At the beginning of the 2017 season, I wrote pieces reviewing the potential impact rookie hitters in each league for 2017. Today, we continue a semi-regular review of how those players are actually performing. The American League East was the first up for review and we hit the NL East today.

1. Dansby Swanson, SS, Braves: Swanson entered the year as one of the favorites for NL Rookie of the Year after performing well in a brief MLB showing in ’16. The 23-year-old infielder has seen his BABIP drop from .383 to .242, though, and that’s dragged down his triple-slash line to just .190/.261/.270.  He’s hitting .255 in May – up from .156 in April – but the swing-and-miss rate is actually up and nearing 30% this month. The team wasn’t expected to win in 2017 so the club can be patient with Swanson but he has a lot of work to do before he’ll consistently produce at even a league-average rate.

2. Koda Glover, RHP, Nationals: Glover was expected to be a key high-leverage reliever for the Nationals in 2017 but an injury knocked him out for close to three weeks. When healthy, he’s shown excellent control with just two walks in 11.2 innings. However, he’s struck out just nine batters and his swinging strike rate is just 8.4% (In comparison, Craig Kimbrel leads relievers at 23.7% and Chris Devenski is second at 21.1%). Glover has some work to do before he’s considered an elite relief option — but the potential is still there.

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Episode 265 – The Ubaldo Filter

The latest episode of “Field of Streams” is live!

In this episode, Dylan Higgins and Matthew Dewoskin discuss Yovani Gallardo’s tough start, flirting with Christian Bergman, Rick Porcello’s controversial Cy Young Award, Freddie Freeman’s reputation as a hitter and unfortunate injury, quitting while you’re ahead with Matt Garza, Masato Tanaka, Jered Weaver’s “injury,” and Matt surviving his move.

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This column is usually named after section one. The other sections are always the same. Except for the one that keeps changing.

AGENDA

1. Personal Update
2. Weather Reports
3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
4. Hitters to Use
5. SaberSim Says…
6. TDG Invitational Returns!

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This Roto Riteup is so lit.

So lit. pic.twitter.com/zhcA5SpDyD

— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) May 21, 2017

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There wasn’t too much noteworthy bullpen activity on Saturday, besides Addison Reed’s high-wire act against the Angels, which he and the Mets ultimately survived. Sunday was much the same, save for a few relevant items:

• Koda Glover was the first man out of the Nationals bullpen, and it came with the Nats leading 3-2 with two outs and the tying run on second base in the eighth inning. Despite the fact that lefty Nick Markakis was due up, and left-hander Oliver Perez was getting loose along with Glover, manager Dusty Baker went with the righty and the decision paid off. Glover fanned Markakis on a 96 mph fastball, then, with the same score in the bottom of the ninth, Glover came back out to the mound. He surrendered a leadoff single, but then induced a double-play lineout and a game-ending popup. It was the 24-year-old’s third save of the season, and it came just two days after Shawn Kelley, who was seemingly first in line for saves in a beleaguered Nationals bullpen, pitched in the seventh inning of a tie game. As such, the bullpen situation in Washington remains highly volatile and red. Glover slots into the closer’s spot on the chart for now, but that is subject to change at any moment. Expect future save opportunities to go to one of the two, at least, though neither is a clear long-term favorite.

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What is this, week eight? That’s nearly a third of the season behind us. As with other weekend editions, this is just the meat and potatoes. I have home runs to hit today.

AGENDA

1. Weather Reports
2. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
3. Hitters to Use
4. SaberSim Says…

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There are three guarantees in life: death, taxes, and Cody Bellinger home runs. In 100 plate appearances, Bellinger has nine bombs and he’s leading the National League rookies in multiple offensive categories. He is also sitting on a 26.7% home run/fly ball ratio.

.@Cody_Bellinger is the fastest Dodger to nine home runs in franchise history (24 games). ? pic.twitter.com/BxQ06lD3b4

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 21, 2017

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5/18/17

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is brought to you by Out of the Park Baseball 18, the best baseball strategy game ever made – available NOW on PC, Mac, and Linux platforms! Go to ootpdevelopments.com to order now and save 10% with the code SLEEPER18!

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Strategy Section: Waiver Pickup Episode

Shallow (5:10)

• Alex Cobb LAA, at MIN 80% C, 59% Y!, 25% E
• Matt Shoemaker at TB, at MIA 81% C, 55% Y!, 55% E
• Jerad Eickhoff COL, CIN 71% C, 57% Y!, 25% E
• Patrick Corbin CWS, at MIL 66% C, 25% Y!, 28% E
• Amir Garrett CLE, at PHI 65% C, 26% Y!, 31% E

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Joey Gallo keeps hitting the ball, and he’s hitting the ball hard. His .188 batting average this season is kind of joke sitting next to his .500 slugging average, but he does have 13 home runs in 42 games and he’s showing more discipline at the plate. But you really can’t get worse than a 63.3% strikeout rate he left behind him last season.

Joey Gallo doing Joey Gallo things. Wow pic.twitter.com/pc3XqqQUn8

— Daren Willman (@darenw) May 20, 2017

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Another exciting night of bullpen activity with full slate of games on Friday…

• Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto indicated in an interview on Fantasy Sports Radio that 26-year-old James Pazos could be first in line for save opportunities while Edwin Diaz works through mechanical issues that led to his demotion from the closer’s role earlier this week. Pazos has intriguing numbers across the board in 18.2 innings this year: he boasts a strong 30.9% strikeout rate, a 60.9% ground ball rate, and a tidy 2.41 ERA/2.66 FIP/2.78 xFIP. Diaz was so dominant last season that it remains likely he will eventually harness his mechanics and find his way back into the Seattle bullpen’s most prominent role. He pitched two scoreless innings on Friday, in which he allowed two hits and notched two strikeouts in the eighth and ninth innings of a tie game at home. Despite the scoreless outing, Pazos is worth a speculative add in most formats in case he gets an opportunity to close and runs with it. His numbers seem to indicate that he’s capable of doing so.

• Seung Hwan Oh blew a one-run save opportunity against the Giants on Friday. He allowed two singles and a go-ahead two-run double. Oh is now 10 for 12 in save opportunities, a nice recovery in that department after a very shaky start to the season. However, Oh’s peripherals point to a problem: his 16.3% strikeout rate this year is roughly half of the 32.9% K% he put up last season. He’s also allowed three home runs and nine walks in 21.1 innings. Add it all up, and Oh has an unsightly 4.91 FIP and 5.70 xFIP. Meanwhile, former closer Trevor Rosenthal has been mostly terrific in a set-up role (although he was charged with a blown save in Wednesday’s extra-inning loss to the Red Sox). Rosenthal has a 44.3% strikeout rate in 15.1 innings, and he should represent a threat to the struggling Oh. If Oh can’t turn it around soon, the Cardinals may have to make a move. The situation has been updated to yellow.

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