Juan Soto has yet to heat up for the otherwise scorching Mets. (Brad Penner, Imagn Images)
This week, Miguel Amaya hit a walk-off homer that barely cleared the fence; Corey Seager (hamstring) is hurting again; and Martin Perez (flexor tendon strain) is probably going to miss the rest of the season.
Wilmer Flores Bouncing Back
In 2023, the San Francisco Giants slumped to 79 wins, and have been building things back up since, winning 80 last season and early this year are off to a strong 16-9 start as they seek their first playoff spot since 2021.
The thing is, after winning 11 of their first 15, the Giants have actually been spinning their wheels lately. Fortunately, so have the Padres and Dodgers, while the D-Backs have picked up the pace, making a very tight NL West even more competitive.
The Giants’ defense has led the way (fewest errors in the bigs), backed by an offense that is somehow scoring almost five runs per game despite unsupportive underlying numbers. On the mound, it certainly helps that Logan Webb has never looked better.
Among batters, one guy who’s heating up right now is DH Wilmer Flores. On Wednesday, he made some team history when he delivered two hits, two RBI and a run, marking his third straight multi-hit game with at least one ribbie. Flores has shaken off a rough first half of April and looks poised to put an awful 2024 behind him.
You may recall that he was pretty much the top hitter for the Giants in 2023, nabbing a spot on our coveted Wire Troll All-Star team in the process, but last year a knee issue cost him a good chunk of the season, and when active he struggled as his walk rate dipped for the second straight year.
This season, veteran infielder Flores has bounced back (especially from a power perspective), and perhaps acting almost exclusively as the DH has helped (dynasty league owners note that he could lose 1B eligibility next season). The valuable defensive versatility he possessed over his career is all but gone now, but his bat (wRC+ of 125) will still play, so if he’s been dropped in your Fantasy league – and there’s a chance he has – you might want to take a closer look.
Waiting for Juan Soto
Two seasons ago, the New York Mets bottomed out with 75 wins, missing the playoffs in the process. Last year was better as they won 89 and made it to the NLCS, but this year they are on a whole different level.
After sweeping the Phillies – a result that caused Bryce Harper to take some accountability — the Mets are the hottest team in baseball with seven straight wins. At 18-7, New York is not just five games up on Philly in the NL East… it’s atop the entire MLB.
Pitching and defense have led the way as this team has been middling at best in terms of getting on-base (even with newcomer Juan Soto) and stealing bases. The power hasn’t been much better (but don’t blame Pete Alonso; he has six dingers already and is currently +1500 to lead the majors in home runs this season as per FanDuel).
Speaking of Soto (whose late-season knee injury last year turned out to be much ado about nothing), he helped the Mets win with his arm on Wednesday, erasing the potential go-ahead run in the eighth inning when he cut down Nick Castellanos at home plate.
Soto didn’t do a ton with the bat (managing a hit plus a walk) but his groundout in the 10th help advance the automatic runner to third, and it ultimately led to a run. His hit snapped a two-game skid before which it looked like he was heating up with back-to-back multi-hit efforts.
Soto does have 15 runs and 10 RBI already this month, but he really has yet to get locked in. It’s early, and he’s been healthy, so you know it’s coming, but so far his extra-base pop is eerily reminiscent of what he did when he first arrived in San Diego. We expect to see more games very soon like the one Soto had on Sunday (two hits, including a double, a run, three RBI and a walk).
Waiver Wire Pick of the Week
Tyler Anderson, SP, Los Angeles Angels (ESPN: 25.9 per cent; CBS: 35 per cent): We last pimped Anderson in 2023 as a low-end option and it worked out fine as he was serviceable down the stretch. He was even better last year, reaching double digit wins for just the second time, and so far this season, he’s been splendid (and very fortunate), going undefeated through four starts with an ERA just over 2.00. Anderson has a good matchup Thursday against a weak Pirate offense, so he should be a good play. Longer term, however, be aware that regression is coming as his BABIP is super low and he’s walking more batters than ever this season.
RotoRob Tune of the Day
In addition to her accomplished musical career, Bjork has also done some acting, winning the Best Actress Award at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival for her work in Dancer in the Dark. Here’s the sixth single from 1995’s Post, “I Miss You.”