Randall Grichuk (OF-TOR)
Grichuk went 2 for 5 hitting his 3rd home run of the season and driving in 4. After a slow start where he did not hit a home run until this past Friday, he now has 3 in his past 4 games thanks to a 6-game hit streak that has saw him produce a .327 average and .902 OPS. Interestingly his slow approach power-wise has coincided with him hitting flyballs just 27% of the time - 15% below his career mark. This has led to an increase in groundballs, and subsequently his .400 babip has fueled a higher-than-expected average. He has also been more selective at the plate, especially at balls outside the zone and his 80% contact rate and 9.5% swinging strike rate are career bests.
Jacoby Jones (OF-DET)
Jones hit leadoff and went 0 for 5 with 3 strikeouts. The rough night did drop his average below .300, but he has been tattooing the balls with 11 extra hits to give him a .407 ISO and .733 SLG%. His Batted ball profile is roughly the same as his career mark, although he is pulling the ball slightly more while barreling up 13.8% of his hits which is near the top of the AL. Part of Jones success this year has been his ability to better handle fastballs, although this trend started last year as well. From 2017-2018 hit an abysmal .171 vs fastballs - an average that won't help you keep your job. 2019 and 2020 have been different stories as he has suddenly become and above average hitter at handling fastballs - hitting .294 last year and .429 this year. With all the success he's having it wouldn't be surprising if pitchers upped their breaking usage (he currently sees breaking balls 37% of the time) as he has a 46% whiff rate vs them this year. That realization may be happening as we speak as the White Sox got him swinging for strike 3 twice on breaking/offspeed pitched Monday.
Kris Bubic (SP-KC)
Bubic lasted 4 and 1/3 innings allowing 2 ER on 4 hits while both walking and striking out 4 batters. Bubic has turned in a 5.12 ERA over 4 major league starts in what has been a mixed bag for the youngster. His 3.89 xfip is a little more indicative of the way he has pitched, as his main enemy has been the HR ball as he has a whopping 25% HR/FB rate. He has been solid otherwise as his light throwing arsenal (92mph FB, 80 MPH curve / changeup) have induced groundball at a 60% clip while he has struck out 15 batters in 15 innings. Considering the 22-year-old has never pitched above A+, I would say he is holding his own.
Anthony Santander (OF-BAL)
Santander went 2 for 4 with his 8th double of the season and a run scored. Santander has been off to a hot start in 2020 with 7 home runs (tied for 3rd in MLB) and 22 RBIs (Tied for first) to lead the surprising Orioles Offense. He hit a solid .261 with 20 home runs in 405 PAs last year and has looked even better this year and has produced a nearly identical average despite a 40-point drop in his babip to .242. Santander has seemingly taken his game to the next level by drastically cutting his K rate 8 % to 13% and has increased his Line drive rate by 10% while reducing his groundballs, which has helped him to a .353 ISO. He will never walk a lot, but his bat looks to be for real.
MLB Debut
Isaac Paredes (3B-DET)
Paredes made his Major League Debut Monday night going 1 for 4 with a pair of RBIs while hitting 8th and playing third base. He may be the lesser known of the trio of Tigers Prospects recalled Monday by Detroit and but put a .282/.368/.416 line with 13 home runs and a solid 57/61 BB:K ratio in AA last year. Like many players this year his promotion is a bit of a wildcard having skipped AAA altogether, but there is no point in not giving him reps this year. He always exhibited good plate discipline in the minors with a 13% K rate over 4 minor league seasons and projects to pick up reps at both 3B and SS for the Tigers this year.
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