Charlie Morton (SP-ATL) got stuck with the no-decision on Monday despite tossing 5 2/3 shutout innings against the Tigers. Morton yielded four hits and three walks while racking up eight strikeouts, throwing 61 of his 104 pitches for strikes before departing in the sixth inning with a 4-0 lead. Unfortunately for him, Atlanta's bullpen was unable to hold it and ultimately lost the game in extra innings. As such, Morton was unable to even his record at 6-6 and remains winless since May 15. The sharp outing did lower his ERA to 3.60, at least, and was a welcome rebound effort after he posted a 6.14 ERA over his previous four starts. While he's been up and down over the past few weeks and currently has his highest WHIP (1.44) in over a decade, the 39-year-old righty is still missing plenty of bats with a 10.2 K/9 rate and remains a quality fantasy arm. He'll try to get back in the win column with an easy home start against the Rockies this weekend where he'll be a must-play in all formats.
Trevor Story (2B-BOS) continues to make progress in his recovery from offseason elbow surgery. Red Sox beat writer Ian Browne reported on Monday that Story has stretched out his throwing to 120 feet and could return to Boston's lineup as a DH at some point in July, although he likely still wouldn't be able to play the field until August (barring any setbacks). This tracks with the original injury timeline that was reported when Story initially underwent the procedure back in January, as he was expected to miss the first half of the season and potentially return around the All-Star break. With Story now about a month away from returning to the Red Sox batting order, it could be worth stashing him in a bench or IL spot in shallower leagues until he returns, as he could still potentially provide double-digit homers and steals in roughly half a season. In deeper leagues, continue to stay patient and hang on to him for now, but consider dropping him if he suffers any setbacks that derail his timeline.
Michael Harris II (OF-ATL) went 3-for-4 with a solo homer, two runs scored and a stolen base against the Tigers on Monday. Harris continued to emerge from his early-season funk with another big game on Monday, smashing his fourth homer of the year and stealing his sixth base of the season (and first of June). After bottoming out at .163/.246/.244 last week, Harris has gone on a tear over his last six games with 10 hits, including two homers. This is the first real hot streak the 22-year-old has enjoyed all season as he's battled a massive sophomore slump after winning NL Rookie of the Year honors last season. Some regression was to be expected, but he's been one of the worst hitters in baseball this year with a .607 OPS and far more strikeouts (38) than hits (30). He seems to be finding his rhythm at the plate, however, making this a good buy-low opportunity before he potentially turns things around.
Spencer Torkelson (1B-DET) powered the Tigers to a 6-5 comeback victory on Monday, going 3-for-6 with a homer and three RBIs. Torkelson played a key part in Detroit's rally from a 4-0 deficit with his two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth that cut the deficit to one. The long ball was his sixth of the season and clinched his first three-hit game since May 9 (and just his third of the year overall). Torkelson was batting just .152/.263/.303 in June prior to Monday's breakout, which raised his average to .232 and his OPS to .686. It's been another underwhelming campaign for the former first-overall pick so far, although at least it's been an improvement over last year (.604 OPS). In his defense, Torkelson is still only 23 years old and only has one full season of MLB plate appearances under his belt, so he still seems to be adjusting to the big leagues. He's improving slowly but surely, so fantasy GMs may need to keep being patient with him until it finally clicks.
Shohei Ohtani (DH-LAA) powered the Angels to a 9-6 win over the Cardinals on Monday, going 2-for-4 with two homers, four RBIs and a walk. Ohtani came up big in the late innings for LA, swatting a game-tying solo shot in the seventh before delivering a two-run blast in the twelfth. Monday was Ohtani's second multi-homer game of the season and continued an incredible hot streak for the former MVP. He's now hit safely in nine straight games and 12 of his last 13. During that 13-game stretch, he's swatted eight home runs and four doubles while knocking in 17 runs and batting .396. Ohtani is now up to 20 long balls and 50 RBIs in 66 games this season. Combined with his .291 average and .955 OPS, he's essentially hitting as well as he did when he won AL MVP honors in 2021 (.965 OPS). Ohtani is absolutely dialed in right now and is a force to be reckoned with at the dish.
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