Everything Lee Wants

Jung Hoo Lee (SFG): 2-5, HR, R, RBI.

San Francisco is not an easy place for lefties to hit home runs. Barry Bonds was the last lefty to hit at least 30 home runs for the Giants back in 2004. I think we can safely say the drought will remain despite Jung Hoo Lee’s best efforts. Last night’s bomb against Hayden Wesneski traveled 382 feet and, according to Savant, would have been gone in all 29 other parks. The home run was his career-high ninth of the season.

He finished the night 2-for-5; the second hit was a line drive to left against lefty reliever Steven Okert in the eighth. It was a good night at the office for Lee, save for making the final out of the game: a groundball to Jeremy Peña on a sinker from Josh Hader. The two-hit game pushed Lee’s batting average to .300 on the nose; that’s good for tenth behind Yandy Díaz’s .302. It’s also 34 points better than the mark Lee held last year. Lee won’t excite you in standard category leagues, but his penchant for avoiding strikeouts (10.3%) has made him a very solid option for points leagues. And, yeah, he can lean into a home run every once in a while when he wants to.

Let’s see how the other hitters did Monday:

Brett Baty (NYM): 1-3, HR, R, 4 RBI, BB.

Baty had taken 1,409 trips to the dish without hitting a grand slam until last night at Truist Park when Bryce Elder said, You seem like a nice fellow; kindly bang this hanging curveball to remind the gents in our bullpen to get a move on. No, does it look like I’m joking? Ok, maybe that’s not exactly what happened, but that curveball was on a tee. If you were like me, you might have been interested in Baty’s strong second half last year. Well, here we are in August staring at a .616 OPS, and if that’s not the hitter version of HAISTBMBWT!? than I don’t know what is.

Nolan Arenado (ARI): 2-4, HR, R, 4 RBI, SB.

Revenge is a dish best served cold, or so I’ve been told. Arenado stuck it to his former team by sending a 2-1 fastball from Gabriel Hughes soaring into the Arizona pen, just over the fence in the left-field corner. He’s not the Silver Slugger he once was, but the grand slam was Arenado’s fourth longball this August and 18th of the season. His .756 OPS is, at the very least, better than last year’s apocalyptic .666.

Zack Gelof (ATH): 2-4, 2B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.

Gelof returned from a nearly month-long absence with a knee laceration and made an immediate impact by taking Freddy Peralta deep while leading off the fifth. Before the injury, Gelof looked a lot like a post-hype prospect, slashing .273/ .327/ .476 with a much-improved 25.1% K rate. He has also stolen eight bases on nine attempts. I’ll be interested to see where he settles in the batting order; he hit ninth last night, but hit leadoff a couple of times before he hit the IL.

George Springer (TOR): 1-4, R, SB.

Not the most exciting line, but it was good to see Springer return after missing a couple of games this weekend with a cranky shoulder. Last year’s .959 OPS feels like a fever dream, doesn’t it? At the very least, he has made excellent swing decisions (130 DV), and he has found better success lately, hitting .289 since the break. Meanwhile, his ninth stolen base has him halfway to matching last year’s total.

Jac Caglianone (KCR): 2-4, HR, R, 3 RBI.

This was pretty awesome. Skubal had Cags in an 0-2 hole, but he hung a slider that landed in the right field bleachers (410 feet, 110.8 EV). You know that old cliché about how the ball looks like it almost jumps off the bat? That’s this guy. As a curmudgeonly stick in the mud, I’m obliged to nitpick over his subpar swing decisions (77 DV), which makes him a little more volatile than most. But, boy, he is fun to watch. That’s 21 home runs and an .806 OPS. Not too bad, especially considering how rough things were last year.

Austin Martin (MIN): 4-5, 2B, HR, 3 R, RBI, SB.

Martin probably had the best line of the night. His third home run came while leading off the third inning against Trevor Rogers. The first four-hit game of his career boosted his OPS to .687. But unfortunately, his 67 wRC+ against right-handers has landed him in a dreaded short-side platoon. So much for that.

Yandy Díaz (TBR): 3-4, 2B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.

It’s pretty amazing. Anytime the Rays put up a crooked spot in the run column like they did last night in Sacre Verde, you can bet your bottom dollar that their big three had something to do with it. Sure enough, Díaz started the party by turning a 1-0 fastball from Jacob Lopez into a 439-foot (109.9 EV) nuke to left-center. The 14th four-hit game of his career boosted the 35-year-old Cuban’s average to .302, eighth-best in baseball. His .835 OPS ranks 21st.

Ty France (SDP): 2-3, HR, 2 R, RBI.

The French Renaissance continues. His 17th home run wasn’t a moon shot at 368 feet, but it was quite impressive, considering it came against a top-notch pitcher in Logan Henderson. France is slashing .291/ .345/ .527 across 329 PAs, and his 118 Process suggests the success is warranted. He has also shown near-even splits this season, too, posting a 136 wRC+ against lefties and a 135 mark against righties.

Mike Trout (LAA): 1-2, HR, R, RBI, 3 BB.

Trout’s home run last night off MacKenzie Gore was his 20th of the season and the 424th of his career, tying him with Edwin Encarnación for 54th on the all-time list. The three-time MVP started the season strong, but has had a quiet summer thus far. But if you’re in an OBP league, you can at least live vicariously through his 17.9% BB rate, which trails only Kurtz among qualified hitters. His 130 Process is darn good. Make no mistake, Trout can still mash; it’s just a question of whether he can overcome the lack of a supporting cast.

Lawrence Butler (ATH): 2-4.

Nothing too exciting here, other than to say that injuries have afforded Butler an opportunity to reassert himself in the A’s lineup; he has started each of the past 12 games, including last night against Freddy Peralta. The results simply haven’t been there, but those in five OF leagues might want to keep an eye on him to see if he can recapture the magic of two years ago, when he broke out with 22 home runs, 18 steals, and a .802 OPS.

Featured image by Aaron Polcare (@abeardoesart on Bluesky and X) and adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter/X; @justinparadis.bsky.social on Bluesky)