If you’re coming to look for the latest fantasy baseball news and a recap of yesterday’s Major League Baseball action, you have most certainly come to the right place. Some of the best performances yesterday were put forth by some of the best in the business, including Max Scherzer and Bobby Witt Jr. Franmil Reyes is looking to turn his season around, and Nolan Jones appears to be the latest and greatest fantasy baseball waiver wire pick up. Unfortunately, the Rays will be without Wander Franco for the next five to eight weeks, and the Rays have to watch their divisional foe welcome back Chris Sale to the mound for tonight’s contest. MLB Trade Rumors are swirling, and while we anticipate the transactions featuring Andrew Benintendi, Luis Castillo, Josh Bell and others, the Braves made two moves, which included acquiring Robinson Canó, and sending former top prospect Drew Waters to the Kansas City Royals. As we wrap up yesterday’s baseball action, I’ll give you my two best bets for Tuesday’s slate of games.

 

MLB News and Notes from Monday

Max Scherzer Dominates Atlanta

 


The New York Mets and fantasy baseball managers alike are ecstatic to have Max Scherzer back on the mound. He dominated Atlanta over seven strong innings, allowing just one earned run while striking out nine. In two starts since his return, Scherzer has allowed one earned run on five hits with a 20:0 K/BB ratio over 13 innings of work. He’s struck out over one-third of the batters he’s faced this year, and if the season were to end today, it would be the seventh time in the past eight seasons that he posted a CSW% north of 30 percent. Scherzer is a monster, a beast, a workhorse, and everything in between. There’s no other way to say it. 

 

Scherzer is slated to get one more start before the All-Star Break, and he’ll look to rack up more strikeouts against the Cubs this weekend.


Franmil Reyes Stays Hot with Three-Hit Game

 


Franmil Reyes may only be hitting .222 on the year with an insane 40.5 percent strikeout rate, but things may be turning around for the Cleveland slugger. He’s hitting .289 in July with a .622 slugging percentage, and seven of his 13 hits have gone for extra bases. He went 3-for-4 last night and a stolen base, giving him his second multi-hit game within his last three contests. He’s hit safely in all but three games in July, and while the strikeouts are still prevalent, he has an immense 27.6 percent barrel rate in the month of July.


Wander Franco Out 5-8 Weeks

 


Wander Franco underwent wrist surgery to repair a hamate fracture over the weekend. Hand/wrist injuries can wreak havoc on a hitter, long after they are deemed healthy enough to return to the field. Franco hasn’t been having a monster year by any means, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see his power sapped in the first handful of games following his return. While he may be back on the field in the shorter period of the aforementioned timeframe, it may take the full eight weeks until he’s back to full strength.


Bobby Witt Jr. Shines in Twinbill

 


About the only thing Bobby Witt Jr. didn’t do yesterday was hit a home run, and if he would have, fantasy baseball Twitter would have erupted. In yesterday’s twinbill, the rookie phenom went a combined 6-for-9 with three RBI, two runs scored, and three stolen bases! He became the first AL or NL player with six or more hits, at least three RBI, and at least three stolen bases in a doubleheader sweep since RBI became an official stat.

 


Leading up to the break, Witt Jr. is slashing .252/.297/.453 with 12 home runs, 45 RBI, 45 runs scored, and 16-for-19 on stolen base attempts.


Atlanta Active Early in Trade Market

While no blockbuster deals have been made, it’s exciting to see some trades nonetheless. San Diego received cash considerations from Atlanta in exchange for Robinson Canó. After struggling with the Mets and Padres this season, Cano turned things around in Triple-A, hitting .333 with a 113 wRC+ in 21 games. The Braves are hoping that Cano can steady the ship in their lineup, particularly helping fill the void left by Ozzie Albies’ injury in mid-June. Since Albies got hurt, the Braves have the 10th-lowest wOBA and 9th-lowest wRC+ from the second base position.


Then, the Braves sent Drew Waters, Andrew Hoffmann, and CJ Alexander to the Royals for the No. 35 overall pick in this weekend’s draft. Waters is a former top prospect and Kansas City has long-term aspirations of a catcher, shortstop and center fielder trio of MJ Melendez, Bobby Witt Jr., and Waters. As Waters has progressed through the minors, strikeouts have caught up to him, and if his power develops, he will routinely be a guy that hits for a home run total in the low-teens with 15+ stolen bases. Dating back to the early 90s, here are some popular draft picks at the 35th spot that Atlanta just acquired: Johnny Damon (1992), Jason Marquis (1996), Aaron Rowand (1998), and Taylor Trammell (2016)

 

Other Notable Performances

  • Miles Mikolas posted his fifth quality start in his last six outings by allowing just one earned run on six hits with five strikeouts over 7.1 innings against Philadelphia. He now moves to 6-7 on the year with a 2.62 ERA across 18 starts.
  • Nolan Jones’ two hits last night give him his third-multi hit effort in four career games, and he now has one home run, eight RBI and three runs scored to go along with a .538 batting average and .923 slugging percentage through 16 plate appearances.
  • Lance Lynn’s 2022 struggles continued yesterday, as he allowed eight earned runs on nine hits in just four innings of work against Cleveland. He’s allowed five or more earned runs in three of his last four starts.
  • Leody Taveras’ 3-for-4 performance yesterday gives him a .571 average over his last five games to go along with five RBI, four runs scored, and one stolen base. He’s hitting .317 on the year with a .348 wOBA and 129 wRC+, and those in deeper leagues should be taking notice of this run. 
  • Wilmer Flores has six hits over his last two games, including two home runs.
  • Mitch Keller allowed just one earned run on five hits over a season-high seven innings of work against Miami yesterday. Keller has a 3.89 ERA over his last seven starts, but his 3.11 FIP and 3.40 xFIP indicate that he’s pitched better than his ERA indicates.

 

Tuesday’s Best Bets

 


New York Yankees -2.5 Run Line (+105 Bet MGM)

Gerrit Cole is on the bump for the Yankees, and he has a 2.31 ERA at home this season to go along with a 0.85 WHIP. The Reds have the fourth-lowest batting average on the road this year, coming in at a measly .225, and only the Tigers have a worse wRC+ on the road this year than the Reds. Graham Ashcraft has allowed a ton of contact lately, as he’s allowed at least six hits in each of his last five starts. When looking at his last five starts, he’s posted a 7.27 ERA, and he’s allowed 40 hits in just 26 innings of work! If that’s not bad enough, he’s allowed a 92.3 percent Z-Contact% and 85.3 percent contact rate, and pitch-to-contact pitchers that are struggling of late don’t inspire a ton of confidence against a Yankee lineup in Yankee Stadium. Also, Ashcraft has a 6.98 ERA on the road this season. This might get ugly quick.

 

 


UNDER 9.5 Runs (Caesars -120)

Seattle’s offense gives me a bit of pause here, but it’s hard to ignore what Josiah Gray has done of late. He’s allowed more than two earned runs in just one of his last seven starts, and during this stretch, he’s posted a 2.66 ERA and 10.62 K/9. He’s been excellent for Washington of late, and while Seattle has been seeing the ball well of late, there’s still a lot of swing-and-miss in that lineup. On the other hand, the Nationals have the sixth-lowest wOBA in the majors over the last two weeks, and despite a 2-5 record, Chris Flexen has an average 4.07 ERA on the road this year. Flexen has allowed three or fewer earned runs in eight straight starts, and he’s posted a 3.09 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, and 0.39 HR/9 mark in this eight start run.

 

 

 


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