The second half of the 2022 Major League Baseball Season is cruising right along as we enter the weekend of Week 18 in our fantasy baseball leagues. Before taking a look ahead at your fantasy baseball lineups for Friday night and the rest of the weekend, we first need to look back at the top MLB news and headlines from yesterday’s action. It was a slow “get away day” around baseball, but we still had some highlights that included the MLB Field of Dreams game between the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs. Elsewhere, Seattle Mariners' star Julio Rodríguez returns for the Seattle Mariners as the MLB top prospect makes his way back into your fantasy baseball lineups. Meanwhile, Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Kyle Schwarber lands on the MLB injury report with a calf strain. Don't to check out our updated August fantasy baseball player rankings before setting your lineups this week. Plus, check out the latest fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups and MLB players trending up and down in the fantasy baseball stock watch. Before we start the weekend, let’s take a look back at the top MLB news, performances, and fantasy baseball injuries from yesterday. Then, we'll look at my two favorite MLB player props for Friday night's games. Be sure to check out the MLB weather report today, confirmed MLB lineups, and our MLB daily projections before setting those MLB DFS lineups or locking in any MLB bets. 

 

Fantasy Baseball MLB News August 12

Field of Dreams MLB Game A Success

Two of baseball’s oldest franchises – the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds - squared off in an Iowa cornfield last night for the second annual Field of Dreams game. The Cubs won 4-2, but the game was overshadowed by greatness. Besides the unique atmosphere of the Iowa cornfields, we also had Ken Griffey Jr. and Ken Griffey Sr. playing catch and Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins throwing out the first pitch to Johnny Bench. Plus, Reds veteran Joey Votto's in-game interview shined light on what the Field of Dreams game means to some of the players themselves.

Phillies OF Kyle Schwarber Suffers Calf Strain Injury

Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber has a mild right calf strain after he departed yesterday's game early. It appears that he will at least miss tonight’s opening game of the Phillies' big series against the first-place New York Mets. The Phils have won 12 of their past 14 games and are 41-20 since June 1st, the third-best mark in the major leagues. This also marks the first time the Phillies (62-49) and Mets (73-39) enter a series with both clubs this far above .500 since September of 2008. Schwarber has 34 home runs on the season with a.211/.314/.501 slash and .815 OPS.

Julio Rodríguez Returns for Seattle Mariners

Seattle Mariners top prospect Julio Rodríguez was activated from the Injured List and will be back in the lineup tonight. It comes at a key point in the season with the Mariners holding down the second AL Wild card spot. The young star is slashing .271/.334/.482 with an .816 OPS, 18 home runs, and 57 RBI on the season. Get JRod back in your fantasy baseball lineups ASAP!

 

Braves SP Max Fried Placed on Injured List

The Atlanta Braves placed ace Max Fried on the 7-day concussion IL after he hit his shoulder and head on the ground during his start last Saturday against the Mets. Fried is having an excellent season as he leads the Braves with a 10-4 record, 2.60 ERA, and 1.08 WHP with 127 Ks in 138.1 innings. Fantasy baseball managers of Fried are hoping he makes a swift recovery from the concussion and returns to the Braves rotation soon.

Astros SP Framber Valdez With Another Quality Start

Valdez is a work horse for the Houston Astros. He leads the American League with 142 innings pitched, and needs one more quality start to tie Mike Scott’s franchise record of 20 in a row – set in his National League Cy Young season of 1986. Yesterday against the Rangers, all four of Valdez's pitches were working like magic – especially his sweeping curve ball. The Houston left-hander went seven strong innings, allowing no runs on four hits, and had eight strikeouts to go along with 21 whiffs and a 39% CSW. 

Cleveland Guardians Sweep to Extend Win Streak

The Guardians swept their series with the Detroit Tigers thanks to a go-ahead run off of an Oscar Gonzalez single in the 10th inning yesterday. This extra-inning win may go down as one of the biggest Cleveland victories so far this season as it extended their AL Central lead to 1.5 games over the Twins. Plus, the victory continued the Guardians' now five-game win streak.

MLB Best Bets Friday

Tyler Mahle OVER 6.0 Strikeouts

Ok, Mahle has only hit this prop in two of his last five starts but he was also facing the likes of the Blue Jays and Cardinals. Tonight, the Minnesota Twins' starter gets a dream matchup against the lowly Angels. This is the best spot that Mahle has been in since his trade from the Cincinnati Reds as the Halos are full of free-swinging batters. They are striking out 25.1% to right-handed pitching this season and over the last two weeks, the Angels have a horrible team .135 ISO and .270 wOBA with a 25.4% K rate and a wRC+ that is sub-100. 

Yordan Alvarez OVER 1.5 Total Bases

Alvarez is in a total smash spot tonight as he'll be facing a gas can in Oakland right-hander Adam Oller. The A's pitcher does not miss bats (12.2% K rate to lefty hitters) and is allowing an atrocious .368 ISO/.441 wOBA to the left side with a 50%+ flyball rate. Alvarez, on the other hand, feasts on bad righties to the tune of a .379 ISO and .447 wOBA with a 55% hard contact rate. Good night for a double-dong by Yor-Dong Alvarez. 

 

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