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Diamondbacks 1B Tim Tawa (25, AAA) had three walks, three home runs, two steals and zero strikeouts in his first four games, a monster start in all of our Triple-A fantasy leagues. Have to take his Salt Lake outcomes with a grain of . . . skepticism . . . but Tawa has produced throughout his career, which you kind of have to do to make your way as a 5’11” utility type, and the organization has enough confidence in him to use him at the keystone in Ketel Marte’s absence. If he hits, they might try to find room for him off the bench. 

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Until yesterday, Cubs 3B Matt Shaw has been one of those strange cases where a rookie could be acquired in redraft leagues for very little currency, relative to his skillset and opportunity. This discount can be attributed to the relatively recent clearout of Cubs’ third base options and the fact that Shaw has been injured and hadn’t played this spring. During Tuesday’s game, however, Shaw looked 100 percent, smoking an easy looking single to the opposite field in his first at bat and stroking another single in his second. On the bases that second time, he got a good read off the bat and sprinted to score from first base only to run into Michael Busch at third base when Busch pulled up after rounding third and retreated in spring training style. I mention the sprint because Shaw is clearly feeling good and pushing to make the team. 

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Mets SS Luisangel Acuña (22) got the big call on Saturday to provide some versatility off the bench. To say he’s had a tough season would be underselling the reality of his 69 wRC+ and .299 on base percentage across 131 Triple-A games. He has struck out just 16.4 percent of the time, but that has brought with it a career low walk rate of 5.5 percent. If he can put some kind of approach back together, he probably has the hands to hang around as a utility bat. He’s stolen 40 bases (54 attempts) in those 131 games and can play a little all over the field, but he’ll likely open next season back in the minors to get the everyday at bats he needs. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?