Home Runs in HD
Henry Davis (PIT): 2-3, 2 HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, BB.
Well, this was a bit of a surprise performance!
It’s unfortunate to say, but Henry Davis has had a pretty horrible season, even by his standards. At one time, he was drafted first overall by the Pirates, with the expectation that he would become one of the game’s best-hitting catchers. Unfortunately, this hasn’t panned out. Davis has put up sub-par season after sub-par season, essentially wiping him off the radar of any fantasy manager. Ironically, while many thought he wasn’t strong enough defensively to stick around behind the plate, he has actually derived his value from there, becoming a well-above-average defender at the catcher position. This is awesome for him, and it will allow him to maintain a role with an MLB team, even with wRC+ marks below 50 each season.
Yesterday was a showcase of why he was expected to be a solid hitter. Davis has excellent bat speed and can hit the ball hard. Both pitches he launched into the stands were pretty hilarious meatballs, as one was a poorly executed 91mph sinker right down the middle, and the other was a hung slider. You can’t make those mistakes against a first overall pick, even a disappointing one. Davis was also able to take advantage of a four-pitch walk early in the game, scoring on a two-out Bryan Reynolds triple to round out his excellent stat line.
For the few of you sickos in super, super, SUPER deep leagues who roster Davis, I’m sure last night was one of your happiest fantasy nights, maybe ever.
Let’s see how the other hitters did on Friday:
Kazuma Okamoto (TOR): 2-4, 2 HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, BB.
I feel like every time I sit down to write one of these, Kazuma Okamoto has had an excellent game. He must really like Fridays. Okamoto hasn’t quite adjusted to Major League pitching yet, as he has been about a league-average hitter when you weigh everything, but the contact and on-base skills as marketed haven’t been on display yet. He’s striking out a lot more than he ever did at any level in Japan, racking up Ks at a clip around 30%. This should subside as the season goes on, as he will continue to adjust. I can see him becoming one of the more consistent options at third base in years to come, though games like this are still somewhat rare in this current early phase of his career.
Julio Rodríguez (SEA): 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Julio Rodríguez is off to a slow start. He does this seemingly every year, before tearing it up and ending with a 30-30 season and a 120-ish wRC+. Unfortunately, his Mariners really could use him to speed up the process, as they have been slightly disappointing so far. It’s worth noting that Cal Raleigh has been the more disappointing player, but still, JRod hasn’t made managers too happy with mediocre production. This game is a HUGE step in the right direction though, as when he’s on, Julio hits lots of homers. This could be the start of an early turnaround.
Bryan Reynolds (PIT): 2-4, 3B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB.
As you can probably tell from the Henry Davis write-up at the top, there was a bit of an onslaught of runs in the Pirates-Reds game. And, it wasn’t at Great American Ballpark, it was at the harder field to hit at! Bryan Reynolds had it cooking, as his triple brought Davis in, but he also scored the game’s first run with a DEEP shot into DEAD centerfield, a seriously aesthetically pleasing shot. The Pirates have seen pretty solid production to start the year, something you rarely ever see from the franchise. Though if you compare their overall team wRC+ ranking to their total runs ranking in the major leagues, it becomes apparent that there is some RISP luck here and there. If they want to sustain production, it should be through Reynolds, who has been one of the franchise’s most consistent hitters in recent years.
Jordan Walker (STL): 4-4, 2 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, SB.
The theme of this recap, at least so far, is former top prospects trying to shed the disappointment label. Jordan Walker has been perhaps the most “is this… legit?” player in recent memory. We could honestly talk about him in every single one of those articles. Walker had a dominant day at the plate again, hitting each time he was up at the plate, including two doubles. He also snagged a stolen base, which is neat. The thing to remember about Walker is that he is one of the more toolsy players in Major League Baseball. His bat speed isn’t far off the likes of Junior Caminero and O’Neil Cruz, and he’s pretty freakin’ fast. He has been one of the least valuable players by WAR in each season he’s played, but that is turning around fast. Power/speed threats are incredibly valuable, and as long as he keeps making enough contact, he should be one of the better NL hitters. Even if a 165 wRC+ is a bit unreasonable of an expectation.
