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Justin Turner (LAD): 3-3, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB.

After his 3-for-3 night, and just a triple away from the cycle, Justin Turner led the way for the Dodgers as they finished off the sweep of the Rockies in Los Angeles on Thursday. The 408-foot home run was the fourth of the season for Turner as he’s shown no signs of slowing down entering his age 36 season. Now batting .432/.480/.841 on the young season, Turner is seeing (and hitting) the ball extremely well right now as shown by his 16.2% barrel rate and .547 wOBA thus far.

Turner has collected hits in 9 of his 11 games played and continues to put the ball in play in various ways as his ground ball, fly ball, and line-drive rates all hove right around 30% thus far. He’s hitting the ball just as hard as he has in the past, already surpassing his max exit velocity from the past four seasons.

Let’s see how the other hitters did Thursday

Nick Solak (TEX): 3-5, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.

Solak looks to break out from his somewhat slow start at the plate with a three-hit game and his second multi-hit game in the past three days. Solak is still hitting the ball relatively hard, as shown in 104.2 mph home run in the 2nd inning, and should continue to build upon the past few days as the weather warms up in the coming weeks.

Mike Brosseau (TB): 2-5, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.

The Rays’ swiss army knife doesn’t play every day but has made the most of the opportunities he’s been given, as shown Thursday. Brosseau hit a 104 mph home run of his own in the game, taking Jordan Lyles yard in the fourth inning. He’ll continue to be a flexible option for the Rays but probably won’t play enough to make him fantasy viable in most formats.

Carson Kelly (ARI): 2-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB.

After his second straight game with a home run, Kelly is now hitting .429/.519/.667 through his first 21 at-bats in the young 2021 season. Kelly will look to continue his hot streak as he tries to put the 2020 season behind him where he failed to hit above .221 and earned every point with an xBA of .218.

Eduardo Escobar (ARI): 2-5, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB.

Also looking to put 2020 behind him, Escobar is doing just that as he tacked on his fifth home run of the season, going back-to-back with Carson Kelly in the first inning for the Diamondbacks. Escobar started off the season collecting just one hit in his first 21 at-bats but has since gone 11 for his last 32, collecting 10 runs, 9 RBI, and a stolen base in his last seven games.

Josh Harrison (WSH): 2-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.

Now starting at second base for the Nationals in the past four games, Harrison has put up multi-hit performances in three of the four, capping it off with his second bomb of the season. It might have barely topped out at 100.5 mph and only traveled 375 feet – but hey, a home run is a home run all the same. If he hadn’t flown out with the bases loaded in the eighth inning he may have been today’s spotlight hitter.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (TOR): 3-5, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI.

The Year of the Vlad continues. Sure the year is only two full weeks in, but we all wanted this right? It’s ok to take victory laps this early as long as there’s a sizable grain of salt that goes with it. Vlad extended his hit streak to eight straight with his three-hit performance Thursday, lifting his season average over the .400 mark to go along with his 15.8% walk rate and 17.5% K rate. To nobody’s surprise, Guerrero recorded the two hardest-hit balls on the night, including his 456 foot shot in the seventh inning.

Niko Goodrum (DET): 3-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI.

To not much surprise, Goodrum has been asked to wear many hats so far this season as he’s played three different positions (2B, SS, LF) and hit out of a variety of spots in the lineup. That versatility has allowed Goodrum to stay in the lineup for the Tigers, though he’s only started in eight of the Tigers’ 13 games thus far. In his time, Goodrum has made the most of it with a .286/.355/.429 slash line in 31 plate appearances, fueled by his three-hit performance Thursday.

Jake Cronenworth (SD): 2-2, 2 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 1 SB.

That’s a lot of twos in that stat line. If only he could have stolen a second bag to make it really pop. Though Cronenworth has yet to go yard this season, he’s hitting the ball as well as anyone as shown by his four multi-hit performances in his last six games. Through his first 63 plate appearances, Cronenworth is sporting a measly 6% strikeout rate to go along with his 11% walk rate.

Luis Arraez (MIN): 4-5, 1 R, 2 RBI.

Arraez was looking to jump out of his o-for-10 slump and did so in consistent fashion Thursday, belting four singles on the day. Araez will look to follow up on this performance by chipping away at his 12% K rate to get it closer to his 2020 9% mark. To add to the impressive day at the plate, Arraez also scored the winning run off a Max Kepler walk-off sacrifice fly to end the game.

 

Featured Imaged by Ethan Kaplan (@DJFreddie10 on Twitter)