10 Important Stories From 05/10/17 Box Scores: Altherr’s Emergence, Bautista’s Turn Around & More

by Ray Kuhn

What better way to spend a Wednesday, then with a full day of baseball? Action was spread out across the day with 14 games, the Reds and Yankees had the rare Wednesday off, and there were lots of performances worth noting. Let’s take a look at some of the performances that caught our attention:

1) Three Days in a Row for Buster…

Evidently, hitting in Citi Field appears to agree with Buster Posey as he went deep on Wednesday for the third straight game. After starting each of the last two nights behind the plate, Posey got somewhat of a day off yesterday as he began the game at first base. Last season was somewhat of a down season for Posey as he hit just 14 home runs, and concern about his decreasing power began to circulate. Entering Monday’s game, while he was having success at the plate, Posey wasn’t doing much to alleviate those concerns as he had gone deep just twice. But after a solo home run on Wednesday, Posey is now at five home runs, but he still needs to pick it up in the RBI department as so far this season he has driven in just eight runs. However, after going 2 for 4 with a walk yesterday, it’s hard to argue with a .367 batting average.

2) There is Power Brewing in Philadelphia…

While the sample size is small, and some hyperbole is present, the Phillies might have found their new number three hitter. After having a solid month of April, a .295 average, two home runs and six RBI in 44 at bats, Aaron Altherr has taken things to another level in May. The majority of that production has come in the last three games, but in 30 at bats Altherr has five home runs and 15 RBI. Against the Mariners on Wednesday, the outfielder made sure Seattle would remember him as he went deep twice, a three run blast and a solo shot, to give him four home runs and 10 RBI in the three game series with the Mariners. On the season, Altherr is now batting .351 with a 1.179 OPS, and fantasy owners need to take notice.

3) Double Your Fun in Houston…

Statistically speaking, Carlos Correa is not entirely out of the woods just yet, but there is no reason to be concerned. Correa had a key two RBI double on Wednesday to propel the Astros to their league leading 23rd victory of the season as he continues to boost his RBI total; now 17. So far on the season Correa is batting .273, but while he has 10 doubles (he had two on Wednesday), the shortstop has just four home runs on the season. After ending April with a .233 batting average, it’s hard to argue with what we have seen from the shortstop so far this month.

4) German Marquez Flirts with History…

Let’s just start this with a caveat, there really isn’t any way in which I could have rationalized starting Marquez on Wednesday. After all, he was starting in Coors Field and had to face off with the Cubs. Instead, Marquez no hit Chicago through six innings before Kris Bryant broke it up with a double. Marquez ultimately made it through eight innings while allowing two more hits, but also keeping the Cubs off the scoreboard. The right-hander walked one while striking out eight. Through four games, Marquez has 21 strikeouts in 24 innings with a 4.88 ERA and 1.29 WHIP. Last season, Marquez was unable to harness his ability and had a 5.23 ERA in 20.2 innings. In his four starts this year, Marquez has truly been a mixed bag. Two of his starts have been a disaster, 13 runs in 10 innings, and he threw six shutout innings in his other start. Tread carefully here, but he is worth a look.

5) Domination in Tampa Bay…

The Rays’ offense provided more than enough offense in order to ensure that Chris Archer was victorious on Wednesday. In fact, based on the way their ace pitched, they scored 10 runs too many (after Kansas City got one run in the ninth after Archer left). Colby Rasmus provided insurance in the eighth inning with a three run shot, his third in a limited time since starting the season on the disabled list (FAAB alert for power), and by that time the game was in doubt. Archer shut down the Royals without much drama, aside from Salvador Perez taking exception to being hit by an inside pitch, and picked up his third win of the season. Through eight innings, Archer allowed just five hits (two to Perez) while not walking a batter or allowing a run. The right-hander struck out 11 as he lowered his ERA to 3.04 as he continues to take the next step in his development.

6) Walk-Off Wieters…

Prior to Adam Eaton tearing his ACL, the one missing piece in Washington’s lineup was a catcher. The addition of Matt Wieters seems to have solved that issue, as he is fitting in very nicely with his new team and provided length to the batting order. After a delayed signing and a slow start to Spring Training, Wieters appears to be finding his groove, and on Wednesday he sent everybody home happy. The catcher ended a 3 for 5 night with a, game winning, two RBI single. So far this season, Wieters is batting .289 with 15 RBI, and his run production will only continue thanks to Washington’s strong lineup.

7) Is Bautista Coming Around…

Things changed for the Blue Jays before the season started after Edwin Encarnacion signed with Cleveland. Then Josh Donaldson found his way to the disabled list, and Bautista really was the only show in town for Toronto. However, all of that attention and pressure in the middle of the order has not appeared to agree with Bautista. On Wednesday, he was 1 for 3 with two walks and two runs scored, but more importantly we saw something from him that we really haven’t seen all season; power. Bautista wasted little time getting Toronto’s offense going last night as he hit a three-run homer. Under normal circumstances, this would just be another day at the park, but instead it was just his third home run of the season. So far this season, Bautista is batting just .177 with 12 RBI and he has a meager OPS of .589. The problem though, is that there isn’t much to suggest Bautista’s home run is anything more than an isolated incident.

8) Maeda Almost Finished What He Started…

Just because Maeda didn’t pick up the complete game on Wednesday, it doesn’t mean that all was lost. It was the first time he even pitched more than seven innings in a game, and the right-hander ultimately was removed after recorded the first out of the ninth inning and allowing a solo home run to Francisco Cervelli. At that point, Maeda was at 104 pitches (75 strikes), and it certainly was enough to pick up his third victory of the season. Maeda limited the Pirates to just two runs in 8.1 innings as he took advantage of a struggling lineup allowing just five hits and no walks while striking out five. The start was very much needed from the right-hander as he lowered his ERA to 5.03. His xFIP of 3.67 hypothesizes that Maeda’s performance will continue to improve which makes him a worthy buy-low candidate. And any mention of the Dodgers these days has to include Cody Bellinger. All he did last night, was begin the night with a three run homer, which was his sixth of the season while raising his RBI total to 17.

9) Patience is a Virtue…

But by no stretch does that mean it’s easy to have. And that is especially the case in fantasy baseball. However, owners of Keon Broxton are likely thankful they exhibited patience; if not gently sprint to your waiver wire if another owner didn’t buy low on the Milwaukee outfielder. Broxton picked up two more hits on Wednesday, including his seventh double of the season, while scoring two runs and raising his batting average to a very respectable .266. That is a far cry from the .191 mark Broxton ended April with, as he is batting .462 so far this month. Neither one of those averages are sustainable, but Broxton has the talent to be a fantasy asset.

10) A Perfect Night for Choo…

Hopefully the Rangers continue to use Choo exclusively as the designated hitter. Choo simply has been unable to stay healthy over the past few seasons as he has begun to disappear from the fantasy landscape to a degree. However, with all of the injuries we have seen so far this season, no rock can be left un-turned. And that brings us to the Rangers free agent bust of a few seasons ago. On Wednesday, Choo was 3 for 3 (all singles) with a walk, run scored, and his 14th RBI of the season. That brought his batting average up to a respectable .269 on the season. While he is not an exciting option, Choo at least provides decent replacement value, and it is a good thing that he bats lead-off.

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