NL IN THE LINEUP
Keibert Ruiz was one of the centerpieces sent to the Nationals in the blockbuster trade involving Max Scherzer and Trea Turner. This is a pretty big boost to Ruiz' value as the Dodgers have Will Smith as a stud at the catching position and Austin Barnes is more than serviceable as his backup. Ruiz could be the catcher in Washington by the end of the year and at worst has a shot to be the primary guy behind the plate early next season... Trea Turner will play second base for the Dodgers the rest of the way, which is huge for his fantasy value as he'll enter 2021 with dual eligibility. It's going to be interesting seeing where he slots into the lineup considering the team has Mookie Betts in the leadoff spot when healthy, and Turner still needs to get out of COVID protocols after testing positive this week... DJ Peters was DFA'd by the Dodgers in their flurry of moves... Rhys Hoskins left Thursday's doubleheader after tweaking his groin and was held out of the lineup on both Friday and Saturday. Brad Miller received starts in his spot... Bryce Harper also left Thursday's doubleheader with back spasms but returned to the lineup on Friday... Colin Moran has started his rehab assignment with AAA Indianapolis on Thursday. This is the last step for him, and it sounds like the plan is to keep him with the AAA club over the weekend before him potentially getting activated next week... Mike Moustakas is officially on his rehab assignment for his injured heel. This will be Moustakas' second shot at a rehab assignment as the first one was ended quickly as he felt some discomfort in that heel... LaMonte Wade Jr was out of the lineup Friday with his bruised right leg that kept him out of the lineup on both Wednesday and Thursday. He was able to return to action on Saturday... Mike Tachman was designated for assignment on Thursday... Fernando Tatis Jr was diagnosed with a shoulder subluxation after sliding into third base on Friday. Tatis has injured this shoulder multiple times this year, and it's well assumed that he's going to need surgery on it at some point... Brandon Nimmo felt a twinge in his hamstring on Friday, but he was able to stay in the game and described the issue as something small... Alex Jackson is joining the Marlins after being traded from the Braves. Jackson has played extremely well for the Braves AAA club, but registered a near 50% strikeout rate in his stint in the majors this year. His strong defense can help him hold onto a roster spot in the right situation... Devin Marrero was DFA'd by the Marlins... Jazz Chisholm returned from the IL and went 2-4 in his first game back on Friday... CJ Cron missed two games with groin discomfort but was back in the lineup on Friday... Pavin Smith has been placed on the COVID-19 IL as Arizona is dealing with an outbreak amongst the team... Trevor Story, who is somehow still on the Rockies, was scratched Friday for rest purposes but rejoined the lineup on Saturday... Carson Kelly was reinstated from the 10-day IL on Friday. He's been out since the middle of June with a fractured wrist and was one of the top offensive catchers in the majors before going down with his injury... Adam Duvall was acquired at the deadline by the Braves and drew the start in left field later that evening. The Braves picked up four outfielders at the deadline, but none of them are really a centerfielder so the playing time will be interesting to see how it all breaks down... Victor Robles isn't starting Friday's game which makes it the third game straight game that he's sat out. He's been dealing with some back tightness that doesn't sound like it'll force an IL stint but is still holding him out for now... Sergio Alcantara started at shortstop for the Cubs after Javy Baez was traded to the Mets... Erik Gonzalez is starting his rehab stint in AAA for the Pirates. There's no timetable yet for him but it sounds like he could be activated at some point next week... Wilmer Flores left Saturday's game with lower back soreness... Raimel Tapia sat out on Saturday with a sprained big toe... Victor Robles sat out three straight games for the Nats but returned to the lineup on Saturday... Ketel Marte was activated off of the IL after missing a month with his second hamstring strain of the season... Corey Seager notched two hits in his return to the Dodgers on Friday... Hoy Park was called up to the Pirates on Saturday after being acquired via trade from the Yankees. Park has hit very well in AAA this year with a .304 average and 10 homers... Javy Baez made his Mets debut on Saturday and hit cleanup for the team. He's going to fill in at shortstop while Francisco Lindor remains on the IL and then likely shift to second base when/if Lindor returns to the team this year... Brandon Nimmo sat out of the lineup on Saturday with a hamstring injury. He left Friday's game after tweaking it, but it sounds like a day-to-day issue at this point... Jean Segura sat out on Friday with a minor knee issue but returned to action on Saturday... Orlando Arcia was optioned to AAA by the Braves... Jorge Soler joined the Braves lineup on Saturday after being traded for at the deadline. Soler will get into the