Eric Thames Ends Elongated Three-Game Homerless Drought, Hits Two More Bombs Against Reds
I’m telling you — whatever the MLB package costs to watch out of market games, it’s worth the price of admission to watch Eric Thames. The guy is a fucking sicko. On April 20, Thames hit his major league leading 8th home run of the season against the Cardinals, and I had to wait a whole FOUR GAMES before I saw him hit another one last night. He hit two, actually. That three-game homerless drought felt like an eternity. I watched the fucking guy hit a home run in FIVE STRAIGHT GAMES last week. You think I’m trying to wait four games for one? No.
Speaking of that five-game homer streak for Thames last week, I tried to explain his ridiculous power with a geeky, stat-based blog last Friday, but I think there’s a simple explanation to this that’s right in front of our faces. Seven of Thames’ MLB-leading 10 home runs have been hit off of Reds pitching, the team that’s allowed the second most homers in the National League, third most in the majors. I’m not trying to take anything away from Thames, obviously, but he has been MURDERING the Reds through the first month of the season.
And while, yes, he’s hit 70% of his home runs against the Reds, Thames has a 2.162 OPS against Cincinnati, but he still has a 1.084 OPS against everyone else, AKA pump the brakes on any narratives that his numbers are only out of this world because he beats up on the Reds. Yeah, you bet your ass he beats up on the Reds, but he’s hitting the shit out of the ball against everyone else, too.