Francisco LinDad

Francisco Lindor (NYM): 1-1, 2B, 2 R, RBI, 3 BB, SB.

On Father’s Day weekend, Francisco Lindor welcomed his second child in the world. And he’s credited her with his resurgence these last few games. Yesterday was an excellent outing with a 424-foot double (what?!), a sac fly, three walks, and a steal, but it’s been the last few games that he’s turned it on.

He’s been in a rough stretch since the end of May slashing .143/.259/.306 from May 31st to June 17th including eight games with no hits. Things just weren’t falling his way. His hard-hit rate was over 50% in that span, yet his BABIP was in the .150s. Perhaps he’s hitting too many flyballs (54.3%) but not getting enough of them.

He has also been struggling unusually as a lefty at the dish. His splits are remarkable this season. As a lefty, he is slashing .205/.304/.369 but as a righty he is hitting .244/.300/.598. He’s crushing it as a righty. But in both the game on the 19th and yesterday, he crushed the ball on the left side of the plate. Hopefully, this is a turning point for him on the left side, which could be a major boon for the rest of his season. And the peripherals don’t make him look nearly as bad. Also, it’s not like he is missing the fantasy counting stats. He’s on pace to essentially match last year’s output in those categories.

Let’s see how the other hitters did Wednesday

Nico Hoerner (CHC): 2-5, 3B, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.

Hoerner finished the day with the harder half of the cycle complete with three RBI and two runs. He hit his fifth dinger of the year, a 366-foot homer, reaching half his home run total from last season. He has kept his dominant contact skills with limited power with a 10.8% K rate and a .282 average, both nearly identical to last season, plus a batted ball profile identical to last year but the HR/FB rate. He’s giving solid value this season with excellent stolen base totals and good enough runs and RBI totals.

Randy Arozarena (TB): 3-3, 2B, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB.

I did not expect Randy to become the dominant offensive force he is this season. With this three-hit game, he improved his slash line to .292/.409/.498 for a 161 wRC+. He now has 14 dingers coupled with nine steals. The steals are a bit surprising too but in the other direction. With the rules changes I expected even more than his career-high 32 last year but he’s on pace for closer to 20, which certainly is plenty. He’s increased his walk rate drastically by cutting down on swings out of the zone from 33.4% to 26.3%. And when he does make contact, the ball is going in the air much more often and it is hit much harder. The classic recipe for hitter success.

Zack Short (DET): 3-4, HR, R, 3 RBI.

Short dominated the Royals with three hits, all over 97 mph, including a 374-foot dinger and a 107 mph line drive single. Short has been playing all over the infield for the Tigers lately but is not out there every day. He doesn’t showcase much power or speed, and so far, as a league-average hitter on the Tigers, there is limited value fantasy-wise.

Matt Chapman (TOR): 2-3, 2B, HR, 2 R, RBI, BB.

Chapman has settled down significantly after a roaring start to the season, but he helped Toronto tag Sandy Alcantara with a 108 mph double in the second. He later crushed a 415-foot bomb in the eighth for his 10th dinger of the season. He is still maintaining a hard-hit rate close to 60% on the season but the 27% K rate limits the possibilities. Surprisingly, he has dropped his pull percentage about 10 points as well, which may be the reason his power is not as exciting as you would expect with a 60% hard-hit rate.

CJ Abrams (WSH): 3-3, HR, R, RBI.

Abrams has been a solid disappointment as a superstar prospect. And yet he is still only 22 years old with less than 600 MLB plate appearances. I was hoping for a jump this season with a bit less pressure and a full season with the Nats but a .232/.277/.395 slash doesn’t cut it. However, he helped the Nats shut out the Cards with a three-hit night. He popped his seventh homer and ripped a 105 mph single. Despite his 80-speed grade, he only has seven steals on the season as well. Even though it was a solid night for Abrams, he is still a pass.

Freddy Fermin (KC): 3-4, 2 2B, R, 2 RBI.

I can’t get over this guy’s name. He even goes by Freddy. But at least he plays a different position. Fermin cracked his first two doubles on the season while getting the start behind the dish. One was a 385-foot shot that could have been out in many other parks. He hasn’t been hitting well this season (77 wRC+) and he’s only playing every so often with Salvador Perez being the starter.

Alex Bregman (HOU): 3-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, SB.

Bregman has continued his pretty mediocre year into June but did have a solid three-hit game against the Mets. He added his third steal of the season on top of that. He still has elite plate discipline with an 11.9% walk rate and 12.8% K rate, but his SLG is below .400. This would be the first season of his career with a SLG below .400. His hard-hit rate has always been below 40% but with the low K rate he still gets plenty of hard hits. They just haven’t translated to positive results since the 2019 season. At least he’s hitting in the heart of the Astros’ batting order.

Justin Turner (BOS): 2-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, SB.

Never underestimate Justin Turner. This man is a machine. At 38 he is still putting up what seems like an easy 126 wRC+. But he’s also kicked it into another gear lately. Over his last 11 games, eight have been multi-hit games with four total home runs and two steals. One of each came in yesterday’s game. The home run was crushed. A 447-foot bomb.

Josh Naylor (CLE): 4-4, HR, R, 2 RBI.

Naylor smoked four hits against the A’s including three hard-hit balls and a 399-foot homer. That was Naylor’s ninth on the season and his second four-hit game in three games. I wrote up Naylor back on June 1st, recapping his monstrous game at the end of May, essentially saying he was underperforming despite similar peripherals from last season. That was game two of a 14-game hit streak and his slash since (not including that game) is .400/.421/.514. He’s demolishing the ball.

Ezequiel Duran (TEX): 2-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, SB.

Duran has quietly been having a solid season hidden amongst Adolis García and Marcus Semien. He has nearly matched his plate appearance total from last season, and despite plate discipline stats remaining the same, he’s changed up his contact completely. He has stopped hitting the ball on the ground (under 40% GB rate) and he’s crushing the ball with a 45.7% hard-hit rate (up from 31% last year). That has resulted in a .310/.355/.524 slash. He added his ninth homer last night as well with a 398-foot blast.

Photo by Doug Murray/Icon Sportswire | Featured Image by Ethan Kaplan (@DJFreddie10 on Twitter and @EthanMKaplanImages on Instagram)