Willy the Kid
Willy Adames (MIL): 4-5, 2B, 2 HR, 2 R, 5 RBI.
Adames entered last night’s game against the Guardians slashing .203/.285/.360. But for at least one night, he reminded us of the guy who hit a career-best 31 home runs a season ago. Shane Bieber pitched pretty well until he faced Adames in the sixth with two on and no out. That’s when he hung a slider that Adames clobbered 422 feet to left (109.2 EV). He hit his second home run in his final at-bat of the night, a 397-foot shot to right-center off reliever Xzavion Curry.
Despite the lackluster results, Adames has shown above-average power (55 according to PLV on the 20-80 scale), although not at the same level as last year (65). He has also been slightly worse in Strikezone Judgement (50 down from 55). But other than that, his PLV profile is very similar to last year, so I think there’s reason to believe that this might just be a case of the results not being there yet.
The interesting thing about Adames is that he had all those home runs last year, but he also hit .238 with a .298 OBP, both career lows. It makes me wonder if maybe he got into some bad tendencies trying to hit more home runs, which has snowballed this year. To that note, he has a career-best 12.8% Barrel rate, but that’s coming with a 48.8% Pull rate, up from 39.9% last year. So maybe he’s kind of using an all-or-nothing approach right now. Or maybe not, I’m not sure. But either way, I don’t think there’s a real reason why Adames can’t go up from here.
Let’s see how the other hitters did Friday:
Elly De La Cruz (CIN): 4-5, 2B, 3B, HR, 3 R, 4 RBI, SB.
He could have easily been the lead hitter and probably should’ve been. Last night he became the youngest player to hit for the cycle since another Dominican Republic native, César Cedeño, in 1972. I suppose I could be the stick in the mud and harp on him having a 40% whiff rate on breaking and offspeed pitches. But where’s the fun in that? In all seriousness, I think we’ll be spending the better part of the summer talking about De La Cruz.
Joey Votto (CIN): 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI.
That’s three home runs in four games since returning from the IL. How great would it be if Votto made it to the postseason with the Reds one last time? He hasn’t hit a home run in the postseason yet. That would be something to see. Anyway, the two home runs last night weren’t cheapies. His first home run was a bomb to center off Atlanta rookie AJ Smith-Shawver (427 feet, 105.8 EV). He also tagged a 3-1 sweeper from Collin McHugh in the fifth, a three-run jack to right (414 feet, 107.6 EV). He still bangs.
Jake Fraley also hit his 10th for the Reds and remains a terrific option in daily leagues against RHP. TJ Friedl picked up his 10th steal of the year and continues to bat leadoff for the Reds.
Matt Olson (ATL): 2-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.
This game was the wild one of the night, as both teams combined for 21 runs on 25 hits. Olson’s K rate is up a bit at 28.9%, but he’s also well on his way to a career season with 23 home runs; he hasn’t hit 40 in a season. His second of the night, which came against Lucas Sims and was drilled to center (424 feet, 107.7 EV), was the final note of a three-home run barrage from Atlanta in the eighth, but their comeback effort fell short.
Jose Siri (TB): 3-4, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI.
Siri’s 13th of the year came against Zack Greinke, a three-run shot to left (393 feet, 103.3 EV). The righty also hit a go-ahead single in the fourth, but he was also caught stealing. He’s shown a ton of power (75 via PLV) and, of course, has a ton of speed. But his low contact ability (25) and low OBP mean we’ll probably see him added and dropped a bunch.
Ha-Seong Kim (SD): 2-5, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.
Kim homered for the second consecutive night. Last night’s leadoff shot was a rude greeting for Patrick Corbin (411 feet, 103.4 EV). Spoiler alert: Things didn’t get better from there. Kim has been very passive at the plate, which has led to a career-high 11.7% BB rate and .344 OBP. He also has 13 steals. But his power (40) is still well below average, which probably puts him on the borderline for standard formats.
Xander Bogaerts also hit a three-run shot for the Padres, his first since May 23rd.
Max Kepler (MIN): 2-4, HR, R, 2 RBI.
Kepler’s third home run in four games came against lefty Joey Wentz, a two-run shot to right (401 feet, 104 EV) that pushed the Twins to a 3-0 lead. Kepler is a very easy player to forget about, but the power (55 via PLV) is still there if you can stomach his career .231 batting average.
Royce Lewis also hit his fourth of the season and is riding a five-game hit streak.
Patrick Bailey (SF): 2-3, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB.
The sample size is a little small (363 pitches), but so far, Bailey, the 13th overall pick from the 2020 drafts, has shown average contact ability (50) with impressive power (60). That is certainly enough to make him a playable catcher in many formats. Last night’s two-run shot came courtesy of lefty reliever Joe Mantiply in the fifth and helped secure the Giants’ 8-5 victory over the D-Backs.
Michael Conforto also had a big night for the Giants with two doubles and four RBIs. It was his first multi-hit game since June 13th.
David Hamilton (BOS): 0-2, R, BB, SB.
I know, not exactly a scintillating performance. But Hamilton had 27 steals in 52 games for the Woo Sox, so if you’re really hurting for speed in a deep league, he could be worth putting on your radar.
Eugenio Suárez (SEA): 3-5, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI.
The Mariners pulverized Kyle Gibson last night and chased him from the game after just three innings. Suárez is limping along with a .691 OPS, which would be his lowest since his rookie 2014 season. But his PLV profile looks pretty decent: his power (55) is still above average, and he’s shown a good eye at the plate with a 60 in Strikezone Judgement and Decision Value. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some better results in the future.
Elias Díaz (COL): 3-5, 2B, HR, R, 4 RBI.
Díaz was the hero the Rockies needed last night, as his eighth-inning grand slam off Chris Devenski proved the difference. Not an exciting profile with average power (50) and contact ability (50), but that’s enough if you need a catcher. Plus, the Rockies are at home all next week.
Image courtesy of Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis and Aaron Polcare