Lance Lynn debuts for the Twins and tries to keep the starters scoreless streak alive as he faces the Pirates and Jameson Taillon. Lynn served as a Cardinals mainstay for five seasons, posting a 3.38 ERA in 977 2/3 innings. His home run rate jumped in 2017, but for his career he’s done a good job of keeping the ball in the park. Taillon upped his strikeout rate and lowered his home run rate in his sophomore season of 2017, but despite those improvements a ton of hits led to a 4.44 ERA. His FIPs were much lower, so that’s a sign he might post a lower ERA this season.

The Phillies take their pitching road show to New York where Ben Lively faces the Mets and Matt Harvey. Lively mastered hiding the ball, grabbing a spot in the rotation out of spring training. He was very good at avoiding walks in his rookie year, now he needs to add avoiding bats to that strength. Harvey’s big question is health. He pitched 92 2/3 innings in each of the last two seasons with poor results. This could be a make or break year for the once great pitcher.

The Nationals head to Atlanta, where the Braves scored 27 runs in their first three games. Tanner Roark faces Sean Newcomb. Roark was the definition of a fifth starter in 2017. He gave the Nationals innings without being great nor terrible. With their offense, his 4.67 ERA was good for a 13-11 record. Newcomb posted a great strikeout rate in his 100 rookie innings, but walked 57 batters.

Enjoy!