To the Window! To the Walls!
Taylor Walls (TB): 3-4, 3B, HR, R, 4 RBI, SB.
Sunday at Yankee Stadium was like Prom 2005, at least for me. I was belting out Lil Jon lyrics from my couch as Taylor Walls ripped three hits, including a grand slam, and swiped a bag as the Rays defeated the Yankees 8-7.
Stuck in the shadow of Wander Franco and Vidal Brujan, Walls wasn’t quite as celebrated a prospect as either of those two as they ascended the Rays system, though as a third-round pick, perhaps he should have been. His defense was his top tool as a prospect, while his bat was graded as plus-contact and not much more. In his first two seasons with the Rays, Walls combined for just nine home runs in over 600 plate appearances, with a slugging percentage shy of .300 and an ISO hovering around .105. Nobody really expected much pop out of his bat. Fast-forward to 2023 and Walls has already swatted seven home runs in just 110 plate appearances with an OPS of .880. His wRC+ has gone from around 70 to 148 this season as he’s reduced his strikeout rate to a career-best 21.7%. This is a bonafide breakout before our eyes.
Taylor Walls (TB): 3-4, 3B, HR, R, 4 RBI, SB.
On Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium, Walls started his day with a triple in the fourth inning, taking a 2-0 sinker into the right-center gap. In his next at-bat, Walls smashed a 1-2 changeup into the right-field bleachers for a grand slam, his seventh home run of the year and the Rays’ fourth grand slam of the season. The home run broke a 4-4 tie and put Tampa ahead for good as the Rays held on for a one-run victory. He finished the day with an infield single, flashing his speed with a stolen base as well.
I’m sure the Tampa squad was singing along to Lil Jon & the Eastside Boyz in the locker room after the win.
Let’s see how the other hitters did Sunday
Adolis García (TEX): 3-5, 2B, HR, 2 R, 5 RBI.
“El Bombi” struck again, hitting his 10th home run of the season as the Rangers trounced the Oakland Athletics, 11-3. One of three hits on the day, Garcia blasted a 1-0 sinker over the left field fence for a grand slam, capping an eight-run eighth inning. Garcia added an RBI single and a ground-rule double for his fourth three-hit game of the season. The league leader in RBI, Garcia is on pace for a career year.
Trevor Larnach (MIN): 2-4, 2B, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, BB.
Larnach launched a 410-foot home run off of Marcus Stroman in the third inning on Sunday, spurring a seven-run rally as the Twins chased Stroman and posted an 8-0 lead on their way to a 16-3 win over the Cubs. Larnach added an RBI double in the eighth as the Twins put up seven runs once again. A position player pitched for the Cubs. It got ugly. We should move on.
Robbie Grossman (TEX): 3-5, 2B, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.
Grossman was part of the Rangers’ breakout offense as the squad scored 11 runs, including an eight-run eighth inning. Grossman opened the scoring with a two-run blast in the first inning. He took a 1-2 sweeper from JP Sears and sent it 371 feet to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead. He added a fifth-inning double and an RBI single in the eighth as Texas rolled to finish their 11-game road trip with a 7-4 mark.
Shea Langeliers (OAK): 2-3, HR, R, 3 RBI, BB.
Langeliers was one of the lone bright spots for Oakland on Sunday, smashing a 427-foot home run to deep left-center field for his seventh of the season. Langeliers worked the count to 3-1 before jumping on a waist-high sinking fastball, tying the game 3-3 before the Rangers massacred the Oakland bullpen in the eighth. Among MLB catchers, only Sean Murphy and Salvador Perez have hit more home runs (9) this season.
Josh Naylor (CLE): 2-4, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.
Fantasy managers are writhing after Naylor exploded this weekend, most likely on their bench. Entering the weekend series with the Angels with just four hits in his last 30 at-bats, Naylor proceeded to crush a home run in his third-consecutive game, a three-run shot propelling the Guardians to a 4-3 victory. NBA Jam rules dictate that we must now refer to Naylor as being “on fire.”
Christian Yelich (MIL): 2-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, SB.
A combo meal for Christian Yelich? I feel like that’s something we haven’t said since his 2018 MVP season. Well, it happened on Sunday. Yelich led off the game for the Brewers with a 433-foot smash to deep right field, taking Zack Greinke yard on an 87-mph “fastball.” Yelich added an RBI single in the third inning and swiped his ninth bag of the season. In 2021, Yelich finished with nine home runs and nine stolen bases in 400 plate appearances and fantasy pundits labeled him “DONE.” In just shy of 150 plate appearances so far this season, “Yelli” has seven home runs and nine stolen bags. BUY.
Bobby Witt Jr. (KC): 2-5, 2B, HR, R, 3 RBI.
I don’t like to throw stones from my glass house of a fantasy baseball media career. However, someone tweeted this on Friday:
“Bobby Witt is now hitting .222/.263/.414 on the season, and is 5-for-his-last-31. I’m not saying the Royals should send him to Omaha to straighten things out, and oh-by-the-way get back the year of service time they generously gave him last year. I’m just saying they could”
On Sunday, Witt recorded his second-consecutive multi-hit game, including a 407-foot dinger, his seventh of the season. As a Bobby Witt fantasy manager, PLEASE continue tweeting this blasphemy and PLEASE let it ignite a fire inside of Bobby Witt.
Ronald Acuña Jr. (ATL): 2-4, HR, 2 R, RBI, BB.
And now on to first-round fantasy draft picks that are NOT currently underperforming. Acuna led off the game with his eighth home run of the season, a 421-foot rocket off a Yusei Kikuchi fastball. Acuna added a single later in the game and scored another run as the Braves fell to the host Blue Jays, 6-5. Acuna leads the majors in OBP (.437) and runs scored (36) while ranking second in the league with 17 stolen bases.
CJ Abrams (WSH): 2-4, HR, R, 2 RBI.
I love seeing CJ Abrams flourish. He was called up to the majors at 22 years old and got a 125 at-bat trial with San Diego before they demoted them and then unceremoniously shipped him to Washington. At 22 years of age, I could barely manage to show up to my finals on time let alone manage a full-time job as an MLB player. Now a year later, Abrams is the everyday shortstop in Washington, where he hit his third home run of the season on Sunday. Abrams launched a belt-high cutter to straightaway center field for the eventual game-winning run as the Nationals beat the Mets, 3-2.
ROS Soto or JRod?