Fantasy Sports

Nathan Church will presumably come off the IL to replace Scott and play center field most of the time. Scott is hitting just .194/.276/.258 with nine RBI in 184 plate appearances this season, and while his defense has been above average, it hasn’t been quite as good as last year. He needs to make some real progress offensively before getting another chance. His 24 percent strikeout rate wouldn’t be so bad if he had real power, but since he doesn’t, he needs to make quite a bit more contact.

Taillon seems likely to land on the injured list. The Cubs are about to get Matthew Boyd back from his knee issue, so that’s something. Colin Rea would no longer be in danger of being replaced in the rotation with Taillon out.

Amazing. Rivero’s first four hits were singles that left the bat at 72, 56, 73 and 84 mph, but they were all perfectly placed. The three harder ones were liners sure to drop in front of outfielders. The 56-mph shot to second would have been an out most of the time, but not against the drawn-in infield the Dodgers were employing with runners on second and third. Finally, in his last at-bat, Rivero crushed a 103-mph liner to the gap for an RBI double. The 27-year-old Rivero, who debuted with the Royals in 2021, came into the day with a .160 average and eight RBI in 156 career plate appearances. He had six hits and two RBI in 49 plate appearances for the Angels this season. In spite of his success, he’ll probably be back on the bench in favor of Logan O’Hoppe on Monday.

Kepler is still serving an 80-game PED suspension announced in January, so he goes on the restricted list for now. The Diamondbacks will have him go on a rehab assignment in the minors and then decide whether they want him to be a part of their outfield. With Jordan Lawlar and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. getting healthy and Ryan Waldschmidt and Tommy Troy still candidates to step up, ideally, they wouldn’t need Kepler at all. But, then, if they thought that would be the case, they probably wouldn’t have made the signing. Kepler hit .216/.300/.391 in 127 games for the Phillies last season, and if he was cheating then, it didn’t seem to do him much good. He doesn’t offer as much defensive value as he used to, either. Maybe he’ll surprise, but he seems like a weak platoon option at the moment.

Benge has his best major league game to date for a second time in a week. The first was when he homered twice against the Mariners on Tuesday. This one was probably more fulfilling, since it came in a victory. It raised his average from .248 to .265 and his OPS from .682 to .733. Benge’s balls in play ranged from 94.9 mph to 106.4 mph, which produced a 389-foot homer. The triple, on a grounder that made it into the right field corner, was his first as a major leaguer.

It seemed like Willits’ defense might have to carry him as a prospect initially, but he’s well ahead of schedule with the bat. He was hitting an impressive .299/.414/.497 with six homers and 28 steals as an 18-year-old in Low-A ball. He’ll probably be playing in Double-A as a 19-year-old by this time next season.

Kurtz is up to 12 homers and seven steals to go along with a .276 average and a .923 OPS. His walk rate has exploded in his sophomore campaign, fueling the highest OBP in MLB so far this season. The absence of a high homer total is the only complaint fantasy managers might have, but opposing arms have seemingly decided to pitch around him any chance they get. Kurtz and the Athletics will return to hitter-friendly Sacramento for a 13-game homestand beginning Monday.

Jump struck out three and issued three walks in the outing, dropping his ERA to 2.45 through three starts in the big leagues. He’s now pitched into the seventh in back-to-back appearances, both of which came on the road. The 23-year-old rookie southpaw next lines up to face the Rockies at home. It kicks off a 13-game homestand in hitter-friendly Sacramento.

Bellinger’s homer was a go-ahead solo shot in the eighth off Justin Slaten. He re-signed with the Yankees on a five-year, $162.5 million deal this past offseason, and he’s posting his best quality of contact since 2020. Bellinger has done it more with on-base abilities than power output, but his 138 wRC+ is tied with his rookie year for the second-best mark of his career.

Alcantara allowed five hits in the outing, lowering his ERA to 4.33 this season. He isn’t getting the same number of strikeouts or grounders as he did in the past, yet he remains effective in his age-30 campaign. Alcantara’s 89 1/3 innings lead the majors, but he has a tough road matchup next time out against the Pirates.