Shane Bieber (SP-CLE) settled for a no-decision on Thursday despite dominating the Royals over six shutout innings, yielding just two hits and one walk while striking out eight. Bieber outdueled Zack Greinke in a battle of former Cy Young winners and exited with a 2-0 lead, only to watch Cleveland's bullpen give it away in the bottom of the eighth. He threw 51 of his 81 pitches for strikes, so it was somewhat surprising he didn't come back out for another inning. The outing improved Bieber's ERA to 3.48 and was a nice rebound performance after he surrendered nine runs and four homers over his previous two starts combined. It was also encouraging to see Bieber rack up some whiffs, as his 7.2 K/9 rate is by far the lowest of his career and well below his career mark of 10.2. Bieber is still a good pitcher even when he's not missing as many bats, but it does limit his fantasy value. He'll need to avoid contact as much as possible against the Braves' potent hitters when he faces them at home early next week.
Henry Davis (C/OF-PIT) continued his fast start to his career on Thursday, going 3-for-4 with a run and two RBIs against the Padres. Davis paced Pittsburgh's 5-4 comeback win with a team-high three hits, contributing to three of the team's five runs as well. It was the first three-hit game of the 23-year-old's career after getting called up earlier this month. The first overall pick of the 2021 MLB Draft has opened his career on fire by hitting safely in eight of his first 10 games, including his last seven in a row with four multi-hit efforts during that span. He's now batting a sizzling .351 with a .901 OPS, not to mention six RBIs, three extra-base hits and two steals. Davis is doing a little bit of everything for the Pirates and fantasy managers, providing an immediate return on whoever invested in him. He'll probably cool off eventually once the league adjusts to him, so ride him while he's hot.
Joe Musgrove (SP-SDP) got stuck with the no-decision on Thursday despite holding the Pirates to two runs on seven hits and one walk with six strikeouts over six innings. It was another quality start for Musgrove, who appeared in line for the win after exiting with a 4-2 lead. Unfortunately for him, however, San Diego's bullpen immediately coughed up three runs in the seventh and blew the game. While Musgrove's record remains stuck on 6-2, his ERA improved to 3.80 in 12 starts this season. He's been dominant after a bumpy start to the year with six quality starts in his last seven outings, logging a 2.13 ERA over that span with a 36:7 K/BB ratio. The 30-year-old righty has rounded into All-Star form as we approach the midway point of the season and is once again a must-start in all formats. He'll try to keep rolling in a tough home matchup against the Angels early next week.
Spencer Torkelson (1B-DET) powered the Tigers to an 8-5 win over the Rangers on Thursday, going 2-for-3 with two homers, four RBIs and two walks. Torkelson erupted for the first multi-homer game of his career, smashing a go-ahead solo homer in the fifth before jacking a three-run shot in the eighth that helped put the game away. It was also Torkelson's first multi-hit game since June 15, snapping him out of a brutal 5-for-45 (.111) streak). On the plus side, Torkelson has been showing more power lately with seven of his 11 home runs coming in June. The overall numbers remain disappointing for the former first-overall draft pick, however, as he's batting just .223 with a .696 OPS. With three homers in his last two games, Torkelson needs a lengthy hot streak to get his numbers up to an acceptable level for both the Tigers and fantasy managers, many of whom are wondering if he'll ever be able to hit MLB pitching after posting a mediocre .604 OPS as a rookie last year.
Shohei Ohtani (SP/DH-LAA) stayed red-hot at the plate on Thursday, going 1-for-3 with a two-run homer and two walks against the White Sox. Ohtani saved his best for last, blasting his MLB-leading 29th homer of the season in his final at-bat in the bottom of the ninth. The dinger was his 14th of June, which sets a new Angels franchise record. It was also his 17th in the last calendar month and extended his hitting streak to seven games, which shows how completely dialed in he is right now. Ohtani is now batting .309 with an MLB-high 1.058 OPS, putting him well on his way to his second MVP trophy in three years. All he needs to do is stay healthy and reasonably productive in the second half, and the trophy will be his to lose. Either way, he's setting himself up for a massive payday when he hits free agency this winter.
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