Munetaka Murakami (CHW): 1-3, HR, R, 3 RBI, 2 BB.
We have ANOTHER Munetaka moonshot to report! The three-run bomb was his thirteenth of the year, which puts him ahead of Aaron Judge and Yordan Alvarez, which is pretty amazing company to be in. It’s been fun to see Murakami morph into an extreme version of what he was expected to be. He strikes out a lot, yes. Perhaps even more than expected. But he walks a ton, and hits home runs at a Judge-esque rate. This is a really fun player and also one that can be tricky to evaluate from a fantasy perspective. The batting average isn’t there, but the OBP is, which will inflate his run totals, while the home runs will inflate his RBIs. This is the final evolution of Kyle Schwarber.
Chase DeLauter (CLE): 4-4, 2 2B, R, 2 RBI, BB.
If we stopped the season a week in, Chase DeLauter would be AL Rookie of the Year. He’d probably be AL MVP as well while we’re at it. I kind of stopped incessantly following his stat lines after a couple of weeks went by, but seeing this makes me happy. DeLauter is still cooking, even if his home run totals have dried up a bit. Home runs weren’t necessarily his thing in the minors, though, as he was more of a ratio guy, which, as the dust settles, appears to be what he’s becoming. He still hits second in the lineup, and he still has solid exit velocities and launch-angle management, showing he isn’t a fluke. This is a really fun player who could help Cleveland make some noise and win another AL Central title.
Bryson Stott (PHI): 1-3, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB, SB.
IT’S A COMBO MEAL. For those uninitiated, a combo meal is a fantasy baseball term for when a player gets a home run and a stolen base in the same game. There’s usually one of these each day, and I plan to mention them all. Stott has been rough this year, to say the least. He entered this game with a wRC+ below 50, which is, of course, abhorrent. His defensive numbers are excellent, though, which really shows at this stage, especially with other Phillies slumping; he’s probably a more valuable real-life player than a fantasy one. He’s a defensive specialist now, and you just hope for maybe league-average production out of him.
Fernando Tatis Jr. (SDP): 3-3, 3B, R, BB, SB.
It was a notably tough game for the Padres, as they fell to Murakami and the White Sox 8-2. We have to give credit to Fernando Tatis Jr., though, as he played an exceptional game. The newly minted second baseman (it’s still weird to me, I can’t lie) went 3-for-3 with a hard-earned walk, also tacking on a stolen base. Tatis’ triple was kind of hilariously flukey, and honestly so was his bloopy liner single in the 8th inning. However, this underperformance is also probably the flukiest bad start of any in the bigs right now. He is hitting the ball hard more consistently than anyone, and his expected stats WAY outpace his current, ugly real stats. Positive regression is coming; stay optimistic.
William Contreras (MIL): 4-5, R, 3 RBI.
Another NL Central catcher who had a great day worth featuring, William Contreras, could not stop hitting singles. They weren’t the hardest hit singles, at least not until the last one, but they gave Nationals’ pitchers headaches all night, and he picked up three runs batted in (and a sole run) in the process. I think people forget about how great Contreras is, as while he’s not having blow-you-away seasons like Cal Raleigh last year, he’s been consistently great, both at hitting and behind the dish, since going to the Brewers’ catching lab.
Ildemaro Vargas (ARI): 4-4, RBI, BB.
We’ve talked about a few players who have been slumping this year, so let’s talk about the opposite. Ildemaro Vargas is THE story in Arizona sports right now, as the 34-year-old is playing like an MVP. Vargas fact #1: He currently has more fWAR in a month of playing time than he has in any full season of his entire career. Vargas fact #2: His wRC+ is above 210. Vargas fact #3: He has an OBP above .420 despite having a sub-4% walk rate. Yeah, these are the kind of crazy starts that we love to see for random players early on. It’s not sustainable for a year, but he could put up a solid all-around season when 2026 is all said and done.
