Whether it’s moonshot home runs, clutch base hits, or multi-hit games that just won’t quit, these dawgs have been on absolute fire. We’re breaking down the hottest players at the plate from the past week—guys who’ve been raking, slugging, and turning heads with every swing. Let’s take a look at who tore it up and made noise last week around the league, in no particular order.
Riley Greene, OF – Detroit Tigers
Last Week’s Line: .464/.500/.893/1.393, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 7 R, 0 SB
A seven-game week for the Tigers, and Riley hit safely in all of them. In fact, he had multiple-hit efforts in three of them, to go along with four home runs and 15 RBIs/runs combined. Fantastic week from Greene, who’s starting to turn the profile around after a slow start. Hard-hit rate (50%, 85th percentile), barrel rate (13.8%, 79th percentile), and bat speed (74.2 MPH, 84th percentile) are well above league average, so this may be the start of sustained consistency at the plate. And he only struck out three times all week (in 30 plate appearances). Three.
Luis Robert Jr., OF – Chicago White Sox
Last Week’s Line: .381/.480/.714/1.194, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 5 R, 5 SB
If you were to look at the season-long numbers for LouBob, you’d wonder why I’m featuring him. If you’ve kept an eye on the batted-ball metrics, you’d have seen this week coming. Yes, the White Sox are trash (I can say that, they’re my team). Yes, the lineup around him is terrible. Yes, Robert is probably going to be traded. But man, who cares about all that (I do, actually) when the line looks like this! He’s walking more, striking out less, swiping more bags (he’s now the league leader), and the hard-hit profile is pretty sweet. 90th percentile bat speed to go along with a 13.5% barrel rate means good things are going to happen. He did earn the Golden Sombrero (four strikeouts) Friday night against Houston, though.
Aaron Judge, OF – New York Yankees
Last Week’s Line: .500/.556/1.042/1.597, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 7 R, 0 SB
I literally just said to my buddy Lou the other day that I’m surprised I hadn’t featured Judge yet, because he’s having a monster season. Well, he added a monster week this past seven, so here we go! On the season, he’s batting over .400, OBP is over .500, his OPS is a ridiculous 1.263, and the only category he’s not top 5 in is stolen bases. It should be no surprise that he leads MLB in barrels per plate appearance (15.3%), or that he’s top 5in EV50 (exit velo average of his 50 hardest hit balls). That’s been the book on Judge for years. One more swoon fact I found super interesting, highlighted by Levi Weaver and Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic – In Judge’s first 34 games, his .423 batting average was higher than any other American League hitter’s on-base percentage. That’s not just incredible, it’s mind-blowing.
Brandon Nimmo, OF – New York Mets
Last Week’s Line: .348/.423/.826/1.249, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 7 R, 0 SB
Staying in New York, let’s chat about Aaron Judge Jr. – Brandon Nimmo. Ok, so he doesn’t look like Judge, or hit like Judge, or land anywhere near Judge’s family tree – but the line from the week is Judge-esque. And he plays for a New York team. That’senough for me. So anyway, most of this came Monday night out in D.C., where Nims went 4/6 with two jacks, nine ribeyes, and a couple of runsies. He also had a game Thursday in the Lou (3/3, HR, RBI, three runs); so yes, all this came in just two games. But still. A Judge-esque couple of games, no?
Maikel Garcia, INF – Kansas City Royals
Last Week’s Line: .500/.539/.833/1.372, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 4 R, 4 SB
Let’s move this discussion to the infield, where we find Maikel Garcia doing not-Maikel Garcia things! Big week across the board, with a couple of HRs, eight RBIs/runs combined, and four swipes. I say “not Maikel Garcia things” because this is so not the Maikel Garcia we know. He’s retooled his swing mechanics (even adding a toe-tap), and it’s paying off – his Statcast is red-red, with 90th and above percentiles everywhere you look (xBA, average exit velo, hard-hit, squared up., Chase, whiff, etc.). Very productive series in Baltimore, where Garcia sent a couple of big flies on Sunday.
