Brooks Lee
The rookie was called up not even a week ago and he's already making a splash. The top prospect went 2-5 with a R and 2 RBI, and now has a 1.087 OPS in 6 games. He has a hit in each of those six games, and RBIs in 5 of those games (8 total). Lee is a highly touted prospect known for his hit tool. He posted a .439 wOBA in AAA before the callup and was only punching out at 13.8%. I am fully in on him, and completely endorse his roster spot on your team.
Other Notes...
Oneil Cruz
Cruz went 2-3 with a 2R and 2RBI on a two-run homer. He had three hard hit balls today, all over 100, two over 105, and one eclipsing 110. The power that he possess is truly other-worldy, as his 100th percentile bat speed and 99th percentile EV. Unfortunately, his free singing nature leads to other world K-Rates as well (32.7%). This has been the tale for Cruz all season long, and it's not the first time I've mentioned it myself. That being said, he appears to have made a slight approach change in the month of July. So far this season, he's struggled mightily against breaking balls, posting a .259 xwOBA and 44.2% Whiff against them. In June, he swung against breaking balls at a 45.4% clip, but this is now lowered to just 31.4%. His swing and miss agains the pitch has gone from 47.5% to 27.3%. If these changes hold up, I'm gigabullish on Cruz's second half.
Christian Scott
The rookie tossed 5.2 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, and 3 K against the Pirates. The only hit against him was a homer. It's an unfortunate circumstance to allow only one hit and one walk across an entire start, but still surrender two earned runs. I'll forgive Scott for that, but the measly three strikeouts is concerning. Scott posted a 22% CSW. Scott has posted a K rate above 30% across all minor league levels in 2023 and 2024, so the absolute lack of strikeouts is surprising. Scott is getting whiffs at just 26th Percentile and Chase at just a 20th Percentile. Again, the figures are admittedly odd for someone who has been able to consistently collect miss with a quality fastball in the past. His 39 big league innings is a small, but growing sample size, so if it doesn't improve, I'd be looking to sell. He gets a lot of hype in prospect circles, but I say to tread carefully.
Gavin Williams
I gave Williams some high praise at the start of the season, but he suffered an injury and has only recently made his way back. In just his second start back, Williams went 5.1 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. He had a 27% CSW. It's tough to draw a lot from this outing and from his season to date, but the performance is certainly encouraging, even though it was against a below-average lineup. The biggest takeaway is that Williams is throwing strikes and throwing hard. He was actually .7 MPH higher on average on his fastball compared to last outing, and topped out at 99.1. I loved Williams at the beginning of the year, and think he is certainly worth an add in deeper leagues.
Corey Seager
Seager went 2-5 with 2 R and 2 RBI on a two run homer and three hard hit balls. Seager had a slow start to the season, posting a .595 OPS in April. He's climbed his way back, partly thanks to a strong May (1.047) and July (1.239). Seager is a perfectly healthy hitter under the hood. He's smashing the baseball (494.4% Hard-Hit, 90th Percentile) and squaring it up plenty (36.9% Sweet Spot). He may have burned you earlier in the year, but you would be foolish to bench him now.
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Photo Courtesy: Bryan Green
