Wenceel Pérez (DET): 3-4, 2 HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, BB.
All I Do Is Wenceel
Game two of the Tigers/Cardinals double-header was the best of Wenceel Pérez’s young career. You may be asking, “Who is Wenceel Pérez?” and if that’s you, don’t feel bad. I hadn’t heard of Detroit’s freshly debuted prospect until Kyle Stanzel covered him briefly in Monday’s Batter’s Box article. For that, I say: I owe you an apology. I wasn’t really familiar with your game.
Pérez is a 24-year-old right fielder hailing from the Dominican Republic who signed with the Tigers back in 2016 as an international free agent. Although he’s never popped on prospect lists, he’s slowly worked his way through Detroit’s minor league system posting solid results at the plate nearly every stop of the way. He doesn’t have much power in his bat, but he makes up for it with top-tier speed on the basepaths which he reaches with regularity due to his strong plate discipline numbers. He never struck out more than 20% of the time at any minor league stop in which he reached at least 25 plate appearances and was practically a guarantee to reach double-digit walk rates. When on base, his 83rd-percentile sprint speed means he can swipe bags with the best of them.
Now that you know a bit about Pérez, let’s dive into what he did yesterday. Pérerz introduced himself to the Cardinals in a big way, putting together a 3-4, 2 HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, BB performance to help the Tigers to an 11-6 win and a split of the doubleheader. Both of Pérez’s home runs were nearly identical. The first was hit 378 feet at 101.2 mph and the second had just slightly better numbers going 385 feet at 101.9 mph.
After yesterday’s showing, Pérez’s numbers jump off the page. He’s slashing .302/.375/.628 with 3 HR and 2 SB through 48 plate appearances. He’s quickly earned himself the favor of A.J. Hinch. Detroit’s manager has started plugging Pérez into the lineup more consistently—he’s started six of the Tigers’ last seven games—and it’s largely come in the second or third spot in the lineup.
Pérez could be a nice pickup in deep leagues. He’s certainly worth an add in AL-Only and 15-teamers. In 12-team and shallower formats, I’d be a little more cautious picking up Pérez. If you need stolen base help or your league rules reward OBP or walks, go for it, but his spotty power track record combined with just a 4% barrel rate means this early power surge and .628 SLG is largely noise.
Let’s see how the other hitters did Tuesday:
Riley Greene (DET): 3-5, 2B, HR, R, 2 RBI.
Pérez wasn’t the only Tiger that looked great yesterday. The line above is from game two, but Greene also homered in game one as well. He’s now up to 7 HR and a .396 wOBA in his breakout season. He’s in the 86th percentile or better in each of Batting, Baserunning, and Fielding Run Value on Savant. Greene entered the season with a career 8.5% walk rate and he’s rocketed that mark up to 19.2% this year. That’s the best mark in the majors.
Willy Adames (MIL): 1-3, HR, R, 4 RBI, BB.
After a down 2023, Adames is back to his usual antics in Milwaukee. He opened the scoring yesterday with a first-inning sac fly before launching a 400-foot three-run homer to break things open in the fifth. Adames has 4 HR, 4 SB, and 17 RBI on the year, and his .362 wOBA is a career high. Although he put up a nice game, it was overshadowed by a benches-clearing fight started after Abner Uribe and Jose Siri exchanged words in the eighth inning. Is there a more heated rivalry these days than… checks notes …the Brewers and Rays?
Jon Singleton (HOU): 1-4, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB.
First base has been a black hole during the Astros’ dismal start to 2024, but Singleton is looking to change that. He hit his first home run of the year yesterday, crushing a four-seamer from Carlos Carrasco 431 feet and 114.4 mph over the right field fence. Singleton had been splitting time at first base with José Abreu, but Houston optioned the struggling veteran before yesterday’s game, so Singleton may have a chance to claim this job.