Kyle Stowers, OF – Miami Marlins
Last Week’s Line: .421/.421/1.105/1.526, 4 HR, 10 RBI, 5 R, 0 SB
There hasn’t been much to cheer about in Miami this season. Well, actually, the past several seasons. Only three teams have a worse record, one of the worst run differentials in baseball (-57), Sandy Alcantara is having trouble locating these days, and there isn’t much hope on the horizon. Any glimmer of hope has to include Kyle Stowers, right? And did you see the walk-off salami against my hopefully soon-to-be (not really) son-in-law, Mason Miller, Sunday? MLB Theatre at its finest! Oh, and he lit up the Dodgers Tuesday night as well (4/4 2HR, 4 RBI). The hard-hit profile has always been there, but it’s the improvement in swing decisions (less chase, more zone) that’s putting him on the radar. This is the breakout, folks.
Shohei Ohtani, DH – Los Angeles Dodgers
Last Week’s Line: .333/.500/.762/1.262, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 9 R, 3 SB
Like Judge, it’s kinda crazy that I haven’t featured Shohei in this column yet this year. But when you dial in, not so much. Shohei has struggled a bit (by Sho standards) to start the season, with many pundits pointing to his status as a new papa (congrats) as the cause for the disruption in the force. We know his midichlorian count is off the charts, so it would be just a matter of time before all was right in the galaxy. We’re almost there, and this week seems like a good spot to launch the rebellion – a double, a triple, two nukes, three steals. Just made the cut for the feature, but the profile is heating up. And you had to know May the Fourth references would be bountiful.
Dane Myers, OF – Miami Marlins
Last Week’s Line: .583/.688/1.167/1.854, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 3 R, 3 SB
Wait? Didn’t I just say Miami was terrible and didn’t have much going on? Then why do we have two Marlins featured this week? I DUNNO, ASK DANE. Who went ballistic this week in just five games? He hit damn near everything they threw at him, sent a couple over the fences, produced 11 runs, and even stole three bases. The Statcast doesn’t quite qualify, as the former Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (giggle) is platooning (short-side), but it soon will and suggests some sustainability in the approach. In the meantime, if he keeps hitting like this, don’t be surprised to see a contender make a play for his services.
Geraldo Perdomo, SS – Arizona Diamondbacks
Last Week’s Line: .476/.520/.762/1.282, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 3 R, 3 SB
Geraldo Perdomo’s strong performance last week can be attributed to several factors, including his aggressive base running (three steals), his all of a sudden elite plate discipline (.520 OBP), and his clutch hitting (pinch-hit single plating two, and another RBI via the sac fly Tuesday against the Metropolitans). His HR pace is even a bit surprising this season, considering his xSLG, exit velos, barrel% %, hard-hit%, and bat speed (9th percentile) show this is clearly just a power surge to start the season. He does walk more than he strikes out (16% v. 11.5%), so while I don’t expect the power to continue, he’s still going to produce. And in the uber-competitive NL West, the Diamondbacks need him to.
Freddie Freeman, 1B – Los Angeles Dodgers
Last Week’s Line: .476/.577/.857/1.434, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 6 R, 0 SB
If you haven’t watched the video of the Anthony Rizzo-Freddie Freeman pickle (“Frederick!!!”), Do yourself a favor and go watch it now. It’s adorable, and truly all I love about the game of baseball. How can you not love Freddie Freeman, even as a Dodger? Great clubhouse guy, great off the field – all the things. He’s battling an ankle issue this season, which has for sure contributed to the slow start. But from the looks of this line, that may be behind him. Statcast loves the profile (always has, though), with 95th percentile or higher in most of the batted-ball metrics. His bat speed is an enigma, but bat speed isn’t a counting stat. Three multi-hit games this week, runs and RBIs aplenty (he lit Atlanta up on Saturday), and even a couple of bombs. Baseball is better when Freddie is back. He’s back.
