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Salvador Perez continued his unbelievable power binge on Sunday, crushing a solo home run off of Mariners southpaw Marco Gonzales in the sixth inning. It’s the fifth straight game in which the hard-hitting backstop has left the yard, and his eighth long ball in his past ten contests.
He has slugged a league-leading 17 home runs in 40 games since the All-Star break while slashing a monstrous .282/.347/.644 and driving in 41 runs. On the season as a whole, he’s hitting .277/.315/.544 and has already shattered his career bests with 38 home runs and 94 RBI.
Not only is he pacing the catcher position in offensive output this season, he’s now second in the big leagues behind only Shohei Ohtani (41) in home runs and his RBI total ranks third in baseball behind only Jose Abreu (101) and Rafael Devers (96).
It’s not just an unbelievable season though, what Perez is doing at the dish is becoming historic. On Sunday, Perez surpassed Carlton Fisk to set the new single-season record for most home runs by an American League catcher.[[ad:athena]]
He also matched Mike Sweeney’s franchise record for most consecutive games with a home run (5). Oh, and for good measure he also became the first Royals player in history to have eight home runs on a single road trip.
Not too shabby for a player who could be had after pick 85 on average in NFBC Main Event drafts back in March. When all is said and done, it looks like we could be witnessing one of the best offensive seasons by any catcher in big league history.
Starting Pitchers with an EDGE
Antonio Senzatela - 7 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 5 K, 31% CSW, 12 swinging strikes
Senzatela delivered what he termed the best start of his professional career on Sunday, limiting the hard-hitting Dodgers lineup to just two hits over seven shutout innings. The right-hander generated 12 swinging strikes in the contest -- six each on his fastball and slider. With the victory he improved to 3-9 on the season, but with a respectable 4.18 ERA and 1.34 WHIP across 125 innings through his first 22 starts.
Jesus Luzardo - 6 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 8 K, 32% CSW, 15 swinging strikes
The 23-year-old southpaw came through with the finest start of his Marlins tenure -- and perhaps of his big league career -- on Sunday, limiting the Reds to just one hit and one walk over six shutout innings. He piled up 15 swinging strikes in the contest -- eight on his curve and seven on his changeup -- while posting a CSW of 32 percent. Perhaps it may have been premature to write him off after five bad starts with the Marlins. He’ll look to build off of the success from this outing when he takes on the Phillies next weekend.
Jose Berrios - 7 IP, 0 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 11 K, 37% CSW, 12 swinging strikes
Berrios picked up his second victory as a member of the Blue Jays on Sunday, holding the Tigers to just one unearned run over seven innings while racking up 11 strikeouts. In six starts since joining the Jays he owns a 3.73 ERA, 1.47 WHIP and 36/ K/BB ratio across 31 1/3 innings. He’s going to have to be better than that if he’s going to lead the Blue Jays to a postseason berth.
Hitters with an EDGE
Joey Wendle - 3-for-4, 2 HR (9), 6 RBI, 2 R, BB
The Rays extended their winning streak to seven straight games on Sunday and a huge part of that victory wound up being Joey Wendle. He drove in a run with an RBI single in the first inning, then crushed a solo shot in the sixth inning to make it a 6-2 ballgame. The following frame, he smacked a grand slam to increase the Rays advantage to 10-4. With the monster day at the dish, Wendle is now slashing .279/.327/.443 with nine long balls and 49 RBI.
Adolis Garcia - 3-for-4, HR (29), 2B, 5 RBI, 3 R, BB
Garcia slugged a grand slam and drove in five runs on Sunday as the Rangers shellacked the Astros 13-2 in Arlington. The 28-year-old outfielder has had a mighty impressive rookie campaign, slashing .253/.296/.495 with 29 long balls, 77 RBI and eight stolen bases.
Luis Robert - 2-for-4, 2 HR (6), 3 RBI, 3 R
The dynamic 24-year-old continued his impressive season with a pair of home runs as the White Sox routed the Cubs on Sunday afternoon. He smacked a 406-foot blast off of Kyle Hendricks in the first inning then added on a 375-foot two-run bomb off of Scott Effross. Robert is now slashing a ridiculous .344/.386/.552 with six homers, 21 RBI and five stolen bases in just 41 games on the season. He should be considered a first round pick in many fantasy drafts for 2022.
EDGE Priority Pickup
Keibert Ruiz, C, Washington Nationals -- Available in 89% of Yahoo fantasy leagues.
The Nationals have already been able to enjoy the first big piece of the return package that they received for Max Scherzer from the Dodgers, with Josiah Gray stepping immediately into their starting rotation and impressing each time he takes the ball. On Monday, they’ll get their first glimpse at the other major part of the deal. The hard-hitting 23-year-old backstop has hit .310/.377/.616 with 21 homers, 59 RBI and a 33/30 K/BB ratio in 72 games at Triple-A this season. He should get a chance to serve as the Nationals primary catcher over the final five weeks of the regular season, which makes him an attractive target in two-catcher mixed leagues and NL-only formats.
