Tuesday’s Major League Baseball action was highlighted by the dominant return for Max Scherzer after multiple weeks due to injury. Scherzer cares not for what park he pitches in. Coming back in the best worst run environment for pitchers, he turned in a dominant performance over six innings. In addition, mashers Kyle Schwarber and Yordan Alvarez continue their hot streak, Seiya Suzuki looks good upon his return, and a couple of early-season dominant pitchers both get rocked. There were also a number of injuries to address from the Tuesday slate which we touch on below. 

Before tonight’s fantasy baseball slate locks, don't forget to check out our updated July fantasy baseball player rankings, the fantasy baseball player spotlight series, and players trending up and down in the fantasy baseball stock watch. Check out DFS Alarm for much more help building daily fantasy baseball lineups, including our MLB projections, MLB lineups, and MLB weather report. Now let’s take a look back at the top MLB performances and key injuries from a wild night of baseball on Tuesday.

 

 

MLB Fantasy Baseball Top Performers for Tuesday

Max Scherzer Returns and Strikes out 11

 

Although the offense did him no favors, Max Scherzer returned from a lengthy injury and allowed zero runs and struck out 11 batters against the Cincinnati Reds. It was a perfect landing spot for Scherzer as Great American Ball Park is clearly one of his favorite places to pitch.

If there was any concern about rolling out Scherzer in your lineups, those were squashed yesterday and he jumps right back in as a top-10 pitcher. 

Yordan Alvarez does it on Offense and Defense

 

The MVP hype train is still rolling down the tracks for Yordan Alvarez after he hit a majestic opposite-field home run and nailed a critical Kansas City baserunner at the plate late in the game for the Houston Astros. 

Alvarez is now on pace for 50 home runs and 120 RBI this season, with an average over .300. Alvarez is now tied with Aaron Judge in WAR for the season and is quite a ways ahead in offensive WAR. With Alvarez now playing more outfield with Michael Brantley hurt, the MVP race appears to be neck and neck. 

Cedric Mullins Does it All Against the Rangers

 

While Cedric Mullins may not be on the 30/30 pace we got in 2021, he is starting to look more and more like the second-round draft pick from fantasy drafts this spring. He was a one-man wrecking crew against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday including the decisive blow to win the game.

We are still going to get more than 30 steals from Mullins this year, and it looks like the power and average are on the rise again. Despite the changes made to the ballpark in the offseason, Camden Yards remains a great place for hitters. 

Kyle Schwarber Continues to Mash

 

After two more home runs on Tuesday, Kyle Schwarber (25 homers) now has three more bombs than any other National League hitter. He has been on an absolute tear since the beginning of June and is single-handedly winning fantasy managers their weekly matchups in home runs.

Barring some kind of major injury, Kyle Schwarber is going to set career highs in home runs, RBI, runs, and stolen bases this season. The average of .219 is an albatross, but in a year where the league batting average is just .242, it’s not as much of a drain as one might think.

The Wheels Fall Off for Nick Pivetta

 

After a stretch of nine quality starts in his last 10 games, Nick Pivetta finally gave fantasy managers a dud performance. He gave up seven earned runs in just 5.2 innings to the Tampa Bay Rays and only struck out four batters. 

Pivetta has been very reliable for two straight months, but this outing doesn’t give managers a lot of optimism heading into a start with the New York Yankees. He was missing his spots all over the place on Tuesday, so the hope is this was just a one-game control issue. 

Kris Bryant Hits First Homer with the Rockies

 

Kris Bryant is now on pace to make $8.5 million for every home run he hits in his first year in Colorado. The Rockies’ new $182 million man hit his first blast of the season on Tuesday in a 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Already with multiple trips to the injured list with back injuries, this, unfortunately, was a lost first-half for Bryant, but there is hope for the second half of the season.

The Rockies still have almost 40 home games remaining and Bryant has three multi-hit games in his last five outings. Assuming he is healthy, we could be gifted with a 15-home run second half with a strong slash line thanks to the Coors Field factor. 

Seiya Suzuki Comes Back from Injury on a Hot Streak

 

The presumed NL Rookie of the Year through April was looking like pitchers had figured him out when he got hurt at the end of May. But with six weeks off to heal and adjust his approach to major league, pitchers, Seiya Suzuki has come back to the Chicago Cubs absolutely on fire. 

After another two hits including a homer on Tuesday, Suzuki has four hits, two homers, and four RBI in just two games back from injury. This is a hitter who is too talented to keep down for long, so he is a lock in your lineups moving forward. 

MLB Injury Round-Up

Chris Taylor Diagnosed with Broken Foot

 

After fouling a ball off his foot on Saturday, it was finally determined that Chris Taylor has a fracture in his foot that will send him to the IL. It’s a tough break for the Dodgers who lose their super utility man, but look for Gavin Lux and Tracy Thompson to get more action and move up in the batting order. 

Anthony Rizzo Sits with Back Injury

 

Anthony Rizzo was originally scheduled to start on Tuesday, but was scratched with what the team called lower-back stiffness. While it’s likely not an IL situation, manager Aaron Boone did say that this is something that might keep Rizzo out “a couple days.” In the end, however, Boone did say there was not a ton of concern about a long-term injury.

Josh Naylor Scratched on Tuesday

 

After tweaking something in his back during a check swing on Monday, Josh Naylor was also scratched with back tightness on Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers. It had healed enough that the Guardians thought Naylor would be able to play on Tuesday, but the back never loosened up enough to let him go. Naylor has been on a bit of a power hot streak lately, so the hope is this is just a minor setback. 

Chris Archer Placed on the IL

 

One of the pitching surprises of 2022, Chris Archer landed on the IL yesterday with hip tightness. Archer had a strong 3.08 ERA for the Minnesota Twins before the injury, finally breaking a trend of three straight bad seasons. In a corresponding move, the Twins recalled Josh Winder from AAA. 

 


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