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USATSI

It's the middle of the week and you have a pretty good idea of where your team stacks up if you're in weekly leagues right now. And if you were lucky enough to get one of the first few draft slots and selected Vlad Guerrero Jr., well then you probably loved it on Tuesday night when he called his own walk-off RBI single. That was the most fun moment of the night, but for Braves fans it was topped by Matt Olson hitting two home runs, including a go-ahead homer. We also got some vintage Patrick Corbin out of nowhere like it was 2018-2019 again.

We'll dive into all of the top action from Tuesday, but first make sure you're all caught up with everything going on from the Fantasy Baseball Today team over at CBSSports.com/Fantasy/Baseball. Scott White unpacked a few of the most pressing closer situations in his Bullpen Report by breaking down whether Clay Holmes will keep the gig, what Jhoan Duran's path to saves looks like and more. You can find that here. Scott also broke down his concern level on several struggling starting pitchers like MacKenzie Gore and Jose Berrios. You can find that here. Chris Towers provided a few key names to monitor like Juan Yepez and Luis Garcia in his waiver wire column you can find here.

And of course, as always, you can follow to make sure you get the latest episodes of Fantasy Baseball Today right when they drop on Apple and Spotify

Woodruff buy-high opportunity

It hasn't been a banner year for Brewers SP Brandon Woodruff due in large part to injuries, but there was a lot to like about his dominant performance on Tuesday and this might be the last window you'll have to send out buy-high trade offers for a pitcher who has SP1 upside over the rest of the season. On Tuesday, Woodruff limited the Rays to one run over five innings and he struck out 10 batters. He included 17 swinging strikes on just 76 pitches and his velocity was up nearly 2 mph. It's that latter number that really stands out to me. If Woodruff can keep his velocity up and limit hard contact (he only allowed one hard hit ball on Tuesday), he has easy SP1 (Top-12) upside over the rest of the season.

Corbin throwback

In multiple past editions of this newsletter, I advised you to stack your DFS lineups and take the alternate run lines of the offenses facing Nationals SP Patrick Corbin this year. That advice has mostly cashed in. Except for this Tuesday. Corbin tapped into his 2018-2019 years and found a way to go eight innings deep, allowing just one earned run, five hits and two walks. He struck out a whopping 12 batters -- the most strikeouts Corbin has had since June 22, 2018. His velocity was up nearly 1.5 mph on the fastball and 2 mph on the slider, a pitch he used a lot more in this start. I remain skeptical of Corbin unless he can keep the velocity increase up. After this start, Corbin's ERA is at 6.06 and he's 19% rostered.

Leftover quick hitters

  • Carlos Rodon tacked on his fourth straight quality start with six innings of seven-hit ball, allowing one run and no walks. Rodon's fastball velocity is down in this start and has been down a bit in his previous two starts.
  • Carlos Carrasco is tough to trust in your lineups right now. He gave up six earned runs over 4 1/3 innings on Tuesday and has a 6.20 ERA over his past nine starts.
  • A.J. Minter picked up the save for the Braves on Tuesday with Kenley Jansen on the IL.
  • Framber Valdez got back on track with eight shutout innings on Tuesday.
  • Marcus Semien hit his eighth homer on Tuesday. Since May 1, he's been on a 24-homer, 30-steal pace.
  • Shane Baz was more than solid again as he continues to build up. He went 5 2/3 innings and struck out six while allowing three hits and two walks.
  • Alex Bregman collected another three hits on Tuesday and he's batting .308 with three homers over his past 18 games.
  • Jon Gray maybe is all that Jon Gray truthers hoped for him once he left Coors? He was solid again for the fourth straight outing on Tuesday going seven innings and allowing just one earned run, five hits and two walks. He also struck out eight. You know what -- Jon Gray was more than solid. He has a 3.11 ERA over his past eight starts with 53 strikeouts in 49 2/3 innings. 

News and lineup notes

Every night the Fantasy Baseball Today team dives into all of the happenings around the MLB from top performers to injuries, trades and more. The podcast is a must listen for any diehard, if I do say so myself. Tune in to the podcast to hear the FBT crew expand on the news and notes below.

  • Fernando Tatis came out happy from a doctor's appointment and is expected to be swinging a bat at full speed within the next two weeks. We don't have a timeline, but late July, or early August sounds like it makes sense. 
  • Ronald Acuña has now missed two straight after fouling a ball off his foot on Saturday. 
  • Mookie Betts will begin baseball activities Wednesday. He's on the IL with a fractured right rib. 
  • Max Scherzer is now scheduled to make his next rehab start Wednesday at Double-A, which means he likely won't return to the Mets this weekend. 
  • Kenley Jansen was placed on the IL due to an irregular heartbeat, something he's dealt with in the past. The Braves are optimistic that he'll be ready to return around the minimum amount of time.
  • Liam Hendriks is scheduled to throw a simulated game Friday. 
  • Tyler O'Neill could begin a rehab assignment next Monday or Tuesday. He's on the IL with a hamstring injury. 
  • Jazz Chisholm was removed Tuesday after aggravating his back injury. He missed the previous two games with back spasms.
  • Jorge Polanco was activated for Game 2 of Tuesday's doubleheader and promptly hit his eighth HR of the season.
  • Michael Brantley went to the IL with right shoulder discomfort. Jake Meyers started in center field with Chas McCormick in left. 
  • Tyler Glasnow threw a bullpen session, his first since undergoing Tommy John surgery last August. We're not expecting anything from Glasnow this season, are we? 
  • Zach Eflin was placed on the IL due to a bruised right knee but is expecting a minimum stay.
  • Zach Davies was placed on the IL with right shoulder inflammation. 
  • Seiya Suzuki is getting close to a rehab assignment. He's been on the IL since May 30 with a sprained left index finger. 
  • Tommy Pham was scratched due to lower-back stiffness. 
  • Gleyber Torres said he expects to return to the Yankees lineup on Thursday.
  • Austin Meadows was transferred from the COVID IL to the 10-day IL with strains in both of his Achilles. How does that even happen?
  • Nate Pearson will be shut down for 3-4 weeks due to a strained right lat. 
  • White Sox prospect Lenyn Sosa was sent back to Triple-A.