Red Sox, Tolle, Turn A’s To Ks For More Ws

The Red Sox cannot be stopped. Nine straight! Twenty-seven of the last thirty. The team that looked destined for the dregs of the league has somehow clawed its way into something that feels less like a season and more like a baseball myth being written as we watch. And maybe the most beautiful part is that it hasn’t been the stars we expected. Crochet and Anthony are MIA milk-cartoned, while Sonny Gray makes a Cy Young trot, and Willson Contreras has rediscovered himself as a leader and beloved Boston tough guy who looks born to wear the uniform. Wilyer looks like a budding star. And then there’s Payton Tolle. On a team full of unlikely heroes, Payton Tolle might be the most unlikely of them all. Tolle has emerged as something else altogether: a clubhouse character, lovable lug, staff ace and folk hero. He seems like a player out of a baseball movie. So what’s your favorite Tolle moment? The interviews? The magnificent mustache? For me, it has to be Friday night’s six inning, 14 strikeout game against the homeless A’s at Fenway. Tolle got his seventh win in impressive fashion, with 14 of his 18 outs coming from the K, he allowed just two base runners, retiring nine of the first 12 batters he faced with a strikeout. He threw 84 pitches, the fewest number of pitches to reach 14 strikeouts in MLB history, folks. It’s giving Rocket Roger Clemens. In fact, the 14 Ks were the most for a Red Sox pitcher under 24 since Roger’s 20-strikeout game. Yessir! The hapless A’s didn’t stand a chance.  The strikeouts were a career high, as were the 24 whiffs and the 49% whiff%. Here’s all 14 for your viewing pleasure. Tolle seems to get extra fuel from the Fenway faithful as well, and while he heads to Toronto next week, I expect the dominance to continue. Will he strike out 14? Probably. Will the Red Sox ever lose again? Probably not. Hate to wax poetic, but we’re dealing with some inexplicable magic with this Red Sox team. The vibes are so immaculate right now and with pieces set to return they could potentially get even better down the stretch. It’s hard being this positive for a general cynic like myself but for whom the Bell Tolles, indeed! This team really is so good, so good, so good!

Here’s what else I saw in fantasy baseball Friday night:

Wilyer Abreu – 2-for-2, run, 3 RBI. There are few hotter baked beans in the league than Wilyer Wontyer Abreu. Now batting .409 over the past week with four bombs and 9 RBI. Wilyer win again? Wellyer don’t see them losing any time soon.

Jarren Duran – 1-for-4, HR (16), 2 RBI. Hitting .304 with three homers and two steals over the past week! He hasn’t been this hot since the last time I played him in head to head. He knows! And I ain’t mad at cha for it!

Zac Thornton – 5.0 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 3rd win, ERA at 2.52. Zac continues his attack and just missed his fifth quality start in six chances. He only threw 62 pitches in this one most likely due to a hour plus rain delay he was forced to sit through. He did return after the delay, and it clearly didn’t phase him, so he probably could have stayed out there another inning or more. The best was when the reporter asked him about coming out after a delay he hit them with a “what like it’s hard?”

Marcus Semien – 1-for-4, HR (14), 3 RBI. Sometimes, read the room Marcus, you know? Getting a hot Semien to the tune of four homers in 12 days right as your team is selling off all its assets its just not a great look for anyone. It’s giving “contact year.” And this Semien just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Carson Benge – 2-for-3, run, 2 RBI, SB (18). Injured his wrist making this diving catch, but MRIs came back clean, and he’s day to day. I feel like A.J. Ewing (3-for-4, 2 runs, SB (15))  gets the majority of the hype since Carson’s been there since day one, but Bengey was his name-o  has been better in just about every category.

Cade Cavalli – 6.0 IP, 7 hits, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 9th win. His sixth straight quality start and his fourth win in his last five. He’s posted a 2.70 ERA, four wins, and a 31/7 K/BB in five starts since the All Star Break. I’m sort of disappointed in the Nats for selling off the way they did, but then I see the Braves are up eight games and I think “Oh, I guess the National League is much better.”

