Ryan Mountcastle (BAL): 2-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI
It’s Ryan Mountcastle’s world. The rest of us are just living in it.
One of the longest-tenured members of the suddenly ferocious Orioles, Mountcastle is often overlooked and underrated. Year in and year out, Mountcastle quietly puts together one strong season after another at the plate. I wouldn’t say that Mountcastle is a special player, but he certainly is a consistently good player with a sneaky level of power and quality of contact that regularly rates among the game’s best. He offers big barrel rates, a high average exit velocity, and a top-of-the-line hard-hit rate that’s offset (and often overshadowed) by his tendency to chase and miss pitches out of the zone.
The past week has been pure Mountcastle.
Mouncastle went 0-for-12 with five strikeouts in the first three games of a pivotal four-game series against the Yankees. Despite his lack of contribution, the Orioles won two of the first three and went into Thursday looking for a series win. Mountcastle stepped up to help get the job done, going 2-for-4 with his fifth home run of the season. The homer came on a pitch from Carlos Rodón low out of the zone, traveling 405 feet to straightaway center at 107 mph. He later drove in another run with a 101.3 mph EV single in the fifth.
It was a rough start all around for Rodón, but Mountcastle is a certified lefty-killer. His career slash line against southpaws (.281/.345/.520) is significantly higher than his line against righties (.257/.315/.432). Mountcastle should be rostered in all leagues and an automatic start against lefties.
Overall for the year, Mouncastle is hitting .290/.345/.495 with five home runs, 16 RBI, and 18 runs.
Let’s See How the Other Hitters Did Thursday
Jon Singleton (HOU): 2-3, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI
Singleton put the Astros ahead with a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning—a shallow 345-ft blast into the first row beyond the right field fence. A 32-year-old journeyman who has spent most of his professional career in either the minors or the Mexican league, Singleton offers extremely limited upside. But he has earned a little extra playing time after José Abreu was shockingly (but not that shocking, really) demoted to the minors earlier this week. Singleton has started the past three games, going 4-for-9 with two home runs, six RBI, and four runs scored. He is an OK bat in a strong lineup and sometimes that’s worth something.
Jacob Stallings (COL): 2-4, HR, R, 3 RBI
Stallings gave Colorado an early lead with his first home run of the season Thursday. Stallings went down to one knee to connect on the two-out, three-run blast in the second inning that traveled an impressive 409 feet with a 107 mph EV. He had two other hard-hit balls in the game—a 102.4 mph single in the fourth and a 97.4 fly ball in the seventh. Similar to Singleton, there is limited upside in his bat, but in two-catcher leagues, Stallings should be on the radar. He has just 29 at-bats in 12 games, but he is slashing .345/.429/.517 with a .377 xwOBA.
Christopher Morel (CHC): 1-4, HR, R, 3 RBI, BB, SB
Morel started the season hot with hits in 10 of his first 11 games. He mostly disappeared after that with his batting average dropping a whopping 117 points in less than a month. So, it’s been nice to see a little more life again at the plate recently. Morel pulled a towering three-run homer into the left-field seats for his fifth long ball of the season (390 ft, 103.6 mph EV). It was his second home run in the past four games. There is a buy-low opportunity here. Morel’s quality of contact looks solid, but he’s being held back by an unlucky .226 BABIP.
Francisco Lindor (NYM): 2-3, 2 2B, R, 4 RBI
Lindor wasn’t even supposed to be in this game but played the role of hero anyway. After leaving early Wednesday due to illness, Lindor was originally slated for the bench Thursday but entered as a pinch hitter in the sixth. On a 1-0 count, Cubs reliever Keegan Thompson hung an 88 mph curve and Lindor pulled the ball into the corner to drive in a pair of runs. Brandon Nimmo tied the game two batters later and the game went to extra innings. The Cubs took the lead in the top of the 11th, but Lindor won it all for the Mets with a walk-off double to the opposite corner. Lindor started this season slowly and the overall numbers are still ugly, but the buy-low window has closed. Since April 14, Lindor is slashing .302/.353/.571 with four home runs, 13 RBI, 11 runs, and four stolen bases.
Jesús Sánchez (MIA): 1-4, 2 RBI
Continuing the hero theme, I present Jesús Sánchez. The final line is unimpressive, but extra-inning, walk-off hits are too exciting to ignore. Sánchez impressively followed a 95 mph four-seamer to the top of the zone for an opposite-field line drive single with two runners on base in the bottom of the 10th. It was a satisfying payoff for Sánchez who made solid contact all day with little to show for it. That’s been the story of his season, too. Behind the scenes, Sánchez is having a career year, but it hasn’t paid off tangibly just yet. His 94.8 average EV is fifth in the league and his 54.7% hard-hit rate is 17th. There is a large gap between his .280 wOBA and his .343 xwOBA.
Gleyber Torres (NYY): 1-3, HR, R, RBI, BB
Similar to Sánchez, Gleyber Torres has had more happening behind the scenes than on the stat sheet. Torres does not have the eye-popping quality of contact (nor will he ever), but rather he has the look of a player still honing his timing. His low chase rate is truly elite. The strikeouts are a huge concern and he’s hitting a strange amount of pop-ups, but it was nice to see Torres make some waves Thursday. He connected for his first home run of the season—a 418 ft solo shot in the sixth (100.9 mph EV). Hopefully, that eases some of the pressure and Torres can return to resembling last year’s breakout player.
Mike Yastrzemski (SFG): 1-2, HR, R, RBI
Yastrzemski broke a scoreless deadlock in the third inning with his third home run of the season. He connected on a low 89 mph cutter and sent it 393 ft (100.3 mph EV) to the Sox bullpen that juts out into right centerfield at Fenway. Yastrzemski is having a down year with season-low marks in average EV, hard-hit rate, and xwOBA, but he has been heating up at the plate recently (albeit in a platoon role). All three of his home runs have come in the past two weeks. Since April 18, he is slashing .379/.419/.690 with a 92 mph average EV and .474 wOBA.
Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC): 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, SB
Crow-Armstrong pulled a double into the rightfield corner in the top of the sixth inning to drive in a run that gave the Cubs a 5-2 lead (a lead that Lindor would soon erase). PCA has a .238 xBA since his recent call-up, but there was nothing cheap about this 95.9 mph EV line drive. He also showcased his 97th-percentile sprint speed with his first stolen base following an infield single in the eighth. PCA continues to look nothing like the guy who was woefully lost at the plate in his first taste of big-league experience in 2023. This year, he’s slashing .292/.280/.500 with a home run, seven RBI, and two runs scored.
Tyler O’Neill (BOS): 1-2, 2B, RBI, 2 BB
Keep it coming O’Neill! The newest member of the Red Sox kept the good times rolling Thursday in his team’s losing effort. He plated the only run for Boston, tying the game in the third inning with a double that loudly thunked off the Green Monster. O’Neill has a 1.095 OPS, .464 wOBA, and 200 wRC+ in his first month-plus with his new team. Sit back and enjoy the ride, Boston. There’s nothing lucky about it. O’Neill has just been that good.