We’ve got a trio of teams with very fantasy-friendly schedules in the coming week that also have multiple players who are widely available in ESPN leagues. This presents us with quite the opportunity on the fantasy baseball waiver wire as Week 8 dawns. Make sure you’re all-in on these three teams, at least for the short term, when considering your free agent pickups and lineup decisions.
Miami Marlins: The Marlins begin their week with a four-game series at Colorado’s Coors Field — a dream arrangement for any offense, but especially good for a team that has notoriously struggled to score runs in recent seasons yet has (in encouraging fashion) scored five-plus runs in seven of its last 13 games. The Marlins hitter to grab is Jorge Soler, whose 12 home runs are tied for ninth-most in baseball, yet make him the only player with at least that many to be available in more than two-thirds of ESPN leagues. Soler is somehow out there in 83.6% of leagues!
Over his last 16 games, Soler has been a .323/.391/.677 hitter with seven of those 12 homers and 17 RBI, resulting in 60 fantasy points (tied for ninth among hitters). What’s more, since the beginning of 2021, he’s a .244/.350/.598 hitter against lefties, his .397 wOBA against that side 14th-best among players with at least 250 plate appearances facing that split. This is significant considering his Marlins are set to face four left-handed starters in their seven Week 8 games. In fact, to extend the schedule further, if the Marlins’ future opponents keep their rotations on turn, Soler and the Marlins are likely to face nine lefty starters in their next 14 games through Monday, June 5.
Beyond Soler, the Marlins have additional hitters worth adding for at least the Coors series, even if those Coors games make Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday starters Edward Cabrera, Eury Perez and Sandy Alcantara “must sits” in ESPN’s standard leagues. If you play in a rotisserie league, Jon Berti, who typically leads off against left-handers, is a worthwhile add-and-start for this upcoming stretch. Bryan De La Cruz, who has (with the exception of 2022 in the majors) routinely hit lefties well throughout his professional career, is also a recommended short-term fantasy play.
Chicago White Sox: This slow-starting team has begun to heat up, having swept the Kansas City Royals over the weekend. They’ve now won six of their last eight games, during which time the team’s ERA was an MLB-leading 1.75. The team does have a rotation opening that arrives on Monday after Mike Clevinger (wrist) was placed on the IL. Jesse Scholtens seems a likely option after manager Pedro Grifol recently declared the rookie to be the “next man up.”
Every other White Sox starter has re-established himself a strong fantasy starter for the foreseeable future. Dylan Cease aligns for a two-start Week 8, but the widely available starter to get is Michael Kopech, who is fresh off eight shutout innings — a 10-strikeout masterpiece against the Royals — and faces the Cleveland Guardians (Wednesday), Los Angeles Angels (May 29), Detroit Tigers (June 3) and Marlins (June 9) over the next three fantasy weeks.
It’s a White Sox hitter who stands out as the team’s top current pickup, however, as Jake Burger homered in three consecutive games following his return from an oblique injury, plus delivered four multi-hit performances in his seven games since activation. Burger has delivered better-than-90th-percentile Statcast rates in terms of average exit velocity, Barrel rate, hard-hit rate and expected wOBA (99th percentile!) this season and he’s somehow still out there in 88.0% of ESPN leagues. Andrew Benintendi, the team’s No. 2 hitter against right-handers, is also a strong pickup who remains free in 83.4% of ESPN leagues.
Colorado Rockies: The Rockies are having nothing but trouble filling out their rotation as injuries have depleted the staff to the point that, from their season-opening rotation, only Kyle Freeland and Austin Gomber remain — and Chase Anderson needed to be scooped off waivers recently just to fill it out. It’s plainly obvious for fantasy purposes that you want only this team’s hitters, and generally only in their home games.
Here’s the good news: The Rockies play all seven of their Week 8 games at Coors. Even extending beyond that, the team plays a full seven games (despite them all coming on the road) in Week 9, with three of them against an awful Royals pitching staff, then the team plays all of Week 10 at home. In short, it’s a good 21-day stretch to lean on Rockies hitters, every one of which is out there in more than 20% of ESPN leagues.
Two particularly hot Rockies hitters, Brenton Doyle and Jurickson Profar, who have batted .292/.306/.625 (16 games) and .295/.377/.492 (15) in the month of May, are available in 98.0% and 89.6% of leagues, respectively. Profar typically leads off against lefties and bats second against righties, with generally better results against the latter. This is a good thing when his Rockies are aligned to face six right-handed starters in seven games. Doyle, meanwhile, has hit .302/.333/.698, with all four of his home runs in the majors thus far against same-handed pitchers.
CHICAGO — Kyle Tucker had the fans on their feet, roaring and pumping their fists as he rounded the bases after hitting the go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning. His screaming line drive cleared the right-field wall with plenty of room to spare.
