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Braves manager Walt Weiss confirmed Acuña is expected to be activated from the 10-day IL before Atlanta's homestand ends July 23, following a rehab stint with Triple-A Gwinnett that included a grand slam and five RBIs. Acuña has been out since June 9 with a reaggravated left hamstring strain — during which Atlanta went 10-18 and shed a nine-game NL East lead. He will be deployed primarily as a right fielder upon activation.
Two-time reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal is the consensus No. 1 trade candidate heading into the August 3 deadline, with the Dodgers, Cubs, Braves, and Rays all pursuing him. Skubal has told close friends he wants to stay in Detroit, and Ken Rosenthal believes the Tigers lean toward keeping him unless the team collapses in the next two weeks. An anonymous NL exec says early asks will be 'outrageous' and 'no one's going to pay that.'
The Mets activated Robert from the 60-day IL on July 20 after he missed nearly three months with a lumbar spine disc herniation suffered April 30. He started in center field and batted seventh in New York's series opener in Milwaukee. Robert had slashed just .224/.327/.329 in 98 PA before going down — well below the production the Mets acquired him for.
Suárez was activated from the 15-day IL on July 21 and will start against Baltimore tonight, returning from a left groin strain suffered July 5. Manager Chad Tracy confirmed he cleared all steps required for activation. Boston is riding a historic 14-game winning streak — Suárez's return is well-timed.
Who's Hot This Week
The Twins' No. 1 prospect is back at Triple-A after recovering from a shoulder sprain, and multiple beat reporters are now describing his MLB debut as imminent. Jenkins is slashing .306/.404/.497 with 5 HR and 7 SB in the minors this season, showing off the elite hit tool that made him the No. 5 overall pick in 2023. He was selected for the All-Star Futures Game and a Sports Illustrated piece listed him as the top Twins prospect most likely to get the call after the break. Grab him now in all 12-team leagues — a 21-year-old with this pedigree does not stay on the wire once the call comes.
Worth Reading
Cross breaks down the top hitter and pitcher adds for Week 17 with specific roster percentages and matchup context. Heavy focus on Heriberto Hernandez's breakout, Curtis Mead's July tear, and Christian Scott as the must-add arm of the week.
Pitcher List's FAAB team gives specific dollar recommendations for every major Week 17 target. Particularly useful in FAAB leagues heading into the second-half stretch run where every bid allocation matters.
ESPN's fantasy team highlights underowned targets for Week 17 across all positions, with ownership data specific to ESPN leagues. Includes Pittsburgh Pirates players as undervalued assets and multiple streaming pitcher recommendations.
Rutschman was placed on the 10-day IL retroactive to July 20 with inflammation in his left wrist — his third IL trip of 2026. Manager Craig Albernaz said the team chose to 'get ahead of it' rather than let the wrist linger further. Backup catcher Samuel Basallo is also day-to-day after leaving Sunday's game with right shoulder discomfort, leaving Baltimore's catching corps in rough shape.
Judge was transferred to the 60-day IL after his rib stress fracture failed to heal on schedule; he cannot begin any baseball activities and needs a clearance scan before ramping up. Manager Aaron Boone described healing as 'going on, which is good,' but a late-August return is best-case with September more realistic. He has not swung a bat or thrown in over six weeks.
Lewis returned to play July 20 after missing July 18 with left hamstring soreness, but his July slash (.214/.298/.429, 2 HR in 11 games) suggests the injury is impacting him even when active. Given his extensive hamstring history, each day-to-day designation carries real IL escalation risk — check today's lineup before finalizing.
Cruz was transferred to the 60-day IL July 18 with non-displaced fractures in his 4th and 5th metacarpals, making him eligible to return no earlier than August 8. He originally went on the IL June 9. With Pittsburgh expected to be a deadline seller, even his eventual return comes with diminished context.
The piece examines MLB starters who have paired rising fastball velocity with improved swing-and-miss results heading into the second half. The headliner is Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski, whose already-elite heater has kept climbing from a 100.5 mph average in spring to pitches topping 104 mph by mid-July. His strikeout rate has tracked the velocity curve — 34.2% in April, 41.9% in May, 45.7% in July — while his 17.2% swinging-strike rate and .208 wOBA against confirm batters are no closer to solving him. Through 111 innings he owns a 1.62 ERA, a 0.76 WHIP, and 167 strikeouts, tops in baseball.
