Bailey’s Comet
Giants’ rookie catcher, Patrick Bailey, had one of the biggest moments of his career last night. With the Mets nursing a one-run lead in the eighth, and two runners on, Bailey stepped to the plate and crunched a hanging knuckle curve from David Robertson that landed 432 feet from home plate just to the left of the big apple in center. He’s also got a hose for an arm; A few minutes after his big, go-ahead home run, he tossed out Starling Marte with a strike to second.
The switch-hitting catcher is riding a modest eight-game hitting streak and has been an important bat for the Giants. On Tuesday against the Blue Jays, he came through with an RBI double against Kevin Gausman that helped lead the Giants to a 3-0 victory. He’s only 33 games into his major league career but the results have been impressive as he’s slashing .322/.347/.557.
Considering he ended last season at High-A, 2023 has been a pretty remarkable whirlwind for the Giant’s first-round pick out of NC State three years ago. He spent all of 28 games in Double-A and Triple-A before getting the call on May 19th. It’s difficult to tell how good of a hitter Bailey really is because he’s advanced quickly, and all the sample sizes are small. He only hit .216 with a .670 OPS in Triple-A with the River Cats. But again, that was all of 14 games and 60 plate appearances, so who knows?
He’s seen all of 424 pitches, but just to get a very general idea, according to PLV, he’s shown average contact ability (50 on the 20-80 scale) with above-average power (55). The quality of his swings and takes (DV) have been just below average (45). He hasn’t walked much yet (3.3%) but he did walk at above 10% in both stints in the minors this year. Rookies are generally not the greatest bets for fantasy, especially catchers, but Bailey has really looked the part early on and Giants fans have to be thrilled about that.
Let’s see how the other hitters did Friday:
Jose Siri (TB): 1-4, HR, R, 2 RBI.
The Rays went off last night for 15 runs after Bryce Miller left early with a blister. Jose Siri has been doing his thing and now has four home runs in his last six games. Although, temper your enthusiasm somewhat as last night’s tater came against…Mike Ford in the ninth inning. Yes, it was that sort of night for the Mariners. Siri’s combination of strikeouts (32.1%), low OBP, and big power/speed mean he’s going to be added and dropped a ton in standard leagues.
Josh Lowe went 3-for-5 and picked up home run number 12. Randy Arozarena also hit his 15th.
Matt Olson (ATL): 4-5, 3B, 2 HR, 4 R, 5 RBI.
This very much feels like deja vu for me because Olson also hit two dingers last Friday. Atlanta keeps hitting dingers, and last night was more of the same. Marlins rookie Bryan Hoeing took it on the chin last night and allowed seven runs and three home runs. Olson’s second of the night was a pretty opposite-field shot off a changeup from Archie Bradley (409 feet, 104.1 EV). The big lefty is now fifth among qualifiers with a .924 OPS and is 11 home runs away from tying his career-high of 39.
Ronald Acuña Jr., Eddie Rosario, Sean Murphy, and Austin Riley all left the yard in last night’s 16-4 demolition.
Matt McLain (CIN): 1-5, HR, R, 2 RBI.
The Reds stunned the Padres with a walk-off win by scoring two in their half of the 11th. However, it couldn’t have happened without this man’s two-run shot in the 10th. McLain’s seventh of the year was a blast just to the right of the 404 marker in center against lefty reliever Ray Kerr (109.7 EV). The former first-rounder out of UCLA has been one of the key reasons why the Reds have been one of this year’s exciting stories and he now has a .911 OPS. However, his strikeouts have been creeping up (27.2%), so that could be something to monitor.
Spencer Steer also hit his 13th and leads the Reds with a .871 OPS. Keep an eye on Will Benson; He swiped his sixth base of the year and has been doing a great job getting on base in the bottom of the order.
Max Kepler (MIN): 2-5, HR, R, 2 RBI.
