Cincinnati

Reds

He allowed two runs in five-plus innings against the Cubs. Lodolo already missed the first five weeks of this season with blister issues and also lost starts in 2023 and ’24. If this is another IL-type situation, the Reds could replace him in the rotation with Chase Petty.

It sounds like Burns made the decision to bow out of next week’s Midsummer Classic for precautionary reasons to avoid missing any time coming out of the break. It’s a situation that fantasy managers should monitor closely, but the extra time off should help him be ready to take the ball to open the second half. He was replaced on the National League’s roster by Dodgers lefty Justin Wrobleski.

Lebron is one of the most fascinating -- and one of the more volatile -- prospects in this year’s draft class. The positives are obvious, he’s a shortstop with considerable power in his right-handed bat, and that along with his 70-grade speed (on the 20-80 scouting scale) helped him hit 16 homers while stealing a whopping 42 bases in 43 attempts in 2026. He also hit just .277, which is a number that is not terribly impressive with metal bats at the college level for a top prospect -- and he struck out 177 times in as many games in his three seasons with the Crimson Tide. The good news is that there’s no real concern about the defense, and there’s no reason to think he can’t stick at shortstop, although he’d likely make an excellent center fielder if a team wanted to give him a shot. The upside for Lebron is huge -- not the first time that sentence has been typed -- but there’s a wide variety of outcomes for the 21-year-old.

Hayes struck out twice. The 29-year-old defensive wizard remains a complete non-factor at the plate and can be safely ignored in all fantasy leagues. He returned to Cincinnati’s lineup on Friday following a seven-week absence due to a back injury.

De La Cruz broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning, sending his 15th homer of the season into the stands. He would later triple in the bottom of the seventh and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Sal Stewart to put the Reds up 2-0. Elly continues to go on a tear since returning from injury and is slashing .286/.390/.543 on the month with a few days to go before the All-Star break.

Greene couldn’t have asked for a much better outing in this one. After a disastrous first start of the season his last time out, the hard-throwing righty held the Cubs in check all night, allowing just three hits over seven scoreless frames. Greene was lights out for the Reds on Friday, needing just 93 pitches to get through this outing while limiting himself to just one walk. He’ll get some time off with the All-Star Break just around the corner, but hopefully this start signals a strong second-half of the season for him.

Steer has not appeared in a game in center field in his major-league career. So this could be fun. The 28-year-old is hitting .240/.323/.421 this year while mostly batting in the top half of the Reds order over the past month or so. This is a stab at getting T.J. Friedl out of the lineup.

McLain’s calf injury helps the Reds activate Ke’Bryan Hayes. McLain was day-to-day with the calf as of last night. McLain has hit a disappointing .190/.293/.328 in 309 plate appearances this year, though he has provided 11 stolen bases and eight homers along the way. Managers in deeper leagues can probably cut bait at this point if they have better options on the wire.

Hayes will likely be in the lineup tonight with Matt McLain on his way to the injured list. Fantasy leaguers should probably maintain a wait-and-see approach with Hayes after his abysmal early-season struggles. There’s a non-zero chance we see some passable fantasy production from Hayes, as we have in flashes over the years. He’s hard to count on at this point.

The Reds were shut out with Singer on the mound for the second straight time. This is probably Singer’s second-best start of the season. The best came three weeks ago when he shut out the Brewers for seven innings in a no-decision. He’s certainly been a below average starter with his 4.72 ERA, but he still deserves better than a 3-9 record at this point. He’ll probably pitch in Coors in his first start after the break.