Bank on Santander
The Baltimore Orioles were already cruising to a victory on Sunday when Anthony Santander stepped to the plate and crushed an Emilio Pagán fastball for a grand slam, putting an exclamation point on the O’s W. Santander finished the afternoon 3-for-5 with two runs and five RBI to go along with his fifth HR of the season. Baltimore has been buoyed by their budding young superstars and it can be easy to overlook the consistent power that Santander has provided over the last few seasons. After hitting 33 HRs in 2022 and another 28 in 2023, Santander has started 2024 a little slow but he has cut down on strikeouts considerably and his .218 batting average should come up a bit as the season progresses. He doesn’t bring the excitement that guys like Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg do, but Anthony Santander is a reliable source of HRs and RBI batting cleanup in the Baltimore lineup.
Let’s see how the other hitters did Sunday
Oneil Cruz (PIT): 2-4, HR, 1 R, 2 RBI.
Don’t look now but Oneil Cruz is starting to wake up. After an unbelievably tough stretch where some wondered whether Cruz should be sent down to AAA, Cruz has now homered in two of the last three games, giving the Pirates some much needed life on offense. Big things were expected this season after Cruz dominated in Spring Training, but things haven’t exactly gone as planned. It is important to remember that Cruz is just 25 years old and still hasn’t accumulated a full season’s worth of at-bats at the Major League level. Fantasy managers should hold tight for now and give Cruz the benefit of the doubt because as he showed on Sunday, the potential is still there.
Luis Garcia, Jr. (WAS): 4-4, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, SB.
Luis Garcia punctuated a big weekend by going 4-for-4 with a three-run HR off Alek Manoah to give the Nationals a win and bring their record to .500. Garcia has now reached base in 9 of his last 11 plate appearances and is batting .337/.381/.510 so far in 2024. While he’s not someone I would rush to the waiver wire for, Garcia has proven to be a solid Major League hitter and does have some value in deeper leagues.
Nick Gordon (MIA): 4-4, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB.
We got another 4-for-4 performance on Sunday courtesy of Miami’s Nick Gordon, who got the Marlins off to a big start with his first inning three-run HR off Joe Boyle. Gordon is not someone I would be considering even in deeper leagues, but it is nice to see the son of Flash Gordon getting some time in the big leagues, even if it is for a putrid Marlins team.
Ketel Marte (ARI): 1-4, HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB.
Ketel Marte continues to be one of the more underrated star players in baseball, especially since his HR power returned in 2023. After hitting a career-high 32 HRs in 2019, Marte only hit 28 combined HRs during the next two seasons. Marte hit 25 HRs for the Diamondbacks in 2023 and is already up to 6 this season. Looks like another All-Star campaign for one of the game’s best 2B.
Bryce Harper (PHI): 1-4, HR, 1 R, 3 RBI.
With the game tied in the 3rd inning, Bryce Harper launched a pitch from Logan Webb 410 feet into the Phillies bullpen for a three-run HR that gave Philly a lead it would not surrender. While some bad luck has hindered Harper’s batting average, he’s bumped up his walk rate and is hitting homers at higher rate than last season. Hitting in the middle of the Philadelphia lineup should give Harper a shot at another MVP this season.
Eloy Jiménez (CHW): 1-4, HR, 1 R, 1 RBI.
We’ve been waiting years for Eloy Jimenez to fulfill his immense potential and hopefully his recent hot streak is an indicator that he is getting there. Jimenez’s 411-foot HR on Sunday was his fourth in the last two weeks, during which time he has a 133 wRC+. The White Sox offense doesn’t offer a lot of protection around him, but I am going to be watching Jimenez closely over the next few months to see if his potential is realized.
Rafael Devers (BOS): 2-5, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.
Rafael Devers has raised his walk rate all the way up to 15.0% from 9.5%, but it was his power that showed out on Sunday when the 27-year-old third-baseman hit his fourth HR in the 9th inning. His home run power has been a bit down this season, but with the weather warming I have no doubt Devers will reach the 30-HR plateau for the third time in four years.
Randy Arozarena (TB): 1-5, HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB.
With a .143/.234/.278 line, it has been a rough start to the season for Randy Arozarena, and Sunday’s game against the Mets saw more of the same as he struck out three times. However, it also saw some positives as Arozarena stole his fifth base and tied the game up in the bottom of the ninth with his fifth HR on a 3-2 pitch with two outs. A .165 BABIP shows that Arozarena has gotten extremely unlucky up to this point, although his 29.8 K% is discouraging. Nevertheless, I would consider Arozarena a great buy-low candidate.
José Ramírez (CLE): 1-3, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB.
Another win for the 22-12 and another big game for Jose Ramirez as he hit his sixth HR and stole his fifth base. We are a few years removed from Ramirez’s 36-home run season and he hasn’t exactly lit it up with a .230/.279/.415 line. Speaking of buy-low candidates, if you can strike a deal for Ramirez I would pull the trigger.
Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter/X)