Christian Yelich (OF-MIL) - Yelich returned from his second back-related IL stint Tuesday to go 0-for-4 with three strikeouts against the Royals. That dropped him to .316/.422/.342, a line that looks very Yelich-like...until that third number. In 45 PA, Yelich has yet to homer, and just one of his 12 hits has gone for extra bases (a double). It does seem reasonable to point to the back issues as sapping his power, but his ground ball rate has spiked (57.1% coming into Tuesday), and since the start of last year, Yelich's 31.5% K% is a big bump from the 20.6% mark the previous two years. He's probably too good to not revert to at least close to his former MVP form, but back issues don't always go away quickly.
Wander Franco (SS-TB) - Franco was 1-fo-4 with a double on Tuesday for TripleA Durham, dropping him to .340/.393/.640 in 50 at-bats a game after he had four hits to raise his BA 55 points. He's swiped a base, and his 17 hits include eight of the XBH variety. Franco's 6:4 K:BB is solid, and while the season is young, he may be pretty close to getting the call. The Rays' current SS, Willy Adames, his hitting .202, while 2B Brandon Lowe is hitting just .203 after two hits on Tuesday. I don't know if Franco is quite ready to post a 1.000 OPS season in the big leagues, but Juan Soto had a .923 mark in his rookie year and Franco is considered a better prospect than Soto prior to his joining the Nationals. The Rays may as well wait until the Super-Two deadline passes sometime next month, but I think we'll see Franco with the Rays within the next 30 days.
Jesse Winker (OF-CIN) - Winker did it again Tuesday, going 2-for-4 with his eighth homer out of the leadoff spot. One wonders how many RBI he's have hitting 3rd or 4th, but it's probably wise that the Reds have their top two OBP guys (Nick Castellanos) hitting 1-2. Winker is hitting a robust .350/.403/.613. He's now 4-for-9 in his last two games after a 2-for-16 run. To take that next step, Winker needs to revert to last year's small sample (32) of PA versus LHP in which he posted a .969 OPS, as he's batting just .241/.313/.276 against southpaws this year. Unless they use Nick Senzel in the OF, the Reds don't really have an obvious platoon partner for Winker, so he should continue to see everyday at-bats unless he struggles against southpaws continue for an extended period.
Nico Hoerner (2B/SS-CHC) - Hoerner had another nice game Tuesday, going 3-for-4 with two runs to lift his impressive line to .353/.433/.471 in 60 PA. He's yet to homer this year, nor did hie in his 125 PA last year, but he's swiped three bases and has an impressive 8:8 K:BB. Somewhat encouraging is the decline in his soft hit % from 22.4% last year to 12.2% in 2021, though his barrel rate needs to be read with a microscope. Hoerner is 6'1", so there's time for the 24-year-old to grow into his power and overall, we can't argue with these results.
Austin Riley (3B/OF-ATL) - Riley hit his fifth homer of the year on Tuesday in a 1-for-4 effort to lift him to a solid .291/.400/.433 this year. His power has been down a bit over the past couple of seasons, but he's now homered on back-to-back days, and the Braves have to be happy with his 12.7% BB%, a mark that's a huge increase over last year's 7.8%. He's probably not going to be a consistent .300 hitter, but a guy who hits .280 with 30+ homers annually seems to be his profile. Unfortunately he won't steal many bases (just one pro SB since 2017), but unless his .395 BABIP takes a huge step back, he's shown he can be an everyday player.
Nico Hoerner (2B/SS-CHC) - Hoerner had another nice game Tuesday, going 3-for-4 with two runs to lift his impressive line to .353/.433/.471 in 60 PA. He's yet to homer this year, nor did hie in his 125 PA last year, but he's swiped three bases and has an impressive 8:8 K:BB. Somewhat encouraging is the decline in his soft hit % from 22.4% last year to 12.2% in 2021, though his barrel rate needs to be read with a microscope. Hoerner is 6'1", so there's time for the 24-year-old to grow into his power and overall, we can't argue with these results.
