Franmilly Rocks on Any Block

Franmil Reyes (CLE): 3-3, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB.

Franmil Reyes has eight home runs in 19 games since coming off of the IL earlier this month, including two last night. The first of his two long balls was a second-inning blast off of Kwang Hyun Kim that soared over the left-field concourse and banged off of a parking garage and onto Gateway Plaza, out of the stadium. Kim tried to start Reyes off with a slider, but the pitch did not break and stayed up in the zone, allowing Reyes to tee off on the pitch and send it 446 feet from home plate.

His second home run was another blast, a 418 foot shot to center in the third inning that would extend Cleveland’s lead over St. Louis to three runs. Reyes finished the game 3-3, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB. Reyes is bouncing back to his 2019 form after facing big expectations in the Covid-shortened 2020 season. Reyes ranks in the 98th percentile of MLB in barrel rate at 14.9% and the 94th percentile of hard-hit rate at 53.2%. Like many modern-day power hitters, Reyes is liable to strikeouts, with both his K rate and whiff rate ranking in the league cellar. This would be an easy pill to swallow if Reyes had the ability to work walks consistently, but he struggles in that area as well. His 6.8% walk rate ranks in the bottom quarter of the league, and he has struck out 76 times to just 16 walks on the year.

Reyes seems to be 0n the borderline of being a star in this league, he just needs to improve on a few things to get there. One area that Reyes could stand to improve upon would be his ground ball rate.  His ground ball rate this year is hovering around 50%, far too high for a player who does damage with power. However, Reyes has taken a step forward in this season is in his ability to pull the ball. I believe in hitting the ball to all fields, but most power hitters in today’s era have a tendency to pull the ball. Reyes is currently pulling the ball at a rate of 40.4%, his career-high up to this point is 32.7%.  If Reyes can continue to pull the ball and work on his plate vision and ground ball rate, we could be hearing his name for a long time.

Let’s see how the other hitters did Wednesday:

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

Another day, another dollar for baseball’s brightest star. Ohtani hit his league-leading 37th home run of the season last night, a three-run shot in the fourth inning that gave the Angels a 3-1 lead over the Rockies. He would add a single and two walks to reach base in four of his five plate appearances.

Raimel Tapia (COL): 4-5, 2 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, SB.

Tapia has a big game for the Rockies last night, picking up four hits in his team’s 8-7 loss to the Angels. The outfielders seventh-inning double cut the Angels’ lead to two, but Colorado did not have enough gas in the tank to complete the comeback. Tapia also added a stolen base on the night, his 19th of the year. This more than doubles his previous career-high of nine.

Salvador Perez (KC): 2-4, 2B, HR, 2 R, RBI.

The number one catcher in all of fantasy baseball did it again last night. He waited until late in the game to get going, but came through for Kansas City with a double in the seventh inning that would lead to the Royals’ first run, and then again with a solo shot to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. Perez’s 24 home runs lead all catchers and are tied for ninth in the league.

Joey Votto (CIN): 2-3, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB.

With two home runs last night, Votto has now gone deep at least once in five consecutive games, tying the Cincinnati Reds record for most consecutive games with a home run. Over that stretch, Votto has seven hits, and all of them have left the yard. Votto has now reached base safely in 12 consecutive games, and his 19 home runs are the most he has hit since 2017.

Ryan Jeffers (MIN): 2-3, 2 HR, 2 R, 6 RBI, 2 BB.

Jeffers has the honor of being the second catcher to make today’s column, and for good reason. After falling behind 10-0 to Detroit, Jeffers’ fourth-inning grand slam cut the Tiger’s lead to five runs, putting Minnesota back into the game. Then in the bottom of the eighth Jeffers hit a two-run blast to turn a 13-10 deficit into a 13-12 deficit. Detroit would go on to win the game 17-14 in a shootout.

Miguel Sano (MIN): 3-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, BB.

Jeffers wasn’t the only Twin to hit multiple home runs last night. His solo home run in the fourth got Minnesota on the board in what looked like it would be a laugher. Well, the Twins would go on to hit around the order in that inning and when Sano came up again he drove in an RBI with a single to make it 10-6. He then came to bat in the eighth with his team once again trailing by a bunch and hit a 473-foot bomb to make it 13-10 to once again give Minnesota a chance in the game.

Rodolfo Castro (PIT): 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.

Castro is still getting his feet wet as he gets used to everyday MLB action in the wake of the Adam Frazier trade. Well if last night is any indication, he may stick around for a while. Castro hit two home runs in the loss, getting Pittsburgh on the board and avoiding a shutout. Castro is 5-21 on the year, with all five of his hits going over the fence.

Carlos Correa (HOU): 3-4, 2B, 2 R, RBI, BB.

The post-trashcan era Astros continue to look dangerous, led by the same core that brought them to the World Series in 2017 and 2019. Correa can do it all in the field and at the plate, and he proved it again last night. Houston’s shortstop picked up three hits, including a double. After slumping for most of July, Correa is 7-17 and has at least one hit in each of his last four games.

Yuli Gurriel (HOU): 3-6, 2B, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.

Gurriel also had three hits for the Astros last night, making it six combined hits between him and Correa — the team’s three and four hitters. Gurriel drove in a run with each of his base hits last night. His double in the third inning brought in Altuve to score, he hit a solo home run in the fifth and drove in Diaz with a single in the sixth.

 

Featured Imaged by Ethan Kaplan (@DJFreddie10 on Twitter)