Smooth Hopperator
Logan O’Hoppe (LAA): 2-5, HR, 2 R, RBI.
One day after bashing a pair of dongs, one measuring 470 feet, Logan O’Hoppe went yard again, going against the current on a fastball out over the plate from righty reliever Grant Holman in the seventh inning of Thursday’s 11-5 drubbing of the A’s. O’Hoppe had a pretty decent 2024, tying Will Smith for sixth among backstops with 20 home runs while hitting .244 with a .311 wOBA.
This year, though, it seems like he’s cranked his broomstick to another gear. His 14th home run has him two behind Cal Raleigh for tops among catchers. According to Inside Edge, he’s slugging .792 on elevated pitches this season, tops in baseball. Sure enough, PLV supports O’Hoppe’s booming bat, grading his Power+ at 126; that’s approaching two standard deviations above the norm of 100. It looks as though he’s fully embraced the “swing-hard-in-case-you-hit-it” school of swinging with his current 33.1% strikeout rate representing an increase of about three ticks from last year. That’s a dangerous level, in the bottom second percentile and a threat to his .270 batting average. Most projections have him settling around a more reasonable 28% strikeout rate, but we’ll have to see if that happens.
Meanwhile, the catcher landscape seems unsettled at the moment. The aforementioned Cal Raleigh is at the top along with Smith. But things have gotten interesting. Salvador Perez has not looked like himself early on, Adley Rutschman has a .245 wOBA, and William Contreras‘ broken finger might be sapping his power. The 25-year-old’s strong start has thrust him firmly into the forefront. Can he be a top-three catcher? No need to ask.
Let’s see how the other hitters did Thursday:
Gavin Sheets (SDP): 3-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 5 RBI.
Sheets started the scoring by tattooing a belt-high, 92 mph fastball from Jays righty Bowden Francis in the second inning for a two-run tater (359 feet, 97.8 EV). With the Padres trailing 4-2 in the ninth, Sheets followed a walk from Jackson Merrill with another two-run jack, this one at the expense of Jays closer Jeff Hoffman (404 feet, 106.8 EV). The 29-year-old is having a terrific season in a strong-side 1B/DH role for the Padres and is on pace to breeze past the career-best 15 home runs he swatted with the White Sox three years ago.
Addison Barger (TOR): 3-4, 2B, RBI, 2 BB.
Barger earned a mention here last Thursday, and wouldn’t you know it, he’s at it again. Jackson Merrill robbed Barger with a great catch near the wall in Wednesday’s 14-0 rout, which he finished 3-for-4 with a double, a run, and an RBI while hitting seventh. He hit fourth in yesterday’s 7-6 win over the Friars, and knocked in the game-tying run in the third with a line drive single to left off righty Stephen Kolek. The 25-year-old third baseman is hitting the ball well right now, with all five of his batted balls of the hard-hit variety. He’s hitting .267 and striking out at a 20.5% clip, a six-point cut from last year.
Taylor Ward (LAA): 3-4, HR, R, 5 RBI.
He’s en fuego. A’s righty reliever Grant Holman challenged Ward with a 95 mph heater over the plate with the bases juiced in the seventh, and that proved to be a mistake. Ward’s majestic, 426-foot shot to center put the Angels ahead 6-5. For those wondering, it would have been gone in all but one park, the exception being Arizona’s Chase Field. Ward entered Thursday hitting .214 with a .315 wOBA. His 14th dinger has him poised to break last year’s career-best 25 home runs. If you happened to be in a shallow league where he was dropped, you should fix that.
Jorbit Vivas (NYY): 1-1, HR, R, RBI.
Runs were at a premium in the Bronx, and Carlos Rodón and Nathan Eovaldi were pitching well. Vivas scored the game’s lone run, swatting a 94 mph fastball on the inner half from Eo over the right field fence (360 feet, 101 feet). The 24-year-old rookie has played 13 games at second base and four at third base, but the recent return of DJ LeMahieu, who replaced him in the seventh, will bite into his playing time. Vivas isn’t a fantasy option, but first career home runs are fun, and this was a big one.
Brent Rooker (ATH): 3-4, 2B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB.
Rooker took Tyler Anderson for a 440-foot ride to left-center in his first at-bat, putting the A’s ahead two to nothing. The 30-year-old righty entered Thursday hitting .235 with a .321 wOBA, a disappointment compared to last year’s marks of .293 and .392. Still, his PLV profile is solid across the board, including a 114 in Power+. All things considered, he makes for a reasonable buy-low candidate.
Spencer Horwitz (PIT): 2-5, HR, R, RBI.
Five days after returning from the IL (right wrist surgery), Horwitz bagged his first big fly of the season in the fourth inning on a cutter from Aaron Civale (409 feet, 104.8 EV). The 27-year-old lefty hit .265 with 12 home runs and .344 wOBA across 381 PA with the Blue Jays last season. Horwitz should get regular burn as the Pirates’ first baseman and could be a decent source of RBI in deep leagues.
Robert Hassell III (WSN): 2-4, R, SB.
Hassell got his first big league hit in his first trip to the dish, lacing a single to right off AJ Smith-Shawver in the second inning. The 23-year-old lefty outfielder was a big piece in the deal that sent Juan Soto to the Padres in August 2022. However, his production waned considerably; he also broke his hamate later that offseason. Nevertheless, he impressed enough to earn a promotion after the injury to Dylan Crews provided an opening. I’m not sure he offers much juice as a hitter, for now at least, but he’s a reasonable spec in deep leagues for his speed; he stole nine bags across 43 games with Triple-A Rochester before the promotion.
Christian Yelich (MIL): 2-3, 2 HR, 3 R, 4 RBI, BB.
The 2018 NL MVP had been busy waging total warfare on earthworms, his 64.5% ground-ball rate being about 20 points above the MLB average. Nonetheless, he went shag rug surfing, burning Pirates rookie right-hander Mike Burrows with a three-run tater the opposite way (356 feet, 101.4 EV). He swatted his second dinger of the game and ninth of the year in the fifth, a solo shot off righty reliever Isaac Mattson (415 feet, 110.7 EV). Yelich has struggled to get off the interstate and is striking out at a 27.6% clip, about nine points higher than last year, but the back of his baseball card says he’ll turn it around. Let’s hope this is the start.
Angel Martínez (CLE): 2-4, 2B, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.
Martínez blasted a high and tight 90 mph fastball from Jack Flaherty 372 feet to right for his second home run of the year in the fifth. The 23-year-old switch-hitter had some success early last year but faded and ended the season hitting .232 with a .282 wOBA across 169 PA. He’s demonstrated good contact ability in the minors, and his defensive versatility should give him multiple avenues into Cleveland’s lineup, but that’s probably not enough to warrant excitement for fantasy purposes.
Jose Altuve (HOU): 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI.
Altuve drilled a down and in sinker from righty reliever Eduard Bazardo for his first home run since April 28th, upping the Astros’ lead to 6-2 in the fifth (403 feet, 106.8 EV). His second home run of the night and sixth of the year came at the expense of Ian Hahn an inning later (372 feet, 100.4 EV). The future Hall of Famer entered the night hitting .238 with a .279 wOBA, both representing career lows, excluding 2020. Still, we know he’s much better than that, having hit .295 with a .344 wOBA just last year.
Adapted by Kurt Wasemiller (@kurt_player02 on Instagram & Threads
@kuwasemiller.bksy.social on BlueSky)
