The 2022 MLB regular season is more than two months old and the contenders are now separating themselves from the pretenders. Several teams that started out hot are coming back to Earth (like the ) and others that started slowly are climbing up the standings (like the ). That said, there's still a lot -- a LOT -- of season to be played. With that in mind, our weekly series breaking down various trends acro s the league continues Wednesday with a look at one starter's dominant run, one hitter's improved contact ability, and one team's efforts to limit stolen bases. . MIA SP #22 ERA1.68WHIP.96IP91.1BB27K82 It has been nearly four years since the great fire sale of the 2018-19 offseason, and the results are a mixed bag. The trade was a straight salary dump. The trade was a total disaster that brought back zero Ben Coates Jersey value. ability to stay healthy will ultimately determine whether the trade was worthwhile. The trade has been, by far, the best fire sale trade for Miami. That trade with the netted the Marlins four young prospects, including , who was later flipped for , their best player. That trade brought . Alcantara has since emerged as one of the game's best pitchers, and he is in the middle of a very dominant stretch. Monday night Alcantara held the surging to two runs in 7 2/3 innings and it was the first time in seven starts he allowed more than one earned run. In his previous six starts, he'd allowed three earned runs total while averaging eight -- eight! -- innings per start. Opponents have hit .156/.214/.208 against Alcantara in his last seven starts and 55 2/3 innings. "He's the best in our league, I think. I really do," after Alcantara threw a six-hit shutout against an admittedly weak Washington lineup last week. "He's got good stuff. He was tough all night long. He kept us off balance. You're not going to see anybody better than that right there. He's really good." Alcantara is the first pitcher to average eight innings in a six-start stretch since in May 2017, and the first pitcher to throw at least 55 innings in a seven-start stretch since and both did it in 2016. The 26-year-old Alcantara has become one of the game's preeminent workhorses. He might be the sport's best innings guy, in fact. "I got to see (Kershaw's seven-start stretch), and it was pretty good," . "You don't want to put (Alcantara) in anybody's category or put any kind of label on him, but he is getting to be that guy that you kind of count on him. It's almost like it's six or seven on a bad night. He keeps his pitch count down early, and he's getting everything over, he's a lot to handle." Since joining Gunner Olszewski Jersey the Marlins' rotation for good in 2019, Alcantara ranks among the league leaders in innings pitched and batters faced, with only a 26-day stint on the COVID list in 2020 preventing him from claiming the top spot on each list: Innings pitched since 2019Batters faced since 20191. : 543 1. Zack Wheeler: 2,222 2. :539 2/32. : 2,207 3.Sandy Alcantara:536 1/33. Sandy Alcantara: 2,198 4.Aaron Nola:5364. : 2,195 5. : 520 5. Jos Berros: 2,171 (Nola and Wheeler appearing on those leaderboards is a testament to their effectivene s and durability, and also at least partly a function of former Phillies manager Joe Girardi not trusting his bullpen, and riding his horses as long as po sible.) Alcantara is more than just an innings eater, of course. He owns a 1.68 ERA this season and a 2.76 ERA since 2020, which is 52 percent better than league average once adjusted for ballpark and the league's offensive environment. That is fourth among all pitchers. Alcantara leads all players (pitchers and hitters) with 3.9 WAR this season. He is an ace, through and through, and far and away the best player the Marlins received in their fire sale trades three-and-a-half years ago. New England Patriots Sleepwear Underwear CHC LF #8 BA0.274R30HR7RBI30SB5 It has been a difficult season for the rebuilding . Probably more difficult than expected, as Chicago is riding an eight-game losing streak and is on track to finish with one of the sport's five worst records for the first time since 2013. It's not all bad news, of course. has bounced back from a down 2021 and is having his best, most complete offensive season.Happ, now one of the club's longest tenured players, owns a .274/.374/.458 batting line with seven home runs and by far the lowest strikeout (20.2 percent) and swinging strike (10.1 percent) rates of his career. No player has increased his contact rate on pitches in the strike zone this year as much as Happ (minimum 400 plate appearances in 2021 and 200 plate appearances in 2022):Ian Happ: +8.5% (77.8% to 86.3%) : +6.0% (76.1% to 82.1%) : +5.9% (87.4% to 93.2%) : +5. Ty Montgomery Jersey 6% (86.9% to 92.5%) : +5.3% (82.2% to 87.5%)Truth be told, Happ's improved contact ability dates back to last season. He had a miserable first four months last season before making some adjustments, and hitting his stride in August. Happ hit his stride in August and hasn't slowed down since. The before and after numbers: PAAVG/OBP/SLGK%BB%Zone contact%April 2021 through July 2021 312 .180/.294/.326 28.8% 12.8% 77.6% August 2021 to present 461.281/.369/.51924.7%11.9%82.1%"It's just trying to find a way to get on time," . "Finding a way to be on time and trusting that when you're on time, you're going to have the ability to have succe s. There's a couple mechanical things that are kind of falling in place." Happ is a switch-hitter and much of his improvement is tied up his right-handed swing. He authored a weak .213/.301/.352 line against southpaws last season and was no better than average against lefties in his career prior to 2022. This year Happ is hitting .354/.415/.542 against lefties. Small sample size caveats apply, though never in his career did Happ hit lefties as well as he has right now, even in a random two-month stretch. "We talked to him a little bit about a mechanical move within it during spring training," . "He did a lot of work right-handed. I think he takes a lot of pride in that. So, I think you're seeing his overall profile strengthen, because his right hand's really solid." Happ has always brought strong exit velocities and hard-hit rates to the table, though making contact was a real struggle at times, and pitchers could exploit the holes in his swing. He hasn't completely closed up those holes -- Happ is still susceptible to elevated fastballs -- but he's closed them enough Justin Bethel Jersey to drastically improve his contact ability and thus his overall production. Given their place in the standings and the fact Happ is scheduled to become a free agent after next season, chances are his name will be popular at the