It is already Week 14 of the major league baseball season! This is the last full week of baseball before the All-Star break so before taking a look ahead at your fantasy baseball lineups for tonight and the rest of the week we first need to look back at the top MLB news and headlines from yesterday’s games. Highlights include The Red Sox showing the Yankees that they still have spunk, the Dodgers sweeping the Cubs series for the first time ever and Wilmer Flores and Austin Riley having big days at the plate. Do not forget to check out our updated June fantasy baseball player rankings before setting your lineups this week plus the latest MLB injury report, fantasy baseball player spotlight series, and players trending up and down in the fantasy baseball stock watch. Before we start another week let’s take a look back at the top performances and key injuries from Sunday as well as a look ahead to Monday’s slate...

 

 

FANTASY BASEBALL NEWS

ANOTHER RED SOX WIN

 

The Red Sox proved last night that they have plenty of fight left in them and that the year certainly is not lost. The great rivalry continued as the Red Sox depleted squad managed to take both weekend games in come-from-behind fashion to split this midsummer series with the top team in baseball. They scored the final nine runs in yesterday’s series finale to win 11-6 as Trevor Story had a huge game with two hits and three knocks.

DODGERS MAKE HISTORY IS SERIES SWEEP

 

Yesterdays’ crazy 11-9 comeback win over the Cubs capped the Dodgers’ first 10-1 homestand since 1980. It was a grueling 20-games-in-20-days, but the squad went 16-4 and extended their division lead that was just one game two weeks ago. The Dodgers have now swept the season series against the Cubs, and it is the first time in franchise history. Freddie Freeman led the way in yesterday’s win with four hits to add to his .304/.381/.494 season slash.

Austin Riley PROPELS BRAVES

 

The Braves inched even closer to the first place Mets yesterday as Austin Riley played hero in their 4-3 come from behind win. He tied the game with a 410-foot home run in the eighth inning and won it in the 12th when his single brought home Dansby Swanson. Over his last seven games, Riley is 13-for-29 (.448) with three homers as the Braves have now won their last four series.

Robinson Canó IS BACK…AGAIN

 

With the Braves thin on left-handed hitting and Ozzie Albies still out until at least mid-August they acquired veteran Robinson Canó from the Padres for cash considerations. After being released by the Mets in May, Cano signed with the Padres but was released shortly thereafter after refusing to report to Triple-A. After testing his options on the open market Cano re-signed with the Padres and hit well in Las Vegas over the last few weeks slashing .333/.375/.479.

The Braves see something in Cano, and this is a player that fantasy managers should keep an eye on after the team struck gold with struggling veterans Eddie Rosario, Joc Pederson, Jorge Soler and Adam Duvall last year. 

ORIOLES KEEP ON CRUISING

 

The Orioles have risen from the ashes and become a real live baseball team. They won their eight straight games and are now only one game below .500 (43-44) and 2.5 games out of the American League Wild Card spot. They are 29-20 since May 19 which was only two days before the heralded arrival of the #1 prospect in baseball- Adley Rutschman. 

YANKEES LEAD ALL STAR SELECTIONS

 

The Yankees, who lead MLB with a 61-25 record, will be represented by at least six players in next week’s Midsummer Classic at Dodger Stadium. It is the first time since 2011 that the Yankees have six or more All-Stars as they will be represented by starters Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton as well as subs Nestor Cortes, Clay Holmes, Gerrit Cole and Jose Trevino. 

PIRATES SMASH BREW CREW

 

The Pirates may be in last place, but they looked like a contender yesterday as the big bats strutted their stuff against the Brewers. They smashed four home runs against the NL Central leaders and won consecutive games in Milwaukee for the first time since September 2018 and won a series there for just the second time since the 2019 season. Ke’Bryan Hayes hit his fourth bomb of the year and then was followed by Michael Chavis (10), Oneil Cruz (4), and Dan Vogelbach (12). 

FLORES HAS A DAY 

 

The Giants Wilmer Flores had the seventh double bomb game of his career as he finished yesterday’s 12-0 win over the Padres going 4-for-6 with 4 RBIs. Flores has been an important part of the Giants lineup as he plays all over the field- first base, second base, third base as well as DH; making him rosterable in many season-long formats. 

INJURY NEWS

Yordan Alvarez HURTING

 

Astros star Yordan Alvarez is dealing with hand soreness and was placed on the 10-day Injured List. He will get extra time off with the All-Star break coming up and should be ready to return for the Astros series against Yankees. Alvarez is amid an MLP-like season with a .306//.405/.653 slash with an elite 1.058 OPS and 26 HR/60 RBI. 

MORE RAYS HEADED TO INJURED LIST

 

With star shortstop Wander Franco already headed to the IL, the Rays announced yesterday that outfielder Kevin Kiermaier (left hip) and pitcher Jeffrey Springs (lower leg) would be following along. It was bad enough to lose a starting outfielder but losing Springs will be a blow to the Rays rotation. He is in the middle of a breakout season with a 2.53 ERA/1.05 WHIP and 70 strikeouts over 64 innings.

WHIT INJURY COULD MEAN GARCIA DEBUT

 

Royals second baseman Whit Merrifield left yesterday’s game against the Guardians with a sore toe. X-rays were negative but he will be undergoing an MRI. There are reports that the Royals are promoting shortstop Maikel Garcia from Double-A and that timing could be related to the Merrifield injury. A corresponding move will need to be made to fit Garcia into the active roster (Whit to the IL?) unless he is joining Kansas City as the extra 27th man for today’s doubleheader against the Tigers. Garcia, the cousin of longtime former Royal Alcides Escobar, is the 15th best prospect in the Royals farm system per Baseball America. This is his first season at Double-A but he is sashing a solid .283/.362/.395.

 

MONDAY’S PRIZE PICKS BEST BETS

Brayan Bello OVER 4.5 Strikeouts

 

Brayan Bello gets a chance to redeem himself after a poor MLB debut against this same Rays team. He allowed four runs over four innings with two strikeouts in that game but should fare better today. This is a strikeout pitcher that racked up 114 punch outs in 85 Triple-A innings and tonight will be facing a Rays lineup that strike out 24.7% of the time against right-handed pitching.

Padres/Rockies OVER 0.5 1st Inning Runs

 

Coors Field is back on the slate and the Rockies are running out right-handed José Ureña. This is a pitcher with a 5.31xFIP that gives up 48% hard contact and only strikes out 13% of his batters dating back to the start of 2021. He is even worse this season alone with a 8.9% strikeout rate, 12.9% walk rate and 6.18xERA. The Padres will be starting left-hander Sean Manaea, not a bad pitcher, but this is Coors and the Rockies hit much better at home and have been good against LHP this season. Take the Under here and thank me later. 

 

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