Wednesday’s baseball action had numerous MLB headlines, including Shohei Ohtani’s recent dominance, Kyle Schwarber’s home run binge, and MLB top prospect Brayan Bello making his Major League Baseball debut. Meanwhile, Washington Nationals starter Josiah Gray went from being just another right-hander to a fantasy baseball waiver wire pick-up of the week (or month) as he continued his recent stretch of great starts. Plus, the White Sox welcomed back star slugger Eloy Jiménez to the lineup as he returned from the MLB injury report. Speaking of MLB injuries, Chris Sale had a rough rehab start for Boston but could be returning to fantasy baseball lineups soon. Be sure to check out the updated July fantasy baseball rankings to help set your lineups this week. As we look ahead to Thursday’s slate of MLB action, I’ll give you two of my two best bets of the day with the Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies headlining. If you're locking in MLB best bets or setting MLB DFS lineups today, be sure to use the MLB Vegas Odds, the updated MLB weather report, confirmed MLB lineups, and the MLB daily projections throughout the day. Let's now take a look at the top fantasy baseball MLB news from Wednesday.

 


Fantasy Baseball MLB News

Shohei Ohtani Makes History…Again

 

 

Rinse and repeat with this headline. What can’t this guy do? 

On top of the 10 strikeouts, two RBI, and a stolen base, last night’s effort on the mound gave him four straight outings without allowing an earned run. He has a scoreless innings streak of 28.2 innings and over his last four starts, he has a 40.4 percent strikeout rate and a 0.71 WHIP. 

 

Aaron Judge & New York Yankees Erupt in Pittsburgh

 

 

Sixteen runs. Twenty-two hits. Six home runs. Much to my chagrin, the Pirates couldn’t pull it off and the Yankee offense broke out in a big way. Of the many home runs hit last night, Aaron Judge’s grand slam takes the cake as it gave him 30 homers on the year. He also tied Alex Rodriguez and himself for the second-most homers before the All-Star break in Yankees history. Can he beat Roger Maris’ 33 home runs? I think yes, and it is easily within reach, especially with their final six games before the break being at Yankee Stadium where he has a 1.008 OPS and a home run every 9.8 at-bats.

 

Kyle Schwarber Won’t Stop Hitting Home Runs

 

 

Schwarber may only be hitting .226 on the year, but his 27 home runs are excellent and he’s seeing a beach ball at the plate right now. He has the third-highest barrel rate in all of baseball and the fifth-highest average exit velocity on fly balls. The Phillies' slugger is in a great home park and the power output is legitimate. What a tear Schwarber is on at the moment.

  • 5 HRs in last 28 ABs
  • 9 HRs in last 60 ABs
  • 13 HRs in last 116 ABs
  • 17 HRs in last 130 ABs

 

Brayan Bello’s MLB Debut

 

 

It wasn’t the most prolific debut for Bello, as he allowed four earned runs, six hits, and three walks with just two strikeouts across four innings of work. The Red Sox prospect generated just six whiffs on 33 swings, but he showed good velocity – so that’s encouraging. Moving forward, he’ll need to fill up the zone more, as his 35.4-percent zone rate is not ideal and just 45 of his 79 pitches (57%) went for strikes. The talent is there and Bello is one of the top pitching prospects in baseball for a reason. A player’s career isn’t defined on their first start, and Boston should keep the youngster in the rotation as they compete in the American League playoff hunt.

 

Chris Sale Walks Five in Rehab Start

 

 

Well, Sale struck out five batters in 3.2 innings in his rehab outing – which is good – but he also issued five walks. Plus, he had a bit of a meltdown after the start and took it out on the facilities.

Despite the post-start tantrum, Sale insists that he’s ready to go and his return to the Boston rotation is imminent. Given all of his injuries over the past couple of seasons, the Red Sox would be wise to ease him back into a full workload. Fantasy baseball managers eager to get Sale in their lineups will need to be cognizant of that in the early going.

 

 

No Rafael Devers Again for Boston

 

 

Boston doesn’t seem worried, but that’s back-to-back games Devers has been out of the lineup. It’s not just the hamstring, but a tight back as well. Again, the team doesn’t seem too concerned, which is a positive, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Red Sox play it extremely carefully with Devers leading up to the break. The third baseman may opt to not appear in the MLB All-Star Game due to this. Time will tell…

 

Eloy Jiménez Returns for White Sox

 

 

Following a lengthy stint on the Injured List, Jimenez made his return yesterday and promptly made his presence felt – going 2-for-5 with a home run, three RBI, and one run scored. The power is legit with the White Sox outfielder and fantasy managers have been salivating at the chance to get Jimenez's offensive production back in their lineups. Despite the lengthy absence from the Chicago lineup, two of his three batted balls were hit above 105 miles per hour last night.

 

Bobby Witt Jr. (Hand) Out of Lineup

 

 

Fortunately, X-rays came back negative, but Witt might miss a couple of days. The team seems optimistic about his availability moving forward, but the American League Rookie of the Year candidate may miss a couple of games while his hand heals. The Royals' youngster was hit on the hand on Tuesday. 

 

Josiah Gray Racks Up 11 Strikeouts

 

 

Eleven strikeouts over six strong innings while allowing just two earned runs marks another great start for the Washington right-hander. Gray stunk his last time out for the Nationals when he faced Miami. Outside of that start, though, he’s been excellent lately. Gray has allowed two or fewer earned runs in six of his last seven starts and has at least six strikeouts in five of his last six. Take a look at some of his numbers over his last seven starts:

3-1, 10.62 K/9, 32.7 GB%, 2.66 ERA (3.85 FIP, 3.73 xFIP)

Gray is using his curveball more of late, and while his arsenal is still headlined by the fastball, narrowing the gap on the usage between his slider and curveball has seemed to be rewarding the young right-hander.
 

 

Thursday’s MLB Best Bets

 

 

Philadelphia Phillies OVER 4.5 Runs (-150 BetMGM)

We are going to attack Joan Adon’s 0-6 record, 8.44 ERA, and 1.91 WHIP on the road this year in this matchup. Even without Bryce Harper, this Philadelphia lineup has some pop – headlined by Kyle Schwarber’s recent home run binge. As a team, Philly has a .734 OPS at home this year, and over the last two weeks, they have the seventh-highest OPS in the MLB.

 

 

 

White Sox -1.5 Run Line (-120 BetMGM)

Okay, so Chicago is facing Detroit, and Dylan Cease is pitching. Isn’t Cease a part-owner of this Detroit team? In fact, he is! In 11 starts against Detroit, Cease is 10-0 with a 1.91 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and 11.0 K/9. Meanwhile, the White Sox have hit the Tigers' pitching at a .345 clip and Eloy Jiménez’s return to the lineup is just what the doctor ordered. With Cease in control on the mound, his dominance over Detroit should continue, en route to a Chicago win by multiple runs.

 

 

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