Sports Picks Archive — Wednesday, August 12, 2026

Game picks

GARY'S PICK

MLB@ Twins· -101

Target Field gets the rubber match under the afternoon sun, with Baltimore and Minnesota separated by almost nothing in the standings or the market. I’m taking the Orioles moneyline at -101. Shane Baz is the steadier starter today, allowing four earned runs across his last three outings while completing eight innings his last time out. Minnesota can challenge him with several left-handed bats, but too much of that lineup arrives cold. Zebby Matthews, meanwhile, brings a recurring foot blister into a matchup with Baltimore’s most dangerous hitters locked in: Pete Alonso is crushing the ball, Gunnar Henderson’s contact has remained loud through uneven results, and both attack Matthews’ weaker side. Matthews’ strong Target Field numbers are the best argument against my ticket, and Baltimore’s bullpen keeps this from being a high-confidence play. But home splits describe Matthews generally; the blister, confirmed lineup and present form answer today’s question. In a near pick’em, I’ll pay essentially even money for the better starter and the lineup more capable of punishing an early mistake.

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GARY'S PICK

MLB@ Cardinals· -163

**Gary's Take — Phillies ML (-163)** Getaway day at Busch, 94 degrees, rubber game, and a pitching matchup that reads like a mismatch on the marquee: Zack Wheeler against a converted reliever named Kyle Leahy. Except the town's been whispering the opposite story — Leahy's run off eight straight starts allowing two runs or fewer while Wheeler's August has been a grind. That's the trap. When the surface story and the underlying one point in different directions, I bet the underlying one. Here's what's actually holding Leahy's streak together: sequencing and a big ballpark. Nearly half the contact against him is hard, his barrel rate is the kind ace streaks don't survive, and his fastball gets hit like batting practice — he's been escaping traffic, not preventing it. The bill collector for that profile is a left-handed bat, and lefties have posted an .876 OPS against him all season. Philadelphia walks in with six of them, four in the top six, led by Kyle Schwarber and Bryson Stott swinging as well as anyone in the sport right now — on a 94-degree afternoon with the wind blowing out to right, which strips away the very park suppression that's been hiding him. And even if he dances through five, St. Louis has said plainly they're capping his innings, which hands the last twelve outs to a bullpen whose leverage arms all worked last night — Soriano and O'Brien two of the last three days, Ferguson both of the last two and laboring. Wheeler's wobble is real — the swing-and-miss has drifted down since the break and the five-walk outing against Toronto was ugly. But look where the Cardinals' heat lives: Herrera and Winn, right-handed bats, and Wheeler has been an executioner against righties all year. The bottom third of this St. Louis order chases out of the zone at rates his splitter and sweeper were built to punish, and behind him Duran, Kerkering, Raley, and Bowlan all watched last night's game from the rail — the entire Philadelphia leverage core is rested for a day game while the Cardinals' is running on fumes. Laying -163 on the road is never free money, but every matchup-specific edge in this one — handedness, weather, workload, the leash on the kid — points the same direction. Give me the Phillies to take the series.

**Gary's Take — Phillies ML (-163)**

Getaway day at Busch, 94 degrees, rubber game, and a pitching matchup that reads like a mismatch on the marquee: Zack Wheeler against a converted reliever named Kyle Leahy. Except the town's been whispering the opposite story — Leahy's run off eight straight starts allowing two runs or fewer while Wheeler's August has been a grind. That's the trap. When the surface story and the underlying one point in different directions, I bet the underlying one.

Here's what's actually holding Leahy's streak together: sequencing and a big ballpark. Nearly half the contact against him is hard, his barrel rate is the kind ace streaks don't survive, and his fastball gets hit like batting practice — he's been escaping traffic, not preventing it. The bill collector for that profile is a left-handed bat, and lefties have posted an .876 OPS against him all season. Philadelphia walks in with six of them, four in the top six, led by Kyle Schwarber and Bryson Stott swinging as well as anyone in the sport right now — on a 94-degree afternoon with the wind blowing out to right, which strips away the very park suppression that's been hiding him. And even if he dances through five, St. Louis has said plainly they're capping his innings, which hands the last twelve outs to a bullpen whose leverage arms all worked last night — Soriano and O'Brien two of the last three days, Ferguson both of the last two and laboring.

Wheeler's wobble is real — the swing-and-miss has drifted down since the break and the five-walk outing against Toronto was ugly. But look where the Cardinals' heat lives: Herrera and Winn, right-handed bats, and Wheeler has been an executioner against righties all year. The bottom third of this St. Louis order chases out of the zone at rates his splitter and sweeper were built to punish, and behind him Duran, Kerkering, Raley, and Bowlan all watched last night's game from the rail — the entire Philadelphia leverage core is rested for a day game while the Cardinals' is running on fumes. Laying -163 on the road is never free money, but every matchup-specific edge in this one — handedness, weather, workload, the leash on the kid — points the same direction. Give me the Phillies to take the series.

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GARY'S PICK

MLB@ Athletics· -144

Getaway day in West Sacramento, brooms out, and the best team in the American League hands the ball to the hottest arm it has. The Rays have won eight straight, they've outscored the A's 22-10 through two games of this set, and now here comes Drew Rasmussen — twenty consecutive scoreless innings, 27 strikeouts against four walks over his last three starts. The A's answer with a getaway-day lineup that gives Jacob Wilson, Jeff McNeil, and Jonah Heim the afternoon off, which stacks five right-handed bats into the card against a man holding righties to a .167 average. Sacramento has lost seven straight in its own building, and this is not the afternoon that streak dies. The other dugout is where the margin gets made. Jack Perkins has wrestled his command all summer — a 7.04 ERA, multiple home runs allowed in three of his last five starts — and he's an extreme fly-ball pitcher stepping into a park that carries, 81 degrees, wind blowing out to center. The Rays hit six balls out of this yard last night. Junior Caminero has six homers in two weeks, Yandy Diaz hits .346 in day games, and even Taylor Walls — homerless for a calendar year — hit two in thirty minutes on Tuesday. Hitters aren't missing Perkins' fastball, and this lineup doesn't miss mistakes in bunches. The run line is a margin question, and the margin lives in the late innings. Nick Martinez went all nine last night, so Tampa Bay's entire leverage crew — Bryan Baker, Kevin Kelly, Tyler Wells — is fully rested behind Rasmussen. The A's pen has bled fourteen earned runs over its last ten innings, lost José Suarez to the injured list this morning, and already gave up an eight-run eighth in the opener of this series. Even if Perkins grinds out five competitive innings, the final twelve outs belong to a rested, elite bullpen protecting a lead against a gassed one that hasn't held a line all week. That's how a one-run afternoon becomes a three-run afternoon. Lay the run and a half — Rays -1.5 at -144.

The other dugout is where the margin gets made. Jack Perkins has wrestled his command all summer — a 7.04 ERA, multiple home runs allowed in three of his last five starts — and he's an extreme fly-ball pitcher stepping into a park that carries, 81 degrees, wind blowing out to center. The Rays hit six balls out of this yard last night. Junior Caminero has six homers in two weeks, Yandy Diaz hits .346 in day games, and even Taylor Walls — homerless for a calendar year — hit two in thirty minutes on Tuesday. Hitters aren't missing Perkins' fastball, and this lineup doesn't miss mistakes in bunches.

The run line is a margin question, and the margin lives in the late innings. Nick Martinez went all nine last night, so Tampa Bay's entire leverage crew — Bryan Baker, Kevin Kelly, Tyler Wells — is fully rested behind Rasmussen. The A's pen has bled fourteen earned runs over its last ten innings, lost José Suarez to the injured list this morning, and already gave up an eight-run eighth in the opener of this series. Even if Perkins grinds out five competitive innings, the final twelve outs belong to a rested, elite bullpen protecting a lead against a gassed one that hasn't held a line all week. That's how a one-run afternoon becomes a three-run afternoon. Lay the run and a half — Rays -1.5 at -144.

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GARY'S PICK

MLBvs Rockies· -173

Getaway day in the desert, roof closed, rubber match at Chase Field — and the pitching matchup tells you almost everything you need to know before the first pitch of the afternoon. Merrill Kelly takes the ball for Arizona riding the best stretch of his season, two runs or fewer in six of his last seven trips, and he already owns a complete game against this Colorado club this year. Ryan Feltner comes the other way off three straight starts where the innings got loud — a dozen earned runs over his last sixteen-plus, with the long ball doing most of the damage. Hand that profile to this Arizona lineup, in this building, and it's asking for trouble: Arenado hit a grand slam Monday and has four homers in two weeks, Marte and Carroll both went deep in the first inning last night, and Moreno is swinging as well as anyone on the roster. The Rockies' side of the ledger got thinner overnight. Kyle Karros — who hit the two-run homer that stole Tuesday's game — went on the concussion list this morning after that ugly infield collision, and he joins Tyler Freeman on the shelf. Strip those two out and you're left with a patchwork right side and a lineup that, outside of one swing, had gone fifteen consecutive scoreless innings in this series. Jake McCarthy is genuinely hot at the top and the lefty-heavy order is built to bother Kelly, but Kelly's changeup is precisely the pitch that neutralizes that look, and he's locating it as well as he has all year. Then there's the handoff: if this one reaches the bullpens, Arizona rolls out one of the stingiest relief units in the league while Colorado's pen has been leaking runs all season. The sixth through ninth innings tilt heavily purple-free. So why the moneyline and not the run line? Because Colorado, for all its flaws, plays Arizona tight — the series is even at a game apiece, they've split eight at this ballpark, and these teams have traded one-run and even 1-0 decisions all season. Kelly's home outings haven't always been spotless either, so I'm not paying for margin. I'm paying for the win: better starter in better form, the dramatically better bullpen, a home lineup with the platoon edge against a homer-prone righty, and a road offense that just lost its hottest power bat on the day of the game. Diamondbacks moneyline at -173 is the play — lay it and let the pitching gap do the work.

The Rockies' side of the ledger got thinner overnight. Kyle Karros — who hit the two-run homer that stole Tuesday's game — went on the concussion list this morning after that ugly infield collision, and he joins Tyler Freeman on the shelf. Strip those two out and you're left with a patchwork right side and a lineup that, outside of one swing, had gone fifteen consecutive scoreless innings in this series. Jake McCarthy is genuinely hot at the top and the lefty-heavy order is built to bother Kelly, but Kelly's changeup is precisely the pitch that neutralizes that look, and he's locating it as well as he has all year. Then there's the handoff: if this one reaches the bullpens, Arizona rolls out one of the stingiest relief units in the league while Colorado's pen has been leaking runs all season. The sixth through ninth innings tilt heavily purple-free.

So why the moneyline and not the run line? Because Colorado, for all its flaws, plays Arizona tight — the series is even at a game apiece, they've split eight at this ballpark, and these teams have traded one-run and even 1-0 decisions all season. Kelly's home outings haven't always been spotless either, so I'm not paying for margin. I'm paying for the win: better starter in better form, the dramatically better bullpen, a home lineup with the platoon edge against a homer-prone righty, and a road offense that just lost its hottest power bat on the day of the game. Diamondbacks moneyline at -173 is the play — lay it and let the pitching gap do the work.

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GARY'S PICK

MLB@ Giants· -141

Getaway day at Oracle Park, and the shadows will be long by the third inning. The Giants stole one last night behind a rookie who escaped two bases-loaded jams, and now a 50-70 club that sold at the deadline gets a matinee against a team playing for its life — Houston lands here a half game up in the AL West, closing a six-game trip, with an off day waiting on the other side. Games like this get decided by who's built for the day after, and only one of these rosters is. Start with the matchup nobody's reading right. Adrian Houser has been terrific for six weeks — as a reliever. Today he stretches back into a rotation for the first time since mid-June, which means a hard cap on his afternoon, and Joe Espada built his lineup like a man who did his homework: Alvarez, Varsho, Wade, Trammell — a left-handed wall stacked against a sinkerballer who has been an entirely different pitcher against lefties all season. Altuve's foot keeps him out, and it doesn't matter for this one; this isn't a shorthanded lineup, it's a targeted one. Houser's second trip through that stack arrives right as his pitch count does, and that's where this game turns. Bryan King opening for Houston looks like duct tape until you notice what's behind it. Because that's the real story: once the starters hand this off, it's a bullpen fight, and it isn't close. Houston's pen has been nearly untouchable for a week, Josh Hader hasn't thrown since Monday, Bryan Abreu hasn't been used in this series at all, and with Thursday dark, Espada can empty every chamber. San Francisco's relief corps has been bleeding runs, their save man just worked back-to-back days, and the offense behind them is scoring three a game — they left eighteen men on base last night and needed every break to plate four. In a low-scoring day game by the Bay, the team that owns the seventh, eighth, and ninth owns the afternoon. Astros moneyline at -141.

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GARY'S PICK

MLB@ Padres· -120

Getaway Wednesday at Petco, and the best record in baseball is standing in the wrong end of a broom closet. Milwaukee has been outscored 14-4 in two nights by a San Diego club playing its loudest baseball of the season — four straight wins, the stars swinging it, the building rocking. So why am I walking in on the road team? Because the lineup that did all that damage isn't the one taking the field this afternoon. San Diego turns the card over on the quick day turnaround — Tatis gets the breather, Fermin takes the catching duties — and what's left is a righty-leaning order carrying a couple of genuinely hot bats and a lot of cold ones. That card plays straight into Dustin May. He's given Milwaukee three sharp starts in a row — three earned runs over his last seventeen innings — with the fastball sitting 96-97 again, and right-handed hitters have managed a .218 average and .579 OPS against him all year. France, Machado, Hays, Bogaerts, Fermin — that's the strong side of his ledger, one after another. Jackson Merrill is the at-bat that decides whether this take looks smart, because he's seeing everything right now, but one dangerous lefty is a manageable problem. Robbie Ray's problem is less manageable: he walked five his last time out, his command has wobbled since the trade, and no lineup in the league grinds out free passes like Milwaukee. The saving grace for a fastball that gets hit hard by righties is usually the short porch — and Petco's marine air takes the cheap homer off the table, which means Ray has to escape traffic the hard way, inning after inning. The late innings are supposed to be San Diego's trump card, and over a full season they are. But tonight the ledger flips: Megill, Uribe, Ashby, and Hall have all been sitting since Sunday, fresh and lined up, while Milwaukee finally gets Joey Ortiz back on the dirt. I won't pretend the Brewers' bats are humming — they're not, and that's exactly why I'm on the moneyline and not chasing the run line. This sets up as a tight, low-scoring day game decided by run prevention, and the team with the sharper starter, the fresher leverage arms, and 74 wins of proof doesn't lose three straight to anybody very often. Give me the Brewers at -120 and let the sweep talk die quietly by the fifth.

That card plays straight into Dustin May. He's given Milwaukee three sharp starts in a row — three earned runs over his last seventeen innings — with the fastball sitting 96-97 again, and right-handed hitters have managed a .218 average and .579 OPS against him all year. France, Machado, Hays, Bogaerts, Fermin — that's the strong side of his ledger, one after another. Jackson Merrill is the at-bat that decides whether this take looks smart, because he's seeing everything right now, but one dangerous lefty is a manageable problem. Robbie Ray's problem is less manageable: he walked five his last time out, his command has wobbled since the trade, and no lineup in the league grinds out free passes like Milwaukee. The saving grace for a fastball that gets hit hard by righties is usually the short porch — and Petco's marine air takes the cheap homer off the table, which means Ray has to escape traffic the hard way, inning after inning.

The late innings are supposed to be San Diego's trump card, and over a full season they are. But tonight the ledger flips: Megill, Uribe, Ashby, and Hall have all been sitting since Sunday, fresh and lined up, while Milwaukee finally gets Joey Ortiz back on the dirt. I won't pretend the Brewers' bats are humming — they're not, and that's exactly why I'm on the moneyline and not chasing the run line. This sets up as a tight, low-scoring day game decided by run prevention, and the team with the sharper starter, the fresher leverage arms, and 74 wins of proof doesn't lose three straight to anybody very often. Give me the Brewers at -120 and let the sweep talk die quietly by the fifth.

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GARY'S PICK

MLBvs Guardians· -124

**Gary's Take: Tigers ML (-124)** Wednesday night at Comerica, and the whole complexion of the Central feels like it's shifting under the lights. The Tigers finally broke the Cleveland hex last night — a 6-4 win that A.J. Hinch admitted felt like the first comfortable breath he's taken against this club in years — and it ran their record to 8-2 over the last ten, a stretch where they're outscoring people by five runs a game. The Guardians arrive going the other direction entirely: 2-8 in their last ten, a players-only-style meeting called by Stephen Vogt, and a manager openly telling the press his team is "trying to do too much." When a club strands twenty-three runners and goes 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position in a two-run loss, that's not bad luck anymore. That's a team squeezing the bat handle into sawdust. The pitching matchup is where this card gets written. Framber Valdez is in his best stretch of the season — back-to-back seven-inning starts, four earned runs over his last nineteen frames — and he draws a Cleveland lineup that simply does not hit left-handed pitching, slugging its way to a sub-.660 OPS against southpaws while José Ramírez, Jo Adell, and Brayan Rocchio are all buried in slumps at once. Foster Griffin is the mirror image: a nice season on paper, but he's been tagged for fourteen earned over his last three starts, coughed up two homers in each of his last two, and now faces a Detroit order stacking seven right-handed bats against him — precisely the side that's punished him all year. Spencer Torkelson is scalding, Dillon Dingler is barreling everything, and rookie Kevin McGonigle just drove in three in the opener. Yes, Riley Greene to the IL hurts — but if you had to pick one night to absorb losing a lefty bat, it's the night a lefty is on the mound and your replacements swing from the right side. The case against Detroit is the season series — Cleveland took six of the first seven — and a bullpen that's been ridden hard, with Jansen and Finnegan both working consecutive days. But that 6-1 mark was built in May and June against rosters that no longer exist on either side, and Valdez's recent length is the exact antidote to a tired pen: he's been handing his manager the ball in the eighth. Cleveland's fresher relief corps only matters if this pressing, lefty-allergic offense can build a lead first, and I don't see where those runs come from. At -124 you're paying a fair price for the better pitcher in better form, the hotter lineup, the home park, and an opponent visibly fighting itself. Give me the Tigers to make it two straight and even the ledger. Tigers ML, -124.

**Gary's Take: Tigers ML (-124)**

Wednesday night at Comerica, and the whole complexion of the Central feels like it's shifting under the lights. The Tigers finally broke the Cleveland hex last night — a 6-4 win that A.J. Hinch admitted felt like the first comfortable breath he's taken against this club in years — and it ran their record to 8-2 over the last ten, a stretch where they're outscoring people by five runs a game. The Guardians arrive going the other direction entirely: 2-8 in their last ten, a players-only-style meeting called by Stephen Vogt, and a manager openly telling the press his team is "trying to do too much." When a club strands twenty-three runners and goes 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position in a two-run loss, that's not bad luck anymore. That's a team squeezing the bat handle into sawdust.

The pitching matchup is where this card gets written. Framber Valdez is in his best stretch of the season — back-to-back seven-inning starts, four earned runs over his last nineteen frames — and he draws a Cleveland lineup that simply does not hit left-handed pitching, slugging its way to a sub-.660 OPS against southpaws while José Ramírez, Jo Adell, and Brayan Rocchio are all buried in slumps at once. Foster Griffin is the mirror image: a nice season on paper, but he's been tagged for fourteen earned over his last three starts, coughed up two homers in each of his last two, and now faces a Detroit order stacking seven right-handed bats against him — precisely the side that's punished him all year. Spencer Torkelson is scalding, Dillon Dingler is barreling everything, and rookie Kevin McGonigle just drove in three in the opener. Yes, Riley Greene to the IL hurts — but if you had to pick one night to absorb losing a lefty bat, it's the night a lefty is on the mound and your replacements swing from the right side.

