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Week 7 Waiver Wire Watch List

Jim Turvey's 2017 MLB waiver wire watch list for Week 7 of fantasy baseball. Potential sleepers and adds for 10-team, 12-team, 14-team and AL/NL-only leagues.

Welcome to Week 7 of The Watch List. We have had a few iterations already, but here’s a friendly reminder for those who forgot: Each week we’ll be updating this list full of players who you maybe aren’t quite ready to pick up (depending on league size, of course), but who need to be on your radar regardless.

We’ll look at eight players in-depth each week and keep tabs on players “graduating” into the waiver wire pickups category, as well as players demoted off the list entirely. (Reminder, these are Yahoo ownership and positions.)

Once again, if there are any names who you’d like to see highlighted next week, or even just added to the list as a whole, feel free to at me on Twitter (@FantasyBaseTurv). Let’s get this show on the road.

Be sure to check all of our fantasy baseball lineup tools and resources:

 

Players to Watch in 10-team Leagues

Derek Law (SF, RP): 34% owned

With Mark Melancon on the DL, Giants skipper Bruce Bochy has leaned towards Law to close out games for the Giants, and Law is 2-for-2 in the role. Law gave up three hits and two runs in his first save opportunity, but the second chance was more what owners want to see, as he walked just one and locked up the win for San Fran. Melancon played catch on Saturday, and he will almost certainly take the role back when he returns, but for owners thirsty for saves in the meantime, Law should be a solid option while Melancon works his way back. Law’s numbers are too flashy (3.00 ERA, 4.21 xFIP), but he’s not going to kill you in the limited time you have him on your team.

Jose Berrios (MIN, SP): 37% owned

Berrios, the Twins top pitching prospect the last two seasons, is back in the big leagues, and he was impressive in his 2017 MLB debut. Berrios went seven and two-thirds, allowing just one run on two hits and a walk, while striking out four. It was the best start of Berrios’ career at the MLB level, as he came into the game sporting a career 8.02 ERA in the majors. The talent is there for Berrios, though, so don’t be scared off by the small sample size (58.1 innings). Berrios had a 1.13 ERA over 39.2 innings at Triple-A this season, and he has a career 2.51 ERA at Triple-A in 229.2 innings. Berrios will be a popular add this week, he gets Colorado at home, a solid matchup but one that should be a good test.

Domingo Santana (MIL, OF): 24% owned

Santana hit .348 the past week, but didn’t go deep, so his OPS (.748) wasn’t winning you any head-to-head matchups. He did have four runs and a steal, and it’s all good with Santana moving forward.

Nate Karns (KC, SP): 20% owned

A slightly-inflated ERA is holding down Karns’ ownership right now, but given his xFIP (3.17) it may not be long before he’s jumping up the ownership ranks. Karns has 22 strikeouts in his past two outings alone, and he gave up just four runs combined in those starts - it’s somewhat amazing his ownership is still so low. Karns had his success against a pair of solid AL East offenses in Baltimore and Tampa Bay, so it’s not as if he was running up stats against the dregs of the league. Karns has an excellent batted ball profile this season, as he is allowing just a 11.4 percent line drive rate, inducing grounders 55.2 percent of the time, and his soft hit ball rate is over 25 percent (25.5%). Karns draws the Twins next time out.

Jordan Montgomery (NYY, SP): 12% owned

Montgomery got seven strikeouts in six innings against Houston and had just one walk, but he did give up eight hits and four runs in a loss. Still a lot to like as a high-floor young arm.

 

Players to Watch in 12-team Leagues

Austin Hedges (SD, C): 26% owned

We add another catchers to the ranks this week, as the position is beginning to show it has some depth - at least if you’re in deeper leagues where you can afford to dig a bit deeper. Hedgers hit a pair of homers and went 6-for-19 last week, as the Padres’ backstop is up to eight homers on the season. Of course, he is also hitting just .209 with an OBP of .258. There are a lot of power hitters who you can afford to keep despite poor BA/OBP, but Hedges is really low in both. On the one hand, one would have to assume his .205 BABIP is going to have some positive regression moving forward, but it is actually somehow higher than his career BABIP of .194 in 99 career games. His line drive rate (17.1%) is miles better than 2016 (5.6%), so I do believe it’s safe to assume a bit of BA increase from here on out. If/when that increase does come, Hedges will be a nice catcher option in mixed leagues.

Trevor Rosenthal (STL, RP): 37% owned

Rosenthal continues to pitch great (four shutout innings, five strikeouts), but Seung-Hwan Oh is settling in more and more after a rough start meaning Rosenthal is further from the closer’s role. He has value regardless, but obviously way more value as the actual closer.

Tommy Pham (STL, OF): 11% owned

Pham has never been a game-breaker, but he is hot right now. With two homers and two steals in the past week, his stock is going through the roof. That 11 percent ownership isn’t going to last for long.

