I know most of you want to be done with Sandy Alcantara. And maybe you should be. He's been miserable this season, and hasn't really gotten any better as the season has gone on: His first start of the season might have been his most impressive to date. 

But this is a former Cy Young winner! He was the premiere workhorse in baseball before his 2023 season ended with Tommy John surgery, and he put up a combined 3.31 ERA over nearly 900 innings in the five seasons prior to that injury. He was a must-start pitcher in Fantasy for more than half a decade; should two really bad months change that? 

Yes, of course, they should. Especially coming off of a significant injury. He entered his start Tuesday against the Rockies with a 7.89, and while his peripherals were better, they still weren't good – he had a 5.31 xERA, 5.37 FIP, 4.83 xFIP, and 5.01 SIERA. By whatever metric you want to use, Alcantara has been awful this season.

But he was pretty good Tuesday. It was his first quality start since April 23 and just his second in 12 tries, as he limited the Rockies to two runs on four hits, with four strikeouts and one walk – just the second time he has issued one or fewer walks all season. And in watching the game, he might have even been a bit unlucky – he allowed just three batted balls with an expected average over .500, and a couple of the singles he allowed came off the bat less than 80 mph. 

Of course … it was the Rockies, a historically bad offense who are hitting an unfathomably bad .194/.254/./312 away from Coors Field this season. The average starter against the Rockies this season has a 2.95 ERA, 9.7 K/9, and has averaged 5.8 innings per start. He wasn't even better than that! 

So, on the one hand, we've got a pitcher I'm inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to any time he shows even a hint of his previous upside. On the other hand, his best performance of the season was actually slightly less impressive than the average performance against the Rockies to date. It was a good start, but was it a start that should have changed your opinion about Alcantara's outlook?

Probably not. If you can't do this against the Rockies, you might not belong in the majors at this point – which is why I'm much more open to dropping Max Meyer than Alcantara at this point. Alcantara belongs in the majors, but I don't know if we can say too much more than that. I do believe he'll be a must-start pitcher again at some point, but I don't have a lot of confidence that it's going to happen this season. I have hope, and Tuesday's start certainly didn't dim that hope. If you haven't dropped Alcantara yet, I wouldn't do it now. 

But I don't necessarily think he's about to go on a run that makes those who did drop him regret it. He needs to do more to give me that hope. He gets another pretty good matchup against the Rays later this week, so let's hope he gives us something to actually get excited about there. 

Here's what else you need to know about from Tuesday's action around MLB: 

Ronny Mauricio, 2B, Mets (22%) – It's been a while since we've seen Mauricio. He got a cup of coffee in 2023, but we haven't seen him at the MLB level since after his 2024 season was wrecked by a torn ACL. He's been working his way back slowly since, but his promotion comes after he hit .323/.384/.508 in 19 games in the minors, including three homers and four steals in nine games at Triple-A. It took an injury to Mark Vientos to get Mauricio another chance, but he's got it now. Can he take advantage? Well, he's always had loud tools, and those seem to be intact – the four steals speak to his athleticism looking fine, while his 91.8 mph average exit velocity speaks to where his bat speed is at. There have always been questions about Mauricio's ability to put it all together in games, thanks to iffy plate discipline and some troubles actually maximizing the raw power – a trait he shared with early-career Vientos and Brett Baty , two other recent Mets prospects who have shown growth in both regards over the past couple of seasons. Mauricio will have to hit early and often to stick, but he's an intriguing young talent who is worth betting on if you have the roster space to play with. 

Addison Barger, 3B, Blue Jays (34%) – I just don't know where all this is coming from. Barger has always had some pop, but what he's doing right now is just absolutely bonkers – he homered yet again Tuesday, his fourth straight game with a long ball. And it's not just these three most recent games, as Barger has been putting up quality-of-contact metrics on par with the best sluggers in the game. Among players with at least 50 batted balls, only Oneil Cruz, Shohei Ohtani, and Aaron Judge have a higher average exit velocity; only 12 hitters have a higher hard-hit rate, too. And he's doing this while cutting his strikeout rate from 26.7% to 20.5%. He's basically played every day for the past four weeks, though the Blue Jays have notably avoided left-handed starting pitchers lately, and that's the biggest question Barger still faces – he has a .666 OPS against lefties so far with zero homers in 24 plate appearances. But the Jays have shown a little more willingness to play him against southpaws when he's this hot, and at some point, I think we just have to add him everywhere and see if it's real. I have my doubts, but it doesn't make much sense expressing them when he's hitting like this.