The case against Detroit is the season series — Cleveland took six of the first seven — and a bullpen that's been ridden hard, with Jansen and Finnegan both working consecutive days. But that 6-1 mark was built in May and June against rosters that no longer exist on either side, and Valdez's recent length is the exact antidote to a tired pen: he's been handing his manager the ball in the eighth. Cleveland's fresher relief corps only matters if this pressing, lefty-allergic offense can build a lead first, and I don't see where those runs come from. At -124 you're paying a fair price for the better pitcher in better form, the hotter lineup, the home park, and an opponent visibly fighting itself. Give me the Tigers to make it two straight and even the ledger. Tigers ML, -124.

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GARY'S PICK

MLBvs Pirates· -114

## Gary's Take — Pirates at Marlins, Marlins ML (-114) The roof is closed in Miami and the Marlins are playing their best baseball of the summer — three straight wins, a 2-0 shutout of Paul Skenes on Tuesday behind Eury Pérez, and a club that's climbed within shouting distance of the wild card while the Pirates' season quietly bleeds out. Tonight the aces step aside and the undercard takes the ball: Janson Junk for Miami, Carmen Mlodzinski for Pittsburgh. That's exactly where this game gets decided. The starter gap is the whole card. Junk has been a different pitcher in this building and a quietly stingy one of late — three earned runs across his last three turns — and his profile smothers right-handed bats, which is precisely what populates the bottom half of a Pittsburgh order missing Oneil Cruz, Ryan O'Hearn, and Endy Rodríguez. The Pirates are scoring three runs a game over their last ten and just got blanked; this is not the lineup that punishes a fifth starter having a good month at home. Mlodzinski, meanwhile, is one outing into a rushed stretch-out — three innings, five runs against a Mets team going nowhere — he gives up loud contact, and his real weakness is left-handed hitters. That's a problem when Griffin Conine is the hottest bat on either roster and Jakob Marsee is spraying hits behind him. Even without Kyle Stowers, Miami's dangerous hitters are the ones who match up. The honest counter is Pittsburgh's bullpen — Weaver, Yates, Doval, and Soto make up the better and fresher relief corps, especially after Yohan Ramírez soaked up every relief inning Tuesday, while Miami's late-inning duo has worked hard all week. If this game reaches the seventh tied, the Pirates hold the cards. But they have to get there first, and asking a cold, shorthanded offense to keep pace through five while their own starter is on a short leash is asking a lot. Home team at 37-24 in its own park, better form, better tonight-specific starter, and a short price. I'll lay the -114 on the Marlins — a lean, not a pound, but the right side.

## Gary's Take — Pirates at Marlins, Marlins ML (-114)

The roof is closed in Miami and the Marlins are playing their best baseball of the summer — three straight wins, a 2-0 shutout of Paul Skenes on Tuesday behind Eury Pérez, and a club that's climbed within shouting distance of the wild card while the Pirates' season quietly bleeds out. Tonight the aces step aside and the undercard takes the ball: Janson Junk for Miami, Carmen Mlodzinski for Pittsburgh. That's exactly where this game gets decided.

The starter gap is the whole card. Junk has been a different pitcher in this building and a quietly stingy one of late — three earned runs across his last three turns — and his profile smothers right-handed bats, which is precisely what populates the bottom half of a Pittsburgh order missing Oneil Cruz, Ryan O'Hearn, and Endy Rodríguez. The Pirates are scoring three runs a game over their last ten and just got blanked; this is not the lineup that punishes a fifth starter having a good month at home. Mlodzinski, meanwhile, is one outing into a rushed stretch-out — three innings, five runs against a Mets team going nowhere — he gives up loud contact, and his real weakness is left-handed hitters. That's a problem when Griffin Conine is the hottest bat on either roster and Jakob Marsee is spraying hits behind him. Even without Kyle Stowers, Miami's dangerous hitters are the ones who match up.

The honest counter is Pittsburgh's bullpen — Weaver, Yates, Doval, and Soto make up the better and fresher relief corps, especially after Yohan Ramírez soaked up every relief inning Tuesday, while Miami's late-inning duo has worked hard all week. If this game reaches the seventh tied, the Pirates hold the cards. But they have to get there first, and asking a cold, shorthanded offense to keep pace through five while their own starter is on a short leash is asking a lot. Home team at 37-24 in its own park, better form, better tonight-specific starter, and a short price. I'll lay the -114 on the Marlins — a lean, not a pound, but the right side.

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GARY'S PICK

MLB@ Nationals· -153

**Cubs ML (-153)** Wednesday night on South Capitol Street, and Washington is handing the baseball to a 23-year-old making his major league debut — against the hottest team in the National League. Jackson Kent is a real prospect, the best left-handed arm in the Nationals' system, with a changeup that embarrassed minor league hitters all summer. But consider the assignment. No lineup in baseball has taken more plate appearances or seen more pitches than the Cubs, and they showed you Tuesday what that looks like: Jake Irvin needed 88 pitches to get ten outs, and the game unraveled from there. Chicago doesn't need to ambush a debuting kid — they'll simply refuse to get themselves out. And when Kent's pitch count hits the wall somewhere in the fifth, remember that Washington opened his roster spot by cutting Miles Mikolas, the same arm that ate three relief innings in the opener. The length left that bullpen on the very night it's most likely to be needed. The other half of the matchup is the quieter story. David Peterson has rebuilt himself since coming over from the Mets — back into his legs, back to the sinker, back to pounding the bottom of the zone — and August has been his best month of the season. The profile fits this park and this opponent: a ground-ball lefty working in front of one of the surest defenses in baseball, facing a Washington club that hands out extra outs the other way. Fair warning, this Nationals lineup can hurt him. It's stacked with right-handed bats, the side that's given Peterson trouble all year, CJ Abrams is having a monster season, and Jacob Young is the hottest hitter on either roster. They hit three home runs Tuesday. But without James Wood in the middle, the damage tends to arrive in ones — six runs in the opener, and it still wasn't enough, because Chicago's at-bats never stopped coming. So this game tilts on the middle innings, and that's where the gap is widest. Once Kent departs, Washington needs a dozen or more outs from a pen that's been better lately but just lost its innings-eater; Chicago's relief group is deeper, better, and has been slamming doors all road trip. The Cubs are 8-2 in their last ten, winners of 36 of 52 since mid-June, and with Milwaukee four games up in the Central there's no letting off the gas. I won't pretend -153 is a bargain, and a debut arm is the great unknown in this business — that changeup could steal five innings, which is exactly why I'm not laying the run and a half a night after a two-run game. But from the fourth inning on, everything about this matchup bends toward Chicago. Give me the Cubs at -153, and let the grind do the work.

**Cubs ML (-153)**

Wednesday night on South Capitol Street, and Washington is handing the baseball to a 23-year-old making his major league debut — against the hottest team in the National League. Jackson Kent is a real prospect, the best left-handed arm in the Nationals' system, with a changeup that embarrassed minor league hitters all summer. But consider the assignment. No lineup in baseball has taken more plate appearances or seen more pitches than the Cubs, and they showed you Tuesday what that looks like: Jake Irvin needed 88 pitches to get ten outs, and the game unraveled from there. Chicago doesn't need to ambush a debuting kid — they'll simply refuse to get themselves out. And when Kent's pitch count hits the wall somewhere in the fifth, remember that Washington opened his roster spot by cutting Miles Mikolas, the same arm that ate three relief innings in the opener. The length left that bullpen on the very night it's most likely to be needed.

The other half of the matchup is the quieter story. David Peterson has rebuilt himself since coming over from the Mets — back into his legs, back to the sinker, back to pounding the bottom of the zone — and August has been his best month of the season. The profile fits this park and this opponent: a ground-ball lefty working in front of one of the surest defenses in baseball, facing a Washington club that hands out extra outs the other way. Fair warning, this Nationals lineup can hurt him. It's stacked with right-handed bats, the side that's given Peterson trouble all year, CJ Abrams is having a monster season, and Jacob Young is the hottest hitter on either roster. They hit three home runs Tuesday. But without James Wood in the middle, the damage tends to arrive in ones — six runs in the opener, and it still wasn't enough, because Chicago's at-bats never stopped coming.

So this game tilts on the middle innings, and that's where the gap is widest. Once Kent departs, Washington needs a dozen or more outs from a pen that's been better lately but just lost its innings-eater; Chicago's relief group is deeper, better, and has been slamming doors all road trip. The Cubs are 8-2 in their last ten, winners of 36 of 52 since mid-June, and with Milwaukee four games up in the Central there's no letting off the gas. I won't pretend -153 is a bargain, and a debut arm is the great unknown in this business — that changeup could steal five innings, which is exactly why I'm not laying the run and a half a night after a two-run game. But from the fourth inning on, everything about this matchup bends toward Chicago. Give me the Cubs at -153, and let the grind do the work.

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GARY'S PICK

MLBvs Mariners· -127

**Yankees ML (-127)** It's a warm August night in the Bronx, the flags are barely moving, and two of the coldest offenses in baseball are about to play a game somebody has to win. The Mariners limp in on a five-game slide, scoring one run a night while their catcher publicly falls on the sword, and they just watched Game 1 slip away on a four-run seventh. The Yankees are hitting under .200 since the break and winning anyway — that contradiction is the whole card tonight, because when neither lineup can hit, the game gets decided by whichever side's pitching cracks first. Start with the man taking the ball for Seattle. Bryce Miller's season line looks tidy, but the pitcher who built it left town around the Fourth of July. The fastball has bled velocity for six weeks, the breaking stuff has gone flat with it, and he's winless in six straight turns without finishing a sixth inning in any of them. Tonight he draws seven left-handed bats in the one park in America that pays lefties for mediocre contact to right field. Even if he grinds out five, the handoff is the problem: Seattle's middle relief has worked back-to-back days across the board and been leaking runs for a week, while New York answers with Headrick, Cruz, and Bednar — all rested, all sharp, the best bullpen in the league sitting behind a home dugout that gets to script the last nine outs. The honest case for Seattle exists, and it's why this price stays modest. Will Warren serves loud contact to left-handed hitters, Josh Naylor is the hottest bat on either roster, and Julio can flip a game with one swing — the Mariners' path is early damage before New York's pen ever enters. That's also exactly why the play is the moneyline and not the run line: these Yankees don't blow anyone out, they win by inches, with three straight comeback wins and a summer full of one-run escapes behind that relief corps. A close game into the seventh is a Yankee win more often than not, and everything about this matchup — the fading starter, the gassed visiting pen, the lefty porch — funnels toward a close game into the seventh. Yankees at -127. Take the side with the fresh arms and let the late innings do the work.

**Yankees ML (-127)**

It's a warm August night in the Bronx, the flags are barely moving, and two of the coldest offenses in baseball are about to play a game somebody has to win. The Mariners limp in on a five-game slide, scoring one run a night while their catcher publicly falls on the sword, and they just watched Game 1 slip away on a four-run seventh. The Yankees are hitting under .200 since the break and winning anyway — that contradiction is the whole card tonight, because when neither lineup can hit, the game gets decided by whichever side's pitching cracks first.

Start with the man taking the ball for Seattle. Bryce Miller's season line looks tidy, but the pitcher who built it left town around the Fourth of July. The fastball has bled velocity for six weeks, the breaking stuff has gone flat with it, and he's winless in six straight turns without finishing a sixth inning in any of them. Tonight he draws seven left-handed bats in the one park in America that pays lefties for mediocre contact to right field. Even if he grinds out five, the handoff is the problem: Seattle's middle relief has worked back-to-back days across the board and been leaking runs for a week, while New York answers with Headrick, Cruz, and Bednar — all rested, all sharp, the best bullpen in the league sitting behind a home dugout that gets to script the last nine outs.

The honest case for Seattle exists, and it's why this price stays modest. Will Warren serves loud contact to left-handed hitters, Josh Naylor is the hottest bat on either roster, and Julio can flip a game with one swing — the Mariners' path is early damage before New York's pen ever enters. That's also exactly why the play is the moneyline and not the run line: these Yankees don't blow anyone out, they win by inches, with three straight comeback wins and a summer full of one-run escapes behind that relief corps. A close game into the seventh is a Yankee win more often than not, and everything about this matchup — the fading starter, the gassed visiting pen, the lefty porch — funnels toward a close game into the seventh. Yankees at -127. Take the side with the fresh arms and let the late innings do the work.

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GARY'S PICK

MLBvs Red Sox· +120

**Gary's Take — Red Sox at Blue Jays, Blue Jays ML (+120)** Roof closed in Toronto, a sweep on the table, and a first-place Boston club that suddenly can't buy a hit with a man on second. The scoreboard says the Red Sox are the better team, and the price says so too — but tonight isn't a referendum on the standings. It's a four-hour argument between two starting pitchers headed in opposite directions, and that argument belongs to the home side. The trap number here is Ranger Suarez's season line against Toronto — twelve scoreless innings, including four more just seventeen days ago. Don't pay for it, because that pitcher isn't making this start. Since coming back from the groin injury, Suarez hasn't finished the fifth inning once, the swing-and-miss has drained out of his arsenal start by start, and his last time out he admitted, in a word, that he had nothing. Boston is planning around him now, not with him: he's a four-inning pitcher asking his bullpen to cover half a game on the sixth night of a seven-game road trip. Toronto's current identity — contact, traffic, Kirk swinging as well as anyone in the lineup, nine scrappy at-bats in a row — is exactly the style that grinds a diminished soft-tosser into an early exit. Meanwhile Jose Soriano takes the ball trending the other way: three straight quality outings, the misses piling up, 97 with a knuckle-curve and splitter that live below the zone, making his first-ever start against this Boston lineup. First looks at chase weapons like that are miserable, and this particular lineup has spent two nights proving it — hitless in fourteen tries with runners in scoring position, thirty-six stranded, expanding the zone more the tighter the games get. The honest case for Boston is real: the deeper rested bullpen, the run of base traffic that eventually has to cash, Rutschman lengthening the order. That's why this is a lean and not a hammer. But Toronto's relief corps has been nearly untouchable for a week with Varland and Rogers both fresh, the shorter bridge belongs to the home team, and the Jays have won four of five playing precisely the kind of clean, stubborn baseball that wins a 4-3 game decided in the seventh. When my number on a game sits at a coin flip and the market hands me plus money on the side with tonight's better pitcher, the fresher formula, and the last at-bat, that's not a hunch — that's the whole job. Blue Jays at +120 for the sweep.

**Gary's Take — Red Sox at Blue Jays, Blue Jays ML (+120)**

Roof closed in Toronto, a sweep on the table, and a first-place Boston club that suddenly can't buy a hit with a man on second. The scoreboard says the Red Sox are the better team, and the price says so too — but tonight isn't a referendum on the standings. It's a four-hour argument between two starting pitchers headed in opposite directions, and that argument belongs to the home side.

The trap number here is Ranger Suarez's season line against Toronto — twelve scoreless innings, including four more just seventeen days ago. Don't pay for it, because that pitcher isn't making this start. Since coming back from the groin injury, Suarez hasn't finished the fifth inning once, the swing-and-miss has drained out of his arsenal start by start, and his last time out he admitted, in a word, that he had nothing. Boston is planning around him now, not with him: he's a four-inning pitcher asking his bullpen to cover half a game on the sixth night of a seven-game road trip. Toronto's current identity — contact, traffic, Kirk swinging as well as anyone in the lineup, nine scrappy at-bats in a row — is exactly the style that grinds a diminished soft-tosser into an early exit. Meanwhile Jose Soriano takes the ball trending the other way: three straight quality outings, the misses piling up, 97 with a knuckle-curve and splitter that live below the zone, making his first-ever start against this Boston lineup. First looks at chase weapons like that are miserable, and this particular lineup has spent two nights proving it — hitless in fourteen tries with runners in scoring position, thirty-six stranded, expanding the zone more the tighter the games get.

The honest case for Boston is real: the deeper rested bullpen, the run of base traffic that eventually has to cash, Rutschman lengthening the order. That's why this is a lean and not a hammer. But Toronto's relief corps has been nearly untouchable for a week with Varland and Rogers both fresh, the shorter bridge belongs to the home team, and the Jays have won four of five playing precisely the kind of clean, stubborn baseball that wins a 4-3 game decided in the seventh. When my number on a game sits at a coin flip and the market hands me plus money on the side with tonight's better pitcher, the fresher formula, and the last at-bat, that's not a hunch — that's the whole job. Blue Jays at +120 for the sweep.

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GARY'S PICK

MLB@ White Sox· +127

**Gary's Take — Reds at White Sox, Wednesday night at Rate Field** Pope hats one night, papal irony the next — Cincinnati stole the opener in ten, and now the South Side asks Luis Castillo to stop the bleeding in a building where these two clubs have played nothing but knife fights. Here's the problem with that assignment: Castillo has been leaking exactly what this Reds lineup throws at him. Left-handed hitters are slugging him to the tune of an .887 OPS with thirteen of his seventeen homers allowed, he's coughed up eight long balls over his last four starts, and the last time he saw Cincinnati — July 21, still in a Mariners uniform — Elly De La Cruz and Eugenio Suárez both took him out of the yard. Suárez walks in tonight having homered in three straight games, barreling everything in sight, with the wind blowing out to left. That's not a hunch, that's a collision. The counterargument is real and I'm not hiding from it: Rhett Lowder's whole vulnerability is left-handed power, and Chicago stacks seven lefty looks on him, Murakami squaring up everything at 95 on the barrel. If this one goes sideways for Cincinnati, it's a crooked third inning off that sinker. But Lowder's last three starts have been a quiet 3.18, he's leaning on a slider that's a legitimate putaway pitch now, and the Sox are running out the soft version of their lineup — Vargas and Quero, who both homered Tuesday, sit tonight while an ice-cold bottom third takes their place. A Reds team that hits righties poorly still only needs to keep this thing close, because close is where this matchup lives: three meetings this season, three Cincinnati wins, all by a single run. And that's the whole ticket, really — the endgame is tilted. Chicago's late-inning arms are running on fumes: Grant Taylor threw 53 pitches over the last two nights, Sean Newcomb has worked three straight days and took the loss Tuesday, and Bryan Hudson has been torched twice in a row. Francona, meanwhile, can shorten this game with fresh pieces and hand the ninth to Pagán, who just spent fourteen pitches proving he loves these moments. So if we get the coin-flip script both rosters keep producing, the team built to win the eighth, ninth, and tenth tonight is the visitor — and I'm being paid plus money for it. Give me the Reds at +127, one unit, and let the accent fall where it may.

**Gary's Take — Reds at White Sox, Wednesday night at Rate Field**

Pope hats one night, papal irony the next — Cincinnati stole the opener in ten, and now the South Side asks Luis Castillo to stop the bleeding in a building where these two clubs have played nothing but knife fights. Here's the problem with that assignment: Castillo has been leaking exactly what this Reds lineup throws at him. Left-handed hitters are slugging him to the tune of an .887 OPS with thirteen of his seventeen homers allowed, he's coughed up eight long balls over his last four starts, and the last time he saw Cincinnati — July 21, still in a Mariners uniform — Elly De La Cruz and Eugenio Suárez both took him out of the yard. Suárez walks in tonight having homered in three straight games, barreling everything in sight, with the wind blowing out to left. That's not a hunch, that's a collision.

