slight...

Jordan Zimmerman (SP-DET) Zimmerman tossed 7 innings of 1 hit ball for the Tigers striking out 4. Zimmerman was perfect through 6 and 2/3 until Toeoscar Hernandez put one back up the middle that was ruled an infield single, as...

Happy Opening Day! For the second consecutive season, I'm thrilled to welcome you on this special day. Just like last year, I'm treating everyone to a different format for the normal National League player notes. Don't fret, you'll still have...

Prized Prospect Eloy Jimenez will begin the season in the major leagues and make his big league debut on opening day at Kansas City on Thursday. Eloy is considered to be the #2 prospect in baseball. Last season Eloy slugged...

In the final week of spring training we all turn our attention to the actual start of the regular season. The anticipation - for players and fantasy owners - continues to ramp up. It's also in this final week where...

Phillies: Don't sleep on Nick Pivetta By traditional metrics, Nick Pivetta's first two seasons have been terrible, yielding a 15-24 record with a 5.33 ERA and 1.40 WHIP. But despite the mediocre results, Pivetta has been making strides on the...

Spring Training is long, right?!? That realization is again hitting me upside the head as I stare at the calendar each day in the hopes that I can just will the days to move more quickly. I'm failing. Instead of...

Cubs: Willson Contreras: 2019 bounceback candidate or 2017 abberation? Who is the real Willson Contreras? Is it the 2017 version that managed to hit .276/.356/.499 with 21 homeruns in just 428 at-bats, or the 2018 version that hit .249/.339/.390 with...