Athletics acquire Scott Blewett from Cardinals

The surprising part is that they also sent down Edwin Arroyo, giving McLain what appears to be another real chance at playing time at second base after he struggled mightily in 309 plate appearances so far this year. McLain has eight homers and 11 stolen bases despite hitting .190, so he may be of deep-league interest again if he can start hitting.

John Rave will draw the start in center field. Thomas has more or less been a full-time player for the Royals since mid-June, posting a .234/.293/.462 line in 157 plate appearances since June 15 with seven homers and four stolen bases. Sitting him against a right-handed starter makes sense as Thomas is hitting just .205/.293/.368 against righties this year.

This was reported yesterday but is now official. Irvin has missed the last two months with a shoulder injury and has a 5.23 ERA over 51 2/3 innings in 11 starts this season. He is not a recommended fantasy option.

In nine Double-A games since coming back from internal brace surgery, Walcott has gone 14-for-37 (.278) with two home runs, nine runs scored, eight RBI, two steals, and a 1.101 OPS. The 20-year-old remains one of the top prospects in baseball, and it’s nice to see him not skip a beat after coming back from major surgery.

Rodríguez is only 19 years old but is hitting .273/.362/.455 in 53 games since being promoted to Double-A with nine home runs and six steals. He is arguably the top catching prospect in baseball and one of the better prospect stashes in keeper fantasy leagues. He likely won’t make his MLB debut in 2026, but he could be a regular for the Cardinals by the middle of the 2027 season.

Perhaps more importantly, Murphy also caught all nine innings behind the plate as well. The veteran has played in just four games this season due to injury and hasn’t hit over .200 in an MLB season since 2023, as injuries have crushed his performance. Still, there is an aggressive market for catchers right now, so perhaps the Braves could flip Murphy to a team looking for a backup catcher at the deadline.

Randal Grichuk will start in left field and bat fourth, while Everson Pereira will start in center field and bat sixth. Both Antonacci and Tristan Peters will head to the bench, and both players seem to be falling into strong-side platoons. It makes some sense since Antonacci has hit .200/.288/.231 in 74 plate appearances against lefties this season.

Mesa Jr. continues to play only against right-handed pitching, which is not great news because the Rays are scheduled to face only one more righty for the remainder of this week. The 24-year-old is hitting .316/.381/.737 over his last 15 games with five home runs, eight RBI, two steals, and a 41 percent hard-hit rate. He is set to face only right-handed pitchers next week, including three games in Coors Field, so he could be a solid waiver add this weekend.

Bradford has missed all season following last year’s Tommy John surgery. He was able to throw three scoreless innings in Double-A last weekend, so he may only need two more rehab starts before he becomes an option for the Rangers’ rotation that will also be getting back Jordan Montgomery (elbow) and Jack Leiter (ankle) soon.

Santos has allowed two runs on two hits in two innings in his only appearance for Texas this season. The 24-year-old has a 7.16 ERA in 55 1/3 innings mostly as a starter in Triple-A.