Elly De La Cruz, 3B/SS, CIN
De La Cruz hit for the cycle on Friday and finished the game with four RBI and three runs. The young Phenom has five multi-hit games during his current six-game hitting streak and is slashing .361/.418/.452 for his career. De La Cruz now has three homers and owns a .452 wOBA through 67 big league plate appearances. The 21-year-old will likely hit a skid as pitchers adjust, especially considering his propensity to strikeout (28.4%). However, his early success and 51.4% HardHit% suggest that major league pitching might have their hands full for the next decade-plus with De La Cruz.
Jesus Luzardo, SP, MIA
Luzardo tossed 7.0 innings of shutout ball against the Pirates on Friday night. The Southpaw exited the game with a narrow 1-0 lead but was unable to improve upon his 6-5 record as Marlins' closer AJ Puk blew the lead in the 9th. Still, Friday's performance was a dominant one for Luzardo, he gave up just two hits, walked one, and fanned nine in the outing. Before Friday's outing, left-handed hitters owned a .220 wOBA against Luzardo, while righties were at a .355 mark. With that kind of polarity between righties and lefties it's going to be hard for the 25-year-old to perform consistently from start to start. That being said, Luzardo owns an impressive 10.22 K/9 to go along with a 3.77/.3.57 ERA/xFIP and has only allowed more than four earned runs in four of his 16 starts.
Elias Diaz, C, COL
With the Rockies down 4-3 in the bottom of the 8th inning, Diaz hit a Grand Slam to put them on top for good. He also doubled in the contest and finished the night 3 for 5. Diaz seems to have stabilized since his skid earlier in the month. He has five hits and two home runs in the past three games and is hitting .293 with nine homers on the season. The 32-year-old has been around the league for a while and has never hit well enough to warrant a full-time gig behind the plate. It would seem like 2023 is his breakout campaign, though the underlying stats are concerning. With a hefty 37.6% O-Swing% and 13.3% SwStr%, Diaz is still very aggressive in his plate approach. Additionally, Diaz is a pull-minded hitter (46.2% Pull%), which is okay when it comes to power, however, his 46.7% GB% is not. Being a catcher, he can get away with some ineptitude at the plate and overall it's hard to argue with his output thus far...and playing his home games in Denver will prop him up a bit as well. Among catchers with more than 180 PAs, Diaz currently ranks 1st in AVG, 3rd in RBI, and 4th in wOBA. He is currently rostered in 45.5% of ESPN leagues, if you need a catcher, there probably isn't a better option in the FA right now than Diaz.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B, TOR
Guerrero went 2 for 4 and hit his first home run since June 4th. He also doubled and brought in three runs in the contest. Before Friday's breakout, Vlad was slashing .220/.303/.254 with two doubles and five RBI in his past 66 plate appearances. The stretch was particularly painful because he was hitting the ball hard (52.0% HardHit%) and wasn't striking out a lot (13.6% K%). The 24-year-old just wasn't getting the ball in the air. He posted a 60.0 GB% and 14.0% FB% during that 66 PA stretch, his career percentages for those are 49.3% and 32.6%, respectively. The season has been underwhelming for Vlad thus far, but it's hard to see him not turning it on soon.
Luis Arraez, 2B, MIA
Arraez went 3 for 4 with three singles to bring his average up to .402 on the season. Yes I am writing about Luis Arraez AGAIN; it is almost impossible to not write about this guy every day. After a three-game mini-slump to end last week (0-12), the hitting machine has reeled off seven straight games with a knock. In that stretch, Arraez is batting a cool .600 (18-30) with TWO five-hit performances. Every time Arraez slumps and it looks like the .400 mark is so far away, he rattles off an insane stretch and finds himself back over the threshold. His singles-only mantra isn't great for fantasy, but if he could pursue .400 deep into the season, that would be great for baseball.
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