The counterargument is real and I'm not hiding from it: Rhett Lowder's whole vulnerability is left-handed power, and Chicago stacks seven lefty looks on him, Murakami squaring up everything at 95 on the barrel. If this one goes sideways for Cincinnati, it's a crooked third inning off that sinker. But Lowder's last three starts have been a quiet 3.18, he's leaning on a slider that's a legitimate putaway pitch now, and the Sox are running out the soft version of their lineup — Vargas and Quero, who both homered Tuesday, sit tonight while an ice-cold bottom third takes their place. A Reds team that hits righties poorly still only needs to keep this thing close, because close is where this matchup lives: three meetings this season, three Cincinnati wins, all by a single run.

And that's the whole ticket, really — the endgame is tilted. Chicago's late-inning arms are running on fumes: Grant Taylor threw 53 pitches over the last two nights, Sean Newcomb has worked three straight days and took the loss Tuesday, and Bryan Hudson has been torched twice in a row. Francona, meanwhile, can shorten this game with fresh pieces and hand the ninth to Pagán, who just spent fourteen pitches proving he loves these moments. So if we get the coin-flip script both rosters keep producing, the team built to win the eighth, ninth, and tenth tonight is the visitor — and I'm being paid plus money for it. Give me the Reds at +127, one unit, and let the accent fall where it may.

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GARY'S PICK

MLB@ Braves· +158

Getaway night at Truist Park, rubber match, and the board says the first-place Braves are worth -170 against a last-place club. Here's the thing about that number: it's priced off the standings, not the matchup. The Mets have taken seven of twelve from Atlanta this season, they're an even 3-3 in this building, and they just hung eight on the Braves two nights ago. When the market makes you lay the season while the head-to-head has been a coin flip, you look hard at the other side — and at plus-money, I'm taking it. The pitching matchup is the whole card. Zac Thornton has quietly been the better 2026 starter of the two, and he's not guessing tonight — he walked through this exact Atlanta lineup into the seventh inning two weeks ago, and he's death on left-handed bats, which shrinks the problem to pitching around Matt Olson. The bottom of the Braves order is cold enough to give a corner-painting lefty his escape hatches. Tyler Mahle, meanwhile, brings a season-long allergy to right-handed hitters — they've hit better than .300 with a slug over .500 off him — and the Mets' hot bats are exactly that side of the plate: Bichette, Robert, Alvarez, Torrens, with Lindor swinging the loudest bat in the series between them. And that tidy home ERA everyone will cite tonight? Every inning of it was thrown in San Francisco. He's never faced a batter in this ballpark. The blueprint is Monday's game: jump the starter early, from the right side, and make Atlanta chase. I won't pretend the risk away — the Mets' middle relief is held together with tape, and Atlanta's bullpen is the best unit on either roster, so there's no comeback equity here; New York has to win this game in the first six innings and hand the last six outs to Duarte and Senga, both of whom are rested and have already closed out this team this week. That's a narrow path, and it's why this is one unit and not two. But +158 on a club that's played this opponent dead even all year, with the sharper starter on the mound and the other guy's flaws pointed directly at their best hitters, is a price I'll take every time. Mets on the money line. Let the Braves prove it at a fair number.

The pitching matchup is the whole card. Zac Thornton has quietly been the better 2026 starter of the two, and he's not guessing tonight — he walked through this exact Atlanta lineup into the seventh inning two weeks ago, and he's death on left-handed bats, which shrinks the problem to pitching around Matt Olson. The bottom of the Braves order is cold enough to give a corner-painting lefty his escape hatches. Tyler Mahle, meanwhile, brings a season-long allergy to right-handed hitters — they've hit better than .300 with a slug over .500 off him — and the Mets' hot bats are exactly that side of the plate: Bichette, Robert, Alvarez, Torrens, with Lindor swinging the loudest bat in the series between them. And that tidy home ERA everyone will cite tonight? Every inning of it was thrown in San Francisco. He's never faced a batter in this ballpark. The blueprint is Monday's game: jump the starter early, from the right side, and make Atlanta chase.

I won't pretend the risk away — the Mets' middle relief is held together with tape, and Atlanta's bullpen is the best unit on either roster, so there's no comeback equity here; New York has to win this game in the first six innings and hand the last six outs to Duarte and Senga, both of whom are rested and have already closed out this team this week. That's a narrow path, and it's why this is one unit and not two. But +158 on a club that's played this opponent dead even all year, with the sharper starter on the mound and the other guy's flaws pointed directly at their best hitters, is a price I'll take every time. Mets on the money line. Let the Braves prove it at a fair number.

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GARY'S PICK

MLB@ Angels· -127

**GARY'S TAKE — Rangers ML (-127), 1 unit** Wednesday night in Anaheim, game three of four, and the rubber-match feel is real: a Rangers club sitting on the third wild card spot against an Angels team playing out the string, with the whole night hinging on two right arms that could not be more different. Texas hands the ball to Cal Quantrill, back in the rotation on eight days of rest and quietly excellent for two months — take away one ugly night in Atlanta and he's been under a two ERA, pounding the zone with that sinker-splitter mix that's held right-handed bats around the Mendoza line. The Angels counter with George Klassen, a legitimate arm-talent rookie who throws 97 and simply cannot find the plate: four or five walks in every big-league start he's made, and he has never once seen the fifth inning. Texas answered that by stacking six left-handed bats, with Joc Pederson and Brandon Nimmo — the two hottest hitters on the field by a mile — waiting at the top for a fastball that has been getting hammered when it does find the zone. The bet lives in the middle innings. Even Klassen's best version hands this game to the bullpen by the fifth, and that's where the Angels are most exposed: their entire late-game core — Natera, Fermin, Murphy, Saucedo — has worked each of the last two nights, and they just lost another arm to the injured list on top of it. That means either a third straight day for gassed leverage arms or long stretches from waiver claims and fresh call-ups against a patient lineup that will take every free pass offered. Flip it around and Texas is built for exactly this game: Quantrill can carry it six innings against an Angels offense scoring barely two runs a game for two weeks and chasing everything off the plate — precisely the profile a strike-thrower feasts on — before handing off to a rested pen that's been the quiet strength of this roster all summer. The honest wobble: Texas has stranded a small village in this series, 5-for-23 with runners in scoring position, and these two keep playing coin-flip finishes, which is why the price stayed this short. But walks are the one currency that survives bad clutch hitting — you don't need the big knock every inning when the other guy is handing out baserunners — and the Angels' side of this requires a slumping, chase-happy lineup to solve the best version of Quantrill while a tired bullpen protects whatever they scratch out. Give me the strike-thrower, the fresh relievers, and the team with something to play for. Rangers moneyline at -127 is the right side at a fair number.

**GARY'S TAKE — Rangers ML (-127), 1 unit**

Wednesday night in Anaheim, game three of four, and the rubber-match feel is real: a Rangers club sitting on the third wild card spot against an Angels team playing out the string, with the whole night hinging on two right arms that could not be more different. Texas hands the ball to Cal Quantrill, back in the rotation on eight days of rest and quietly excellent for two months — take away one ugly night in Atlanta and he's been under a two ERA, pounding the zone with that sinker-splitter mix that's held right-handed bats around the Mendoza line. The Angels counter with George Klassen, a legitimate arm-talent rookie who throws 97 and simply cannot find the plate: four or five walks in every big-league start he's made, and he has never once seen the fifth inning. Texas answered that by stacking six left-handed bats, with Joc Pederson and Brandon Nimmo — the two hottest hitters on the field by a mile — waiting at the top for a fastball that has been getting hammered when it does find the zone.

The bet lives in the middle innings. Even Klassen's best version hands this game to the bullpen by the fifth, and that's where the Angels are most exposed: their entire late-game core — Natera, Fermin, Murphy, Saucedo — has worked each of the last two nights, and they just lost another arm to the injured list on top of it. That means either a third straight day for gassed leverage arms or long stretches from waiver claims and fresh call-ups against a patient lineup that will take every free pass offered. Flip it around and Texas is built for exactly this game: Quantrill can carry it six innings against an Angels offense scoring barely two runs a game for two weeks and chasing everything off the plate — precisely the profile a strike-thrower feasts on — before handing off to a rested pen that's been the quiet strength of this roster all summer.

The honest wobble: Texas has stranded a small village in this series, 5-for-23 with runners in scoring position, and these two keep playing coin-flip finishes, which is why the price stayed this short. But walks are the one currency that survives bad clutch hitting — you don't need the big knock every inning when the other guy is handing out baserunners — and the Angels' side of this requires a slumping, chase-happy lineup to solve the best version of Quantrill while a tired bullpen protects whatever they scratch out. Give me the strike-thrower, the fresh relievers, and the team with something to play for. Rangers moneyline at -127 is the right side at a fair number.

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GARY'S PICK

MLB@ Dodgers· -110

Wednesday night at Chavez Ravine, getaway game, and here's the number that should frame everything you watch: these two teams have played four times this season, and all four have been decided by exactly one run — 1-0, 1-0, 6-5, and Tuesday's 5-4 walk-off in ten. Los Angeles has won every one of them, and Kansas City has been standing there at the wire every single time. I'm not asking the Royals to win tonight. I'm asking them to keep doing the one thing they've proven they can do against this club: refuse to get buried. The matchup itself leans tight, not lopsided. Eric Lauer at home is a legitimately different pitcher — the marine layer swallows the flyballs that got him wrecked at Wrigley — but his low-90s fastball is the most hittable pitch either team throws tonight, and Jac Caglianone is the hottest hitter in baseball: 13 for his last 27, three homers in a week, and he already took Tarik Skubal deep in this series, so the lefty-on-lefty look doesn't scare him — lefties have actually done more damage against Lauer this year than righties. On the other side, Daniel Lynch works short in his second start back, but his three or four innings land squarely on a Dodgers top half stacked with left-handed bats, and left-handers are hitting .150 against him. Yes, that hands five innings to a shaky Kansas City bullpen, and that's the honest risk on this ticket. But look at how that risk has actually cashed out: this pen doesn't lose these games by four, it loses them by one — Schreiber and Lange wore Monday's 6-5, Erceg wore Tuesday's 5-4. And that's the whole case against laying the run and a half. The Dodgers are scoring three and a half runs a game over their last ten, they've won three times in that stretch, and every single win was by one run. Twice in two nights they've beaten Kansas City late — and late home wins are one-run wins almost by construction, because the game ends the moment the winning run touches the plate. Muncy's bases-loaded single in the tenth didn't win by two; it can't. Stir in the real chance this one goes extra innings again with both middle relief corps running on fumes, and a park that keeps the scoring modest after dark, and asking a slumping lineup behind Eric Lauer to win by two is asking for their best result in two weeks at a coin-flip price. Give me Kansas City plus the run and a half at -110, one unit. If the Dodgers win it again, everything about this series says they win it by one — and this ticket cashes anyway.

The matchup itself leans tight, not lopsided. Eric Lauer at home is a legitimately different pitcher — the marine layer swallows the flyballs that got him wrecked at Wrigley — but his low-90s fastball is the most hittable pitch either team throws tonight, and Jac Caglianone is the hottest hitter in baseball: 13 for his last 27, three homers in a week, and he already took Tarik Skubal deep in this series, so the lefty-on-lefty look doesn't scare him — lefties have actually done more damage against Lauer this year than righties. On the other side, Daniel Lynch works short in his second start back, but his three or four innings land squarely on a Dodgers top half stacked with left-handed bats, and left-handers are hitting .150 against him. Yes, that hands five innings to a shaky Kansas City bullpen, and that's the honest risk on this ticket. But look at how that risk has actually cashed out: this pen doesn't lose these games by four, it loses them by one — Schreiber and Lange wore Monday's 6-5, Erceg wore Tuesday's 5-4.

And that's the whole case against laying the run and a half. The Dodgers are scoring three and a half runs a game over their last ten, they've won three times in that stretch, and every single win was by one run. Twice in two nights they've beaten Kansas City late — and late home wins are one-run wins almost by construction, because the game ends the moment the winning run touches the plate. Muncy's bases-loaded single in the tenth didn't win by two; it can't. Stir in the real chance this one goes extra innings again with both middle relief corps running on fumes, and a park that keeps the scoring modest after dark, and asking a slumping lineup behind Eric Lauer to win by two is asking for their best result in two weeks at a coin-flip price. Give me Kansas City plus the run and a half at -110, one unit. If the Dodgers win it again, everything about this series says they win it by one — and this ticket cashes anyway.

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Player props

GARY'S PICK

GUNNAR HENDERSONWALKS OVER 0.5

MLBBaltimore Orioles· +154

I’m backing Gunnar Henderson to draw a walk at +154. Henderson has walked in nine of his last 15 games, and his recent 18% chase rate shows that he is seeing the ball well even when the batting average has lagged. Zebby Matthews has issued at least two walks in seven of his last eight starts. Henderson leads off, giving him maximum opportunities to exploit that inconsistent command, and the plus-money price asks him to do it only once.

GARY'S PICK

ZEBBY MATTHEWSPITCHER OUTS UNDER 16.5

MLBMinnesota Twins· -118

I’m taking Zebby Matthews under 16.5 outs. He has completed six innings only twice in his last six starts, and the recurring foot blister that ended his previous outing creates another path to an early hook today. Baltimore can make him work with Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday from the left side, while Pete Alonso is punishing mistakes in the heart of the order. Matthews may pitch effectively at home, but this bet only needs Minnesota to remove him before he records the final out of the sixth.

GARY'S PICK

BRYSON STOTTH+R+RBI OVER 1.5

MLBPhiladelphia Phillies· -115

Bryson Stott owns the cleanest matchup on this board. He is 15-for-42 over the last 15 days, has hard-hit 10 of his 20 recent balls in play and has cleared this combination in 11 of his last 15 games. Kyle Leahy has allowed left-handed hitters a .320 average and .876 OPS, with nearly half of all contact against him classified as hard. Batting fifth behind Schwarber, Turner, Harper and Arraez gives Stott multiple paths: drive somebody home, reach safely or score when the lower half turns over. At nearly even money, I am buying the matchup and lineup position.

GARY'S PICK

KYLE LEAHYPITCHER HITS ALLOWED OVER 5.5

MLBSt. Louis Cardinals· +119

Leahy's run prevention has been better than the contact underneath it. His 48.5% hard-hit rate and 10.7% barrel rate are dangerous against a Philadelphia lineup sending six left-handed bats to the plate, including five in the first six spots. Lefties have hit .320 against him, while his most-used four-seam fastball has surrendered a .366 average and a .454 expected wOBA. He allowed eight hits in five innings last time out, and the 94-degree afternoon with the wind carrying toward right field gives those hard-hit balls less room for forgiveness. The limited workload is the risk, but five innings can still produce six hits. At plus money, I will take that chance.

GARY'S PICK

JACK PERKINSPITCHER EARNED RUNS OVER 2.5

MLBOakland Athletics· -145

Three earned runs is a low bar against a Tampa Bay lineup that has already scored 22 times in this series. Perkins has surrendered 13 earned runs across 14 innings in his last three starts, and his four-seamer has been hit for a .302 average and .391 expected wOBA. That is a dangerous weakness against Yandy Diaz, Junior Caminero and a Rays lineup that just launched six home runs in this park. The price is substantial, but Perkins has cleared this number in six of his last eight starts and may not need to survive the fifth inning for this over to cash.

GARY'S PICK

DREW RASMUSSENK'S OVER 5.5

MLBTampa Bay Rays· -132

Rasmussen has recorded 27 strikeouts in 20 scoreless innings across his last three starts, reaching at least eight each time. His command is allowing him to work deep, and Oakland gives him several targets: Tyler Soderstrom carries a 32 percent recent whiff rate, Henry Bolte is at 37 percent and Max Muncy is at 40 percent. Rasmussen can attack both sides with four pitches producing strong results, while the Athletics average 8.68 strikeouts per game. With six innings as the reasonable workload, I want him to find six punchouts.

GARY'S PICK

MERRILL KELLYPITCHER OUTS UNDER 17.5

MLBArizona Diamondbacks· +102

I’m fading Kelly’s workload, not his effectiveness. He has completed six innings just once in his last six starts, and now he returns five days after leaving an 80-pitch outing with a leg cramp. Colorado can make this uncomfortable with six left-handed or switch hitters, the side that has produced an .871 OPS against Kelly this season. Arizona also has a deep, rested bullpen, so there is no reason to force a third trip through the order in a getaway game. Kelly can pitch well and still leave after five or five-plus; getting the under at plus money is the value.

GARY'S PICK

RYAN FELTNERPITCHER EARNED RUNS OVER 2.5

MLBColorado Rockies· -143

Feltner has allowed at least three earned runs in five consecutive starts, surrendering 12 over his last 16 1/3 innings. The underlying matchup is just as ugly: both sides have an OPS above .800 against him, his barrel rate allowed sits in double digits, and his slider has been punished all season. Arizona can attack immediately with Carroll, Moreno and Marte, then keep the pressure on with Arenado and Tawa. Feltner does not need to get blown up for this to cash; three runs across roughly five innings clears it, and that is the most likely shape of his afternoon.

GARY'S PICK

ADRIAN HOUSERPITCHER OUTS UNDER 15.5

MLBSan Francisco Giants· -158

Houser needs to record an out in the sixth to beat this number, something he has done in only two of his last eight starts. Now he is moving back from the bullpen into a starting assignment after his previous rotation run ended with five straight outings short of five completed innings. Houston can stack Alvarez, Varsho, Wade and Trammell from the left side, where Houser has allowed a .296 average, a .927 OPS and 12 home runs. That group should force traffic and long innings before the top of the order comes around a third time. I am betting the Giants make the call before Houser gets out number 16.

GARY'S PICK

JEREMY PENAHITS UNDER 1.5

MLBHouston Astros· -180

Peña needs two hits to beat me, and this is the wrong matchup for that rebound. He is 1-for-27 over the last seven days, with a 43% whiff rate, a 39% chase rate and no barrels in his recent contact sample. Houser has held right-handed hitters to a .226 average and .567 OPS, which is exactly where Houston's left-handed lineup construction matters. The Astros can win this game through Alvarez, Varsho, Wade and Trammell without getting a multi-hit afternoon from Peña. One hit still cashes the under.

GARY'S PICK

JACKSON MERRILLH+R+RBI OVER 1.5

MLBSan Diego Padres· -107

Merrill has cleared this in 11 of his last 15 while producing 21 hits, four homers and 16 RBIs over that stretch. The contact is as convincing as the results: a 96.2 mph recent average exit velocity, 12 hard-hit balls and five barrels. Dustin May has been substantially more vulnerable to left-handed hitters, allowing a .272 average and .747 OPS, and Merrill enters with four straight games featuring a home run.

GARY'S PICK

DUSTIN MAYPITCHER WALKS OVER 1.5

MLBMilwaukee Brewers· -102

May has issued at least two walks in five of his last eight starts and handed out six across his last two. San Diego averages 3.38 walks per game, and this lineup gives him four left-handed bats plus a switch-hitting leadoff man. His season-long split is also noticeably worse against lefties, so I expect enough deep counts and traffic for two walks.

GARY'S PICK

BRAYAN ROCCHIOH+R+RBI UNDER 1.5

MLBCleveland Guardians· -158

Rocchio has cleared this number once in his last 15 games, and nothing about the matchup demands paying for an immediate turnaround. He is 6-for-47 with one RBI over the last 15 days, carrying a .128 average and .375 OPS into the ninth spot. The construction of this prop gives us room: one isolated hit, run or RBI still stays under. Rocchio needs to contribute in multiple categories or produce more than one event against Valdez, who has allowed two earned runs across his last 14 innings. Cleveland owns a .657 OPS against left-handed pitching, and Comerica Park further limits the extra-base damage that could flip the bet quickly. Under 1.5 hits, runs and RBIs, -158.

