Fantasy Baseball July 24 Round Up: Mookie Betts Reaches A Milestone
The second half of the Major League Baseball season is now underway as we get ready for a big set of Sunday afternoon games. This is the last day of Week 15 and before taking a look ahead at your fantasy baseball lineups for today we first need to look back at the top MLB news and headlines from yesterday’s slate of games. Highlights include Madison Bumgarner going back in time for a night, Mookie Betts’ 200th career home run, the Braves making their move on the Mets, and a career day by Brady Singer. Do not forget to check out our updated July Fantasy Baseball Player Rankings before setting your lineups this week plus the latest MLB Injury Report, Fantasy Baseball Player Spotlight Series, and players trending up and down in the Fantasy Baseball Stock Watch. Before we start our day let’s take a look back at the top performances from yesterday...
Mookie Betts Hits HR #200
The Dodgers won their seventh straight game yesterday to go 33 games over .500 and it is the stars that are now piloting the ship. Mookie Betts hit his 200th career home run in the win over the Giants when he went back-to-back with Trea Turner in the third inning. Freddie Freeman also joined in the fun when he hit a blast in the seventh inning to extend his hit streak to 11 games.
Madison Bumgarner Goes Back in Time
Madison Bumgarner went eight full innings and struck out nine batters last night for the first time in five years. This was vintage 2014 San Francisco Giants MadBum as he showed command with his curve and cutter which generated 14 whiffs and a 32% CSW on 98 pitches against the Nationals. His next matchup will be against the red hot Atlanta Braves on the road.
The Braves Are Making Their Move
Hey Mets, don’t look now but the Braves are coming. Kyle Wright put up another strong outing to pick up his 12th win of the year and Austin Riley had three hits, including his 28th home run in their 7-2 victory. The Braves have now won 35 of their last 46 games to make up 10 games on the Mets in the NL East and now are only a half-game out of first place. Riley extended his hitting streak to 15 games, which is the longest active streak in MLB.
What A Night For Brady Singer
When Brady Singer returned to Kansas City from his demotion to Triple-A back in May he came packing. He arrived with a new and improved changeup, and it was on full display last night when the Rays put out a lineup that included eight left-handed batters.
Singer had probably his best start as a Royal as he struck out a career-high 12 batters and held the Rays hitless until a bunt single in the fifth inning. It ended up being a six-inning, three-hit outing for Singer who threw the changeup pitch after pitch to the lefty-heavy Rays.
Max Meyer Exits After 10 Pitches
Max Meyer, the Marlins 2020 first-round pick and #3 overall, lasted all of 10 pitches in his second Major League start. According to the Miami Herald, Meyer said he felt the elbow discomfort on his first pitch to Ke’Bryan with two outs in the first inning and knew immediately that his night was over. He walked Hayes on four pitches and then signaled toward the dugout. This is not good news for Meyer and the marlins organization.
Evan Longoria Likely to IL
Giants third baseman Evan Longoria left last night’s game against the Dodgers early after tweaking his hamstring. Manager Gabe Kepler said that Longo was likely going on the injured list for the third time this season. The former Tampa Rays star has struggled with injuries over the last couple of seasons and is currently only slashing .243/.331/.459 with a .790 OPS over 49 games.
Rafael Devers Placed On 10-Day IL
The Red Sox lost more than just their pride in the 28-5 beating that they took on Friday night. Rafael Devers was placed on the 10-day IL yesterday morning after feeling discomfort in his hamstring during an at-bat on Friday night. Devers is having a monster season with a .324/.379/.602 slash and 22 HR and 55 RBI. Red Sox manager Joey Cora stated that he hoped to have Devers back for the series against AL-West leading Houston that begins August 1st.
Adam Duvall Sprains Wrist
The Braves pulled outfielder Adam Duvall from last night’s game with the Angels after he complained of wrist soreness. The official diagnosis is a sore wrist for the slugger, and he will now be taking a trip to the 10-day Injured List. Mike Ford, who is now on his third MLB team this season, will be taking Duvall’s spot on the roster. Ford was slashing .238/.396/.381 in Triple-A Gwinnett.
Hall Of Fame Induction Day
Even as a lifelong Yankees fan I must give credit where credit is due. Congratulations to Big Papi David Ortiz as he gets inducted to the Hall of Fame today. He broke our hearts on many nights, but a first-year ballot selection was well deserved. Now if the Veterans Committee could smarten up and add Donnie Baseball life will be complete.
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Player News
Cubs re-signed RHP Caleb Kilian to a minor league contract.
The 27-year-old hurler was released last weekend after being designated for assignment, but after exploring the open market he has decided that a reunion with the Cubs made the most sense. Kilian will continue to function as extra rotation depth at Triple-A Iowa for the time being.
Corey Seager went 2-for-3 with a homer and a walk to help the Rangers take down the Angels 5-3 on Thursday.
Seager had a bad first week and a half while dealing with a calf strain, but he’s collected 14 hits, including three homers, in his last eight games, putting him at .306/.368/.516 overall. Alas, it’s produced just six RBI, mostly because the Rangers are getting terrible production from the ninth and first spots in the order.
Kumar Rocker recorded his first MLB victory after pitching seven innings of three-run ball and striking out eight Thursday against the Angels.
Rocker walked none and surrendered just one double and four singles. Unfortunately, all five hits came in the first and fifth innings, resulting in three runs between them. Still, Rocker was terrific in needing just 78 pitches to get 21 outs. It’s the kind of performance that suggests he might offer mixed-league value at some point. We just wouldn’t trust him quite yet. His next start will come in Sacramento against the A’s.
Robert Garcia picked up his first save of the year with a perfect ninth against the Angels on Thursday.
Garcia got the call tonight with Luke Jackson having pitched the previous two days and retired the Angels on five pitches. Even though he’s the better reliever of the two, he’ll likely resume taking a backseat to Jackson on Friday.
Jack Kochanowicz gave up four runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings against the Rangers on Thursday.
The surprising and misguided decision to pick Kochanowicz over Reid Detmers for a rotation spot at the end of the spring isn’t working out for the Angels. The team might reverse course soon, but Detmers hasn’t been used as a long guy and isn’t stretched out to start right away. Kochanowicz is now 1-2 with a 6.20 ERA, but at least he gets the Pirates next.
Joc Pederson went 0-for-4 with a strikeout Thursday, dropping his average to .060.
It’s mostly been hard grounders and routine flies from Pederson thus far, but given that his bat speed is unchanged from last year, we don’t have big concerns here yet. That said, this might not be the weekend he turns it around, given that the Rangers are set to face the Dodgers.