Daylen Lile – 2-for-4, HR (15), 3 RBI. That’s almost 10 more home runs than Vlad Guerrero!

Elly De La Cruz – 1-for-2, HR (20). Blessed be the fruit! The oppo-fieldo shoto! Elly of the Cross continues his sacred second half now slashing .289/.407/.579 with 10 home runs, seven steals and a .986 OPS. That’s what a first round pick should be doing! Carry me to the promised land EDLC!

Hector Rodriguez – 1-for-4. Reds needed a He-Ro! Enter Hector Rodriguez who got his first major league hit Friday night. Have a day rook! He was a BUY, and we’re watching him closely than a 25 part TikTok about adulterous AI fruit. Now let’s see some of that power that’s been so highly touted.

Mike Trout – 1-for-2, 2 runs, HR (19). A ding dong for the birthday boy! This is actually Trout’s sixth birthday home run. Yes, he’s been around that long. I hate to rip the guy on his special day, but I’m starting to think Mike Trout is a loser you guys. I mean, why aren’t you demanding a trade? Why are you so comfortable losing year after year. How many times are they going to destroy the team around you and rebuild? You’re likely part of the problem, dude. Ohtani probably took one look at this guy and was like, I gotta get out of here, this guy is a loser.

Kyle Stowers – 4-for-4, 2 RBI as he led off. He’s hitting over .300 the past two weeks with four bombs. One hot month and we’ll completely forget he was so miserable for four months to start the year, and we’ll overdraft him again. Looking forward to it!

Agustin Ramirez – 1-for-2, run. I made a substantial investment in Agustin in my dynasty league, so it’s good to see him finally playing again. Now if you’ll excuse me those shower pop tarts aren’t going to toast themselves.

Tyler Soderstrom – 1-for-3, HR (18). He’s looking at a 25 homer, 85 RBI, .250 season, which is fine considering how awful he started. He makes me miss Nick Kurtz. I can’t remember a more disastrous fantasy season for me from an offensive standpoint. I mean, if there was a bust this year, I drafted him, and while it started with my A’s love: I own Soderstrom, Rooker, Kurtz everywhere, I also had plenty of shares of Roman, one Judge, a Vlad, Tucker, Tatis, two Yelichs, and a Jazz. Oh, and don’t get me started on my Gunnars. Where am I going with this? I’m not sure my therapist said it’s good to get it all out there, though. Sweet release. I guess, while my season is far from over, it’s been rough out there in 2026, and I honestly can’t wait for it to be over. Feel free to vent to me in the comments, I feel your pain.

Braden Montgomery – 2-for-3, HR (4). Waiting for Braden to do something. His first home run since July 12th, oof. I fear the White Sox are falling back to obscurity and are in desperate need of a spark, and Luis Castillo was not it.

Munetaka Murakami – 1-for-4, HR (25). MUNE SHOT! Okay, now if anyone can spark this team again it’s their South Side Samurai.

Parker Messick – 7.0 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, BB, 8 K, 9th win. Parker hasn’t given up more than two runs in a start since June. In fact, this was the first time he’s given up more than one since then, and he’s boasting a 2.34 ERA in that stretch. It’s hard to believe in the White Sox and Tigers when the Guards are so stacked. There are some pretty impressive pitching staffs in the league right now, and Cleveland has to be tops of that list.

Royce Lewis – 2-for-5, 2 runs, RBI. He’s hitting almost .450 in the past week with two home runs. Now would be a really good time for you to go on one of your patented hot streaks, but I guess a 12 game hit streak qualifies. I would just love to see more power, even if it ends with an injury like usual.

Jackson Chourio – 1-for-4, HR (16). This bowl of Chourio’s is served piping hot! Careful it doesn’t curdle! He’s hitting .320 with three homers in the past week. Bro was just waiting for August all along.

