Bryce Miller, SP, SEA
Miller was excellent against the Tigers on Thursday, tossing 7 shutout innings with 9 K's, while allowing just 2 hits and no walks. This marks Miller's fourth scoreless outing of 6 IP or more in his last 6 starts, and over his last 8 turns, he has posted a spectacular 2.09 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and 43:4 K:BB across 43.1 IP. Miller continues to do a superb job at limiting walks - he's currently at 2.00 BB/9 after posting a 1.78 BB/9 last year in his rookie season - which has allowed him to produce strong ratios despite a mediocre strikeout rate. He's probably not quite as good as his 3.29 ERA suggests, as his xFIP is at 3.90 and he has a .248 BABIP, but he should still be solid enough that he doesn't hurt you in that category, thanks to his ability to avoid free passes.
J.J. Bleday, OF, OAK
Bleday had himself a day against the Mets on Thursday, going 3-5 with a grand slam and a SB. Bleday is having a solid season, and he's been even better since the all star break .329/.402/.573 with 4 HR's, 13 RBI, and 16 runs scored across 24 games. He has shown strong plate discipline this season with an 18% K% and 10.6% BB%, and the strikeout rate too has improved since the break, down to 13% in the second half. His Statcast numbers are so-so, but he hits tons of fly balls (47.5% FB%) and he already has 33 doubles this season, so there could be some power upside if some of those doubles turn into homeruns. As the regular #3 hitter in the A's lineup, he should put up enough counting stats to be usable in fantasy leagues.
Max Fried, SP, ATL
Fried had another mediocre start against the Giants on Thursday, allowing 3 ER's on 5 hits and 3 BB's in 5.1 IP, while striking out 5. In 3 starts since returning from a brief IL stint, Fried has struggled to the tune of a 7.90 ERA (12 ER's in 13.2 IP) along with a 20:11 K:BB across those 13.2 IP. He has walked at least 3 in each of those starts and in fact he has issued at least 3 walks in 6 of his last 8 starts and 11 of his 21 starts overall. That leaves him with a 3.33 BB/9 for the season, compared to the 1.91 BB/9 that he posted from 2021-2023. It hasn't been all bad for Fried, as he's still been getting strikeouts and groundballs, and the contact against him hasn't been overly hard. There's definitely been some bad luck in his recent slump with a .417 BABIP against him in the three games. Still, the uptick in walks is a bit concerning, and will make it harder for him to put up the ace-like numbers that we're used to from him. He's been good for long enough that he deserves the benefit of the doubt that he can figure this out, but right now this doesn't seem like the Fried of old.
Grant McCray, OF, SF
McCray went 2-3 with his first MLB home run against the Braves on Thursday after making his MLB debut the day before. He has hit 26 HR's in 224 MiLB games over the past two seasons, so he has moderate power, but what might intrigue fantasy owners is that he stole 52 bases in 2023 and 43 in 2022. This year that number is down to 14 steals in the upper levels of the minors, so it will be interesting to see how much he runs at the big league level. From a hitting perspective, he's still a work in progress, as he struck out at a 25.4% clip at AAA this season, and that was actually his lowest strikeout rate for any stage in the minors since he was in rookie ball in 2019.
Weston Wilson, 3B, PHI
It was a career day for Wilson against the Nationals on Thursday as he went 4-5 and hit for the cycle in the Phillies blowout win. Wilson has been up and down with the Phillies this season, but he has taken advantage of his opportunities, slashing .342/.350/.684 with 3 HR's and 7 RBI across 40 PA's. WIlson has shown prodigious power in the minor leagues; he hit 31 HR's at AAA in 2023 and has 18 dingers in 71 AAA games this season. He hasn't yet secured an every day role with the Phillies, but if he keeps hitting, the Phillies may have to make room for him.
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