I just finished reading through Michael Stein’s Injury Report and it’s tough not to imagine fantasy baseball owners walking around like zombies – blank stares on their faces, sitting in shock that their season could potentially be lost in an instance as names like Bryce Harper, Nolan Arenado and James Paxton find their way to the day-to-day and DL lists. I always go back to that line in the movie The Color of Money when Grady Seasons is smack-talking Vincent and says, “It’s like a nightmare, isn’t it? And it just keeps getting worse.” For some like myself, this has been what the entire season has been like. For others, this is a horror show of a way to wrap the season.

But we’re not here to lament what we cannot control. Injuries happen and we have to find the best way to roll with the punches. For some, it’s about appreciating some of the amazing things that are happening in the sport right now. For others, it’s about digging deep through the news and finding a shred of hope in another situation that could lead to you picking someone up who can help, even if just for a short time.

So with that, let’s take a walk through the latest news and notes around MLB and see what we can find. We’ll celebrate some of the good and if we find something less appealing, let’s dig for that silver lining. It’s there somewhere…

Let’s kick it off with a celebration and talk about Giancarlo Stanton setting a franchise record with his 43rd home runs of the season. A new Marlins record doesn’t do diddly-squat for the fantasy community, but how about the fact that Stanton has been flat-out insane at the plate and is single-handedly pushing thousands of fantasy baseball owners to the top in the home run and RBI categories? Since the All Star break, Stanton has hit .302 with 17 home runs and 25 RBI over 29 games which gives him 22 homers and 43 RBI over his last 34 games. The production has been absolutely sick.

Now, many are going to freak out with the recent release of news that Stanton has cleared waivers and is eligible to be traded. That’s not going to happen, people. First off, according to my co-host on the Fantasy Alarm Show, Jim Bowden, there are hundreds of players who clear waivers that we never hear about. The marquee names get the attention, but really, never until they’re doing something extraordinary. So with that, assume that Stanton clearing waivers is routine, especially for someone with a contract that enormous. Very few teams are going to be able to afford that, so the likelihood of him going anywhere is very small.

Also, it was just announced that Derek Jeter and his group have been approved as the new owners. Jeter is in charge of baseball operations and he knows exactly what needs to happen with Stanton. This is a guy you build around. You don’t need to trade him off for parts. The salary may be high, but this 27-year old should be a cornerstone of this Marlins team for a number of years. Expect him to stay right where he is and look for the team to center their universe around him.

The feel-good story of the second half has to go to the return of Chad Bettis who returned from his battle with cancer to throw seven shutout innings against the Braves at Coors Field on Monday night. Now obviously we can celebrate his recovery and return, but we also have business here in the way of fantasy value. Can Bettis be a trusted arm over the next month and a half? Sort of. I recommend picking him up, but you’re still going to have to play the match-ups with him. The fact that he’s become more of a ground ball specialist thanks to improvements he’s made with his cutter definitely helps, especially with Coors being the home park. But you really need to match him up with teams that are super-aggressive at the plate. He’ll use his curve and his cutter well in an effort to keep the hitters off-balance, but I’m still a bit leery of the effectiveness of his changeup. Aggressive hitters will hack early and afford him the advantage, but you have to be wary of the more patient hitters who will wait for him to leave something up in the zone. He’s got potential, but just be careful.

The one injury that didn’t make it to the Injury Report, probably because it’s so routine at this point, is Devin Mesoraco and the fractured foot. Well, it’s more of a toe…the pinkie toe at that. The x-rays revealed the fracture and now the oft-injured backstop is head back to Cincinnati for an MRI to see how much time he’s going to miss. Um, yeah. This little piggy cried “wee wee wee” all the way home. Sorry. Had to do it.

The Joey Gallo truthers are relentless. Listen…I get it. Thirty-three home runs is impressive. The power is real. But so is the struggle for everything else. If you only need help in the counting stats and don’t care at all about batting average or OBP, then he’s your man. But just understand what type of a hitter he is. People are sitting here saying how great he is in OBP leagues, but is he? He’s sitting on a mark of .322 right now and that’s because of a .362 July and a .396 for the first half of August. Yes, those numbers are great and if he were to actually maintain this .351 mark he’s got in the second half, then I will gladly agree that he’s great in OBP leagues. But we cannot sit here and ignore the first half, nor can we just assume that his second-half OBP is where he will sit for the duration of his career. I’m crazy happy for him right now, but let’s not forget that this is a guy who still struggles against left-handed pitching and still has a lot of holes in his swing. Don’t go overblowing half a season of rate stats here. Make sure you see the forest through the trees.

The Justin Verlander trade talks between the Tigers and Astros are still ongoing and while they are, the veteran hurler continues to be a dominant force on the mound.  He’s thrown five-straight quality starts since the All Star break and has a 1.80 ERA with a 39:9 K:BB over 35 innings. He knows he’s auditioning for a new team and he’s out to prove that the $60M he’s still owned is justifiable in some way. Well, it certainly is for the Astros if they truly want to push their way into the World Series. I’m not going to run down their pitching, but right now, it’s a little young and it’s a whole lot banged-up. Putting Verlander on the mound every five days and into the playoffs will do wonders for them.

The power of Rhys Hoskins is real. Do not be fooled by the 1-for-13 stretch with which he began his big league career and don’t dismiss the two home runs he just hit as being just a by-product of Travis Wood’s mediocrity. This jumbo-sized 24-year old showed tremendous power numbers in Double and Triple-A and did it in relatively neutral to pitcher-friendly parks. Had he been in the PCL, I would have taken some of the numbers with a grain of salt, but a .297 ISO in the International League is definitely something to notice. The Phillies are using him in the outfield which puts him out of his natural position (first base), so you needed to account for some growing pains. Now that they’re behind him, look for him to start powering up more.

I’ll take another tour later on today to see if there’s something real juicy I missed. In the meantime, keep at it! Just a little ways to go and you’ll be set!