Shane Drohan – 5.0 IP, 9 hits, 6 ER, 4 BB, 4 K. I guess you can mess with the Drohan?

Yoendrys Gomez – 1.0 IP, K, SV (16). Looks like he will maintain his closer duties despite the Twinks trading for Jeff Hoffman. Color me surprised! This is the right decision it’s just a little shocking that they’re not doing the dumb thing. I’m so used to it.

Kaelen Culpepper – 1-for-4, HR (1). Hot Kaelen Could Be A Spicy Culpepper! The shortstop batted .271/.367/.478 with 14 homers and 17 steals in AAA and wasted no time in the majors getting his first out of the way. Mashed. I’m like one of those scouts that doesn’t need to see it, I can hear 100+ exit velocity. And this kid’s got it! Kaelen was a BUY and could be one of the game’s top prospects to be called up for the rest of the season. He’s worth an add everywhere on the off chance he’s great. This kid could be a star! Ha-cha-cha!

Tyler Mahle – 6.0 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K. Speaking of hot peppers! That’s a spicy T. Mahle! If I were a Mr. General Manager, I wouldn’t trade with the Braves because I would know they’re gonna fleece me. If deGrom did go to Atlanta, he might turn into Chris Sale 2.0. Never get hurt again. Why would he reject this trade? What is with this loser mentality? As for Mahle, he gets the Mets next week, and I could see considering the prospect of maybe thinking about mulling over the possibility of contemplating whether or not I should review the option of potentially picking him up. I still don’t know for sure, though!

Max Fried – 6.1 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. He hasn’t had a win since April, you guys. I know he missed two months but the Yankees aren’t giving him much to work with this year. Did you know Weathers and Schlittler are top 10 in the league for least run support? I’m starting to think this Yankees offense isn’t very good. One might even go as far to say they dot, dot, dot…suck?

Austin Riley – 1-for-3, HR (14). Hitting .400 in the past week with two homers and seven RBI since you dropped him.

Matt Olson – 1-for-4, HR (33). Allahson might actually get to 40, over the internet friends! To be honest, tbh is an acronym; I don’t know what it stands for, and I don’t have time to google it, but this Braves team looks pretty dangerous right now with Acuna back. Imagine they had deGrom too!

Ryan McMahon – 2-for-3, RBI. The walk-off sac-fly! What’s more exciting than that! I feel for you Bombers fans. This is an upsetting deadline. Georgie Peorgie would have made sure to add some real star power, not Heliot Ramos and one of the Luis Garcia’s. They are fine players sure, but those aren’t “Yankee” adds. Also, more a Mr. Manager B(af)oone critique here, but does Jazz have to bat sixth, seventh every game? Is he not one of your best bats now? Do you just hate him because if that’s the case I totally get it. Same.

Kevin Gausman – 7.0 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, BB, 4 K, 6th win. The Gaus looked great in his debut, albeit against a weaker Royals team. KG may have found the best possible landing spot in terms of team defense and run support. I don’t love the home park but overall a win for a pitcher who was starting to look like a streamer for a second there.

Jacob Webb – 1.0 IP, 2 K, SV (7). BUY! I don’t know when Palencia will return, but Webb hasn’t allowed a run since June and is five-for-five in save opps. Are we sure Palencia should just get the job back immediately? Also, Webb won’t spoil the new Spiderman for you if you know what I Jean–ugh, I mean mean! Mean!

Carter Jensen – 1-for-3, 2 runs, HR (16). Get Carter sent this one oppo-fieldo but I’m not sure why Mr. Manager continues to lead him off as he’s slashing .148/.270/.333 over the past two weeks. And we wonder why this team is so bad? Maybe don’t do that?

Pete Crow-Armstrong – 1-for-3, 2 runs, RBI, SB (30). The MVP race is getting hot, hot, hot! My take you ask? Oh, well if you insist. I think Ohtani’s pitching is too important a piece, he’s basically a Cy Young candidate. Pete has got him in every offensive category, and plays some of the best defense in the league. I would assume the WARs and fWars and Gwars lean PCA, but if Ohtani returns to pitch in September it’s gotta go to him, right? It’s just too valuable.