Max Muncy, 3B, Dodgers (68%) – Muncy is just hilariously locked in right now. He started wearing glasses on April 30 after being diagnosed with astigmatism, and he has more than cut his strikeout rate in half and had seen his wRC+ jump from 59 prior to the change to 164 before he hit two more homers Tuesday. He has nine homers in his last 29 games while driving in 31 runs in that span, and while he'll sit against some lefties, at this point, I'm just not sure that matters. Call it playing the hot hand, and there aren't many hands hotter than Muncy's right now. 

Lance McCullers, SP, Astros (75%) – I don't have a lot of faith in McCullers keeping this up, but that's now two quality starts in a row and 22 strikeouts over his past three starts. The fastball remains about 2 mph down from where he was the last time we saw him pitch before 2025, and he was getting hit really hard today even against a terrible Pirates lineup, as he gave up a 92.8 mph average exit velocity on 13 batted balls. Still, given the little run he's on, I don't mind rolling the dice just to see if my hunch is wrong. 

Sawyer Gipson-Long, SP, Tigers (14%) – With Jackson Jobe going on the IL with a flexor strain, Gipson-Long is going to get an opportunity to pitch in the Tigers rotation, and that's kind of exciting. Before he underwent Tommy John surgery as well as hip surgery in 2024, Gipson-Long was a pretty interesting young pitcher. He put up pretty ugly ERAs in the minors, but usually with extremely high strikeout rates and good command, with homers being the primary thing holding him back – something that should be less of an issue in the spacious confines of Comerica Park. His velocity has been back to pre-injury levels during his rehab assignment, and he had a 2.20 ERA across five starts in the minors. He's not a must-add pitcher until we actually see some success in the majors post-surgery, but we did get a taste of it at the end of 2023 when he had 26 strikeouts to eight walks in 20 innings in his only four MLB starts to date. I'm cautiously excited to see what Gipson-Long can do.

Paul Skenes, Pirates vs. HOU: 8 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K – A few weeks ago, there was a general, "What's wrong with Paul Skenes?" vibe in the baseball world, especially after he walked 11 over a span of three starts to open May. Well, since then he has 32 strikeouts to just four walks with a 0.94 ERA in 28.2 innings over his past four starts … with one measly win to show for it. With arguably the best pitcher in baseball on their roster and a slew of intriguing young arms following him up, the Pirates rolled up their sleeves and went to work this offseason adding Tommy Pham and Adam Frazier on one-year deals to their offense, which is now just one run ahead of the Rockies for the lowest scoring in baseball. What an absolute waste of a season. 

Hunter Greene, Reds vs. MIL: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K – When Greene went on the IL with a minor groin injury in early May, my concern wasn't that the injury was going to sideline him for long, but that it would knock him off his game when he was clearly rolling. And that looks like what's happening. He wasn't bad Tuesday, just like he hasn't been bad in any of his starts. But he hasn't been good either, with just 12 strikeouts in 14 innings, to go along with six walks. He still has top-of-the-scale velocity – he averaged 99.7 mph on 45 four-seamers Tuesday! – but he hasn't been nearly as sharp. And then he was pulled from this start with a flare-up of that groin injury, which feels pretty ominous. Hopefully, this ends up being just a bump in the road, but it does kind of feel like that injury has already wrecked Greene's breakout. 

George Kirby, Mariners vs. BAL: 5 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K – Kirby wasn't great here, but he wasn't bad either. He gave up a bunch of loud, but mostly harmless singles, though we'd certainly like to see him start missing more bats to avoid that being an issue. His stuff looks fine since coming back from his shoulder injury, so I'm mostly chalking his slow start up to rust, and I would mostly be trying to buy-low right now. One thing to watch coming out of this start: Kirby's final pitch resulted in a comebacker that glanced off his glove and hit him in the face. He walked off the mound and spoke to the media after the game, a sign that it isn't too serious, but it's something to keep an eye on. 