Goldman also profiles Dodgers left-hander Justin Wrobleski, whose velocity surge traces back to a mechanical tweak made in early 2026. His four-seamer went from 93.7 mph in May to over 95 mph by late June, and his strikeout rate followed — 12.6% in March-April to 19.8% by June per FanGraphs. Wrobleski now carries 10 wins and a 1.03 WHIP in 16 starts, a rapid evolution from back-end streamer to legitimate SP2. Goldman draws a direct line between the mechanical fix, the velocity uptick, and the swing-and-miss gains, making Wrobleski a model for mid-season pitcher development.
The piece closes with two lower-profile arms showing similar velocity-plus-strikeout signatures who remain available in most waiver pools. Goldman's broader argument: pitchers pairing an above-average velocity gain with a rising swinging-strike rate represent the most reliable second-half breakout profile, and fantasy managers ignoring that signal heading into the deadline are leaving value on the table.
The July 20 Leverage Ledger covered a Sunday slate heavy on blowouts and flagged Pete Fairbanks's blown save in Tampa Bay as a potential role threat. The Orioles committee produced Grant Wolfram's first career save — a clean 12-pitch ninth — while Pittsburgh continued confusing leverage deployment across back-to-back days. No July 21 edition was available at publish time.
Read the full Ledger →| Closer | Team | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyler Wells | BAL | 🔴 Committee | Ryan Helsley was transferred to the 60-day IL July 19 with UCL inflammation — no structural damage confirmed, but at least a month out with a late-September return best-case. Wells leads the resulting committee with 3 saves and scoreless outings in 6 of 7 July appearances, but Kittredge has 2 saves and Wolfram just earned one July 20. No hierarchy established — treat all three as committee adds. |
| Gregory Soto | PIT | 🔴 Committee | Pittsburgh has never committed to a single closer in 2026. Soto has the best numbers (1.50 ERA, 24:7 K:BB in 18 IP) but shares ninth-inning work with Dennis Santana and Isaac Mattson. A Sports Illustrated report suggested the Pirates will target a closer at the deadline — the in-house committee could collapse into one arm or a new acquisition by August 4. |
| Jacob Webb | CHC | 🟡 Watch | Daniel Palencia (flexor strain, IL since June 16) has had his expected early-August return pushed to mid-August. Webb has been Counsell's first option with 2 saves and 7.1 consecutive scoreless innings, but Trent Thornton and Caleb Thielbar are also in the mix. Webb is the leading candidate but carries command concerns that keep the hold loose. |
| Clayton Beeter | WSH | 🔴 Committee | Beeter leads the Nationals with 7 saves and a 3.62 ERA, but operates in a committee that also includes Gus Varland, Brad Lord, and Cole Henry. Washington's bullpen is one of the worst in baseball, and blown saves have already opened the door for others. Rostering Beeter requires accepting both committee risk and team context risk simultaneously. |
| Tanner Scott | LAD | 🟡 Watch | Scott leads the Dodgers with 14 saves (62% team save share) while Edwin Diaz completes his rehab from April elbow surgery. Diaz appeared in Single-A Ontario on July 11 and is targeting a major-league return within 1-2 weeks per Dave Roberts, though the Dodgers are being cautious given the elbow history. Every save Scott earns right now has an expiration date — hold but track the Diaz rehab closely. |
The official MLB account celebrated Caleb Durbin's go-ahead two-run homer in the 8th inning, powering Boston to a 6-5 win over the Orioles — the Red Sox's 14th consecutive victory.
MLB Network's Jon Morosi reported that the Oakland Athletics have received trade inquiries on their major league outfielders, with scenarios centering on a bat going out in exchange for young pitching ahead of August 3.
Official full-game highlights from Mets at Brewers (July 20) — Milwaukee rolled to an 8-3 win with the lineup fully locked in the night before today's series finale.
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