Closing Time
Drew Steckenrider vs. Royals - 1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K (7th save)
Steckenrider picked up his seventh save of the season -- and fifth since the All-Star break -- with a perfect ninth inning to preserve a one-run lead against the Royals. He’s not a full-time closer, as he’s sharing the ninth inning with Paul Sewald, but even a smattering of saves when combined with his 1.84 ERA and 0.97 WHIP can provide plenty of mixed league value.
Andrew Chafin vs. Yankees - 1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K (2nd save)
With Lou Trivino struggling in the closer’s role for the Athletics recently, it looks like manager Bob Melvin seems more willing to mix it up in the ninth inning. On Sunday, it was Chafin getting the call and he responded by retiring the Yankees in order on just nine pitches -- two of them via the strikeout. There’s no guarantee that he’ll see anything more than the occasional save chance, but Chafin boasts a tremendous 1.87 ERA, 0.83 WHIP and 52/14 K/BB ratio across 55 innings on the season.
Dylan Floro vs. Reds- 1 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K (7th save)
It wasn’t the smoothest of rides, as Floro allowed a sacrifice fly to Joey Votto in the ninth inning on Sunday, but he still managed to get the job done and escape with a one-run lead intact. He has emerged as the primary closer in the Marlins bullpen and should continue to function in that capacity over the final five weeks of the regular season barring any extreme failures. He now boasts a 3.00 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 47/21 K/BB ratio across 52 innings on the season.
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Monday’s Matchup of the Day
Josiah Gray (WAS) vs. Zack Wheeler (PHI)
There are plenty of intriguing matchups and star pitchers taking the hill in a near full slate of MLB action on Monday, but the game that really captures my attention will be the National League East battle between the Nationals and Phillies.
For the home team, 23-year-old Josiah Gray has been extremely impressive through his first five starts as a member of the Nationals, posting a 2.89 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 29/8 K/BB ratio across 28 innings. He’ll have the added bonus in this one of pitching to Keibert Ruiz -- who came over along with Gray from the Dodgers in the deal for Trea Turner and Max Scherzer.
On the opposing side, Zack Wheeler is in the midst of an unbelievable season, though he has been a bit shaky as of late. The 31-year-old hurler enters Monday’s battle against the Nationals with a 2.90 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 204/36 K/BB ratio across a National League-leading 176 2/3 innings.
He has shown some cracks in the armor recently though, posting a 4.45 ERA over nine starts dating back to July 7. He has also registered a cringe-inducing 6.53 ERA across 20 2/3 innings over his last three starts.
American League Quick Hits: Tim Anderson was held out of the White Sox lineup on Sunday due to recurring leg soreness… Gleyber Torres (thumb) is expected to rejoin the Yankees on Friday. … Dylan Cease racked up 11 strikeouts over six innings of one-run ball as he cruised to an easy victory over the Cubs. … Wander Franco went 2-for-4 with an RBI on Sunday, extending his consecutive on-base streak to 29 games. … Ryan Mountcastle went 4-for-5 with a homer and three runs scored in a losing effort against the Rays. … DJ Peters homered and drove in three runs as the Rangers topped the Astros. … Matthew Boyd struck out five over four innings of two-run ball in his return to the Tigers rotation. … Kevin Smith clubbed his first big league home run to help power the Jays to victory over the Tigers. … Kyle Seager swatted a go-ahead two-run blast to beat the Royals. … Jose Ramirez homered and drove in two in a come-from-behind victory over the Red Sox. … Rafael Devers smacked a pair of long balls in a loss to the Indians. … Paul Blackburn hurled five shutout innings in a no-decision against the Yankees. … Tony Kemp belted a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning to sink the Yankees.
National League Quick Hits: J.T. Realmuto was pulled from Sunday’s game with a sore left ankle. He’s considered day-to-day. … Noah Syndergaard was scratched from his scheduled minor league rehab appearance on Sunday after testing positive for COVID-19. … Ke’Bryan Hayes was removed from Sunday’s game due to right hand discomfort. He’s considered day-to-day after X-rays came back negative. ... The Mets released veteran outfielder Josh Reddick. … The Giants designated Tyler Chatwood for assignment. … Jon Gray (forearm) will attempt a throwing session on Monday to determine whether or not he’ll be able to make his next start. … Ian Anderson hurled 5 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball in a victory over the Giants, though he did not record a strikeout in the contest. … Ozzie Albies homered and drove in a pair of runs to lead the Braves in that one. … Rowdy Tellez crushed a three-run homer in a victory over the Twins. … Kyle Hendricks was crushed for eight runs on seven hits over 4 2/3 innings in a loss to the White Sox. … Yoshi Tsutsugo crushed a walk-off three-run homer off of Alex Reyes to defeat the Cardinals. … Ranger Suarez allowed just one run over 5 1/3 innings in a victory over the Diamondbacks. … C.J. Cron slugged his 24th home run as the Rockies defeated the Dodgers. … Jonathan Villar went 3-for-5 with a triple and a home run as the Mets triumphed over the Nationals. … Josh Bell crushed a pair of home runs in a losing effort for the Nats.