I’d be remiss not to mention Joey Loperfido here as well. Houston called him up yesterday as the corresponding move to Abreu’s demotion and he went 1-5, R, 2 RBI in his big league debut. Loperfido has spent time at first base, second base, and all three outfield spots in the minors, and was slashing .287/.393/.713 with 13 homers in Triple-A this season. He’ll be a trendy FAAB target this weekend.
Josh H. Smith (TEX): 2-3, HR, 2 R, RBI, BB.
That H must stand for Hits because that’s all Smith’s done since taking over everyday third base duties in Texas. He’s slashing .317/.417/.500 and I wish I could tell you that these good times will keep rolling. Smith’s .369 BABIP is over 100 points above his career mark of .256 and his hard-hit rate is in the 19th percentile. On the plus side, Smith’s plate discipline numbers are as good as ever and his 7.1% SwStr% is a career-best, but outside of AL-Only formats, he’s just not going to contribute much to fantasy squads. He has a total of 10 HR and 5 SB across 581 MLB plate appearances.
Wilyer Abreu (BOS): 3-4, 2B, 3B, R, RBI, BB.
Abreu had a phenomenal April and I’m sad to say I had overlooked it until just now. Yesterday was his fourth game with at least three hits, and although he has only two home runs so far, his .399 wOBA is a top-20 mark in baseball. Abreu didn’t open the season as an everyday starter, but a plethora of injuries presented an opportunity and he seized it. Abreu’s started 13 of Boston’s last 14 games and has settled into the cleanup spot in the batting order. If you overlooked Abreu as I did, he’s still available in 80+% of ESPN leagues and 49% of Yahoo! leagues.
Nick Castellanos (PHI): 3-4, HR, 2 R, RBI.
This is just what the doctor ordered for Castellanos. He entered play with an ugly .173/.242/.218 batting line, so he desperately needed to get things going. His two singles weren’t particularly well hit, each having EVs under 74 mph, but his homer was a dramatic crush job. With the Phillies trailing in the top of the ninth, he took Carlos Estévez the other way for a game-tying 102 mph solo shot. One game shouldn’t totally change your perspective on Castellanos. He still has a laughable 19.3% SwStr% and his Statcast lollipops are all blue. Castellanos may be floating around your league’s waiver wire after the rough start, and if your team has leeway to stomach some rough numbers, he may be worth an add while we wait for him to find his groove. He may be doing that right now.
Ryan McMahon (COL): 3-5, 2 2B, R, 2 RBI.
The Rockies may have one of the worst records in baseball but at least Ryan McMahon is tearing the cover off the ball. He’s hitting .321/.397/.495 this season which is good for a 134 wRC+. Shockingly across his seven years in the bigs, McMahon’s never even had an average wRC+ so this would be a career high by far. Unfortunately, the good times won’t last. McMahon’s running an unsustainable .431 BABIP, but let’s end this with good news because things are bleak in Colorado. This is the fourth straight year that McMahon has raised his barrel rate. It’s sitting at 12.3%, the 31st best in MLB.
Andrew Benintendi (CHW): 1-4, HR, 2 R, RBI, SB.
You can’t stop Benintendi. You can only hope to contain him. He extended his hitting streak to five games yesterday and all three of his long balls this year have come during this stretch. Benintendi got a cutter low and inside from Cole Sands and pulled it 384 feet over the right field fence. He also added a stolen base to complete his first combo meal since June 20th, 2022. This has been a fun little run, but don’t do anything rash like adding Benintendi in fantasy. It’s not worth it.
Paul Goldschmidt (STL): 4-5, 2B, R.
Goldschmidt’s rough start to the year may be turning around. This line was from game two of the doubleheader and he now has 14 hits in his last 39 at-bats. Goldschmidt dug himself quite a hole so the overall slash line still stands at an unremarkable .236/.323/.318. Now may be a good time to target him in a trade if his manager is itching to make a move and hasn’t noticed that the tides have begun to turn.