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MLB Midseason Trends Include Guerrero Jr. Power Dip and Caminero Discipline Gains
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has three home runs through early June despite a .280 batting average. Junior Caminero leads Rays hitters with 15 home runs and improved plate discipline. Fernando Cruz ranks among MLB's top relievers with a high-whiff splitter.
Jun 17, 9:00 AM·1m read1 source
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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. entered play Tuesday with three home runs this season after hitting one in his last 46 games. His average exit velocity has fallen from 92.0 mph last year to 90.4 mph, while his ground-ball rate rose to 49.5 percent.
Guerrero missed two games last weekend with a back issue.
He told Sportsnet last month that he does not feel physically right and is working to hit the ball harder. Compared with 2025, his sweet-spot rate dropped to 29.5 percent from 33.7 percent. The combination of lower exit velocity, more ground balls, and fewer optimal launch angles accounts for the reduced power output.
Caminero hit his 15th home run Monday and is on pace for 35 this season. Caminero's chase rate fell to 27.8 percent from 32.2 percent in 2025. His swinging-strike rate is now 8.3 percent, below the major-league average.
Yankees reliever Fernando Cruz has posted a 2.01 ERA over 31 1/3 innings. He throws his splitter 51 percent of the time and ranks second in whiff rate at 55.8 percent among pitchers with at least 100 pitches thrown. Cruz's average miss distance on swings of 7.9 inches places him behind only Mason Miller among qualified relievers.
