Major League Baseball

Covered by Will Thompson

‼️Dietrich Enns, LHP DET (MLB)

5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

Enns has a fascinating story, making his season debut yesterday after a strong start with Triple-A Toledo, just his second career start. The 34-year-old lefty has made two short big league appearances in the past, with a brief two game stint with the Twins in 2017 and making nine appearances with the Rays in 2021. Since he was in the big leagues in 2021, Enns has made stops as a starter in Japan and Korea over the last three seasons. The best part is he dominated in this outing very simply, using mostly a low 90s fastball and splitter to keep the A’s off-balance and get outs. Enns got this opportunity as the Tigers spot starter over Keider Montero and after this start he probably gets another shot. Regardless, an awesome story. 

‼️Kevin Gausman, RHP TOR (MLB)

8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K

Man did Kevin Gausman need a start like this or what? The righty has vastly underperformed his peripherals this season so far though so a start like this was inevitable at some point, especially against an ice-cold Guardians lineup. He seemed to correct some recent control problems in this outing and if that improvement sustains, I think he’s going to go on a run of good starts. Good buy-low opportunity if anyone in your league is looking to move. 

🚑Mitch Garver, C SEA (MLB)

1-for-2, 2B, K

Garver left this game with an injury after taking a foul ball off the mask. More notably, the Mariners had top prospect Harry Ford join the team’s taxi squad and will reportedly be called up if Garver needs to go on the 7-day concussion IL. Ford has had a terrific year with Triple-A Tacoma and is probably better than Garver anyway at this point, but we’ll see if he gets the chance. 

Brooks Lee, 3B MIN (MLB)

1-for-4, HR, R, RBI, BB, K

As a Brooks Lee dynasty owner myself, thank goodness he’s finally gotten hot at the plate. He’s had an awesome month of June, hitting .358/.388/.543 with 4 HR in 22 games. The tools are definitely there for the 24-year-old, but the consistency hasn’t been this year and when you walk as little and chase as much as he does, there are going to be peaks and valleys. He has outplayed his expected numbers this season, but I’ll remain optimistic and hope this excellent June is a sign of things to come. 

‼️Shane Baz, RHP TB (MLB)

8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K

If Shane Baz can throw strikes like this, the league better watch out. Baz turned in the best start of his career, dominating the Royals over eight shutout innings, while striking out nine and walking just one. His pitch usage was a lot different this time out, leading with his cutter, a pitch he’s only thrown 6.3% of the time prior to this outing. Whether this was a gameplan against the Royals thing or an effort to throw more strikes, it worked. It will be interesting to see if Baz sticks with similar usage next time out. By the way, the Rays are a half game behind the Yankees for the AL East lead. They are inevitable. 

‼️Cristopher Sanchez, LHP PHI (MLB)

6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K

I decided to take in a nice afternoon game in-person and thank goodness I did because I was treated to quite the pitcher’s duel. Much like the rest of this series, the Phillies starter was terrific but his offense did nothing to support him. Sanchez dominated, generating 17 whiffs and his offspeed pitches were untouchable, with the slider and changeup having a 64% and 53% whiff rate respectively. The lefty is having his best big league season with the highest K rate of his career. 

‼️Hunter Brown, RHP HOU (MLB)

7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K

Hunter Brown has turned into an absolute monster this year for the Astros, who have developed another ace. He leads all of baseball with a 1.74 ERA and is going to challenge for the AL Cy Young this season alongside Tarik Skubal, Garrett Crochet, and Max Fried. The Astros are red-hot and might be cruising to another AL West title and just imagine how good this starting rotation is going to be once they get healthy. If you would have told me that Houston would be 48-33 and leading the division by 6.5 games and Yordan Alvarez missed most of that stretch, I would have thought you were insane. 

Bryan Abreu, RHP HOU (MLB)

1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, SV

Regular closer Josh Hader was unavailable after notching saves two nights in a row, but Bryan Abreu was utterly dominant filling in for him, punching out all four batters he faced to earn his first save of the season. Abreu has had a dominant season once again and unfortunately for fantasy purposes, he would be the closer on most teams in baseball, just not in Houston. 

Cam Smith, RF HOU (MLB)

2-for-3, RBI, K

For a guy who only played 32 minor league games prior to his big league debut, Cam Smith is having a pretty awesome rookie season. He has now hit safely in 15 of his last 17 games and is hitting .333/.380/.500 with two home runs in that span. Smith has also made a seamless transition to RF this season, posting 8 DRS already out there. Funny timing because Kyle Tucker makes his return to Houston this weekend, but the Astros did an incredible job in that trade. 

Michael Busch, 1B CHC (MLB)

2-for-4, HR, 2 R, RBI, K

I can promise you all one thing, any time Michael Busch hits a homer at Busch Stadium, he will be on the Daily Sheet if it’s one of my days. That’s what he did yesterday to help the Cubs win the series after a brutal loss in the series opener. Busch continues his breakout season and has made every improvement the Cubs could have possibly asked for. He’s hitting the ball harder, making more contact, chasing less, and striking out less from a season ago. 

‼️Shota Imanaga, LHP CHC (MLB)

5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Shota was excellent in his return from the IL after missing about seven weeks with a hamstring injury. The Cubs have been able to hold down the fort without him in the starting rotation, but will definitely be in the starting pitching market at the trade deadline. After a rough loss on Tuesday to open the series, the Cubs pitching staff shut out the Cardinals over the last two nights to split a big series for them.  

