If there’s one universal Cubs’ voice, let’s imagine them singing their version of this old 80’s classic:

“You know I love you (you know I love you), you know it’s true (you know it’s true)

It’s up to you, Clay, now what have I got to do?

Don’t hold me up, Holmes, don’t waste my precious time

Won’t you Clay it on the line?”

Not only did one of the newest acquisitions from the recent trade deadline, “Clay” it on the line last night at Wrigley Field, but he did so in very convincing fashion.

Clay Holmes threw 6.2 innings of shutout ball, allowing one hit, one walk, and striking out three for his first Triumph in a Cubs uniform.

If the North Siders weren’t excited after this guy’s 5th win of the year, someone is gonna have to check for a pulse.

But at risk of spoiling the surprise, Clay Holmes wasn’t the only new-ish face in a new-ish place who added some fire on a full Friday night of fun.

Here’s what else I saw in Fantasy Baseball last night…

Seiya Suzuki – 2-for-4, 1 R, 3 RBI, and his 21st HR. Batting .273. I’d say, uh, he said “See Ya!” twice, but his other hit was just a double. 

Jacob Webb – 1 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K, and his 9th save. There was chatter that Webb might move into a setup role after the trade deadline, but last night he converted his 4th straight save. That, and the fact that Daniel Palencia’s rehab has gone much worse than anyone hoped, means it’s time to hang on to this guy in all leagues for now. 

Matthew Liberatore – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks, and a tough-luck loss (his 10th). The ERA and WHIP are gross (5.07 and 1.48, respectively), but the St Louis Liberator deserved better in this one. When your offense gives you zero runs to work with and just three hits, though? Ya, that makes posting a dub pretty difficult.

Chase Burns – 7 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 8 Ks, and his 14th win. ERA at 2.47. Cincy needs to keep this kid away from anything that Hunter Greene has touched in the clubhouse and on the field. Sanitize and bubble wrap him if you have to.

Emilio Pagan – 1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 Ks, and his 15th save. Nothing flashy, but the good news is he seems fine after a bit of a scare with a sore hand. This one was Pagan’s 4th straight save opportunity converted, too.

Eugenio Suarez – 1-for-4, 1 RBI. Batting .206. It’s tough to find any offense to report on in a 1-0 game, but here we are.

Sandy Alcantara – 7 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 2 Ks, and his 7th loss. No cheeks for Sandy here, and he didn’t really get Chased from the game, but he was, technically, a Burns victim.

Brandon Pfaadt – 7 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 7 Ks, and his 7th win. If you’ve been reading the Top 100 Starting Pitchers each week, thank you first. Secondly, this Pfaadt run is no surprise to you. Last night’s game was his 4th straight quality start, and he has not allowed an earned run in 27.2 innings. In a row. Yep, that’s right. He’s over 25 scoreless innings since June 28th, and he’s headed to the top of the list of contenders for the lede in Monday’s write-up by yours truly. Now I need to go through all of those old Fat Boys cassettes.

Geraldo Perdomo – 4-for-5, 1 R. Batting .252. Hey, it was a 2-0 game. Don’t get too excited about the hits here. (But I promise not every game last night was low-scoring).

Tim Tawa – 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, and his 7th HR. Batting .233. That’s our magical Fantasy Master Lothario’s Lede BUY from yesterday, thank you very much! Immediate dividends!

Chris Sale – 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 9 Ks, and his 8th loss? Really? I guess the Braves offense gave the Cardinals a run for the “Wet Noodle Instead Of A Bat” Award on Friday night, too. 

Michael King – 6 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks, and his 8th win. ERA at 3.42. WHIP at 1.19. If he could’ve dodged the two solo homers, it would’ve looked even better. *Sees someone standing up across the room and hustling over with their arms flailing in the air*. Yes, I know, Captain Obvious, you can go back to your seat now.

Fernando Tatis Jr. – 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, and his 13th HR. Batting .280. Sure, it’s not a superstar season from Fernando, but if you’re hoping for a redo, well…tough Tatis.

Xander Bogaerts – 1-for-1, 1 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, and his 11th HR. Batting .223. Sure, it’s not a great season, but if you want a do-over…no, wait, that one doesn’t work.

Luis Campusano – 2-for-5, 3 RBI, 2 2Bs. Batting .317. Nothing like a nice summer Campusano trip out in the forest…in Cleveland.

Gavin Williams – 4.1 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 5 Ks, and his 7th loss. I know I’ve been paying a lot of attention to pitchers this year when I see that Williams lost to Michael King and immediately thought, “Oh, I bet he gave up a bunch of walks”. I wouldn’t necessarily say 4 BBs is “a bunch”, but that command struggle that resurfaces every once in a while is the only thing holding Gavin Williams back from living in that upper echelon of the top-tier ace pitchers.

