14 hours agoBaltimore Orioles starting pitcher
Kyle Bradish (elbow) said his elbow was bothering him after the fifth inning of Friday's game against the visiting Philadelphia Phillies. Manager Brandon Hyde said Baltimore will have Bradish undergo further tests to determine what the problem is. Considering Bradish missed the first month of the year with a UCL sprain during spring training, it's not exactly what the O's or fantasy managers want to be hearing. With five strong innings on Friday against the Phillies, the 27-year-old right-hander sports a 2.75 ERA and 1.07 WHIP with 53 punchouts and 15 walks through 39 1/3 innings in 2024. Bradish is tentatively slated to start next Friday's matchup against the Houston Astros, though his test results would need to come back clean for that to happen.
--Joseph Barbati - RotoBallerSource: Andy Kostka - TheBaltimoreBanner.com
14 hours agoSan Diego Padres starting pitcher
Yu Darvish (groin) threw 60 pitches in the bullpen on Friday afternoon ahead of the series opener against the hosting New York Mets, simulating three innings of work. Darvish said earlier in the afternoon that he felt the simulation would be a sufficient ramp-up for him to be ready to have his next step be starting a game, and that return from a strained left groin will likely come during the team's upcoming homestand that begins with Thursday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers. He'll throw a regular between-starts bullpen session before then, and it sounds like Darvish may not need a minor-league rehab assignment before rejoining San Diego's rotation perhaps as early as late next week. The 37-year-old five-time All-Star right-hander owns a solid 3.20 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and 53:15 K:BB through 56 1/3 innings for the Padres this year, and he should be stashed in all fantasy leagues.
--Joseph Barbati - RotoBallerSource: Kevin Acee - San Diego Union-Tribune
14 hours agoMiami Marlins starting pitcher
Shaun Anderson (0-1) imploded Friday night, giving up seven runs on 10 hits in two innings pitched with no walks while recording just one strikeout in an 8-1 loss against the Washington Nationals. The debut was one to forget for the 29-year-old journeyman, who had started this season with the Rangers in the bullpen before being traded to the Marlins for cash a couple of weeks ago. Anderson may not get another turn in the rotation after this outing, though, despite
Edward Cabrera (shoulder),
Ryan Weathers (finger), and
Sixto Sanchez (shoulder) being out. Anderson had excellent numbers in Triple-A Jacksonville for the Marlins with a 2.51 ERA, but the right-hander should remain a mainstay on your league's waiver wire for the foreseeable future.
--Joey Inglese - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
14 hours agoHouston Astros starting pitcher
Hunter Brown (3-5) dominated on the mound Friday night, earning the win after hurling seven shutout innings with nine strikeouts, no walks, and five hits in a 4-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers. It's safe to say Brown is red-hot after having a lackluster first month and a half of the season. He's now logged five straight quality starts dating back to May 22 after only having one total quality start in his first nine outings. Brown's ERA has lowered to 5.00 on the season, but he still has a long way to go to get his ERA back to a respectable level. Look for Brown to get that ERA to continue to trend in the right direction when he faces the Chicago White Sox in his next projected matchup.
--Joey Inglese - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
14 hours agoTampa Bay Rays starting pitcher
Zack Littell (2-5) was chased early Friday night after allowing a season-high six runs in two innings on eight hits with one walk and two strikeouts in a 7-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves. The two innings are also a season-low for the right-hander whose ERA now sits at 4.24 after tonight's rough start. The beat-up came after he had logged three straight quality starts one against Oakland and two against Baltimore. Littell is only rostered in 35% of fantasy leagues and is currently a streamer at best due to his lack of wins and average strikeout numbers. It is noteworthy the righty hasn't surpassed three strikeouts in a game in three consecutive starts. Despite that Littell remains an intriguing streaming option next week with a projected matchup with the Minnesota Twins on the books.
--Joey Inglese - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
14 hours agoAtlanta Braves starting pitcher
Chris Sale (9-2) picked up his ninth win Friday night, going seven innings while allowing two runs on five hits plus two walks and seven strikeouts in a 7-3 victory versus the Tampa Bay Rays. The only blemishes on the night came from allowing the first three batters to reach in the first and allowing two doubles in the seventh. Other than those instances, the sidewinding lefty was perfect on the evening. That's back-to-back quality starts for Sale after getting lit up by the Oakland Athletics back on June 1. Going for his third quality start in a row will be a tall task for the lefty, though, as the Braves head to New York for a faceoff with the Bronx Bombers.