Pedro Ramirez – 2-for-4, HR (2). He’s got an .867 OPS since the ASB. How long before he displaces Ian Happ in the lineup? They’d be better off Happ-less!

Shane Baz – 8.0 IP, 3 hits, 2 ER, BB, 9 K, 11th L. Bazinga, young Sheldon you absolute genius! As a Baz Skaggs truther, I will insist to you I knew this would happen, and also that this was probably the best start of his career despite him getting his 11th loss (ELEVEN). He didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning when he gave up a homer to Joc Pederson, likely payback for making him look a fool in the first. The homer was his only gaffe. The complete game loss is sort of a metaphor for this Orioles team in a way. Baz now has allowed just three earned runs over his past 14.1 IP and two losses to show for it. Someone get this guy a Natty Bo! He’s got a 1.82, 1.04 WHIP and 21/4 K/BB since the break and we could see some special stuff down the stretch if Baz finally unlocks his “inga”.

Nathan Eovaldi – 5.1 IP, 4 hits, ER, 2 BB, 2 K. EVO hasn’t been so extra virgin this year, he’s only been just regular virgin. Still he’s a guy who could get right quick, and still takes advantage of the right matchups, like next week versus the Angels. Yes please, Nasty Nate wants his cocktail–fruit!

Gunnar Henderson – 0-for-3. YUP. Sigh. Someone get me a Natty Bo, too.

Kyle Leahy – 5.0 IP, 8 hits, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 8th win. Mr. Leahy has been on like a shithawk, Randy! He missed his fourth straight quality start but the win is even better. Kyle has been flashing his strikeout stuff lately (1.49 ERA and 40 Ks over his last 42.1 IP), even if he doesn’t seem to have full control of where his pitches are going, it doesn’t really matter against a team like the Suckies. He gets the Phillies next week though and that could spell the end of this long, strange trip we’ve been having.

Zack Wheeler – 5.1 IP, 7 hits, 4 ER, 5 BB, 6 K. We expect more from Wheeler in what looked like a cherry match up but do they even have cherries in Canada? They definitely do in St. Louis and he’ll bring his 2.69 ERA and sub-1 WHIP to Busch next week.

Jose Soriano – 4.2 IP, 4 hits, ER, 3 BB, 3 K, ERA at 3.24. Someone explain this trade to me from the Jays perspective? Are we selling or not? Was the Angels fire sale just too good to resist? This start was much better than the line looks methinks. Well, not for fantasy, but dude wasn’t really crushed either. The knuckle curve did his job and he put up a 31 CSW%. The Phillies at home in August are just scary I think. He gets the Red Sox next and they’re even scarier.

Tyler Rogers – 1.0 IP, 1 hit, 2 ER, 3 BB, SV (4). It really makes you appreciate your closer when you watch a save like that.

Josh Smith – 3-for-4, HR (4), SB (4). Slam & Legs! My guess is Mr. Manager told Mr. General Manager the squad could use a “Josh Smith type,” and Mr. General Manager was like, I’ll tell you what, I’ll do you one better.

Drew Rasmussen – 7.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 11th win, ERA at 2.75. He’s won four straight starts coming out of the break and sports and real purdy 0.72, 0.76 WHIP and 32/5 K/BB in that stretch. He hasn’t allowed a run in his past 27 innings and gets the A’s next week. Sweet sassy molassy! Drew could be on the Cy Young warpath for the rest of the year and we’ll still treat him like a streamer on draft day. No more! The Razz is one of the best in the game, and it’s time we recognize that!

Logan Gilbert – 6.2 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 4 BB, 6 K. Gilbert is top 25 on the list of pitchers with the lowest run support in case anyone cares. Also, I quit doing drugs if anyone cares. I’m miserable now.

