Betting

The assumption had been if the Mariners made a move in their rotation, it would likely be jettisoning Luis Castillo. Hancock would have more value to other teams as a controllable starter who is not making $22.75 million a season. Hancock has had a breakout year, with a 3.16 ERA in his first 19 starts, with 97 strikeouts in 105 1/3 innings pitched. The Athletic’s pair of reporters believe the Cubs and Mariners could match up well in a trade, though stop short of reporting that the Cubs have engaged with the Mariners on Hancock.

It’s the second game in a row he’s missed since leaving Tuesday’s game with shoulder soreness. Nick Loftin is getting some run in right field for the Royals on Thursday after Starling Marte played there yesterday.

Acuña will play in Triple-A Gwinnett tonight and looks likely to return at some point this weekend against the Orioles. Weiss added that if he wasn’t activated Friday, “almost certainly” he’d be activated this weekend. Acuña has been rehabbing his hamstring since July 13 in the FCL league and then at Gwinnett. The fantasy superstar should be safe to plug in to lineups immediately upon his return.

All of the runs came in the second after Mauricio Dubón greatly misjudged what seemed like a routine flyball to left field, resulting in a single. Sale wasn’t blameless in the inning, as he plunked light-hitting lefty Jake Cronenworth and walked Fernando Tatis Jr. with the bases loaded, but that all happened after what should have been the third out. Sale matched his season high with the 11 strikeouts. It’s his 94th career 10-strikeout game, moving him past Curt Schilling and into seventh place on the all-time list. Next up is Sandy Koufax at 97. He’ll make his next start Tuesday against the Mets.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that the Brewers will get either player — or that either player will be traded at all — but it’s a notable shift from Milwaukee’s usual deadline strategy. “I’ve been on the phone a lot,” Brewers president of baseball told McCalvy. “We’re definitely active.” The Brewers are clearly looking to snag a bye in the National League playoffs. Skubal’s availability seems to come and go as the Tigers win and lose games — it sounds like if a Skubal deal does come it’ll be one that happens on August 3, the actual day of the deadline.

Alvarez is like an old school heavy-weight boxer. He leans on his opponents until he finds the opportunity to deliver the knockout blow. Then, he puts them to sleep. He and Sandy Alcantara had battled three times over the first seven innings of this game. Despite notching one hit, Alvarez put the ball on the ground three times, which is rare for him. He also swung at one of the first two pitches he saw in all three at-bats, also something he rarely does. In an increasingly odd fourth matchup with the same pitcher in the same game, Alvarez waited back until Alcantara’s third pitch and drove a fastball for an opposite field home run and a late lead the Astros wouldn’t give back. That brought him to 34 home runs and 77 RBI on the season, each now league-leading marks by just one. His .328 batting average is also best in the American League by a wide margin as he has the triple crown in his sights with just over two months of baseball left to play.

Working on a limit of about 60 pitches in his return from a bone bruise in his elbow, Fried got through five in 57, 37 of which were strikes, and averaged 96.2 mph with his fastball, which was 1.5 mph better than his season average. He left a scoreless game, so there was no win to be had. However, it was an awfully encouraging showing. He’ll get the White Sox next.

Being activated somewhat surprisingly and not playing in a single rehab game after breaking his hamate bone about six weeks ago, Ramírez wasted no time making an impact in his return from the injured list. He singled in the first inning, tagged to second base on a fly ball, and then came around to score. He also legged out an infield single in the second that pushed another run across. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows though. Ramírez made a throwing error to start the eighth that opened the door for a big Twins rally and he grounded out with the bases loaded to end the bottom of that inning. Regardless, it’s great news for the Guardians and fantasy managers alike that Ramírez is back.

Mesa failed to go deep for the first time in three games, but he supplied plenty of fantasy goodness with a pair of run-scoring singles in addition to picking up his fourth stolen base of the season. The 24-year-old boasts strong plate skills and has been makes frequent hard contact, which is a recipe for sustained success. He’s making the most of his opportunity with Tampa Bay recently and is at least worthy of a speculative roster spot in deeper fantasy leagues heading into the final two months.

Jax struck out five and only issued one walk. The lone run against him came on an RBI ground out by George Springer in the opening frame. It was a much-needed bounce-back effort after getting torched for seven runs over five innings by the Red Sox his last time out. The 31-year-old has made a flawless transition to Tampa Bay’s rotation, emerging as one of the better in-season waiver wire pickups for fantasy managers with a 3.89 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 82/27 K/BB ratio across 81 innings of work. He has a two-start week up next with matchups against the Rangers and White Sox.