We've reached the final days of Week 12 of the fantasy baseball season. Today's the day you start thinking about your fantasy baseball waiver wire claims for the upcoming week, check over the MLB injury reports to see what the latest injuries are, and find out if any more MLB prospects will be getting the call.  Be on the lookout for the updated fantasy baseball player rankings for July. Before we close out the week however let's take a look at some of the top performances from Friday and highlight my favorite MLB Best Bets and player props for Saturday's games!

Cristian Javier Continues to Dominate 

Javier took the mound on Friday a week after throwing a combined no-hitter against the New York Yankees in which he tossed seven innings of no-hit baseball while striking out 13. As dominant as Javier was in that last start he looked just as good against the Angles on Friday night allowed just one hit, a home run, over seven innings while striking out 14! Over Javier's last two starts he has thrown 14 innings while allowing just one hit while striking out 28. We know he has always had the stuff to dominate but walks and high pitch counts have tended to limit his upside. If he has now found the control that has eluded him then watch out as this guy is as good as there is right now in the league.

Tony Gonsolin Shuts Down the Padres

Gonsolin improved to 10-0 on Friday night as he shut down the Padres, throwing 7.2 innings of one-run baseball while striking out a season-high eight batters. Gonsolin hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in any start since his second appearance of the season all the way back in April. Even more encouraging is the fact that Gonsolin was allowed to pitch into the eighth inning which is the deepest he has gone in a game this season which was previously just 6.1 innings pitched against the Angels back in mid-June.

Nolan Arenado Hits For The Cycle

The Cardinals' third basemen is having a strong start to the 2022 season, hitting .288 with 15 home runs and 52 RBI. On Friday he put an exclamation point on the first half of his season by going 4-for-4 on his way to achieving his second career cycle. The Cardinal's offense in general has been impressive this season led by the duo of Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado in the middle of the lineup.

Vinnie Pasquantino Hits First Career Home Run

One of the top prospects in the Royals system got the call-up this past week and on Friday he hit his first career hit which just so happened to also be his first career home run. Pasquantino had 18 home runs over 69 games at Triple-A this season. Pasquantino isn't just all pop however as he hit .294 at the minor league level with a near 1-to-1 BB to K ratio. 

Saturday MLB Best Bets

Aaron Ashby Over 5.5 Strikeouts

I know the Pirates have been hitting the ball better lately and Ashby has certainly had his struggles but over the past month they have the highest strikeout rate against southpaws at 29.2%. Ashby has a 27% strikeout rate and a K/9 nearing 11.0 on the season. This number feels far too low given the matchup.

Tyler Mahle Over 6.5 Strikeouts

This is definitely a boom or bust play here with Mahle because he is facing a hot Braves lineup in one of the league's best hitters parks. That said, Atlanta still is among the league leaders in strikeouts and Mahle himself has a strikeout rate of 26% and a K/9 of 10.0. Mahle has gone over this total in four of his last six starts and in his lone appearance against the Braves this season he had seven strikeouts in just five innings of work.

George Kirby Over 4.5 Strikeouts

We were definitely let down the other night by Logan Gilbert in this same matchup but I'm going to run it back here today with Kirby who has faced the A's twice already this season and finished with strikeout totals of six and nine. Kirby has gone over the 4.5 strikeout total in two of his last three outings.

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