‼️Clayton Kershaw, LHP LAD (MLB)

6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, HR allowed

I can’t believe I’m saying this in the year 2025, but where the heck would the Dodgers be without Clayton Kershaw? In a starting rotation that’s been absolutely decimated by injuries, the 37-year-old has been a stabilizing force to help keep their pitching afloat. The lefty now has a 3.03 ERA through his first eight starts, but I’d expect that to go up pretty soon. He’s not missing any bats and is allowing a 50.9% hard-hit rate against him. Even if he’s just a bridge until the Dodgers get their main starters back though, that’s extremely valuable to the Dodgers. 

Agustin Ramirez, DH MIA (MLB)

3-for-5, HR, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI, K

I watched Ramirez a lot in Somerset while he was with the Yankees organization and I wasn’t very high on him. Yes he could hit for power, but I didn’t like the swing or approach. Well, I was wrong. Ramirez might not have the best approach but he has a ton of power and has only struck out at a 17% clip in the big leagues this season, down from around 23% in his career in Triple-A. You’re going to have to live with subpar defense, but the power is for real. 

Kyle Stowers, LF MIA (MLB)

1-for-3, HR, R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K

This line basically describes Kyle Stowers, who will strike out a lot but hits ropes when he makes contact. I don’t think he’s a .275 hitter over a full season realistically, but an 18.2% barrel rate will absolutely play. The Marlins swept the Giants in San Francisco and while they won’t be good this year, Peter Bendix has done a real nice job cleaning up the mess he inherited. 

Rafael Devers, DH SF (MLB)

3-for-4, HR, 2B, R, BB, K

Wow what a terrific hitter. The Red Sox, who have NOT waved the white flag on the season according to Craig Breslow, could really use a guy like this in their lineup because they’ve struggled mightily since the trade. Who could have seen that coming anyway? 

🚑Griffin Canning, RHP NYM (MLB)

2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

My heart breaks for Griffin Canning, who was in the midst of a breakout season that looks like it’s going to get cut short. Canning was off to a great start in this outing, but suffered a non-contact lower leg injury when just trying to push off his right foot on a routing grounder to short. I’m no doctor, but the replay showed a pop in the calf area, which unfortunately means the achilles. Just gut wrenching for Canning and the Mets have gone from potentially dealing depth starting pitchers because they didn’t have room for all of them to potentially being in the starting pitching market thanks to their recent rash of injuries. 

Triple-A

Covered by Rhys White

Nacho Alvarez Jr., 3B ATL (Triple-A)

2-for-4, 2B, R, RBI

What do you call an Alvarez that isn’t yours? Nacho Alvarez. I will be here all week, I actually won't. I am currently on vacation as I type this, so don’t tell my girlfriend. Alvarez doesn't have a lot of power in his profile, but he can play a few different spots, which will help his fantasy versatility; he could play short, third, and second base. The upside isn’t very high, but the floor is high. I don’t see how he isn’t a big-league contributor.

Nathan Church, CF STL (Triple-A)

1-for-4, 2B, R 

Take me to Church. Nathan Church might be the next interesting prospect who gets the Cardinals' devil magic touched upon him. There are enough plate skills here to be at the very least an interesting fourth outfielder. I don’t think he can break into the Cardinals' outfield mix as a consistent starter because there are some serious chase issues here.

Kristian Campbell, 1B BOS (Triple-A)

1-for-2, 2 R, BB

Well, he is a first-baseman now. This is weird. But the Red Sox need a first-baseman, so why not jerk around one of your top prospects and have him play a ton of different positions and not allow him to develop any sort of confidence and feel somewhere? I know, crazy, right? Campbell will be fine; a rough showing in your first taste of big-league baseball isn’t out of the norm.

Will Wagner, 3B TOR (Triple-A)

2-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB

I still like Will Wagner, I just want that to be known. I think he can really help out the back half of this Blue Jays lineup. He is a better option in deeper OBP leagues, which I say once a year: why are you playing in average leagues? There is plenty of power here and some unusable speed if he were ever to get a full season of playing time.

💣💣Colson Montgomery, SS CWS (Triple-A)

3-for-4, 2 HR, 4 R, 3 RBI, BB

A double-down of epic proportions. Colson Montgomery looks to have turned a corner lately. I love to see him come back from the prospect shadow realm.

Hao-Yu Lee, 2B DET (Triple-A)

2-for-5, 2B, R, 2 RBI 

Lee might be best used by the Tigers as a trade piece to a second-division team, as I don’t know what the upside is with him. Maybe 15-18 homers, and from second base, that is less than you would want in a fantasy sense. I also think he might get lost in the platoon sauce for the Tigers, as they love to platoon. They would platoon my fandom if they could.

Chase Petty, RHP  (Triple-A)

4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R (2 ER), BB, 4 K, HR Allowed

An interesting little note is that Chase Petty is now experimenting with both a slider and a sweeper. The sweeper is utilized more against right-handed hitters. He uses a fastball, slider, and changeup against lefties, and a fastball, slider, and sweeper against righties. Petty is going to be one heck of a back-end starter the way this Reds rotation is going; now let's just hope the offense starts to pick up. His stuff doesn't get the whiffs you would want, but he is more of a weak-contact artist at this point, and that plays in Great American Ball Park.

💣💣Nick Flint, LF LAA (Triple-A)

3-for-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 6 RBI

We are legally obligated to mention double-dongs. 

Double-A

Covered by Matt Thompson

‼️Joander Suarez, RHP NYM (Double-A)

6 IP, 2 H, ER, 0 BB, 8 K

This was Suarez’s longest outing of the season and he tied his career high in strikeouts coming off of his worst start of his career. Suarez sits in the low 90s with a four-pitch mix and while he has starter traits he seems better suited for a bullpen where he can add a few ticks and go max effort.