Dave Cherman and Jonathan Metzelaar cover all things hitting from the past week, including the promotions of Jake Bauers, Willy Adames, and Francisco Mejia, as well as deep dives into Kyle Seager, Joc Pederson, Max Muncy, Gary Sanchez, and Leonys Martin.
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Timestamps
- Dave’s Rave: All Star Edition (1:54)
Injuries
- Adam Eaton’s return / Nationals outfield (5:38)
- Adrian Gonzalez released / Dominic Smith (8:32)
- Eric Thames activated / Impact on Jesus Aguilar and Ryan Braun (10:19)
- Daniel Roberston to DL / Willy Adames recalled (12:20)
Promotions/Transactions
- Jake Bauers promoted (15:20)
- Francisco Mejia promoted (14:38)
- Ohtani injured / Thoughts on Jose Miguel Fernandez (20:10)
Player Analysis
- Kyle Seager (22:40)
- Joc Pederson (27:27)
- Max Muncy (36:00)
- Leonys Martin (45:00)
- Gary Sanchez (50:17)
Community Questions
- When should a batter being platooned worry you? (56:06)
You gents are way too high on Joc Pederson. He has had a hot stretch which is floating all of his numbers at the moment. If you did this two weeks ago it would have been a completely different story. Its fun to talk about launch angles and swing changes like magic band-aids, but Joc has lots of issues and I doubt those have been fixed. He always puts together a hot stretch… every year. Toles is on his way back, which will be an issue. It seems like in this era, where we like to overlay narratives on top of hot stretches, we are buying into small samples more than ever before. I love the kid, I really do but he can’t be starting for you.
I like Polanco more but they are awfully similar – both really bad hitters day in day out with physical tools to do some damage when they are going well. Ideally these are backups that you trade if they ever get going.
Thanks for listening, Kraken. I’d have to disagree; his K% this year is over 10 percentage points lower than his career rate, and his whiff and contact rates are at career-highs. When I see a change that significant, it’s hard for me to just chalk that up to a hot streak, especially at this point in the year. You can also see the changes in his stance by comparing video of him this year to last year. I like Toles too, but I don’t view him as a threat to Pederson’s playing time, and would be surprised if he’s more than a bench bat assuming everybody’s healthy.
I hear that. That’s why I recommended him only in 16-team or deeper leagues because I don’t buy what he’s doing for 12 or shallower yet. In leagues like that, sometimes you have to grasp at straws based on a hot streak and hope that the narrative is actually true. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the last we’re talking about Pederson all season.