Roki Sasaki – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, BB, 5 K. Roki dokie, that’ll do, that’s three quality starts now for Sasaki since his newfound velocity was, uh, newfound, and he’s really starting to look like the player they threw a ton of money at three years ago. It’s funny (get ready to not laugh), a signing like Roki would sink most franchises to obscurity, but the Dodgers had the talent and the time to let him develop into the pitcher they knew he could be. Another reason it’s good to be them.

Merrill Kelly – 5.2 IP, 2 hits, ER, 4 BB, 4 K. He left this game with a leg cramp but back to my last blurb and team’s overpaying, you know who always overpays for players: The Dodgers. Good teams trade their kids and are constantly unloading their top prospects because good teams consistently have good prospects. And the players they trade for a Skubal or an Adley Rutschman will be replaced by other good prospects. This is how winning teams work and I think it’s sometimes lost that the job of a prospect more often than not is to be a valuable trade chip, and it’s not to be the “next big home grown star” every time.

Edwin Diaz – 0.1 IP, 1 hit, 2 ER, BB, K, L. Oh boy, the Dodgers just cannot win a game right now. It’s all up to Yamamoto-san to break the streak.

Ryan Waldschmidt – 1-for-4, HR (2), 2 RBI. WALK OFF WALDSCHMIDT! Someone’s got a new nickname! He’s actually hitting close to .450 over the past two weeks despite the lack of power. Maybe this is the start of something?

Andy Pages – 1-for-3, HR (19). Turn the Pages cooled off in a big way. Summer reading got me down. That’s okay, maybe time for Kyle Tucker to finally step up and do something.

Nolan Arenado – 1-for-4, HR (17). I honestly can’t believe he has 17 home runs and I drafted Vladimar Guerrero. NOO, A TORENADO! Is very appropriate here!

Robbie Ray – 5.0 IP, 7 hits, 4 ER, 5 BB, 2 K. That’s twelve base runners! If I’m a ‘Dres fan I’m asking if we can give tight pants back, I’m not sure this is gonna work. It’s ironic he’s been pitching in some of the most pitching friendly parks in the league yet he can’t cut down on the BBs, bb. He leads all of MLB with 62 walks. He gets Milwaukee next week and this looks like it could be the start of another painful stretch for him I’d unbuckle my belt if I were you. Things are about to get real tight.

Fernando Tatis Jr. – 2-for-4, HR (10). I know 10 homers is rough but at least he hits and steals bases. I’d take him over Gunnar any day. I’m saying for a first round bust, you could’ve done a lot worse. Hold my beer.

Osleivis Basabe – 2-for-3, run. BUY! Hitting .364 over the past week! How do you pronounce this name without offending people? Okay, I won’t even try.

Dylan Smith – 1.0 IP, BB, SV (2). Another BUY! You gotta look down the barrel of a shotgun and ask yourself, just how badly do you need saves?

Cam Smith – 3-for-4, 3 runs, 2 HR (15). Twin tanks for Smith! The Cam slams! If it wasn’t for Boston we’d probably all be talking about how hot the H-Town Astros are right now, 13-3 in their last 16 games with the runaway AL MVP hitting third.  I think possibly, maybe, feasibly, potentially, conceivably, perchance, the Astros could be a wagon, y’all. Back to Cam though, their ninth hitter, and their return for “mega”-star Kyle Tucker. My pick for the next post-post-post (just three posts) hype breakout was Dylan Crews, and he’s been awful, frankly, so my bad for that, but may I interest you in some Cam Smith? He’s got a 1.313 OPS over the past week while batting .500 with the two bombs. He’s also hit safely in seven straight games, and the Stros can’t stop winning because of it. I hope Cam is recording this, cause the breakout could finally be coming!

Thanks for reading! Questions? Problems? Complaints to management? Advice, small gifts or large bribes? Please leave it in the comments below. Join us next Saturday for another Friday recap as fantasy baseball continues next week, all week long!