Mengden allowed six runs on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts over just four innings in a loss Wednesday against the Rangers.
Of the five hits Mengden allowed, a ridiculous four were home runs, and none of them were cheap, as Jurickson Profar's 395 foot blast in the third inning was the shortest of the four. Mengden had allowed just six home runs in his first 12 starts and had a stingy 0.7 HR/9, a major improvement from the 1.2 HR/9 he posted in his first two seasons. That improvement is all but erased now, as his 2018 HR/9 now sits at 1.1. Mengden still owns a solid 51:11 K:BB with a 3.45 ERA, and Texas is known as a hitters' paradise, but this is concerning, as Mengden's ability to suppress the home run was a big factor behind his early success. He'll get a chance to prove Wednesday's start was just a fluke Tuesday against Houston.