Fantasy Baseball: What you need to know from Wednesday’s MLB action – Yahoo Sports

Fantasy Baseball analyst Scott Pianowski highlights all the noteworthy happenings from Wednesday's action.

-Christopher Morel was dropped to the ninth spot in the Cubs order. Thats bad.

Morel did hit a homer, though, and had two runs, two hits; thats good. Over the past month, hes been a strikeout problem, with 42 whiffs and just two steals. Im still holding shares he qualifies at three positions and offers category juice but lets just say its not the longest leash.

-Emilio Pagan worked the 10th inning with a three-run lead, but quickly unraveled one out, then a walk, then a double (Amed Rosario has been sizzling in May). Hey, Pagan got a save for this mess, which shows you how silly that stat is, even sillier than the save. Manager Rocco Baldelli can be quirky with his bullpen usage, but the scuffling Pagan belongs nowhere near the ninth inning.

-Another homer for Willson Contreras, and three more hits. Hes laughing at the rest of the fantasy catcher pool. Hes probably the biggest name player likely to be shipped around the trade deadline. The Cubs are quickly becoming a factor of sadness. That 2016 Championship feels like 20 years ago.

Willson Contreras has been the fantasy MVP at catcher. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

-Three more hits for Josh Bell, two more walks. Hes up to .319, and the power has returned in June (seven homers). A .308/.390/.492 slash plays in any lineup, and dont forget he qualifies at both first base and outfield. Hes in his walk year, so the Nationals have a tough deadline decision to make. Obviously, this teams season died a long time ago.

-Tuesdays Atlanta save went to A.J. Minter, while Wednesdays went to Will Smith. Lefties taking over the world. Minters seasonal stats and the fact that he closed before Smith means something to me; perhaps Minter merely needed a day off Wednesday. But sometimes managers start feeling omniscient when theyre using multiple stoppers and everything is working. There might be fantasy utility to both of them while Kenley Jansen (irregular heartbeat) is unavailable.

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-I liked Alex Verdugo before the year but regretfully threw him into a trade maybe five weeks ago. Not a proud moment. Verdugo had a homer and four RBIs in the Wednesday win at Toronto, and hes been a .333 hitter in June, with 17 runs, three homers, 20 RBIs. Verdugo also offers plus defense in Fenway Parks difficult right field; if you can think of when Andrew Benintendi was a favorable comp, thats your reference point here.

-Everyone knows that Jon Berti has been the stolen base god of the month, but check Randy Arozarena and his 10 bags in June. Its been needed, as hes batting just .242 with mild production stats. J.T. Realmuto is also living on stolen-base buoyancy; hes swiped seven bags in June, trying to offset a puny .215 average.

A couple of June thieves arent hitting one lick Dylan Moore has seven bags (but a .176 average) while Jorge Mateo is at .152 (but with six bags, and three homers). Category juice might be able to save Mateo in deeper pools.

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Fantasy Baseball: What you need to know from Wednesday's MLB action - Yahoo Sports