Braves select contract of Connor Thomas

Meidroth also had a single in the contest. With the White Sox having Caleb Bonemer on the way and adding another elite infield prospect in Roch Cholowsky with the No. 1 pick in today’s draft, one wonders if Meidroth might eventually become obsolete in Chicago, in spite of his very solid play to date. It’s not an issue for this year, though. He’s batting .272/.345/.383 through 388 plate appearances.

Feddy came in for the third after Bryan Hudson and Chris Murphy pitched scoreless first and second innings, respectively, and allowed one hit with three strikeouts through the sixth. He started the seventh by giving up a double to Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, leading to his exit, but Sean Newcomb came in and stranded the runner. It’s Fedde’s fifth win, all of which have come since the beginning of June. He has a 4.15 ERA in nine starts and 10 appearances as a bulk guy.

Taylor took over with the tying run on third and one out in the eighth, putting him in prime position for a cheap blown save. However, he got out of the jam by striking out Shea Langeliers and getting Jonah Heim to ground out. He then walked one in a scoreless ninth that was made easier because the A’s took out decent left-handed hitters for weaker right-handed bats while trying to score off Sean Newcomb in the seventh. Seranthony Domínguez again went unused today, and Taylor is the pretty clear favorite for saves in Chicago, even if he’ll occasionally work earlier in games sometimes.

It was a nice rebound outing for Jump, but with the A’s getting shut out, he dropped his third start in a row anyway. While Jump was roughed up in his previous two outings, this makes five times in nine major league starts that he has allowed one or no runs. He’ll take a 3-4 record and a 3.51 ERA into the All-Star break. It’s likely that he’ll face the Nationals next weekend.

Langeliers was on the short list of the AL’s best players a month and a half into the season, but his production fell off in mid-May and has really hit the skids lately; he’s hitting .172 with one extra-base hit and 24 strikeouts in his last 16 games, 13 of which have been A’s losses. Maybe it’s the usual assortment of catching bumps and bruises piling up, but he doesn’t look like an All-Star right now.

That’s relatively good news. Helsley will keep resting for now and then aim for a return down the stretch. One imagines he’ll be down for at least another month, and since the Orioles might get Félix Bautista back in September, it probably doesn’t make a lot of sense to hold on to Helsley in shallow leagues. Andrew Kittredge seems to have supplanted Tyler Wells as the favorite for saves in Baltimore’s pen for now. The team could trade for another option before the deadline.

The Dodgers had their first pick dropped from 30th to 40th because of their spending habits, but they’re getting a real interesting playing here. MLB Pipeline had Lowrance ranked as the No. 21 player in the draft and actually dropped a Freddie Freeman comparison. Lowrance is a 6-foot-5, left-handed hitter who hasn’t tapped into his power potential yet but should in time. He’s unlikely to remain a shortstop for long, but he might be able to stick at third.

Despite being hit with a 10-pick penalty for spending money, the Yankees were able to select the draft’s No. 17 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline’s rankings. After missing much of his first two years in college with a stress fracture in his elbow, Dietz had a 3.57 ERA and a 131/31 K/BB in 85 2/3 innings for Arkansas this year. At 6-foot-6 and 235 pounds, he has the look of a future workhorse, and he possesses the mid-90s fastball to back it up.

This is the selection the White Sox acquired from the Pirates in the Jacob Gonzalez trade last night. Thome goes to one of his dad’s teams; Jim hit 134 of his 612 career homers for the White Sox from 2006-09. MLB Pipeline had him as the draft’s No. 34 prospect, so this lines up perfectly. Thome is being drafted as a shortstop, but he’ll probably wind up at second or maybe third, which was his father’s original position. He’s not going to be a 40-homer guy or anything close to that, but he’s a left-handed bat with a strong all-around game.

The Giants selected the first pitcher off the board with the No. 4 overall pick and got another quality arm at No. 29, which was the pick they received from the Guardians in the Patrick Bailey trade. Viewed as a potential top-10 pick entering the year, Boleman was a little bit of a disappointment in his final season in high school, but he has four pitches, including a really good curve, and can reach the mid-90s.