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Mostly MLB Notes: Taijuan Walker and a look around the league

Mostly MLB Notes: Taijuan Walker and a look around the league

We've been waiting for a Taijuan Walker breakout for some time, and it’s now officially happening. He has a 29:3 K:BB ratio over 30.0 innings this season, with a 1.80 ERA and 1.03 WHIP. Four of his five starts have come at home, but his FIP is 2.05 (that’s fourth best in all of baseball), and his GB/FB ratio is 2.38. Walker throws hard (average fastball velocity is 94.1 mph), and there’s a lot to like about his profile. He produces a low Hard%, is just 23 years old and continues to get better. Meanwhile, teammate Felix Hernandez’s FB velocity (89.6 mph) is easily a career low, yet he currently sports a 1.38 ERA to go along with a 28:18 K:BB ratio. I really liked King Felix as a buy low guy entering the year, but I’d actually prefer Walker moving forward.

Headlines of the Week: Fishermen Use Dead Friend As Bait To Reel In 180 LB Monster Carp...Germany Installs Traffic Lights In Sidewalks So Smartphone Users Don’t Have To Look Up...Guy Punched For Looking Like Shia LaBeouf...‘Teen’ Basketball Player Says He Didn’t Know He Was 29.

Quick Hits: Carlos Correa had three homers and two steals through two days into the season. He has no home runs and one steal since...The Braves have five homers this season. There are 46 players with as many. Atlanta also doesn’t have a single triple, giving them a team slugging percentage of .289. Madison Bumgarner’s SLG over the past three years are .470, .468 and .455 respectively...Bryce Harper struck out four times in a game Sunday for the first time since his rookie season in 2012...Not good news for Rasiel Iglesias owners (like myself). It’s almost as if you should avoid pitchers coming off a season in which they dealt with shoulder problems...Here’s Brandon Phillips getting hit by three baseballs in one at bat.

Police Blotter: Colorado Town’s Entire Police Force Just Quit...NY Mayor Stole 111 Road Signs...Phiippine Presidential Frontrunner Vows To Pardon Himself For Murder...Man Charged Over $13K For Toll Bill...Man Drives Drunk To Interview For Driving Job.

Quick Hits Part Deux: Fun with paces through one month - Jose Altuve is on pace for 45 homers and 58 steals. Chris Sale is on pace to go 37-0. Nolan Arenado is on pace to hit 74 homers and score 155 runs with 169 RBI. Odubel Herrera has 23 walks through 80 at bats, putting him on pace to finish with 149. Joey Votto led all of baseball last season with 143 walks...Trevor Story’s 10 homers tied for the most ever by a rookie during the first month of his career, and to reiterate, he’s been robbed by three others thanks to the new fence in right field in Coors Field...Coco Crisp is just two seasons removed from going 22/21 with 93 runs scored in 131 games played. He’s owned in only 2% of Yahoo leagues. Go add him.

Here’s an 11-year-old protecting his home against an intruder.

Quick Hits Part Tres: Steven Matz has allowed two runs over his past 19.1 innings since getting rocked during his first start of the year. Only health will prevent him from being a top-25 fantasy starter moving forward...If a draft were held today, Jake Arrieta should clearly be a top-10 pick...Don’t worry about Jose Berrios’ poor start during his debut. He’s worth owning in all leagues...Go grab Kevin Gausman too. Neither should be unowned...Aledmys Diaz currently has the highest wRC+ (212) in all of baseball. Logan Forsythe is second at 200...I own zero shares of David Price, but his 15.9 SwStr% is not only by far a career high (his career mark is a pedestrian 9.6%), it’s also the second highest among all starters in baseball this year, behind only Noah Syndergaard...Shelby Miller and Kolten Wong are two players getting dropped in mass (according to Yahoo percentages) whom I’d pick up as a result.

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