GARY'S PICK

ANGEL GENAOHITS OVER 0.5

MLBCleveland Guardians· -148

The price is the first edge. One hit also clears Genao’s 0.5 total-bases line, yet this market costs -148 instead of -173. I’m taking the cheaper ticket. Genao has seven hits in 19 at-bats, and the contact backs up the results: a 94.0 mph average exit velocity with 11 hard-hit balls among 17 put in play. The switch-hitter will bat right-handed against Framber Valdez, who has allowed a .263 average and .727 OPS to righties. Genao should have three or four chances to put one ball in play against a pitcher whose 43% hard-hit rate remains vulnerable despite his recent results. Over 0.5 hits, -148.

GARY'S PICK

CARMEN MLODZINSKIK'S UNDER 3.5

MLBPittsburgh Pirates· -113

Mlodzinski is still being handled like a swingman, not a fully stretched-out starter. He threw 63 pitches and recorded one strikeout over three innings in his first start after a 74-day gap, and Pittsburgh has made it clear it does not expect traditional starter length from him. Even if he reaches the fifth, four strikeouts is a demanding number for a pitcher with only four across his last 13 starting innings. Miami also gives him several difficult strikeout targets near the top and middle of the order. Xavier Edwards, Otto Lopez and Jakob Marsee all have recent whiff rates of 17% or lower, with Edwards and Marsee also refusing to chase. The vulnerable hitters at the bottom may give Mlodzinski a couple, but the short leash and contact-heavy portion of the lineup make under 3.5 the play at close to even money.

GARY'S PICK

GRIFFIN CONINEWALKS OVER 0.5

MLBMiami Marlins· +188

Conine is the one Miami hitter Mlodzinski cannot afford to challenge carelessly. He has four homers and a .909 OPS over the last 15 days, with a 95.7 mph average exit velocity and three barrels on only 15 balls in play. Mlodzinski has been much more vulnerable to left-handed hitters, allowing a .771 OPS to that side, and he has issued five walks over his last 13 starting innings. The lineup construction helps this price. With Kyle Stowers out and Heriberto Hernandez hitting behind Conine despite a 5-for-45 stretch, Pittsburgh has every reason to work around the hottest bat rather than give him something over the plate. Conine has already drawn a walk in six of his last 15 games, so +188 is enough for me to take one free pass.

GARY'S PICK

ALEX BREGMANTOTAL BASES OVER 1.5

MLBChicago Cubs· +116

**Alex Bregman over 1.5 total bases (+116)** Bregman is the Cub I trust most against a debuting left-hander. He has produced two or more bases in nine of his last 15 games, is batting .322 over that stretch and has generated 12 hard-hit balls while barely missing pitches. That combination of patience and elite contact makes him difficult for Jackson Kent to navigate with runners aboard. Bregman also showed the full approach Tuesday, grinding through two ten-pitch plate appearances before homering later in the game. Batting third gives him a strong chance at five trips, and an early Kent exit would expose him to Washington's thinner middle relief. At plus money, I’m backing Bregman to find either one extra-base hit or two singles.

GARY'S PICK

DAVID PETERSONK'S UNDER 4.5

MLBChicago Cubs· -135

**David Peterson under 4.5 strikeouts (-135)** Peterson's turnaround has come from getting the ball back on the ground, not suddenly becoming a swing-and-miss starter. His sinker and four-seam fastball both carry whiff rates around 15%, and he has finished below five strikeouts in six of his last eight starts. Even during his current three-start run of excellent results, he recorded only 14 strikeouts across 17 innings. Washington has several aggressive bats, but the bottom of this order includes Harry Ford, Jacob Young and Nasim Nunez, three hitters who have been difficult to strike out recently. Peterson can pitch well here while collecting three or four strikeouts, which is exactly the shape I expect.

GARY'S PICK

BRYCE MILLERPITCHER OUTS UNDER 16.5

MLBSeattle Mariners· -116

**Bryce Miller under 16.5 outs (-116)** Miller has cleared this number once in his last five starts, and the deterioration underneath those short outings matters more than his 3.08 season ERA. His fastball has lost velocity, the breaking stuff is generating fewer empty swings, and his last three turns produced 11 earned runs with only eight strikeouts across 15 2/3 innings. The Yankees may be cold, but they still draw walks and make pitchers work. Miller needed at least 87 pitches in each of his last four starts without recording more than 17 outs, so this does not require New York to light him up. Five innings and a stressful sixth is enough. I'm betting the recent version of Miller reaches his pitch-count decision before he finishes that inning.

GARY'S PICK

COLE YOUNGSINGLES OVER 0.5

MLBSeattle Mariners· -110

**Cole Young over 0.5 singles (-110)** Young owns a single in 10 of his last 15 games, and his current contact profile fits this market particularly well: a 14% whiff rate, a 22% chase rate and no barrels among his recent balls in play. He is putting the bat on the ball without consistently elevating it, which is exactly what I want when I only need one single. Will Warren has allowed left-handed hitters a .270 average and a .788 OPS. His sinker and sweeper—the pitches most likely to produce contact beneath the barrel—have been hit for .305 and .380 averages. Young bats second, should receive four plate appearances, and does not need Seattle's struggling offense to string anything together. One clean piece of contact pays the card.

GARY'S PICK

RANGER SUAREZPITCHER OUTS UNDER 15.5

MLBBoston Red Sox· -144

This is a workload bet before it is a matchup bet. Suarez has recorded 12, 14 and nine outs in his three starts since returning, with Boston lifting him at 64, 65 and 70 pitches. He has not finished the fifth inning once during that stretch, and his declining swing-and-miss gives Toronto a path to the traffic and longer counts needed to keep that pattern intact. The late lineup change does not move me off it. Boston has a strong, available bullpen and no reason to force a sixth inning out of a starter it has handled carefully for three straight turns. Under 15.5 gives me a winner even if Suarez completes five effective innings.

GARY'S PICK

JOSE SORIANOPITCHER OUTS UNDER 16.5

MLBToronto Blue Jays· -104

Soriano has cleared 16.5 outs in only two of his last eight starts, yet this number is still available near even money. His Toronto debut required 94 pitches for 14 outs, and the command remains the obstacle: seven walks across his last three starts and an elevated walk rate for the season. Boston has failed to cash its opportunities in this series, but it has still produced patient at-bats throughout the order. That distinction matters here because I do not need the Red Sox to score; I need them to create enough traffic and deep counts for Toronto to use its excellent bullpen before Soriano records a sixth-inning out.

GARY'S PICK

TYLER MAHLEPITCHER WALKS OVER 1.5

MLBAtlanta Braves· +100

I’m getting even money on a number Mahle has exceeded in six of his last eight starts, including both of his recent nine-strikeout outings. The Mets average 3.22 walks per game, and several hitters in this lineup—particularly Ewing, Young and Alvarez—have shown enough patience to make Mahle work.

GARY'S PICK

MICHAEL HARRIS IIH+R+RBI UNDER 1.5

MLBAtlanta Braves· +105

Harris has reached two combined hits, runs and RBIs in only five of his last 15 games. His recent contact has been hard but flat—zero barrels on 21 balls in play—and tonight he draws a left-hander who has held left-handed hitters to a .188 average and .500 OPS. I like the under at plus money.

GARY'S PICK

LUIS CASTILLOK'S UNDER 5.5

MLBChicago White Sox· -111

Six strikeouts is a big ask from this version of Castillo. He hasn't cleared this number in eight consecutive starts, with his last six producing 4, 4, 4, 3, 2 and 5 punchouts. The velocity remains, but his slider and changeup are no longer missing enough bats to support an ace-level strikeout line. Cincinnati can swing through pitches, but Castillo likely needs close to six full innings to get there, and the recent contact and run damage create an early-hook path that also favors the under. At nearly even money, I'm betting the decline is real for another night.

GARY'S PICK

LUIS CASTILLOPITCHER EARNED RUNS OVER 2.5

MLBChicago White Sox· +105

Castillo has allowed at least three earned runs in four straight starts, surrendering eight home runs during that stretch. Left-handed hitters own an .887 OPS with thirteen homers against him, and Cincinnati can send five left-handed or switch-hitting bats into the matchup. The Reds also built tonight's lineup around hitters with prior success against Castillo, while Elly De La Cruz and Eugenio Suárez both took him deep when they saw him three weeks ago. With the park playing slightly toward offense and the wind heading out, getting plus money on three Cincinnati runs charged to Castillo is enough for me.

THE LONG SHOT

WILYER ABREUHR OVER 0.5

MLBBoston Red Sox· +488

Abreu is the hottest power bat on this field tonight and it isn't close. Six home runs in his last fifteen games, two more in the last week alone, and he's squaring balls up at better than 93 miles an hour on average — that's not empty contact, that's a guy seeing it well and driving it. He's left-handed, and Soriano has been getting hammered by lefties all year — ten home runs allowed in 255 at-bats against them, compared to just two in 208 at-bats against righties. Put Abreu's current stretch up against that specific hole in Soriano's game and plus-money on the over is too good to pass.

THE LONG SHOT

JUNIOR CAMINEROHR OVER 0.5

MLBTampa Bay Rays· +450

Junior Caminero has run into six home runs in his last fifteen games, three of them in the last week alone, and two of those came against this same Athletics pitching staff already this series — a three-run shot in the opener Monday, a two-run blast Tuesday. That's not empty power either: three barrels in nineteen batted balls over his last two weeks, a 92 mile-an-hour average exit velocity. Now he draws Jack Perkins, a converted reliever who has allowed a home run in four of his last six starts and gets hit for an .802 OPS by right-handed bats like Caminero's. Sutter Health Park plays hitter-friendly, it's a warm afternoon in Sacramento, and this Rays offense has already hung twenty-two runs on Oakland through two games of this set. Caminero isn't waiting on a mistake right now — he's finding one most nights. Take the home run at plus money.

THE LONG SHOT

JACKSON MERRILLHR OVER 0.5

MLBSan Diego Padres· +700

Jackson Merrill has gone deep in three of his last four games, and one of those swings — a 431-foot missile off Logan Henderson — already beat this same Brewers club earlier in the series. This isn't a hot streak I'm chasing blind. The underlying contact backs it up: five barrels on his last 21 balls in play and an average exit velocity sitting north of 96 miles an hour. That's a hitter squaring the ball up better than almost anyone in the league right now. The matchup sharpens it further. Dustin May has handled right-handed bats all year, sub-.220 against them, but left-handed hitters have hit .272 with a .747 OPS and taken him deep six times. Merrill bats left, is seeing the ball as well as he has all season, and draws a pitcher who's shown real vulnerability to exactly his swing. Petco plays big and the marine air knocks down some fly balls, but Merrill's the rare bat whose contact quality travels anywhere. Plus-money on a hitter this locked in against a favorable platoon is a price worth taking.

THE LONG SHOT

EUGENIO SUAREZHR OVER 0.5

MLBCincinnati Reds· +440

Five barrels on his last fourteen batted balls tells you more than the batting average does. He's got three home runs in his last week and change, and the swing is clearly in mid-season form even if the season-long line doesn't show it yet. Castillo's supposed to handle righties better than lefties, but a 5.30 ERA and hitters squaring him up at a 41 percent hard-hit rate all year says this isn't a pitcher anyone should feel safe against, regardless of which side of the plate you're standing on. Suarez is hot at exactly the wrong time for Castillo, and +440 undersells it.

THE LONG SHOT

DILLON DINGLERHR OVER 0.5

MLBDetroit Tigers· +520

Foster Griffin's issue since he got here hasn't been stuff, it's been the long ball — his Cleveland debut was two homers and five runs before he got through four innings, and the read on him all year is the same: leave a cutter over the plate and it leaves the yard. Dingler's the guy in this lineup most likely to make him pay for it. He's got four barreled balls in his last 25 at the plate, two homers in his last week, and he's swinging a bat that looks nothing like his season line right now. Right-handed against a lefty who's historically been more hittable to that side, in a lineup full of them. Comerica plays big, but this isn't a park-factor bet — it's a pitcher with a specific hole and a hitter squaring everything up.

THE LONG SHOT

GRIFFIN CONINEHR OVER 0.5

MLBMiami Marlins· +450

Conine is the hottest bat in this lineup right now — four home runs and a .909 OPS over his last fifteen days, backed up by a 95.7 mph average exit velo and three barrels in his last fifteen balls in play. He's locked into the three-hole and playing every day with Kyle Stowers out on the injured list with a hamstring strain, so the at-bats are secure, not a platoon share. The matchup sweetens it further: Carmen Mlodzinski gets hit hard by left-handed batters this season, a .771 OPS against, and his sinker specifically has been drilled for a .348 average and a .410 expected wOBA. Mlodzinski's last time out was a disaster — three innings, five earned runs, a homer allowed — and he's still finding his footing back in a rotation role after a long layoff and a demotion earlier this year. That's a lot of signal lined up in one direction for a hitter running this hot, and +450 pays well for it.

THE LONG SHOT

YANDY DIAZHR OVER 0.5

MLBTampa Bay Rays· +800

Yandy Diaz has been one of the best day-game hitters in baseball for years — a .346 average and .851 OPS when the first pitch comes before dark. He's hitting .333 with two home runs over his last week, fifteen hard-hit balls in his last twenty-six batted balls, and he's already gone deep in each of the first two games of this series. The matchup fits: Jack Perkins is a fly-ball pitcher with a 38 percent hard-hit rate allowed and seven home runs surrendered to right-handed hitters in just 150 at-bats, having given up a homer in four of his last six starts. Sutter Health Park plays hitter-friendly, it's a sunlit Sacramento afternoon, and Diaz has been squaring the ball up all series long. This is a good number for a hitter this locked in against a pitcher this hittable.

THE LONG SHOT

PETE CROW-ARMSTRONGHR OVER 0.5

MLBChicago Cubs· +285

Crow-Armstrong is running the best power stretch on this field tonight. Three homers in his last seven games, and the contact quality backs it up — five barrels on just 19 balls in play over that stretch, the top mark in either lineup. He hit a 437-foot blast last night and Counsell has been talking all week about the one-two punch he and Suzuki are forming at the top of the order. On the mound for Washington is Jackson Kent, making his major league debut against a Cubs lineup that has seen more pitches than any team in baseball this year — command is usually the first thing to go for a rookie arm in that spot, not stuff. Crow-Armstrong is finding the barrel on roughly a quarter of his balls in play right now. That's a bat I want at plus money against an unproven starter.

THE LONG SHOT

JULIO RODRIGUEZHR OVER 0.5

MLBSeattle Mariners· +400

Rodriguez is the hottest hitter in either lineup right now — two homers and a .946 OPS in his last seven games, three bombs in his last fifteen. He's chasing more than I'd like, but when he connects he's finding barrels, and Will Warren is exactly the pitcher to be aggressive against — a guy allowing hard contact on 42% of balls in play and carrying a 5.40 ERA over his last three starts. The wind's blowing out to left tonight too, a small added push for a right-handed hitter who does his damage to that side of the field.

THE LONG SHOT

MUNETAKA MURAKAMIHR OVER 0.5

MLBChicago White Sox· +250

Lowder's whole season comes down to one problem: left-handed hitters. They're slugging .838 against him with ten home runs in 215 at-bats, and Murakami's a lefty who's already got four homers in his last two weeks with the barreled balls to match. Yeah, the whiff rate is high — this isn't a contact bat. But a home run prop doesn't need a contact rate, it needs one swing, and Murakami's shown he's got that swing loaded up more than most in this lineup right now.

THE LONG SHOT

BRANDON LOWEHR OVER 0.5

MLBPittsburgh Pirates· +360

Lowe is carrying real thump into this one — four homers over his last fifteen days, two of them in the last week alone, with a 94.7 mph average exit velo backing up the power. He's a left-handed bat walking into exactly the matchup he wants: Janson Junk gets torched by lefties this year, a .320 average and .860 OPS against with six homers allowed in just 200 at-bats. Junk's slider and sweeper are the two pitches getting squared up hardest in his mix, and Lowe hits second tonight, so he's guaranteed a full look at both. Junk's barrel rate allowed is only middling, but a 41 percent hard-hit rate says contact against him is finding loud contact even when it's not a barrel. Add in a hitter-friendly park at loanDepot, and +360 is a fair number for a power bat this hot against a starter with this specific problem.

THE LONG SHOT

JOSH NAYLORHR OVER 0.5

MLBSeattle Mariners· +560

Naylor sat Tuesday with the wrist barking, and he's in the lineup tonight anyway — that tells me more than the injury tag does. Over his last week he's 4-for-13 with two homers and a 1.246 OPS, and the swing decisions back it up: he's whiffing on just 4% of his swings over the last two weeks, meaning he's controlling the zone and squaring balls up rather than just running hot. He's a lefty bat pulling into the short porch in right, and Warren has been leaking hard contact all year. Wrist or no wrist, the bat speed hasn't missed a beat.

THE LONG SHOT

MATT OLSONHR OVER 0.5

MLBAtlanta Braves· +290

Olson is tied for the major league home run lead and he's proving it every night right now — eight homers in his last fifteen games, four of them in the last week alone, and he added another one in the eighth inning last night to cap the win over the Mets. This isn't cheap contact either: he's averaging north of 93 miles an hour on exit velocity over that stretch with six barrels on just sixteen balls in play, about as efficient as contact gets. Zac Thornton has limited lefties to one homer in 48 at-bats this season on paper, but that's a thin sample against a hitter squaring up literally everyone right now, righty or lefty on the mound. Plus-290 for a bat running this hot is a number I want every night until he cools off.

THE LONG SHOT

MICKEY MONIAKHR OVER 0.5

MLBColorado Rockies· +850

Mickey Moniak is my favorite shot on this board. Merrill Kelly has been considerably more hittable against left-handed batters this season, allowing close to an .870 OPS with fifteen home runs surrendered to lefties, and Moniak fits that profile exactly. He's cleared this homer number three times in his last fifteen games, and he's swung the bat well in day games this year, which matters on this getaway-day matinee. Kelly's fastball and cutter have both been hit hard all season — hitters are batting over .340 against the fastball — and for as much as Kelly has owned this Rockies club historically, his actual home numbers this year are worse than his road numbers, a 5.77 ERA at Chase Field against 4.27 everywhere else. Moniak, in his best platoon look with real recent pop, is the one I want most at plus-850.

THE LONG SHOT

SEIYA SUZUKIHR OVER 0.5

MLBChicago Cubs· +355

Suzuki has been quietly just as hot as Crow-Armstrong — a double and a homer last night, and a .921 OPS with two long balls over his last 15 games. He's a right-handed bat facing a left-hander making his first career start, and this Cubs lineup is brutal on pitchers seeing them for the first time; Jake Irvin needed 88 pitches to survive 3.1 innings against this same group just last night. Suzuki isn't chasing much right now, and he's coming off one of his better contact stretches of the year. I like backing the hottest lineup in baseball against a rookie arm that's never faced live big-league hitters before, and Suzuki's doing damage right behind Crow-Armstrong in that order.

