Dropped the Mike
Giancarlo Stanton (NYY): 2-4, 2B, HR, R, 3 RBI.
Shoutout to Justin for the pun! Giancarlo Stanton had an absolutely absurd start to the year, boasting a 164 wRC+ through his first 39 plate appearances, but saw his production completely fall off a cliff since then:
I noticed something nugget-worthy about Stanton’s slump — pitchers were actually speeding him up, decreasing his average pace from 19.1 seconds down to 17.4 over that 11-game stretch. Is this a coincidence? Maybe. But yesterday, the Red Sox allowed Stanton to relax, turning in a 20-second pace and, well… we all saw the end result.
Stanton’s exit velocities were absolutely electric. He mashed a 111.5 EV / 369 FT home run off Connelly Early in the second inning and later smacked a 102.6 EV double off him in the sixth. Even his sole batted-ball out was hit hard — a towering 107.7 EV fly ball that traveled 386 FT. He’s a super fun player when he’s able to stay on the field for a consistent amount of time. Let’s hope that happens in 2026.
Let’s see how the other hitters did Tuesday…
Elly De La Cruz (CIN): 3-6, 2 HR, 3 R, 5 RBI, SB.
Breathtaking. Electrifying. Thrilling. Jaw-dropping. Yes, we’re talking about Elly De La Cruz again. The 24-year-old superstar has been a nightmare at the dish for pitchers to gameplan against in his first three years of major league ball, but he’s taken his talents to a whole new level in 2026. De La Cruz already has torched a whopping eight home runs, tied for third in MLB, and owns a .368 xwOBA paired with a monster .571 SLG through 24 games. He went deep twice — his first and last at-bats of the night — showcasing EVs of 108.5 and 111.6 mph, respectively. He also lined a 112 EV single in the seventh inning just for kicks.
Munetaka Murakami (CHW): 3-5, HR, 2 R, RBI, BB.
Murakami is such a polarizing player simply because of nights like these. He owns a 31% K rate, 14% SwStr rate, and a beyond-awful 61% overall contact rate, but he does know how to make some unimaginably hard contact. His nine home runs after last night’s 113 EV / 416 FT blast rank second in MLB, plus he’s posted a .416 xwOBA, .602 xSLG, and 167 wRC+ through his first 23 games in the states. It is easy to believe that despite the garbage swing-and-miss metrics, front offices are kicking themselves for not at the very minimum competing with the White Sox’s minuscule offer that inked the Japanese star.
Luis García Jr. (WSN): 4-5, 2B, R, 3 RBI, SB.
A four-hit day for Garcia yesterday may just be the spark he needs to get back to that 110 wRC+ bat he was two years ago. The 25-year-old tallied three singles with exit velocities of 88.3, 90.2, and 97.9, plus added a 92.1 EV double in the seventh inning for good measure. Garcia has done a better job of elevating the ball this year. With a few more barrels, I’m relatively confident he can turn in a wRC+ over 100 in 2026.
Michael Massey (KCR): 2-3, 2B, HR, R, 2 RBI.
Massey has really struggled to find his groove since posting a 104 wRC+ in 2024, but made strides towards looking like his former self yesterday, turning in a productive day that included a 95.3 EV sac fly and 104.1 EV / 412 FT long ball. It’s been a rough ride for the 28-year-old to say the least, but I’m not done holding out hope. With a few of the right tweaks (bottom line is optimizing xwOBA), Massey could return to the ~15 HR bat we saw over a brief two-year stretch.
Jakob Marsee (MIA): 3-4, HR, R, RBI.
Marsee was able to do it all against the Cardinals, mashing a 110.9 EV / 351 FT home run in the first inning, smacking a 99.4 EV single in the fifth, and later legging out a 74.2 EV infield single in the ninth. It has, without a doubt, been a tough watch to start the year, slashing just .176/.303/.264 through 23 games, but I think his production only goes up from here. Plus, the 24-year-old already has 8 stolen bases.
Cal Raleigh (SEA): 2-3, HR, R, RBI, BB.
Raleigh popped a 90.3 EV single in the third and then later mashed a 104.3 EV / 367 FT home run in the fifth, marking just his fourth nuke of the season. It’s quite evident that pitching staffs have adjusted to Raleigh’s diabolical success last season, plus he appears to be trying too much to recreate his 60 HR campaign with far too many limp fly balls and not enough quality contact, best highlighted by his .300 xwOBA that would mark by far his worst season since his rookie year, 2021, in that category.
Jeff McNeil (ATH): 2-5, HR, R, RBI.
McNeil, 34, absolutely torched the ball in a tough matchup against the always-impressive Seattle pitching staff. All of his balls in play — including outs — were hard-hits (95+ mph) and registered xBA marks of at least .430 yesterday. McNeil started his day off with a 98.5 EV single in the second inning, and later went on to crush a 101.4 EV / 395 FT home run — gone in 30 of 30 ballparks. While this may come as a surprise, I think McNeil could quietly provide some intriguing buy-low value as a bench bat on your fantasy team. He’s in line to post his best wRC+ (113) since 2022 and, despite being a notorious low-SLG bat, is averaging an XBH every 12 at-bats to start 2026.
David Hamilton (MIL): 4-5, 2 R.
Hamilton has generally provided much of his fantasy value purely on the basepaths throughout his young career, but that hasn’t always been the case to start the year. While the 28-year-old has only swiped 5 bags in 17 games, he is in line to set career-highs in a number of notable offensive categories. He’s limited swing-and-miss a lot more often, boosted his zCon% in an elite range, and been a tick more aggressive at the plate. He tallied four hits yesterday, including three consecutive singles to finish the game. While I’m unsure if he can maintain this streak of BABIP-fueled success (he is a speedster, so sometimes I give a little more leeway here), Hamilton’s xwOBA (.291) has increased over thirty points compared to last year and he’s taking an insane amount of walks (16% clip).
Luke Keaschall (MIN): 2-4, 2 RBI, SB.
The 23-year-old Keaschall has gotten off to a bit of a slow start, but I’m uber-confident he’ll bounce back. The former second-round pick was one of my favorite additions in fantasy baseball this year, grabbing him in all six of my leagues. Over his last thirty-four plate appearances, Keaschall has gone 9-for-33 (.273 BA). He continued that success yesterday with a pair of clutch late-inning knocks against really tough matchups — a 103.1 EV off Nolan McLean, and an 80.9 EV single against Devin Williams. These singles — the game-tying and go-ahead knocks — are what helped lead Minnesota over New York and deliver the Mets their 12th straight loss.
Featured image by Aaron Polcare (@abeardoesart on Bluesky and X) and adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter/X; @justinparadis.bsky.social on BlueSky)
