Mangum the Roller Coaster
While the title of this article is referencing the legendary Magnum XL-200 at Cedar Point, honestly, last night’s Reds/Pirates game may have been an even crazier roller coaster.
Both teams got two on the board early against the other squad’s heat-throwing ace. Jake Mangum struck out his first time up, but he made up for it in the second inning, coming to the plate and hitting one out of the ballpark. Now it is of note that this home run was only 336 feet, and thus, was only estimated to be out in five Major League ballparks, but hey, you take what you get from a slap hitter like Mangum. Later in the game, Mangum walked and stole a base, his 20th of the year. In the epic eighth inning where the Pirates and Reds both plated three runs, Mangum singled to drive in Endy Rodríguez to take the lead.
Mangum really isn’t a long-term viable player in fantasy, as he lacks extra-base power (even if he got a home run in this game, which was his third) and his expected metrics all show a player bound to regress. Still, he’s a hustler who uses his speed to beat out ground balls often and steal bases. He’s kind of like Chandler Simpson with a tiny bit more pop and a little bit less speed, and it’s funny to think the Rays had both last season. Mangum finished with a statline of 2-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB, SB.
Jake Mangum (PIT): 2-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB, SB.
Let’s see how the other hitters did Friday…
Sal Stewart (CIN): 2-5, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI.
Sal Stewart was the hero on the other side of the Reds/Pirates slugfest, as he plated four of the runs, including a 409-foot home run to bring in two and an eighth-inning hot shot single to tie the game in the eighth inning. A lot of people predicted that Stewart would be a beast this season, and he’s making those people look smart, as this was already his 23rd home run on the season. He will be a perennial 30-bomb guy who should break the 40 threshold at some point; he’s too good and is playing in an excellent ballpark for power hitters.
Jake Bauers (MIL): 2-3, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.
It’s good to see Jake Bauers put up a performance like this, as he’s appeared to have broken out of his slump and begun a hot streak. He has now recorded a hit in six straight games, which is awesome to see. This was his first home run since July 11, though, and it seems likely he will be back on track. Bauers is a platoon guy, but he has a really impressive skill set against righties, as he combines a willingness to walk with striking bat speed combined with a great sweet-spot percentage. It feels like while he’s having an admirable breakout season, he could be even better than he is now.
Munetaka Murakami (CHW): 2-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.
Since returning from the injured list, Munetaka Murakami has gotten on base in all 17 games. He also has the best OPS in MLB against pitches over 97 mph, despite the offseason concern being that he couldn’t hit velocity. The White Sox were tired of the solo shots, so Murakami went out there and drove in two with his big swing for the fences. It’s such a pretty swing. Murakami has really transformed the White Sox lineup, and anybody who took the risk on drafting a player with a boom-or-bust reputation is sure to be happy with the out-of-this-world results he’s gotten so far.
Pete Alonso (BAL): 2-3, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.
There really hasn’t been much fanfare for Pete Alonso in his first season in Baltimore, which is unfortunate, as he’s looked exactly like you’d expect him to. He’s been great, and this game was another example of this. He now has a 130 wRC+ on the year and appears to be trending towards having his seventh season with over 30 home runs. He’s quietly been one of the better home run hitters of all time, and Orioles fans should be happy he’s a key cog in their lineup for years to come.
Trea Turner (PHI): 3-4, HR, 2 R, RBI.
Trea Turner struggled mightily in the first half of the 2026 season. He would admit this himself. Since we’ve turned the page and entered the second half of the season, he’s looked pretty much exactly how you’d expect Trea Turner to look. This game just adds to that, as he mixed in a couple of softly hit singles with an absolute no-doubter home run. It’s kind of difficult to diagnose Turner’s poor season as a whole, as he’s often overperformed expected numbers due to speed. He’s striking out a bit more than you’d expect, but it’s not a really detrimental number. It seems likely we will probably see a bit more of this version of him than the version that is one of the less valuable hitters in baseball moving forward.
Junior Caminero (TBR): 1-2, HR, R, RBI, 2 BB.
Despite being one of the MVP frontrunners this season, Junior Caminero only had one home run after the All-Star break going into yesterday’s game. You could argue he should’ve had one in the previous match against the Texas Rangers, as it had the distance to be one, but it was inconclusive if it bounced off anything in the Trop’s upper rings. Yesterday’s was very conclusive. He smoked that ball into the deepest part of the ballpark, and it clanked off of the catwalk. It was a monster shot that felt way further than the estimated 453 feet. What makes Caminero so special this year, apart from his crazy power, is his ability to take walks. He added two more yesterday, and it symbolizes rapid maturation in his game.
Ceddanne Rafaela (BOS): 3-5, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, SB.
It’s a combo meal from Ceddanne Rafaela, who is looking to have an inverse of his 2025 season in which he started strong and then became one of the game’s worst hitters in the second half. Rafaela hit his 12th home run of the season last night, and he should be on his way to breaking his career-high of 16, barring a late-season falloff like last year. The peripheral stats are somewhat scary with him, but he’s consistently outperformed them this season, and the excellent speed helps with that.
Shohei Ohtani (LAD): 2-5, 2B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.
While the Dodgers may have lost yesterday’s game, that didn’t stop Shohei Ohtani from having an amazing outing. Ohtani is currently dealing with a knee issue that many are worried may sideline him for a bit of time. However, it certainly didn’t look to be bothering him in last night’s game. He hit an absolute rocket off a shot to give the Dodgers the lead, one that they would surrender later in the seventh. For now, Ohtani looks good, and we hope that there is no bad news coming down the line.
Max Clark (DET): 3-4, 2 2B, 2 R, RBI, BB.
Well, this is one way to make your MLB debut. Max Clark is the Tigers’ number one prospect and is clearly a top 15, maybe top 10, prospect in MLB. There has been a lot of hype surrounding this debut, as he has been cast as the future of this franchise since he was taken with the third overall pick by the Tigers. He walked in his plate appearance, which is always a good sign of what’s to come for a hitter. He then hit a bloopy single and had two doubles later in the game. The funny thing about his first double was that it would technically be out in eight ballparks, and surprisingly, Sacramento, where he hit it, was not one. Either way, this is a sign of exciting things to come for the young future superstar.
