Shock Joc
Joc Pederson (SF): 4-4, 2 HR, 4 R, 4 RBI, BB.
Joc has played just six games since returning from injury, and Sunday he posted his best outing from the plate yet this season, blasting a pair of home runs and going a perfect 4-for-4 from the plate as the Giants lit up the Chicago Cubs, 13-3.
Pederson went to the injured list in mid-May after starting the year with just a .235 batting average, including a meager .207 average in the month of May. Since returning, Joc is batting 10-for-22 (.455) and has two four-hit games in just one week. If he’s available on the waiver wire, fantasy managers could do far worse for a fourth or fifth outfielder.
Joc Pederson (SF): 4-4, 2 HR, 4 R, 4 RBI, BB.
In his first at-bat of the game, Joc drove a 1-0 fastball on the outside corner the opposite way for a 382-foot two-run home run. Next time up, he jumped on a cement-mixer cutter in another favorable count, driving it out to McCovey Cove. He added a leadoff single in the fifth, walked in the sixth, and singled again in the seventh to complete a perfect day at the plate.
Let’s see how the other hitters did Sunday
Jorge Soler (MIA): 3-4, 2B, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB.
Soler smacked his 18th and 19th home runs of the season as the Marlins edged the White Sox, 6-5, on Sunday afternoon. Soler crushed a first-pitch fastball to dead center in the fifth inning and added another solo shot in the eighth inning, driving a 1-1 changeup to the left-field stands. Soler’s first multi-home run game of the season helped the Marlins to complete a massive comeback as the Fish have now won eight of their last nine games and drawn just 3.5 games back from Atlanta in the NL East.
Thairo Estrada (SF): 2-4, 2 HR, 3 R, 4 RBI.
A season ago, Estrada hit just 14 home runs in 488 plate appearances for the Giants. On June 11, 2022, Estrada popped off his fourth home run of the year. On June 11, 2023, Estrada hit his eighth and ninth bombs of the season, reinforcing the belief that his power surge at the tail end of last summer was no fluke. The Giants’ infielder has flirted with a .300 batting average while registering 14 stolen bases as well and could be well on his way to his first career 20-20 season.
Ryan O’Hearn (BAL): 3-3, HR, 4 R, RBI, 2 BB.
Sunday was a revenge game for O’Hearn as he faced off against a Kansas City Royals ballclub that traded him away for measly cash considerations in January. He made the most of the opportunity, slugging a 390-foot home run to the Camden Yards flag court as the Orioles defeated Kansas City, 11-3. O’Hearn also singled twice and walked twice, crossing the plate four times as Baltimore completed a three-game sweep of the visiting Royals.
Zach Neto (LAA): 2-4, 2 HR, 3 R, 2 RBI.
Neto recorded the first multi-home run game of his major league career to lead the Angels to a victory over division rival Seattle on Sunday, 9-4. In the second inning, Neto belted a waist-high fastball 421 feet to the left-center field bleachers. He added another solo shot to lead off the eighth, yanking a 2-1 cutter over the left field fence for his fifth dinger of the season. After a lackluster May, Neto is batting .316 to begin June and could be a nice middle infield pickup in shallower leagues as the Angels face below-average teams (@KC, @COL & CWS) in three of their next five series.
Gunnar Henderson (BAL): 3-5, 2B, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.
The Orioles have been waiting all season for their young, talented infielder to snap out of his sophomore slump. The weekend series against the Royals might have cured his ailments. Henderson went 3-for-5 with a pair of extra-base hits on Sunday to cap a three-game series against Kansas City with eight hits, two home runs, and four RBI, helping the Orioles to a sweep. Batting leadoff for Baltimore, Henderson opened the game with a double to left-center, lined out on more hard contact in the second, struck out in the third, legged out an infield single in the sixth, and then absolutely crushed a 462-foot home run onto the Eutaw Street concourse in the seventh inning. Henderson entered June with a .201 batting average, but has popped off for a .458 (11-for-24) start to June while slugging at a near .900 clip.
Cavan Biggio (TOR): 2-4, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.
With Brandon Belt suffering a minor injury and Vlad Jr. taking a turn at DH, Biggio filled in for the Blue Jays at first base on Sunday afternoon. He finished with a pair of hits, including a game-winning three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Blue Jays defeated the Twins, 7-6. With two on and nobody out, Biggio blasted a 2-0 fastball 421 feet to center to give the Blue Jays a one-run lead heading into the ninth. Though Biggio has reduced his K rate and increased his hard contact rates from a year ago, he’s still a far cry from being fantasy relevant in all but the deepest leagues.
Pavin Smith (ARI): 2-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB.
Smith launched his seventh home run of the season on Sunday, going deep off of a left-handed pitcher for the first time this season. He launched a 1-0 fastball the opposite way for a two-run shot to get the Diamondbacks on the board in a game that the team ended up winning in comeback fashion, 7-5.
Jack Suwinski (PIT): 2-4, HR, R, RBI.
Suwinski hammered a hanging breaking ball down the right field line for a game-tying home run in the second inning helping the Pirates to defeat the visiting Mets, 2-1, on Sunday afternoon. Suwinski added a single later in the game and was the only player on either team to record multiple hits in the low-scoring affair.
Nolan Jones (COL): 2-4, HR, 2 R, RBI.
Nolan Jones went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored. With the game tied in the ninth inning and the crowd still buzzing from Ryan McMahon‘s game-tying home run the at-bat just before, Jones crushed a 1-1 changeup 472 feet to right-center for the walk-off home run. The ball was hit so hard and so far, it landed out of frame in the upper deck.
?NOLAN JONES 472 FEET TO END THE GAME pic.twitter.com/CxilXikIM5
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) June 11, 2023
Through nine games in the month of June, Jones is batting 13-for-32 (.406) with three home runs, nine RBI, four stolen bases, and an OPS above 1.100!