| | | | Wednesday, July 24, 2024 | | We're almost done with July, and the Fantasy Baseball landscape doesn't feel particularly settled, does it? Partly, that's because the trade deadline looms next week with the potential to shake up the Fantasy value of dozens of players around the league. But it's also because we're still waiting for the return of some really big names from injuries, and those could have a seismic impact on the landscape, too. | | I wrote about the deadline Tuesday, with my five dream scenarios for Fantasy Baseball. That featured Jazz Chisholm to the Yankees, Isaac Paredes to the Astros, and more, which you can check out here as another preview of the deadline. And on the injury front, Scott White wrote about the looming returns of Clayton Kershaw, Kodai Senga, and Robbie Ray this week, with Jeffrey Springs potentially just a week or so behind them. All four of them have been difference makers in Fantasy in the recent past – last year, in three of the four cases – and Scott wrote about what he's expecting from them as they get set to debut. | | We're still taking things day by day here at the FBT Newsletter, but with the deadline just around the corner, we also know things could change very, very quickly, and we'll be here every step of the way as we head into the home stretch of the season. So, while we wait for the ground to shift beneath our feet yet again, let's get to everything you need to know from Tuesday's action around MLB: | | | | Wednesday's waiver targets | | | | Tyler Fitzgerald, SS, Giants (3%) – Before Fitzgerald, the last Giants player to homer in five straight games was Barry Bonds, nearly 20 years ago. In the 141 years the Giants have existed as a franchise, eight players have done it, including four Hall of Famers and three other multi-time All-Stars. And then there's Fitzgerald, a 26-year-old shortstop who has basically never been a prospect of note in the Giants system and who had just two homers in 44 career games prior to this streak. He hasn't shown much underlying raw power – his hardest-hit ball in the majors is just 105.2 mph – but he has nonetheless actually hit for decent power in the minors, including 28 homers in 119 games at Triple-A. I don't expect this to last, but Fitzgerald does have enough speed that he could matter for Fantasy if he can be even a decent hitter. Skepticism is a reasonable response to this streak, but if you're in a deeper league, I also don't mind taking a flier just to see if there's something here. | | Lawrence Butler, OF, Athletics (58%) – This is just getting absurd. Butler went 3 for 4 Tuesday, falling just a single short of the cycle in what was his sixth straight game with multiple hits. He's been absurdly hot so far in the month of July and is now hitting .417 with eight homers and 24 RBI in just 17 games. It's still not clear if the A's are ever going to trust him to play against lefties regularly, and he might not be able to hack it if they do. But at this point, don't they have to give him a chance just to see? A team with nothing to play for but the future should be doing everything they can to see if his elite tools are finally turning into something other than the occasional highlight. | | | | Connor Norby, 2B, Orioles (10%) – The Orioles are calling Norby up, but they aren't, you know, officially calling him up. They're keeping an eye on Jorge Mateo 's elbow after he left Tuesday's game, and if he has to go on the IL, they will officially recall Norby, but he's traveling to join the team just in case. It would likely be just for a short time if they do recall him, just like last time, when he played just four games before being sent back down, so Norby doesn't have to be a super high-priority add right now. But we are talking about a top-100 prospect who has hit .296/.371/.505 with 41 homers in 227 career games in Triple-A, so it's worth keeping an eye, just in case he does get the chance. | | Jesus Sanchez, OF, Marlins (14%) – Sanchez has been putting up the best underlying numbers of his career, and it's finally starting to be reflected in his actual production. Sanchez hit his fifth homer in July, a 114.7-mph shot that was the hardest hit ball of any player in the league Tuesday, and he's now up to a .321/.345/.696 line in the month. Like Butler, Sanchez rarely plays against lefties, and unlike Butler, that probably isn't likely to change much moving forward, so there's only so much value he can provide. But Sanchez is worth using when he's this hot, at least. | | Jeff McNeil, 2B, Mets (3%) – Okay, what's happening here? McNeil homered for the second game in a row, the fourth time in five games, and the fifth time in July, after hitting just four in the first three months of the season. Is there something real here? If you look at the month as a whole, nothing really stands out under the hood – McNeil's average exit velocity of 88.5 mph is a little up from his season average, but right in line with his very bad June, and his average launch angle is basically identical. He is hitting the ball to the pull side more often in July, which helps, but I'm not sure I see much here to suggest that McNeil is suddenly a brand new hitter. It's likely just a hot