Adam Do It All

Adam Duvall (MIA): 3-4, 2 HR, 3 R, 6 RBI, BB.

Adam Duvall continues to extend his fantasy relevancy into his age 32 season as he collects three hits, including a pair of homers with three runs scored and six RBI in the Marlins’ bludgeoning of the Cubs on Friday. Duvall’s six RBI game ties him with teammate Jesús Aguilar for second place among NL hitters with 48 on the season. The power has rarely been in question with Duvall, who cranked his 14th homer of the season with his 103.7 mph shot in the seventh inning Friday. Those in need of a power boost who might be able to take a hit in hitting ratios should probably consider rostering Duvall, especially while he’s experiencing this hot June, even if it’s just for a short run.

Let’s see how the other hitters did Friday

Luis Urias (MIL): 2-2, HR, 2 R, RBI, BB, SB.

Luis Urias picked up his first combo meal of his career Friday as he continues to make strides toward being the player the Brewers were hoping they traded Trent Grisham prior to the 2020 season. Filling in all around the diamond this season, Urias has found himself batting leadoff for the Brewers more often than not throughout the month of June, rewarding fantasy managers with 12 runs scored in the month. Urias continues to swing a relatively hot bat this month as he puts up a 46.5% hard-hit rate in June and pushing half of his 14 hits for extra bases. He’ll continue to play every day at the hot corner for the Brewers for the foreseeable future and as long as he keeps leading off he should be monitored as he’ll continue to volume his way to a solid number of counting stats in most fantasy formats.

Shohei Ohtani (LAA): 2-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.

Do we deserve this man? Perhaps not, but let’s just enjoy it anyway.

Justin Upton (LAA): 3-4, 2B, 3 R, RBI, BB.

The three-hit performance helps to raise Upton’s season-long slash to .245/.337/.481 to go along with a combined 72 Runs and RBI on the year. Since moving into the lead-off spot for the Angels on May 23rd, Upton has hit an impressive .330/.429/.614 through 105 plate appearances. He’ll continue in his new role for the foreseeable future as long as he can stay healthy enough to play and continue his double-digit walk rate. There’s no reason he should be sitting on your fantasy league’s waiver wire at this point, regardless of league size, but yet he’s still available in 40% of leagues across Yahoo!. Go figure.

Taylor Ward (LAA): 3-4, 2 2B, R, 3 RBI, BB.

All this talk about Jo Adell and Brandon Marsh needing to be called up to fill in the right side of the Angels’ outfield after the injuries to Mike Trout and Dexter Fowler have only fueled the fire within Taylor Ward’s soul. Ward has now reached base safely in each of his last ten games, driven by his current eight-game hitting streak, and has forced his way into the top third of the Angels’ lineup after spending a majority of his time in the bottom half. Ward’s 43.8% hard-hit rate and 10.8% barrel rate indicate his .307 BABIP may be sustainable and if he can stay in the third spot of the Angels’ lineup moving forward he will get plenty of opportunities to build on his production thus far.

Wil Myers (SD): 3-4, 2B, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.

With his ninth multi-home run game of his career, Wil Myers has not had one such performance in every MLB season of his career except one (2015). Despite the three hard-hit performance, Myers has failed to live up to the exceptional levels he set for himself in 2020, putting up a 38.8% hard-hit rate and 8.6% barrel rate this season, both below his career norms and well below in 2020 totals. Myers remains a solid streaming option off the wire in 12 teamers that roster just three outfielders, but shouldn’t be relied upon to carry any offense and should be considered replaceable in most shallow leagues.

Ozzie Albies (ATL): 3-5, 2B, HR, 3 R, 3 RBI.

Albies’ first-inning double marked his 21st such hit of the season, good for third-most in baseball so far this season. In an effort to outdo himself, Albies went on to hit the longest and hardest-hit ball of the game in the second inning, blasting his 10th homer of the season off Carlos Martinez. Albies has reached base in all but 12 games this season, with four of those coming at the very start of the season.

Cesar Hernandez (CLE): 3-5, HR, R, 5 RBI.

Cesar Hernandez quietly continues to be a valuable piece in deep fantasy formats as he’s succeeded to score a run in nine of his last 11 games, bringing his total for the season up to 43, good for 14th in the American League. On the surface that may not seem impressive, but if you’ve been employing Hernandez in your middle infield slot on your roster then you’ve been quite happy with that sort of production, and the 11 home runs don’t hurt, especially considering he’s quickly approaching his career-high of 15 long balls set in 2018 and we haven’t even hit the All-Star break. Leading off all season will help accumulate these sort of totals, even with a .224/.310/.406 slash on the year. As long as Hernandez holds onto that role he’ll continue to provide value in most formats.

Gregory Polanco (PIT): 1-3, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB, SB.

In a game full of hits, Polanco’s one was the loudest of them all as he set the tone early in the first inning with a 410-foot shot, traveling 109.1 mph off the bat – the longest and hardest-hit ball of the night. The long ball was his seventh of the season and second of the month as he continues to push along attempting what once seemed impossible for him and that is to stay healthy enough to play all season. He’s totaled 213 plate appearances thus far, but unfortunately, that volume has been doing more harm than good as he’s posted just a .206/.272/.360 slash in that time. The combo meal on Friday marked his second straight game with a stolen base, bringing his total to seven successful attempts on the season. Those in a desperate place for speed could take a flyer on Polanco, knowing full well the warts that come with it.

Joc Pederson (CHC): 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.

Pederson continues to play just about every day for the Cubs, just as they suggested when they signed him this past offseason. Sure the volume sounds like it should be nice, but Pederson’s long-standing struggles against lefties have hurt his final line on the season as he has only hit one extra-base hit off lefties this season, and his .214 batting average through 45 plate appearances against southpaws in dragging his season slash down to .245/.308/.469. He’s still passable in deeper weekly formats but plays a much better role in daily leagues where fantasy managers can feel confident benching him when the Cubs do not.

Cedric Mullins (BAL): 3-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI.

At this point, every night should be Cedric Mullins‘ T-shirt night in Baltimore. If you roster Mullins, be thankful.