outfield mix with the Braves and help fill into an injury-plagued outfield for the team... Buster Posey was hit with a foul tip in the max on Wednesday and missed Thursday game but returned to the lineup on Friday. He sat out Saturday as well, but it sounds like it was just a general off day for him... Kris Bryant is expected to join the Giants lineup on Sunday after being traded by the Cubs at the deadline... Brian Miller and Bryan De La Cruz were called up by the Marlins and made their major league debuts on Friday against the Yankees... Keston Hiura was sent to AAA after the team acquired Eduardo Escobar at the deadline. Hiura doesn't have much of a spot now that Escobar's versatility is in the mix, and Hiura wasn't performing well anyways... Michael Chavis will get a fresh start in Pittsburgh after being traded by the Red Sox at the deadline. Chavis has struggled in his time but now should get a chance to get an extended run of at-bats on the weaker team... Jake Marisnick was traded to the Padres at the deadline. He'll work as a fourth outfielder for the team... Gavin Lux is closing in on a rehab assignment but his spot on the team is up in the air after the addition of Trea Turner from the Nationals... Travis d'Arnaud is out on his rehab assignment. d'Arnaud tore a ligament in his thumb and has missed a significant portion of time but should be close to getting back with the Braves... Eddie Rosario was dealt to Atlanta for Pablo Sandoval but is still a few weeks away from returning from injury... Starlin Castro was suspended 30 games by the MLB for violating the league's domestic violence policy. The Nats have already said that they will release him once his suspension is up.
IN THE ROTATION
Josaiah Gray was sent to the Nationals on Thursday in the deal involving Scherzer and Turner. Like Ruiz, this is also a huge positive for Gray's outlook as he will be locked into a rotation spot with Washington going forward as they are looking to fill multiple spots. Gray has looked great in his first stint in the majors and is worth an add right now with the near guarantee that he sticks the rest of the year... Max Scherzer has been dealt to the Dodgers. Scherzer has looked like his normal self this year despite a few injury scares, and the rest of his season outlook should be even better since he's landed on the better team... Danny Duffy was acquired by the Dodgers via trade with Kansas City. An interesting deal as Duffy is set to be out for another month with his forearm flexor strain, but it's a significantly better opportunity for him over the rest of the year compared to him with the Royals. He isn't expected to pitch before September... Stephen Strasburg's thoracic outlet surgery went well on Wednesday. He's out for the remainder of the season but the team is optimistic he'll be ready for the start of the 2022 season... Pablo Lopez is progressing in his rehab for his rotator cuff strain and threw from 60 feet on Friday... Elieser Hernandez will begin a rehab assignment on Saturday for his quadriceps. Hernandez has only appeared in one game this year as he injured his quad running the bases during his first appearance of the season... Jake Arrieta was activated off of the IL ahead of his start on Friday... Jordan Holloway was optioned to AAA after two straight rough outings for the Marlins... Ian Anderson is closing in on a rehab assignment for his shoulder after throwing multiple successful side sessions in recent days... Bryse Wilson was traded by the Braves to the Pirates, and the Pirates called him up to the majors on Saturday. The team hasn't said how they might use him but there's a path for him to start for them or fill a role in the bullpen... Trevor Rogers was activated off the IL in advance of his start on Saturday. Rogers has been out with back spasms but they ultimately cost him just one start... Kyle Gibson will likely start for the Phillies on Sunday after being acquired from the Rangers... Carlos Carrasco made his 2021 debut on Friday and allowed one run over four innings. The only run he gave up was a home run on the first pitch of the game. He only threw 58 pitches as he likely will keep building his pitch count start by start... Trevor Williams was acquired by the Mets at the deadline and was optioned to AAA... Miles Mikolas extended his scoreless rehab stretch to seven innings after four scoreless innings on Thursday. His next start is next week, and he is expected to throw around 70 pitches, and then be in line to be activated after that... Jacob deGrom has been shut down for two weeks after an MRI revealed some inflammation in his injured forearm. deGrom has been throwing some side sessions and now will stop throwing altogether. The club is hopeful he'll be able to rejoin the team in September... Jon Lester was shipped to the Cardinals at the trade deadline. Lester hasn't been great overall this year, but he's pitched well since the All-Star break... JA Happ also joined the Cardinals and has also struggled mightily this year... Kyle Gibson will slot into the Phillies rotation after being acquired on the deadline... Mitch Keller is back in the majors but his role with the team has not be specified.
