Happy Wednesday, everyone! It was a glorious night for baseball on Tuesday and that was ushered in by one of the most exciting but lopsided games of the season between the Angels and Rays. If you didn't follow the action, you're probably thinking it was lopsided in Tampa's favor given the way Corey Kluber had pitched prior to this outing, but boy would you be wrong. The Angels poured on 12 runs on the offensive side of the ball and that wasn't even the biggest story of the night as Angels SP Reid Detmers threw a no-hitter.
Detmers allowed just one baserunner and it came via a walk. Don't look under the hood on this no-hitter because Detmers only had two strikeouts total on 10 induced swinging strikes. But it was his changeup -- which he threw a season-high 22% (entering the game with just 5% usage) -- that really got the job done with five induced swinging strikes.
Detmers now has a 3.77 ERA with 20 strikeouts and eight walks over 31 innings this year, so don't exactly rush to your waiver wire to grab him, but he certainly has the pedigree as a former first-round pick (2020 draft, No. 10 overall). He's currently 10% rostered.
I did tease an Angels outburst on offense, and that was spearheaded by another Mike Trout night. It has been quite the bounceback season for Trout, and if you felt like you were stealing something when you got him at the back end of Round 1 -- just know that you were -- it won't ever happen again. Trout went 3 for 4 with a double dong to bring his batting average up to .337 and his home run total up to nine. The Angels racked up 18 hits and Anthony Rendon added a homer.
We'll dive into more of the action from Tuesday's slate below, but first make sure you're all caught up with everything going on from the Fantasy Baseball Today team over at CBSSports.com/Fantasy/Baseball. Scott White delivered his first deep dive of the regular season into the Dynasty realm with his Dynasty stockwatch. Chris Towers looked into some buy low hitters like Trevor Story.
And of course, as always, you can follow to make sure you get the latest episodes of Fantasy Baseball Today right when they drop on Apple and Spotify.
Speaking of no-nos
Astros SP Justin Verlander flirted with and nearly delivered the second no-hitter of Tuesday night. Verlander took one into the eighth inning before Gio Urshela broke it up. It was still another dominant outing for the low-key Cy Young candidate. Verlander finished with eight shutout innings, one hit and two walks allowed and five strikeouts. This marks the former Cy Young's fifth straight quality start, and that includes two outings where he went eight innings deep. The swinging strike rate and strikeout numbers overall may not be what we grew accustomed to with Verlander before the injury, but we'll certainly take a 1.55 ERA.
Bradish has his best start yet
The Orioles don't always get a lot of love on this newsletter, so let's shout out SP Kyle Bradish, who struck out 11 through seven innings of what was easily the best performance of his young and promising career. He picked up 14 induced swinging strikes on just 91 pitches, and his velocity was excellent -- topping out at 98 MPH. He's certainly not the No. 1 pitching prospect in Baltimore's organization, but he's delivering now and worth monitoring on your waiver wire.
Buying the Skubal breakout?
Tigers SP Tarik Skubal made some changes to his pitching profile that led to optimism as a late-round dart throw in drafts this spring and he may finally be paying that off. Skubal delivered again on Tuesday with seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits and three walks. He's not delivering dominant hit-and-miss stuff, but he's getting outs by replacing his fastball usage with more sliders and sinkers. He now has a 2.94 ERA and a ground-ball rate that is up to 53% on the season.
The keys to the breakout that lead me to believe it's for real are the command (only six walks in six starts) and the fact that he is limiting hard contact.
News and lineup notes
Every night the Fantasy Baseball Today team dives into all of the happenings around the MLB from top performers to injuries, trades and more. The podcast is a must listen for any diehard, if I do say so myself. Tune in to the podcast to hear the FBT crew expand on the news and notes below.
- Jacob deGrom was transferred to the 60-day IL and is expected to remain out through the All-Star break. He's on the IL with a stress reaction of his right scapula.
- Carlos Correa was placed on the IL with a bruised finger but hopes it will only be a minimum-length stay.
- Mitch Garver was placed on the IL with a flexor sprain in his right forearm. Jonah Heim went 2-4 Tuesday and is just 35% rostered.
- Dodgers pitching prospect Ryan Pepiot will be called up to start Wednesday's game in Pittsburgh, but it sounds like it's just a spot start. Through six starts at Triple-A here are his numbers: 2.05 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 36 K over 26.1 IP.
- Paul DeJong was optioned to Triple-A Tuesday and everybody's initial reaction was that Nolan Gorman would get the call. It hasn't happened thus far. Brendan Donovan started at shortstop and apparently Edmundo Sosa could be activated from the COVID IL Thursday.
- It's unlikely that Adam Wainwright will make a start this week as he's on the COVID IL.
- Wil Myers and Luke Voit were activated off the IL and batted fifth and sixth on Tuesday. Voit is 58% rostered and Myers 30%.
- Dodgers catcher Will Smith was held out of the lineup with a minor pectoral injury.
- Rays prospect Vidal Brujan was recalled and started in right field, batting eighth on Tuesday. He was batting .300 with six steals in the minors and is 20% rostered.
- Manny Margot was not in the lineup after leaving Monday with right hamstring discomfort.
- Brandon Belt returned to the Giants lineup and hit second in the lineup.
- Hyun-Jin Ryu is on track to return and start Saturday against the Rays. He's been on the IL for nearly a month with left forearm inflammation.
- Andrew Vaughn will start a rehab assignment at Triple-A on Wednesday.
- Padres shortstop prospect C.J. Abrams was optioned back to Triple-A. He was batting just .182 through 20 games.
- Chris Paddack was placed on the IL Tuesday as he seeks a second opinion on his inflamed elbow.
- Jon Gray is likely to make his next start despite leaving Monday with knee soreness.
- Mike Moustakas returned from the COVID IL Tuesday and hit cleanup.
- David Fletcher underwent surgery to repair the adductor muscles in both legs Tuesday and is expected to be sidelined for a couple months. Andrew Velazquez has been starting consistently at shortstop for the Angels.
- Max Stassi was placed on the COVID IL Tuesday.
- Aaron Ashby won't start this week for the Brewers.
- Luis Gil will get a spot start Thursday for the Guardians at the White Sox but isn't expected to stick around.