Happy Friday, everyone! The biggest news of the night on Thursday came off the diamond when we finally started to see our second domino fall prior to the coming trade deadline. Wednesday, the Yankees made a move to improve their outfield by acquiring Andrew Benintendi via trade. On Thursday, the other team in New York with one of the four best records in baseball acquired an outfielder of their own. The Mets traded for Reds outfielder Tyler Naquin and middle reliever Phillip Diehl in exchange for prospects Jose Acuna and Hector Rodriguez.
Naquin accrued a .749 OPS with the Reds in 56 games but also had two stretches during the 2021 season where he went on an absolute tear. With the Mets, Naquin is likely to be a platoon option over the final few months of the season and should provide them with another option against right-handed pitchers and more depth. I wouldn't rush to scoop him off the waiver wire unless an injury hits the Mets outfield.
Below, we'll break down some key takeaways from Thursday's action. But first, make sure you're all caught up with everything going down at CBSSports.com/Fantasy. Scott White broke down several players you should look to target and acquire now off your waiver wires in his latest waiver wire column that you can find here. Check back shortly on the site and you'll find Scott's two-start pitcher rankings, sleeper hitters and sleeper pitchers for next week's action.
Wood flirts with a no-no
It has been an up-and-down season for Alex Wood in his first year with the magic-making Giants, but on Thursday, the magic was certainly there. Wood took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Cubs. He finished the outing with 6 2/3 innings of two-run ball after allowing two hits and three walks. He struck out just three. The biggest difference for Wood was his increased slider usage in this one -- throwing the offering 45% of his pitches. Wood lowers his ERA to 4.11, and if he's next in line for the magical revival that we've seen in the past for pitchers in the San Francisco organization, you may still be able to scoop him up for your stretch run -- he's 77% rostered in CBS leagues.
Super sleeper Singer?
Brady Singer might just be the super secret sleeper pitcher to scoop up for your stretch run. Singer looked excellent against a tough Yankees lineup on Thursday and racked up 10 strikeouts through seven shutout innings. Singer allowed just one hit, one walk and induced 14 swinging strikes.
This now marks consecutive outings for Singer where he racked up double-digit strikeouts. His fastball velocity was up 1.3 mph in this outing and the slider was also up 1.8 mph. He has a career-high 19% swinging strike rate with his slider and he has now lowered his ERA to 3.51 ERA. Oh, and he also has a career-best 2.2 BB/9 ratio. Singer is just 45% rostered and due for two starts next week.
The AL MVP battle rages on
It has been an incredibly fun race between Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge for AL MVP, and both players were at their best on Thursday night.
Judge just went ahead and grabbed himself a sock and a shoe on Thursday, but more importantly he hit his 39th home run of the season, grabbed his 10th stolen base and delivered his third walk-off homer of the year! He now has an absurd 162-game pace that looks like this: 65 homers, 136 runs, 138 RBI and 16 bags.
Ohtani didn't exactly lose any ground despite Judge's excellence. Ohtani extended his double-digit strikeout streak to six straight starts after racking up 11 strikeouts against the Rangers. He threw six innings of two-run ball and didn't walk a batter while inducing 21 swinging misses. Sheesh! His slider velocity was up 2.1 mph, the splitter was up 1.7 mph and he relied on the slider a season-high 51% in this one. Ohtani has now lowered his ERA to 2.81 with a 1.02 WHIP and a whopping 145 strikeouts over 99 1/3 innings.
Other quick hitters from Thursday
- Matt Chapman cracked a double dong on Thursday. Since the start of June (45 games), these are his numbers: .290, 12 HR, 35 runs, 34 RBI, 93.2 mph average exit velocity, 16% barrel rate (And a 150-game pace of: 40 HR, 116 runs, 113 RBI).
- The Dodgers scored 13 runs at Coors Field. Trea Turner grabbed his 18th steal, three hits, three runs and three RBI.
- Per Jon Heyman, the Angels are listening to offers for Shohei Ohtani!
Nick Castellanos finally got rolling with three hits, an RBI and a run.
Fantasy news, injuries and notes
For a complete recap of every injury, update and more make sure you're locked into the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast where Frank, Scott and Chris dive deep into every player note. For the CliffsNotes version, we'll recap the biggest news and notes you need to know right here:
- The biggest and very unfortunate news from Thursday was that Marlins pitching prospect Max Meyer will require Tommy John surgery, which means he'll likely miss all of next season as well.
- Luis Robert reported to Triple-A Thursday to begin a rehab assignment.
- Rafael Devers, on the IL with a hamstring injury, is on pace to return when first eligible Tuesday.
- George Springer left Thursday's game and is being evaluated for elbow discomfort.
- Trevor Story is still experiencing discomfort in his right hand and remains without a timetable.
- Bobby Witt Jr. has missed four straight due to a hamstring injury.
- Bryan Reynolds was placed on the paternity list Thursday and will miss a few days.
- Joe Barlow will begin a rehab assignment over the weekend and could be back soon.
- Dustin May make another rehab start Thursday and will require at least one more. He threw 46 pitches, striking out six over three scoreless innings. May could be ready to go by mid August. He's 65% rostered. Who gets the boot from the Dodgers rotation?
- Mariners reliever Diego Castillo was placed on the IL with right shoulder inflammation. Matt Brash was recalled.
- Tyler Wells was placed on the IL with left side discomfort. Think we could see top prospect DL Hall as a result?
- Andrew Benintendi was batting leadoff for the Yankees in his debut, though DJ LeMahieu was out of the lineup.
- Paul DeJong will be on the taxi squad and could rejoin the Cardinals active roster this weekend against the Nationals. He was batting .249 with 17 HR in 51 games in the minors.