The Goldschmidt Ticket
Paul Goldschmidt (NYY): 3-5, 2B, HR, R, 4 RBI.
Goldschmidt’s start to the 2026 season has been nothing short of exceptional, posting a 152 wRC+ while slashing .276/.364/.534 through 35 games. His walk rate (10%) is the highest it’s been since 2023, and he’s still limiting Ks well with a sub-20% strikeout rate. After yesterday’s dominant performance against the Guardians, where he finished just a triple shy of the cycle, Goldy extended his hit streak to seven consecutive games dating back to May 25. He owns a .973 OPS and 173 wRC+ over that span.
Goldschmidt tallied all three of his knocks off Joey Cantillo yesterday. He had a 79.4 EV single, 81.5 EV double, and of course, a 103 EV / 386 FT home run. Can the 38-year-old first baseman extend his streak to eight games tonight in a tough matchup against Gavin Williams?
Let’s see how the other hitters did Tuesday…
Carson Benge (NYM): 2-3, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB.
Benge owns just a 104 wRC+ this season, but the rookie outfielder got really hot in May, slashing .315/.376/.457 with a 141 wRC+ through 101 plate appearances. He launched two home runs off Logan Gilbert yesterday — 101.6 EV / 399 FT and 109.8 EV / 394 FT, respectively. Of the last four games Benge has hit safely in, three have yielded multiple knocks.
Endy Rodríguez (PIT): 2-4, 2B, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB, SB.
Endy tallied two hits yesterday — a 100.7 EV double and 101.2 EV / 383 FT home run — but the most impressive part was that all of his balls in play registered EVs over 100 mph. Rodriguez, still just 26 years old, is slashing .300/.500/.467 with a 182 wRC+ and more walks (12) than Ks (9) over an 11-game stretch since he was promoted. I still have faith in the profile!
Spencer Steer (CIN): 2-4, 2 HR, 3 R, 2 RBI.
Steer is another NL Central bat that went deep twice yesterday. His first victim was Noah Cameron, who gave up a monster 106.3 EV / 420 FT long ball in the third inning. He later took fellow left-hander Matt Strahm deep, good for a 99.6 EV / 374 FT bomb in the eighth. Steer currently boasts the highest wRC+ and lowest K% of his career this season… just a really impressive start to the 2026 season for the 28-year-old that was involved in trade rumors this offseason.
Heriberto Hernández (MIA): 2-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.
Keep the two-homer days coming! Hernandez, a 26-year-old outfielder who’s managed to post just a 90 wRC+ through 36 games in the majors this season, is starting to find his groove in the show. Dating back to May 10, the youngster owns a 1.105 OPS and 199 wRC+ with five of his 12 knocks going for home runs. A .516 xwOBA is absolutely absurd, too. Hernandez took Miles Mikolas (104.3 EV / 403 FT) and Mitchell Parker (109.7 EV / 397 FT) deep yesterday in Miami’s win over the Nats.
Wenceel Pérez (DET): 2-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.
Perez, known mostly for his bat-to-ball skills (best highlighted by his 90% zCon rate this year), unloaded whatever was in the tank against Steven Matz yesterday, scorching a 108.1 EV / 404 FT home run off him in the second inning. That ball is gone in all thirty MLB parks. He later tallied a single off Ian Seymour, too, en route to Detroit’s shutout win over the Rays. Perez has tallied four homers since May 26 — a development to keep an eye on.
Hunter Goodman (COL): 2-4, 2B, HR, R, RBI, BB.
Goodman, still very much a three-outcome hitter at this juncture of his career, went deep once against the Angels yesterday. It was his 15th homer of 2026, traveling 389 FT and registering a 111 EV. He also smacked an 87.3 EV double later in the game. Goodman is slashing .275/.3370/.625 with 4 home runs and a 161 wRC+ over 46 plate appearances since May 22.
Kazuma Okamoto (TOR): 2-3, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB.
Okamoto truthers, stand up! Dating back to May 24, the Japanese star is slashing .267/.389/.633 with 3 bombs and a 183 wRC+. He took Bryce Elder deep in the second inning yesterday (99.7 EV / 364 FT) and also singled (85.2 EV) off Raisel Iglesias in the ninth. I admit the K% and SwStr% are higher than I anticipated, but his raw pop combined with his exceptional quality of contact leaves me nothing to worry about regarding his ability to produce at this level. In fact, I think he only gets better from here…
Christian Yelich (MIL): 2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, SB.
Yelich is still dominating, slashing .286/.360/.455 with a 128 wRC+ this season through 30 games. He’s recorded back-to-back games with multiple hits (including yesterday’s action where he smacked two singles — 89.7 and 104.7 EVs, respectively), and is rocking a .375/.459/.500 slash line with a 177 wRC+ since May 25.
Joc Pederson (TEX): 3-4, 2 2B, R, 2 RBI.
Pederson has been lights out since May 26, driving in ten runs and tallying seven extra base hits — he owns a diabolical .900 SLG and 255 wRC+ over that span, which sounds completely made up. His three knocks yesterday came against righties, of course, where he lasered two doubles off Dustin May (EVs of 105.5 and 107.5 mph) and later smacked an 80.1 EV single off Riley O’Brien. If your lineup needs a little juice and you’re into platoon matchups, Pederson is one of the best in the business right now to fill that need.
Featured image by Aaron Polcare (@abeardoesart on Bluesky and X) and adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter/X)