J.C. Ramirez (LAA, SP/RP): 18% owned

Ramirez got hit around a bit at the beginning of his last start, but he settled in for a seven-inning outing, albeit one in which he gave up five runs against the Tigers.

Zack Wheeler (NYM, SP): 23% owned

Wheeler had a nice one-start week, getting the win (his second) thanks to six innings of one-run ball against the admittedly-muted Giants offense. Wheeler seems close to a potential breakthrough once again.

Tommy Joseph (Phi, 1B): 19% owned

Joseph was one of the biggest disappointments among the trendy, sleeper types for the first month-plus of the season, but he may just be heating up with the weather. In his last four games, Joseph has gone 7-for-14 with six runs, three home runs, and four RBI. Going back just before then, he had back-to-back multi-hit games last Friday and Saturday and has improved his slash line as much as anybody in the past 10 days. Suddenly Joseph’s slash line doesn’t look that much different than his under-the-radar 2016 season, although he is still hitting more ground balls than we would like to see. His ground ball rate is up ten percent overall in 2017, but in May that rate has been closer to his 2016 rate. If he can continue to elevate his swing from here on out, Joseph will once again be popping up on mixed-league radar.

Mike Foltynewicz (Atl, SP): 13% owned

Folty’s write up is a carbon copy of Wheeler’s. Got a win against a pedestrian offense in which he went six innings, allowed six base runners, and struck out four. Sometimes things don’t change much in a week for pitchers.

Jarrod Dyson (Sea, OF): 19% owned

An OPS of .821 with a steal and four runs: pretty average week for Dyson. Sometimes things don’t change that much for hitters in a week either.

 

Players to Watch in 14+ team Leagues

Justin Bour (Mia, 1B): 9% owned

Here’s a guy who keeps moving closer to our preseason hopes, as Bour went deep three times again last week, bringing him to seven for the season. He has seven homers in 25 games (45-homer pace) after failing to go deep his first ten games.

Logan Morrison (TB, 1B): 11% owned

Morrison had just four hits last week, but three were home runs. He’s been secretly great over the past 12 months and has a pretty high floor at this point.

Joe Biagini (TOR, SP): 12% owned

Biagini has made the transition from the bullpen to the rotation looks as easy as any pitcher in recent memory, going a combined nine shutout innings in his two starts for the Blue Jays so far. Both outings have come with limited pitch counts, but he was still able to have plenty of value, as he nabbed one win, allowed just six base runners (no walks) and struck out seven in the two starts combined (nine innings). If Biagini is able to keep his success up in the rotation, the Jays will find a way to keep him there. Biagini has an excellent ground ball rate (58.7 percent) and has always been able to keep his opponents in the ballpark (HR/FB rate of 5.6 percent in his career) thanks in part to a low hard hit ball rate (23.9 percent). There’s a lot to like here for the converted reliever who will draw the Braves on the road this Wednesday. The week after he’ll be a two-start pitcher who will be a must-add if he does well against Atlanta, so think about pulling the trigger right after the Braves start if he is successful and you want him for the following week.

Taylor Motter (SEA, SS/OF): 10% owned

After a couple of weeks with lower plate appearances, Motter was back in the Mariner lineup for 17 at bats last week, and he collected four hits and stole a base.

Colby Rasmus (TB, OF): 3% owned

Rasmus and his glorious beard have hardly missed a beat since returning from his DL stint to start 2017. Rasmus has a .276/.382/.690 slash line in the (admittedly-tiny) ten-game sample of 2017, and the three home runs really jump off the page. Rasmus has been an excellent power source in seasons past, as he has averaged right around 20 homers a season over his eight seasons in baseball. Kevin Cash and the Rays will make sure to put Rasmus in the best situations to succeed, which means he might not be in the lineup each and every night, but in deeper leagues where that isn’t a deal breaker, he should be on your radar. We don’t want to read too much into nine games, but he’s lacing the ball so far with a 44 percent hard hit ball rate, and a 61.1 percent fly ball rate that shows he’s having no problem elevating the ball.

Cameron Rupp (Phi, C): 14% owned

Rupp got only seven at bats in the past week, but he nabbed four hits and had a run and two RBI. I’m not too worried about Andrew Knapp taking at bats from Rupp on a regular basis.

 

Players to Watch in AL or NL-Only Leagues

Jed Lowrie (OAK, 2B): 6% owned

Past week: six hits two of which were home runs. Seriously, where is the love, people?

T.J. Rivera (NYM, 1B/2B/3B): 6% owned

After a loud breakout last week, Rivera settled in nicely with a .304 average and six RuBIns last week. That seems like a typical week for him going forward.

Derek Norris (TB, C): 3% owned

That positive regression from his beastly hard hit and line drive rate isn’t coming in avalanches, but he had another solid week with a .286 average and three runs.

