Canario is a Gold Mine

 

Alexander Canario (PIT): 2-3, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB

Back in the spring, Canario fought to hold onto a roster spot with the Mets.  Although he had a strong final week of spring training, he ended up on the wrong end of the roster bubble and was the final cut before the regular season.  Pittsburgh ended up signing him on April Fool’s Day, making the Pirates the fourth team that he’s spent time with over his short 20-game major league career.

April was not kind to Canario – he went 2-for-27, and ended up as Pittsburgh’s worst player in wRC+ with -2 for the month.  Despite the lack of production at the plate, the positive sign for him was his improved strikeout rate, averaging 23% compared to the above 40% rate he had in the minors in past years.  May has been a different story – since May 1, he has only one game without a hit and has gone 13-for-38, tying him with Isiah Kiner-Falefa for the best wRC+ rating on the team and second only to Oneil Cruz in on-base percentage.  Friday’s game was his third multi-hit game in a row, his second hit resulting in a 3-run home run off Ranger Suárez.

Three days ago in our Discord channel exclusive to PL Pro subscribers, our resident stat expert Kyle Bland said, “…if I had unlimited bench spots, I’d have Alexander Canario everywhere.”  Our rolling hitter charts also illustrate his climb out of the cellar:

Given that Canario is <1% owned in Yahoo leagues, it’s possible to go and roster him everywhere if you’re ready to believe Canario is an undiscovered gold mine.

 

Let’s see how the other hitters did Friday

 

Miguel Vargas (CHW): 4-4, 2B, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.

Rivalry weekend began with the White Sox and Cubs at Wrigley Field, with warm temps and a gusty 20 mph breeze out to left field.  Cade Horton – in his first real start (he had an opener last weekend in his debut) – served up a sweeper in the heart of the plate that Vargas decided to test with the jet stream out to left.  He and the Cubs bullpen would make this mistake a couple more times, resulting in another home run in his second at-bat, and a double in his final at-bat, giving him a perfect 4-4 day.

Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC): 4-5, HR, 2 R, 6 RBI.

Despite the wind out to left, PCA prefers to pull to the extreme right of the park, and he had no problem doing so with his 3-run shot in the bottom of the second inning:

He added another three singles over the course of the afternoon, matching Vargas’ 4-hit day.  Since taking over for Ian Happ at the top of the lineup on May 10, he’s averaging a hit and a run per game.

Wilmer Flores (SFG): 3-5, 3 HR, 3 R, 8 RBI.

The biggest Friday night performance was Wilmer Flores, who single-handedly beat the A’s by scoring eight of the Giants’ 9 total runs.  Flores hit a home run off three different A’s pitchers, moving him into a tie with Aaron Judge for league RBI leader with 41 total RBIs.

Riley Greene (DET): 2-4, 2B, HR, R, 3 RBI, BB.

Greene is currently riding a strong six-game hit streak, including three doubles and three home runs since May 10.  He’s also been an RBI machine, with nine driven in over that same period.  Both of his extra base hits in Friday’s game came vs. offspeed pitches, which has been his strength so far this season:

Will Benson (CIN): 2-4, HR, R, 3 RBI.

The only place more dangerous for pitchers on Friday than Wrigley was Great American Ball Park, where its small size paired with heat and humidity allowed four home runs, including Benson’s 3-run shot.  Benson was called up on May 10 when Jake Fraley went on IL, and he’s been the Reds’ hottest batter over the past week.  The Reds aren’t scheduled to face a lefty for a few days, so look for him to continue to take advantage of this opportunity and work his way onto the roster for good.

Bryce Harper (PHI): 3-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, SB.

The Phillies struggled a bit vs. starter Andrew Heaney, but Harper did his best to keep them in this game.  He had two of the Phillies’ four hits off Heaney for the game, and his second hit also resulted in his 1,000 career RBI.  Harper is now the 8th active player to achieve this milestone.

Iván Herrera (STL): 3-4, 2 2B, 2 R, 4 RBI.

Despite missing a month with a knee bruise, Herrera returned to the lineup on May 9 and only got stronger.  He’s had at least a hit in every game since his return, and his last two games, including Friday, have been back-to-back three-hit games.  Any concerns about him being a part-time player can be put to rest, as he and Pedro Pagés are alternating between being the active catcher and designated hitter.  As of Friday night’s game, Herrera is the league leader in ISO, wOBA, and wRC+.  He’s currently only rostered in about half of Yahoo leagues.

Cody Bellinger (NYY): 3-4, 2B, 2 R.

Manny Machado failed to get a hit in Friday night’s game, bringing his 14-game hit streak to an end, so your new leaders are currently Bellinger and Ryan Mountcastle, with eleven.  If Bellinger is regarded as the drop-in replacement for Juan Soto leaving for that other New York team, he’s now up 3-0 since Soto did not get a hit in last night’s game.

Bo Bichette (TOR): 2-4, 2B, HR, R, RBI.

It’s still a little weird seeing Bichette with short hair, but he may have a reverse Samson thing going on.  In the past week specifically, he has either gone hitless or had a multi-hit game, and most of those hits have been doubles or home runs.  He’s currently tied for second overall with 15 doubles this season, trailing only Bobby Witt.

Shohei Ohtani (LAD): 2-3, HR, R, RBI, BB.

The Dodgers were noticeably quieter on Friday, but that did not stop Ohtani from continuing to crush baseballs.  He now has four home runs in his last three games, and has surpassed Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber as the league leader with sixteen.

Notable Injury News:

Nathan Lukes left Friday’s game after the sixth inning due to a migraine.

Willi Castro left early due to fouling a ball off his knee during his first at-bat.

Yoán Moncada reaggravated his thumb injury in the ninth inning.  This is the same thumb that placed him on IL for a month.