Nathaniel Lowe – 3-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, and his 14th HR. Batting .269. Take that, Grey! Josh Bell WHO?! Oh, and for the record, Nate Lowe, and not Josh Bell, is referring to one of those new additions at the trade deadline that paid dividends last night!

Brayan Rocchio – 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, and his 10th HR. Batting .254. Silly me, I originally spelled his name as Bryan. Even sillier would have been spelling it like “Brian”. Oh, the horror. First, Brayan spells his name like a donkey call. What’s next, NEIGH-thaniel Lowe changing his name again, too? (High five me, you know you like that one).

Angel Genao – 2-for-4, 1 R. Batting .323. For the record, Genao, we’re big fans of your salami too. Wait, that sounded a lot less offensive in my head.

Brady House – 2-for-3, 1 RBI. Batting .242. Hey, it was either trying to reference an industrial rock band from the late-1980s (Front 242) or giving you a blurb about Andrew Alvarez and asking you to guess if the latter was the name of a Washington pitcher or state senator.

CJ Abrams – 0-for-2, 1 R, 1 SB (24). Batting .283. The only news here is the Nats announcing they’re moving Nasim Nunez to SS and Abrams over to cover the keystone. CJ Abrams, All-Star shortstop…er, second baseman…and casino enthusiast.

Robert Stock – 4.1 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks, and the no-decision. This was last week’s quote: “ His name sounds like he’s a daytime soap opera star. With a line like 3 IP, 8 ER, 9 H, 5 BB, 4 Ks, he would’ve needed a lot more than a Guiding Light for this one.” At least Friday’s start was a lot more bold and beautiful than last week’s was.

Francisco Lindor – 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, and his 12th HR. Batting .240. Do you think Lindor looks around the clubhouse, sees Lou-Bob, Marcus Semien, and Luis Torrens, and thinks, “Huh, I guess hitting .240 isn’t all that bad.”

Kodai Senga – 1 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K, and his 2nd save!? Oh boy. The ghost splitter is finally gonna become a thing in Gotham, isn’t it? Because LOLMets.

Chris Bassitt – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 3 Ks, and the no-decision. This was a pretty solid first start back for a guy who missed over two months with back surgery (bone spurs). 

Cam Sanders – 0.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 Ks, and his 2nd save. ERA at 6.75. I saw his name listed as C. Sanders in the box score and immediately thought, “What? Were R. McDonald, D. Queen, and P.F. Chang unavailable to pitch?”

Gunnar Henderson – 4-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, and his 20th HR. Batting .211. The good news is the folks who rostered this guy in your fantasy leagues and didn’t trade him away probably still won’t…because they’re at the bottom of your league and have already moved on to Fantasy Football. Speaking of which, if that’s your sort of thing, we’re well into the coverage on the other side of the site. Check it out here!

Colton Cowser – 1-for-2, 1 R, 1 RBI, and his 10th HR. Batting .214. Well, the good news, Colton, is that your average is three points higher than Coby Mayo’s. But, if you don’t want to see the bad news, don’t peek at Tyler O’Neill’s robust .219.

Garrett Cleavinger – 0.1 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 Ks, and his 4th loss. I take full responsibility for this loss, as he was likely rattled when he learned that my dad and I traded him and Cal Raleigh in our SVHD AL-Only keeper league yesterday for a package that included Trey Yesavage and Moises Ballasteros. I’m sure he’ll be back to normal in a few days.

Chandler Simpson – 1-for-4, ZERO runs, ZERO RBIs, and 2 SBs (34, 35). Batting .306. Yep! That’s the NUMBER THREE hitter in the lineup. Swinging the big lumber out of the POWER spot. Let’s pencil in the guy with NO home runs this year and a total of…how many big flies in 835 career at-bats? Oh ya. That’s a big old ZERO too. I’m surprised they didn’t call up 41-year-old Evan Longoria and have him pinch run for Simpson at first base, too. Because the Rays just have to be different. Smh.

Bubba Chandler – 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks, and his 6th win. I backed into my own creation of sorts in the Top 100 Starting Pitchers list with my “Youngster Quality Start”. That’s a starting pitcher who’s 26 or younger that almost hits the 6-inning mark, but posts fewer than 3 ER anyway. Bubba notched one of those last night AND only walked two guys. That should be worth two wins.

Brandon Lowe – 1-for-4, 1 R, 3 RBI, and his 26th HR. Batting .250. I traded this guy away a couple of years ago because I was too scared to bet his back wouldn’t completely crumble to pixie dust. Instead, this Pirate has sailed to Neverland and is having another solid season as a 32-year-old.

Rafael Flores – 3-for-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, and his 4th HR. Batting .294. That’s 3 HR and 8 RBIs in his last two games. Hot schmotato alert!