The Chicago Cubs went from giving up 10 runs in the eighth to scoring six in the bottom half and beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 13-11 on Friday in one of the wildest games on record.
The two teams combined for 21 runs in the seventh and eighth innings, with the Cubs scoring 11 runs and the D-backs plating 10. It was the first nine-inning game in MLB history in which both teams scored 10 or more runs from the seventh inning on, and the third game overall, according to ESPN Research.
“That’s kind of baseball,” Tucker said. “There’s a lot of ups and downs in this game, especially with how many games we play.”
There haven’t been many games like this, though.
The Cubs are just the seventh team in at least the past 125 seasons to allow 10 or more runs in an inning and win. They are also the fifth team to give up 10 or more runs and score six or more in the same inning.
The 16 combined runs in the eighth were the most in an inning at Wrigley Field, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“If you’ve seen that one, you’ve been around for a while,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said with a laugh. “It was crazy. You know, we gave up 10 runs in an inning and we won. So it was a wild game, but we kept going, and, you know, there’s 27 outs in a game and this kind of proves it, and you’re just happy to get out with a win.”
On a warm day with the ball carrying, Carson Kelly homered twice. Ian Happ belted a grand slam and Seiya Suzuki went deep, helping the Cubs open a weekend series on a winning note.
“You’ve seen it early — having some tough losses, coming back winning the next day,” Happ said. “Losing the first game of the series, winning the series. Little things like that. Today’s a great example of professional hitters going out there and continuing to have really good at-bats.”
The way things transpired in the final two innings was something to see.
Kelly hit a two-run homer in the second against Corbin Burnes, and Happ came through with his grand slam against Ryne Nelson as part of a five-run seventh. But just when it looked as if the Cubs were in control with a 7-1 lead, things took a wild turn in the eighth.
The crowd of more than 39,000 let the Cubs hear it, but their team regrouped in the bottom half. Bryce Jarvis hit Nico Hoerner leading off and walked Pete Crow-Armstrong before Kelly drove a three-run homer to center. Tucker, the Cubs’ prized offseason addition, came through after Happ singled with one out. Suzuki followed with his drive against Joe Mantiply to give the Cubs a 13-11 lead.
Arizona, which had won five straight, became just the third team over the past 50 seasons to lose a game in which it had a 10-run inning at any point, according to ESPN Research.
“You just got to stay locked in,” Kelly said. “Obviously, you don’t want to … give up 10 in an inning. Obviously, you don’t want to do that. I think the biggest thing is coming back, regrouping and continuing to fight.”
Major League Baseball suspended New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. for one game and fined him an undisclosed amount, the result of his actions during Thursday night’s win against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Chisholm was ejected in the seventh inning by plate umpire John Bacon for arguing after a called third strike on a full-count pitch from Mason Montgomery that appeared low.
Minutes later, he posted on his X account, “Not even f—ing close!!!!!” then deleted the post.
“I didn’t think before I had anything that I said was ejectable but after probably,” Chisholm said after the game. “I’m a competitor, so when I go out there and I feel like I’m right and you’re saying something to me that I think doesn’t make sense, I’m going to get fired up and be upset.
“I lost my emotions. I lost my cool. I got to be better than that. … I’m definitely mad at myself for losing my cool.”
Michael Hill, the league’s senior vice president for on-field operations, said Friday’s discipline was for Chisholm’s “conduct, including his violation of Major League Baseball’s Social Media Policy for Major League Players.”
MLB regulations ban the use of electronic devices during games. The social media policy prohibits “displaying or transmitting content that questions the impartiality of or otherwise denigrates a major league umpire.”
Chisholm did appeal the decision, allowing him to play in Friday night’s 1-0 win against the Rays. He started at second base and went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Manager Dave Roberts said before the Dodgers’ series opener Friday night against the Rangers that Ohtani was with his wife and going on MLB’s paternity list.
“He and Mamiko are expecting at some point. That’s all I know,” Roberts said. “I don’t know when he’s going to come back and I don’t know when they’re going to have the baby, but obviously they’re together in anticipation.”
The 30-year-old Ohtani posted on his Instagram account in late December that he and his 28-year-old wife, a former professional basketball player from his native Japan, were expecting a baby in 2025.
“Can’t wait for the little rookie to join our family soon!” said the Dec. 28 post that included a photo showing the couple’s beloved dog, Decoy, as well as a pink ruffled onesie along with baby shoes and a sonogram that was covered by a baby emoji.
Ohtani can miss up to three games while on paternity leave. The Dodgers have a three-game series in Texas before an off day Monday, then play the Cubs in Chicago on Tuesday.