That Happened?

David Peralta went 4-for-7 with two home runs in the Diamondbacks victory over the Phillies in extra innings on Monday. Peralta has been crushing the ball this season, hitting .298/.355/.516 with 19 home runs this season. Peralta’s hard contact is way up this season along with his fly ball percentage and pull percentage which account for the jump in power. His other underlying numbers are virtually in line with what he did last season, so he likely isn’t going to regress much if at all rest of the season.

Cole Hamels threw six inning of one-run ball versus the Royals on Monday, but only struck out two in the outing. The outing wasn’t particularly impressive, but he did take advantage of one of the worst teams in baseball. He now has only allowed one earned run in his last 11 innings since being traded to the Cubs, but the competition in the NL Central will catch up to him at some point. He should be better than he was with a nicer home park, getting to face pitchers in the NL, and a better defense behind him, but ultimately, Hamels is far past his prime.

Lance Lynn threw 7.2 innings of scoreless baseball, striking out nine and allowing only three baserunners in the win over the White Sox yesterday. Lynn has been great since being acquired by the Yankees, throwing 12 scoreless innings and he now sports a 1.96 ERA in 23 innings since the All-Star Break and he has struck out 23 and walked only eight in that span. Lynn won’t stay this hot, but he does have a fantastic offense behind him and is better than he showed in the first half.

Zack Godley was fantastic once again, striking out seven in 7.1 innings, allowing two runs on five hits versus the Phillies. His offense bailed him out from losing the contest that eventually went into extras, but Godley was good once again and more importantly he only allowed one walk in the entire contest. He is now sporting a 2.13 ERA with almost a strike out an inning since July 6th.

Lance McCullers was placed on the 10-Day DL with a muscle strain in his forearm. This is actually best-case scenario for McCullers, who left his start on Sunday while pointing to his pitching elbow after four innings. McCullers likely will miss the rest of the month before ramping up activity so he is ready for the postseason. This may be a time to buy low in longer term leagues as people will be wary of any forearm/elbow issues.

 

What We’ll Be Watching Today

Madison Bumgarner versus the Astros. The Astros had a late game comeback on Monday versus the Giants and was able to muster up enough offense to squeak by without José Altuve and George Springer . Bumgarner has not looked the same since injuring his shoulder in an ATV accident last season.

Tyler Glasnow gets his second start as a Tampa Bay Ray since being traded in the Chris Archer deal. In his first start he looked pretty good, allowing one run in three innings pitched on a solo home run by Kole Calhoun . Glasnow will look to prove he should stay in the rotation versus the recently gutted Orioles.

After a 14-inning game, the Phillies face off against Zack Greinke and the Diamondbacks in game two of a their series. Nick Pivetta takes the mound for the Phillies and after a long game, they will need him to give a little length to take the pressure off the bullpen. Pivetta has struggled since the All-Star Break, sporting a 5.71 ERA in spite of striking out 28 in 17.1 innings.

The Reds without Joey Votto . Votto will miss Tuesday’s game after being forced to leave Monday’s game with soreness. We may get some more information, but right now this is troubling for the star that has disappointed a lot of fantasy owners this year.

 

Baseball. Lots of baseball.