Cristopher Sanchez, Phillies @TOR: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K – Sanchez is in a similar spot to Greene, where he hasn't been bad since coming back from his forearm injury, but he's just looked a bit off. After walking just six in his first four starts of the season, Sanchez has had at least three in five of his past seven starts, getting him up to 4.1 per nine in that span. He still has a 2.97 ERA in that span, so maybe I'm worried about nothing. But his breakout was fueled by huge improvements with his command and control, and those have backed up over the past five weeks or so. I think there might be a sell-high window here. 

Spencer Strider, Braves vs. ARI: 5 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K – Strider isn't himself right now. That's clear. He's peaking around 97 mph with his fastball when he used to sit around 97. That pitch just hasn't been effective for him, and on Tuesday, he had just one whiff on 22 swings, while allowing 13 batted balls with an average exit velocity of 93.4 mph. That's horrible, even if it wasn't coming from the guy who used to have maybe the most dominant fastball in baseball. The rest of the arsenal looked okay Tuesday, and he seems to be aware of the limitations of his fastball, as Strider tossed 11 curveballs, matching the most he has ever thrown in a start. Strider was able to dominate on the strength of two pitches at his best, but he isn't at his best, and expanding the arsenal is something he'll have to do to overcome the loss of the fastball. But here's one reason to be optimistic: As Vlad Sedler pointed out, he gets the Marlins and Rockies over the next couple of weeks. I'll withhold judgment on exactly how worried we should be about Strider until he gets through those starts. 

Tanner Bibee, Guardians @NYY: 6.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K – Bibee feels like he's been tinkering all season long, and he may have found something that works lately. He hasn't been dominant, but he does have 21 strikeouts to six walks in 18.1 innings over his past three starts. He's been throwing his sweeper more, and he almost completely shelved his cutter in this one, throwing it just four times – that has generally been his second-most used pitch, so that's an interesting wrinkle. I'm not sold on Bibee living up to our preseason expectations, but he looked like he might be trending toward being droppable for a while there, and he looks a lot better than that right now. We'll take it. 

Drew Rasmussen , Rays vs. TB: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K – The only real problem for Rasmussen at this point is that the Rays just straight up will not let him throw 90 pitches. He was cruising in this one, but he was also pulled with just 79 pitches, and he hasn't thrown more than 86 in any start. That makes it really difficult for him to get quality starts, which limits his utility in points leagues and leagues that value quality starts over wins. But that's really the only thing working against him right now, and he should continue to be extremely effective for his 80 or so pitches every time out. I just don't think we should expect much more than that, given his extensive injury history. 

Tomoyuki Sugano, Orioles @SEA: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K – He just keeps getting away with it. I know strikeouts aren't everything, but generally, when pitchers find success without getting strikeouts, they do so by limiting quality of contact, and Sugano isn't really doing that – he had a .380 expected wOBA on contact entering Tuesday's start, and Mariners hitters somehow went just 2 for 8 on batted balls with an expected batting average of .400 or better. Drop that threshold to .390 or better and it's 2 for 10 with two double plays. I'm sorry, but this just isn't sustainable. He has a 4.48 xERA, and once his luck balances out, Sugano is going to be just a streamer. (He insists while applying clown makeup and shrinking into a corn cob). 

Tyler Mahle, Rangers @TB: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K –  Well, at least I can assuage myself by noting that Mahle was the guy making me look stupid for the first two months of the season and he's also showing signs of coming back to earth. Over his past three starts, Mahle has 13 strikeouts to eight walks and a 3.86 ERA after this one. Mahle actually does limit hard contact better than Sugano, which is why his xERA entering this start was a more viable 3.81. Still, I think he'll also settle in as mostly just a streaming option moving forward. 

Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers vs. NYM: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K – I wish I had faith Kershaw would even be a streamer moving forward. But beyond his name, I'm struggling to see any reason to even expect that. Despite throwing his slider more than half the time Tuesday, he generated just seven swinging strikes on 92 pitches, and he still doesn't have even one with his four-seamer. I know it's Clayton Kershaw, and betting against a future first-ballot Hall of Famer never feels good. But after all the injuries, I just don't think he has what it takes to be a difference-maker anymore. 

