The guy who destroyed this ball is hitting .347 in 127 Triple-A at-bats with 18 walks compared to 10 strikeouts. It’s criminal that he is not in the major leagues.

Pitching Performance of the Day

Both Julio Urías and Luke Weaver are worth considering for this slot given that they each struck out nine batters and didn’t allow any runs. However, the youngsters only went five and six innings, respectively. Patrick Corbin also struck out nine but went 7.2 innings while allowing only one run. Through four starts Corbin has a 2.36 ERA with a 2.93 SIERA to back it up. He’s striking out 32.4 percent of batters faced with a 4.9 percent walk rate, which gives him the sixth best K-BB% in the league so far. If you throw out his mediocre first start, Corbin now has 29 strikeouts and only three walks in his last three starts. Here are his nine K’s from yesterday, six of which were called third strikes.

Hitting Performance of the Day

Ryan McMahon deserves this recognition for his two-home run, three hit game last night, which had him leading the league in total bases yesterday with nine. This was McMahon’s first game since April 5 as he returned from the injured list after an elbow injury. With Daniel Murphy also injured, McMahon is in line to see regular playing time for the time being. McMahon has a 123 wRC+ through 33 PA that includes a healthy 12.1 percent walk rate. He’s owned in less than 10 percent of ESPN leagues and is worth considering as a pick-up.

Game of the Day

At one point in the top of the seventh inning yesterday, the Mariners had a win expectancy of 99.8 percent as they led the Angels 10-2. Despite that, the Mariners had less than a one-third chance of winning the game in the bottom of the eighth with the game then tied and the Angels having a runner on first base with no one out. The Angels had a monster bottom of the seventh in which they scored seven runs with seven hits and one walk. They trailed by one going to the eighth and completed the comeback when David Fletcher led off the eighth with a home run that was followed by a Kole Calhoun walk that got them to their peak win expectancy.

That’s right, LA’s win expectancy never got higher than 66.8 percent as the Mariners managed to salvage the game and avoid a colossal collapse. Anthony Swarzak worked out of a two-baserunner jam in the eighth, and the M’s manufactured a run in the ninth with a one-out single, a stolen base, and a game-winning single by Jay Bruce . Here’s a look at the game chart courtesy of Fangraphs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What to Watch for Today

There’s a game in Coors tonight with the Phillies visiting the Rockies, so that game of course has the highest over/under of the slate at 10.5 runs. German Márquez will face Vince Velasquez with the Rox being a -130 favorite. Despite the high over/under in that one, Colorado does not have the highest projected run total of the day. That distinction belongs to the Astros who are on the road in hitter-friendly Texas as -230 favorites with Justin Verlander facing left-handerDrew Smyly . Using players on their active roster, the Astros have a combined 123 wRC+ vs. LHP dating back to last season, which leads the league.

The team with the lowest projected run total of the day is Arizona in Cleveland against Corey Kluber . It’s interesting that Vegas is giving Kluber so much credit given how poorly he’s started the season. Kluber has a 6.16 ERA through four starts with a 5.18 xFIP that indicates he’s not just been unlucky. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is barely over 2:1, and his soft contact rate is a paltry 13.1 percent. Concerned owners of Kluber are hoping Vegas’ belief that Kluber turns it around come to fruition.