Fantasy Baseball Today: Braxton Garrett delivers, Aaron Judge goes superhuman and more from the weekend

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Happy Monday, everyone! It was a wild weekend in baseball specifically if you're a fan of the Yankees and shoo-in MVP Aaron Judge. Now, while I reference him as a shoo-in, I think a fair case can actually be made that Shohei Ohtani has been more valuable -- who else gives you elite pitching and close to that (this year at least) with the bat? But it's only fair to acknowledge the mastery that has been Judge with the bat this season and that continued over the weekend. Judge ripped off four homers with 11 RBI, six runs and a stolen base over his past five games. That includes a stretch where he went 11 for 20 at the dish. I may be the biggest Ohtani defender you'll find, but even I can't make any kind of compelling case to keep the AL MVP away from Judge. It's truly special watching him do this in a contract season.

Below, we'll break down all of the other key takeaways from the weekend's action. But first, make sure you're all caught up with everything going down over at CBSSports.com/Fantasy. Scott White broke down his 10 favorite sleeper hitters for Week 17 and you can find that here. You can also find Scott's favorite sleeper pitchers for this coming week here. If you need a final tiebreaker on a lineup decision for this week go with a two-start pitcher, Scott has you covered with two-start pitcher rankings here.

Scoop Garrett off your waiver wire now

Braxton Garrett is quietly putting together a strong surge that continued this weekend when he went six innings allowing just two hits, one walk and one earned run against the Pirates. The Marlins never run out of arms from their farm system and Garrett has now racked up 18 strikeouts (he had seven in this last outing vs. the Pirates) while allowing just four hits over his past two starts. That's pretty awesome. Garrett is finding a way to succeed by utilizing his slider more this year and he has now brought his ERA down to 3.42 with a respectable 1.14 WHIP and 47 strikeouts over 47 1/3 innings. Garrett is 37% rostered and draws the Reds this week.

Other waiver-wire pitchers to consider

Reid Detmers is not the sexiest of names, but he has made it three strong starts in a row since returning to the Angels by throwing five shutout innings with six strikeouts (allowing just five combined hits and walks Sunday). His slider was up and it's that hard slider (up 2.3 mph) that has made the difference. Detmers has allowed just two earned over his three starts since returning and he has also racked up 19 strikeouts in 17 innings. He is 41% rostered.
Cole Irvin continues to put up strong box-score lines despite the skepticism in the Fantasy community. His latest outing saw him go seven innings deep allowing just one earned run with eight strikeouts. Irvin now boasts a 3.08 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and he's just 54% rostered going into a tough week against the Astros. Well, tough for most but maybe not for Irvin, who has allowed just four total earned runs in three starts vs. Houston this season.
Brady Singer racked up a career-high 12 strikeouts against the Rays this weekend, and that was surely enough to grab our attention. Singer limited the Rays to just one earned through six and his slider is now working as a whiff pitch with a career-high 19% swinging strike rate. Singer is 34% rostered.

Prospect call ups and other weekend standouts

Nick Pratto was recalled by the Royals and started all three games this weekend. He collected three hits on the weekend and totaled 17 homers with eight stolen bases (and an .858 OPS) this season in the minors. He is 15% rostered.
The Marlins called up outfielder JJ Bleday on Saturday and he was immediately batting fifth on Sunday. He collected two hits and stole a base. He is 14% rostered but batted .228 in the minors prior to his call up.
Pete Alonso powered the Mets through on Sunday night with a three-run homer and one more RBI for good measure in a big-time win over the Padres.
Adolis Garcia continues to provide power and speed, collecting another homer and a steal on Sunday. He's now up to 14 homers on the season. The batting average and on-base percentage could still use some work.
Keibert Ruiz racked up three hits and an RBI on Sunday. Ruiz could surprise as a must-start catcher in the second half.
Paul Goldschmidt continues his renaissance season with another power of homers on Sunday, Nos. 23 and 24. He now has five homers over his past four games but he'll have to miss the two-game road trip in Toronto over his vaccination status.
We haven't heard much from Nasty Nestor lately, but despite the lack of buzz, he continues to get the job done. He pitched a six-inning shutout on Sunday with seven strikeouts to lower his ERA to 2.48, with eight wins on the season.
Brandon Woodruff has eight strikeouts or more in four of his last five starts since coming off the IL -- he racked up eight in six innings against the Rockies this weekend.
Julio Urias may have started the season slow, but he's more than made up for it since. After a shutout six innings against the Giants this weekend, he drops his totals to a cool 2.72 ERA with a 1.00 WHIP.

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:

Mike Trout, on the IL with left rib inflammation, received a cortisone shot recently but will not be ready to return on Monday. We're not entirely sure when he'll be back.
Fernando Tatis Jr. has been hitting in the cage at 95-100%. He said he's feeling pretty good and hasn't suffered any setbacks.
Jacob deGrom will require at least one more rehab start prior to rejoining the Mets rotation. He tossed 60 pitches in a simulated game Thursday after dealing with some mild shoulder soreness.
Jazz Chisholm had a CT scan revealed a stress fracture in his back and was moved to the 60-day IL.
Yordan Alvarez sat Sunday due to lingering soreness in his hand.
Jean Segura is nearing a rehab assignment. He's been out since May after fracturing his right index finger. He's 57% rostered.
Justin Turner could require a trip to the IL due to abdominal tightness. We've said this before but this could be the move that ignites a Miguel Vargas promotion.

Lance McCullers made his first rehab start Friday, going two innings and getting his pitch count up to 40. He's 74% rostered.
Dustin May made his first rehab outing Friday as well, allowing one run with three strikeouts over two innings. He's 47% rostered.
Freddy Peralta began his rehab assignment Sunday. He's been on the IL since May 22.
Aaron Ashby signed a five-year contract with the Brewers that includes club options for 2028 and 2029. He's down to 56% rostered and has struggled recently.
Andrew Heaney is expected to return Wednesday against the Nationals. He's been on the IL with a shoulder strain and is 73% rostered.
The Mets made a few lower-level trades with the Pirates, acquiring DH Daniel Vogelbach and catcher Michael Perez.
Adam Duvall will miss the rest of the season with a torn tendon in his left wrist.
CJ Abrams was scratched Saturday with biceps soreness.
Luis Patiño was optioned back to Triple-A after a subpar outing Saturday.
Mike Soroka is unlikely to return until September as he rehabs from Achilles tendon tears.
Jonathan Villar was designated for assignment by the Angels.
Luis Robert went on the IL with lightheadedness
Max Meyer went on the IL with a sprained right elbow. He dealt with an arm injury earlier this season, too.
Steven Matz went on the IL with a torn MCL.
Evan Longoria went on the IL with a hamstring strain.
Edward Olivares went on the IL with a left quad strain.
Michael King suffered a fractured right elbow.
Jorge Soler went on the IL with lower-back spasms.
Jace Peterson went on the IL with a left elbow sprain.
Brian Anderson with a sprained left shoulder.
Michael Pineda went on the IL with a right triceps strain.