IN THE BULLPEN
Kyle Finnegan picked up his first save of the season on Thursday for Washington. Finnegan has been pushed into the closing role for the team with Daniel Hudson being placed on the COVID-19 list and will have a shot to stick there after Hudson was traded to the Padres Thursday night... Hudson will work in a high-leverage role with the Padres as Mark Melancon is entrenched in the closing role... Michael Lorenzen was activated by the Reds and will rejoin the Reds bullpen... Matt Moore has been relegated to the bullpen for the Phillies... Richard Rodriguez will join the Braves bullpen and likely fill a late-inning role with the team. Will Smith likely stays as the closer for the team which dings his traditional fantasy value, but he'll still be plenty worthwhile in saves+holds leagues... Aaron Sanchez has been activated by the Giants and will fill a bullpen role going forward. He tossed two innings and allowed a run in his return on Friday... Tony Watson will rejoin the Giants bullpen after being traded by the Angels at the deadline. Watson should fill a middle relief role for the team... Dinelson Lamet tossed a simulated inning and could return to game action soon according to the team. He's expected to start a rehab assignment at some point, but with him likely returning to the Padres in the bullpen they could decide to just bring him straight back... Ian Kennedy joins the Phillies at the deadline, and he likely will get in the mix for saves as the closer by committee for the Phils this year has been less than ideal.
PLAYERS TO ADD
Luis Garcia, Washington Nationals - Garcia should get an extended run of playing time after the Nationals fire sale at the deadline. He has no competition on the infield anymore and should get plenty more playing time over the rest of the season. Garcia was slashing .303/.371/.599 across 37 games with 13 homers, easily a career-high for him even with just the handful of games. He routinely posts strikeout rates below 20% and has posted wRC+s over 100 in every stop in the minors besides one.
Kyle Muller, Atlanta Braves - Muller has pitched extremely well for the Braves and should have a rotation spot going forward, but there is one issue with him. Mueller has been walking batters at a pretty poor-rate, and with Ian Anderson and Huascar Ynoa closing in on rehab stints his days could be numbers. There's a lot that Muller does right though with striking out over a batter per inning and besides his sinker, batters are having trouble doing much against him at the plate. Both his slider and curveball have whiff rates over 35%, and his fastball is his worst non-sinker pitch and he has a .322 xwOBA against him on that offering.
Tylor Megill, New York Mets - Megill continues to just dominate for the Mets and is now sitting with a 2.04 ERA over 35.1 innings with 39 strikeouts. He could generate a few more whiffs, but he's also outstanding at avoiding barrels (97th percentile)His hard-hit rate is a little high at 27%, but he's generating almost a 45% ground ball rate. With his whiff rate sitting in the 30th percentile and a strikeout rate in the 69th percentile, if that whiff rate starts to tick up and all and push his strikeout rate even higher there's a chance that he could really take off to even higher levels.