Ezequiel Carrera (Tor, OF): 2% owned

Don’t look now (actually do look now, it’s fantasy baseball, always be looking around), but Carrera is hitting .327 and has three home runs in 2017. The 29-year-old has never been much of a prospect or made much of an impact, so this may just be a fluky hot streak, but that’s why this is the AL-only watch list section - we’re taking chances here. Carrera is indeed sporting the best line drive rate of his career (22.4%), and while his HR/FB rate is also a career-high, that might be a good thing in this case, as that number has trended upward each of the past four seasons, meaning Carrera may just be filling out a bit. If he puts together another week or so like this, he’ll start making his way onto some deeper rosters.

 

Graduated - Ownership Too High

Justin Wilson (Det, RP): 68% owned

Aaron Hicks (NYY, OF): 66% owned

Yonder Alonso (Oak, 1B): 64% owned

Trevor Cahill (SD, SP/RP): 54% owned

Charlie Morton (Hou, SP): 43% owned

Demoted

Mitch Moreland (Bos, 1B): 16% owned

Joaquin Benoit (Phi, RP): 15% owned

Andrew Toles (LAD, OF): 2% owned

 

More Waiver Wire Pickups and Adds




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REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Jose Altuve

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J.J. McCarthy

Expected to Miss 2-4 Weeks With High-Ankle Sprain
J.J. McCarthy

Likely Out for Week 3 With High-Ankle Sprain
Jean Silva

Gets Finished For The First Time In His Career
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Unlikely to Play in Week 3 Due to Hamstring Injury
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Returns To The Win Column
Jayden Daniels

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Rob Font

Outclassed In The Noche UFC 3 Co-Main Event
David Martinez

Wins His Second UFC Fight
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Wins Back-To-Back Fights
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Kelvin Gastelum

Gets Back In The Win Column
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Suffers Second-Round TKO
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Extends His Win Streak With A Brutal TKO
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Suffers First-Round Knockout
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Shines In His UFC Debut
Christopher Bell

Earns his First Bristol Cup Series Victory
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Earns his First Career Cup Series Top-10 Finish at Bristol
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Alperen Sengün

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Dennis Schröder

Dennis Schroder Named EuroBasket MVP
Bryce Eldridge

Giants to Promote Bryce Eldridge
Jaren Jackson Jr.

Progressing in Recovery
Jonathan Kuminga

Receives New Offer From Warriors
Kenneth Walker III

Bounces Back with Big Week 2 Performance
Bijan Robinson

Rushes for 143 Yards in Week 2
Justin Fields

Currently in Concussion Protocol
Cincinnati Bengals

Bengals Calling Around to Available Free-Agent Quarterbacks
Joe Burrow

to Undergo Surgery, Out at Least Three Months
Emil Heineman

Aiming to Take the "Next Step" This Season
Braeden Cootes

Good to Go for Camp
Ivan Fedotov

Blue Jackets Acquire Ivan Fedotov From Flyers
Aaron Jones Sr.

Injures Hamstring During Sunday Night Football
Darren Waller

Not Expected to Play in Week 3
Garrett Crochet

Punches Out 12 in Win
Cole Ragans

to Return on Wednesday
Jameson Williams

Records Long Touchdown in Week 2, Still Limited to Downfield Role?
George Kirby

Strikes Out 14 in Win
Jayden Daniels

Considered "Day-to-Day" with Knee Injury
Carlos Estévez

Carlos Estevez Exits with Back Tightness
Jonathan Taylor

Tops 200 Yards From Scrimmage in Week 2 Win
Joe Burrow

Could Miss Three Months if he Requires Toe Surgery
Davante Adams

Headlines Rams Receiving Corps Sunday
Wan'Dale Robinson

Explodes for 142 Yards, Touchdown in Overtime Thriller
Joe Flacco

Browns Not Considering Benching Joe Flacco After Week 2
Quentin Grimes

Still Not Close to a New Contract Agreement
Lamar Jackson

Throws for Four Touchdowns in Week 2 Win
James Cook

Scores Two Touchdowns in Rout of Jets
Joel Embiid

"Looking Slender, Spry and in Positive Spirits"
Ty Gibbs

Has Arguably his Best Career Drive, but Only Finishes 10th
Chase Elliott

Despite Crashing Out at Bristol, Chase Elliott Advances to Round of 12
Austin Dillon

Misses Round of 12 After Extremely Mediocre Bristol Run
Shane Van Gisbergen

Shane van Gisbergen Fails to Advance to Round of 12
Josh Berry

Finishes Last in All Three Round of 16 Races to Fail to Advance
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Takes a Seat on Sunday With Head Injury
Adolis García

