Wilyer Abreu (OF - BOS) - Abreu's 10th HR came as part of a 3-hit day against the Royals on Sunday, and the 25 year old is now slashing 279/380/551 for the season. He hits so many flyballs (approaching 60%) with a solid exit velo that I do actually think 40 HR is a legitimate possibility, although that launch angle will hamper the AVG a bit. The contact rate and chase rate have both improved again, to the point where in two seasons he appears to have gone from a very suspect hit tool to quite a bit better than average. Is it possible that we have a 40/15 player with a helping average here? I think that it is, and we haven't even mentioned the fact that he's an excellent defender as well. I mentioned on the podcast the other day that he think he's a legitimate All-Star, and I stand by that opinion despite the fact that I didn't expect him to ever be more than a platoon bat as he was coming up through the system. He has improved an impressive amount during his two seasons in the majors, and he's still on the good side of the age curve....just great to see.
Hunter Goodman (C - COL) - Goodman had a terrific weekend series against the Padres, going 7-14 with 3 2B, a 3B, and a HR, and he's now hitting 288/346/489 for the season. I apparently have forgotten the important rule that you can never ignore a Rockie starter, as I've been pretty dismissive of Goodman despite his role as the Rockies starting C. There are reasons for that of course, as the contact ability is very poor and the plate discipline is as well. The exit velocity has continued to improve, clocking in at just above average now, and he maximizes it with a lot of flyballs (over 45%). Still, the contact issues and low LD rate should result in a hurting AVG, and that just hasn't been the case to this point: his Statcast expected average is over 50 points lower than what he's actually posting. That lineup is bad enough that I expect pitchers to start avoiding him a bit more, and I'm not sure that he has the discipline to bump up the walk rate in response. I'm still pretty skeptical here as you can tell, but Goodman has shown that he is a reliable option at the C position nevertheless, and he's still just 25 so there is still some room for growth.
George Springer (OF - TOR) - Springer doubled and homered on Sunday against the Mariners, and he's now hitting 297/404/517 on the year. The 35 year old is arresting a multi-year decline so far this season, exhibiting a significantly more patient approach at the plate (swing 41% vs 49% in '24) and posting the highest exit velocity of his career by a whopping 2.3 mph. He's cut his GB rate by 17% as well....everything here looks great to be perfectly honest. He's even running more than he ever has before. It's odd to see this after a steep downward trend the past 3 seasons, but all of the underlying data supports the performance to this point. Springer is, for the time being at least, back among the top-30 OF in baseball for me.
Griffin Canning (SP - NYM) - Canning tossed another QS on Sunday, holding the Cubs to 1 run on 2 hits over 6 innings while walking 1 and fanning 5. That's 5 straight starts allowing 1 run or fewer for the 29 year old, who has gone from being one of the worst SPs in the league in 2024 to one of the best so far this season. The control is still problematic and the bat-missing is merely average, but the massive increase in GB rate (40.7% to 53%) is helping him prevent the long ball at a rate roughly half of his career average. I do think that he's been a bit fortunate thus far, but since he just shut down top-5 offenses in back to back outings, we have to give him some credit here. He is a viable SP in all formats for only the second time since 2020.
Addison Barger (3B/OF - TOR) - The Jays were planning on giving Barger some more run already, but with Andres Gimenez hitting the IL on Friday, Barger is essentially assured of playing time over the next few weeks. He's doing his best to show that he deserves it, as he extended his hitting streak to 5 on Sunday with a walk, single, and a HR against Bryce Miller and the Mariners. Barger has solid plate discipline, decent contact ability, and much more power than you'd expect: his max exit velo this year is already top-10 in MLB. With high LD rates and decent contact ability, a helping AVG is certainly possible here, and there is power as well. I believe him to be worth a speculative pickup in deeper leagues...he's still just 25 and there's plenty of talent here.
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