Cincinnati placed Greene on the 15-day IL on Aug. 2 (retroactive) with right elbow soreness; he will undergo season-ending surgery for a partially torn UCL after a second opinion from Dr. Neal ElAttrache. This is Greene's second UCL procedure — his first Tommy John surgery came in 2019 before his major-league debut. He managed only 27 2/3 innings and a 6.83 ERA in 2026 after beginning the year on the IL recovering from a March bone-chip removal.
Yesavage was removed from his Aug. 4 start against Houston after two shutout innings when he felt discomfort warming up for the third inning. An MRI confirmed meniscus damage in his left knee, and Blue Jays manager John Schneider said surgery is 'always a possibility' pending a specialist consultation. Even without an operation, multi-week absence is the floor for meniscus damage at the major-league level.
The Dodgers have activated Snell from the IL and set Tuesday's start in Kansas City as his return date. Snell has been out since May 9 after undergoing the NanoNeedle Scope procedure on his left elbow — a minimally invasive technique to remove loose bodies that promised a faster recovery than traditional arthroscopy. He completed four Triple-A rehab starts with Oklahoma City, allowing four runs over 11.2 innings while striking out 19.
Bart fractured his fifth metacarpal in his left hand Thursday after taking a 97.7 mph fastball from Boston reliever Erik Miller off his left hand in the seventh inning. The White Sox placed him on the 10-day IL Friday and recalled backup catcher Edgar Quero. Metacarpal fractures typically require 4–6 weeks to heal without surgery, making a return before September unlikely.
Who's Hot This Week
The fifth-overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft was called up Friday and will pitch in relief, but the White Sox have publicly stated he and fellow prospect Tanner McDougal will return to starting roles after 2026. His 87-strikeout, 58-inning Triple-A season showed plus-plus swing-and-miss stuff with a premium fastball-slider combination. The 40 walks in 58 innings is a real risk that caps his immediate ceiling. Stash in 15-team leagues or any format with an NA spot; set the expectation that the payoff may be 2027.
Worth Reading
Seven players available in more than 75% of Yahoo leagues heading into Week 20, with specific reasoning for each — a useful quick-reference before FAAB bids close Sunday night.
Covers the 10 best dollar-auction targets for Week 20 with precise bid percentages by format. Read before your FAAB deadline if you're trying to decide how aggressively to bid on the callups and pitching streamers from this week.
Orrico splits the adds into long-term hitting targets and shorter-term pitcher streamers with favorable matchups. Useful if you missed Thursday night's transactions and want a fast prioritized list before making weekend adds.
Greene will undergo season-ending surgery for a partially torn UCL, his second UCL procedure after a 2019 Tommy John. He has been on the IL since Aug. 2 (retroactive) after elbow soreness ended his season at 27 2/3 innings and a 6.83 ERA. Recovery timeline is 12–14 months from surgery, meaning he faces an uncertain return for much of 2027.
Placed on the IL with meniscus damage in his left knee after leaving his Aug. 4 start against Houston two innings in. A specialist appointment will determine whether surgery is needed; without an operation, a multi-week absence is the minimum. Surgery would end his 2026 season. The Blue Jays' backup rotation options are thin.
Fractured his fifth metacarpal in his left hand after a hit-by-pitch in Thursday's game against Boston. The 10-day IL is a formality — metacarpal fractures typically heal in 4–6 weeks — so Bart is unlikely to return before late August at the earliest. Edgar Quero has been recalled to start in his absence.
Snell's recovery followed a procedure most fantasy managers have never seen on an injury report: the NanoNeedle Scope, a minimally invasive arthroscopic technique that uses a sub-millimeter instrument to remove loose bodies without the tissue disruption of traditional scoping. The Dodgers were cautious about projecting a timeline early, but the procedure's promise of weeks-not-months recovery was borne out — Snell began his four-start rehab stint in July and reached 73 pitches in his final Oklahoma City appearance on Aug. 4.
The rehab numbers are encouraging for his pure stuff. Over 11.2 innings, he struck out 19 batters, a rate that projects above 30 percent over a full start — consistent with his best seasonal profiles. The question that cannot be answered from rehab is whether he can maintain velocity and command through an 85-to-95-pitch effort. The Dodgers have signaled they will build him up gradually and will not push for a complete game on Tuesday, which means a quality-start ceiling rather than a dominant outing in the early going.
The Kansas City matchup makes Tuesday an easy start-or-bench decision: the Royals rank in the lower third of MLB in strikeout rate, and Snell's park factor works in his favor at Kauffman Stadium (one of the most pitcher-friendly venues in the American League). Own him, start him, and do not overinvest in the box score — one middling outing after a 90-day absence is not a reason to panic sell a pitcher who has two Cy Young awards on his shelf.
Friday's slate produced the biggest bullpen headline of the week when a walk-off homer by Arizona's Ryan Waldschmidt extended the Dodgers' losing streak to seven games at the expense of their closer. Closer Monkey's actionable items this weekend are the Angels' Ben Joyce/Samy Natera committee — Joyce is not available on consecutive days — and the White Sox committee where Grant Taylor now holds the primary role following Seranthony Dominguez's trade to Seattle.
Read the full Ledger →| Closer | Team | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Joyce | LAA | 🔴 Committee | Tops the Angels' save committee but remains on a strict no-consecutive-days restriction due to injury history, which creates planned save opportunities on Joyce's off days. Add for the best pure save upside in a committee; do not budget for a traditional closer's workload until the Angels confirm his schedule has expanded. |
| Samy Natera Jr. | LAA | 🔴 Committee | The deep-league hedge on Joyce's off days. Has two saves since the trade-deadline exodus cleared Yates, Zeferjahn, and Suter from the roster. The Angels are dead-last in MLB with 14 saves, so overall opportunity is limited — but Natera is the better add in leagues where Joyce is already rostered. |
| Grant Taylor | CHW | 🟡 Watch | Taylor has five saves and a 2.74 ERA in 49 1/3 innings since Seranthony Dominguez was traded to Seattle, and he is the default option in the ninth. Sean Newcomb is still splitting duties based on matchup, so the role is not fully locked. Add where available in 14-team leagues — five saves with a 67:17 K:BB ratio is not a fluke, but the committee tag is real. |
| Yennier Cano | BAL | 🔴 Committee | The Orioles traded Tyler Wells to Tampa Bay at the deadline and have cycled through Cano, Andrew Kittredge, and Brandyn Garcia for saves. No clear favorite has emerged. Avoid unless you can absorb committee risk on your IL — save attempts here are unpredictable enough to cost you a start without delivering the counting stat. |