THE LONG SHOT

RANDY AROZARENAHR OVER 0.5

MLBSeattle Mariners· +492

Nobody on this board is running hotter in the power column than Arozarena — four home runs in his last fifteen games, and he already got to Ryan Weathers for one last night in this exact series. Seattle held onto him at the deadline while shopping other pieces, which says the front office still views him as the engine of this lineup even in the middle of a five-game skid. Wind's blowing out to left tonight, which sets up well for a right-handed pull hitter, and Warren — who he'll see the first time through the order — has allowed hard contact on 42% of balls in play this season.

THE LONG SHOT

RHYS HOSKINSHR OVER 0.5

MLBCleveland Guardians· +559

Hoskins has been the best swing in Cleveland's lineup the last two weeks — an OPS pushing 1.000, hitting the ball as hard as anyone on this roster, and chasing less than he has all season. Framber Valdez is rolling, sub-2 ERA over his last three starts, but he's a sinkerballer who pitches to soft contact and ground balls — when he does miss over the plate, hitters have hit it hard, his ERA just hasn't caught up to it yet. Comerica isn't generous to power, and Valdez doesn't hand out many barrels, but Hoskins doesn't need volume right now. He's seeing it well enough to be the exception.

THE LONG SHOT

LUIS GARCIA JR.HR OVER 0.5

MLBNew York Yankees· +370

Garcia's been the best bat in the Yankees lineup since the deadline deal brought him over from Washington — .295 with three homers and a .962 OPS over his last fifteen games. He's whiffing on just 12% of his swings in that stretch, elite contact for a power bat, and he's left-handed hitting into the shortest fence in the sport. Miller is walking into this start having lost velocity every month since May and having allowed a homer in five of his last six outings — exactly the kind of mistakes-over-the-plate pitcher a hot, disciplined bat like Garcia's is built to punish.

THE LONG SHOT

JESUS SANCHEZHR OVER 0.5

MLBToronto Blue Jays· +775

Sanchez doesn't get the attention the top of this lineup does, but look at what he's doing right now — three balls barreled up out of his last nine in play, exit velocity pushing 94 miles an hour. That's as live as anyone on this roster over the last week. He's left-handed against Suarez, and Suarez has actually been more hittable against lefties than righties this season, a wide split that runs backwards from what you'd expect in a same-side matchup. Sanchez fits the exact profile that's given Suarez trouble, he's mid-barrage right now, and almost eight-to-one for the over is a number I like a lot.

THE LONG SHOT

KETEL MARTEHR OVER 0.5

MLBArizona Diamondbacks· +850

Ketel Marte went deep last night and I like him to do it again this afternoon. He's cleared this homer number in three of his last fifteen games, and it's not empty box-score luck — he's barreling the ball at an excellent clip lately, three barrels in his last seventeen batted balls. Switching sides against Ryan Feltner erases any platoon concern, and there's no safe way to face Feltner right now regardless of which side of the plate a hitter stands on: he's been hit hard by lefties and righties alike this season, with ten home runs allowed over his last six starts and his two most-used pitches, the fastball and slider, both getting tagged all year. Marte is a switch-hitting middle-of-the-order bat riding real form against a starter who can't keep the ball in the park, and at plus-850 that's a number I want.

THE LONG SHOT

JARREN DURANHR OVER 0.5

MLBBoston Red Sox· +700

The batting average has cooled on Duran the last week, but the contact quality hasn't moved an inch — he's still barreling balls at better than 93 miles an hour on average, as hard as anybody in this lineup. He's a lefty walking into the same soft spot that makes Abreu attractive: Soriano has allowed ten homers to left-handed hitters this year against only two to righties. Duran's own homer total has been quieter the last couple weeks, but the exit velocity says the ball is still coming off his bat hot, and seven-to-one on one swing finding the seats against a pitcher this beatable from the left side is a number worth taking.

THE LONG SHOT

SAL STEWARTHR OVER 0.5

MLBCincinnati Reds· +525

Four homers and an .835 OPS over his last two weeks is a hitter who's found something, and the price hasn't caught up to it. Righty-on-righty against Castillo isn't the ideal look on paper, but Castillo doesn't have an ideal look for anybody right now — 41 percent hard-hit for the season, a 5.30 ERA, and a short leash that's had him out of games by the fifth inning his last few turns. Stewart's running hot enough that +525 is more about what the market assumes from a corner bat than what he's actually doing at the plate right now.

THE LONG SHOT

HUNTER GOODMANHR OVER 0.5

MLBColorado Rockies· +550

Hunter Goodman is Colorado's most dangerous bat and I don't mind paying a shorter price for real power in a good spot. He's cleared this homer total twice in his last fifteen games, he's been squaring the ball up well recently with a strong barrel rate, and today he's the DH rather than the catcher, so his only job is to hit. Merrill Kelly's contact numbers allowed this season are shakier than his ERA suggests — a hard-hit rate over forty-four percent, with hitters batting over .340 against his fastball — and Goodman is exactly the kind of bat that turns a mistake pitch into a souvenir. He's handled day games well this season too. Plus-550 isn't a longshot number, but Goodman is a legitimate power threat in a favorable matchup, and I want that in the mix.

THE LONG SHOT

YORDAN ALVAREZHR OVER 0.5

MLBHouston Astros· +600

Yordan Alvarez has gone quiet on the power the last week — no homers in his last seven games — but the underlying swing hasn't gone anywhere. He's still barreling balls up at better than 94 mph on average, and a .931 OPS over his last fifteen tells you the bat speed and the eye are both there; the ball just hasn't carried yet. That's exactly the kind of cold streak that ends against a pitcher like Adrian Houser. Houser is walking back into a rotation spot today for the first time since June, and lefties have eaten him alive all season — a .927 OPS and a dozen home runs allowed in just 223 at-bats against left-handed hitters. His sinker gets put in play hard, and his curveball has been batting-practice bad against that side. Alvarez, hitting second, gets at least two competitive looks at him before the hook comes — Houser's second trip through this lineup is about where his pitch count runs out. Push it further and the arms waiting behind him in that Giants pen have been bleeding runs all series. Add in Alvarez's track record in day baseball, where he's been a different hitter with the sun up, and this is a buy-low spot on a bat that's due. Yordan Alvarez over 0.5 home runs.

THE LONG SHOT

ALEX BREGMANHR OVER 0.5

MLBChicago Cubs· +540

Bregman is mashing right now — nine hits in his last 27 at-bats with two homers, including the game-tying shot off Toronto's closer last week, and he went deep again last night in Washington. Twelve hard-hit balls in his last 27 balls in play and a whiff rate sitting at just 5 percent tells me he's barely missing anything right now. He draws a rookie making his major league debut tonight, which is a command question more than a stuff question at this level. At this price I'm fine taking a hot bat against a completely unproven arm.

THE LONG SHOT

CHRISTIAN ENCARNACION-STRANDHR OVER 0.5

MLBOrioles· +800

One prop on the board tonight, and it's a longshot with a real case underneath it. Christian Encarnacion-Strand has gone deep in just one of his last fifteen games, but that one came last night — a 460-foot blast to center field — and his underlying contact backs up more than a single swing: two barrels on his last thirteen balls in play with average exit velocity pushing 90 mph. That's a hitter squaring the ball up right before the counting stats catch up. The matchup helps make the case. Zebby Matthews has been homer-prone all year, especially against right-handed bats — nine home runs allowed in just 162 at-bats from that side, with a 12.3 percent barrel rate allowed that puts him among the more hittable starters Baltimore will see this series. He's also working through a foot blister that cut his last outing short, which raises the odds of a pitch left over the plate today. Warm conditions at Target Field, near 86 degrees, add carry on top of that. I don't love the wind holding in from center, which trims a little off anything hit to the pull side, and a hitter with one homer in his last fifteen games has to be respected as cold. But the price accounts for it. At plus-800 I only need this to land once in nine or ten tries to break even, and Encarnacion-Strand's recent contact quality against a homer-prone arm gets me there.

THE LONG SHOT

NOLAN ARENADOHR OVER 0.5

MLBArizona Diamondbacks· +800

Nolan Arenado is locked in right now, and I want a piece of him going deep again. He put a grand slam into the seats Monday and has gone deep four times in his last fifteen games, the kind of stretch that tells you the swing is right regardless of what the season-long batting line says. The matchup sets up about as well as it gets: Ryan Feltner has allowed ten home runs across his last six starts, a stretch that includes a 6.61 ERA over his last three outings alone, and he's been especially hittable against right-handed bats, who own close to a .900 OPS against him this year. Feltner's fastball and slider — his two most-used pitches — have both been hit hard all season, and Arenado has made a living turning mistakes in the zone into souvenirs. Chase Field plays hitter-friendly overall, and with the roof closed and no wind to knock anything down, a professional hitter seeing the ball this well against a pitcher who can't keep it in the yard is worth the price at plus-800.

THE LONG SHOT

CJ ABRAMSHR OVER 0.5

MLBWashington Nationals· +555

Abrams already went deep last night, driving in a run in the first inning, and he's carrying an .810 OPS over his last week. David Peterson has actually allowed more home runs per at-bat to left-handed hitters than right-handers this season — five in 135 at-bats, or one every 27 trips — even though his overall numbers against lefties look better on the surface. Abrams sits right in that bucket, and Peterson's hard-hit rate allowed is sitting at 41.5 percent, so even in a strong recent run he's still getting hit hard when he misses a spot. Abrams is seeing the ball well right now, and the exit velocity has been there to back it up.

THE LONG SHOT

TRENT GRISHAMHR OVER 0.5

MLBNew York Yankees· +290

Grisham doesn't have the gaudy recent average, but the process underneath is trending the right way — three barrels in his last 22 balls in play with an 18% whiff rate, both signs he's squaring the ball up more than the box score shows. Two homers in his last fifteen games, leading off into a short right-field porch built for a lefty stroke like his. Miller's stuff has been sliding for six weeks — fastball down close to two ticks from where it sat in May, breaking balls flattening out with it, and he's openly admitted his second half hasn't gone his way. That's the profile of a pitcher who gets punished for mistakes, and Grisham's seeing the ball well enough right now to make him pay.

THE LONG SHOT

VLADIMIR GUERRERO JR.HR OVER 0.5

MLBToronto Blue Jays· +600

Vlad's swing decisions the last couple weeks have been about as good as I've seen from him — an eleven percent chase rate says he's only pulling the trigger on pitches he can do something with, and when he connects it's with real carry. The one mark against him is the platoon — Suarez has been considerably tougher on right-handed hitters than lefties this year. But Suarez hasn't had a clean handle on his stuff since coming back from the groin issue, quick hooks in two of his last three starts and his own dugout saying as much out loud this week. A pitcher without his best command evens out a lot of platoon math, and Vlad's too dangerous a bat to leave off the board at plus-six-hundred.

THE LONG SHOT

FRANCISCO LINDORHR OVER 0.5

MLBNew York Mets· +444

Lindor has been the best bat in this lineup for two weeks running — three homers over his last fifteen games with the exit velocity to match, north of 91 miles an hour on average with real barrel contact behind it. Tyler Mahle has actually been a bit tougher on left-handed swings than right-handed ones since landing in Atlanta, and Lindor bats lefty against a right-hander, so I won't pretend this is a platoon edge. But his form is carrying him past that — he's sitting on a stretch close to a 1.000 OPS over the last week, and Mahle is still searching for consistency in his first extended run with his new team. Plus-444 for a switch-hitter this locked in is worth the number.

THE LONG SHOT

GAVIN SHEETSHR OVER 0.5

MLBSan Diego Padres· +850

Gavin Sheets isn't hitting for average right now — a .143 mark over his last week says as much — but average was never the point with this bat. Three barrels on just eleven balls in play in that same stretch tells the better story: when Sheets connects, he connects hard, cold average or not. Dustin May's split against lefties is the door I'm walking through — a .747 OPS and six home runs allowed to left-handed bats this season, notably more generous than what he's shown against the right side all year. Sheets doesn't need a hot week to cash this, he needs one mistake pitch, and the matchup hands him a pitcher who's leaked power to his side of the plate all season. Plus-850 is full value for a bat with real pop working a favorable platoon, even sitting under a cold batting line.

THE LONG SHOT

DAYLEN LILEHR OVER 0.5

MLBWashington Nationals· +800

Lile's underlying contact numbers are the best of anybody in this game right now, Cubs included — 95.9 mph average exit velocity and three barrels on 18 balls in play over his last two weeks. Four homers in his last 15 games is a real power surge even with the batting average lagging behind it. He chases more than I'd like and won't grind out at-bats, but when he connects right now it's loud. He's a left-handed bat getting Peterson, who's allowing a homer roughly every 27 at-bats to lefties this season. At this price I only need this to hit once in a while, and the quality of contact he's putting on the ball lately says it's due.

THE LONG SHOT

RONALD ACUNA JR.HR OVER 0.5

MLBAtlanta Braves· +370

Acuña has five homers over his last fifteen games and three of them came in the last week alone — a real power stretch even though the average has dipped alongside it. The underlying contact backs it up: his exit velocity is solid and he's putting up as much hard contact as almost anyone in either lineup right now, which says the swing is fine even if the batting average is lagging behind the power. He's gone quiet without a homer through the first two games of this series, but Thornton is a command-and-deception lefty who pitches to contact rather than trying to blow hitters away, and hitters seeing the ball this well tend to find one against that style. Plus-370 is a fair price to bet the stretch keeps going one more night.

GARY'S PICK

GEORGE KLASSENPITCHER WALKS OVER 2.5

MLBLos Angeles Angels· +120

Klassen has issued at least four walks in all three major-league starts, totaling 14 in just 8.2 innings. Even his improved outing in Miami included four free passes and required 83 pitches to finish four innings. Texas is sending six left-handed bats at him, including a patient top three capable of extending counts against a fastball that has struggled to generate chases. I only need three walks, and getting plus money on a number he has cleared every time is too generous.

GARY'S PICK

CAL QUANTRILLPITCHER WALKS UNDER 1.5

MLBTexas Rangers· -173

Quantrill has cleared this number only once in his last eight starts and has issued exactly one walk in each of his seven starts since returning to the rotation. The Angels are a favorable opponent for that profile: several hitters in the lower two-thirds of the order have elevated chase rates, while Quantrill can get them off the fastball with a splitter generating a 46.7% chase rate. The price is heavy, but fewer than two walks remains the cleanest way to back his strike-throwing advantage tonight.

GARY'S PICK

DANIEL LYNCH IVPITCHER EARNED RUNS UNDER 1.5

MLBKansas City Royals· +105

This comes down to whether the Dodgers can charge Lynch with two runs before his pitch count removes him. He is still being stretched back out after working in relief, threw only 35 pitches in his first start, and is returning on four days’ rest. Kansas City has no reason to force length from him tonight. The matchup also protects him. Five of the first eight Dodgers bat left-handed, while lefties have managed a .150 average, a .388 OPS and zero home runs against Lynch this season. His slider owns a 39.1% whiff rate and .231 expected wOBA, giving him a legitimate weapon against Ohtani, Freeman, Tucker and Muncy. Pages and Betts are the dangerous pockets, but I’m getting plus money on Lynch allowing no more than one earned run during a deliberately limited assignment.

GARY'S PICK

JAC CAGLIANONETOTAL BASES OVER 1.5

MLBKansas City Royals· +128

I’m not letting the lefty-lefty label hide the actual matchup. Left-handed hitters have produced a .932 OPS against Lauer, with six home runs in only 75 at-bats. His four-seam fastball, which he throws more than any other pitch, has allowed a .416 expected wOBA. That is a dangerous combination against the hardest contact in either lineup. Caglianone is 13-for-27 with three homers over the last week and has five homers in 55 at-bats over the last 15 days. His recent average exit velocity is 96.9 mph, and he has already gone 4-for-8 with a homer and four RBIs in this series. The wind is carrying toward center, and this ticket can cash with one extra-base hit or two singles. He has cleared this number in nine of his last 15, so getting +128 in this specific matchup is enough for me.

