Bo Bichette (TOR): 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI.
Bo Bichette came off an absurd fantasy season in 2021, hitting nearly .300 with almost 30 home runs and 25 stolen bases. He has 223 total runs and RBI. He’s in one of the best offenses in the league. So naturally, Bo was getting drafted high in the first round coming into this season.
But Bo may have reached Dante’s Peak. 2022 has not been as kind to him. He’s slashing .263/.304/.436 while striking out a bit more often (24.5%) with a bit lower BABIP (down to .320 from .339). Not much else has changed. He’s still hitting the ball hard (47.9%) and he’s hitting fewer ground balls. His HR/FB is not drastically lower either.
As for his plate discipline, he’s swinging less but is missing on more swings. He has kept bringing his O-Swing down but he’s making much less contact on those swings. And this has been a steady outcome throughout the season too. His K rate has been consistently low- to mid-20s.
Another lost skill is his steals. He hasn’t stolen a base since the All-Star break and he’s stolen on seven bags while also getting caught seven times. Last year he stole 25 while getting caught just once.
Let’s look at some positives. He did just hit two home runs… that barely made it out (333 feet and 347 feet). Positives Jim! I said positives! Since the All-Star break, he is slashing .299/.314/.537 with ten extra-base hits and 27 runs and RBI combined, culminating in last night’s 2-4 with two homers and four RBI. He has been hitting fourth and fifth in the lineup lately which should help his RBI totals. Additionally, he’s still a top producer at short. He’s fifth in homers, and runs scored, third in RBI, and top ten in average. He could use some more steals as mentioned before but that seems like a lost cause at this time.
Regardless, he’s still 24 and in a great lineup, while maintaining and even improving on some of his peripherals from his amazing season last year.
Let’s see how the other hitters did Tuesday:
Keibert Ruiz (WSH): 2-3, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, BB.
Ruiz isn’t a power hitter. He’s a contact-hitting catcher that is still figuring out good contact in his second year in the majors. He’s striking out less than 12% of the time. But yesterday, he got a hold of two balls both around 102 MPH, for two solid dingers. Those were just home runs five and six on the year in 350 plate appearances. He also hit another a week ago making half of his season’s home runs coming in August.
Nick Pratto (KC): 3-8, 2B, HR, R, 3 RBI.
One of many rookies with Kansas City, Pratto has shown off his power since coming up around the All-Star break. He hit 17 homers in Triple-A this season in 337 plate appearances and crushed 36 across Double and Triple-A last year in 545 plate appearances. He’s a classic three true outcomes kind of player and has continued that in the bigs. He is walking 12.7% of the time and striking out 32.9% of the time, both about the same as his numbers in the high minors. His hard hit rate is still something to improve (just 35.7% so far) and he’s hitting an absurd 56.1% fly balls where it usually hovered around 45% in the minors.
Austin Riley (ATL): 3-6, 3B, HR, R, 5 RBI.
His numbers have been almost identical to his breakout season last year but he still has 50 more games to play. He has just as many doubles (33) and needs three more homers to tie last year’s totals. His walk and K rates are nearly identical but he’s hitting more fly balls while getting about 10% more hard hits than last year. His hard hit rate is 54.2%! Riley is annihilating the ball and he’s hitting nearly .300. He’s seriously one of the best hitters in the NL now.
Randal Grichuk (COL): 5-5, HR, 3 R, 3 RBI.
Grichuk smacked five hits against St. Louis including two 107 MPH hits, one traveling 449 feet. He’s been on the Rockies all season but it hasn’t helped his offensive numbers too much. However, since July 11th, he’s turned it up a notch. Grichuk is slashing .356/.404/.609 with four home runs, two triples, and six doubles, alongside 22 RBI. Interestingly, he has a hard hit rate of 44.2%, one of his better years, but hasn’t hit nearly as many fly balls as usual (down to 33.7%). Everything has been on the ground (51.9% ground ball rate). That hasn’t changed much over his hot last month either.
C.J. Cron (COL): 2-5, 2B, HR, 2 R, 5 RBI.
Cron got in on the barrage against the Cardinals as well launching two 111 MPH missiles, one over the fence at 450 feet and the other a screamer for a double. This was Cron’s first homer since July 23rd as he had slowed a bit, only hitting singles for a couple of weeks. Also, Cron was in some trade talks due to him being a big right-handed power bat, but the Rockies ended up standing pat. This will keep Cron in Colorado for the rest of the year at least.
Michael Chavis (PIT): 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.
Chavis with long hair on the Pirates feels like a completely different person than the one on the Red Sox. Like I’m not entirely convinced he was the same person when he was on the Red Sox and there is just another Michael Chavis that now plays in Pittsburgh and no one knows what happened to the one in Boston. The Pittsburgh Chavis launched a couple of 400-foot dingers yesterday for his 11th and 12th on the year. He’s been coming off the bench a lot the past few weeks too as the Pirates have been platooning him a bit when facing righties. He hasn’t done much this season to impress despite having potentially his best offensive season to date.
Joey Meneses (WSH): 2-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.
Joey Meneses was finally called up to the big leagues this season at age 30 after spending nearly half his life in the low minors with Atlanta. Now that Washington has depleted its major league talent, Meneses had a spot open up. He’s been taking full advantage, slashing .300/.333/.750 with three dingers across 21 plate appearances. He swatted 20 homers in Triple-A so he’s just continuing that power he found this year. He’s hitting the ball hard (47.1%) but is hitting 53% of his balls on the ground. So far this is promising for a 30-year-old rookie but not something necessarily worthwhile for fantasy.
Max Muncy (LAD): 2-5, 2B, HR, R, 2 RBI.
Muncy is having a fascinating season. Hitting .178 but still has a 94 wRC+ due to his 16.5% walk rate and .316 OBP. But these past two weeks he is finally hitting the ball. Since July 24th, he is slashing .286/.345/.571 with three dingers and five doubles. That is a 153 wRC+. And so far August is the first month that he is hitting above .200 (he’s hitting .375 in August). Like the Dodgers need any help on offense right now anyway.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)