streak from a guy who might not be quite as washed up as he looked, but I think it's pretty unlikely McNeil is going to be a must-start Fantasy player moving forward. | | Chayce McDermott, SP, Orioles (7%) – McDermott is getting the call to start for the Orioles Wednesday, and he's getting a nice soft landing spot for his MLB debut against the Marlins. McDermott is by no means a can't-miss prospect, but he brings an interesting skill set to the table, with a five-pitch mix he mixes up well, including a cutter, slider, and changeup that all have whiff rates above 40% in Triple-A. That's how he's posted a 32.3% strikeout rate this season, and he's been pretty close to that throughout his minor-league career. The problem is, he has trouble consistently commanding his pitches, leading to a 13.5% walk rate. He's also had trouble keeping the ball on the ground, though that actually hasn't led to a ton of homers even in the homer-happy International League, and with Camden Yards as his home park, that might be something he's able to avoid in the majors, too. If you're desperate for a streamer, maybe McDermott can catch the Marlins by surprise, and if he can keep the walks down, he has a non-zero chance of being a useful Fantasy option with the Orioles backing him up. | | | | News and Notes | | Julio Rodriguez was placed on the IL with a right ankle sprain. He was initially labeled as day-to-day, but manager Scott Servais confirmed it was a high-ankle sprain, an injury that likely carries with it a multi-week timetable. It's unlikely to be a season-ending injury for Rodriguez, but there's a pretty decent chance we don't see him until mid-August at this point unfortunately. | | Mike Trout was removed from his rehab game at Triple-A Tuesday due to left knee soreness. That's the same knee he had surgery on, and it was in his first rehab appearance, so that's not a good sign. As of publication, we don't really have any more details than that, but I'm not expecting Trout back this weekend, at least. | | Royce Lewis expects to play two rehab games with Triple-A before being activated from the IL on Friday. Let's hope he can stay healthy this time. | | Max Scherzer will start on Thursday against the White Sox. He left his last start due to arm fatigue, and at this point, I need to see some standout performances from Scherzer before I trust him in my lineup. | | Jasson Dominguez took live batting practice Monday and is expected to join Triple-A to play in games within a week. He's been out since mid-June with a strained left oblique, and this return is a lot quicker than I had anticipated. If the Yankees don't make a big move for an outfielder at the deadline, it could be because they are expecting Dominguez to make a big second-half impact, and if you have the roster space to stash him, Dominguez is certainly worth a roster spot in category-based leagues. | | Austin Riley was placed on the paternity list and will miss up to three games. | | Luis Rengifo was activated and back in the Angels lineup, batting second. | | Jorge Mateo was removed Tuesday due to a left arm injury. X-rays came back negative but he'll undergo an MRI. | | Jared Jones is hoping to be ready to throw a bullpen by this weekend. He threw on flat ground Tuesday for the second day in a row as he works his way back from a Grade 2 right lat strain. I'm hoping for a mid-August return. | | Starling Marte progressed to on-field running Tuesday. He's been out since late June due to a right knee bone bruise and isn't expected back until August. | | Jose Miranda will begin a minor league rehab assignment Wednesday and could return by Friday. | | Tigers Manager AJ Hinch said that Reese Olson's right shoulder injury is considered mild after the pitcher underwent further testing. That's good news, though it could still be a multi-week absence. | | Christian Scott was placed on the IL with a UCL sprain in his right elbow. That's a scary sign for a young pitcher, though it might help explain why Scott has been so underwhelming. | | The Braves sent Hurston Waldrep to rookie-level Florida Complex League to begin a rehab assignment. He's been out more than a month with right elbow inflammation and might have a chance to make an impact down the stretch if he gets right. | | Ty France cleared waivers Tuesday and was outrighted off the Mariners. Tyler Locklear was recalled and in the Mariners lineup, batting sixth. He's worth a look in deeper leagues, but players in 12-team leagues will need to see something from him at the MLB level before considering adding him. | | Both Ryan Weathers and Braxton Garrett have been cleared to play catch. Weathers is working his way back from a left index finger strain while Garrett has a strained left forearm. | | Tuesday's standouts | | Zack Wheeler, Phillies @MIN: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K – Wheeler looked excellent in his return from that back injury, and that's all I needed to see. He gave up some loud contact – Twins went just 1 for 4 on batted balls with an xBA of .500 or higher – but given that his velocity was fine and he had his whole pitch mix available, I don't really see much reason to worry. As long as Wheeler is healthy, he's one of the best pitchers in baseball, and he showed he is healthy here. | | Paul Skenes, Pirates vs. STL: 8.