Deversify Your Portfolio

 

Rafael Devers (BOS): 4-6, 2 HR, 3 R, 8 RBI

Among players with 40 or more plate appearances in May, Rafael Devers is your leader in wRC+ and on-base percentage.  Friday’s game was the first career 8 RBI game for Devers, and most of the damage came after Baltimore’s starter, Cade Povich, left after the fifth inning.

His first home run of the night was off a slider from another lefty reliever, Gregory Soto, scoring Ceddanne Rafaela and Jarren Duran.  Then, in the bottom of the eighth, everything started to fall apart for the Baltimore bullpen as has been the case far too many times this season.  Devers singled in his first at-bat of the inning, then while facing position player Emmanuel Rivera with the bases loaded later in that same inning, he teed off on a basic lob over the middle of the plate to add his grand slam.

Despite Devers being saddled with the drama of the third base/designated hitter situation since the addition of Alex Bregman, he’s not letting it affect his on-field play.  Given the injury to Bregman (see below), Devers may end up temporarily returning to his original third base position, which may reinforce support amongst the fans and allow for more flexibility with the lineup.  Either way, both Bregman and Devers are key to what is working with Boston’s offense so far this season, and holding onto both peacefully is the most sensible way to continue to profit in this market.

Let’s see how the other hitters did Friday

 

Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC): 3-5, 2B, 2 HR, 2 R, 6 RBI.

Crow-Armstrong continues to move around in the lineup, and he continues to produce wherever he ends up.  Friday saw him in the cleanup spot, and he proceeded to hit his first career grand slam and be the first Cubs player to have two 6-RBI games in a calendar month.  The grand slam was a close call off the right foul pole, but the review upheld the call on the field, and nobody was more pumped up than PCA:

One player who was noticeably absent from the celebration was Nico Hoerner, who had to use the bathroom during PCA’s at bat.  Hoerner had three hits of his own in the game, and the win was a complete team effort, as the Cubs chased starter Hunter Greene after pushing him to 37 pitches in the fourth inning.  Hoerner and Suzuki’s doubles and Crow-Armstrong’s first home run of the night were the only hits Greene allowed, but the Reds’ bullpen was much more generous, allowing ten more hits, including PCA’s slam.

Oneil Cruz (PIT): 2-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.

It’s been almost a month since we’ve seen a Cruz missile, and Friday resulted in 420+ ft bombs off both starter Freddie Peralta and closer Abner Uribe.  This was the first multi-homer game of Cruz’s career.

Ronald Acuña Jr. (ATL): 2-4, HR, R, RBI.

Acuña wasted no time making his presence back in the lineup known, with the second-longest hit home run this season at 467 feet:

Regrettably, the rest of the team couldn’t find many answers for Nick Pivetta, as Acuña had two of the team’s four hits against him, and his solo shot on Pivetta’s first pitch was the only run the Braves could manage all night.

José Ramírez (CLE): 1-4, 3B, R, RBI, BB, SB.

With Cody Bellinger failing to get a hit in Thursday’s game, Ramírez is now your current hit streak leader with 15 in a row.  His only hit of the game was a RBI triple for his first at bat off Jackson Jobe, but that was enough to give the Guardians the lead over their division rival and never trail for the duration of the game.

Eric Wagaman (MIA): 3-5, HR, R, 3 RBI.

The Angels continued to start fast in Friday’s game, getting out to a 6-0 lead in the sixth before the Marlins started to fight back, but Kyle Stowers and Eric Wagaman refused to go down without a fight.  Wagaman added his fourth home run of the season off reliever Shaun Anderson, and the duo finished with 3 hits apiece.  The Marlins out-hit the Angels 14-6, making this appear a closer contest than the final score indicated, but the comeback attempt was fueled primarily by herculean efforts by Wagaman and Stowers’ key hits with runners in scoring position.

Trea Turner (PHI): 3-5, HR, R, 2 RBI, SB.

Bryson Stott has settled into the regular leadoff spot for the Phillies, but with the night off, Trea Turner started things off in his place.  As part of a shakeup of the Athletics‘ roster, lefty Jacob Lopez was called up and started the game, and four pitches in, Turner had a home run to center field.  Despite the shaky start, Lopez hung in for seven efficient innings, only giving up two additional hits in the second inning and shutting down the Phillies for most of the game.  Turner’s two additional hits plus the stolen base – his third in the last three games – all came vs the Athletics bullpen as the game remained at 1-0 going into the ninth, when both teams scored three runs apiece.  The Athletics ultimately fell short, losing their 10th in a row.

Gabriel Moreno (ARI): 1-1, HR, R, 2 RBI.

Moreno only pinch hit in Friday’s game, but he delivered the game-winning 2-run home run in the top of the ninth, extending his hit streak to six games.  He also has three home runs in his last four games, making him a solid add if you need a fantasy catcher upgrade.

Nick Kurtz (ATH): 1-3, HR, R, 3 RBI, BB.

Those who have been patient – or have been waiting for Kurtz’s power to arrive in the big leagues – may finally be seeing him reach his major league potential this week.  Since his major league call-up on April 23, he has been contributing a steady average of a hit per game up until May 13, but only had one home run in that period.  From May 14-19, he went hitless in 20 at-bats, and some fantasy owners may have dropped him, thinking he was in danger of being sent back down.  Thanks to the Angels and Phillies pitchers, he has four home runs in his last four games and has emerged as one of their more consistent players during this recent 10-game losing streak.  Currently, he shows at around 20% owned in Yahoo leagues, making him a solid waiver wire pickup if you need some home run or RBI stats on your teams.

Elly De La Cruz (CIN): 1-5, R.

Although the statline for this game specifically isn’t all that impressive, the feat Elly achieved with his hit early in the game is noteworthy.  The hit was his 300th hit in the majors, and he is now the fastest player to 300 hits, 150 RBIs, and 100 stolen bases in league history.  Congratulations, Elly De La Cruz.  He’s an exciting player to watch, and it should be fun to see him continue to smash records throughout his career.

 

Notable Injury News:

Alex Bregman left the game against Baltimore immediately after running past first base in the fifth inning. On his way out, he seemed to say “stretch” to trainers, and Cora said postgame that he was “tight.” Cora would not elaborate beyond that, leaving his availability for another attempt at a doubleheader tomorrow in doubt.

Willson Contreras was a last-minute scratch before first pitch due to back spasms.