Tuesday’s Major League Baseball action was nothing short of noteworthy, and full of fantasy baseball news and headlines that are worth discussing. The Boston Red Sox and fantasy baseball lineups alike welcomed Chris Sale back to the mound and, good news, there were no locker room or clubhouse items damaged during game hours! The Los Angeles Angels will be holding their breath as they await more information on the severity of Mike Trout’s injury last night. On that note, Boston might be deploying MLB top prospect Jeter Downs at second base for the next couple of days as Trevor Story hits the MLB injury report. Meanwhile, fantasy baseball waiver wire hero Thairo Estrada hit not one, but two home runs for the San Francisco Giants in yesterday’s win. Plus, Texas Rangers outfielder Leody Taveras is quickly rising up the fantasy baseball rankings recently. Also, I don’t want to say it’s a coincidence, but have you seen Freddie Freeman’s numbers since being snubbed from the 2022 MLB All-Star Game? We’ll talk about that and more as we recap yesterday’s biggest MLB news and notes. Then, we’ll take a quick look at Wednesday's action with my favorite MLB player props and MLB best bets for the day! Be sure to keep an eye on the latest MLB weather report, the MLB daily projections, and the confirmed MLB lineups when placing MLB player prop bets or building MLB DFS lineups today. Now, let's take a look at the top fantasy baseball headlines to know!

 

 

Fantasy Baseball MLB News From Tuesday

Mike Trout Leaves Early With Injury

 

 

Back spasms were the culprit for Trout leaving Tuesday’s game early. The Angels took no chances and pulled him out in the fifth inning. Manager Phil Nevin said last night that early testing showed no structural damage and Trout is considered day-to-day. With the MLB All-Star break right around the corner, don’t be surprised if the Angels play it safe with their superstar centerfielder. More information about his status and availability should be made available in the near future, but keep an eye on tonight's MLB starting lineups to see if Trout is in there. 

 

Chris Sale Makes 2022 Debut

 

 

Sale was solid over five shutout innings of work in his 2022 debut last night. The Boston lefty blanked the Rays while allowing just three hits and one walk and notching five strikeouts. His velocity looked good and we should expect more swing-and-miss stuff as he shakes off the rust. Sale had just four whiffs on 28 swings in yesterday’s start, but to cut him some slack, it was his first MLB outing of the 2022 season. Chris Sale can be deployed as an SP2 the rest of the way in fantasy baseball lineups and the upside will grow as he continues to build up his pitch count.

 

Baltimore Orioles Win Again! 

 

 

Nine in a row! NINE! The Baltimore Orioles! This win streak marks the first time the Orioles have won this many games in a row since 1999! During the streak, the team is hitting .257 with a .737 OPS and the pitching staff has a 3.14 ERA. Baltimore is now up to an even .500 record-wise and despite being 17.5 games out of the division lead, they are only 3.5 games out of second place in the division. Plus, every team in the American League East has at least a .500 record.

 

David Peterson Extends Streak to Five

 

 

Of what streak is this you speak? Well, the New York southpaw now has at least seven strikeouts in five straight starts. Sure, he’s benefitted by facing some strikeout-prone teams like Miami, Atlanta, Texas, and Cincinnati during this stretch – but we can’t hold that against him. During this run, he’s upped the usage on his slider and he’s missing more bats by getting more swings out of the zone.
 

There could be some regression, but for now, continue to roll with Peterson in fantasy baseball lineups. Not only have the strikeouts been there lately, but he’s also rocking a 2-1 record with a 3.29 ERA and 52.5% ground ball rate over his past five outings.

 

José Berríos Racks Up 13 Strikeouts

 

 

Berrios hasn’t been great this year, but he’s now posted 22 strikeouts over his last 17 innings of work. In the month of July, the Blue Jays righty is sporting a 3.18 ERA, 2.76 FIP, and 2.72 xFIP. Berrios is also now a perfect 5-0 at home this year with a 3.40 ERA and 26.6 percent strikeout rate. His 13 strikeouts yesterday tied a season-high as his curveball and changeup both racked up a whiff rate north of 50 percent. 

