Wilyer Look At That

Wilyer Abreu (BOS): 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI.

Wilyer Abreu’s two HRs and four RBI powered Boston to a comeback victory over Nathan Eovaldi and the Rangers on Sunday. Abreu is now up to 12 HRs on the season and has been especially hot over the last week, hitting .360/.429/.920 with four HRs. A 25-year-old who came over to the Red Sox from the Astros in a 2022 trade for catcher Christian Vásquez, Abreu has been one of several pleasant surprises at the plate for Boston, who now sit just 2.5 games out of the last AL Wild Card spot.

 

Let’s see how the other hitters did Sunday:

 

Joc Pederson (ARI): 2-5, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.

Joc Pederson just continues to hammer right-handed pitching and he did so in a big way on Sunday, hitting a three-run opposite-field HR off Pirates reliever Colin Holderman in the seventh inning to give the Diamondbacks the lead for the first time in the game. Pederson has all but one of his 17 HRs against RHP in 2024, so it didn’t make much sense for Pittsburgh to leave in Holderman with one of the best left-handed relievers of all time waiting in the bullpen.

 

LaMonte Wade Jr. (SF): 3-5, HR, 2 R, RBI.

Injuries have limited LaMonte Wade Jr. to just 204 at-bats this season, but the lefty leadoff man for the Giants has shown the ability to grind out quality at-bats all season and now has a career-best .294 batting average and .417 on-base percentage. His counting stats aren’t anything crazy, but fantasy managers in OBP leagues could do worse than having Wade on their roster.

 

Juan Soto (NYY): 2-3, HR, 2B, R, RBI, 2 BB.

Juan Soto lives to punish the baseball—he has been doing quite a bit of that lately. Over the last 15 games, Soto is hitting .393/.500/.820 with five HRs and 13 walks to just nine strikeouts. His go-ahead seventh inning HR on Sunday came off lefty flamethrower Génesis Cabrera and the future Hall of Famer added in two walks to go with his two hits, just for good measure.

 

Gunnar Henderson (BAL): 3-4, HR, 3 R, 2 RBI, BB.

Jackson Holliday is starting to steal the show a bit in Baltimore, which began with his Grand Slam last week for his first career HR. He hit his second career HR in the fourth inning yesterday and Gunnar Henderson said “Enough is enough,” and walloped his 29th HR four batters later to steal back the spotlight. Now cemented firmly in the three spot in the Orioles lineup, Henderson should see plenty of quality pitches to hit batting behind Anthony Santander.

 

Royce Lewis (MIN): 2-4, HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, BB.

Royce Lewis punctuated a big six-run second inning for the Twins with a three-run HR for his 13th of the season in just 118 at-bats. Lewis now has 30 career MLB HRs in just 375 at-bats, an absurd pace for the 25-year-old. If he can just stay healthy for an entire season, Lewis is capable of putting up some monster numbers and challenging for some awards.

 

Willi Castro (MIN): 3-5, 2B, R, 3 RBI, BB.

While the Twins can point to a lot of players as the reason for their 62-48 record, one who doesn’t get enough attention is utility man Willi Castro. In addition to playing wherever the team needs him, Castro has been solid at the plate this season with a .766 OPS and a modest eight HRs and 10 stolen bases, all while hitting from a number of different spots in the order.

 

Jarren Duran (BOS): 3-4, HR, 2B, R, 2 RBI, BB, 2 SB.

Since winning the All-Star Game MVP award, Jarren Duran has just carried over the momentum and continued his hot second half with another multi-hit performance. The CF hit his 14th HR and stole his 25th and 26th bases to fuel Boston’s 7-2 win.

 

Jurickson Profar (SD): 2-4, HR, 2B, 3 R, RBI, BB.

Jurickson Profar has been a solid MLB veteran for a number of years now, but he has finally blossomed into the All-Star caliber hitter he was projected to be as a former top prospect. The 31-year-old hit his 19th HR of the season off Colorado starter Cal Quantrill and his season-long hitting line is now at .300/.393/.491.

 

Bryce Harper (PHI): 3-4, HR, R, 2 RBI.

The Phillies didn’t need much offensively with Zack Wheeler shutting out the Mariners, but Bryce Harper’s 25th HR of the season helped seal the win in the eighth inning on Sunday. The three-hit outing for Harper helped break him out of a 1-for-25 slump and while we were never really worried about the Phillies superstar, it is nice to see him bouncing back.