McValue Neil
It’s been a season to forget for Jeff McNeil in West Sacramento, who is slashing .263/.319/.353 in his first year in the green and gold. This honestly doesn’t seem like that bad of a stat line overall, but in a ballpark where it feels like everything gets out, that’s a bit pedestrian. If you look at the Baseball Savant page for McNeil this season, it honestly looks like the fairly standard McNeil experience. However, last season he somewhat appeared to break out of that mould, as his bat speed climbed up a bit and that allowed his estimator stats to be kinder to him.
Yesterday, McNeil showed why he once was a batting title champion. He had three extra-base hits, two doubles and a home run. He flew out his first time up, and after that he went four-for-four on base. Is this a sign that he’s back? Probably not. He’s Jeff McNeil. We know the ceiling, and we know the floor by now. Scrappy as it gets, chippy as it gets, but nothing too special. The ballpark surprisingly hasn’t done him any favors either, but it’s the 2026 Athletics, so you have to give him a bit of a pass. It’s been a mess there.
McNeil finished with a stat line of 4-5, 2 2B, HR, R, 3 RBI.
Jeff McNeil (ATH): 4-5, 2 2B, HR, R, 3 RBI.
Let’s see how the other hitters did Friday…
Miguel Vargas (CHW): 4-5, 2B, 2 HR, 3 R, 3 RBI.
It’ll be interesting to tally at the end of the year which players I ended up talking about most in these articles, but it feels like every time I’m up to bat to cover the day’s hitting performances, Vargas has the best outing among hitters. Yesterday he went four-for-five with three extra-base hits, those being two home runs and a double. I think that Vargas might be the most underrated player in the Major Leagues right now, at least in my book. Everything you want from a hitter, he has in spades. He has near Soto-level discipline, excellent power, a tendency to really pull fly balls, and this all adds up to a great breakout season. I expect he will be even better next year, barring some crazy curse or injuries.
Jac Caglianone (KCR): 3-4, HR, 2 R, 5 RBI.
When I see a Jac Caglianone bomb was hit, I expect 493, not 393! Jokes aside, this is another one in the books for the young power hitter who some thought could be the next Aaron Judge-like player. We will see if he can get close to that lofty feat, but wow is he good. He got up with the bases loaded and singled to drive in three early in the game, and then his next time up he hit the aforementioned homer to drive Bobby Witt Jr. home. He and Witt have so much potential as a duo to bring this franchise back to relevance, and I hope Cags can continue to make strides in becoming a superstar like his teammate.
Ben Malgeri (DET): 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.
Some people were wondering who Malgeri is last night, as he’s not a name that many fans recognize. But maybe they should. Malgeri hit two homers yesterday, the second and third of his career. Malgeri isn’t a home run hitter, as he’s more valued due to his ability to get on base. However, he pulls a lot of fly balls, which could allow him to outperform his expected metrics moving forward, even in a ballpark like that in Detroit.
Gunnar Henderson (BAL): 4-4, 2B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.
This is one of the strangest seasons we’ve seen from a superstar player in a while. He has more home runs than he did last year! He also has a wRC+ 21 points lower, and last season was expected to be a down season… Yeah, it’s been weird. Part of the issue for Henderson is consistency, as we’ve seen him have games like this in 2026. He just follows it up with stretches where he goes hitless for five straight. Henderson is tapping more into the power side of his game instead of the contact side, which is largely why there’s this inconsistency. Hopefully for the Orioles and fantasy managers, he can play more like this for the rest of the way.
Nathaniel Lowe (CLE): 3-4, 2B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.
Lowe was a pretty under-the-radar deadline addition, with Jo Adell and Foster Griffin getting most of the limelight. So far, Lowe has performed the best of the batch. It’s actually really surprising how much of a bounce-back season it’s been for Lowe, and many may have been wondering if it was a product of his ballpark in Cincinnati. It appears that is not the case, as he’s performed better in Cleveland so far. How has Lowe been doing it? His batted-ball profile looks much better this season than the last few. His bat speed is up, he’s hitting liners off the sweet spot of the bat, and he’s pulling flyballs a bit more than he used to. This all adds up to a player who is going to perform like your standard solid first baseman, instead of a DFA candidate.
Andy Pages (LAD): 3-4, HR, 2 R, RBI, SB.
It’s a combo meal from Pages, who has put together an all-around amazing season for the Dodgers. Sigh. No, but I’m happy for him and fantasy managers; he’s a fun player. You get a lot of what James Outman was expected to be from him: a hitter with boom in his bat, an ability to steal some bases, and solid ratios that certainly don’t hurt you. His incredible defensive prowess is also going to keep him in the lineup night in and night out, which at this point is pretty impressive to be in the Dodgers’ lineup. That’s some Real Madrid-type stuff.
Alejandro Kirk (TOR): 2-3, 2B, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB.
It was a great day at the office for Alejandro Kirk, who casually plated two of the Blue Jays’ runs in their tidy 3-1 victory over their division rivals in the Bronx. Kirk is interesting in fantasy, as it feels like he should be better. He’s more of a points league type player and one who can help provide a solid floor as opposed to the elite ceiling you get from catchers of similar pedigree like Adley Rutschman or William Contreras. In leagues with strikeout penalties, he’s your guy, though, as he strikes out less than 13%.
Rafael Flores Jr. (PIT): 3-4, HR, R, 2 RBI.
In fourteen games, Flores has shown out for the Pirates, putting up a slash line of .294/.400/.676 with a wRC+ of 188. That’s pretty dang impressive, and he has the power to back it up too. He’s been the team’s backup catcher and fills in at first base, and largely earned the time at first base from his performance against the Marlins in the game before. Yeah, it’s pretty crazy to be only 21 games into your regular season and already have an outing better than this, and to do it in back-to-back games is impressive.
Zac Veen (COL): 1-3, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB.
Veen is back, and we are all so happy. We saw a bit of him at the end of last season, though the numbers were pretty putrid. We got to see his great personality then, though, so we’ve all been hoping his hitting skills would catch up. With yesterday’s game, Veen already has doubled his home runs, runs, and RBI totals from last season. Veen has some serious raw power and looked overall like a more polished player in Triple-A this season before his call-up. You can argue the walk is the most impressive stat here, as it shows an improvement in discipline.
