10 Important Stories From 05/05/17 Box Scores: Bellinger’s Big Week, Nats Bullpen Chaos & More

by Simon Jones

Friday was another reminder of how great baseball can be. Huge hitting, come from behind wins, some great pitching and a couple of big clutch hits, including Joe Mauer’s first career walk-off home run!

So let’s look at some of the bigger stories from Friday’s games.

1) A big week for Bellinger….
The last 7 days could have been career defining for Cody Bellinger. The initial assumption was that his call up was only going to be brief and he would be sent down again once Joc Pederson was fit. However Bellinger’s form forced the Dodgers’ hand, and Bellinger justified that faith by hammering another two home runs last night against the Padres. Not only was this his second multi-homer game this week, but also represented his fifth multi-hit game in the last seven, raising his OPS to 1.127 for the season.

2) Chaos ensues in the Nationals’ bullpen….
The Nationals’ closer curse continued on Friday when Shawn Kelley was placed on the DL with a lower back strain. With the game on the line and Koda Glover still out, up stepped Matt Albers to secure his first career save (after 460 games without one). In just over a month’s worth of action, Albers represents the fifth Nats pitcher to secure a save. Golver should be back at some point early next week, but don’t be surprised to see Washington dip into the trade market, sooner rather than later.

3) Astros equal best start in franchise history….
The Astros moved to a franchise record equalling 20-10 last night against the Angels last night, however the win wasn’t nearly as straightforward as it might have been. Dalla Keuchel appeared to be cruising on the back of his excellent 2017 form and entered the ninth with a 6-2 lead. After that things got messy. After giving up 3 singles, Ken Giles was brought in, but proceeded to allow the three inherited runners to score, and then the tying run to plate too. In the end, it took a Carlos Correa two out RBI to get the win. The messy ninth gave Keuchel an ugly 5 earned runs and blew the win and the QS.

4) Zimmerman’s resurgence continues….
We keep waiting for Ryan Zimmerman to cool off, and there still are no signs that’s happening. It seems hardly noteworthy that Zimmerman had another home run last night, whilst going 3-5. Zimmerman always was a decent power source when healthy, but injuries have derailed so many recent campaigns that he hasn’t topped 500 PAs since 2013, and was undrafted in most leagues. This is definitely one of the best feel-good stories of the year so far.

5) Lynn making up for last time….
Lance Lynn’s strong recovery from Tommy John surgery continued on Friday with another fine outing against the Braves. Lynn missed the whole of 2016, and the signs were that we might have to wait a while for him to settle down, however since a couple of shaky starts to begin the season, Lynn has been nothing except excellent. Last night’s scoreless six innings, lowered his ERA to 2.04 and WHIP to 1.08 whilst striking out 31 across six games.

6) Morales has monster day….
Kendrys Morales has been a bit underwhelming since his move to Toronto, but last night made up for that to a certain degree. Morales crashed two home runs (including the game-tying and go-ahead scores) and five RBIS on the night. Morales now has six HRs and 20 RBIs on the season, but is hitting only .243 average and .293 OBP.

7) Big 9th inning HR for Gardner…
The Yankees we stifled for much of Friday afternoon by Kyle Hendricks and the Cubs bullpen, until Gardner’s blast. With a 2-0 lead and Wade Davis unavailable, the Cubs called on Hector Rondon to close the game out, however he allowed two men to reach base before Garner’s two-out, two strike HR secured the game. After starting the season relatively slowly, Gardner is now on a seven game hitting streak, and has hit five homers in the last week.

8) Time running out for Renfroe….
Hunter Renfroe was a popular late round pick for owners looking for power, but time looks to be running out for the Padres slugger. The power has been evident in bursts during 2017, but the power means nothing if you can’t make contact with the ball. Renfroe struck out all four times at the plate on Friday, and now has a horrific 36/2 K/BB ratio. It’s not like the Padres are overloaded with great other options, but you have to figure patience is running thin in San Diego.

9) Goldschmidt continues to dominate….
It’s hard to think that a couple of weeks ago, Paul Goldschmidt was mired in a bit of a slump. He was walking loads, but his average was sub-.240 and extra base hits were few and far between. Fast forward to Friday night and Goldschmidt is on a huge roll. He went 3 for 3 with two HRs, raising his season total to seven homers. Goldschmidt is truly a 5 cat hitter (or as many cats as your league plays in), contributing in every single area and an outstanding 22/25 K/BB to back it up.

10) Fulmer notches another quality start….
Michael Fulmer continues to build on his 2016 rookie campaign, securing his sixth straight quality start of 2017 against Oakland. Fulmer went eight innings, allowing two runs (one earned). Better still he struck out nine against two walks. Fulmer has been pitching beyond his FIP estimators so far this year, but outings like this are likely to further aid his progress towards a top tier starter. He now sits with a 2.77 ERA and 1.05 WHIP.