Betting

All signs point to Smith hitting the injured list later this week. He’s sitting out his fourth consecutive game on Wednesday night against the Pirates while he continues to deal with neck stiffness. The Dodgers are obviously prioritizing the postseason over everything else, which is why they would rather give their 31-year-old star backstop some additional time off to put the issue to bed rather than take any chances. It’ll be Dalton Rushing handling the bulk of the catching duties in his absence, which is a definite short-term boost to his fantasy appeal.

Scherzer returns to take the ball for Wednesday’s series finale against the Phillies at the Rogers Centre following a six-week absence recovering from a forearm strain. The 41-year-old future Hall of Famer’s durability remains his biggest obstacle to sustained fantasy value at this stage of his career, but he’s been an effective starter, when healthy. A wait-and-see approach seems like the best route given his struggles in five early-season starts, but he’ll offer some streaming appeal if he’s feeling right from a physical standpoint again.

The encouraging development here is that Emerson was able to resume swinging a bat and is optimistic he’ll avoid a trip to the injured list. The 20-year-old top prospect is sitting out his third consecutive game due to back tightness with Cole Young drawing another start at shortstop. Emerson is presumably day-to-day heading into Thursday’s series finale in Baltimore.

Rasmussen had just one previous 10-strikeout game, finishing with exactly 10 against the Yankees on Sept. 9, 2022. He got 20 missed swings and allowed just two hits and two hard-hit balls today. The Red Sox swung at 15 of the 23 four-seamers he threw and racked up eight whiffs without ever putting any of them in play. Rasmussen has pitched seven scoreless innings in three of his last four starts and is 6-2 with a 2.71 ERA on the season. He’ll face the Dodgers next week.

Where did that come from? Both homers were no doubters to left, with the first checking in at 415 feet. That’s 29 feet farther than his previous long fly this year. The 107.7 mph it left the bat at was also a season high. It’s Durbin’s first two-homer game as a major leaguer. He’s hit .341 with eight extra-base hits in his last 12 games, so playing time is no longer a question for him at the moment. He still might offer some fantasy value in deeper leagues.

This will be the third straight game that both players miss. As of now, there is no indication that either one of them will need to go on the injured list, but that could change if these injuries linger. Sam Huff will catch and bat ninth on Wednesday, while Taylor Ward will be the DH, and Tyler O’Neill will play right field and bat eighth.

Braves manager Walt Weiss said late Tuesday that Acuña was day-to-day and that they didn’t think the injury was as severe as the previous hamstring injury that kept him out for 17 days last month. However, an MRI today must have told a different story. Acuña will miss at least the next 10 days, and potentially longer, since the Braves have a comfortable lead in the NL East and will want to make sure their star player is healthy. Soft tissue injuries tend to recur, and Acuña has also had two knee surgeries, so even though he has 15 steals already this season, there is a chance that the collection of lower-body injuries may keep him from reaching the heights we saw in 2023. Eli White should see regular starts in the outfield while Acuña is sidelined.

Adames is out because of lower-half discomfort he felt during last night’s game. As of now, there’s no indication this will be a lengthy absence. Casey Schmitt will start at shortstop with Victor Bericoto in left field, batting eighth, and Jonah Cox in center field, batting ninth.

Domínguez is working his way back from an AC joint sprain that he suffered on May 8th. With Aaron Judge (stress fracture) likely sidelined until August, it seems like Domínguez could have a solid runway of playing time coming up; however, Yankees manager Aaron Boone would not commit to activating the 23-year-old Domínguez in the coming day. Of course, if Spencer Jones struggles, that might make the decision easier.

The 22-year-old is now up to 18 home runs, 48 RBI, and a .937 OPS in 230 Triple-A at-bats this season. Lars Nootbaar’s return has clogged the Cardinals’ outfield a little, but Báez is certainly pushing for his opportunity.