Garrett Cooper (MIA): 3-4, 2 2B, HR, 4 R, 2 RBI, BB.
Welcome back Garrett Cooper. In his first day back from being activated off the injured list, Cooper reaches bases four times off three extra base hits and a walk while scoring four of the Marlins’ 11 runs on the day. The crooked stat line on Friday builds off Cooper’s respectable performance from the first two months of the season and now through 189 plate appearances has put up a .260/.339/.432 slash on the season. Despite missing almost the entire month of June, Cooper still sits with a 119 wRC+, good for second on his team among hitters behind only Starling Marte.
Cooper continues to be a name thrown around as an option off the wire in most 12-team fantasy formats and it may be time to change that in your league as Cooper continues to perform at a high level despite being on a poorly performing team. All three of Cooper’s hits on Friday came off the bat at over 105 mph, bringing his season total to 60 hard hit balls, good for a 51.7% rate and putting him in the 90th percentile throughout baseball. Unfortunately the harder hit balls have not traveled in the air very often this season as Cooper has recorded over half of his balls in play as ground balls and just 18% as line drives. Perhaps the fact that all three of his hits on Friday were barreled, increasing his season-long rate to 9.5%, should be encouraging of things to come moving forward. While Cooper’s strikeout rate has also climbed to a 28% rate on the season, it’s not so far from his career average to bring real concern at this point and fantasy managers should be taking that dip every day if he can packaged it with a batted ball profile closer to his career norms through the rest of the summer.
Let’s see how the other hitters did Friday:
Luis Torrens (SEA): 2-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI.
Luis Torrens is making the most of his return to Seattle, and the Mariners are giving him every opportunity as they have split his starts thus far between catching duties and designated hitter. Since returning to the big league club on June 15th, Torrens has nine hits through 25 plate appearances, five of which have left the yard, to go along with nine RBI, seven runs scored, and four multi-hit performances. As long as he keeps getting the playing time, Torrens should be considered a streaming option in leagues that carry two catchers.
Dylan Moore (SEA): 2-4, 2 R, 2 SB.
Since returning from his stint on the injured list earlier this month, Moore has continued doing two things he’s been known for: stealing bases and striking out. Luckily, he’s hit just enough to look the other way on his somewhat expected 32% strikeout rate and the Mariners don’t seem to mind as they’ve trotted Moore out to the keystone in every game since his return besides one. He’s rewarded fantasy managers that held him through his early season struggles and injury with four stolen bases and a .250/.348/.425 slash since his return and should continue to provide a speed boost with added pop through the summer assuming he stays on the field.
Luis Arráez (MIN): 3-4, 2B, 2 3B, 2 R, 3 RBI.
The man of many talents comes through with a full stat line on Friday, as Arráez recorded three extra base hits to add to his limited collection Friday. The trio of extra base knocks bring him up to ten total on the year, with the other 42 hits on the season stopping him at first base. The three hit performance was Arráez’ 14th multi-hit game of the year, and third in his last five games. Though Arráez has played the roll of filler for the Twins, filling in all around the field as injuries have dictated, he has consistently been batting lead off for Minnesota, regardless of the position he takes on the field, providing him amble opportunity to build on his current .295/.365/.386 slash and provide enough runs and RBI to continue to make him a viable bench piece on most fantasy rosters.
Eddie Rosario (CLE): 1-4, HR, 2 R, RBI, SB.
Steady Eddie extends his current hit streak to 12 straight (and 15 of the last 16) with his fifth inning homer, breaking a tie with the Twins at the time. Perhaps more impressive, Rosario tacked on his ninth steal of the season and second in as many days, and this time learned his lesson from the day prior and stayed on the base, allowing him to score later that inning. The combo meal was his first since June 16, 2018.
Nate Lowe (TEX): 3-4, 3B, 2 R, 2 RBI.
After a strong start to the season where Lowe slashed .280/.367/.477 with seven homers and four stolen bases through his first 150 plate appearances, the Rangers’ first baseman has come back down to Earth considerably, slashing .177/.302/.229 through his next 116 trips to the plate, adding just one home run to his total along the way. Perhaps the tied is turning once more as Lowe is in the midst of a resurgence as his last 48 plate appearances have seen him slashing .381/.458/.619 with just a 18.8% strikeout rate to go along with a double digit walk rate. Though the four stolen bases may very well be the only ones he provides fantasy teams this season, Lowe’s 11% barrel rate and 44% hard hit rate on the season should continue to provide him opportunities near the top of the Rangers’ line up as he continues to heat up into the summer.
Fernando Tatis Jr. (SD): 4-5, 3 HR, 4 R, 4 RBI.
Breaking news: Fernando Tatis Jr. is still very good at baseball.
Tommy Pham (SD): 2-4, HR, 3 R, RBI.
Tommy Pham’s first inning homer was his seventh of the season and just one of three hard hit balls on the night, bringing his season total to 80, good for a 47.9% rate on the season, driving by a 62% rate in the month of June. The Padres’ every day lead off hitter continues to provide exceptional production at the top of the line up, as that June hard hit rate has helped him put together a .311/.420/.568 slash in the current month, despite a 27.3% strikeout rate. Keep him in your line ups as long as the Padres do.
Dansby Swanson (ATL): 2-3, HR, R, RBI, BB, SB.
After back-to-back games going 0-5, Swanson returned Friday with another two hit performance, collecting his 13th homer of the season along with his fourth stolen base of the year, marking his first combo meal since April 23, 2019. Swanson continues to be perfectly serviceable on most fantasy rosters, but many continue to wait for the 45% hard hit rate and 11% barrel rate to translate into something more than a slightly below league average slash.
Miguel Rojas (MIA): 2-5, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI.
It’s been pretty slow going since the return from the IL last week for Rojas, as Friday marked his first multi-hit game since returning including his first home run, run scored, and RBI in that time as well. Since June 18th Rojas has only collected 5 hard hit balls through his 30 plate appearances and though his hard hit rate prior to landing on the IL was only at 37%, it hasn’t done him many favors as he works his way back in the middle of the Marlins’ line up. The good news here is that Rojas should be given a bit more leash to get comfortable and should still be valuable as a corner infield piece in deeper leagues as his playing time should continue to be there in Miami.
Featured Imaged by Ethan Kaplan (@DJFreddie10 on Twitter)