Why so Sirious?

Jose Siri (TB): 2-4, HR, R, 2 RBI.

Last night’s game against the Dodgers was already decided when Jose Siri thwacked an 0-1 cutter from lefty reliever Justin Bruihl into the seats in left. But now Siri is up to nine home runs in 102 PA. He’s already surpassed his career-high of seven from last year (325 PA). I’ll spare you the whole he’s on-pace routine but you get the idea.

So, is it legit? If PLV is the judge, then yes, the power is a spicy 75-grade although the sample is admittedly sparse (359 pitches). This year he’s already reached a new max EV of 113.7 mph (Top 8%) giving you another idea of his bat speed. Speaking of speed, yeah, he’s fast. Last year, he swiped 14 on 16 attempts. This year he’s a perfect 4-for-4. He’s also got some flare with a fun bat drop if you’re into that sort of thing.

Strikeouts are his kryptonite. This year his K-rate is down to 27.5% relative to last year’s 33.2%. But according to PLV, his contact rating has actually gone down from 40 to 30. Digging deeper, he has a zone contact rate in the bottom third percentile. Expect plenty of strikeouts and a low OBP but Siri possesses a power and speed combination that’s no joke.

 

Let’s see how the other hitters did Friday:

Leody Taveras (TEX): 2-4, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB.

Taveras entered last night slashing .380/ .438/ .479 across 20 games this month. His second of the year came on a 2-2 changeup hung by Grayson Rodriguez in the second and travelled 381 feet to right (104.8 EV). Taveras has shown pretty good plate skills with a 21.4% K rate and an 8.6% BB rate. The one weakness is power (40-grade via PLV) which probably puts him just outside the radar of most standard leagues unless you’re hurting for steals; he has five on eight attempts.

Jack Suwinski (PIT): 3-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.

Suwinski entered last night slashing .150/ .282/ .233 through 19 games in May, so this game was a sight for sore eyes. He tagged George Kirby in the fifth on a blast to straightaway center (417 feet, 103 EV). And then in the seventh, he belted a sinker from Juan Then 445 feet to right-center (110.5 EV). Suwinski has shown plenty of power, the problem is a strikeout rate that has drifted over 30%. But he’s also maintained a 99th-percentile chase rate that’s helped buoy his .350 OBP.

Yandy Díaz (TB): 3-4, 2 2B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB.

He’s a stud. It’s good to see that he didn’t miss a beat after missing three games due to a personal matter. He needs just two more dingers to match his career high from 2019. What a year. And we’re not even in June yet.

Mitch Haniger (SF): 2-3, 2B, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI.

Haniger hadn’t gone yard in nearly a month before last night’s shot off a heater from Freddy Peralta (412 feet, 102.3 EV). Haniger has struggled in San Francisco this year, but he’s got a career .803 OPS so the track record is there. He did have an oblique strain that caused him to miss the first three weeks of the season. He could just now be finding his swing again.

Luis García (WSH): 6-6, 2 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI.

The first man with six hits in a game this season. And he joined Anthony Rendon as the second player in team history with six hits in a single game. Take a bow. García hasn’t shown much power, but he’s demonstrated exemplary plate skills evidenced by his PLV grades: 65 contact, 60 decision value, and 65 SZ Judgment. His 11.7% K rate is in the Top 5% of the league. If you’re looking for a MI who could help you out in batting average, he’s your man.

So this game was all sorts of wild with Patrick Corbin and Jordan Lyles more or less acting out the Spider-Man meme, serving up hits, while pointing at each other, one left and the other right-handed. Joey Meneses joined the party and went 3-for-5. He’s riding a modest five-game hitting streak and is hitting .305.

Bobby Witt Jr. (KC): 4-5, 2B, 2 HR, 3 R, 5 RBI, SB.

As mentioned, pitching took the night off at Kauffman Stadium with the Royals and Nats combing for 22 runs on 28 hits. After crushing one against Patrick Corbin, Witt Jr. thwacked a cutter from Erasmo Ramírez and snuck it just over the wall in left (403 feet, 102.4 EV) for a three-run jack that brought the Royals to within a run. It had been a pretty rough stretch for him as he entered the game hitting just .233 with a .674 OPS across 21 games in May.

Michael Harris II (ATL): 2-3, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB.

Granted, we’re looking for anything at this point, but I think this was a really good sign from Harris II. Taijuan Walker started off his second at-bat by hanging a splitter and he went with the pitch and pushed it over the left-center field wall (412 feet, 108.8 EV). He had been working in BP trying to hit the ball the other way again, so this was good to see. He also drew a walk against Craig Kimbrel in his last plate appearance.

And, yes, his teammate Marcell Ozuna, keeps on going. Three more hits including his eleventh of the year. He’s up to a .850 OPS.

Tim Anderson (CWS): 4-5, 3 R, RBI, BB.

Anderson is still searching for his first home run, but the four hits pushed his average up to .264. Remember he missed a few weeks with a knee injury so I’m thinking that might be the reason for his slow start. Speaking of slow, his sprint speed has dropped a bit if you pay attention to that sort of stuff. Although he is 6-for-7 on steal attempts so it doesn’t seem to be costing him anything.

Andrew Vaughn hit his sixth home run for the White Sox in their big 12-3 win over the Tigers.

Triston Casas (BOS): 3-5, 2 2B, 2 R, RBI.

The results haven’t been there, but I think Casas eventually figures it out and last night might perhaps be a sign that he’s starting to come around. All three hits were of the hard-hit variety. His double down the right field line was blistered at an EV of 110.5 mph. He’s shown a really sharp approach at the plate with a 15.7% BB rate. And the power is there too with an 80th percentile xwoBACON (60-grade power via PLV) so I think he’s someone to keep a close eye on.

Spencer Steer (CIN): 3-6, 2B, 3B, R, RBI.

Steer has been cooking lately and is hitting .316 with a .916 OPS through 23 games in May. Sure, he doesn’t have the most exciting profile in the world given the lack of speed and average-ish power (50-grade via PLV). But he’s shown good plate skills with a 21.7% K rate and has proven to be a very useful bat hitting .285 with a .353 OBP. I think he might surge even more once the weather starts to heat up this summer in the GABP.

Tucupita Marcano (PIT): 2-5, 2B, HR, R, RBI, SB.

The Pirates were one of the teams that went bonkers last night as they piled up 11 runs. Sheesh, who pitched? George Kirby. Of course. Well, that’s baseball Suzyn. Tucupita Marcano is a grade-A name, an eponymous nod to the Venezuelan city in which he was born. And also his father’s nickname whose career in independent ball ended after a stint with the Lancaster Barnstormers in 2005.

A couple of years ago, he was actually ranked as the Padres’ top international prospect so that’s interesting. Marcano didn’t show much power in Triple-A last year with a .139 ISO in 25 games, But he does have a 12.7% K rate and is hitting the ball hard (42.3%). I don’t know, I’m oddly interested in this. After all, it’s his second combo meal in the past four games so that’s more than enough to warrant attention in deep leagues. Chris Owings is there, but he’s also a soon-to-be 32-year-old castaway so if Marcano keeps showing up then Owings really isn’t there.