--Joey Inglese - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
15 hours agoThe Atlanta Braves will place outfielder
Michael Harris II (hamstring) on the 10-day injured list and have him undergo an MRI exam on Saturday. Harris tweaked his left hamstring running from first to third in the first inning after singling in his first at-bat in Friday's series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays and left the game with a trainer. It's bad news for the Braves and fantasy managers, who should expect the 23-year-old to miss more than the required 10 days on the IL. Atlanta's outfield has been decimated by injuries of late, with
Ronald Acuna Jr. (knee) already out for the season. With Harris now down, both
J.P. Martinez and
Brian Anderson are in line for more playing time in the outfield. Harris came into Friday's game hitting .247 (64-for-259) with five homers, 20 RBI and eight steals. He deserves to be stashed in all fantasy leagues.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: The Athletic - David O'Brien
15 hours agoBoston Red Sox right-handed reliever
Chris Martin (anxiety) threw a bullpen session on Thursday and will go on a minor-league rehab assignment on Saturday with Triple-A Worcester. Martin is eligible to return on Monday and has been out since last month while dealing with anxiety. The 38-year-old veteran should return to the big-league bullpen next week, but the Red Sox would be wise to ease him back into high-leverage situations in relief initially. Martin went 4-1 with a miniscule 1.05 ERA, a 1.03 WHIP, three saves, 46 strikeouts and only eight walks in 55 relief appearances in Boston last year but had struggled to a 4.22 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in 21 1/3 innings this year before taking time away, although he had struck out 24 and walked only two in 21 appearances out of the bullpen.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: The Athletic - Jen McCaffrey
15 hours agoWashington Nationals manager Dave Martinez said that first baseman/outfielder
Joey Gallo's (hamstring) MRI exam showed a significant hamstring strain, and he'll be on the injured list for a while. Gallo landed on the injured list on Wednesday and is now unlikely to return to the team until some point in the second half of the season. For the foreseeable future with the 30-year-old left-handed slugger sidelined,
Joey Meneses should continue to see most of the playing time at first base in D.C. Even in deeper fantasy leagues, we wouldn't blame managers for dumping the declining Gallo, who is currently hitting a measly .164/.285/.321 with five home runs, 11 RBI and 17 runs scored in 46 games. The two-time All-Star still has plenty of pop, but he just swings and misses way too much.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MASN Sports - Bobby Blanco
15 hours agoCincinnati Reds left-hander
Brandon Williamson (shoulder) is going with the non-surgical route for his left shoulder, according to manager David Bell and will get injections instead and not throw for at least three weeks. While it's good news for Williamson now, it doesn't guarantee that he won't eventually need surgery on his shoulder if he continues to have issues once he resumes throwing in around a month. The 26-year-old southpaw has a lesion on his left shoulder and has yet to throw a pitch for the Reds in 2024. Williamson and the Reds are holding out hope that he can return later this year, but fantasy managers in single-year leagues shouldn't be quite as optimistic. The former second-rounder by the Seattle Mariners in 2019 out of TCU made his big-league debut last year for Cincy and went 5-5 with a 4.46 ERA and 1.28 WHIP with 98 K's and 39 walks in 23 starts.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com - Mark Sheldon
15 hours agoNew York Yankees right-hander
Gerrit Cole (elbow) looked dominant yet again in his latest minor-league rehab start for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Friday, punching out 10 and walking none while allowing just one unearned run on two hits in 4 1/3 innings of work. Cole threw 46 of his 70 pitches for strikes and is likely to be reinstated from the 60-day injured list to make his 2024 debut for the Yankees next time out. Last year's American League Cy Young winner was shut down in spring training with a right-elbow injury. Although Cole has yet to pitch in the first half of the season, he was able to avoid season-ending surgery and should return to the Yankees' starting rotation this month. Despite missing extended time, he looks to be in midseason form and should be thrown into starting fantasy lineups right away.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: Milb.com
16 hours agoToronto Blue Jays starting pitcher
Kevin Gausman had a subpar start by his standards on Friday night as Toronto lost 3-1 to the Cleveland Guardians on Friday night. Gausman was credited with the loss as he pitched into the sixth inning, giving up eight hits, three earned runs and striking out six. Though only giving up three earned runs, Gausman's ERA increased slightly to 4.08 on the season. The Blue Jays right-hander has had an up-and-down season with a lot of strong streaks marred with a few bad outings sprinkled in between. Though the 33-year-old has only had two outings of more than three earned runs since May, he is due for some negative regression with a 5.14 xERA. Fantasy managers and DFS players need to exercise caution when starting the right-hander, especially against teams that are not prone to strikeouts.
--Kevin Larson - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
16 hours agoCleveland Guardians outfielder
Will Brennan hit a solo shot and smacked a double for Cleveland in the Guardians 3-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday. The homer was Brennan's sixth on the season as he improved his OPS to .683 on the season. The 26-year-old has improved slightly from his 2023 season and continues to get a solid amount of playing time for the Guardians as they set the pace in the AL Central. Though his season-long wOBA is a bit uninspiring at .287, his .296 xwOBA points to a small amount of positive regression coming for Brennan, which would get him near league-average results. Fantasy managers looking to take a chance on an outfielder may want to consider stashing Brennan while seeing if he can break out later in 2024.
--Kevin Larson - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
16 hours agoWashington Nationals outfielder
Lane Thomas smacked his fifth homer of the season on Friday in the Nationals 8-1 win over the Miami Marlins. Thomas hit his three-run homer in the bottom of the third off Marlins starter
Shaun Anderson. Thomas added another single to finish two-for-five on the day with two hits, three RBI and a run scored. The 28-year-old started the season slow but has come back strong after battling knee issues for most of May. He has hit for an .800 OPS since he was reinstated, giving him a season-long .654 OPS. Expect the righty to hit more like he has since his return instead of what he showed at the beginning of the season. Fantasy managers that happen to see Thomas on their waiver wire should snag him up immediately.
--Kevin Larson - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
16 hours agoWashington Nationals shortstop
CJ Abrams had a big day at the plate on Friday, collecting three hits and two RBI while scoring a run in the Nationals 8-1 win over the Miami Marlins. This marks Abrams' third three-hit game of the season and improves his hitting streak to eight games. The Nationals lefty also hit his 14th double of the season in the bottom of the first off Marlins starter
Shaun Anderson. Abrams continues to have a fantastic 2024 and is also due for some positive regression with a .329 wOBA and a .347 xwOBA. He will face two more lefties over the weekend,
Trevor Rogers and
Jesus Luzardo, Abrams has limited at-bats against the Marlins' lefties but is hitting lefties for a .932 OPS this season. DFS managers may want to consider targeting Abrams over the weekend.
--Kevin Larson - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
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