Jordan Walker smacked his ninth home run of the season in Thursday’s 10-5 victory over the Pirates on Thursday afternoon.
It was part of a two-hit, three-RBI game for the 23-year-old. Walker’s homer came off Paul Skenes in the first inning, just a few batters after JJ Wetherholt took him deep. Walker hadn’t homered since April 13th, and the strikeouts had been piling up lately, so this is a promising development. The swing-and-miss (plus his ground-ball rate) will continue to be what fantasy managers should track, since the bat speed and raw power are proven to play against major league pitching.