Hicks (back) could come off the IL on Tuesday

This was the good version of Bradley. His velocity was up a bit and his fastball sat just above 98 mph and touched 100 mph a couple of times. With that, he had no fear challenging the Astros’ hitters with it in the zone. Apart from that, he had solid command of his secondaries. The Astros have a very right-handed heavy lineup and Bradley used his more slider-ish cutter breaking down and away against them. Also, he was mostly consistent with his splitter below the zone and even stole a few called strikes with it early in the count when he needed to. His 11 strikeouts matched a career-high and he now has a 3.86 ERA, 102 strikeouts, and 38 walks through 88 2/3 innings this season. He’s lined up to face the Guardians next time out in his final outing before the All-Star break.

Clemens smashed a three-run home run off a high fastball from Tatsuya Imai in the second inning that practically ended his night. That was Clemens’ 14th home run on the season after hitting a career-high 19 last year. This has been a sensational multi-year power surge from Clemens who entered 2025 with just 14 career long balls and looks the part of a legitimate middle of the order bat at the moment.

This was just another day at the office for Alvarez. Three batted balls hit harder than 100 mph, three more hits, a walk, and he raised his batting average to .319 in the process. His season is still so ridiculously impressive as we approach the All-Star break that the Astros’ broadcast flashed a triple crown graphic during this game. With 26 home runs and 60 RBI to go with that .319 average – each of which are top-two in the American League – it’s not a crazy conversation to have.

Just when you thought you were in, he pushes you back out. Imai’s command issues came roaring back here with an awful 37% zone rate that turned into five walks. Two of those walks precluded a three-run home run from Kody Clemens and after a walk that immediately followed, he was yanked after recording just four outs. His approach is always tenuous because he only has two pitches. To make it even less reliable, his fastball is strictly a zone pitch and his slider is mostly a chase pitch. His slider was erratic here, so his misses wound up noncompetitive and were not chased. So, he wound up not having a leg to stand on. Even after a great stretch before his start, Imai has an ugly 6.14 ERA. He’s scheduled to face the Nationals on the road in his next start.

Ramos hit a 427-foot homer off Zac Gallen, and his 373-foot triple would have been a homer in 13 ballparks. Playing time seemed like it might be a question after Ramos returned from the IL on Sunday, but with Willy Adames and Matt Chapman down and Casey Schmitt returning to the infield, he’s started all four games since returning. As long as he’s an everyday guy, he should offer a little mixed-league value.

He struck out five. McDonald’s first scoreless start as a big leaguer comes after six straight losses and moved him to 3-6 with a 4.42 ERA through 11 starts this season. His strong groundball rate bodes pretty well going forward, but he’s still going to need to produce more strikeouts with his slider in order to turn into more than a bottom-of-the-rotation guy. He’ll face the Blue Jays next week.

He struck out Adrian Del Castillo and Nolan Arenado before getting Pavin Smith to ground out tonight. Kilian improved to 3-for-4 in save chances since officially being named the Giants’ closer and 7-for-9 overall on the season.

Gallen getting released by the D-backs when Michael Soroka comes off the IL has to be on the table at this point. He just isn’t showing MLB-quality stuff right now, and there’s nothing to suggest it’s about to change. Through 19 starts, Gallen has given up 116 hits versus 56 strikeouts. He’s surrendered 17 homers in 92 innings. In 2022, he gave up 15 in exactly twice as many innings (184). His velocity hasn’t changed much, so maybe there’s still hope for a turnaround. Still, this is a Triple-A pitcher right now. He’s due to face the Padres next.

Del Castillo’s glove always figured to hold him back, but he’s been a disaster at the plate this year, too, hitting just 182/.242/.291 with a 29 percent strikeout rate. The Diamondbacks might have room to keep him as a part-time DH after James McCann comes off the IL, but he’s just not giving them any reason to.

Moniak set the tone in this one with a solo shot off Marlins’ starter Max Meyer in the first inning. He then doubled and tripled in his next two at-bats and had an opportunity in the seventh needing just a single to complete the cycle. He couldn’t pull it off, but this was his first great game since coming off the injured list 11 days ago. Coming into the night, he’d gone 3-for-23 since returning with only one extra-base hit. Here’s to hoping this will get him back on track.