10 Important Stories From 05/03/17 Box Scores: Correa, Franco Among Those Finding Stride & More

by Ray Kuhn

Even despite the rain out in St. Louis, we had a busy day around the major leagues last night. What was also interesting for a Wednesday, is that all of the games took place in the evening. So while it was a little tougher to get through the day, the night was nice and busy. And no, you didn’t see a typo in the box score; Aaron Judge did in fact go deep yet again. It was the 13th home run of the young season for Judge as he continues to be one of the biggest stories of the early going this season.

In other news that is unfortunate, but not surprising at all, we lost two more pitchers. Cole Hamels (oblique) and Corey Kluber (back) have now also found their ways to the disabled list. And while the initial word is that he will make his next start, Marcus Stroman left on Wednesday with arm tightness.

Let’s take a look at some of the other performances from last night around baseball:

1) There was History in the Bronx…

No, I’m not talking about Judge. While I’m sure he set some sort of record, or is on the way towards doing so, there are other players on the Yankees besides the slugger. After a slow start to the season, spending all of his time at DH, Matt Holliday seems to be finding his groove. Batting in front of Judge, as he did last night, is certainly going to help him get pitches to hit, and Holliday is doing a good job of that. On Wednesday, he hit a three homer for his fifth home run of the season (and 300th for his career) that also brought his RBI total up to 18. Going back to April 26th, he was hitting just .204, but after last night, Holliday’s average is up to .269 with three of his five home runs coming in that span.

2) The Indians Have Found Their New Number Five Hitter…

Initially Jose Ramirez’s stay in the middle of the order was temporary. However, he has done so well, as have their one through four hitters, that the Indians have just left Ramirez batting fifth. Although it might seem unconventional at first, it clearly is working. On Wednesday, the third baseman (although he opened the season at second filing in for Jason Kipnis) went 1 for 2 with two walks, a triple, two RBI, and two runs scored. On the season, Ramirez is hitting .323 with 23 RBI proving he was not a fluke, and instead an ascending player.

3) Unconventional Works In Miami too…

While we wait for Marcell Ozuna’s home run to land, we shouldn’t ignore J.T. Realmuto. Now it’s not a new development that the catcher is batting lead-off, but you can’t argue with its success. On Wednesday, Realmuto 2 for 5 with a walk, four RBI, and two runs scored. On the season, he is batting .318 with 13 RBI, and last night hit his second triple of the season. We aren’t going to get much in the power department from Realmuto, but there is nothing wrong with that if he continues to get on base, score runs, and come through with guys on base. Especially from a catcher, that is more than enough.

4) Rookie Davis Returns…

By no means should you be running to your waiver wire, grabbing Davis, and inserting him for your lineup for his next start. However, there is no reason why he wouldn’t be worth a speculative addition should you have the roster space. While he struggled before taking a short trip to the disabled list, we don’t truly know if he was injured prior and how that impacted his performance. On Wednesday, he returned against the Pirates at out-dueled Jameson Taillon who picked up the lost as the Reds put up six runs on him. For his efforts, Davis received his first victory of the season with five shutout innings in which he allowed four hits and three walks while striking out two. His early season performance was so bad, mainly the seven runs in 2.2 innings he allowed in last start to Milwaukee, that his ERA is still 7.36 on the season. That, and Davis’ .388 BABIP are both likely to decline.

5) Jose Reyes is Heating Up…

But thanks to the success of Michael Conforto, Reyes will likely remain (out of place) in the middle of the order. If things are working in New York, at least on offense, there is no reason to switch things up. After a 3 for 6 day, Conforto is now batting .357 on the season with 18 RBI. While Reyes is playing a game of catch-up, there’s no denying his performance from the last week or so. It wasn’t all that long ago that Reyes was struggling to keep his batting average over .100, but now he is approaching .200 (.186) and only going up. Last night, he was 2 for 5 with five big RBI, including a bases clearing double, to bring his RBI total for the season to 10. We should also note that he spent some time in the game at shortstop, so that added position flexibility that should be coming soon will only help to augment his value.

6) Maikel Franco is Finding His Stroke…

One of the players who should not have been given up on despite early season struggles is Franco. The third baseman continues to hit out of the early season hole he put himself in, and on Wednesday he was 3 for 4 (surprisingly all singles) with two RBI and two runs scored. The power is still coming for Franco this season, he has just four home runs so far, but at least he is driving in runs (23). Franco’s BABIP of .220 matches his batting average of .222, and the only place for both of those numbers to go, is up.

7) Carlos is Heating Up…

It’s hard to find things to complain about in Houston, but both Carlos Correa and George Springer have yet to truly flex their muscles this season. On Wednesday though, Correa showed that he is ready, willing, and able as he had the type of day we have come to expect from the young shortstop. Correa starting his day off with an, opposite field, solo home run and then ended it by going 4 for 5 and just being a triple shy of the cycle. It was just the third home run this season for Correa, and while he was productive at the plate, it was also the only run he drove in on the night. At this point in the season, Correa was expected to hitting higher than .255 and have more than 11 RBI, but as last night showed, I wouldn’t be concerned. Despite their early season success, the Astros’ lineup truly has not started to really roll yet, and Correa is a big part of that.

8) Desmond is Not Missing a Beat…

The sample size since his return is small, but it’s hard to argue with the results from Ian Desmond. Playing in just his third game this season, Desmond went deep twice last night (in San Diego), while also adding a single, and drove in the first three runs of his Colorado career. Before last night, Desmond had one hit in each of two previous two games, but that power display should help to alleviate any concerns about his health.

9) Room For Improvement, But the Bar is High…

Getting five scoreless innings from anyone, let alone a 20-year old rookie, should be celebrated. How can you find fault in that? Well, when you are Julio Urias, your expectations are a little higher than most. Starting his second game of the season, Urias kept the Giants off the scoreboard for five innings, but that is where the night ending. He cruised for most of the night, but ran into trouble in the fifth inning. Urias didn’t break, but he also saw his pitch count rise, and after 88 pitches he was done for the night. While he scattered four hits, Urias also walked four batters to go along with just one strike out. Try and temper your expectations, and the Dodgers are going to be very vigilant with his innings, but Urias is going to be a stud; even if the ride is a little bumpy at times this year.

10) Jean Segura Has a Complete Game…

Power and speed. That is what we want and those are the commodities we chase. Last night, Segura brought us both. He went deep for the third time this season (a two run shot), while also stealing his fifth base of the year. The shortstop was 2 for 4 with four RBI on the night as he raised his batting average to .314. Despite a quick detour to the disabled list, it appears that Seattle is suiting Segura just fine.

Make sure to check out all of our updated rankings: