Javier Baez is batting .362 this season versus lefties over 58 at-bats. He’s also been a monster the past week as he’s hit .324 with two homers, six RBI and a .373 wOBA the past seven games. He’s coming into his own and likely qualifies at second base, third base and shortstop. He shouldn’t be on waivers unless you’re in a 10-team mixed leagues. Oh yeah, he hit a homer Tuesday while I was writing this.
Teddy Bears can be creepy.
Felix Hernandez is hopeful of returning from his calf issue on July 20th against the White Sox. He last pitched on May 27th. So much for that being a minor issue that would cost him a start since it’s likely to end up costing him more than seven weeks.
Sandy Leon is a name to keep in mind. The Red Sox are without Blake Swihart behind the dish. They have opted Christian Vazquez to the minors (they couldn’t have done that with Leon without exposing him to waivers). That means Ryan Hanigan, who was activated from the DL, and Leon will be the top-2 dogs with the Sox. Leon is crushing it right now hitting .500 with a homer, nine RBI and eight runs scored in 15 games. Alas, he hit .156 in 2014 and .184 in 2015 in 41 games. All told his slash line as a big leaguer is .237/.307/.313 and that’s the hitter Leon is, not the guy we’ve seen to this point. Still, he’s a potential bottom level C2 option in mixed leagues with playing time.
Tim Anderson is off to a great start in his career, but there are some concerns. Yasiel Puig has been on fire lately but the real question is, how long will it last? J.T. Realmuto is hitting the ball well of late and needs to be started against righties. CHECK OUT THE BIG 3 VIDEO.
Steven Moya has been terrific to this point hitting .301 with five homers and a .616 SLG. The good times will likely dry up soon though. He’s not holding on to what would be a league best 28 percent HR/FB rate. He has even less of a chance to hold on to his .378 BABIP. Third, he’s struck out 24 times in 73 at-bats. That batting average is likely to plummet so caution, and a heavy dose of it, is warranted here.
Daniel Norris was sent to the DL, again, this time with a strained right oblique (earlier this season he was placed on the DL with a non-displaced fracture in his spinous process). The 23 year old lefty has great stuff, but until he can stay healthy is simply doesn’t matter. Buck Farmer has been called up by the Tigers but Matt Boyd will likely be asked to start Saturday. Bear neither any attention.
Jose Reyes returns today with the Mets. Reyes will hit leadoff, and it sounds like he will be seeing a lot of time at third base at the expense of Wilmer Flores, even though he’s hit .315 since the start of June. Reyes didn’t hit at all in the minors with a .176 batting average over 11 games, but the 33 year old should obviously 
be much better than that with the Mets. I worry about his health chiefly, I get the sneaking suspicion that an injury is coming after he’s missed half the season (he’s always seemingly hurt), and there is an open debate as to just how good that bat is at this point. A must add in 12 and 15 team leagues though if you have any need up the middle, and that extra qualification at third base might just make him the ideal final piece on a fantasy roster.
Junior Guerra is a quality start machine at the moment and is surprising everyone. Lance McCullers looks like last season’s version but has to limit the walks to do that. Matt Moore is a talented pitcher and is pitching pretty well. CHECK OUT THE VIDEO.
Jean Segura walked 13 times last season and his four year high in the walk column is 28 walks. So it’s pretty surprising to see him at 20 walks half way through the year. There is even more intrigue than that. Over his last 16 games Segura has walked 10 times. Since the start of May, a 30 game run, Segura has walked 15 times. Way too early for me to think that’s the “new” Segura, but if he is able to keep his walk rate anywhere near that pace his outlook for the future goes up significantly. Huh, look at that. Over his last 30 games, with all those walks, Segura is batting .325 and has scored 21 times.
Mike Zunino has been called up to the majors with great hoopla. The former top-5 draft pick hit .282 with 15 homers and 51 RBI just 69 games at Triple-A. That’s superstar stuff. However, he’s never been anything other than a power bat at the big league level. He’s gone deep 40 times in 968 at-bats, that’s really good stuff, but he’s also hit .193 with a .253 OBP and .358 SLG in the majors. Those numbers stink and are reflective of the hitter he has been. According to Brooks Baseball, Zunino cannot hit anything other than a fastball. In fact, you should check out the link to see just how bad he has been on the slider (.155 average), curveball (.131 average) and the splitter (.067). He can’t hit anything but the hard stuff and is nothing other than a “mistake” hitter. He still has to beat out Chris Iannetta for at-bats. Low level catcher two is he at best. He still has to beat out Chris Iannetta for at-bats mind you.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday, 7 PM EDT and Friday on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 7 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).
Player News
Ronald Acuña Jr. walloped his 19th home run of the season and walked three times, leading Atlanta to an 11-5 blowout win over the Nationals.
Acuña has caught fire down the home stretch following a prolonged slump coming out of the All-Star break, homering four times in his last 11 games. The 27-year-old generational talent took Nationals lefty MacKenzie Gore deep in the opening frame and wound up reaching base safely in four of his six plate appearances in the one-sided affair. He’s looked like a fantasy superstar again of late, batting an absurd .346 (18-for-52) with four homers, 13 RBI and two steals over his last 15 games.
Nasim Nuñez went 3-for-4 with a solo homer in Monday’s blowout loss to Atlanta.
Nuñez walloped his first career leadoff homer when he took Atlanta ace Chris Sale deep to right field. It was his fourth round-tripper since returning to the big leagues back in early September. He came a few feet shy of his second big fly on the night a couple frames later and finished the one-sided affair with a season-high three hits, reaching base safely in four of his five plate appearances. He’s shown enough down the home stretch to be considered a serious contender for an everyday role next spring.
Michael Harris II went 3-for-5 with three RBI and three stolen bases in Monday’s lopsided win over the Nationals.
Harris kicked off an impressive three-hit performance with a 109-mph line-drive to right field that brought home Ha-Seong Kim from second base in the second inning. He scorched a run-scoring single as part of Atlanta’s five-run outburst in the ensuing frame. He wasn’t done yet as he drove in another run on a fielder’s choice in the fourth before adding a sixth-inning single. The three steals matched his previous career-high mark set back on July 16, 2022 during his stellar rookie campaign. It also puts him one theft shy of reaching the 20-steal threshold for the third time in the last four seasons.
Chris Sale was charged with five runs over five innings on Monday in a win over the Nationals.
Sale received a touchdown and a two-point conversion worth of run support from Atlanta’s offense by the fifth inning and was cruising along, despite coughing up early solo homers to Nasim Nuñez and Dylan Crews, before Andrés Chaparro delivered a bases-clearing three-run single with two outs in the frame that slashed the deficit to three runs at the time. He managed to wriggle out of the jam without any further damage, finishing with six strikeouts and two walks in the shortened outing. He’ll close out the season on Sunday with a home matchup against the offensively challenged Pirates.
MacKenzie Gore was lit up for four runs over two innings on Monday in a loss to Atlanta.
Gore served up a first-inning solo homer to Ronald Acuña Jr. and things only went downhill from there in the abbreviated outing as Atlanta tacked on another run in the second before chasing him from the contest in the ensuing frame after just 71 pitches (48 strikes). The 26-year-old southpaw battled some serious control issues in this one, handing out four free passes, and only notched three strikeouts. The unexpected implosion breaks up a decent late-season stretch for Gore since returning from the injured list back in early September. He’ll attempt to close out the season on a high note when he faces the White Sox on Sunday afternoon.
Cubs released RHP Nate Pearson.
Pearson’s time in Chicago is over after he posted a lackluster 5.05 ERA across 41 innings of work in 30 appearances over the last two seasons. The 29-year-old former top pitching prospect was never able to make it work after converting to a full-time relief role. However, it’s possible there’s still an organization out there willing to bring him in this offseason as a reclamation project.