 

Thairo Estrada Homers Twice

 

 

Estrada’s two home runs and three RBI now give him nine homers and 36 RBI for the season! He also now has multi-hit efforts with at least one home run in two of his last three games. Plus, we all know the speed is there as he is 12-for-14 on stolen base attempts so far this season. Estrada has been excellent for fantasy baseball managers. He is one of just 22 players with at least 12 stolen bases, and one of just 11 who also has at least nine home runs.

 

Trevor Story Injury Forces Early Exit

 

 

After an awkward swing where he was hit on the hand by the pitch, Story was removed from yesterday's game with what was diagnosed as a right-hand contusion. The Red Sox shortstop should be considered day-to-day at the moment and may be out of fantasy baseball lineups for part of this week. Meanwhile, Jeter Downs could see some additional at-bats while Story is out of the Boston lineup.

 

Back to the Back Issues for Christian Yelich

 

 

Yelich was scratched from Tuesday’s lineup with back tightness. This is something to monitor moving forward, especially considering that Milwaukee had an off day on Monday and Yelich only pinch hit on Sunday. It’s being called back “tightness” at the moment, but it could be a more serious issue. Stay tuned to the latest MLB injury news for updates on Yelich's status for tonight and this week in your fantasy baseball lineups.

 

 

Other Notable Performances

  • Freddie Freeman notched his second consecutive four-hit game, and he's hit a home run in both of these games as well. For what it’s worth, since the All-Star rosters were announced and the Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman wasn’t selected, he’s tallied eight hits in 10 at-bats with two home runs, two doubles, four RBI, and three runs scored. 
  • Leody Taveras now has three straight multi-hit games and he’s stolen a base in back-to-back games. In the month of July, the Texas Rangers outfielder is hitting .379 with a 190 wRC+ to go along with one home run, seven RBI, six runs scored, and two stolen bases. Grab him off the waiver wire now!
  • Austin Slater and Yermín Mercedes both had three hits for the San Francisco Giants yesterday in their 13-0 shellacking of the Diamondbacks. Mercedes hit his first home run of the year and tallied four RBI in the win, while Slater doubled and scored three times atop the Giants lineup.
     

Wednesday’s MLB Best Bets

 

 

Chris Bassitt OVER 5.5 Strikeouts (-120 DraftKings Sportsbook)

Atlanta strikes out a ton, we all know that. The Braves have the 14th-highest strikeout rate over the last two weeks and they have the third-highest K rate in all of baseball against righties this season. Bassitt has surpassed this mark in five of his last seven starts and in his lone outing against the Braves this year, he accumulated eight strikeouts over seven innings of work. Bassitt has a 9.63 K/9 on the road this year and if we look at only his road starts, he has at least six strikeouts in over half of them. Keep an eye on the weather, but I like the over.

 

 

 

Chicago White Sox @ Cleveland Guardians OVER 8 Runs (-120 BetMGM)

Lucas Giolito vs. Aaron Civale. Eight runs? That’s it? Civale has a 4.85 ERA at home and a 7.07 SIERA overall this season. Plus, righties have decimated him. Well, unluckily for the Cleveland starter, the best hitters in the Chicago lineup are all right-handed. On the other hand, Giolito has a 5.05 ERA on the season and he’s allowed four or more runs in six of his last eight starts. In the month of July, the Guardians and White Sox rank ninth and 10th in batting average, respectively. Hammer the over.

 

 

 

Joe Musgrove OVER 4.5 Strikeouts (-175 DraftKings Sportsbook)

I understand the game is at Coors Field, but 4.5 strikeouts for Musgrove is too low. He’s surpassed this line in six of his last seven starts and in all but three of his 15 starts this season. The Padres starter racked up eight strikeouts against the Rockies back on June 10th and when pitching away from his home park this season, he has a 9.17 K/9 and 26.2-percent strikeout rate – both of which are better than his marks at home. The Rockies haven’t struck out a ton of late, but they have a 21.4-percent strikeout mark against right-handers this year. This 4.5 K prop seems off, even if the game is at Coors.

 

 

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