Mason Montgomery – 0.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K, and his 4th save. ERA at 3.61. So Bubba went 5 innings, then the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings were: Gregory Soto, Camilo Doval, and Luke Weaver. Kirby Yates came on in the 9th, got two outs, and gave up 1 ER on 3 H, then gave the ball to Monty to finish things off. It looks like the Pirates want to let Kirby play, but he kind of blows. Stick with MM at least for as long as the Pirates do.

Jake Bennett – 4 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks, and his 6th loss. Uh…that’s his 3rd loss in his last 4 GS. And he’s allowed 14 ER in his last 21.1 IP. It’s been a far cry from the budding ace we saw in June, that’s for sure.

Jarren Duran – 1-for-3, 2 R. Batting .202. We used to have a buddy in high school who said, “I could bat .200 in the bigs”. I mean, that buddy is only 52 years old now, so maybe he’ll still got a shot with the Rockies.

George Kirby – 4.2 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 2 Ks, and the no-decision. It’s been a bit of a back-and-forth with some of the Kirby-stompers in the Top 100 Starting Pitchers list each week. I’m guessing they’ll be flooding in to send me some over-the-internet smirks and giggles after this one. 

Victor Robles – 3-for-5, 1 R, 2 RBI. Batting .256. For a team that scored 7 runs last night, it certainly wasn’t a flashy box score. The M’s hit no homers and had just one SB to report (from Julio Rodriguez).

Andres Munoz – 0.2 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 1 K, and his 5th loss. I was up late watching this one as I typed up today’s rundown. And to say that I went from being really happy after coaching my eldest’s team to a playoff victory last night right back down to the dregs of remembering that I roster Munoz on multiple fantasy teams is one way to describe how brutal an outing that was to watch.

Peter Lambert – 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks, and the no-decision. Sometimes I forget that Lambert is 29 years old and assume he’s one of these breakout rookies. I mean, he technically only started 3 games since the end of the 2023 season, so he’s not really a veteran arm either.

Yordan Alvarez – 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, and his 36th HR. Batting .323. Yep. Great idea to throw this guy back in a keeper league instead of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. way back in February because of the inflated price tag. *Tommens out the open window*

Christian Walker – 2-for-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, and his 23rd HR. Batting .238. The bottom of the 10th was a nasty one to watch if you’re a Seattle fan. Munoz nearly wiping out on the mound after throwing an outside pitch that Altuve flicked into RF for a single. Then watching the newest Astro, Dalton Varsho, move the lineup along with a slap single past M’s SS Brock Rodden to score the tying run set the stage for Walker’s 3-run walkoff home run. 

Jose Urquidy – 3.2 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 3 Ks, and his first win of the year. Speaking of Astros! *intern whispers in ear* I mean, speaking of FORMER Astros! Urquidy is back… kind of… since he didn’t technically start this game, but he followed Sean Newcomb’s 1.1 innings of ‘opening’. I’d monocle Urquidy in deeper leagues, though, if you really need the help. It would have to be a very big need, though.

Miguel Vargas – 4-for-5, 3 R, 3 RBI, and 2 HRs (25, 26). Batting .239. I was curious how much of a bargain this guy was back in draft season, so I looked up his NFBC ADP. He was going off the board as pick #278, and now he’s ranked as the 34th player overall on our Player Rater. I’d say that’s more than a good return on your investment.

Tristan Peters – 3-for-5, 1 R, 2 RBI, and his 7th HR. That’s former Savannah Banana, 2026 MLB All-Star, and Canadian super outfielder to YOU! (This was easily his best game since the All-Star Game, so we should pump the brakes a bit on the praise).

Munetaka Murakami – 1-for-3, 2 R, 1 RBI, and his 27th HR. Batting .235. Sure, the 27 homers are great, but let’s give your guy MarmosDad some kudos for actually writing his name out properly for once instead of calling him Munenori.

Jackson Jobe – 3.2 IP, 6 ER, 9 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks, and his first loss. Last week’s return from a lengthy layoff was great. This one? Uh, not so great.

Ben Malgeri – 2-for-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, and his 8th and 9th HRs. Batting .283. Sure, that’s all fine and dandy, but I’m still upset that he hasn’t made up with Johnny Knoxville and Jeff Tremaine, and wasn’t in the new Jackass movie.

Shane Bieber – 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks, and his 4th win. This guy is such a Jekyll and Hyde case; I truly don’t know what to say. One week he throws well enough to be in the Top 50-60 SP rankings, then the next week it’s a wonder he doesn’t slide entirely off the list. 

Alejandro Kirk – 2-for-3, 1 R, 2 RBI, and his 5th HR. Batting .269. Curse all those Jays fans who wanted to trade away Captain Kirk!

