Yordan Alvarez of the Astros returns to the top five of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings after a three for four with a walk, two doubles, and a home run in a 6-1 win over the Angels. His game score of 79 was third best on the day. That gives Alvarez 28 extra-base hits on the season and a .514 slugging percentage. Since May 9th he’s hitting .367/.430/.633 with multiple hits in 14 of the 28 games.
Aaron Judge and Juan Soto of the Yankees remain one and two respectively. Soto did not start again due to injury, but Judge went two for four with a walk and two home runs. The team as a whole went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position and the Dodgers won the game 11-3.
Teoscar Hernandez of the Dodgers also hit two home runs, including a grand slam for a game score of 78, fourth best on the day. There was a discussion in the booth right before the slam about the existence of clutch hitters, and how Hernandez was one of them. My feeling is that the good hitters are the clutch hitters, and right now Hernandez ranks 32nd on my list. Also note that Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers also had a good night, hitting two doubles. He ranks eighth on the list, having passed Betts and Ohtani for the top spot on the Dodgers. He is not eight doubles away from 500 for his career. The link takes you to his career splits. Note that he is another example of a good hitter being a clutch hitter, but it depends on how you define clutch. He hits great in all the scoring position categories, but not so great in Close and Late games.
Jose Ramirez of the Guardians remains third as he walked and homered in an 8-0 win over the Marlins. Gunnar Henderson of the Orioles ranks fifth as he homered and walked in a 5-0 victory over the Rays.
The best game score of the day belonged to Ezequiel Tovar of the Rockies, an 88. Tovar went four for four with two home runs to help beat the Cardinals 6-5. In his third season in the majors at seasonal age 22, Tovar is hitting for average, getting on base, and hitting for power. The two home run game coming on the road is a good sign. This season, his ability to get on base drops on the road, but he’s shown more power away.