Nick Rolled

Nick Gonzales (PIT): 2-4, 3B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.

The Pirates’ most recent prospect to make his big-league debut collected his first hit and home run last night. Nick Gonzales finished the day 2-4, 3B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI as Pittsburgh took down the Padres 9-4.

Gonzales started his day by collecting his first MLB hit against Reiss Knehr, lacing a ball high off the right-field wall for a triple. He missed his first home run by just a few feet, but he wouldn’t miss it later in the game. Facing Adrian Morejon in the seventh inning, Gonzales launched a four-seamer 442 feet to dead centerfield, easily clearing the fence.

Since being the seventh overall pick in the 2020 draft, Gonzales’ prospect stock has done nothing but fall. He was heralded as one of the most polished college hitters in that draft, but that shine didn’t last against professional pitchers. His power ability hasn’t lived up to what scouts thought it might, but more importantly, he’s really struggled with high strikeout rates.

Gonzales was slashing a solid .257/.370/.450 with six home runs in 262 Triple-A plate appearances before getting the call to the show over the weekend, but his 28.6% strikeout rate and .357 BABIP will likely only get worse against big league pitching and fielding.

In shallow leagues, you can safely leave Gonzales on the waiver wire to see how he takes to the highest level of competition, but in 15-team and deeper formats, I think he’s worth a prospective pickup. He isn’t going to win you your leagues, but if he finds consistent playing time his ceiling is higher than most other middle infield eligible players sitting on deep league waiver wires.

 

Let’s see how the other hitters did Tuesday:

 

Brandon Marsh (PHI): 2-3, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB.

Marsh was one of baseball’s best hitters in the season’s opening weeks, but since late April he’s really cratered. He hit just one home run in the month of May, and yesterday’s two big flies were his first two of June. Marsh tagged Jameson Taillon twice yesterday, once against a cutter and the other against a curveball. He’s now slashing .283/.365/.469 on the season.

Brandon Nimmo (NYM): 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.

The regression monster finally came for Julio Teheran last night and it took the shape of Brandon Nimmo. The Mets’ centerfielder pulled a Teheran cutter 422 feet to right field for a home run in the fourth and followed that up the next inning by lining a changeup the other way over the left-centerfield wall. Nimmo is doing exactly what the Mets hoped he would after inking him to a big deal last winter. He’s hitting .282/.371/.449 with 10 home runs and a 132 wRC+ out of their leadoff spot.

J.D. Martinez (LAD): 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.

Martinez is doing all he can to win the starting DH spot for the National League All-Star team, and he padded his resume last night with two bombs in Colorado. Martinez is enjoying quite the bounceback season with his new club. He hit his 17th and 18th home runs of the season yesterday, and he’s already surpassed his total from last year in 333 fewer plate appearances. Martinez’s 17.3% barrel rate is right in line with some of the best seasons of his career.

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

What more is there to say about Acuña? He’s slashing .330/.404/.586 with 19 home runs and 35 stolen bases. Those are video game numbers.

Carlos Santana (PIT): 3-5, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.

Santana didn’t let the young kids have all the fun in the Pirates’ win yesterday. The 14-year veteran tacked on three hits of his own, including his seventh home run of the year. Santana is hitting just .233/.316/.380 and I wonder if he’ll start losing playing time to the youngsters if the Pirates fall out of the messy NL Central race.

Evan Longoria (ARI): 2-3, HR, 2 R, RBI, BB.

In both of Longoria’s plate appearances against Taj Bradley last night, the Rays’ rookie tried to get up-and-in cutters past the veteran third baseman and it didn’t work. In their first matchup, Longoria singled against the pitch, and in the rematch, he tanked the pitch 436 feet for a monster home run to left field. On the season, Longoria has an impressive .244/.301/.569 slash line but he’s only starting sparingly for the upstart Diamondbacks. Until he becomes a regular, he’s better left on the waiver wire.

Matt McLain (CIN): 2-4, 2B, HR, R, 2 RBI.

McLain is locked into the second spot of the Reds’ batting order and he should also be locked into your fantasy lineups. He notched both of his extra-base hits against Tyler Wells‘ four-seamers yesterday. Through 180 plate appearances, McLain’s slashing .321/.378/.552 with six home runs and four stolen bases. His .427 BABIP is going to come down, but with his 80th-percentile barrel rate and 66th-percentile line drive rate, that BABIP could stay higher than you’d expect from a typical hitter.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. (MIA): 3-4, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI.

Chisholm returned from the IL last night and immediately made his presence known. It was his first game since May 13th, but he sure didn’t look rusty. He collected two hard hits against Garrett Whitlock in the early going and added a single against Justin Garza in the eighth. Prior to his injury, Chisholm’s career-high 32.7% strikeout rate was holding him back to a 90 wRC+, so hopefully he’ll be able to rein that in. He’d lowered it in two consecutive seasons, and with only 164 plate appearances under his belt this year there’s plenty of opportunity for improvement.

Daniel Vogelbach (NYM): 2-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.

With Mark Vientos‘ recent demotion, Vogelbach has taken over as the Mets’ starting DH when the team faces a right-handed starter. Since sliding into that role, Vogelbach’s homered three times and collected nine RBI. He’s worth a look in 15-team leagues when the Mets have a lot of opposing righties on the docket.

Joey Wendle (MIA): 4-4, 2 R, BB.

The Marlins’ success has been one of the biggest surprises of the season, and Wendle’s really gotten into the action this month. Entering yesterday’s game, he had a .318/.333/.439 slash line this month, and then he went out and added four more hits in Miami’s 10-1 win in Boston. Even swinging a hot bat, Wendle’s lack of power and speed just doesn’t add much fantasy value outside of NL-only leagues.

Thairo Estrada (SF): 2-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI, SB.

Estrada swiped his 18th bag of the season yesterday, and his .280/.333/.454 slash line to go along with his strong work on the basepaths is a welcome sight for fantasy managers. I wasn’t a big believer in Estrada this offseason, and that’s certainly looking like a mistake. He’s on pace to finish near a 20/30 season and that plays in all formats. His strikeout rate is up 8 points from last year, but his flyball rate has risen about the same amount and it seems like a tradeoff that Estrada should be happy with.

Shohei Ohtani (LAA): 3-3, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB.

There just aren’t any more words to express just how special Ohtani is. Yesterday was his first career game with multiple home runs as a starting pitcher. Oh, and he also struck out 10 batters on the mound. Please be sure to enjoy this phenomenal talent because we’re truly watching one of the best players to ever step foot on an MLB field.