10 Important Stories From 06/03/17 Box Scores: Giving Up On Joe Ross, Travis Shaw’s Emergence & More

by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

It was a “grand” day around the league, as there were grand slams galore.  The biggest arguably came from Albert Pujols, whose grand slam was his 600th career home run.  The all-time great may not be the same player he once was, but he’s certainly still producing.

Carlos Carrasco struggled, allowing 5 ER on 5 H and 2 BB, striking out 3, over 4.1 IP against the Royals (the third time in his past four starts that he’s allowed 4+ ER).  Ryon Healy had a monster day at the plate, helping to lead Oakland to victory, going 4-4 with 2 HR, 3 RBI and 2 R.  David Price looks to be at full strength, allowing 1 ER on 3 H and 1 BB, striking out 7, over 7.0 IP for the victory.  What else happened on the field that we need to know about?  Let’s take a look:

1) Edinson Volquez with an impressive no-hitter…
Taking on the Diamondbacks Volquez needed just 98 pitches en route to his no-hitter, striking out 10 and walking 2.  As impressive as those numbers are, possibly more impressive are his 13 groundballs as compared to 4 fly balls.  After going winless in his first nine starts, he’s now won back-to-back outings and now is sporting a respectable 3.79 ERA.  His 1.38 WHIP is a turn off, and considering his 5.30 BB/9 (in part due to a 24.8% O-Swing%) and 23.6% line drive rate entering the day there isn’t much reason for optimism.  That’s not to take away from what was a tremendous outing, but don’t go crazy adding him due to it.

2) Jordan Montgomery shuts down the Blue Jays…
Toronto loaded its lineup with right-handed hitters, but to no avail as Montgomery shut them down all afternoon.  He tossed 6.0 shutout innings allowing 3 H and 3 BB, striking out 5, to improve to 3-4 with a 3.67 ERA and 1.28 WHIP.  He’s had some highs and lows this season, but overall there is a lot to like.  However he does carry the risk of being home run prone, as he yielded 3 groundballs vs. 10 fly balls yesterday (44.1% fly ball rate entering the day).  It’s going to be something to monitor, though he also entered the day with a 12.6% SwStr% (13 swinging strikes yesterday) and 3.40 BB/9.  While there is some risk, at this point he’s worth utilizing in most formats.

3) Kyle Schwarber responds to being dropped in the order…
After spending the bulk of the season hitting first (142 AB) or second (26 AB), Schwarber was dropped all the way to the ninth spot in the order yesterday after entering the day hitting .163 with 8 HR.  He responded by going 1-3 with 1 HR, 4 RBI and 1 R, providing the big blow against Mike Leake (6.2 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 5 K).  Before we get excited he did strikeout once, which has been his biggest issue (29.8% entering the day).  While his 11.2% SwStr% is elevated it’s not completely outlandish, and his 27.4% O-Swing% shows he’s not chasing pitches.  He needs to improve upon his 12.2% line drive rate, something that should happen (8.6% in May).  We all know the power he possesses, and with it just being a matter of time before the average improves now is the ideal time to try and buy.

4) The time has come to give up on Joe Ross…
There has often been speculation that he could fit best in the bullpen, thanks to primarily being a two-pitch pitcher, and you have to wonder if the Nationals will start to explore that option.  He certainly took one on the chin at the hands of the A’s yesterday, allowing 7 R (6 earned) on 6 H and 2 BB, striking out 5, over 3.0 IP.  He’s now allowed 11 ER on 18 H and 3 BB over 7.0 IP, and has allowed 5+ ER in four of his six starts in the Majors.  Home runs have been his biggest issue, with 9 HR over 30.2 IP, and it’s fair to wonder if the Nationals will make an immediate change.  Even if he’s still starting it’ll be impossible to trust him until he shows a little something.  In most cases leaving him on the waiver wire is likely prudent.

