Alex Avila had walked six times his last four games as it was starting to look like he was finally rounding into form. So much for that. Avila was placed on the disabled list Wednesday with a right hamstring strain. Oh well.

Justin Bour has been placed on the DL with a right ankle sprain. If you’re going to get hurt having it occur right before the All-Star game is the best time. Bour has 15 homers and a .873 OPS this season though he continues to be inept against lefties (.227/.227/.273).

Gerrit Cole threw three scoreless innings in an outing at Triple-A Tuesday. Coming back from a triceps injury, Cole struck out six and walked none while giving up two hits in that minor league outing. Cole is set to make one more start in the minors before hopefully returning right after the All-Star break. Cole has a solid 2.77 ERA in 12 starts this season but that’s really the only part of his game that stands out in a good way. Cole has lost the strikeout ball a bit as his K/9 rate is down to 7.24 as his swinging strike rate has also tumbled (8.0 this season after three years at 9.3 percent or higher). Cole also has a 43 percent ground ball rate, well below the 48 percent mark he owned coming into the campaign. He just hasn’t looked “himself” to this point.

Can’t believe I’m writing this but over his last 18 games Coco Crisp is ballin’. In that time Crisp hasn’t stolen a base, but that’s the only negative. Crisp has scored 15 times, has driven in 15 runs and is batting .314 with a .407 OBP and .557 SLG. You know the drill by now with the 36 year old. You know not to trust him.

Zack Davies has been sent to Triple-A. It’s not based on performance, it’s based on the Brewers getting another body that can help them before the All-Star Break. Davies will be up for the start of the second half having allowed three or fewer runs in six of his last seven starts.

Make sure to check out my Mailbag piece. Did I answer your Twitter question?

Tyler Glasnow will be called up by the Pirates. You can find my thoughts on that situation in this Daily Trends piece.

Sonny Gray has a 1.42 BB/9 rate his last five starts.

Adam Jones has scored 15 times his last 13 games. Jose Abreu has scored twice in 12 games.

Clayton Kershaw (back) played catch today for the first time since he hit the DL. Though there still isn’t any certainty when he returns, it sounds like manager Dave Roberts doesn’t think Kershaw will necessarily require a minor league stint as long as he doesn’t miss an extended period of time. All we really seem to know right now is that it’s going to take longer than 15 days for Kershaw on the sidelines.

Manny Machado is batting .324 with 19 homers, 53 RBI and 59 runs scored. Phenomenal. He’s stolen zero bases though, a total shock.

C.J. Cron has been hot lately, but will it doesn’t look like it will last. Maikel Franco has been hot as well, but there are still some concerns. Marcus Semien is quietly having a nice season despite always hitting low in the order. CHECK OUT THE BIG 3 VIDEO.

David Ortiz has 34 doubles. His career best is 52 doubles, but the last four seasons his best doubles mark has been a still impressive 38. That’s right, he’s on the cusp of a five year high in doubles – and we haven’t reached the All-Star break. By the way, the record for doubles by a 40 year old is 35 by Sam Rice in 1930. Yeah, pretty sure that record is going down in a major way. Ortiz has been stupendous this season. Just bonkers.

The last two weeks Salvador Perez has no homers and is batting .119, the worst mark in baseball amongst qualifiers. Just a slump, nothing more, most likely.

Over the last 30 days, covering 23 games, Ben Revere is batting .299 with eight steals. He’s also scored 13 runs. This is the Ben Revere you drafted and it’s the one I would be expecting to see the rest of the season.

Chris Sale has a 10.29 K/9 mark his last five starts.

Trayce Thompson is batting .143 his last 15 games. Since the start of June, a span of 33 games, Thompson is batting .200. Over his last 26 games he’s hit only three homers. The 25.5 percent HR/FB ratio he owns will continue to drop, and as that happens his .233 average and .311 OBP will be a drag on his owners. As I stated two months ago, he’s just not ready to be a fantasy star, or even an all-star caliber performer.

Even 5,000 years ago a cold one was a nice payment for a days’ work.

I watched Chris Tillman last night against the Dodgers, and though he allowed just one run in seven innings I have to say I left the outing thinking to myself ‘that wasn’t very impressive.’ There are plenty of hurlers who don’t impress yet have success, and maybe Tillman will match his strong first half with an impressive second. However, concerns abound. Since the start of June, Tillman has made seven starts. He’s gone 4-1 which is nice, and the 2.38 BB/9 rate also plays. However, check it. (1) Tillman has a 6.91 K/9 mark in that time. His career mark is 6.79. His mark this seasons is 7.87. Which number to you think is the “real” Tillman? (2) Tillman has been blasted for eight homers leading to a sickly 1.73 HR/9 mark that flat out stinks. Scary bad actually. (3) Tillman has a 4.54 ERA in that time. His career mark is 4.13 which means he’s closer to his career rate the past month plus than he is to his season long mark this season of 3.55. He’s just not as good as his overall numbers suggest.

Josh Tomlin has allowed 2.36 homers per nine innings his last five starts. That’s horrific number. Amazingly, there are four men who have been worse the last 30 days: Ian Kennedy 3.18, Jason Hammel 2.86, R.A. Dickey 2.68 and Wei-Yin Chen 2.45.

 

Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday, 7 PM EDT and Friday on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 7 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).