Betting

Crow-Armstrong and Shohei Ohtani, the NL MVP front-runners at the moment, had nearly identical games from the DH spot today; both went 3-for-5 with leadoff homers in the first and a two-run homers later on. They were even the 25th and 26th homers of the season for both. The difference, though, was that PCA’s third hit was an RBI double, whereas Othani’s was an RBI-less single. Crow-Armstrong is now hitting .288/.386/.552, putting him in fourth place in the majors in OPS. He has three two-homer games this season and nine for his career.

Ohtani homered off Shota Imanaga to start the game and hit a two-run shot off Ryan Zeferjahn to bring the Dodgers within one run in the eighth. It’s his first two-homer game of the year. Ohtani is 15-for-31 with four homers in his last eight games. He’s tied for ninth in the majors with 26 homers, and he’s second in OPS at .953, having overtaken Juan Soto today.

Shelton added that Ryan is headed back to Minnesota due to back and glute issues, which puts his availability for Sunday’s start against the Brewers in obvious jeopardy. The ongoing physical issues, which are impacting his ability to repeat his delivery, certainly explain his recent struggles as he’s allowed a staggering 17 runs — 16 earned — over 15 1/3 innings across three starts since the All-Star break. There should be some much-needed clarity on his status and outlook later this week.

Freeman isn’t completely out of the woods, but it sounds like early indications are that he managed to avoid serious injury after being hit by a pitch, which led to his removal from Wednesday’s game against the Cubs. The 36-year-old veteran should benefit from an off-day before the Dodgers kick off a three-game series against the division-rival Diamondbacks on Friday.

Harrison gets the ball for Wednesday’s showdown against the Pirates following a one-month absence due to forearm tightness. The 24-year-old southpaw was a prominent breakout candidate in the first half, registering a sparkling 3.01 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 101/20 K/BB ratio across 83 2/3 innings over 17 starts, delivering top-20 fantasy value among starting pitchers in the process. He draws a favorable matchup in his return from the injured list and shouldn’t have a ton of workload restrictions over the final two months.

As former Yankees manager Joe Girardi was fond of saying, it’s not what you want. Greene’s sudden departure from Cincinnati’s rotation comes with a lack of certainty regarding the severity of the issue and whether he’ll require another surgical procedure. He’s scheduled to meet with renowned surgeon Dr. Neal El Attrache in Los Angeles later this week. The hard-throwing 26-year-old has struggled to an inflated 6.83 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and 33/9 K/BB ratio across 27 2/3 innings since returning from surgery to remove bone chips and loose bodies from his pitching elbow back on July 4. There should be some much-needed clarity regarding his next steps in the coming days. At this point, it’s challenging for fantasy managers to justify stashing him, especially in shallow formats.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that Judge was given the green light after followup scans on his right ribs. It’s a significant step towards making it back to New York at some point in the final two months. The 34-year-old generational talent remains without a definitive return timeline and he’s likely to require several weeks to ramp-up from a physical standpoint following the lengthy layoff. Judge has been on the injured list with a stress fracture in his right ribs since early June. There should be a clearer idea of his next steps in the coming weeks.

Cincinnati failed to resolve their crowded outfield situation at the trade deadline earlier this week, but made the decision to promote Rodríguez anyway. The dynamic 22-year-old went 0-for-2 with a walk and scored a run against the Athletics in his big-league debut on Tuesday night. He possesses a fantasy-relevant skillset and is worthy of a speculative roster spot in deeper mixed leagues. The big question is whether he’s able to carve out an everyday role over the next few weeks with JJ Bleday, Noelvi Marte, Dane Myers and TJ Friedl still in the mix.

The Cardinals are presumably handling Walker’s situation with an abundance of caution since they have an off-day prior to Friday’s series opener against the Rockies. The 24-year-old rising fantasy star will receive some extra time off to rest and recover as he deals with right knee inflammation. It’s challenging to dismiss the possibility of an injured list stint, but it sounds like Walker will be ready to return later this week.

Ramírez is officially day-to-day with left wrist inflammation. It’ll be rookie Angel Genao taking over at the hot corner in his major-league debut on Wednesday night. Fantasy managers aren’t completely out of the woods regarding a potential injured list trip for Ramírez, but things seem a bit more optimistic at this juncture.