Adolis Garcia Activated, Starting on Sunday
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Ryan Williams Explodes In Return To Field
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Drew Allar Plays Mediocre Game In Blowout Win
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LaNorris Sellers Exits Game In Blowout Loss
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DJ Lagway Tosses Five Interceptions In Loss
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Garrett Nussmeier Plays Game Manager in Saturday's Win
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CJ Carr Remains Poised In Narrow Loss
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John Mateer Leads Oklahoma In Rout
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Arch Manning Struggles Against UTEP
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Jeremiah Smith Impresses In Win
Bryan Woo

Records Career-High 13 Strikeouts
Max Muncy

Exits Early on Saturday
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Sam Leavitt Shines As Arizona State Rebounds From Week 2 Loss
Salvador Perez

Reaches 300 Home Runs, 1,000 RBI
Jose Altuve

Exits Early With Foot Discomfort
Trey Yesavage

Heading to Big Leagues
Will Smith

Placed on 10-Day Injured List
Ivan Demidov

Turning Heads in Rookie Camp
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Calvin de Haan Signs With Swedish Team
Samuel Girard

Skates With Non-Contact Jersey
Mackenzie Blackwood

Dealing With Injury Ahead of Training Camp
Spencer Knight

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Kyle Busch

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Ricky Stenhouse Jr

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Michael McDowell

Could be A Solid Value Option For Bristol DFS Lineups
Chase Elliott

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Bubba Wallace Not as Strong at Bristol as Other Short Tracks
Alex Bowman

Needs to Win to Make Round of 12
Ross Chastain

has Never Led at Bristol but Has Been Pretty Consistent
Austin Dillon

Richmond Speed Unlikely to Carry Over to Bristol
Josh Berry

Might Run Well at Bristol, but Almost Certainly Won't Win to Advance
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Tarik Skubal

Avoids Serious Injury, Expected to Make Next Start
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Austin Simmons Listed As Game-Time Decision Against Arkansas
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Nico Iamaleava Struggles In Fourth Straight Loss
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

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Alexandar Georgiev Joins Sabres on One-Year Deal
Corey Perry

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Tanner Bibee

Fans 10 in Two-Hit Shutout
Zach Neto

Dealing With Wrist Soreness
Masyn Winn

Shut Down for Rest of Season
Tarik Skubal

to Undergo Imaging on Saturday
Tyler Soderstrom

Scratched on Friday With Groin Tightness
Tarik Skubal

Exits with Side Tightness
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Antonio Williams Out Against Georgia Tech
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CJ Bailey Flashes Again in Win Over Wake Forest
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Jaxson Moi a Game-Time Decision for Tennessee on Saturday
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A Favorite At Noche UFC 3
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Set For Noche UFC 3 Main Event
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Looks For His Third Consecutive Win
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Set For Noche UFC 3 Co-Main Event
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An Underdog At Noche UFC 3
Jared Gordon

Looks To Win Back-To-Back Fights
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Looks To Return To The Win Column
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In Dire Need Of Victory
Diego Ferreira

Looks To Get Back In The Win Column
Malcolm Brogdon

Heading to Knicks on One-Year Deal
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David Sanders Jr. Won't Play Against Georgia
Landry Shamet

Staying with the Knicks
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Dylan Edwards Slated to Return on Friday
Adam Lowry

Aims for Early-Season Return
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Ryan Williams Expected to Play Against Wisconsin
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Billy Edwards Jr. Unlikely to Play on Saturday
P.J. Washington

Officially Signs Contract Extension
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David Sanders Jr. Questionable to Make Debut Against Georgia
Lauri Markkanen

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Luka Dončić

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Cam Reddish Expected to Move to Europe
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Trey Lyles Joins Real Madrid
Charles Bassey

Signs Exhibit 10 Deal With Hawks
Sacramento Kings

Terence Davis Waived by Kings
Matthew Knies

Ready for Bigger Role With Maple Leafs
Jack Eichel

Unbothered by Lack of Extension
Sidney Crosby

Not Thinking About Leaving Pittsburgh
SJ

Michael Misa Signs Entry-Level Contract With Sharks
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Nursing an Injury
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the Ultimate Wild Card at Procore
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Looks to Extend Momentum in Napa
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Searching for a Spark at Procore
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Looking to Reignite Form at Procore
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Aims for Another Strong Showing at Procore
Luke Clanton

Brings Ball-Striking Upside to Napa
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Helps Greece Reach Semis at EuroBasket
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Finishes Tied For 15 at Wyndham Championship
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Finishes Tied for 33rd at BMW Championship
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Finishes Tied for Seventh at Tour Championship
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Finishes Tied for 25th at Tour Championship
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Finishes Tied for 19th at Tour Championship
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Misses Cut at Wyndham Championship
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Finishes Tied for 10th at Tour Championship
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Finishes Tied for Second at Tour Championship
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Could Hang Around at Procore Championship
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Skates With Sharks
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Back at 100 Percent

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