Rider of Johan
Johan Rojas (PHI): 3-5, HR, R, 2 RBI, SB.
Last night we saw the Phillies gang up on the poor Marlins in an 8-2 rout as Trevor Rogers didn’t make it out of the fourth. With two down in the seventh and the Phillies ahead 6-0, Johan Rojas crushed a 0-1 slider from Eli Villalobos 388 feet to left for his second dinger of the season. Before debuting this past Sunday, Villalobos had a 4.34 ERA and 1.40 WHIP across 259.1 IP in the minors, so this kinda sorta feels like a garbage time special.
Still, Rojas finished with a pretty nice line going 3-for-5 with a steal. So is there anything to see here? Possibly in deep leagues because of his stolen base ability; he swiped 30 bags last year across 76 games with Double-A Reading.
However, his ability as a hitter is suspect at best. He’s shown above-average contact ability (108 according to PLV. However, PLV has also pegged him with a 67 in Strikezone Judgement and an 84 in Decision Value (100 is league average) meaning his pitch recognition and swing decisions are pretty shaky. Rojas has some raw power but hasn’t shown the ability to get to it in games very frequently as his batted ball data isn’t anything to write home about (81 power via PLV). His range and glove in center should keep him in the Phillies’ lineup, but hitting ninth with a suspect average (to put it nicely) is not too great so he’s probably just someone to stream for steals in NL-only leagues.
Let’s see how the other hitters did Friday:
Anthony Rizzo (NYY): 2-4, HR, R, 2 RBI.
Rizzo accounted for the two runs we saw last night at the Trop. With runners on the corner and two down in the fourth, Rizzo slapped a 98 mph heater from Taj Bradley the other way to left bringing home Aaron Judge. He led off the ninth golfing an 89 mph cutter from Shawn Armstrong 392 feet to right (103.8 EV) for his seventh of the year. Rizzo has shown great contact ability this year (119 via PLV; 100 is average) but his power is about the same (94; 108 batted ball events). He’s also swinging more frequently; his 7.5% BB rate is his lowest since 2012 when he was rookie-eligible.
Paul DeJong (CHW): 2-3, HR, 2 R, RBI.
Right after rookie catcher Korey Lee crushed a sinker from Carlos Carrasco to left for his third homer of the season, Paul DeJong went yard on a changeup (390 feet, 107 EV). DeJong has three homers in his past four games and six this season as a regular in the bottom of the White Sox order. However, the former Cardinals’ K rate has spiked to 36.8% with a 76 contact ability via PLV. DeJong has shown good pop but his .229 career average (2,916 PA) makes him just a stopgap MI for deep leagues.
Dylan Moore (SEA): 3-4, HR, R, 5 RBI.
Moore ambushed a hanging slider from Paul Blackburn for his third home run of the year, pushing the M’s ahead 5-0 in the fourth. The 31-year-old veteran, who has a career .208 average with a 30.4% K rate across 1,333 PA, entered the night having played 16 of his 28 games at SS. However, he’ll lose that regular role when J.P. Crawford, who recently started swinging in the cage after landing on the IL with an oblique strain on April 24th, returns.
Jo Adell (LAA): 1-4, HR, R, RBI.
Adell led off the fifth by smoking a 0-1 sinker from Alec Marsh 436 feet to left center (111.9 EV) for what turned out to be the Angels’ lone run in a 2-1 loss to the Royals. The former top prospect has a 23.4% K rate in 98 PAs this year in contrast to his career mark of 33.8% in 717 PAs. Maybe there’s something to see here? Again, the sample size is very short, but Adell has demonstrated above-average marks on PLV, including 119 in power (60 BBE) and 105 in contact ability.
Cody Bellinger (CHC): 4-5, 2 2B, HR, 2 R, RBI.
Bellinger’s first at-bat didn’t look like it wasn’t gonna end well; down in the count 0-2 to Jared Jones is not the spot anyone wants to be in. But he somehow managed to go yard by golfing at a 100-mph heater off his shoetops and sending it 389 feet to right (103.7 EV). After hitting his seventh of the year, Bellinger got Jones again by drilling a curveball down the right field line for a double that brought home Nico Hoerner, tying the game at 2-2. The relay throw beat Hoerner to the plate but Yasmani Grandal couldn’t handle it allowing Bellinger to advance to third. Bellinger later a single and another double and is now hitting .268 with a .369 wOBA. He’s been making improved swing decisions this year relative to last season according to PLV (110 DV this year; 87 DV last year). However, his contact ability has dipped from 117 to 98.
Luis Campusano (SDP): 2-3, 2B, HR, R, RBI.
Last night’s game at Petco Park featured a spicy pitcher’s duel between Michael King and Tyler Glasnow. With one down in the top of the third, Campusano wrecked a 97 mph heater in the top of the zone from Glasnow and sent it soaring 428 feet to center (105 EV) for his third of the year. Campusano has a strange setup in the box, doesn’t he? It reminds me a little of what Tony Batista used to do. Anyway, it works for him as he’s now hitting .283 with a .336 wOBA, good for eighth and ninth respectively among qualified catchers.
MJ Melendez (KCR): 3-4, 3B.
Melendez entered last night’s game hitting .182 but the three hits got him above the Mendoza line. The triple came on a 2-2 changeup from Griffin Canning that he slapped into the right field corner with two down in the second. The results haven’t been there for Melendez but he’s shaved a couple of points off his K rate with his contact ability moving up from 78 last year to 92 this season. He’s also still showing above-average power (111 via PLV), making him at least a little interesting in leagues where he retained C eligibility.
Matt Olson (ATL): 1-4, HR, R, 2 RBI.
Jose Quintana’s sudden bout with gopheritis in the third ended up being the story of the game last night in Citi Field. Ronald Acuña Jr. started it with a 461-foot tank job just to the right of the Big Apple in center. So much for him having lost his power stroke. Ozzie Albies followed with his third of the year. Austin Riley walked and then Matt Olson, for the first time since, checks notes, April 7th (!!) went yard to right center (395 feet, 108.5 EV). Olson’s power checks in at 113 on PLV (87 BBE) about a standard deviation above the average but down appreciably from last year’s 133. Still, you know he’ll get it going.
Eddie Rosario (WSN): 2-4, 2B, 2 R, SB.
Remember his glory days in Minnesota? It feels like ages ago. Anyway, Rosario has been getting good results lately hitting .400 on the nose in eight games in May and with three steals. His profile isn’t too exciting with basically average contact (104) and power (104) but he’s getting the at-bats making him an option if you need a stopgap in the OF.
Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter/X)