Research

169

TEAM RECORDTB @ OAK
Athletics 0-8 in Jack Perkins's last 8 starts
Eight starts, zero wins, and it's never the same excuse twice with Oakland — cold bats one night, a bullpen that can't hold a lead the next, shaky defense mixed in throughout. That's a fifth-day problem the club hasn't solved all year, and Tampa Bay is just the next team to see it up close.
CUT LISTLAA tonight
George Klassen
Klassen starts tonight sitting on a 7.27 ERA, and his xERA is actually higher, 7.81 — only a 0.54 gap between the two. When I go looking for a guy getting unfairly judged by a bloated ERA, that's not this. The process and the results agree with each other, and what they agree on is that he's been bad. There's no hidden version of this pitcher throwing better than the line says. CUT — the numbers aren't hiding anything good.
PLATOON EDGEPIT @ MIA
Griffin Conine (bats L) hits 3rd against Carmen Mlodzinski (RHP)
Conine mashes right-handed pitching for real, not on a small sample, and hitting third against Mlodzinski guarantees him three or four looks with traffic in front of him. About as clean a platoon setup as this lineup offers — he's stacked right where he'll see the most of a pitcher who throws from his good side.
P 2-for-2, 6 TB, 3 BB
TEAM RECORDKC @ LAD
Dodgers 7-1 in Eric Lauer's last 8 starts
Seven times out of eight, the Dodgers have found a way to get Lauer to the finish line with a win attached — runs, length from the pen, clean defense, the same formula each time. Kansas City is walking into a pattern that's held basically all season.
TEAM RECORDSEA @ NYY
Mariners 1-7 in Bryce Miller's last 8 starts
Seattle's got one useful night out of Bryce Miller's last eight, and the other six have piled up recently, five losses bunched together rather than spread across the year. Nothing in that recent stretch points to New York being the place it turns.
TEAM RECORDBAL @ MIN
Orioles 1-7 in Shane Baz's last 8 starts
One win in eight says whatever Baltimore did right that night hasn't been found again — four straight the same way since then. Minnesota's now the team asking whether that single good night was a real answer or just a blip.
TEAM RECORDBOS @ TOR
Red Sox 7-1 in Ranger Suarez's last 8 starts
Boston shows up almost every time Suarez takes the ball — enough offense, a bullpen that finishes it, defense that doesn't hand anything back. Five straight wins inside that run says it's sharpening, not cooling, right as Toronto gets a look at it.
TEAM RECORDHOU @ SF
Giants 1-7 in Adrian Houser's last 8 starts
Giants are 1-7 in Adrian Houser's last 8 starts this season. He starts tonight.
PLATOON EDGECHC @ WSH
Brady House (bats R) gets a LHP from the 3rd spot
House is the rare right-handed bat who actually prefers lefties, and Peterson gives him exactly that look from the three-hole. Multiple at-bats guaranteed against his best matchup before Washington ever needs a same-side reliever.
P 1-for-5, 1 TB
HEAD-TO-HEADCLE @ DET
Guardians are 6-1 vs Tigers this season
6-1 is a real gap, but a two-run loss in the most recent meeting says Detroit's had chances, not that they've been buried. Seven games, seven different starters — none of that history walks through the door with tonight's lineups on its own.
PLATOON EDGECHC @ WSH
Dylan Crews (bats R) gets a LHP from the 1st spot
Dylan Crews's vs. Left line (.916 OPS, 86 AB) sits well above his .538 mark the other way (171 AB). Tonight's starter David Peterson throws LHP, the hand he hits best.
P 0-for-5, 0 TB
PLATOON EDGEMIL @ SD
Andrew Vaughn (bats R) hits 3rd against Robbie Ray (LHP)
Vaughn against a lefty is a completely different hitter than Vaughn against a righty, and Ray hands him that look all night from the third spot. This is Vaughn's matchup to win before anything else in the game even happens.
P 0-for-4, 0 TB
PLATOON EDGEPHI @ STL
Alec Burleson (bats L) hits 3rd against Zack Wheeler (RHP)
Burleson's edge against right-handers is real and built on volume, and hitting third against Wheeler means three-plus looks with the top of the order on ahead of him. A right-handed arm is exactly the matchup that's produced his best numbers all year.
P 2-for-3, 3 TB
CUT LISTARI tonight
Merrill Kelly
Kelly's ERA reads 4.88 tonight, the kind of number that lets an owner talk themselves into one more start. His xERA says 6.98 — a 2.10-run gap, the widest on this list, and it's a full-season number, not a small-sample blip. The results have been running way ahead of the process, and he takes the ball again tonight still getting full credit for it. CUT — sell the ERA before that 2.10-run gap closes on its own.
COOLING OFFPIT @ MIA
Esmerlyn Valdez: .477 OPS in L15 — draws RHP Janson Junk
This is the rare cold streak where the matchup makes it worse instead of better — Valdez already struggles with right-handers relative to his season number, and Junk brings exactly that look. No favorable side of the plate to hide on tonight.
P 1-for-3, 1 TB
COOLING OFFPIT @ MIA
Otto Lopez: .483 OPS in L15 — draws RHP Carmen Mlodzinski
Three-plus weeks cold, and Mlodzinski isn't the reason — Lopez's numbers against right-handers barely dip off his season line, so this would look the same against a lefty. He has to find the barrel himself tonight; the matchup won't do it for him.
P 0-for-5, 0 TB
PLATOON EDGEPIT @ MIA
Brandon Lowe (bats L) draws Janson Junk (RHP), batting 2nd
Lowe's blended season line is misleading — strip out the lefty at-bats and he's a much better hitter against right-handers, which is exactly what Junk brings. Batting second guarantees him multiple looks, with a real shot at a runner already on ahead of him.
P 1-for-4, 1 TB
TEAM RECORDHOU @ SF
Astros 2-6 in Bryan King's last 8 starts
Houston's offense or its bullpen has let King down in six of his last eight turns, often enough now that it looks like the pattern rather than a stretch of bad luck. San Francisco gets a club still chasing its third win behind him in that span.
TEAM RECORDKC @ LAD
Royals 6-2 in Daniel Lynch IV's last 8 starts
KC's found something behind Lynch, 6-2 in his last eight, but they're walking into a Dodgers team running the same kind of trend behind their own starter tonight. Two good patterns colliding — I wouldn't assume either just wins by default.
COOLING OFFTEX @ LAA
Zach Neto: .418 OPS in L15 — draws RHP Cal Quantrill
Neto's slide isn't about the matchup — his production against right-handers tracks almost identically to his season line, so this would look the same against a lefty. Nearly sixty plate appearances of cold points to a swing that's drifted, and tonight's matchup is neutral ground while he sorts it out.
P 0-for-3, 0 TB, 1 BB
PLATOON EDGECHC @ WSH
Carson Kelly (bats R) draws Jackson Kent (LHP), batting 4th
Kelly's season average buries a real split in his favor against lefties, and Kent gives him that look from the cleanup spot. Batting fourth means he's stepping in with the best chance all night of finding runners on base.
P 0-for-4, 0 TB, 1 BB
HEAD-TO-HEADKC @ LAD
Dodgers are 4-0 vs Royals this season
Four meetings, four Dodgers wins, but a one-run finish last time out says Kansas City's been right there late each time, not overmatched. Nothing about how those four games actually finished suggests LA needs anything to go their way to make it five.
TEAM RECORDPIT @ MIA
Pirates 6-2 in Carmen Mlodzinski's last 8 starts
Pittsburgh plays a cleaner, more complete game on Mlodzinski's turns — 6-2 in his last eight starts. That identity travels with them to Miami tonight, and it's worth more than their overall record.
HEAT CHECKBAL @ MIN
Royce Lewis: 1.088 OPS in Last 15 Days
Fifty-four plate appearances over two weeks with an OPS three hundred points above his own season mark isn't a heater that's due to snap back, and thirteen home runs on the year says this is legitimate power, not seeing-eye hits. Baltimore's going to give him pitches to hit tonight, and 1.5 total bases isn't much to ask from a bat doing this.
P 2-for-5, 4 TB
PLATOON EDGECIN @ CHW
Andrew Benintendi (bats L) gets a RHP from the 3rd spot
Benintendi's gap against right-handers is wide and built on real innings, not a hot two weeks, and hitting third against Lowder guarantees him the volume to cash in on it. Preferred hand plus a lineup spot built for at-bats — that's the whole case tonight.
P 0-for-3, 0 TB
COOLING OFFSEA @ NYY
Ben Rice: .419 OPS in L15 — draws RHP Bryce Miller
Here's the disconnect: right-handed pitching is actually where Rice has done his best work all year, and that's exactly the look Miller gives him. This reads like results lagging behind quality contact more than a broken swing — he's live to reconnect tonight.
P 2-for-4, 3 TB, 1 BB
PLATOON EDGEPHI @ STL
Bryce Harper (bats L) gets a RHP from the 3rd spot
Harper against right-handed pitching is about as strong a split as you'll find anywhere, and Leahy hands him that look for nine innings. Hitting third in front of the most traffic in the lineup, this is the good matchup from the first pitch.
P 1-for-2, 2 TB, 2 BB
BULLPENBOS @ TOR
Toronto Blue Jays pen: 14.7 relief IP over their last 3 games
Toronto spread this work across nine different arms rather than leaning on one or two, so there's no single obvious hole in that pen tonight. Woods Richardson's 45-pitch bulk outing likely earns him a night off, which leaves Fisher, Rogers, Little, and Miles as the group actually available if Boston makes this a bullpen game early — and Little and Miles are carrying the lightest loads of that bunch.
PLATOON EDGEHOU @ SF
Yordan Alvarez (bats L) gets a RHP from the 2nd spot
Yordan Alvarez's vs. Right line (1.140 OPS, 312 AB) sits well above his .838 mark the other way (120 AB). Tonight's starter Adrian Houser throws RHP, the hand he hits best.
P 1-for-3, 1 TB, 1 BB
HR THREATRed Sox @ Blue Jays
Wilyer Abreu
Gary's Take Abreu is the hottest power bat on this field tonight and it isn't close. Six home runs in his last fifteen games, two more in the last week alone, and he's squaring balls up at better than 93 miles an hour on average — that's not empty contact, that's a guy seeing it well and driving it.
P 0 HR — 1-for-4, 2 TB
STARTER FORMCLE @ DET
Foster Griffin: 7.88 ERA over his last 3 starts
Twenty-two hits allowed in sixteen innings over his last three starts is loud contact, not the quiet a 3.31 season ERA would suggest, and fourteen earned runs in that span works out to well over four runs a night. That's a 4.57-run swing between this stretch and his season number, one of the widest gaps a pitcher can carry, and it's what's actually on the mound when Cleveland and Detroit meet tonight.
P 5 IP, 1 ER, 3 K
STREAKSEA @ NYY
SEA have lost 5 straight
5 losses in a row for SEA, a -19 run margin across the slide — they limp in 3-7 over their last 10.
P team lost 5-10
HEAT CHECKKC @ LAD
Jac Caglianone: 1.141 OPS in Last 15 Days
The power was never the question with that home run total already on the ledger — now the average is spiking right alongside it, which says the swing's more efficient, not just lucky. A 1.5 total bases line in LA is a soft number for a bat running this hot.
P 1-for-4, 1 TB
HEAT CHECKHOU @ SF
Cam Smith: 1.071 OPS in Last 15 Days
Tightest sample in this group, so it's fair to wonder how much is a two-week heater — but the power he's already banked this season says the tool's been there the whole time. A 0.5 total bases number in San Francisco is about as low a bar as it gets for a hitter seeing it this well.
P 0-for-3, 0 TB
HEAT CHECKMIL @ SD
Jackson Merrill: 1.004 OPS in Last 15 Days
This is the deepest playing-time sample of the bunch, which makes it one of the more trustworthy reads here — full-time at-bats, not a hot week off limited chances. Home against Milwaukee with the total bases line at 0.5, that should barely take an effort.
P 1-for-4, 2 TB
PLATOON EDGEBAL @ MIN
Trevor Larnach (bats L) hits 1st against Shane Baz (RHP)
Baltimore's leading off with their lefty bat against a right-hander tonight, and that puts Larnach in the exact matchup where he does his damage, with extra at-bats to make it count. Every trip to the plate tonight comes from the side of the plate that favors him.
P 1-for-5, 1 TB
COOLING OFFNYM @ ATL
Drake Baldwin: .542 OPS in L15 — draws LHP Zac Thornton
Baldwin's rough patch doesn't mean anything's broken — his numbers against lefties run only a bit below his season line, so Thornton's a moderate step down in difficulty, not a true get-right spot. More likely path from here is back toward his season form than further down.
P 3-for-4, 3 TB
FANTASY PICKUPSTEX @ LAA
Brandon Nimmo
Hitting in the 2-hole with a .278 average and a .793 OPS is already an everyday floor, and tonight he draws George Klassen, who's getting lit up to a 7.8 xERA. That's as green a light as this slate hands out. Must-add in every format — get the claim in now.
COOLING OFFCLE @ DET
Brayan Rocchio: .375 OPS in L15 — draws LHP Framber Valdez
The dip against lefties is real but modest, so Valdez adds a bit of friction on top of an already cold bat rather than explaining the whole slump. This looks more like a swing out of sync than bad luck — he needs to simplify, not force it, against a tough lefty tonight.
P 1-for-5, 1 TB
PLATOON EDGEHOU @ SF
Jeremy Pena (bats R) hits 1st against Adrian Houser (RHP)
Over 226 AB vs. Right, Jeremy Pena owns a .878 OPS versus .627 in 63 AB the other way. He sees RHP Adrian Houser tonight hitting 1st, where the platoon side lines up his way.
P 1-for-4, 2 TB
PLATOON EDGETB @ OAK
Liam Hicks (bats L) hits 4th against Jack Perkins (RHP)
Over 291 AB vs. Right, Liam Hicks owns a .876 OPS versus .534 in 84 AB the other way. He sees RHP Jack Perkins tonight hitting 4th, where the platoon side lines up his way.
P 3-for-5, 7 TB
HR THREATRays @ Athletics
Junior Caminero
Gary's Take Junior Caminero has run into six home runs in his last fifteen games, three of them in the last week alone, and two of those came against this same Athletics pitching staff already this series — a three-run shot in the opener Monday, a two-run blast Tuesday. That's not empty power either: three barrels in nineteen batted balls over his last two weeks, a 92 mile-an-hour average exit velocity.
P 0 HR — 2-for-5, 2 TB
BALLPARKBAL @ MIN
Zebby Matthews's ERA drops to 2.84 at Target Field
Matthews at Target Field is close to a different pitcher than Matthews anywhere else — 2.84 across six home starts against 7.13 on the road, with hitters down at .237 in that building over 38 innings. That's the version Baltimore runs into tonight, the one that's actually held up his end all season.
P 5 IP, 4 ER, 4 K
COOLING OFFBOS @ TOR
Ernie Clement: .446 OPS in L15 — draws LHP Ranger Suarez
Clement's numbers against lefties sit almost right on his season line, so Suarez isn't adding extra difficulty to this cold stretch — that rules out matchup trouble as the explanation. This is a swing that's temporarily out of rhythm, and tonight doesn't tip it either way.
P 1-for-3, 1 TB, 1 BB
PLATOON EDGECOL @ ARI
Mickey Moniak (bats L) gets a RHP from the 5th spot
Mickey Moniak's vs. Right line (.932 OPS, 226 AB) sits well above his .593 mark the other way (54 AB). Tonight's starter Merrill Kelly throws RHP, the hand he hits best.
P 1-for-4, 1 TB
HEAD-TO-HEADBAL @ MIN
Orioles are 5-2 vs Twins this season
Five wins in seven, including the most recent meeting, says Baltimore's had the better of this series with no sign of it turning back on its own. They're on the road tonight rather than hosting, but a gap built over seven games tends to say more about the team than about which side of the field they're standing on.
HEAD-TO-HEADBOS @ TOR
Blue Jays are 8-5 vs Red Sox this season
Thirteen meetings is close to a full head-to-head season, and 8-5 across that many games, different starters, different circumstances, is an edge that's been earned rather than a hot stretch waiting to correct. Toronto also took the last one by two runs, so this hasn't been one-sided even as they keep coming out ahead.
BULLPENCIN @ CHW
Chicago White Sox pen: 14 relief IP over their last 3 games
Seven arms have carried fourteen innings across three games for Chicago, and Newcomb and Hudson worked all three — zero rest for two of the arms they've leaned on most. If this game's still undecided by the middle innings, Cincinnati's looking at a pen that's short on anyone who's actually had a break.
BULLPENTEX @ LAA
Los Angeles Angels pen: 12.7 relief IP over their last 3 games
Four of the Angels' most-used relievers — Fermin, Natera, Murphy, Saucedo — all worked both of the last two days, which is most of the recent workload already spent before this game starts. Joyce, with one clean inning on fourteen pitches, is the one arm in that group that's actually rested if Texas turns this into a longer night.
HEAD-TO-HEADPIT @ MIA
Marlins are 4-1 vs Pirates this season
Marlins lead the season series 4-1 over Pirates. MIA won the last meeting 8-2.
FANTASY PICKUPSTEX @ LAA
Ezequiel Duran
Cleanup hitters see the RBI chances, and Duran's .272 average and .773 OPS out of the 4-hole line up perfectly against a Klassen arm that's bleeding runs at a 7.8 xERA. Must-add across the board — priority waiver claim tonight.
TWO STARTSLos Angeles Dodgers — week of 8/10
Blake Snell
Two starts this scoring week (second projected on rotation) — Tue 8/11 vs Royals (played), Sun 8/16 vs Brewers (proj). 2.34 xERA this season.
HR THREATBrewers @ Padres
Jackson Merrill
Gary's Take Jackson Merrill has gone deep in three of his last four games, and one of those swings — a 431-foot missile off Logan Henderson — already beat this same Brewers club earlier in the series. This isn't a hot streak I'm chasing blind.
P 0 HR — 1-for-4, 2 TB
REGRESSIONTB @ OAK
Jack Perkins: 7.04 ERA vs 4.18 xERA
10.8 strikeouts a nine and hard-contact numbers that sit right in the ordinary range don't square with an ERA in the sevens. A .261 average allowed against a .232 expected mark says the damage has come from where the ball's landing, not how hard it's been hit — and 4.18 is the number that actually lines up with his stuff facing Tampa Bay tonight.
P 5 IP, 6 ER, 2 K
CUT LISTCIN tonight
Hector Rodriguez
Still hitting 6th for CIN — 0.387 OPS, 0.118 AVG from the 6-hole.
CLOSER WATCHBAL @ MIN
Ryan Helsley / Andrew Kittredge
Shared ninth in BAL: Ryan Helsley 8 saves, Andrew Kittredge 6. The role is live.
COOLING OFFSEA @ NYY
Taylor Ward: .408 OPS in L15 — draws RHP Will Warren
Taylor Ward's .408 OPS over the last 15 days (42 PA) trails his .710 season mark, down 0.302. Tonight he draws RHP Will Warren — his weaker side: a .680 OPS vs RHP across 313 AB.
P 1-for-5, 1 TB
COOLING OFFCHC @ WSH
CJ Abrams: .682 OPS in L15 — draws LHP David Peterson
A .682 stretch only reads as a slump because his season number set the bar so high — but left-handed pitching is where his split dips the most, and Peterson is exactly that look. Expect a quieter night than his overall numbers would suggest.
P 0-for-3, 0 TB, 2 BB
BULLPENCHC @ WSH
Washington Nationals pen: 15.7 relief IP over their last 3 games
Washington's pen threw more total innings than anyone else in this group, but Mikolas, Dion, and Williams each ate real length on their own rather than getting stretched across back-to-back days — a sign at least one game already needed bulk work. Ribalta's sitting fresh on fifteen pitches, and whether Mikolas or Dion get called on again tonight probably comes down to how deep the starter gets against the Cubs.
STREAKSEA @ NYY
SEA games have gone UNDER 4 straight
The under has cashed 4 in a row in SEA games: 4.5 combined runs per game vs lines averaging 7.4. Tonight's number sits at 13.5.
P final total 15 vs 13.5
FANTASY PICKUPSCOL @ ARI
TJ Rumfield
Pickup vs Merrill Kelly (6.97 xERA) — .826 OPS, bats 3rd.
TWO STARTSMilwaukee Brewers — week of 8/10
Logan Henderson
Monday's Padres start is already in the books. What's left this week is Saturday against the Dodgers, and that's the one that matters for your lineup. 2.66 xERA is the lowest number on this whole list, and both of his starts came on the road. PLAN_AROUND, and I mean it - this is the arm you build the week around.
TWO STARTSSan Diego Padres — week of 8/10
Casey Mize
Two starts this scoring week — Mon 8/10 vs Brewers (played), Sun 8/16 at Guardians. 3.39 xERA this season.
BULLPENCLE @ DET
Detroit Tigers pen: 13 relief IP over their last 3 games
Detroit's leaned on just six arms across three games, and four of them — Holton, Sommers, Jansen, Finnegan — worked both of the last two days. Holton's pitched in all three for 3.3 innings, more than anyone else here, which leaves Waguespack and Madden as the only real length behind an early hook against Cleveland.
RUNNING GAMEPIT @ MIA
Miami Marlins like to run — Henry Davis (49% caught) is the wrong catcher to test
Miami tests everybody regardless of who's catching, and tonight that means running into a guy who's cut down basically half his attempts. Every stolen base try carries real risk of an out that can shut a Marlins rally down before it starts — watch the first attempt or two.
P Miami Marlins stole 0 bases
FANTASY PICKUPSTEX @ LAA
Jake Burger
Burger's the shakiest line of this group — .235 average, .707 OPS, hitting sixth — but the gap between that average and the OPS says there's some pop in the bat, and a Klassen start at 7.8 xERA gives him a real shot to cash in. Add him, but he's the last man off this board — matchup play, lower floor.
TWO STARTSToronto Blue Jays — week of 8/10
Dylan Cease
Tuesday's Red Sox start already happened. Sunday closes the week at home against the Yankees. 2.7 xERA is the second-best mark in this group, and both of his turns are at home. PLAN_AROUND - start him Sunday without a second thought.
HEAT CHECKNYM @ ATL
Matt Olson: 1.137 OPS in Last 15 Days
The smallest relative jump in this group, but only because the floor he jumped from was already elite — one of the league's most productive hitters just getting hotter. A 1.5 total bases line at home against the Mets is a floor for him right now, not a ceiling.
P 0-for-4, 0 TB
STARTER FORMSEA @ NYY
Bryce Miller: 6.32 ERA over his last 3 starts
A 1.21 WHIP isn't far enough off his usual 0.95 to explain a 6.32 ERA on traffic alone — the runs have crossed the plate faster than the baserunner count says they should, which points at contact quality rather than volume. His 3.08 season number is doing a lot of work right now for a stretch that hasn't looked anything like it.
P 6 IP, 5 ER, 5 K
STARTER FORMCHC @ WSH
David Peterson: 2.12 ERA over his last 3 starts
A 1.18 WHIP over his last three starts is well below his 1.50 season mark, and fourteen strikeouts across seventeen innings says he's missing more bats than a 5.35 ERA would ever suggest. Most of what's priced into this game still reflects that bloated season number, not the version of Peterson that's actually taken the mound against the Cubs lately.
P 5 IP, 3 ER, 6 K
TWO STARTSChicago White Sox — week of 8/10
Sean Burke
Two starts this scoring week — Tue 8/11 vs Reds (played), Sun 8/16 at Tigers. 3.54 xERA this season.
HEAT CHECKBOS @ TOR
Wilyer Abreu: 1.060 OPS in Last 15 Days
Tighter sample than most in this group, but the power he's already built this season says the driver behind it is real. A 1.5 total bases line in Toronto is well within range for a bat running this hot.
P 1-for-4, 2 TB
HEAT CHECKNYM @ ATL
Carson Benge: .987 OPS in Last 15 Days
A full two-week run with real plate-appearance volume behind it, not a couple of lucky nights — and he's already shown pop this season, so the authority's matching the average. A 1.5 total bases number in Atlanta is a light lift for where his swing is right now.
P 2-for-4, 3 TB
HEAT CHECKCLE @ DET
Steven Kwan: .946 OPS in Last 15 Days
Real signal over a healthy sample here — zone control and squared-up contact clicking together, not an empty stretch of seeing-eye singles. A 1.5 total bases number on the road in Detroit is a light ask for a bat seeing it this well.
P 1-for-3, 1 TB, 2 BB
BULLPENKC @ LAD
Los Angeles Dodgers pen: 12.7 relief IP over their last 3 games
Vesia and Dreyer both worked both of the last two days, so neither is a real multi-inning option for LA tonight. Halvorsen's eleven-pitch outing makes him the freshest arm in that group — if this stays tight late against Kansas City, that's a more likely landing spot than the arms already worn down from the week.
TWO STARTSMilwaukee Brewers — week of 8/10
Kyle Harrison
Harrison and fellow Brewer Henderson are working the same two opponents this week, Padres then Dodgers, just a day apart on each end. Tuesday's Padres start is already played; Sunday against the Dodgers is what's left, and it's a road start same as the first. 3.01 xERA, right there with Skubal and Skenes. PLAN_AROUND for Sunday against the Dodgers.
CLOSER WATCHPHI @ STL
Jhoan Duran
Duran's 25 saves against Kilian's 8 saves and 4 holds is a real hierarchy, not a shared job, and this pen isn't tagged as a committee. One outing in Philly's last three games has him fully rested, and the Phillies are -156 favorites tonight even on the road at St. Louis, so the math points to a lead for him to protect in the ninth. About as close to a lock as tonight offers - clear leader, fully rested, favored on the road. If he's somehow sitting in a shallow league, go get him; otherwise just ride him this week.
REGRESSIONCOL @ ARI
Merrill Kelly: 4.88 ERA vs 6.98 xERA
Kelly's strikeout rate has dropped to six a nine, and a 44.2% hard-hit rate with barrels near 13% are both toward the rough end of this group. Hitters are already at .274 against him, and the underlying numbers say .300 is closer to fair — the contact quality is the more honest read heading into tonight against Colorado, not the ERA in front of it.
P 5 IP, 6 ER, 2 K
CLOSER WATCHTB @ OAK
Bryan Baker
Baker's 34 saves next to Wells' 4 saves and 12 holds tells you Wells is the setup arm feeding him the ball, not competition for it. Zero outings in Tampa Bay's last three games and he's fully rested, so there's no fatigue question here, and the Rays are -186 at Oakland, about as heavy a favorite as the board offers tonight. Nothing to talk yourself out of - massive save lead, no real competition, fully rested, big favorite. Add-and-hold the rest of the week if he's somehow available; if you have him, just let him work.
COOLING OFFPHI @ STL
Brandon Marsh: .504 OPS in L15 — draws RHP Kyle Leahy
Brandon Marsh's .504 OPS over the last 15 days (53 PA) trails his .752 season mark, down 0.248. Tonight he draws RHP Kyle Leahy — his stronger side: a .791 OPS vs RHP across 318 AB.
P 0-for-2, 0 TB
CLOSER WATCHCOL @ ARI
Paul Sewald
Sewald's 24 saves to Garcia's 3 saves and 13 holds is the same shape as the Duran situation - Garcia's numbers read setup man, not challenger. No committee tag, zero outings in Arizona's last three games so he's fully rested, and the Diamondbacks are -164 at home over Colorado. Clean job, no fatigue, favored at home - I'd trust this save chance as much as any on the slate this week. Roster him and don't overthink it.
TWO STARTSLos Angeles Dodgers — week of 8/10
Tarik Skubal
Monday's Royals start is done. Saturday he's still at home, taking on the Brewers. 3.01 xERA, and he never leaves home all week. PLAN_AROUND - two home turns and the tier backs him.