Jac Caglianone, 1B, Royals – Let's do a quick check-in on Caglianone's debut. He went 0 for 5 in a game where the Royals had 13 hits and 10 runs, which is a bit disappointing. But he didn't strike out and had four batted balls of at least 95 mph – and two at least 112 mph. Hard to be too concerned about anything after one game, but that's a promising start. 

Corbin Burnes was placed on the IL with right elbow inflammation. On top of that, he's getting a second opinion from well-known surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache, which is always an ominous sign. At this point, I'm hoping for the best and bracing myself for the worst. Ryne Nelson will take his place in the rotation, and he's not a particularly exciting replacement option. 

Eury Perez is set to make his season debut Monday against the Pirates.

In his final start at Triple-A on Tuesday: he went 4.1 innings, striking out four and walking three, a reminder that command can often be the last thing to come back after Tommy John surgery. But he got up to 83 pitches and averaged 97.9 mph with his four-seamer, so the stuff seems intact. He may struggle, but it's okay to get excited about Perez's return. 

Pablo Lopez was removed from Tuesday's start due to a lat injury, and the Twins do expect it to require an IL stint. That's a bummer as Lopez has avoided the slow start he's become known for this season. 

Kyle Tucker was out of the lineup with a jammed right ring finger he suffered this weekend. Craig Counsell downplayed any concern, so hopefully we'll see him today. 

Bryce Harper returned to the lineup after missing five straight with a bruised elbow, and he went 1-3 with his ninth home run.

Cole Ragans is scheduled to return Thursday against the Cardinals. He missed a couple weeks with that groin injury.

Mookie Betts returned to the lineup after missing four games with a fractured toe and he went 2 for 5.

Jazz Chisholm was reinstated after missing a month due to an oblique strain. He went 2-3 with his eighth HR in his return, which is a great sign – oblique injuries can tend to derail guys for longer than just the time they end up missing. 

After the Dodgers' loss Monday, Dave Roberts said the team currently has "no dedicated closer". Tanner Scott has struggled lately, though the most obvious alternatives in this bullpen are hurt right now, and Scott did pitch a scoreless 10th with two strikeouts to get the win against the Mets Tuesday. 

It's no surprise with Luke Weaver going on the IL, but Aaron Boone confirmed that Devin Williams will be the team's primary closer. Of course, he was thrust into duty right away, working the ninth with a two-run lead … and he gave up a run on two hits but still picked up his sixth save. 

Tyler Glasnow downplayed his general body soreness and said he's likely to throw another bullpen Friday or Saturday. 

Rays president Erik Neander said Tuesday that Shane McClanahan could potentially return in late July or early August. I have no idea what to expect from him, and I'm mostly not expecting anything at this point. 

Anthony Santander will rest 5-7 days after receiving a PRP injection in his injured left shoulder.

Max Meyer was placed on the IL with a left hip impingement. Maybe that explains his struggles, or maybe his struggles explain the IL stint. Chicken or egg, you know? 

Jasson Dominguez was out of the lineup Tuesday and is day-to-day with a jammed left thumb.

Brandon Woodruff will undergo x-rays after being hit on the right elbow by a comebacker on Tuesday. He's had a couple of things go wrong in his return from shoulder surgery, so let's hope this isn't too serious. 

Ezequiel Tovar is out until at least Friday with a tweaked left oblique.

Reese Olson received an injection to address the inflammation in his right ring finger and is expected to resume playing catch Thursday.

Max Scherzer will pitch either in a Florida Complex League game or simulated game this weekend. He threw a successful 40-pitch live BP Tuesday and is ready to take the next step in his rehab.

Evan Carter was reinstated from the IL. He'll need to show us some upside before he's anything more than a deep-league flier. 

Nick Gonzales was reinstated from the 60-day IL. He's been out since March with a fractured ankle and has some appeal in NL-only leagues. 

Hunter Dobbins will re-enter the Red Sox rotation with Richard Fitts optioned back to Triple-A.s in his handful of starts with the Guardians.