Randal Grichuk (TOR): 2-5, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 R, 5 RBI.
There were plenty to go around in Oakland, but the hardest-hit ball of the game went to Toronto’s Randal Grichuk, who launched a 109.8 mph dart out of the park in the third inning to start off the Blue Jays’ scoring frenzy that would continue the rest of the game. Ending the game with two hits through five at-bats, including a double, home run, and five RBI, Grichuck sat center stage for the Toronto double-digit run-scoring affair.
Always known as a guy who can hit the ball hard, Grichuk has continued the trend into 2021, maintaining a 45.6% hard-hit rate through his 119 plate appearances. Grichuk has chipped away at his strikeout issues over the years, seeing his K rate decrease each season since 2017, currently sporting a sub 20% rate in 2021. With some pre-season concerns about playing time, Grichuk has quieted those with his .306/.354/.514 slash while seeing regular run in centerfield with George Springer on the shelf.
Let’s see how the other hitters did Thursday:
Marcus Semien (TOR): 4-6, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 R, 1 RBI.
Marcus Semien set the stage for the Toronto bats early, leading off the game with a 101.4 mph single. The hard-hit ball would eventually be outdone by his 105.1 mph home run in the seventh inning. Semien has now collected a hit in each of his last six games and 12 of his past 13 and his four-hit performance Thursday brought his season-long slash up to .254/.326/.458. Though it may have seemed like a slow burn for Semien as he got used to his new uniform, he’s actually hitting the ball harder with the highest average exit velocity and max exit velocity of his career, while maintaining would be career-high 42.5% hard-hit rate.
Bo Bichette (TOR): 3-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 SB.
Speaking of hard-hit balls, Bo Bichette has joined the chat. With the exception of a bloop single in the fourth inning, Bichette kept his balls on the ground, blasting two of his hits through the infield at a minimum of 105.8 mph. Luckily for fantasy managers, these singles set up his pair of stolen bases on the day, giving him three in the past two days and six on the season. Bichette saw seven sliders on the day and sung at six of them, collecting three whiffs on the pitch along the way. With this game, Bichette has now seen as many breaking pitches in 2021 as he did through the 2020 season and has increased both his whiff rate and batting average, showing his increased aggressiveness against the pitch type.
Brett Phillips (TB): 3-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 SB.
Though Brett Phillips doesn’t play often enough to be truly fantasy relevant, he made the most of this start in centerfield for the Rays. The three-hit performance brought his season-long batting average up to .244, while his K rate dropped to just over 32%. Phillips will need more than one injury in the Tampa Bay outfield to become any sort of regular contributor, and even then it would be questionable.
Mike Zunino (TB): 2-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.
Mike Zunino continued doing what Mike Zunino does — hit the ball really hard or not at all. Zunino took eight swings on the day, accounting for his two hits and six whiffs. Luckily one of those swings resulted in a 412-foot solo home run in the seventh inning, marking the first run to be scored for the Rays. Despite these outbursts every now and again, Zunino only becomes an option in two catcher leagues with the recent catcher injuries build-up across the league and should continue to frustrate with his all-or-nothing approach as seen in his 34.8% strikeout rate and 50% timeshare behind the plate in Tampa.
Miguel Rojas (MIA): 2-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI.
Miguel Rojas isn’t necessarily best known for his hard-hit balls, but made himself known on Thursday as he collected three on the day, including his 403-foot shot in the first inning. Failing to strike out once again, Rojas lowered his K rate to 11.4% on the season, while bringing his season-long slash up to .280/.368/.430. He has increased his hard-hit rate each season since 2016, while maintaining a top 10% K rate, keeping Rojas near or at the top of the Marlins’ lineup for the foreseeable future.
Yordan Alvarez (HOU): 3-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.
What more can be said about Yordan Alvarez? I almost left him off the list but thought better of it as it’s always fun to talk about how a pair of 112 mph home runs were only the 3rd and 4th hardest hit and 2nd and 3rd longest hit balls of the game thanks to the fact Giancarlo Stanton was also playing in this game. Alvarez now has collected 13 hits in his last 33 plate appearances, with three home runs. No need to worry about those knees when you spend most of the day simply jogging around the bases I guess. Even after his single in the 8th, Alvarez didn’t leave first base after Yuli Gurriel popped out to end the inning.
Aaron Hicks (NYY): 3-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB.
Aaron Hicks put up his fourth multi-hit performance of the season, raising his slash line to just .202/.298/.354. Of course the potential is there with Hicks, as it typically is every season, but the wear and tear of the season takes its toll early and often with the former first-round pick, and his recent burst should not be fully trusted.
Martín Maldonado (HOU): 3-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI.
Maldonado is one of the few catchers seeing close to every day playing time, despite a 39.5% K rate on the season, to which he did add to in this one. Luckily, he also threw in three hits, including a two-run home run in the 9th to act as insurance for Ryan Pressly. Of the 16 pitches Maldonado saw, 13 were fastballs resulting in his two whiffs on the night, which is more in line with the trends he saw in 2020 (60.5% fastballs, 28% breaking balls, 11.5% offspeed) than what he’s been seeing thus far in 2021 (50.3% fastballs, 41% breaking balls, 8.7% offspeed).
Franchy Cordero (BOS): 3-5, 1 2B, 3 R, 1 RBI.
After going two for his last 39, Franchy Cordero connected for three hits on Thursday, all coming off the bat over 104 mph. To say the “marquee” trade target for the Red Sox has struggled since moving to Fenway would be an understatement, but Cordero continues to see semi-regular time at the bottom of the Boston lineup. With a new injury to utility man Enrique Hernández, Cordero may even see more playing time to figure things out before a more drastic move by the Red Sox would be in order.
Francisco Lindor (NYM): 1-3, 1 R, 3 BB.
Francicso Lindor got a hit. That’s it. That’s the tweet.
Featured Imaged by Ethan Kaplan (@DJFreddie10 on Twitter)