TWO STARTSPittsburgh Pirates — week of 8/10
Paul Skenes
Tuesday's Marlins start already happened on the road. Sunday flips him home against the Red Sox. 3.01 xERA matches Skubal, and the week goes one road start, one home start. PLAN_AROUND for the Sunday date at home.
REGRESSIONNYM @ ATL
Zac Thornton: 2.52 ERA vs 4.63 xERA
A 1.07 WHIP looks like total command, but 39.8% hard contact and an 8.8% barrel rate are both just middling marks underneath it. The real story is .217 actual against .268 expected, the widest gap anywhere in this group — a lot of balls have found gloves that don't usually find them, and Atlanta's on the other end of however long that keeps up.
P 6 IP, 3 ER, 2 K
COOLING OFFPHI @ STL
Luis Arraez: .566 OPS in L15 — draws RHP Kyle Leahy
Luis Arraez's .566 OPS over the last 15 days (57 PA) trails his .781 season mark, down 0.215. Tonight he draws RHP Kyle Leahy — his stronger side: a .791 OPS vs RHP across 322 AB.
P 1-for-4, 2 TB
STARTER FORMTB @ OAK
Drew Rasmussen: 0.00 ERA over his last 3 starts
Zero earned runs across twenty innings with a 0.55 WHIP and twenty-seven strikeouts is about as clean as a three-start run gets — that's swing-and-miss stuff, not soft contact finding gloves. He was already sitting on one of the sharper season numbers around at 2.75, and he's been even better than that his last three times out.
P 5 IP, 2 ER, 3 K
TWO STARTSNew York Mets — week of 8/10
Christian Scott
Monday's Braves start already happened. Sunday he's home against the Nationals to close the week. 3.79 xERA is the highest number on this list by a wide margin, and he's the only STREAM_BOTH arm in the group - everyone else here is PLAN_AROUND. STREAM_BOTH - I'm judging the Nationals start on its own, not penciling him in as a lock all week.
COOLING OFFBAL @ MIN
Trevor Larnach: .465 OPS in L15 — draws RHP Shane Baz
A rough two weeks over a handful of at-bats doesn't erase a full season of production, and Larnach's walking into the exact pitcher hand he's handled best all year tonight. That's a cold stretch meeting about as good a matchup as he could ask for.
P 1-for-5, 1 TB
HEAT CHECKCHC @ WSH
Jacob Young: 1.108 OPS in Last 15 Days
That 1.108 OPS spans the last 15 days (29 PA) against a .719 season baseline, a 0.389 swing. He has 10 home runs on the season. His total-bases line tonight: 0.5.
P 2-for-5, 2 TB
TWO STARTSColorado Rockies — week of 8/10
Gabriel Hughes
Monday's Diamondbacks start is in the books. Saturday he's still on the road, moving on to the Giants. 3.04 xERA keeps him in the PLAN_AROUND tier, and both of his starts this week are away from home. PLAN_AROUND for Saturday against the Giants.
TWO STARTSSt. Louis Cardinals — week of 8/10
Hunter Dobbins
Two starts this scoring week — Mon 8/10 vs Phillies (played), Sun 8/16 at Cubs. 3.81 xERA this season.
STARTER FORMMIL @ SD
Dustin May: 1.59 ERA over his last 3 starts
Three earned runs across seventeen innings with sixteen strikeouts is a sharp break from whatever built a 4.30 season number — a 2.72-run swing between this stretch and the full season line. Going close to six innings a start has kept his bullpen quiet too, and the pitcher on the mound tonight looks like a meaningfully better version of the one his season stats describe.
P 7 IP, 1 ER, 6 K
COOLING OFFHOU @ SF
Jeremy Pena: .628 OPS in L15 — draws RHP Adrian Houser
Jeremy Pena's .628 OPS over the last 15 days (58 PA) trails his .823 season mark, down 0.195. Tonight he draws RHP Adrian Houser — his stronger side: a .878 OPS vs RHP across 226 AB.
P 1-for-4, 2 TB
TWO STARTSSan Francisco Giants — week of 8/10
Blade Tidwell
Monday's Astros start already happened at home. Saturday he stays home for the other side of Hughes' matchup - the Rockies come to him. 3.15 xERA, solidly inside PLAN_AROUND, and he doesn't leave home all week. PLAN_AROUND for Saturday against the Rockies.
FANTASY PICKUPSCOL @ ARI
Willi Castro
Pickup vs Merrill Kelly (6.97 xERA) — .752 OPS, bats 6th.
HEAT CHECKPHI @ STL
Bryson Stott: 1.011 OPS in Last 15 Days
The last 15 days sample runs 42 PA: a 1.011 OPS versus .760 for the season, 0.251 above his norm. He has 8 home runs on the season. His total-bases line tonight: 1.5.
P 1-for-4, 1 TB
HEAT CHECKTB @ OAK
Henry Bolte: .914 OPS in Last 15 Days
That .914 OPS spans the last 15 days (47 PA) against a .693 season baseline, a 0.221 swing. His total-bases line tonight: 0.5.
P 0-for-3, 0 TB, 1 BB
COOLING OFFCOL @ ARI
TJ Rumfield: .586 OPS in L15 — draws RHP Merrill Kelly
TJ Rumfield's .586 OPS over the last 15 days (49 PA) trails his .826 season mark, down 0.24. Tonight he draws RHP Merrill Kelly — his stronger side: a .873 OPS vs RHP across 291 AB.
P 1-for-4, 1 TB, 1 BB
STARTER FORMPIT @ MIA
Janson Junk: 2.13 ERA over his last 3 starts
His WHIP is actually a touch higher than his season mark of 1.36, so the difference isn't fewer runners — it's what's happened to them once they're on base. Eleven strikeouts across twelve-plus innings means he's still not pitching deep, averaging barely four innings a start, but he's kept this 2.13 mark well clear of the 4.63 he's carried for the season without cutting down on traffic.
P 6 IP, 1 ER, 2 K
COOLING OFFHOU @ SF
Bryce Eldridge: .612 OPS in L15 — draws LHP Bryan King
Bryce Eldridge's .612 OPS over the last 15 days (51 PA) trails his .775 season mark, down 0.163. Tonight he draws LHP Bryan King — his weaker side: a .724 OPS vs LHP across 77 AB.
P 0-for-3, 0 TB, 1 BB
HEAT CHECKTB @ OAK
Lawrence Butler: .822 OPS in Last 15 Days
That .822 OPS spans the last 15 days (50 PA) against a .629 season baseline, a 0.193 swing. He has 8 home runs on the season. His total-bases line tonight: 0.5.
P 1-for-4, 4 TB
REGRESSIONPHI @ STL
Kyle Leahy: 3.44 ERA vs 5.23 xERA
A 48.5% hard-hit rate is the highest mark anywhere in this group, and an 11% barrel rate backs it up — hitters are squaring him up regularly. The average allowed sits close to where it should, so what's actually held his ERA down is what's happened after contact, and that's the shakier part of the equation to carry into a start against Philadelphia.
P 5 IP, 1 ER, 6 K
HEAT CHECKCOL @ ARI
Willi Castro: .979 OPS in Last 15 Days
That .979 OPS spans the last 15 days (41 PA) against a .752 season baseline, a 0.227 swing. He has 13 home runs on the season. His total-bases line tonight: 0.5.
P 2-for-3, 3 TB, 1 BB
HEAT CHECKPHI @ STL
Alec Burleson: 1.018 OPS in Last 15 Days
That 1.018 OPS spans the last 15 days (48 PA) against a .830 season baseline, a 0.188 swing. He has 19 home runs on the season. His total-bases line tonight: 1.5.
P 2-for-3, 3 TB
PLATOON EDGETB @ OAK
Tyler Soderstrom (bats L) draws Drew Rasmussen (RHP), batting 2nd
Tyler Soderstrom carries a .856 OPS vs. Right (257 AB) against .722 the other way (131 AB), and faces RHP Drew Rasmussen from the 2nd spot — a split his blended season line may not reflect.
P 1-for-4, 2 TB
HEAT CHECKBAL @ MIN
Luke Keaschall: .923 OPS in Last 15 Days
Forty-four plate appearances over two weeks with the bat running two hundred points hot isn't one big night skewing things, that's trip after trip of better at-bats. Baltimore's pitching tonight doesn't erase two weeks of that, and 1.5 total bases is well within reach.
P 0-for-3, 0 TB
STARTER FORMCLE @ DET
Framber Valdez: 1.89 ERA over his last 3 starts
Nineteen innings, four runs, fifteen strikeouts over his last three starts — that's a workhorse missing bats and cleaning up after himself. Paired against Griffin's meltdown on the other side tonight, this is as lopsided a form gap as the slate has.
P 5.2 IP, 4 ER, 3 K
REGRESSIONTB @ OAK
Zack Gelof: .277 AVG vs .228 xBA
The power number lags even further behind the underlying contact than the average does, which says placement and timing are carrying this more than authority off the bat. Only 255 plate appearances behind it — I'd fade the shiny batting line on his props tonight and let the price cool first.
P 2-for-4, 5 TB
CLOSER WATCHCIN @ CHW
Grant Taylor / Bryan Hudson
This is the one muddy ninth inning of the four. Taylor's 6 saves and 8 holds to Hudson's 4 saves and 8 holds is inside a 2-save gap, which is exactly why it's tagged a committee. Taylor's also the one arm on this list with real recent mileage - 2 outings in the White Sox' last three games, including one just yesterday - while the White Sox are still favored -146 at home over Cincinnati. I want saves this week, but I'm not staking the week on Taylor alone - he's shared on paper and carrying more recent work than anyone else here. Roster both him and Hudson if you can; if you can only grab one, check who's actually trusted with the ball tonight before you spend the FAAB.
PLATOON EDGEBAL @ MIN
Dylan Beavers (bats L) draws Zebby Matthews (RHP), batting 5th
Dylan Beavers carries a .676 OPS vs. Right (164 AB) against .506 the other way (30 AB), and faces RHP Zebby Matthews from the 5th spot — a split his blended season line may not reflect.
P 1-for-3, 4 TB
TOMORROWBOS @ TOR
Max Scherzer: 7.25 ERA vs 5.44 xERA
The average he's allowing is only modestly out of line and hard contact sits at an unremarkable 37.3%, so this isn't hitters squaring him up start to start. An 11% barrel rate is the number that stands out — a handful of costly swings look like they're doing most of the work stretching this line two runs past where it should sit, and avoiding those specific at-bats matters more tomorrow than the overall contact rate.
COOLING OFFBAL @ MIN
Christian Encarnacion-Strand: .601 OPS in Last 15 Days
That .601 OPS spans the last 15 days (32 PA) against a .854 season baseline, a 0.253 drop.
P 0-for-4, 0 TB
TOMORROWBOS @ TOR
Max Scherzer: 7.25 ERA vs 5.43 xERA
Projected to start tomorrow vs BOS. A 7.25 ERA against a 5.43 expected ERA (1.82 run gap) — unlucky, due to bounce back. Opponents hit .278 vs .270 expected.
STARTER FORMTEX @ LAA
Cal Quantrill: 1.46 ERA over his last 3 starts
Across his last 3 starts (12.3 IP) he has a 1.46 ERA with a 0.65 WHIP (1.19 season) and 11 strikeouts — his season mark is 3.56, and that is where most lines still price him.
P 5 IP, 1 ER, 6 K
FANTASY PICKUPSTB @ OAK
Drew Rasmussen
2.75 ERA next to a 3.06 xERA — the process backs the results, this isn't lucky. A 9.4 K/9 and a 0.91 WHIP is swing-and-miss stuff with almost nobody reaching base, and he draws OAK today. That's as clean a number as you'll find on a STREAM-tier arm. Add him everywhere. STREAM tier plus a process-backed ERA is a priority add in any format today.
STARTER FORMCIN @ CHW
Rhett Lowder: 3.18 ERA over his last 3 starts
Across his last 3 starts (17 IP) he has a 3.18 ERA with a 0.82 WHIP (1.48 season) and 12 strikeouts — his season mark is 5.26, and that is where most lines still price him.
P 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 K
REGRESSIONTEX @ LAA
Wade Meckler: .305 AVG vs .257 xBA
Thinnest sample in this group at 196 plate appearances, and the average's running hotter relative to the power than anywhere else here — that's routine balls finding grass, not a power spike. I'd stay off the hot streak and lean the other way on his props tonight.
P 1-for-4, 1 TB, 1 BB
REGRESSIONCOL @ ARI
Mickey Moniak: .271 AVG vs .223 xBA
The power number is running even further ahead of the underlying contact than the average is, which points to a doubles-and-homers mirage more than a hits mirage. I'd rather fade the slugging props than the straight hits line here tonight.
P 1-for-4, 1 TB
BALLPARKKC @ LAD
Eric Lauer: 2.63 ERA in 4 games at Dodger Stadium — 5.69 everywhere else
Lauer's whole season looks different at Dodger Stadium — 2.63 across four home starts against 5.69 everywhere else, with hitters down at .210 there too. That's held across four separate outings, not two clean nights padding a number, and it's the version Kansas City runs into tonight rather than the one he's carried on the road.
P 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 6 K
REGRESSIONPIT @ MIA
Jake Mangum: .299 AVG vs .255 xBA
Across 353 plate appearances, Jake Mangum carries a .299 average versus a .255 xBA. His wOBA sits at .328 against a .290 expected (xwOBA). Statcast grades the quality of his contact rather than the results, and the expected marks sit below what he has actually posted.
P 0-for-4, 0 TB
REGRESSIONPIT @ MIA
Carmen Mlodzinski: 3.51 ERA vs 4.95 xERA
A 46.7% hard-hit rate is one of the higher marks in this group, but a 7.5% barrel rate says hitters have been squaring him up without getting the loft to turn it into real damage. A 1.36 WHIP means the traffic's still there, and the gap between .262 actual and .284 expected has been friendlier than it figures to stay against Miami.
P 2.1 IP, 4 ER, 1 K
CUT LISTSTL tonight
Kyle Leahy
Leahy's got the best surface number of the three, a 3.44 ERA, sitting under a 5.23 xERA — a 1.79-run gap. Smaller split than Kelly's, and 5.23 by itself isn't a disqualifying number, but it's still real separation between what's shown up in the box score and what the process says should have. Tonight's start just adds another data point to that same pattern. CUT — smaller gap than Kelly, same direction, same call.
COOLING OFFCOL @ ARI
Hunter Goodman: .674 OPS in L15 — draws RHP Merrill Kelly
Hunter Goodman's .674 OPS over the last 15 days (45 PA) trails his .865 season mark, down 0.191. Tonight he draws RHP Merrill Kelly — his stronger side: a .865 OPS vs RHP across 283 AB.
P 0-for-3, 0 TB, 1 BB
STARTER FORMCIN @ CHW
Luis Castillo: 7.31 ERA over his last 3 starts
Across his last 3 starts (16 IP) he has been tagged for 13 earned runs — a 7.31 ERA with a 1.63 WHIP (1.41 season) against a 5.30 season mark.
P 7 IP, 0 ER, 10 K
CUT LISTSD tonight
Jake Cronenworth
Still hitting 2nd for SD — 0.592 OPS, 0.217 AVG from the 2-hole.
PARK WEATHERKC @ LAD
Wind blowing out 10 mph at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium tonight
A straight blow to center doesn't get knocked down like a crosswind does — it just adds carry to everything hit in the air tonight, and 74 degrees on top of it thins the air pushing the same direction. A total of 9 already bakes in offense, and a clean out-blow like this argues for pushing that number higher — an over environment before a pitch is thrown.
P final total 6 vs 9 (over lean)
REGRESSIONMIL @ SD
Robbie Ray: 3.24 ERA vs 4.6 xERA
Ray's underlying numbers are genuinely tame here — 37.8% hard contact and an 8.2% barrel rate both sit toward the better end of this group, and .232 allowed is only ten points off the .242 expected mark. That's a much smaller warning sign than most names carrying a gap this size, so there's less reason tonight against Milwaukee to expect a sharp correction.
P 4 IP, 2 ER, 4 K
COOLING OFFBAL @ MIN
Ryan Kreidler: .451 OPS in L15 — draws RHP Shane Baz
Kreidler's not an everyday bat in freefall, he's a fringe player with a thin track record hitting a cold patch too small to mean much by itself. What matters is he needs the platoon edge to be dangerous, and that's exactly what he's getting against Baz tonight.
P 0-for-4, 0 TB
TOMORROWPIT @ MIA
Tyler Phillips: 3.47 ERA vs 4.95 xERA
Projected to start tomorrow vs PIT. A 3.47 ERA against a 4.95 expected ERA (1.48 run gap) — running hot, due to regress. Opponents hit .246 vs .268 expected.
CUT LISTTOR tonight
Charles McAdoo
Still hitting 1st for TOR — 0.598 OPS, 0.172 AVG from the 1-hole.
TOMORROWPIT @ MIA
Tyler Phillips: 3.47 ERA vs 4.95 xERA
A 44.8% hard-hit rate is one of the higher marks here even with a contained 8% barrel rate, and the 22-point gap between .246 actual and .268 expected lines up with contact that's been hit hard without consistently finding grass. That's a real amount of quality contact for an ERA sitting a run and a half under expected to keep absorbing into tomorrow against Pittsburgh.
FANTASY PICKUPSCHC @ WSH
Seiya Suzuki
Pickup vs Jackson Kent (5.32 xERA) — .841 OPS, bats 2nd.
FIRST INNINGCHC @ WSH
YRFI watch: first innings have been live on both sides of CHC @ WSH
Peterson still hasn't shown he can get through the first time through the order clean, and Chicago's lineup is built to make him pay for it early. Washington's own bats have been just as quick to jump on the first pitcher they see, so both sides are hunting a strike right out of the gate — that usually means a loud top of the first, not a cagey one, and both bullpens getting leaned on the rest of the way.
P 1st inning: 0-0 (0 runs)
REGRESSIONBOS @ TOR
Jose Soriano: 3.24 ERA vs 4.39 xERA
Soriano backs his 9.2 K/9 with contact numbers that hold up — 38.3% hard-hit and a 7.7% barrel rate are both genuinely strong, not just decent. There's still a 25-point cushion between his actual and expected average, but it's sitting on a foundation that looks earned, which makes this gap less concerning than others of a similar size heading into Boston.
P 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 K
RETURN WATCHPIT — return listed 8/14
Oneil Cruz
Cruz has been on the 60-day IL with a hand injury and is down to the final two days before the listed August 14 return. A 60-day stint means the bulk of this rehab is already behind him, so a date this close carries more weight than a fresh IL listing would. He was hitting to an .822 OPS before he went down, so the bat was working. Remember a listed return date is a roster listing, not a guarantee he's penciled in at full strength the moment he's activated. Stash in every league. The bat is too good and the wait is too short to consider cutting him.
RETURN WATCHARI — return listed 8/14
Jordan Lawlar
Lawlar's hamstring has him on the 10-day IL, with a listed return of August 14 — also two days out. Hamstrings are the injury type I trust a listed date on the least, since teams tend to hold a player an extra day or two rather than risk a re-strain. His .856 OPS is the best line of anyone on this list, so there's real production waiting on the other side of this. Stash everywhere, but confirm he's actually in the lineup before starting him on the 14th — this is the injury type most likely to get a quiet delay.
PARK WEATHERPHI @ STL
94° at Busch Stadium — the ball will carry tonight
Conditions at Busch Stadium: Partly Cloudy, 94°, wind 6 mph, Out To RF. Heat like this turns warning-track outs into souvenirs. The total sits at 8.
P final total 8 vs 8 (over lean)
BALLPARKCOL @ ARI
Merrill Kelly owns a 5.77 ERA at Chase Field — 4.27 everywhere else
Kelly's numbers flip hard once he's on his own mound — a 5.77 ERA at Chase Field across nine starts is a run and a half worse than the 4.27 he's posted everywhere else, with hitters climbing to .292 there. Nine home starts is close to a full year's worth, not a bad month to shake off, and that's the version standing on the mound against Colorado tonight.
P 5 IP, 6 ER, 2 K
FANTASY PICKUPSCOL @ ARI
Corbin Carroll
Pickup vs Ryan Feltner (5.46 xERA) — .806 OPS, bats 2nd.
CUT LISTKC tonight
Salvador Perez
Still hitting 4th for KC — 0.628 OPS, 0.214 AVG from the 4-hole.
RUNNING GAMEMIL @ SD
Milwaukee Brewers like to run — Freddy Fermin (35% caught) is the wrong catcher to test
Milwaukee runs at better than a clip a game, and Fermin's arm makes them pay for it — a caught-stealing rate well above average for a backstop. Every stolen base attempt tonight is a real coin flip that can kill a Brewers inning outright instead of manufacturing a run.
P Milwaukee Brewers stole 2 bases
RETURN WATCHTEX — return listed 8/15
Carter Baumler
Baumler's rib injury has him on the 60-day IL, with an August 15 return listed, three days out. He's already worked through the long part of a 60-day absence, so the tail end of that window tends to be more reliable than a short-IL date. His 3.18 ERA is solid relief work, but I still want to see him actually pitch in a game before trusting it's all the way back. Deep-league or holds-league stash — worth rostering if you need bullpen help, no rush anywhere shallower until he's actually back on a mound.
TOMORROWPHI @ MIN
Aaron Nola: 5.47 ERA vs 4.26 xERA
Projected to start tomorrow vs MIN. A 5.47 ERA against a 4.26 expected ERA (1.21 run gap) — unlucky, due to bounce back. Opponents hit .279 vs .246 expected.
TOMORROWPHI @ MIN
Aaron Nola: 5.47 ERA vs 4.27 xERA
Nola's .279 average allowed is 33 points above what his contact quality suggests, and that gap alone accounts for most of the difference between his ERA and his expected mark. Hard-hit and barrel rates are up but not dramatically, which reads more like contact finding holes it shouldn't than a pitcher who's actually lost stuff heading into Minnesota tomorrow.
CUT LISTSD tonight
Luis Rengifo
Still hitting 1st for SD — 0.638 OPS, 0.241 AVG from the 1-hole.
FANTASY PICKUPSCOL @ ARI
Nolan Arenado
Pickup vs Ryan Feltner (5.46 xERA) — .762 OPS, bats 6th.
FANTASY PICKUPSBOS @ TOR
Ranger Suarez
3.32 ERA against a 3.58 xERA is close enough that the results roughly match the underlying process. Same 9.4 K/9 as the top arm here, but a 1.17 WHIP means more traffic on the bases to manage. Gets TOR today. DEEP tier — this is a speculative add for deep leagues only, not a priority where he's likely already rostered.
FANTASY PICKUPSPHI @ STL
Luis Arraez
Pickup vs Kyle Leahy (5.22 xERA) — .781 OPS, bats 4th.
REGRESSIONHOU @ SF
San Francisco Giants are 10-20 in one-run games (.333 win%)
A .333 win rate in one-run games is the kind of number that leans on variance more than talent, and records like that tend to drift back toward .500 rather than hold. San Francisco's overall record is probably selling the team short of how they've actually played.
FANTASY PICKUPSBAL @ MIN
Pete Alonso
Pickup vs Zebby Matthews (4.78 xERA) — .829 OPS, bats 2nd.
FANTASY PICKUPSPHI @ STL
Bryson Stott
Pickup vs Kyle Leahy (5.22 xERA) — .760 OPS, bats 5th.
CUT LISTHOU tonight
Daulton Varsho
Still hitting 4th for HOU — 0.670 OPS, 0.235 AVG from the 4-hole.
FANTASY PICKUPSPHI @ STL
Brandon Marsh
Pickup vs Kyle Leahy (5.22 xERA) — .752 OPS, bats 6th.
RETURN WATCHKC — return listed 8/17
Maikel Garcia
Garcia's on the 10-day IL with a hand injury, listed for an August 17 return, five days out. His .693 OPS this season is the softest line on this list, so even at full health this wasn't a huge fantasy difference-maker. Hold if you're deep at third or shorthanded there, but this isn't a stash based on the season-long production.
FIRST INNINGSEA @ NYY
NYY have gone quiet in the 1st: runs in 0 of their last 10
This one actually tracks with the pitching — Warren and Miller have both been genuinely tough to solve in the first inning all year, not just catching cold lineups on a good week. Both starters bringing that form points to a quiet top of the game rather than an early track meet.
P flagged team scored 0 in the 1st
FIRST INNINGBAL @ MIN
MIN have gone quiet in the 1st: runs in 0 of their last 10
This prop just needs one run from either dugout, so it's not really asking Minnesota's bats to snap out of anything. Neither Matthews nor Baz has pitched like a lockdown arm in the first inning this year, and a scoreless top of the game would be the surprise tonight, not the form.
P flagged team scored 1 in the 1st
TOMORROWCIN @ CHW
Andrew Abbott: 3.92 ERA vs 4.72 xERA
Projected to start tomorrow vs CHW. A 3.92 ERA against a 4.72 expected ERA (0.8 run gap) — running hot, due to regress. Opponents hit .242 vs .257 expected.
TOMORROWCIN @ CHW
Andrew Abbott: 3.92 ERA vs 4.73 xERA
This is the smallest gap in the group, and the numbers underneath explain why — a 38.3% hard-hit rate and the lowest barrel rate here at 7.4%, with only fifteen points separating his actual and expected average. An 0.81-run difference between ERA and xERA reads as normal variance, not a warning sign, heading into the White Sox.
CUT LISTOAK tonight
Lawrence Butler
Still hitting 5th for OAK — 0.629 OPS, 0.206 AVG from the 5-hole.
FANTASY PICKUPSKC @ LAD
Daniel Lynch IV
Read this gap closely: 2.46 ERA versus a 3.37 xERA is nearly a full run of separation, so the results are running well ahead of the peripherals. The 7 K/9 is the lowest of the three, though a 1.01 WHIP is still sharp. Faces LAD today. DEEP tier fits the profile — worth scooping in deep leagues off today's matchup, but the ERA-xERA gap makes him a speculative flier, not a must-roster arm.
RETURN WATCHTOR — return listed 8/18
Joe Mantiply
Mantiply's knee injury has him on the 60-day IL, with an August 18 return listed, six days out. A 2.04 ERA is the best number on this entire list, so if that production carries over once he's back in the Toronto bullpen, he's a real matchup piece. Stash in ERA and holds-driven formats off that number, and in deeper mixed leagues once he's actually back on the active roster.
CUT LISTSTL tonight
Nathan Church
Still hitting 5th for STL — 0.645 OPS, 0.238 AVG from the 5-hole.
CUT LISTSTL tonight
Masyn Winn
Still hitting 6th for STL — 0.648 OPS, 0.245 AVG from the 6-hole.
CUT LISTBAL tonight
Dylan Beavers
Still hitting 5th for BAL — 0.650 OPS, 0.237 AVG from the 5-hole.
RETURN WATCHTEX — return listed 8/20
Robert Garcia
Garcia's shoulder injury has him on the 60-day IL, with an August 20 return listed, eight days out — the second-longest wait on this list. Shoulder injuries are the ones I'd treat a listed date most skeptically on, since they're the type most likely to get pushed back. His 3.38 ERA is playable middle relief if it holds, but there's nothing here yet on how the shoulder is responding as he ramps up. Speculative stash in deep leagues only — hold if you've got a spare spot, but I wouldn't bank on August 20.
FIRST INNINGPIT @ MIA
PIT have gone quiet in the 1st: runs in 1 of their last 10
Pittsburgh's bats going quiet early has been the pattern, and tonight it's Junk and Mlodzinski on the mound, two starters who've both limited first-inning damage all year rather than one shaky arm to jump on. Games that open this quiet tend to stay that way into the middle innings and get decided by the bullpens late instead.
P flagged team scored 0 in the 1st
FIRST INNINGHOU @ SF
SF have gone quiet in the 1st: runs in 1 of their last 10
San Francisco going this quiet early looks like a lineup taking pitches instead of hunting something to drive, which hands the count to Houston before the Giants ever get a real swing off. If a run shows up in the top of the first, it's more likely coming from the Astros jumping on that passivity than from San Francisco forcing anything.
P flagged team scored 1 in the 1st
RETURN WATCHKC — return listed 8/21
Nick Mears
Mears's shoulder injury also has him on the 60-day IL, with the same August 21 return listed, nine days out. His 5.12 ERA is the worst number on this list, and pairing that with the longest, least reliable injury type here doesn't leave much to work with. Cut him loose in standard leagues — nothing in this profile earns a roster spot even once he's activated.
RETURN WATCHLAD — return listed 8/21
Gavin Stone
Stone's shoulder injury has him on the 60-day IL, with an August 21 return listed, nine days out — the longest runway on this list. There's no season line available for him, so I've got nothing on how he's actually pitched this year and I'm not going to guess. Shoulder injuries are exactly the kind that get quietly pushed back. Watch-list, not a stash — no stat here to justify the roster spot yet, and the shakiest timeline on this list.