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K – What more can we even say? Skenes actually doesn't generate as many swings and misses as you would think (11 on 104 pitches Tuesday), but he's got elite command and generates a ton of weak command, so it really doesn't matter. And if that slider starts generating whiffs a bit more consistently, well, the sky isn't even the limit. | | Garrett Crochet, White Sox @TEX: 4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K – Uh oh. Wheeler has gone four innings or fewer in each of his past three starts in the month of July and was pulled after just 74 pitches in this one. I don't think he's going to go four innings every time out, or anything, but the White Sox have acknowledged they're going to be careful with his workload moving forward, and that's going to mean more starts like this. It doesn't mean he can't be useful for Fantasy, but it definitely means his margin for error is going to be slimmer the rest of the way. | | Luis Gil , Yankees vs. NYM: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K – Gil responded to his struggles throwing strikes in June by ramping up his slider usage in recent starts, and it's worked out excellently so far. Gil has thrown his slider at least 35% of the time in his past three starts, after being below 30% usage in each of his first 17 starts, and he's walked just two with 22 strikeouts in 17.2 innings of work in that stretch. Gil is just 1.1 innings shy of his career-high mark, so we're dangerously close to uncharted territory for him here, but the fact that he's bounced back after that rough stretch in June is a promising sign. I think I'd be trying to sell high on this stretch if I can, but I would need to get a legitimate top-25 starting pitcher back in return, otherwise I'm content to hang on to him. | | Jose Berrios, Blue Jays vs. TB: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 6 BB, 5 K – There really isn't a good explanation for why Berrios has been so bad over the past few months, just like there wasn't really a good explanation for why he was so good early in the season. He probably needs to ditch that cutter he introduced this season, but that doesn't explain why he suddenly has a career-worst 4.94 xERA. There will probably be a stretch at some point the rest of the way where Berrios is useful, but if you wanted to drop him right now, I couldn't really give you a good reason not to. | | Jon Gray, Rangers vs. CHW: 7.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K – Gray continues to lean on his slider more heavily than ever, and he got back on track in this one. The easy matchup certainly helped, and even accounting for that, it's a pretty middling outcome against a historically bad offense. Gray hasn't had a start with more strikeouts than innings pitched since June 8, and even that was just four strikeouts in 2.1 innings of work. He's a decent streamer, but little more than that. | | Jordan Montgomery, Diamondbacks vs. KC: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K – Montgomery probably isn't much more than a decent streamer at this point, though at least we can point to 2022 and 2023 for reasons to believe he might be capable of more than that. He returned from the IL Tuesday with a decent outing, but wasn't anything special. His curveball shape looked a bit more like it did in years past, though with just two whiffs, it was hardly a dominant pitch for him. I expected Montgomery to be a useful pitcher the rest of the way, though probably not a must-start one, necessarily. | | Jose Soriano, Angels @SEA: 7.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K – There might not be an easier matchup right now than the Mariners, who are a historically strikeout-prone team and just lost Julio Rodriguez, their best hitter. Soriano is a decent streamer thanks to his elite groundball rates, but this one is more about the Mariners than anything else, I think. | | Colin Rea, Brewers @CHC: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K – Kudos to Rea for leaning on his sweeper and splitter a bit more in this one, generating eight of his 14 whiffs with those two pitches, which have been his best pitches this season. Of course, he wasn't super efficient, getting through just five innings on 93 pitches, so I'm not sure this represents a new, higher-upside version of Rea than we've seen in the past. His 5.07 xERA is still scaring me off. | | Albert Suarez, Orioles @MIA: 2 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 3 K – If you can't even be decent against Miami, I'm not sure there's any reason for Fantasy players to be even remotely interested in you. The Orioles seem like one of the most likely contenders to add at least one starter at the deadline, and I'm guessing Suarez won't be long for the rotation despite his decent start to the season. | | | | | | | | 24/7 Sports News | | Golazo Network | Stay up to date on all the sports you love with CBS Sports HQ. We bring you the top stories, news, picks, highlights and more anywhere, anytime, all the time.
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