Kepler also went yard last Friday, so sure, why not? Yes, he’s about as boring as they come, but, hey, if you’re hurting in a five OF league and just need a stopgap, Kepler can give you some power (55 via PLV), although not much else. His 11th of the year came off a cutter from Dean Kremer (427 feet, 108.6 EV) and extended the Twins’ lead to 5-0 in the third.
Byron Buxton and Joey Gallo also homered in the Twins’ 8-1 win over the Orioles at Camden Yards.
Carlos Santana (PIT): 3-5, 2 2B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.
Down to their final out, Carlos Santana came up huge for the Pirates and drilled a 95 mph heater from Matt Bush, sending it 430 feet to the seats in right for the walk-off win. Santana hasn’t been much of a fantasy contributor in a while and has a .747 OPS on the year, but he’s hitting .556 with three home runs over his past four games. Ah, yes, small sample size. Still, he could be worth a look if you need CI help in a deep league.
Andrew McCutchen also went 3-for-5 and hit his 10th of the year as his resurgent season with his old club continues. He’s hitting .287, the highest we’ve seen from him since 2015.
Jared Young (CHC): 2-3, 3B, 2 R, 2 RBI.
The Cubs recently promoted Young, a lefty-hitting first baseman. He had a 1.030 OPS across 52 games in Triple-A Iowa, so he could be someone to watch list in really deep formats.
Although, I suppose the bigger story for the Cubs has been Nick Madrigal, who has hit .281 with a .703 OPS since being called up on June 9th. Despite the home run yesterday (390 feet, 98.2 EV), the Lilliputian second baseman, who now plays third, offers next to no power, but he can absolutely help you out in batting average.
Mookie Betts (LAD): 4-4, 2B, 2 HR, 3 R, 4 RBI, 2 BB.
What better way to get warmed up for the Home Run Derby than a trip to Kansas City? He’s now slugging .553, which would be his best since 2020. However, PLV has his power grade (60) as identical to last season. Mookie has been terrific. I guess the only slight disappointment might be the seven steals but that’s not terribly surprising since he had just 12 last season.
Ezequiel Tovar (COL): 2-4, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.
Tovar’s eighth of the year wasn’t a mammoth blast by any means (381 feet, 100.4 EV), but it staked the Rockies to an 8-3 lead they wouldn’t surrender. The Rockies rookie has been on a roll hitting .379 with a 1.090 OPS during the current home stand. As you’d expect, he’s shown pretty drastic home/road splits: a .815 OPS in Colorado versus .665 on the road. After the next two against the Tigers, the Rockies finish the first half of the season on the road against the Astros and Giants.
Tommy Pham (NYM): 3-4, HR, 2 R, RBI.
Baseball is very predictable, isn’t it? Like Tommy Pham leading the Mets with a .863 OPS. Yes, very predictable. Anyway, Pham’s PLV profile is solid across the board. He’s still a passive hitter with good Strikezone Judgement (55) and DV (55), and he’s showing significantly more power (60) than last year (50). Mets owner Steve Cohen recently mentioned that the team would consider being sellers at the deadline if they don’t improve, so Pham might find himself on another team. A trade might potentially hurt his playing time, so it could be something to keep in mind.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (ARI): 2-5, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI.
Gurriel Jr. had the big blow in last night’s 6-2 win over the Angels with a grand slam off Griffin Canning. Gurriel Jr. slashed just .191 /.244/.381 through 21 games in June, so things haven’t been great of late. Still, with his 13th home run of the year, he could be on his way to besting his career-high of 21. He’s a decent bet for batting average, given his excellent contact ability (65), but otherwise, he’s kind of forgettable in most standard formats.
Shohei Ohtani (LAA): 1-2, HR, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB.
Let’s end with a bang. Shohei Ohtani hit his 30th of the year. And it was, uh, well-struck, to say the least. Tommy Henry now has the honor of having served up the longest of Ohtani’s career– 493 feet.
Image courtesy of Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis and Aaron Polcare