Graded results

Games

L
Orioles ML -101
MLB · 5-7
L
Phillies ML -163
MLB · 1-7
W
Rays -1.5 -144
MLB · 8-4
W
Astros ML -141
MLB · 2-1
L
Diamondbacks ML -173
MLB · 6-4
L
Brewers ML -120
MLB · 3-4
W
Marlins ML -114
MLB · 2-8
L
Mets ML +158
MLB · 3-6
L
Tigers ML -124
MLB · 6-4
W
Blue Jays ML +120
MLB · 4-6
W
Cubs ML -153
MLB · 12-6
L
Reds ML +127
MLB · 0-5
W
Yankees ML -127
MLB · 5-10
L
Royals +1.5 -110
MLB · 2-4
L
Rangers ML -127
MLB · 2-5

Props

L
Adrian Houser · under
Astros @ Giants · Actual 18
W
Alex Bregman · over
Cubs @ Nationals · Actual 3
W
Alex Bregman · over
Cubs @ Nationals · Actual 12
W
Angel Genao · over
Guardians @ Tigers · Actual 1
L
Brandon Lowe · over
Pirates @ Marlins · Actual 0
W
Brayan Rocchio · under
Guardians @ Tigers · Actual 1
L
Bryce Miller · under
Mariners @ Yankees · Actual 18
L
Bryson Stott · over
Phillies @ Cardinals · Actual 1
L
Cal Quantrill · under
Rangers @ Angels · Actual 3
W
Carmen Mlodzinski · under
Pirates @ Marlins · Actual 1
L
Christian Encarnacion-Strand · over
Orioles @ Twins · Actual 0
L
CJ Abrams · over
Cubs @ Nationals · Actual 0
W
Cole Young · over
Mariners @ Yankees · Actual 1
L
Daniel Lynch IV · under
Royals @ Dodgers · Actual 3
L
David Peterson · under
Cubs @ Nationals · Actual 6
L
Daylen Lile · over
Cubs @ Nationals · Actual 0
L
Dillon Dingler · over
Guardians @ Tigers · Actual 0
L
Drew Rasmussen · over
Rays @ Athletics · Actual 3
W
Dustin May · over
Brewers @ Padres · Actual 2
L
Eugenio Suarez · over
Reds @ White Sox · Actual 0
L
Francisco Lindor · over
Mets @ Braves · Actual 0
L
Gavin Sheets · over
Brewers @ Padres · Actual 0
L
George Klassen · over
Rangers @ Angels · Actual 1
W
Griffin Conine · over
Pirates @ Marlins · Actual 3
W
Griffin Conine · over
Pirates @ Marlins · Actual 1
W
Gunnar Henderson · over
Orioles @ Twins · Actual 2
L
Hunter Goodman · over
Rockies @ Diamondbacks · Actual 0
L
Jac Caglianone · over
Royals @ Dodgers · Actual 1
W
Jack Perkins · over
Rays @ Athletics · Actual 6
W
Jackson Merrill · over
Brewers @ Padres · Actual 2
L
Jackson Merrill · over
Brewers @ Padres · Actual 0
L
Jarren Duran · over
Red Sox @ Blue Jays · Actual 0
W
Jeremy Pena · under
Astros @ Giants · Actual 1
L
Jesus Sanchez · over
Red Sox @ Blue Jays · Actual 0
L
Jose Soriano · under
Red Sox @ Blue Jays · Actual 18
L
Josh Naylor · over
Mariners @ Yankees · Actual 0
W
Julio Rodriguez · over
Mariners @ Yankees · Actual 1
L
Junior Caminero · over
Rays @ Athletics · Actual 0
L
Ketel Marte · over
Rockies @ Diamondbacks · Actual 0
W
Kyle Leahy · over
Phillies @ Cardinals · Actual 6
L
Luis Castillo · over
Reds @ White Sox · Actual 0
L
Luis Castillo · under
Reds @ White Sox · Actual 10
L
Luis Garcia Jr. · over
Mariners @ Yankees · Actual 0
L
Matt Olson · over
Mets @ Braves · Actual 0
W
Merrill Kelly · under
Rockies @ Diamondbacks · Actual 15
W
Michael Harris II · under
Mets @ Braves · Actual 0
L
Mickey Moniak · over
Rockies @ Diamondbacks · Actual 0
L
Munetaka Murakami · over
Reds @ White Sox · Actual 0
L
Nolan Arenado · over
Rockies @ Diamondbacks · Actual 0
L
Pete Crow-Armstrong · over
Cubs @ Nationals · Actual 0
W
Randy Arozarena · over
Mariners @ Yankees · Actual 1
W
Ranger Suarez · under
Red Sox @ Blue Jays · Actual 15
L
Rhys Hoskins · over
Guardians @ Tigers · Actual 0
L
Ronald Acuna Jr. · over
Mets @ Braves · Actual 0
L
Ryan Feltner · over
Rockies @ Diamondbacks · Actual 2
L
Sal Stewart · over
Reds @ White Sox · Actual 0
L
Seiya Suzuki · over
Cubs @ Nationals · Actual 0
W
Trent Grisham · over
Mariners @ Yankees · Actual 2
L
Tyler Mahle · over
Mets @ Braves · Actual 0
L
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. · over
Red Sox @ Blue Jays · Actual 0
L
Wilyer Abreu · over
Red Sox @ Blue Jays · Actual 0
L
Yandy Diaz · over
Rays @ Athletics · Actual 0
L
Yordan Alvarez · over
Astros @ Giants · Actual 0
W
Zebby Matthews · under
Orioles @ Twins · Actual 15