5) A solid MLB debut for Ben Lively…
He defeated Johnny Cueto (6.0 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 9 K) and the Giants, allowing 1 ER on 4 H and 3 BB over 7.0 IP.  Of course he failed to register a strikeout, with just 6 swinging strikes, so it’s fair to call it a mixed bag overall.  He’s never shown big strikeout stuff at Triple-A, with a 6.88 K/9 in 19 starts in ’16 and a 7.19 K/9 in 9 starts in ’17.  He also has never been a big groundball pitcher (39.5% and 33.7% over the past two seasons, which brings home run concerns pitching half his games in Philadelphia).  While he does bring strong control, in most formats he’s going to be nothing more than a streaming option.

6) Is Nick Castellanos finally starting to warm up…
He went 1-3 with 1 HR, 1 RBI and 2 R, giving him three straight games with an extra base hit (he had a double in each of his previous two).  Over this stretch he’s gone 3-9 with 1 HR, 2 RBI, 4 R and 1 SB, and while it isn’t much he has also drawn 4 walks.  He continues to strikeout far too much (14.5% SwStr% entering the day, helping him to a 25.9% strikeout rate), though he should improve upon his .214 average dramatically (24.8% line drive rate, .277 BABIP).  With the potentially to chip in 12-15 HR, or maybe more, don’t give up hope.  While it’s a modest “hot streak”, it should just be the beginning.

7) Travis Shaw just keeps on hitting…  and hitting…  and hitting…
Sure he had gone 0-6 in his previous two games, but he responded by going 3-4 with 1 HR, 4 RBI and 1 R, putting him at .296 to go along with 10 HR (as well as 16 doubles) and 40 RBI.  While he entered the day with a 22.5% strikeout rate, he’s actually shown significantly improved plate discipline overall (7.9% SwStr%, 26.3% O-Swing%).  Maybe he doesn’t maintain his 19.6% HR/FB, but with a 23.5% line drive rate (meaning his .336 BABIP is believable) there’s an awful lot to like.  Emerging as a solid middle of the order bat, who should be able to hit .280+ with 22-26 HR (maybe even a few more), there’s an awful lot to like.

8) Playing for the Braves appears to work for Matt Adams…
He was certainly the hero yesterday, going 3-6 with 2 HR, 5 RBI and 2 R (including the game winner in the 12th inning).  While his average in Atlanta hasn’t been stellar (he entered hitting .222), he now has 4 HR and 11 RBI over 12 games and he should be able to improve upon his .276 BABIP.  Even if he doesn’t (and his elevated strikeout rate makes it hard to imagine a strong average regardless) the power he possesses is going to make him a viable option in all formats.  He’s a nice fit in a favorable home ballpark while Freddie Freeman is on the shelf, so if you need power and he’s still available don’t hesitate.

9) Lance McCullers struggles with his efficiency…
Taking on the Rangers he lasted just 4.1 innings (needing 96 pitches to get that far) as he allowed 4 R (3 earned) on 6 H and 2 BB, striking out 8.  It’s impressive that, despite the abbreviated outing, he still racked up 15 swinging strikes and also was generating groundballs when someone was actually putting the ball in play (4 groundballs vs. 1 fly ball).  Having entered the day with a 12.0% SwStr% (10.06 K/9), 60.7% groundball rate and 2.62 BB/9, it’s hard not to get excited.  While there is some room for regression (82.3% strand rate) and it remains to be seen if he can maintain the control, there’s also a lot to like.  He’s quickly emerging as one of the elite in the league.

10) It was a career day for Mike Zunino…
Hitting ninth he went 3-4 with 1 HR, 7 RBI and 1 R, the home run being a grand slam.  He’s actually been on quite the roll as of late, with four multi-hit games in his past five (9-19 with 1 HR, 9 RBI and 2 R), though don’t let the gaudy numbers deceive you.  He has 8 K over this span, and considering he entered the day with a 41.2% strikeout rate (courtesy of a 16.7% SwStr%) any type of improvement will likely be minimal (33.1% strikeout rate for his career).  While there’s power in his bat and he could produce days like this, the risk of his average far outweighs the potential reward.

Sources – ESPN, Fangraphs, CBS Sports

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