Baseball Daily Dose: Daily Dose: Thrice is Nice
Corey Seager had perhaps the finest game of his young career on Friday, blasting three solo home runs in a victory over the Braves.
Seager got the Dodgers on the board with his first shot off Braves starter Julio Teheran in the fourth inning. After Trayce Thompson left the yard in the fifth, Seager victimized Teheran yet again in the sixth inning to put the Dodgers on top 3-2. He added an insurance run for good measure, taking Hunter Cervenka the opposite way in the eighth inning for his third bomb of the game and 12th long ball of the season.
The 22-year-old phenom has already shown more power than was expected out of him this season, especially playing half of his games in the pitcher-friendly confines of Dodger Stadium. Seager hit 18 home runs in 125 games across two minor league levels in 2015 and is on pace to shatter that mark this season.
He already had a multi-homer game on his resume, blasting a pair over the wall on May 15 against the Cardinals. Seager also became the first Dodgers rookie since Don Demeter in 1959 to hit three home runs in the same ballgame. He’s the sixth-youngest player in MLB history to accomplish the feat, with only Al Kaline, Eddie Matthews, Mel Ott, Hal Trosky and Boog Powell doing so at a younger age than Seager. That’s some very impressive company.
With the three-hit night, Seager is now hitting .283/.338/.511 with 31 RBI on the year. The sky truly seems to be the limit for this talented youngster.
Trea-for-Trea
Trea Turner made his long-awaited season debut on Friday, and he certainly didn’t disappoint. Starting at second base and hitting second for the Nationals, Turner went 3-for-3 plus a walk, reaching base safely in all four of his plate appearances.
The 22-year-old has nothing left to prove at the minor league level, as he was hitting .310/.376/.472 with three homers, 24 RBI and 17 stolen bases in 50 games at Triple-A Syracuse prior to his promotion. The plan, as it currently stands, is for Turner to remain with the club only while Ryan Zimmerman is on paternity leave. If he has another game on Saturday like he did in Friday’s debut though, he could change that line of thinking.
Danny Espinosa is currently functioning as the club’s everyday shortstop. He went 0-for-3 on Friday with a pair of strikeouts, dropping his season slash to a cringe-worthy .197/.291/.335. Now that the Super-2 deadline has passed, there’s no real reason not to install Turner as the Nationals shortstop where he’s likely to remain for the next decade.
Fantasy owners could stand to benefit from his game-changing speed. Turner should be owned in all mixed leagues at this point, because even if he isn’t up for good right now, his time is definitely coming soon.
Bogaerts has streak snapped at 26
Xander Bogaerts saw his career-best 26-game hitting streak snapped in a losing effort against R.A. Dickey and the Blue Jays on Friday.
He finished Friday’s game 0-for-4 while drawing a pair of walks. He had a chance to come through in dramatic fashion in his final at-bat, representing the tying run against Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna, but after getting ahead in the count 3-0, he wound up going down on strikes to end the ballgame.
His impressive streak nearly coincided with the 29-game streak that teammate Jackie Bradley Jr. had snapped on May 26. They became just the second set of teammates in the last 75 years (joining Shannon Stewart and Shawn Green of the 1999 Blue Jays) to have hitting streaks of 26 games or more in the same season.
During his 26-game streak, Bogaerts slashed .385/.419/.581 with five homers and 20 RBI. He raised his average from .309 to .348 during that impressive stretch.
American League Quick Hits: Evan Gattis, starting his fourth straight game behind the plate, had four hits including a home run and drove home four as the Astros smashed the A’s… Adrian Beltre went deep and plated five as the Rangers rolled… Nick Tropeano was scratched from his scheduled start on Saturday… Miguel Cabrera left Friday’s game with tightness in his lower back. Expect him to return to the lineup on Saturday… Danny Salazar punched out nine over eight strong innings to beat the Royals… Rich Hill (groin) was scratched from his scheduled outing on Saturday, but could be ready to go for Sunday’s series finale… Alex Colome recorded the final five outs against the Twins to earn his 13th save… Devon Travis slugged his first home run of the season in a Jays victory… Tyler Naquin went opposite-field for the first home run of his big league career… Mark Teixeira left Friday’s game due to discomfort in his right knee… Carlos Beltran and Alex Rodriguez smacked back-to-back homers in a losing effort… Shin-Soo Choo (hamstring) began a rehab assignment with Double-A Frisco… Doug Fister fired six shutout innings in a victory over the Athletics…
National League Quick Hits: Hunter Pence is expected to be sidelined for at least eight weeks, and will need surgery on his right hamstring… Noah Syndergaard racked up nine strikeouts in a victory over the Marlins… Pitching in a non-save situation, Trevor Rosenthal issued walks to all three hitters that he faced, with all three coming around to score after he was yanked, raising his ERA from 2.12 to 3.71… Mike Foltynewicz was scratched from Saturday’s scheduled start due to bone chips in his elbow; he could land on the disabled list… Francisco Liriano was slaughtered for seven runs (six earned) in 3 1/3 innings against the Mariners… Yasiel Puig landed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring… Adam Duvall blasted his 15th home run in a win over the Nationals, giving him six homers in his last nine games… James Loney launched his 100th career home run, and first as a member of the Mets, in a win over the Marlins… Melvin Upton Jr. successfully pulled off a straight steal of home against Chris Rusin and the Rockies… Drew Pomeranz struck out eight over seven shutout innings in a win over the Rockies… Jonathan Villar went deep for the second consecutive game… Eugenio Suarez clubbed his 13th home run, after homering twice on Thursday… John Lackey struck out nine over 6 2/3 shutout innings to beat the D’Backs… Matt Kemp belted a three-run homer, his 14th, to help beat the Rockies… Johnny Cueto improved to 9-1 with a victory over the Cardinals.