Louis Varland – 1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 Ks, and his 27th save. If you’re a suffering Blue Jays fan (like I am), just be glad they didn’t trade Varland at the deadline too.

Gerrit Cole – 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks. The Cole train got be-bopped with a tough-luck loss (his 6th). 

Trent Grisham – 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, and his 16th HR. Batting .225. Hey, Yankee fans, it could be worse. Y’all could still be watching Jasson Dominguez out there. 

Seth Lugo – 4.2 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 4 Ks, and the no-decision. Remember a few years ago when Seth Lugo was ranked in the Top 20 on the Player Rater? No, I swear it was this universe and not a parallel one.

Jac Caglianone – 3-for-4, 2 R, 5 RBI, and his 22nd HR. Batting .273. Have you ever seen one of those memes of the sad person looking through the window on a rainy day? That’s basically the same as me looking at this box score while also rostering Nick Kurtz and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as my first basemen.

Michael Massey – 3-for-5, 1 R, 2 RBI, and his 10th HR. Batting .264. I was going to throw shade at Massey and say that at least we expect Jac Caglianone to hit home runs. Then I was surprised to see he’d reached double digits. Move over Murakami, there’s a new power MM for pitchers to fear. (Ok, maybe he’s not that good).

Nolan Schanuel – 2-for-4, 1 R, 4 RBI. Batting .273. Don’t worry, I double-checked because I thought I missed an HR too.

Josh Lowe – 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, and his 9th HR. There it is! There’s the missing home run! And that makes it a trifecta of Lowe-bombs on Friday night!

Grayson Rodriguez – 4 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks, and the no-decision. ERA at 7.17. WHIP at 1.59. “If you don’t stick around long enough, you can’t get saddled with the loss.”

Sage words from the Gray-Rod

Tayler Saucedo – 0.1 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 Ks, and his first loss. More like Tayler Sauce-Don’t! Boom. Nailed it.

Kyle Freeland – 8 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks, and his 4th win. I wrote this up before the last out was recorded, so I fully expected the Giants to come back and have the Rockies blow Freeland’s dub. EDIT: They didn’t.

Zac Veen – 1-for-3, 1 R, 2 RBI, and his 2nd HR. Batting .333. Shhh…he’s buried way down here for a reason. Now tip-toe over there and put your modest FAAB bids in without drawing too much attention to yourselves!

Landen Roupp – 5.2 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks, and his 12th loss. This was his 4th L in a row, and he’s given up 14 ER in his most recent 19.1 IP. That’s one big WOOF from the Roupp-Dogg.

Bryce Eldridge – 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, and his 13th HR. Batting .246. The cheerleader batting average. Who do we appreciate? Uh, I guess the only guy to drive in a run besides Rafael Devers?

Kumar Rocker – 5 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 5 BB, 3 Ks, and the no-decision. Keep on Rockin’ in the Mediocre Pitcher World.

Jake Burger – 1-for-3, 1 R, 3 RBI, and his 20th HR. Batting. 234. Well, 20 homers is a far cry from 55 burgers and 55 fries, but it’s still pretty solid.

Gage Jump – 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 1 K, and the no-decision. I said it last week in the Top 100 Starting Pitchers write-up, but it bears repeating here. If you roster him in a keeper league, hold on tight, but I wouldn’t trust him much in a redraft league for the rest of the way this year. The walks are out of control. Pun relatively unintended. (or is it?).

Jeff McNeil – 4-for-5, 1 R, 3 RBI, and his 5th HR. Batting .263. I’d say maybe the Rays could use this guy as their cleanup batter, but his home run total is far too high for what they’re looking for in a middle-of-the-order hitter.

Robert Gasser – 6.1 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 7 Ks, and his 5th loss. Hey, this wasn’t too bad for a kid that had to survive a trip into the heart of the Avengers’ Tower. Even Tony Stark would be proud of this effort.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto – 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 9 Ks, and his 12th win. When your squad allows one RBI to Joey Ortiz and a lone SB to freakin Ji-Hwan Bae, you know it’s gonna be smooth sailing.

Andy Pages – 3-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, his 12th SB, and his 20th HR. Batting .272. A slam AND legs! Ya, Pages! You really threw the book at ‘em!

Edwin Diaz – 1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 BB, 1 K, and his 7th save. ERA at 10.66. WHIP at 2.66! In the post-game presser, Diaz said, “Maybe you guys can stop calling me Ed-Lose now, hey?”

And, before we go, I had to add the link in case you need to feed the earworm from the headline. Because, dear readers, I’m always here to help.

That’s all for this week’s roundup! Come back and see me on Monday, when I’ll have an updated Top 100 Starting Pitchers list with new Jumpers, Dumpers, and all the regular goodies.

 

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