Nathan Eovaldi turned in his best performance of the season today; he fired seven shutout innings and gave up just one hit while striking out nine. It was against the Mets, so that factored in to his success, but it was still a very nice showing from the veteran right-hander. The nine strikeouts matched a season-high and he only needed 79 pitches to get through his seven scoreless frames. The Rays had a nine run lead when he was yanked, which is most likely the reason manager Kevin Cash chose to go to the bullpen despite how Eovaldi was cruising through the lowly Mets offense. It was his third straight quality start and he now has three wins on the season. He lowered his ERA down to 3.35 and has been a nice fantasy surprise to those who have rostered him. He led all players in FanDuel points today with an outstanding 58.0 point effort. His teammate Jake Bauers provided a good portion of the offensive support as he finished 2-for-3 with a home run, two walks, a RBI, and three runs scored.

 

That Just Happened

Domingo Germán rebounded from a poor start in his last time out with a strong showing today. He hurled six innings of one-run baseball and struck out five. It was his fifth quality start of the season. He is still a risky fantasy option, but he is worth the risk in most formats right now.

Jurickson Profar made his lone hit of the day count as he sent it over the right center field wall. He now has nine home runs and eight stolen bases in what has turned into a breakout campaign for the once top prospect. Fantasy owners may have been worried about his playing time when Elvis Andrus returned to the Rangers off the DL, but Profar continues to be a mainstay in the Texas starting lineup. On Yahoo! Profar has gained 2B and 3B position eligibly to go along with SS and OF.

Jose Leclerc had a dominant relief appearance today; he recorded five outs all via the punch-out. He picked up his tenth hold of the year and now has 46 strikeouts across 32.1 innings pitched. He lowered his ERA to 2.23 and has proven to be a useful commodity in deeper leagues and/or leagues with holds.

Whit Merrifield finished a perfect 5-for-5 today in the Royals 4-7 loss to the Red Sox. He only managed to score once and drive in one despite collecting three singles and a pair of doubles. He is now hitting .303 on the year with five home runs and 16 steals, if he played in a better lineup he would rank much higher in the fantasy world. Fantasy owners should hope to see him get traded at the deadline.

Andrew Benintendi had four hits in five at-bats today and scored a pair of runs. Three of his four hits were singles with his lone extra base hit being a two-bagger. The four hit effort jumped his average up to .293 and he continues to be one the most valuable hitters in fantasy.

Billy Hamilton stole a pair of bases today giving him five steals over the last two games.  He finished 1-for-3 at the plate with a walk and two runs scored. He has started July off on a hot streak with a .409 average (9-for-22) and as long as he keeps reaching base he will continue to rack up the stolen bases. His average has risen from .187 to .231 since June 16.

Jesus Aguilar had another monster day at the plate as his breakout season continues. He finished the day 2-for-4 with a pair of dingers, a walk, four RBI, and three runs. He now has 22 home runs on the year and is hitting a strong .306. He already has three home runs in July after hitting ten in June and eight in May.

J.T. Realmuto collected a career-high five hits today, drove in three runs, and scored twice. He is now hitting a robust .317 on the year and continues to be the best hitting catcher in baseball this year. He deserves to be the NL starting catcher for the All-star game, but that doesn’t appear likely based on the current voting.

Yairo Munoz stuffed the stat sheet today as he finished 2-for-2 with a home run, two walks, three RBI, two runs scored, and a stolen base. He now has five home runs and four stolen bases to go along with his .288 batting average.

 

Burning Questions

A pair of Los Angeles lefties will do battle for Sunday Night Baseball; who comes out on top, Andrew Heaney or Alex Wood ?

Ronald Acuna was originally expected to return to the Braves starting lineup today, but the Braves chose to play it extra cautiously; will he be back in there Tuesday after being used as a pinch-hitter today?

J.D. Martínez sat out of today’s game after fouling a ball off his leg yesterday; will he be back in the lineup tomorrow?

 

Stay tuned.